My 3rd Return: Archercaster's Birth

Now, now. I turn my body towards a bush that has been rustling all this while. "You can come out, you know," I said.

The bush jerks, or at least it seems like it, and a player stands up, scratching the back of her head. "Well, well, Senior is as vigilant as ever," said a woman with a gentle smile adorning her face.

I realized this player's presence a while ago, it seems like she has been observing me from a distance. I couldn't confirm who they were until they revealed themselves, though.

"You...." I tried to take a guess, after all, her appearance...is not that unfamiliar to me.

The player is a woman, I can tell from her outer appearance, especially her... um, figure. She is wearing a light blue mantle, nothing seems out of the ordinary, revealing her challenging cleavage. Ahem, I need to avert my eyes from that... bouncy pair of worldly desire.

I don't see the weapon she should be carrying, whether it's a sword, a spear, or any other melee weapon. However, her overall appearance signifies a melee fighter. What I do see, though, are arm guards that cover her wrists almost up to her elbows. They are made of white ceramic and adorned with additional gemstone accessories in red and green on each hand. It's a new set of equipment that I've never seen before.

Her warm smile, as the wind unravels her long hair tied back in a ponytail, still hasn't faded. She also wears a headband accessory, which, upon seeing it, instantly brings back a memory from the past.

I became more convinced of my guess once I saw that headband. And her way of addressing me as "Senior" leaves no doubt. Why did I even try to guess, anyway? We just need to see her in-game name floating above her head. "Ritta?!" After all this time, I finally met one of my acquaintances in Alian Online.

As my guess hit the mark, her smile widened, or rather, she seemed even happier.

"The viral footage, the extravagant playstyle, and the worldwide announcement yesterday." Ritta moved closer to me, close enough to examine my avatar's face almost touching mine. In a somewhat teasing manner, her finger fell across my lips. "There's only one Blue I know who can do all that," she continued.

She then hopped cutely and spun around, observing my entire character avatar. "Hmm, hmm... not much has changed, I guess senior logged in for the first time yesterday and immediately pulled off that stunt, right?"

"I can't hide much from you, Ritta," I admitted.

"You said 'not much,' which means there are still things Senior is hiding from me. Isn't that right?"

I replied to her tease with a teasing smirk of my own. "Of course." Then, I turned to face her as she pouted her cheeks. "And do you know why I'm here now?" I asked.

Ritta tilted her head and looked at the direction from which I emerged. With a finger pointing to the side of her head, she explained, "I guess Senior logged in after your account was locked and somewhat respawned in this place. I didn't see the usual group of wild boars around here, so you must have defeated them."

I was impressed by how she could say it as if she had seen it all from the beginning.

"Senior ran while pulling the bowstring and releasing arrow rain towards this ravine," she continued her speculation, "considering Eve's Sanctuary, it can be assumed that Senior is attempting to use the Diviner and conducting some experiments, right?"

Damn, I didn't expect her to reveal that much detail. If only my avatar could feel emotions, I might have broken out in a cold sweat. "Hmm, hmm, let's say sixty," I said nonchalantly.

"Ah, Senior." She grabbed my shoulders and shook them. "Don't underestimate me. I'm confident I can get a perfect score after all this time."

After thoroughly teasing me, she added, "Well, there is something unusual that I noticed."

Is she not going to stop?

"Your mana keeps decreasing constantly, and looking at the situation, it's not normal. I know the mana usage for Arrow Rain, and I can estimate the amount of mana you have, but the mana depletion you're experiencing is too large and abnormal. Once your MP is depleted, the aura surrounding you disappears along with the golden-white bow that Senior holds."

Gyaah, please stop, Ritta! You're starting to scare me. Trying to remain calm, I replied, "Hmm, hmm, alright then, let's say seventy."

"Ten extra points don't make me happy," she said, pouting and turning her face away from me.

"I don't blame you. From an outsider's perspective, that's all you can draw. You're already amazing, Ritta," I confessed, a gentle smile meant to tease her adorned my lips.

It worked, as she blushed and couldn't face me directly.

But I haven't revealed everything yet. "The reason I ran to the edge of this ravine was so that I could escape if someone pursuing me turned out to be a PK," I said.

"Heh, isn't suicide even more pathetic?" she boldly responded.

"Sometimes in life, we're forced to choose one of several heartbreaking options. This is only about personal interest." I was also reluctant to give up.

"You're just clever enough to come up with reasons, Senior."

Intentionally, I didn't respond to her outright, letting silence bridge the gap between us for a while.

Ritta felt awkward, taking a small step back and half-opening her hands downward to welcome me. "Welcome back, senior Blue."

No matter how many times I told her to stop calling me senior, she never listened. So I gave up on that a long time ago. "Ng, I'm back, Ritta."

I took small steps towards Ritta with my hands almost open, responding to her gesture. Her expression seemed to be trying to hold back pent-up emotions, and her eyes slowly began to close.

As she almost completely closed her eyes, I gently patted her head.

"Ish, senior." She hesitated but didn't reject my action.

"What were you expecting earlier, huh?"

"N-nothing, nothing at all."