VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 51: A Series of Unfortunate Events
A thief, aptly named ’Stealyogirl’, hid within the shadows outside the Inn, watching his prey. While others were completely obvious in their stalking attempts and had tried hamfisted attempts to steal what was rightfully his, he had been silent, patient and stalked like a true predator.
His patience had finally paid off, as he watched her through the window as she fell for the Noob trap. He couldn’t figure out why she spent so much time cooking, only to eat none of it. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
She gave half to the NPC and rested the other half on the plate a strange little goblin statue was holding up in the Inn’s main room. His only thought was that perhaps it had something to do with her glass, like the clerics who had to spend time praying and tending to their in-game religions, or maybe she was just one of those crazy role players that liked to get fully into it.
Whatever her reason, It didn’t matter. With practised movements he scaled a nearby tree and leapt over to the Inn’s roof, barely making a sound with his landing thanks to his [Deft Steps] Skill, which reduced all noise from his footsteps.
Once he was sure that his target was asleep, and therefore logged off, Stealyogirl slipped into the Inn through a window and silently crept down the second floor corridor until he came to the right room.
He slipped the lock-picks from his glove, and set them into the keyhole with a smirk.
’I love how realistic this game is. All that time spent watching videos online, learning to lock pick for fun. Now, I get to use it for real and be a master thief! Compared to me, all these noobs are utter tra-’
Tink!
Stealyogirls thoughts paused in shock as, the moment he set his lock-pick, it immediately snapped. That had never happened to him before, in this game or real life. Cursing the damned blacksmith, who must have been cheaping out on metal, he took out a spare and began to pick the lock.
Tink! Tink! Tink!
Three more times, three more spare picks, and three times they snapped. It was unbelievable. On the last time he didn’t even get a chance to turn it before it snapped. What the hell was going on!
His cursing had slipped from his lips in his frustration, drawing the attention of the Innkeeper who quickly chastised him and called the guards on him. Stealyogirl took that as his sign to leave, slipping out the window and slinking into the shadows once more as he cursed his luck.
He was not the only one that was met with a series of strange, unlucky occurrences in his attempt to steal from the sleeping Belladonna. Some had their bags rip open at the worst times, others found their tools completely missing, while a few more even found their shoes inexplicably tied together as soon as he entered the Inn.
One particular brash individual, who took a ’Smash and Grab’ approach had confirmed that she was in room 3. Yet when he kicked in the door labelled 3, what he found was not a sleeping target, but the guard Captain having a secret rendezvous with his bed companion as they performed a certain activity that was definitely not sleeping.
He never got a chance to run before he was being dragged to the jail by the half naked Guard Captain. On the plus side, the Captain’s companion found his heroics in tackling the vile criminal extremely attractive, forming a new game for them to play together.
But for the life of the would-be criminals, none of them could figure out the source of their unfortunate events and for all their guesses, none could have ever guessed that it was the result of the little statue that Belladonna had offered food to. Food that was no longer on the plate it held aloft, not that any of them noticed.
***
Valerie stretched as she woke up, rubbing her body into the blissfully comfortable chair. However when she went to swing her leg out, a jolt of pain erupted through her body, interrupting her heavenly comfort.
She opened her eyes, glancing at the shrivelled twigs that were her legs, before letting out a deep sigh as the joy melted from her face.
"Oh Yeah... Heh, I can’t believe I actually forgot. I think I’m playing that game too much."
She laughed to herself half heartedly, pulling her wheelchair over and slipping out of the chair properly this time. However as she took control of the chair and spun it around, one of her wheels clipped a box that had been stuffed under the chair, tipping it over and sending its contents spilling across her floor.
"Stupid robot... Jinu must have put it there when he was tidying. I should keep him away from that chair." Valerie grumbled to herself with a sigh, starting to pick up the paper and other trash.
It was the box that her Neural Crowd had arrived in, and in her excitement to use it she had tore it out of the box, then promptly tossed the box to the side. It was about time she finally cleaned it up and got rid of it properly.
But amongst the packing paper and instructions on how to use the helmet, there was an envelope with her name written on it. That definitely caught her attention.
Plucking it from the ground, she tore it open and pulled out the letter from inside. Her eyes skimmed the contents at first, before she paused and read over it again. It was mostly thanking her for her participation in the beta test and some other flattering words she quickly ignored.
What had given her pause, was the section that talked about "Remuneration for the sales of your journal." and especially the phrase "Cheque enclosed."
As soon as she saw that, her hands tore into the envelope once more and ripped the cheque from its embrace. Her eyes widened and excitement was doused with disbelief and shock at the number written on that cheque.
