2 PM - Day 43
After meeting Mojo, we'd explained the situation to him and decided what to do next. I was going to go off around town with Red, to change my name and see if the average player would notice something off about how I did stuff.
I also inquired about a way to change my hairstyle, but apparently that feature hasn't been found yet. Red and Mojo didn't know, anyway.
Red assured me that no one would notice, and that there were plenty of girls who behaved as I generally did these days. They also said the Japanese I spoke was the female style now, compared to the male one I'd had originally.
I vaguely recall that the Japanese language is different from English in that they had ways of speaking it that differed depending on your gender (beyond the "she said, he said" stuff). English only had varying levels of politeness, I think.
This translator function is awesome!
We split up at the entrance of the inn, and me and Red walked off to find the local church.
Walking about while female was remarkably similar to doing the same as a guy. Most people seemed to treat me the same, with most people not giving me a second glance.
I think I was stared at for a bit by a few guys, though. That's...a new experience.
I'd imagine that in this sort of situation, some guys would act in a way they imagine to be "girly" to stop suspicion from falling on them. I kinda ignored that option and behaved as I did before. No reason to change my way of doing stuff, I figured. The change in appearance alone would be enough to fool the quick look most would give me. The fact no one else knows you can swap gender would do the rest.
People tend to ignore stuff that doesn't fit in what they expect it to, and if something looks odd they'll pick the most likely option vs one which seems more fanciful. Such as that I'd always been a girl who just behaved a bit masculine vs being a male cursed into female form.
This church was a bit fancier than the surrounding buildings, being two stories tall and having what seemed to be stained glass windows. It had a heavy, dark wooden door as the entrance.
Pushing open the door, we walked into the church and up to the local minister NPC. That was the right word, right? Minister?
The guy wore dark red robes and they had a white cross on them, so I'm presuming he was the church guy, anyway. The little yellow crystal was also a hint.
Anyway, I moved in front of the guy and attempted to roleplay my way into getting a new name.
"Greetings, kind sir. I come in search of taking a new name, as my current one is sinful and one I feel unworthy of. What do you require to assist me?"
Think that was too fancy?
The NPC smiled at me, and held out his hand.
"Confess your sins and donate 100 Col, and the Lord shall bless you with a new name."
After handing the guy the amount he wanted, which appeared in a little leather bag with the number 100 on it, he took out a piece of paper from within his robes.
"Write your new name here, and pray at the pews beneath me, and the Lord shall grant you a new name."
OK then, not too bad. Wonder how it'll work with friends list stuff? I ask Red to keep her eye on my name in her friends list as I get my new name, so I can find out.
After writing my new name on the piece of paper, which had a bunch of squiggles and a "sign here" on it (sadly, said squiggles were just blurred out text and not the symbols from the mirror room) I went to the steps nearby and kneeled facing them.
The NPC then did a little speech over me, presumably praising his NPC god.
"Oh lord, please bless this kind young woman with her new name, and rid her of all her sins."
Woman? This curse can even fools NPC?
I was suffused in a gold light for a second, and when my sight cleared I could see my name had changed in my HUD. It now read as Azure.
A query at Red revealed my name had changed in her friends list as well, so it seems I couldn't use this to hide from friends, if I needed to for some reason.
The NPC priest wandered back to where we first saw him and just stood there, so I presume that he reset back to default.
"OK, got a new name. Now what?" I ask Red curiously.
Right as I say that, I get a message from Argo.
What, really? You swapped gender?
That's really odd. I'll add a warning in the guide regarding that dungeon, as well as the fact a cure to the curse isn't currently known. We'll meet at that restaurant I got a meal out of your buddies from.
See ya there about 3,
Argo
Well, that was nice. Seems she's happy to help us, although I won't be surprised if she wants a Col price for the aid. Upon telling Red about the message, she leads me to the meeting spot. We message Mojo while heading there, so he'll be showing up within five minutes or so of us arriving.
--------------------------
I got stared at again while I was walking there with Red.
