“You said you’d guide me. I’ll take care of my quests first thing tomorrow morning. Promise. But you must understand that not getting any help with the love of my life damages morale.”
I understand.
“So…? Where’s the quest that results in Samson falling madly in love with me?”
If a book could sigh, I think my journal would.You are of a very one-track mind.
“I am focused on my goals.” I cross my ankles, prettily, and push my glasses up my cute, freckled nose. “That was on my resume. Until I realized it was givingover-qualified.”
Took it off.
And, bam, got my job at Hardee’s.
Life is a joke.
To further the punchline, my journal takes a sharp left away from my Samson narrative:Just so you know, there is a crafting page with recipes that you can make by collecting the materials and pulling the finished item from your bag the same way you summon anything else you dump in there. It’s painful waiting for you to find that feature on your own.
“What?” I blurt, flipping forward until I find a list of available crafting recipes. My eye twitches. “You couldn’t have told me this sooner? I’ve been keeping stuff in piles on the floor because I haven’t been able to make myself spend three hundred coins for a chest at Gabbro’s carpentry shop, andyou’ve just let me?”
You have no trouble spending hundreds of coins on treats for Samson.
“You take his name off your page,” I hiss. I donotneed sass from a book. “I’m in love.”
You’re in love with an idea and a couple hundred generic lines of dialogue, Citrus. This isn’t a dream or a game. There isn’t a quest to Samson’s heart. Being infatuated and trying to become what you think he wants, acting like you just need the right gifts or dialogue options isn’t fair to either of you.
You can’t play a real person into loving you.
Worse, you shouldn’t.
In real life, buying affection just because it’s quicker is a bad idea that results in a fickle relationship.
Since you don’t seem to understand the magnitude of this situation yet, let me explain: there’s an entire world past Gem Ridge full of people you’ve never seen drawn with pixels.
There’s a depth to everything and everyone that goes beyond what you’ve gleaned from your obsession withVale of Gems.
You can do anything. Go anywhere.
Be anyone.
So, why are you choosing to stay here?
Um. Duh. “Have you not seen the shoulders on my neighbor? They have me in a headlock I wish was literal.”
Heh. You’re a delight, Citrus.
Trust me, being yourself isn’t going to give you negative heart events here.
It might just get you everything you’ve been searching for instead.
All you have to do is let yourself embrace that reality.
I’m being schooled by parchment.
I know why I’m staying here. It’s not Samson. It’s the familiarity. The safety.Hereis where I know the people and the map, the quests, the exposition.
I crave that kind of predictability.
I dread losing it someday once the plot I know runs out and I’m left floundering, trying to figure out how I fit in without a script to fall back on.
