The fog had only grown denser with each step the search party took. At this point, Lucia could barely see past her own nose and had begun relying on her map to navigate. Of course, this resulted in her tripping over rocks and running into trees, but Lucia at least thought she would be traveling in the right direction. What she hadn't noticed—was that the party had been separated from one another long ago.

  “Hey! Are you guys out there?”

  No response.

  She tried calling again.

  “Guys?”

  Still no response.

  She panicked and opened her status window to see… That the party was disbanded. The friend list and all other social features were malfunctioning as well, but there was one viewable notification.

  "World Event: Eternal White Mist"

  No expnation was given about the duration of the event or its full effects on the game's mechanics; there was just a single cryptic notification ying in Lucia's status window.

  What am I going to do? I'm alone. Alice, please come save me.

  Tears began to well up on the sides of her eyes as the fog engulfed her vision. With every passing moment, her thoughts spiraled further and further out of control.

  I’m alone in a blinding white smog.

  Lucia had never been very resilient, so when these thoughts infiltrated her mind, she permitted them to fester and grow. Being separated from Alice forevermore was unthinkable to Lucia. Alice had been a part of her daily life; how could she possibly live without her? Her breathing started to become heavier as she crouched and held her head.

  What if I’m trapped in this white mist forever.

  Although the worry was irrational, it gnawed into the very depths of her heart whilst ripping apart her wits. She may have been overestimating her strength against her own anxiety; sometimes, she just couldn't find the power within her to distract herself, especially when her fears were existential in nature. Death may have been off the table, but something much scarier repced it: being alone with oneself for an eternity.

  What ensued after resigning herself to her fears was rather ugly. Her body began to uncontrolbly shake, and in a bout of hysteria, Lucia wandered off course.

  ???

  “Hey, are you alright?”

  In a daze of confusion, Lucia’s body shot up from the sleeping bag she had been lying in.

  “Hello, miss?”

  The young man staring at her clicked his tongue in frustration and shifted his gaze back to the campfire between them.

  As Lucia's eyesight began adjusting from her long rest, she was met with an unexpected set of surroundings: Firstly, the sun had been repced by the moon, meaning that Lucia had been unconscious for a significant period of time. Secondly, she was in a sleeping bag at a campfire, and finally, a complete stranger seemed to have safeguarded her.

  Unfortunately for Lucia, she encountered another surprise after crawling out of her sleeping bag and gazing downwards at her clothes: they were stained with puke. Despite feeling quite disoriented, she was basically able to piece together what had happened herself: After wandering around in a state of panic, she likely vomited and passed out, and then, this young man discovered her and brought her to his campsite.

  "I'm really sorry for all the trouble."

  Lucia bent her head down in an exaggerated manner as she apologized to the young man in front of her.

  “Tch, there’s no need to be so creepy y’know.”

  “Huh?”

  Lucia wasn’t quite sure what had creeped him out. Luckily, the young man was eager to eborate on his comment.

  "I can already tell what type of person you are. You're so terrified of people disliking you that you'll take just about anything. I bet you won't even get mad if I call you a coward."

  With wide eyes, Lucia stared at the young man. What had just happened?

  Surely, it is not customary to berate someone you have just saved, but he might be right… That is the type of person I am, after all.

  And so, as he had predicted, Lucia chose not to respond to his instigation. Instead, Lucia's focus completely shifted, and it shifted to something rather inappropriate given the situation. Lucia found herself eyeing the young man rather intently, admiring each of his features thoroughly. She didn’t consider herself into men, especially given her status as a straight male in her previous world, but something about his face and stature simply spoke to her.

  His medium-length dark brown hair covered one eye and came all the way down to the point where it almost fully obscured his left ear. The right side of his face was mostly visible, but his hair did slightly obscure his right ear as well. His eyes (or one visible eye) were an autumnal amber that exuded a sense of calmness and complemented his androgynous face. Lucia thought he looked more like a character from an otome game than a real man.

  “Damn, you really are creepy. Stop staring at me like that!”

  Apparently, Lucia had been staring for some time, so she bashfully broke eye contact with a jolt. The two then sat in an awkward silence before Lucia opened the status menu to find that the world event was still active.

  “Why isn’t there any fog here?”

