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“Heyy, we’ve arrived at the mid-stop station, are you alright?”
“Urk… You never told me we’d have to cross a desert…”
“I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you too. But you’re really weak to sunlight, I guess it makes sense for a vampire.”

Crim groaned weakly, being carried on Ryunosuke’s back. He apologized while scratching his shin awkwardly, continuing to carry her forward.

After departing from Schwarzwald, they followed a road along a river. The weather during most of that part of the trip was cloudy, so sunlight did not pose any major issues.

That region was also inhabited by ogres, a species of demons, but as Crim was a Noble Red, also a demon species, they treated her as a friendly entity.

Some of the more hot-blooded ogres did challenge her to fights, and as they were a rather combative species, they had better weapons and experience compared to her, leading to what Crim considered thrilling and exciting battles.

That made her want to challenge them on repeat as well, and after the third match Ryunosuke had enough and had to drag her away from there.

Also, she gained the Katana Skill from an NPC called ‘Samurai General: Gi-Tel from the A-Ga Clan’, who was the chief of the village and the third challenger. But Crim had no plans of using that Skill, so she just ignored it.

“Alright so, is it fine if I post about this on the forums?”
“Sure, I’m not really trying to sell information either, so go ahead.”

There were likely a lot of other players who did want the Katana Skill, who would appreciate knowing where to get it. Crim did not mind if Ryunosuke made that knowledge public.

The only condition she gave was that he keep it secret until the Foggy Lakeside Town of Nebel was registered as her territory.

As they moved forward, the vegetation around them became more sparse and the air dry. The sun also appeared to be shining stronger, though it was not exactly unbearable yet.

There were sheeps and goats grazing around too, giving it a rustic appearance. But there were larger things that somewhat resembled goats too, which made the ground tremble as they wandered about, bringing some excitement to the otherwise peaceful scenery.

Crim actually really wanted to try fighting them at least once, but Ryunosuke clobbered her head while looking completely pale, forcing her to give up almost through tears.

I really want to fight them though. Those tentacles on the goats look so funny too.

She decided she would attempt fighting them another time when she had a chance.

They arrived at the next area by noon, and there Crim felt despair looming on her.

There was only sand as far as the eye could see, the sun shining brightly without any shelter in sight.

If those events were being broadcasted, then there would have likely been a freeze frame of Crim’s face with faded colors, with the subtitle To Be Continued. Ryunosuke could only laugh as he saw so much sheer terror and emotion contained in Crim’s face.

In the end Crim decided to gather her courage and get across alone, but her determination crumbled in just half an hour.

By then she could hardly move one step forward, looking like she could topple over lifelessly at any moment. It was then that Ryunosuke decided to carry her on his back, keeping her wrapped in the shade of her coat. But even then she hardly moved.

The days of Destiny Unchain Online only lasted 20 hours, making them a fair bit shorter than those of real life.

The reason why they could not make them shorter, like other games which had 2 hour long days, or 12 hour days, was because the NPCs in this game actually had a proper life and behavior, which could be distorted if their days were too short.

But if they synced it to real life hours, then that would lead to issues where players, especially those with a proper job, would only get to experience the game while it was night, which also was not ideal.

So a 20 hour long cycle ended up doing the trick, striking a nice balance between being long enough while still offering a variety of times to players.

And so after crossing through three regions in one day, they reached the end of the desert. A mid-stop city placed at the bottom of a ravine.

There was a creek running through the ravine, which offered at least a bit of clear water, and sustained the life of vegetation nearby.

The buildings there looked like they had been carved out of the cliff sides, one of which was an inn where the traveling pair took refuge.

“Hahhhh…I feel like I’m alive again. Beds are the bestttt.”
“Hahah, you’ve earned it.”

The instant she was in a room where the sun did not reach, Crim instantly regained her spirits, though the exhaustion that had piled up during the trip also caught up to her, and she instantly threw herself on a bed.

“Yeah… You did too though, thank you Ryunosuke.”

Keeping half of her face buried in the pillow, she turned to smile at Ryunosuke, who sat down at the next bed.

“…I already told you. You shouldn’t be looking at guys like that so carelessly…”
“…?”
“…It’s nothing, nevermind. Just be careful, alright?”

Crim just tilted her head with a puzzled look hearing Ryunosuke’s advice.

It might seem strange for someone who can log out to stay in an inn, but there was a proper reason for that.

When spending the night in one’s room, a borrowed room, a dungeon’s safehouse, or an inn, players would gain Sleep Points according to how long they were away, which would improve the rate at which Skill Points are obtained, or at least up to a certain point.

“Ahem, I think I’ll call it a day now. You aren’t getting off yet?”
“Ah…umm, I think I’ll go look around the city for a bit, and then I’ll hop off.”

In reality she could not logout. But she did not feel comfortable sharing that, so she just tried to give a vague excuse.

“Alright, I’ll be going then. See you tomorrow.”
“Mhm, thanks. Good night.”

A moment after that Ryunosuke logged out and his avatar vanished.

Unable to bear the sudden loneliness that filled the room, Crim checked her NLD’s inbox, and noticed that she had a large number of unread messages, which she had missed during her trip.

“We should be able to get in the game tomorrow too!”
“I’ll catch up to you in no time, you’ll see.”
“Subaru is actually really excited about playing with you again that he can hardly contain himself. He just doesn’t like to admit it, so try to bear with him lol”
“I think you already know you shouldn’t believe everything Hijiri says.”

A chuckle escaped her lips as she read the long list of messages from the twins.

“I think I should be able to make it back to Wyndham by tomorrow night. I’ll tell you as soon as I’m there, alright?”

Crim wrote a response, though it was already midnight in the real world. She did not expect a reply since it was so late, but a certain chime quickly proved her wrong.

“Okie, I’ll be waiting for you!”

Hijiri replied almost instantly.

Subaru had probably gone to sleep early so the next day would come sooner, while Hijiri was too excited to be able to sleep.

Crim assumed that was what happened from the instant reply, and soon found herself chuckling more as she thought about it.

“Good night now, see you tomorrow.”
“Mhm, night night!”

Seeing that instant reply filled Crim’s heart with a warm feeling, which she relished as she turned to face up on the bed.

Soon after she was overwhelmed by a sense of drowsiness, likely because of how much she had been walking that day. Amidst it she began to think.

I want to see them so badly…

That was the first time she felt homesick after arriving in this world and knowing she could not leave.