Loreley sat in the gray room, looking at the basic character in front of her. It all felt so real, and yet so foreign simultaneously. What would she make? Would she just be herself? No, that was no fun. She had to be an interesting character that others might not immediately recognize from the real world. Not that she worried too much about meeting her real life friends here. Not that she had any real life friends. How depressing. With a heavy sigh, she shook her head and walked up to sculpt the character in front of her. Ultimately she ended up with a shorter, more average girl, with brown hair and a long braided ponytail. And then she threw some freckles on because everyone thinks freckles are cute. Right? Stepping back, she smiled at the character she would be inhabiting, satisfied that this was the girl that, hopefully in this game, was about to change the world with her music. And so, she was finished. Just as soon as she had confirmed everything she was snapped into the game with hardly even a loading screen. She was in a forest. A dense and dreary forest no less. Leaves rustled, trees swayed in the wind, and little pillars of light shone in through the canopy of trees. It was a little spooky, actually. Not the best place to have started her off, she thought. But there was a path, and that seemed like a much better idea than just getting lost in the forest all willy nilly. So she put boots to dirt and made her way. It wasn't long before she arrived in Honeyhome, and her heart skipped a beat, as she suddenly found herself ignoring everything and looking for a tavern immediately. "I need to find a place to sing!" she told herself, wanting to start her music adventure immediately. And the village had an inn, because of course it did. All villages had inns. With nary a second thought, she was on her way, practically crashing through the door as she reached it, prompting a few patrons to glance and glare at her, before returning to their food, drink, and conversation. Loreley practically vibrated with excitement as she moved to the counter where the bartender stood, and he gave her a bit of a confused look at the woman bounced up and down on her toes in front of his bar. "Mister, mister," she started, hardly able to contain herself at this chance in a new world, "do you have a band at this inn or something? Or a stage to play on? Or karaoke? Or something?!" One of those was probably a bit too farfetched for this world, but her mind was going a mile a minute too fast for her to process that. The sooner her musical journey got started, the sooner everyone would know her name as a performer.
It had been a long day. Emerath yearned for the muffled din of the tavern that he had found himself in at the start of this game. Not to mention he needed food and water. At least, that's what the needs menu told him. Emerath never was one to properly pay attention to his own needs. Perhaps that menu would come more in handy than he ever could have imagined. As he munched on a chicken leg and drank some water, he was content. He enjoyed that the food tasted real, even if it was your basic run of the mill bar food. But it was food. It filled his food bar, and that was what was mattered. However, these thoughts didn't last long, as the muffled din of the tavern was suddenly ruined by a woman bursting through the door and running straight up to the barkeep. He sighed and pushed his plate away, suddenly very disinterested in his quiet meal. These things just never worked out in an MMO. Really, Emerath should have known better. He listened to the girl bother the barkeep about performing music of some sort. Who was this girl? She didn't even have an instrument that Emerath could see. How did she plan to play? And what if the bar didn't want to listen to her? What if some people just wanted to eat their food in peace? Emerath gave another heavy sigh and stood up. He noticed he wasn't alone, as other patrons seemed disinterested in this girl and her music. Although there were some that seemed intrigued by the entire exchange. Perhaps she'd have an audience after all. Perhaps Emerath could see what happens. Slowly he sat back down and pulled himself back to the table, while casually pulling the plate of chicken back to him. He pulled a bit of the meat off, chewing it thoughtfully. This world was an adventure after all. Why not wait and see?
Loreley looked at the barkeep with large round eyes, as the patrons of the bar stared daggers at her. She didn't mind. Soon enough they would be enjoying her wonderful melodies and any complaints they had would have gone out the window, right? She had no time to figure anything else in this world. She played VRMMOs for the music! But the barkeep just stared at her quietly, almost as if he were considering something. Hey, maybe he was thinking of how much she'd get paid if she did a good job! She giggled lightly as she waited for the man's reply. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak, and Loreley held her breath. "Miss. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but we already have our music players. In fact, our piano man should be showing up anytime now. He's a professional and has been playing here for ages. I'm sorry, but maybe some other time. Like during a festival perhaps? Plenty of opportunities to play music during festivals." The barkeep tried his best to give the girl a smile as he shot her down, but Loreley just stared off at the wall behind him, her face devoid of any remaining emotion. But she tried her best to pull herself together again despite her heartbroken state. "I understand, mister. Thanks anyway..." she sulked, as she turned and made her way out the door. It was clear that many of the patrons felt bad, but none seemed to step up to console her as she made her way out of the tavern and back out into the village proper, before moving to the wall next to the doorway and sitting there, her knees tight against her chest as she tried her best not to cry. Only just started the game, and already she had failed her musical mission.