"So...are guys staring because I look attractive to them? Or is something off with how I'm acting or moving?" I question Red as we walk.
Red takes a few seconds to answer, looking about the crowds and watching what guys are doing, by the looks of it.
"Yeah, it looks like attraction to me. I don't encounter it much myself – I suspect most guy's like long-haired girls." Red pats at her hair at the end of that, emphasizing it's short length.
I point out something that might contradict that.
"But wouldn't girls be kinda rare here? Clearer-tier ones, anyway? I would think you got a fair bit of attention when we faced Illfang."
Red shakes her head at that.
"It's possible people were focused on me, but I was too busy fighting the boss, then trying to defend you from Kibaou to notice."
Makes sense. It was rather frantic around that time. Any "this raider is a cute girl" glances might not be be noticed due to the situations that occured.
"I don't generally care too much, though. If someone was interested in me, I'd prefer it being for
me, not for how I look." She continued.
"I agree with that view, frankly. A relationship should mainly be about you liking someone's personality – although look is also an important factor. Just not what should be the most important, I think." I explain my views, nodding as I do so.
"Regarding my own likings, I've always been attracted to short-haired girls. I just figured it seemed more practical, to keep it that short. The general counter seemed to be 'but you can do so much more with it longer.'" I pitch my voice higher, in an attempt to indicate whining, at the last bit.
I miss the small smile Red gives upon hearing what hair type I fancy, busy gesturing to emphasize my quoted answer.
"Regardless, we've kinda drifted offtopic. We were talking about the fact guys are staring at you, and what to do about it." Red drags us back to our original point of discussion.
"Now, I'd suggest just ignoring them, personally. If it keeps bothering you, dressing in such a way as to draw less attention to your appearance is also an option." Red gives some practical advice, glancing at my outfit as she does so.
I'll admit the shirt hugs my new breasts surprisingly snugly, but I'm surprised that's enough to get guys drooling. I was never one to care much on how a girl dressed....was I just the odd one out?
Gods knows media emphasized it enough for it to seep into the social behavior of my gender.
"So...get some less alluring clothes, or ignore them?" I repeat, checking I've understood.
"Yep. A cloak of some sort is an option, as is wearing a breastplate or leather armour. I haven't bothered due to the lack of attention, myself." Red confirms.
I think about that for a bit as we make our way to the meeting place, a restaurant in the markets area.
"I think I'll just try and ignore them. Hopefully, a hairdressers or something will be found soon, so I can cut this long hair. It's...really annoying." I state my answer, waving my hand behind my back as I did so.
The hair – it keeps distracting me. And I swear my neck get's tickled every time I darn move!
I've also noticed my head keeps warmth a lot better now, as a side effect.
"Yeah, hopefully. I never went for long hair myself for the upkeep issue. It takes ages to wash and dry, although I'd imagine that isn't an issue here..."
As Red trails off saying that, we arrive at the restaurant, hidden between a stall selling daggers and one selling something in a bottle. I'm not quite sure what, though.
Mojo isn't there yet, seemingly still busy making his way to us. We spot Argo out the front though, wrapped in her cloak and hidden in shadows.
"You trying to hide from us, Argo?" I ask her in a joking tone.
"Well what do you know, it is you Mizu. Never would have guessed, but you're the only one who talks to me like that." Argo seems surprised by my change.
I'm hurt. Didn't she believe me?
Also, I'm the only one who acts joking with her? What does everyone else do when interacting with her? Be all polite and respectful?
...Actually, I could see that happening. Japanese folk tend to like doing that, after all.
"Yeah, it's me. I go by the name Azure now, though. Shall we go inside to escape prying eyes?" I say to her.
She nods and we follow her in, with Red tapping at her menu as we do so. I presume she's updating Mojo on where to meet us.
This restaurant is an interesting one, with tables where you can sit and eat as per normal, but also the option of private rooms to have a meal in. Argo books one of these for our meeting, and we wander inside and sit down on some cushions laid out there.
