The group’s current mission was to venture deep into the forest to gather materials the fairies needed.

Though none seemed particularly rare or hard to obtain, the sheer variety meant collection would still take effort.

As Vitamin followed the others deeper into the forest, her gaze kept darting around—she’d inherited memories, but as a newly created being, everything before her eyes was fresh and fascinating. To the others, however, her glances simply looked like diligent searching for materials, drawing no special attention.

When the girls of the Mercenary Corps gathered, chatter was inevitable. Fresh from dinner, they naturally drifted to food—everyone’s favorite dishes.

Vitamin listened quietly to these “old friends” she’d just met, a faint smile touching her lips. Her memories promised such moments were joyful; experiencing it firsthand, she found she loved this warmth too.

Every ordinary moment once belonging to “Vitamin” felt like a new discovery—like finally stepping into a place she’d always longed to visit.

“What about you, Susu?” the conversation turned to her. “What’s your favorite food?”

“Favorite… food?” Vitamin froze. Neither she nor Chen Su ate real food—did nutrient solution count?

After a pause, an answer surfaced.

“Cake. Cream cake… the tall, tower-like kind from banquets!” She gestured with her hands.

It came from the early days of virtual reality development, when fairy tales served as testbeds. Cinderella’s ballroom scene was where Vitamin first encountered taste simulation. Researchers had urged her to try the food. Drawn to the towering cake’s grandeur, she’d taken a bite. The first taste simulation was crude—overwhelmingly sweet, like someone mistook 100g of sugar for 100kg. But it was her first taste in years.

As the tech improved, so did the cake. Fairy tales always had banquets, and soon cream cakes became “starter rations” handed to her. The taste team practically mastered baking virtual cakes.

So yes—cream cake. Sweet. Blissful.

“Oh, right! Cream cake!” Chen Su, observing through the system, slapped her thigh. “Haven’t had it in ages. Almost forgot.”

After taste simulation wrapped up, the team moved on. She’d grown tired of cake anyway.

“Craving some?” Isabella waved a hand, conjuring a plate of cream cake topped with a strawberry.

“Well… I won’t say no.” Chen Su grinned, spearing a forkful. Snowy cream melted on her tongue, blending with fluffy sponge, flooding her mouth with rich aroma.

“But… I still want to try a real one someday.”

“…”

Vitamin’s answer hung in the air, met with subtle silence.

“What’s wrong?” Vitamin tensed.

“Nothing…” Snowy Study shook her head. “Susu just really likes desserts.”

The disconnect was stark—Snowy Study had just declared her love for spicy crayfish. Everyone else named savory dishes; Vitamin alone offered cake.

“I love ice cream!” Dongliumeng chimed in. “Milk-flavored waffle cones!”

“Egg tarts!” Miaodayan perked up at desserts.

“Pocky,” Spreading Flame and Snowy Study said in unison.

“Ew… Pocky game?”

“…”

Conversation inevitably circled to Mysterious, a Mercenary Corps tradition.

“…Nothing,” he replied flatly. No strong food preferences.

“Orange juice?” Guxiyu offered. “Bottled stuff. I’ve seen him drink it… He barely touches the cookies and stuff I bake.”

Everyone knew Guxiyu and Mysterious knew each other offline—just not how well.

“…” Towa’s eyes narrowed. *Baking cookies for him? What’s that about?*

Others focused elsewhere:

“You bake, Xiao Xi?”

“Uh…” Guxiyu blinked, startled. “Just a hobby. Cookies, cakes… when I’m free.”

“Then ‘that thing’ belongs to you,” Miaodayan declared.

“???”

“The dessert cookbook from Nanming’s palace. It’s been gathering dust with the Guild Leader. No one cooks here.”

“…”

Mid-chatter, two monster factions clashed ahead: a chieftain-level Stonehide Bear King versus a dozen Bloomguard Bees, battling over honey.

A chieftain boss on the path? No passing that up—especially when Bloomguard Honey was on their material list.

“Take the bear first. Bigger threat,” Spreading Flame decided. Swarm minions were less urgent than a boss.

“Go.” VeiEr lunged at the bear king.

Vitamin charged after her, twin swords drawn—her first real battle.

Mid-sprint, she swung her blade. Four sword silhouettes materialized around her.

VeiEr struck first, using Slaughter Assault to appear behind the bear swatting at bees. Her axe bit deep into its knee.

The bear roared, abandoning the bees to face VeiEr.

Vitamin seized the opening—[Qi Gathering Slash].

Her four sword shadows struck as one, slamming into the bear. Aggro shifted instantly. A massive paw swiped toward her.