Oh no. The poor girl had been turned down, and it clearly broke her heart. To say that this development was surprising would be an utter lie, but that didn't mean that Emerath didn't still feel for her. As she shuffled out of the bar, Emerath pulled a chicken bone from his mouth, absentmindedly wondering if this had been the same chicken that had been following him earlier in the day. What delicious karma it would be if that were the case. But no, that wasn't important right now. He had just watched a young lady have her heart broken by a mean ol' bartender. Now it was time for him to go try to make things right. He sighed, and wondered when he actually started to care, but nonetheless this was the path he chose. He supposed he had a fondness for these bubbly girls. Not that he would admit it out loud. Emerath pushed his chair back, leaving these thoughts on the table, as he pulled the napkin he had tucked into his shirt out, and then placed it next to the plate of half eaten chicken. Slowly, he stood, stretching as he did, and patting his belly for a good, albeit interrupted meal. But such was life, eh? At least if this was like other VRMMOs, he wouldn't be hungry when he left the game. Not that he needed to be any thinner than he already was in real life. He needed to focus. These rampant thoughts kept getting in the way of his goal. The girl, her music. Or something. Why was he doing this again? Because cute? He supposed it still just had to be good enough, as he thanked the waitress and pushed his way out of the tavern, looking for the girl to see if she had gone far. The answer was no, as she had simply made roost right outside the doorway, in a depressing fetal position. Emerath turned and looked down on her, before clearing his throat. Whether or not she would register this, Emerath would say, "I mean, if I'm being honest. It was a pretty entertaining show without the music. And who needs to perform on a stage anyway? Hell, I bet if you really wanted to, you could sing right here and now and get an audience of some sort. Or just me. What does it matter, right? As long as you're having fun?" Emerath crossed his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow, "Or is one man not good enough for your beautiful music?"
Loreley had buried her face in her knees and was almost contemplating quitting this game forever. She had already failed her mission. She was useless. Nobody wanted to listen to her sing. She pulled up her UI and was ready to end it all, the adventure gone, just like that. But then along came a man. He was a sweetheart, and showered her in honeyed words. Saying exactly what someone like Loreley needed to hear. In a flash, she was on her feet again. She had forgotten all about her deep depression. She had an audience! Even if it was only this one man. Loreley clapped her hands and said, "You won't regret this, I promise. I've been practicing in other games, and even outside of MMOs, and I'm about to blow you away." She chuckled as she moved more into the clear area in front of the tavern. Now, this was the hardest part, what should she sing? Maybe she should just wing it? Sing from her heart about her new adventure and perhaps her new audience? "A new land~" she started to sing, but was almost immediately thrown off. The first line of her impromptu song was completely off key despite that she had meant to sing it at a certain pitch. She cleared her throat and tried again, "A new laaaaaand~" This time it just sounded forced, and even though she held the note at the end it sounded wavy and uneven. She didn't like this one bit. She had practiced too much outside the game to fail like this. Was the game making her bad because she had only just started? She blushed and sheepishly smiled at the red haired man, scratching her head and trying her best to seem in complete control of the situation.
Emerath's heart lightened as the girl seemed to cheer up and ran off to start her singing. However, the result was less than stellar, and Emerath's heart began to sink again. He frowned and tried his best not to look like what he had just heard practically stung him a little in how bad it was. She was trying to sing, and it just came out as an off pitch warbly mess. Emerath had to think really hard about how to respond to that. The girl seemed to be trying her best, and she seemed to have all the confidence in the world at her own skills. And yet here she was, coming out weak. After much consideration, Emerath gave a clap and sighed, "You know, I'll give you an A+ for effort and enthusiasm, at the very least. But as you yourself seem well aware, that sounded about as pleasant as a cat fight in an alley way." He couldn't think of any polite way to put it, and so he went with blunt. Another sigh escaped his lips. He felt like a jerk for the comment, but improvement only happened through failure. So Emerath figured he'd approach this from another angle. "You said you've been practicing outside of this game, in others and even in real life, right? Well, then we can't blame it on your inability, unless everyone seriously lets you just sing like a dying cat and doesn't say anything. I can't imagine that being the case. Perhaps we should work on your skills? Music is a skill that you took, right?" The time for tact had passed at this point, and so Emerath put it as clearly as he could, hoping that the poor girl wouldn't get upset. Or worse, that he wouldn't break her heart again.