Argo takes off her hood as we sit, and I spot whiskers on her face. Didn't she get those from the same quest I did during the beta? Maybe she liked the look and got facepaint of it this time round.
My own whiskers had vanished when I awoke. Red and Mojo hadn't commented on them, so maybe they disappeared upon the quest being completed?
"So, what happened?" Argo asked me once we'd all sat down.
"Well, the short version is I got cursed by a trap mirror. The long one...really only involves me explaining the temple location and description, actually." I was planning on a big speech there, but kinda trailed off upon realizing it wasn't needed.
"Well, that info shall also be helpful to me, so might as well go the long route. You mentioned a mirror?" Argo asked me, gesturing in a "go on" manner as she does so.
"Yeah. so after Red and Mojo found us we'd all searched for that temple together. We found it...here." I say, bringing up my floor map and pointing to the icon labelling it.
"...I can't see that. You forgot to make it visible to others." Argo prompted me.
I blush a bit upon hearing that, causing her to let out a bark of laughter.
"What?" I ask, confused.
"Even how you blush has changed, 'Azure'." Argo comments in amusement.
"Beforehand, when I could get you all embarrassed your ears just turned a bit red. Now your whole face turns a crimson shade. Dunno why that is, but it's pretty funny."
OK~
Don't quite know why that is happening, frankly. Why would how I blush change based on my gender? Is whatever program generating my new appearance thinking this would be a "cuter" method or something?
I suppose as long as it doesn't affect my behavior it doesn't matter.
Anyway, after a change to my settings Argo could now see the map. She spent a few seconds studying the icon, before asking me to continue.
"Anyway, we found the temple in a chasm underground - it had an opening on the mountain we had to climb down using rope Mojo had gotten earlier."
"Once at the temple, which was a shiny white colour, we explored it for the item you said was there."
"Eventually me and Red got separated from Mojo and fell into a pit.We only survived as the pit slowed our fall, for some reason."
Argo made a sound of interest upon hearing that.
"Once me and Red recovered from our near-death experience, we explored the area."
"There was a mirror there Mizu kept turning me away from!" Red chimed in, causing Argo to glance at her.
"That's because I know of similar stuff from fiction and other media. It just felt like the thing was cursed - and it was, as you can see." I gesture at myself at the end, there.
"I thought it was a "curse-on-sight" mirror at first, so was trying to stop Red getting a direct line-of-sight view of the thing. She got past me regardless, but nothing happened, so I figured it was a curse on touch one, then."
Red looks embarrassed hearing that. Well, it was for her own safety I was trying to stop her. She shouldn't have kept trying to escape me, or at least took my precautions to heart.
"We'd noticed some writing on the walls about the mirror, and I was just looking at that when the ground shook, knocking me into the mirror and rending me paralyzed, blind and partially deaf."
Red looks surprised at the news. I'm not sympathetic - they could have seen my status on the party screen, if they'd bothered to check I wouldn't have been stuck till it wore off over five hours later.
"After that, Red finds Mojo somehow, they grab me and haul me back to town. My status effects wore off over time and then I got the story from them once I could move again." I end my tale.
"You forgot to mention I got tracings of the symbols on the wall" Mojo says from the room entrance, surprising us all.
"Mojo! What took you?" Red asks, looking curious. Wait, she didn't know?
"I was scouting the town for Kibaou and his flunkies. They're not here - seems they've moved on to the third floor."
We're up to the third floor now? That's quite a lot quicker than the 1F advance - it's only been around a week, hasn't it?
Argo seems more interested in the news of the tracings than where Mojo was.
"Can I see these tracings? Could be I can read them…" She says to Mojo.
After Mojo spawns a bit of paper from his inventory and hands it to her, Argo proceeds to study it for a few minutes.
"...Yeah, I've got nothing. Not a language I recognize, but I can put it in my guide with a reward fee for a translation. You'd be paying for that, though." Argo gives disappointing news.
Mojo and Red wince a bit, for some reason. Are Argo's services expensive? I only know she likes saying "that'll be 100 Col".