Calmly, Vitamin retreated, directing her sword shadows to intercept the paw, slowing its momentum.

She dodged cleanly, then crossed her blades. A crimson cross-shaped slash carved into the bear’s hide.

Guxiyu surged forward, Tidal Charge slamming into the bear’s chest. The two-meter giant stumbled back half a step. A crashing [Tidal Slam] stole its focus.

“ROAR!” Enraged, the bear raised its claw to crush Guxiyu.

[Bludgeon Stun].

A dizziness icon popped above the bear’s head. Spreading Flame emerged from stealth.

“So nice not tanking,” he muttered, landing a backstab. Before Guxiyu joined, *he’d* been the reluctant tank.

Bosses broke crowd control fast. The bear shook off the stun, claw swinging at Guxiyu again.

Guxiyu braced her sword to block.

But sword shadows flickered upward, deflecting the paw’s force. The blow only chipped off 2,000 HP—Snowy Study’s heal topped her off instantly.

“…” Guxiyu glanced at Vitamin, surprised. Blocking was hard enough; shielding others was another level.

“~” Vitamin shot her a playful wink. With advanced combat AI, she wouldn’t embarrass this role.

While they fought the bear, the Bloomguard Bees kept stinging it.

Even a chieftain boss couldn’t withstand such focused fire. Its health plummeted. It collapsed, loot spilling from its corpse.

They cleared the bees next—Bloomguard Honey secured.

Thanks to Towa’s luck, the bear dropped generously, even yielding an orange-rarity longsword.

“Anyone need this?” Snowy Study lifted the blade. Only two here used longswords.

“I’m set,” Guxiyu declined. “My weapon’s a set piece. Better than this.”

Vitamin wouldn’t swap gear either—

“I’ll take it,” Vitamin said. “I can use it too.”

The old her avoided high-rarity gear to prevent attachments. But *she* was different.

It felt greedy, yet she yearned to forge connections. To be remembered—even just as Vitamin.

Watching this virtual persona blend seamlessly into the Mercenary Corps, Chen Su relaxed.

*Take it from here.*

…

After a night of hard work, the group finally gathered all the materials by the next day. They returned to the fairies’ settlement.

“We’ve brought everything back,” Spreading Flame said, pulling items from his backpack. He faced the eagerly waiting fairies.

“Wowee—” Like kids at kindergarten snack time, the fairies swarmed over, scrambling for treats. Sandy the squirrel—used as their excuse—could only crouch on a tree branch, watching them with a pitiful look.

Luckily, the fairy leader had a conscience. He got Sandy his favorite acorn.

“Sorry, we didn’t know what ‘pretty leaves’ you meant, so we brought extras,” Spreading Flame continued. He walked to the confessed-to fairy and held out the leaves. “If these don’t work, we’ll find more?”

But she didn’t trouble the unlucky players. She picked a wide, neatly shaped leaf. “This one’s perfect.”

She flew to the treetop with it, pulled out a quill pen from nowhere, and started writing.

Soon, she flew back to Vitamin—the quest acceptor—with the leaf.

“Could you do me one more favor?” the fairy asked Vitamin.

“Hmm.” Vitamin nodded.

“Please deliver this letter to that person.” The ‘that person’ was clearly the alchemist who gave Vitamin the quest.

The pretty leaf served as letter paper… though it was just a written leaf, its contents easy to see. But the fairy, probably shy, held it backside up, hiding the words.

“Sure, no problem.” Vitamin took it. A system prompt chimed, accepting the quest.

While Vitamin handled this, Dongliumeng brought up Mysterious again.

“Guild Leader, we’re done with our quest. Wanna play together?”

“I’m leveling up,” Mysterious replied.

“We can help! And Guxiyu’s here—it’s rare.”

“…”

Mysterious finally agreed… though he’d just wanted to level quietly.

“By the way…” Dongliumeng started chatting casually after the ‘serious stuff’.

“…” Watching the name in guild chat that rarely replied, Vitamin’s feelings turned complex—mostly nervous. That was her… no, himself…

“Hmm, if you’re curious, you can peek,” the fairy added after handing over the leaf—no, the letter. “Nothing embarrassing in it anyway.”

Vitamin flipped it over. The note thanked the alchemist for the fun times and for remembering her. Clearly, the fairy meant to reject his feelings.

“Won’t you see him once more?” Vitamin asked after reading.

“Nope!” The fairy shook her head. “Humans and fairies can’t be together. Ending it like this is romantic, don’t you think?”

“…”