Chapter 10

Saya carried me around, walking everywhere, and I was thrown up into the air multiple times to scout, but the results weren't very good.

"Hey, isn't it too hard to find anything?"

"Indeed, but it's more like they're not there in the first place..."

"Feels like they're hiding out of fear, doesn't it?"

"Maybe something happened?"

Saya also seemed to sense the unnaturalness and spoke with a curious tone. Her expression was hard to read since she was a bear.

Looking around, there were signs of life such as unnaturally dug-up soil, rolled-up leaves, and broken branches. In the offline version, these effects would eventually return to normal, but how about in the online version?

"Hey, you bear over there!"

A voice came from nowhere. It sounded like a man, slightly older. The source of the voice was a bit far away...

"Saya, you're being called?"

"Seems so. That way? Maybe another player?"

"Shall we go check?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know what's going on too."

"What about me?"

"Come along, why not? I think they just haven't noticed you yet."

"That makes sense. Alright, let's move as a colony!"

I could be carried by Saya, but let's make a grand entrance by colonizing. It's a rare opportunity to surprise them before the information spreads!

"...What are you planning?"

"No, no, I just thought it might be a bit odd to be carried and stuck to a rock for my first appearance?"

"Then what's your real intention?"

"Well, since it's a rare opportunity, I thought it might be fun to surprise them a bit..."

Why did you figure it out!? It was a good idea, wasn't it!?

"I'm not saying it's bad to surprise them, but don't knock them over, okay?"

"Ah, I won't do that."

"Okay, then it's fine."

Alright, I got Saya's permission! Now, unseen players, be prepared! ...Wait, why do I need Saya's permission for my actions?

"I'll go ahead."

"Alright, I'll prepare and then follow."

Saya headed towards the player who called out. The preparation isn't much, just using a skill normally. Hehehe. Let's fully utilize colony movement and internal colony movement!

I moved to a position in Saya's blind spot and followed her.

"Oh, the bear came! The other one ignored me and flew away..."

"Um, this tree? Are you Almares? Nice to meet you."

"Call me Al for short! You must be Saya, nice to meet you! I'm so glad you recognized the tree right away! It's been so boring, being a tree in the online version and not being able to move..."

The player seemed to be a tree standing a bit in front of a towering cliff. The cursor being gray means they're from the same 'Gray Colony.' This is only the second player we've encountered, but maybe players tend to cluster by colony?

Let's do some preliminary checks. At the base of the cliff, there are bumpy rocks covered in moss. This forest is full of moss, which is helpful. The moss here is a bit withered, but I managed to colonize it. Alright, preparation complete.

I can understand how the tree feels. Early on, plant types can't move and it's more like a work game, and you end up waiting for recovery, which gets boring. Considering that, being able to move as a colony is a good thing for moss, right?

Hmm, but it feels a bit different. Alright, since you were bored, I'll—

"So, the moss? Is that you, Kai? Is it really moss? Or are you just a bug carrying moss? Wait, you disappeared!?"

"Ah, you figured it out so quickly."

Damn, why did you figure it out!? Being seen through on the first try was unexpected! I quickly moved to the moss behind Almares using internal colony movement. What should I do!? Should I just go for it?

"Kai, why don't you give up and come out?"

"Huh? You can still sense me nearby. Saya, what kind of movement do you have?"

"Well, it's like this. Um—"

Oh, Saya is about to reveal my plan!? Damn, no time to hesitate!

"Hehehe, well then—"

＜Action point 1 consumed to activate 'Internal Colony Movement Lv1'＞ Action points 10/11

Moved from behind Almares to the front!

"You saw through it!"

＜Action point 1 consumed to activate 'Internal Colony Movement Lv1'＞ Action points 9/11

This time to the right!

"Indeed!"

＜Action point 1 consumed to activate 'Internal Colony Movement Lv1'＞ Action points 8/11

One more, to the left!

"It's me!"

＜Action point 1 consumed to activate 'Internal Colony Movement Lv1'＞ Action points 7/11

Moved to the top of the cliff—

＜Extracted water from the stream from inventory＞

Released the water!

＜Action point 1 consumed to activate 'Internal Colony Movement Lv1'＞ Action points 6/11

And finally, to the big rock in front!

"I am moss!"

"...Kai, you don't have to slide, you know?"

I repeatedly used internal colony movement to move randomly around Almares while talking, and finally appeared on the moss-covered rock at the top of the cliff after releasing water from the stream to create a waterfall effect. I wanted to do a horror-style approach like Merry, but—

＜Met the required conditions to obtain the skill 'One-shot Performance: Sliding'＞

Wait, there's such a skill!? I didn't expect to get a skill, let alone a sliding one!

"Hahaha! What did you just do!? I heard voices from all over, and then water fell from above, and you appeared on that rock! Can moss really teleport!?"

It was more well-received than I thought. No, it's not that it was well-received, but he was more interested in the skill... So, I did slide.

"Well, it's kind of like conditional teleportation. By the way, I just got a skill called 'One-shot Performance: Sliding'—"

"What's that!?! There's even a skill like that! You're quite interesting, I like you. Let's introduce ourselves again, my name is Almares, and I'm a tree. Nice to meet you, Kai!"

"I'm moss, as you can see. Just call me Kai, Almares."

"Call me Al. Saya, you're quite interesting too!"

"Hehe, I think so too. And just call me Saya. Hey, why don't we add each other as friends?"

"Sure, I'd love to!"

"Me too. Al seems interesting."

We all agreed to add each other as friends. Now I have two friends on the first day! This is the charm of online games!

"By the way, did Kai and Saya know each other in real life?"

"I met Kai a little after starting the game."

"Really? I thought you were already friends."

"I was supposed to play with a real-life friend, but things happened, and now I'm playing with Kai."

"Hmm, I see. You looked close, so I thought you were already friends."

Hmm, so from the outside, Saya and I looked that way. I do feel a strong connection, but... Wait, there was something in what he said that caught my attention.

"Hey, Al, what do you mean by 'when you saw us'?"

"Oh, that. This tree has a unique skill called 'Kinship Synergy.' If certain conditions are met, it can share visual and auditory senses with other plants."

"Interesting skill. But since it's unique, it doesn't help much. So, you knew we were a duo from the start?"

"Yep. You seemed to have a plan, but it was still quite surprising. I'm sorry for ruining your main plan."

"Speaking of which, it didn't feel like your main plan. What was your original plan?"

You didn't say a word about giving up on the main plan and changing to a different one. How did he figure it out? Well, it's fine to reveal it to these two.

"I was planning to gradually get closer and do a horror-style performance like Merry."

"Ah, that would be subtly scary. You don't usually experience that in real life. But it wouldn't work if they knew you existed!"

"You planned it quite well, Kai."

"Ugh, I'll do it properly to someone someday!"

Despite the unexpected turn of events, I enjoyed the lively conversation and decided to execute my horror performance someday.