Considering 100 Col is a tiny sum, you'd figure she'd offer stuff for cheap. Unless it was based on rarity of info?
"OK. How much would it be?" I ask her, wanting to get an answer to the riddle of the words,
While I'm finding being a girl to be not too~ bad an experience, I'd much prefer to be able to go back to my male form. Even if it means Kibaou could find me then.
"30k Col." Was her answer.
That's...quite expensive. I could see why Red and Mojo winced, now.
"I don't get a discount price? I did help you with the guide, after all. Not to mention all this info about the curse." I attempt to barter.
It only slightly works.
"Hmm...I guess you've got a point. How about this - you can pay me in installments. 10k now and 5k every week until you've paid it off." Was her answer.
...I think my services aren't valued much.
After making a face at the news, I nodded and doled out the cash. Well, now I'm pretty cleaned out. Only got 2085 Col left, now. I suspect Red and Mojo are in similar straits, considering how they winced earlier.
"Thanks for the business. I'll add a warning about the temple in my guide, as well as mention what the mirror curse does and the writing on the wall. I'll send you a PM if I get anything useful for you." Argo says, before placing the tracings in her inventory and standing up.
I stop her, wanting to know something.
"Hey Argo" I ask, making her pause halfway to the door. "How much would someone need to pay you for you to have revealed my location earlier? And my change?"
"A million Col." She stated bluntly.
Well, don't think anyone's getting that out of her. But wait-
"So why did you reveal it to Mojo and Red? They said you had rebuffed 19 other players already?"
"Those guys?" Argo said with a laugh. "I just told them that I could find you, but to come back with a general location and a million Col. I'm an info broker, but that doesn't mean I'll sell people out for money."
What happened to her "I'll sell anything for Col" rep?
"And the rep you have? You claim to sell anything for Col. Why not player locations?"
Argo adopts a serious expression when I ask that.
"I'm not evil. I spin lies about my knowledge to have people come to me, and claim that I know things but will only sell for a ridiculous price for the things I won't do, or have no knowledge on yet. Mainly the won't do things – I'm pretty quick at getting info."
"I helped your friends as they seemed to genuinely care about you – Red's expression once I mentioned the plains mobs really proved that to me. I charged your buddies to keep quiet to keep up my rep as one who sells anything for cash."
OK, I get her reasoning. Still don't like the charging my friends when she didn't need to part of it, but I can see where she's coming from.
"I can understand that. I'm not particularly happy about charging my friends when you wouldn't sell the info anyway, though." I say with a frown. Argo crosses her arms.
"How about this? We forget the 5k per week part of the deal and I'll just advertise the mystery words for what you've paid me. That work as compensation?"
I pondered bartering for a sec, before remembering I'd already given her the starting cash. No luck changing that price.
A glance at Red and Mojo seemed to incline that'd work – they looked annoyed at finding they'd paid Col when they didn't need to, but the offer of not paying more seemed acceptable to them.
I didn't particularly want to grind near-constantly for the next few weeks to pay this off either, so I nodded.
"Great. With luck, I'll find someone for the mystery words pretty soon." With those words, Argo walked through the room door, and out of sight.
I sigh for a bit before sitting down again. We didn't really eat anything, just talk. I gesture for Red and Mojo to join me in our meal.
No point in our Col going to waste, considering how little we have at present.
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1 PM - Day 51/December 24th
Most of a week later and the fourth floor had been unlocked. I'd spent that time wandering around Urbus with Red, trying to get used to the new quirks this female form had to it. I'd adjusted to the physical bits for the most part; it was the social areas I was having a bit of issues with. Mainly how people treated me.
The staring from guys was difficult to get used to. I think a few girls stared once, as well…
On the upside, I'd noticed I was generally more fit and slimmer than my male form. That genderbending rule must include "fitness level" along with "appearance" in what improvements I gained.
I wasn't quite sure whether the advantages were worth the new gender, to be honest. It was nice regardless, though.