  "It seems as though fires can create a significant break in the fog. This white mist is actually an old fairy tale in this world. A vilger once recounted the story of the "Eternal White Mist" to me. In the story, it was said that fmes could help dissipate the fog, and that old tale was evidently true. Or at least that part of the story was true; there was also a section concerning a dragon-snake hybrid that hasn't come to pass yet."

  Hearing news that the fog hadn't yet cleared caused Lucia's anxiety to rise once again, but existing in the presence of another person lessened the surge of fear. Her mind also wasn't given much time to wander as the brown-haired Gaian had more say.

  "Look, I was a little harsh, I just… People with your demeanor piss me off. It always brings back bad memories."

  Unexpectedly, he had offered somewhat of an apology to the girl he had just rebuked. Lucia accepted the apology wholeheartedly and asked the amber-eyed male for his name.

  “Yves.”

  Yves was rather blunt with the majority of his answers, preventing Lucia from tching onto any stray details for conversation topics. He also didn't ask for her name in return or make an attempt to continue the conversation. Thus, the purple-haired fairy continued conversing in a vain effort.

  “That's a neat name, mine is-”

  “Lucia, I already know, I saw it on my status window when I was lugging you here.”

  This guy.

  Yves's blunt responses left Lucia under the impression that he did not want to talk to her; it was by no means an abnormal conclusion, given his curtness. After a few moments of silence, she decided to make one st attempt at establishing a friendly rapport.

  "...So, is this campsite like your base of operations or something? What do you do here?"

  “It is one, temporarily. World bosses regurly spawn in this area.”

  “You are pnning on fighting it alone?”

  "That's the point, actually, I am on the hunt for Overture Csses, and I have a hunch that defeating a world boss solo could be a condition for unlocking one."

  "So, have you found the boss's location yet?"

  "I did, but I also ran into you simultaneously. You interrupted my hunt."

  So he prioritized saving me over defeating the world boss? Maybe Yves isn’t so bad after all.

  Lucia couldn't quite figure out why he wouldn't have just let her die, especially considering his somewhat hostile demeanor. While she pondered this, his amber eyes were able to peer into her troubled thoughts, so he provided an answer.

  "On the surface, death doesn't mean much in this world, but we are still unsure if there are any side effects. For instance, maybe you start to age faster or lose your memories. It's better to be safe than sorry. Also, fighting a world boss in this fog would be challenging, even with a ntern to ward off the fog."

  He’s lying. His level was listed as 44 in the status window, he could easily have defeated a world boss in this area.

  Lucia had heard of this area before; the world bosses in the Velborral Mountains were of the lowest caliber. Before they were separated, Magnus offhandedly mentioned that a few level 5 pyers could defeat the world bosses here with retive ease.

  Maybe he was just feeling bad about his earlier outrage?

  Whatever the case was, Lucia happily pounced on his newfound willingness to talk.

  "Well, I'm here to hunt down a Ferefolk that kidnapped a child."

  This suddenly piqued the young man’s interest.

  “A Ferefolk capturing a child? That sounds like it could be some sort of quest.”

  "Nope, no quest or anything of the like was issued. I definitely would have seen it in my status window. I do know who the perpetrator is, though. He is Wyrmkin man who calls himself a "Spear of Aluber." Do you have any ideas on what that could mean?"

  After a few moments of thought, Yves responded.

  “The name “Aluber” appeared in that old folk tale I mentioned earlier.

  Lucia jumped up excitedly and asked him to eborate.

  "Not much was mentioned about him, but remember the dragon-snake hybrid? The storyteller briefly mentioned that Aluber created the creature."

  Every answer Lucia found led to more questions. At this point, she wasn't really sure what to make of the white fog that had fallen over the region, the old folk tale, or even what she should do next. Well, she knew reuniting with the others was of the utmost importance, but her immense fear of the fog chained her to the campfire.

  If only I had a ntern like Yves’s.

  While Lucia contempted her next step, Yves initiated a conversation in a manner uncharacteristic of him.

  "Alright, I'll lend a hand. This entire ordeal has Overture Css written all over it."

  “I’d be happy to have you along!”

