Adventure World Online (AWO)

"I have business with your brother, not with you. Kindly step aside."

Narada's voice was firm, her face strained with restraint.

"But it looks like my brother doesn't recognize you at all, Miss Number-One Beauty!"

Peach Blossom continued her snide remarks, refusing to give Narada a chance to speak with Siegfried.

"If I tell him who I am, he'll definitely remember me!"

Narada shot back, refusing to back down. She had spent so much time searching for any lead on the elven man ever since she started the game. Now that they had finally met, there was no way she would just walk away.

"You're awfully shameless. Go on then—tell us who you are, what connection you have with my brother, and why he doesn't remember you at all!"

The number-one beauty bit her lip, fists clenched tight, her body trembling as she struggled to hold back her anger. Siegfried wanted to intervene and stop his sister—she was being far too rude—but part of him was also curious to see how well Narada would handle the confrontation.

"Mr. Siegfried. My name is Narada. I use my real name in the game because I hoped you'd recognize it. We were classmates back in primary school—before you transferred in junior high. I even gave you flowers and confessed my feelings to you on graduation day. I might not have been this beautiful back then, but you should remember me, shouldn't you?"

She spoke with hope in her eyes. Siegfried tried to recall. But no matter how hard he searched his memory, he could not remember a girl named Narada—not even a little.

"I'm sorry. I really don't remember you."

His response crushed the last sliver of hope Narada had left. Still, she was not about to give up.

"It's all right. It doesn't matter if you don't remember. But from now on, would you give me a chance? Please, let me be your girlfriend."

Her cheeks flushed as she made her heartfelt request to the man she had adored. Chang Long and Peach Blossom were both left speechless—just like Siegfried. Any other man would have jumped at the opportunity before she even finished the sentence. But Siegfried looked hesitant, uncertain of how to respond.

"Uh… well."

"Must be nice, having someone confess their love to you. We should go. Eavesdropping like this is rude."

Chang Long cut in brusquely and walked off without waiting for Siegfried's reply. His hesitation told her enough. If he was wavering between the number-one beauty and a tomboy like her. Well, it was not exactly a hard choice.

"Wait, Chang Long. Hold on—I wasn't going to say yes to her."

Siegfried quickly ran after her, completely ignoring Narada, who was still waiting for his answer. Once again, the number-one beauty stood there, humiliated. Did her beauty and sincerity mean nothing to him? Why did he run after that pretty boy without even sparing her a backward glance? Could it be that Siegfried liked that person—was the man she had fallen for actually into guys? She was stunning, charming, practically irresistible—and yet he turned away from her so easily?

"What is this!"

Narada whispered, voice shaking, as if her mind had shattered. Her thoughts spiraled out of control, desperately trying to make sense of how Siegfried could so thoroughly disregard her feelings.

"See. My brother said he didn't know you, didn't accept your love, and now he's already run off after Lord Chang. Get a clue and leave already, you clingy hag!"

Peach Blossom mocked. Narada glared daggers at her, seething with rage.

"Who is that brat! The one Siegfried ran after—just who!"

Narada screamed. But the moment the words left her lips, every one of Chang Long's followers still standing with Peach Blossom turned to her with murderous glares. Even Peach Blossom's face was angered—the girl had dared to call Lord Chang a brat.

"You dared to refer to Lord Chang like that? In her city? Right in front of her loyal followers?"

Peach Blossom's voice dropped to a deadly chill. Narada suddenly felt a wave of killing intents. And it was not just Kitsune's group gazing at her like she was a piece of meat—every AI citizen of Dark City was giving her the same hostile look.

"What's going on—w... why is everyone in the city looking at me like that?"

Humiliation was not the end of it. On top of being publicly shamed by Peach Blossom, Narada was officially banished from Dark City for harboring malicious intent toward its ruler. Now she stood outside the city gates with resentment. It had been a long time since she had been treated like she was worthless—so long that she had almost forgotten the feeling. But today, it had all come rushing back, and it was all because of that brat Peach Blossom called Lord Chang.

"Ugh! How dare they throw out me, the number-one beauty. This dump of a city—I'll flatten it to dust. Just wait and see!"

