I stared right at the pink-haired thing who suggested something so stupid and messaged: “No! Go home to bathe.” I was firm on this. I did not plan to bathe with anyone any time soon.

“Fine! I will be back in two hours. We are now both over level for the area we are in, so we should head to a new place, right?” The pink-haired thing asked. Why she was pouting as she spoke, I don’t know. She couldn’t have possibly been for real about sharing a bath right? 

But to her question, I did nod and send a message. “We will discuss it later.” 

After the pink-haired thing left, I could finally relax a little. However, I did have to admit having someone to talk to besides myself was not so bad. After cleaning up, I felt much more refreshed. I dried my hair and brushed it slightly. I always brushed it straight since looking in the mirror was not something I liked to do all that often.

    There was not much reason for it. After growing up the way I did, looking in the mirror at a useless person only made me feel down. Just going to work was hard enough as it was. I was basically a robot. Repeating the same words over and over and in a very low voice. Even if someone yelled at me or asked me a question, I would end up staring at them blankly if it was not coded into my reply system. Luckily, my boss was quite understanding. 

I sat on the new couch that was quite soft and leaned into it, closing my eyes. But for some reason, when I opened my eyes again, there was a pink-haired thing staring down at me. “Nightmare?”

“Why is it when you look at me that is the first words out of your mouth!?” The pink-haired thing yelled, which woke me up from my stupor. I sat up and looked at her in confusion. How did she even get into the house in the first place?

I picked up my cell phone and unlocked it as I began dialing a number: “Police, I want to report a breaking and entering….”

“I did not!” The pink-haired thing jumped on me in a fluster. I found it amusing since it was the phone number I called. Funnily enough, I am finding myself talking easier around this pink-haired thing. It’s like she has some kind of PHT disease that infects people like me.

I pushed the pink-haired thing away from me as I sent her a message: “How did you get in?”

“Can you just speak words!? You just spoke!” The pink-haired thing seemed exhausted.

Of course, I answered her back in a message: “Ran out of speaking juice. I will need to recharge. It takes twenty-four hours.” 

“You…. Forget it. Zoe, you should be more careful. You left your door unlocked. Did you not lock it when I left? This building may be secure, but you never know.” The pink-haired thing seemed genuinely concerned. 

“Hmmm? Why would anyone want to touch someone like me? I think you are the only strange one willing to hug on to me.” I answered back. This was truly how I felt. I mean, no one ever gave me the light of day, and I have always been made fun of, so what was the point of worrying about it? But I do understand the meaning of locking a door. I should do that. “I will be careful, though. I don’t want the stuff to get stolen.”

“Zoe!” The pink-haired thing suddenly grabbed my face and forced me to look at her. “You need to realize you are very cute. And I mean very cute. Everything about you is cute. Why do you look down on yourself so much!?” 

I picked up my phone and began dialing a number again. “Is this the insane asylum? Yes? Then I’d like to report a crazy lady…”

“Stop it! Zoe, I am being serious.” I put my phone down and looked at her. Her serious expression and firm eyes showed she was not joking around with me. But it was still hard to take in.

I did not know what to say. I felt kind of awkward. This was the first time someone actually said I was cute. I mean… It was kind of embarrassing…. But I did question the pink-haired thing’s tastes. 

“You are thinking something bad about me aren’t you?” The pink-haired thing glared at me. But this made me wonder if the game world was already starting to merge into the real world. For her to be able to read my mind like this. 

“Zoe, I will not pry into your past unless you wish to speak about it. But just know that you are still a girl, a cute one at that, so please protect yourself better. Let’s leave things at that. We need to discuss what our next plan of action is. What were your original plans before you met me or even got these items?” Seeing the pink-haired thing changing the topic, I let out a sigh of relief.

But she did ask a good question. My original plans were to start a company that would sell items from in game. I never thought of building an organization, but now….   

“Let me get it all written down so I can give you a run down.” I needed to gather my thoughts before explaining things.