Red had managed to get me to join her in doing some Christmas shopping at present, as it was currently the 24th of December. Urbus and the second floor had turned into a snowy wonderland to signify the special occasion, as well. It apparently didn't extend to the first floor or above us, though.
"I'm just amazed that Urbus even celebrates Christmas!" I yell to Red as we wander through a crowd of players in one of Urbus's many markets. My sight was normal at present, as I'd stopped using <<Searching>> while in towns to separate this persona from Mizu.
"I think it's some sort of fantasy-variant, actually." Red yells back, pointing at a decoration as she does so.
I'll admit, I've never quite seen a Santa's Little Goat Helper before, so that snow figure could definitely be a fantasy counterpart.
The streets of Urbus were decorated with white, red and green. Except instead of the classic holly wreaths and Santa figures, we got random animals shapes looking like the mobs of the floor, and a hooded figure in white and green as the Santa substitute. I think I saw a sleigh snowman being pulled by a dragon, as well.
I'm just glad Evil Santa from the anime wasn't making an appearance. Although I think he's scheduled for next year, according to the timeline. Somewhere after the Black Cats TPK, anyway.
I'd looked about to see if Guilds could be formed yet, by the way. Turns out the answer is yes, but Mojo and Red stopped me making one. Apparently people would ask pointed questions about who I am and where the famed "cheater Mizu" went. The fact that Argo's Guide had spread the news of a genderswap quest would cause issues, they said.
I suppose they did have a point. Not like we could do anything as a guild we couldn't as friends, anyway. Well, beyond buying a house - and we were too poor for that.
"So we want one of these….and these...and this would be nice as well. Shall we get a little tree?" Red asks me, chattering to herself as she grabs items from the NPC vendors.
"Where could we put it? We're renting at an inn, remember?" I give as my answer. I'm just glad I'm not getting relegated to pack mule here - the fact we can store stuff in our inventories makes shopping so much easier. Especially as most of it gets to go into Red's inventory, as she's the one buying the stuff.
I'm not quite used to a snowy Christmas, to be honest. I'm from Australia, so we always had the event take place in the Summer season. It was a time of barbeques and heat waves, not roasted meals and snowfights.
I think I prefer this snowy type, personally.
"Under our bedside table, of course." Red says in a matter-of-fact tone. I was now sharing a room with her, as apparently it wasn't a good idea for me to bunk with Mojo. Something about me forgetting about nudity issues due to thinking I was male still.
That only happened once, and me and Mojo were both very embarrassed over it! I'll remember to wear my towel about my upper body as well as the lower half from now on...
The fact I could experience the same issue with Red didn't seem to bother her. Mojo just wilted to her command, as well. Something about never winning arguments with her when she was "like this".
I had no clue what "like this" was, personally. Wanting something, perhaps?
"...and how will Mojo get his presents, if it's in our inn room?" I ask, honestly curious of her answer.
"We'll let him in tomorrow for it." OK, kinda walked into that one.
"OK, you win there. We'll get a tree." Red fist pumps upon hearing my answer, for some reason.
"Why are we even celebrating Christmas in the first place?" I ask her, maneuvering around a clump of people in our way as I do so. "Surely it doesn't really matter compared to clearing the game?"
Red whirls to face me and pokes a finger in my chest as right as I finish speaking.
"Because it's Christmas. It's something from real life, a way to relax and temporarily forget about the life-and-death struggle we go through each day. I don't want what happened to Dan to occur to you or Mojo or anyone else!" OK, that's actually a pretty good reason.
I shut up after that and resumed helping her find gifts for us all. I grabbed a plushy for Red when she was busy looking somewhere else, and purchased a notepad for Mojo. Red said he liked math earlier, so something to write on could be handy for him.
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9 AM - Day 52/December 25th
The next day we all gathered in Red's room, which was now decorated with a little green tree in a brown pot under the desk we shared. There were also some presents near the pot, wrapped in white paper with our names written on them.