Narada spat through vengefully. Her mind turned to the massive number of players gathering on Ameris Island. If she could rally enough of them, she could declare war on Dark City. But, come to think of it, where had all those players gone? With that many, the city should have been crawling with them by now. Thus began Narada's plan to gather players. Unbeknownst to her, the vast majority of them were currently lying in respawn cooldown—having been slaughtered by the very residents of Dark City she was raging against. She stalked away from the gates, her pride in tatters—rejected, humiliated, and furious. In her heart, she placed a bounty on Chang Long's head, swearing she would kill them the moment she got the chance.

"If you're planning something, you'd best be careful."

A voice cut in beside her. Narada turned in surprise. In the chaos of confessing to Siegfried, she had completely forgotten that the spirit of the late Pirate King, Shadin Creepin who should have been reborn by now, was still haunting her.

"W... What do you mean by that?"

Narada asked, suddenly unsure of herself.

"Your target's one of the Pirate King's heirs too, you know. And from the looks of it, they're very strong."

Shadin's tone was serious.

"I don't care. I just know I have to kill her!"

Narada hissed, her beautiful face twisted by hatred. No one—no one—would take what she loved away from her. No matter how strong that person was. She was utterly convinced she would win Siegfried's heart in the end.

"Now that's the spirit,"

Shadin smirked, clearly amused by Narada's bravado. Even knowing her enemy's power, she still had the guts to fight.

"First things first, I'm going to rally the players and raze that city to the ground!"

With that, Narada turned and stormed off.

…..

Dark City

"Chang Long, wait up. You're walking so fast."

Siegfried continued trailing behind the grim reaper girl, not wanting her to stay cold and distant toward him.

"Why are you even following me!"

Chang Long shot back without turning around, nor did she slow her pace. Right now, she did not want to see the face of a wishy-washy man. Outside the game, he said he would wait for her, but the moment a beautiful girl confessed in-game, he could not even give a clear answer.

"What did I do wrong? Why are you so mad at me?"

Siegfried kept trying to make amends, while Peach Blossom and Chang Long's followers watched from a distance. The girl rolled her eyes at her brother's pathetic lack of clue—not knowing how to make things right when a girl is upset.

"Are we getting anywhere today or not?"

Peach Blossom sighed in exasperation. Anya nodded in agreement, feeling a bit sorry for Siegfried being the one doing all the apologizing. Only Devi-chan looked gleefully satisfied with the scene.

"You don't even know what you did wrong, so how should I know? And for the record, I'm not mad. Now stop following me."

Chang Long was briefly caught off guard by the question, but she maintained her frosty demeanor. To her, he was just a fickle man—untrustworthy and not worth her getting angry over.

"I get it. You're jealous, aren't you?"

That line snapped the grim reaper girl's last thread of patience. Siegfried realized he had just stepped on a landmine and quickly tried to calm the storm. If he failed, it would not just be him—the entire city could end up a crater.

"What. Did. You. Say. Reaper Sou..."

"I LOVE CHANG LONG!!!"

Siegfried shouted at the top of his lungs, cutting her off before she could unleash her skills. Chang Long, and the townspeople, froze mid-sentence. The furious look on her face transformed into one of embarrassment. And since it worked, the elf gathered his courage and doubled down.

"I LOVE CHANG LONG. ONLY YOU. I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART AND COULD NEVER LOVE ANYONE ELSE—YOU HEAR ME!!"

Now both the confessor and the confessed were blushing furiously. Siegfried was slightly out of breath from shouting so hard. The stunned townspeople burst into applause, whistling and cheering for the couple like it was a public proposal.

"Oh my gosh, that was so romantic."

Peach Blossom clasped her hands over her chest, eyes sparkling dreamily like she had been the one getting confessed to.

"He's got guts, I'll give him that. I admit defeat."

Devi-chan chuckled, amused. Hisa-chan laughed right along with him at their master's reaction.

"Looks like they'll finally get together, huh."

Anya beamed, overjoyed that Siegfried had finally expressed his true feelings in front of Chang Long, and the whole city. Brownie, sitting on her shoulder, nodded, secretly wondering when his moment with Anya would come.