  Lucia immediately accepted his offer; rejecting someone who may be the highest-level pyer in FOO would have been unwise. Nevertheless, some part of her wondered if Yves only cared about the potential Overture Css. He had been throwing out excuse after excuse for why he helped her in the first pce, and it all seemed rather unconvincing. While she was trying to discern his true intentions, Yves surprisingly initiated a dialogue once again.

  "You should change out of those puke-covered clothes. Here, I have an extra outfit you can use."

  Suddenly, Lucia's face flushed beet red.

  He’s asking me to change clothes in front of him, right?

  After realizing the connotations of his suggestion, Yves eborated.

  “I’ll turn around.”

  The noises of rustling clothes created an air of awkwardness between them as they both cked experience in these sorts of situations. When Lucia finished changing into Yves's spare clothes, her outfit consisted of a white t-shirt a few sizes too rge and bck shorts almost reaching her knees. The outfit looked more suited to lounging than fighting in a fantasy world, but it was at least cute enough to result in the young man's face becoming a deep crimson. Lucia also noticed that the armor rating in her status window decreased, a necessary sacrifice for clean clothing.

  Although their scarlet faces signified the tension lingering between them, the two were able to refocus themselves on the mission before them. While the social functions were still unworkable due to the fog, the map worked perfectly as it did before, allowing a clear path to be traced to Pristine Greenwood. Lucia hoped the mist would subside by the time they arrived, allowing for open communications with her other party members or for Theresia to lead Magnus and Ceres to the bck door.

  The trek south was easy due to the weak-natured monsters of the Velborral Mountains, which gave the pair of fairies ample time to rest and converse. Though he was not much of a talker, even Yves began to open up by the end of the mountain pass.

  "My favorite food is ramen, shoyu ramen specifically."

  “No way! That’s also Alice’s favorite food.”

  “Wow, it sounds like you really spent a lot of time with this “Alice” person.”

  "Yeah, but unfortunately, they were not transported here with me. She always used to look after me and…"

  Lucia was in the midst of reminiscing about Alice to the young man when they both heard a noise.

  “What was that?"

  They both posed this question out loud in unison. They were soon met with an answer when a group of ghostly hands began assaulting the two. A creature began forming out of the ground while its hands tried to strangle the both of them. This creature was composed of massive rocks stolen from the nearby environment; in other words, it was a golem. On both of their status windows, a new enemy appeared, "World Boss: Pharaonic Golem."

  “Should we try escaping?”

  Lucia posed a question to her higher-level teammate, nudging him to make the final decision.

  "No, this creature's hands would easily disrupt our escape, let me fight it instead."

  Yves was captivated by what he saw as an opportunity for an Overture Css. The amber-eyed fairy bolted into the air, unsheathed the scythe on his back, and began hacking away at the boss.

  The Reaper css was distinguished by its ability to sacrifice health to activate skills and fill "blood vials." These vials could ter be used for even more powerful skills and attacks. It was a true gss cannon pystyle that strengthened the user as they inched closer to death.

  From the sidelines, Lucia observed a skill known as “Reaper Bze,” a passive skill that slowly sacrificed the user’s health in exchange for a massive buff to strength and speed. She watched as Yves danced between the golem’s many hands and delivered blow after blow to each of its body parts.

  Next, Yves activated a flurry of skills in a row, "Avenging Thrust," "Maniacal Sweep," and "Bloody Mary." The first dealt extra damage for each hit the user received in battle, the second consisted of a massive AoE attack that damaged all of the golem's parts at once, and the final skill released a highly damaging attack whilst the user's health sat below 10 percent.

  After this flurry of skills, the golem slowly fell to its knees before being whisked into the wind as a collection of crystals. Yves single-handedly defeated a world boss using a perfectly timed set of skills to end the battle. While this area held enemies of a significantly lower level, his efficient style of battle left Lucia with a newfound respect for him.

  "My hunch was wrong. I received no css from this battle. What a waste."

  Lucia, enamored by how elegantly the mechanical monstrosity was sin, took a moment to respond.

  "That's unfortunate, but look on the bright side. We have reached the forest."

  The rocky area below them had officially turned to grass, signaling their entry to Pristine Greenwood. Though the blinding white fog obscured their view, the duo pressed forward, unaware of the arduous battle ahead.