Holofictionary: I Don't Know Anything about VTubers, but I'm Stuck in Holoearth

Chapter Four: A Dandy Reason

As we touch the gates and spawn outside of Afterton, we head eastward towards Elandale, a vast, uninhabited plains. According to the map, not much was in Elandale itself, but it marked the middle ground between Afterton and the Deeplands, the areas reserved only for higher ranked players. For now, the plan was to seek out a goblin encampment and complete our quest.

Sui-chan pulled out her MGC Moonlight out of her inventory.

"Wow!" Aran and Laplus gasped.

"When'd you get that!" Aran asked.

"It was just there! For some reason it was the only item I still had!" Sui-chan shrugged.

"Interesting... It's actually very similar to Laplus and I." Aran notes as he pulls out a handgun.

I stiffen a bit looking at it. It's the first time I've ever seen a gun.

"This is a Smith and Wesson M-29, I have an airsoft model of this gun, but this thing is the real-deal. If I had bullets, this could be incredibly dangerous."

Aran slides out the chamber of his pistol and spins it to show no loaded bullets.

"This game originally didn't have guns... much less such a detail-oriented one. Just look at this, it's an older model with pinned barrels. It feels too real."

Aran stops himself from ranting too long and points at Laplus.

"And Laplus has her bird too!"

"Yup, Karasu-kun is still here." as Laplus hops a bit, a crow comes flying out of her back and perches itself on top of Laplus's head.

"Is that a pet?" I ask.

"No... He is the guardian of darkness. The sole entity capable of subduing my powers."

"I-I see... Does it have a name?"

"Nope, I just call him Karasu-kun."

"It's nice to meet you, Karasu-kun" I nod my head a little towards the crow, which stares at me with an incomprehensible gaze.

"I must say, I do wish our things were as practical as yours, Sui-chan!" Aran chuckles.

"It's great! We can get there in a jiffy, but the only problem is I can only fit one other person." Sui-chan says, as she climbs aboard her bike.

"Then that can only mean one thing." Laplus says seriously, as she wiggles her way up the bike.

Aran and I stare for a good half-minute at Laplus as she struggles to climb aboard.

Laplus finally gets on, grabs Suisei's waist, and turns to us.

"We will go ahead! Meet you at the marked location!" Laplus barks her orders and Suisei, while laughing, revs up the engine and blasts off. Laplus's screams can be heard trailing.

"Oi oi oi... Well, I guess it can't be helped! Shall we get on our way, Kate?"

I nod. "Guess so." Suisei and Laplus already could not be seen.

As we walk along the main dirt path, anxiety swells up within me. I was never great at socializing with strangers.

"So, Kate you said your friend won the Hololink? That's amazing! Congratulations to him."

"Eh, not really. Taro bought a ton of goods to get multiple entries. I would be surprised if he didn't get it."

"I see!" Aran briefly laughs as we continue walking.

"Do you like Hololive or Holostars?"

"I never really got into it."

"Ah, how did you end up here?"