The two stood silently, staring at each other for a long while. The cheers and applause faded into the background—what mattered now was the reaction of the person standing before them. But just as the tension between them was about to break the biggest thorn in their side—Narada—who could not find a single player to help her, had gone into the forest and used her Charm Magic on a horde of beasts, ordering them to attack Dark City. The spell drained her stamina and mana massively, but for the satisfaction of revenge, she was willing to sacrifice anything. "Tch. This girl's clinginess knows no bound."

Peach Blossom cursed in frustration. The citizens, who had just been clapping moments ago, transformed into warriors in an instant, startling the young girl. With that, it was obvious who would end up in ruins and who would barely escape with their life.

Dark City was thrown into war once more. But this time, the threat did not come from players attempting to take the city. The beasts, enchanted by Narada's spell, stormed the gates under her command. They destroyed everything in their path—structures, items, even children and pets.

What Narada did not know about this city, however, was that unlike other cities, which were protected only by system-assigned AI guards, nearly every citizen of Dark City was a trained warrior—highly skilled and well-prepared. Instead of running to shelters like NPCs in other towns, these residents stood their ground and fought back.

"What! These townspeople can fight?"

Narada exclaimed in shock. She sat atop her beloved unicorn, watching the chaos unfold from outside the combat zone—afraid she might get caught in the crossfire. Her eyes widened as she saw just how powerful the people of Dark City really were. All the beasts below level 50 were being slaughtered with ease.

At the same time, the players who had previously been killed began respawning inside the city. Confused and disoriented, they found themselves in the middle of utter mayhem. Without even knowing what had happened, they had to fight the beasts inside the town.

"What the hell's going on? Why's the city we couldn't take no matter what is suddenly crawling with monsters!"

"Duh, when we declared war, the city gates were all closed. But during normal hours, they're wide open!"

"Still, it's weird. Where'd all these beasts come from?!"

The freshly revived players voiced their confusion as they took in the bizarre sight—Dark City under siege by hordes of beasts. Stranger still, the city's residents were not fleeing in fear like NPCs usually did. No, they were fighting back—and they looked like they were actually enjoying themselves, as if it were some kind of festival. But then, a girl's angry shout cut through the noise and grabbed everyone's attention. They turned toward the voice and saw Peach Blossom pointing accusingly at someone.

"Narada! You annoying little leech. Couldn't steal my brother from Lord Chang, so you lured beasts to attack the city instead!"

Following the line of her finger, everyone turned to the city gate—and there she was. A stunning woman in a crimson cloak, seated regally atop a white unicorn. Her face was cold, her expression tense. She raised her right arm high, then snapped it down, pointing toward the city. And then, an overwhelming number of beasts came charging from behind her, stampeding into Dark City.

"Yap all you want, you little screamer. Let's see how you survive this round!"

Narada sneered. Peach Blossom's face went pale—she had not expected the beasts to arrive so quickly that she did not have time to cast any spells.

"C... Crap. I was too busy yelling at her—I forgot to prepare my defensive spell."The girl muttered as she scrambled to find an escape route. But before she could act, a black panther-like beast closed in on her and raised its claws to strike.

Clang!

"Brother Sieg!"

Peach Blossom cried out in relief as her brother blocked the blow just in time. If he had been even a second later, she would have been seriously hurt.

"Go regroup with Anya. I'll handle things here."

Siegfried instructed firmly. The girl nodded and dashed away. He turned and drove his blade into the beast's neck, killing it instantly, then locked eyes with Narada, who now looked furious.

"I think… this is going too far,"

Siegfried said in a low, scolding voice. The two stared each other down as the surrounding players looked on, completely confused. What on earth had happened between Siegfried, Peach Blossom, and Narada? Why had the so-called number-one beauty who acted like she was so pretty and moved like a majestic swan—lost her mind and sent a horde of beasts to attack the city where Siegfried and his sister were at?

"Too far? Your sister insulted me over and over—and you didn't say a word to defend me!"

Narada spoke with hurt in her voice, making the young man feel slightly guilty.