The NPC of Urbus didn't seem to sell coloured wrapping paper, unfortunately.
I'd elected to wear white today, for the Christmas theme, and was wearing a shirt and pants that almost glowed. The others wore their normal gear. Lazy non-theming friends...
"Well, now what? We hand out gifts to each other?" I say, sitting on my bed at the time. Mojo's in a chair near the door while Red's standing near the mini-tree.
"Yep!" Red chirps, grabbing a present and looking at it. Her expression turns puzzled.
"Mizu~" She said in a sing-song voice.
I think I'm in trouble. But what could the reason be?
"Could you read this for me?" She angles the present she's got in my direction.
"Why can't you read it? It says it's for you, regardless." I answer, wary. I know there's a trap here somewhere…
"That might~ be because you wrote the names in English" was her reply.
Oops. Keep forgetting about that.
All she did after that was give me a frown, before opening the wrapping and grabbing her gift.
It was that plushie I saw earlier - a little chibi dragon in the western style made of blue cotton. Looked a bit like Silica's pet, honestly - except hand-sized and made of cloth. It also didn't have feathery wings, I guess."
Red smiled upon seeing the toy and hugged it to herself, giving me a smile. Guess she liked it?
Mojo didn't seem as thrilled with my gift to him, giving me a questioning look upon finding the notepad. He seemed depressed when I explained why I gave it, as well. Did I make a mistake?
If I did, I blame Red. She's his sister – it's odd she doesn't know his likes and dislikes. Maybe she didn't know of anything that he liked that would also be in the game? Not like football exists here, for example.
Red also got a hair decoration from Mojo - some little snowflake crystal clip that looked pretty fragile. Mojo claimed it gave a "+1 to cuteness", which caused a grin to show on Red's face.
She pinned it to her hair right after finding it, stopping a strand from going into her face.
Mojo also got a pair of white shorts from Red, for some reason. Considering the snowy weather outside, it didn't really match the season.
Opening my last gift, which was a small package from Red, I find a bunch of blue cloth with little star patterns on it. Clothing, like what Mojo got?
Lifting it up revealed it to be...a bra and panties? I gave Red a confused look.
Just because I'm female now doesn't mean I like dressing that way. I've kept to gender-neutral clothes so far, and obtained a cloak to stop guys staring at me. Hasn't seemed to work, sadly.
I've also stuck to just wearing undies, as the point of a bra doesn't really apply here. Red thinks I should regardless, but it feels weird~
Mojo looks on the verge of laughing from my reaction, and Red had a smile on her face as well.
"It's a bathing suit." was her answer to my look. This only made me swap to a glare.
Darn it, Red! I don't particularly want to wear this if I go swimming. I find it hard enough ignoring the stares from guys while I'm mostly clothed!
"I thought we needed some new clothes for the fourth floor. It's apparently almost all water-based, with only the cities and staircase entrance being dry land." Was her response.
OK, that makes sense. Now I want to know why she got me what seems to be a two-piece bathing suit for it!
"And this?" I ask, raising the offending clothing in her direction. Honestly, the design isn't too bad. It's just the idea of wearing it that's making me baulk.
Red seems to shrink a bit before answering me, with her face turning crimson.
In a quiet voice, she muttered "I thought you'd look good in it?"
...Is Red attracted to girls? Or me, for that matter? I don't know how to respond to this.
"...OK~. I'll think about it, but you know how I get bothered by guys staring. This would only make it worse." I say slowly, unsure how to react.
She seems mollified I didn't immediately reject the gift. Yay?
Mojo had lost his fight with the giggles when I'd swapped to glaring earlier, and had been quietly laughing in his seat for the last few moments.
"Oh man, Mizu. If this keeps up, next thing you know Red will have you in a dress and bows in your hair." Mojo said in between laughs.
We both glare at him for that comment.
0----------------0
Do note if I've missed references to paying Argo's advertising fee or something. I had Mizu and friends paying her 5k per week for ad services, but changed that to the current situation. I just don't think I updated everything to match.
