Versatile: Alternate World

"You are calling her?" Rika seems worried.

"No worries. She can keep a secret and she is also someone who wanted to meet up with other fellow teammates too in real life."

"Well, if she is fine with that, then let's do it," Rika still looks hesitant but she gave her permission.

"Alright then, let's give it a whirl. There's no guarantee she will pick up the call especially if she is busy though."

Janus immediately dialed Riko's number, it only took one single ring before she picked it up. Janus quickly switches on the loudspeaker for everyone to hear her voice.

"Hello? That's weird of you to call me first, did something happen?"

"Oh? Did I disturb you with your work?"

"Nah, I am just surfing on the internet right now. I am not busy or anything. So what's up? I know you don't call me unless you have something to say to me."

"Welp, you are on point, but it's not me who wants to talk to you. You Manato, you are up." Janus handed me the phone so that she can hear what I was going to say.

"Manato? Did you need me for something? You can just call me using your number since you saved it right?"

"Hey, Riko. Actually, this one is just a slight invitation for you."

"Invitation?"

"Yeah. Harmless Sparrow is currently here at my house. Want to meet up with her? I know you wanted to know who Harmless Sparrow is."

I heard something falling on the other line, presumably, that was Riko before her voice can be heard once again.

"Are you serious? Harmless Sparrow is there? You better be not joking and doing some pranks at me or you will get a whoop in the a*s!"

"Hey, hey...no violence, please. I am not lying. Here, she will talk to you so that you will know I am not lying."

I then handed the phone to Rika and she timidly speak.

"Uh...hello there, Dolly-chan."

...BEEP!

The line was immediately cut off. Rika was left stupefied. After all, the call was immediately cut off before she can say anything sensible. She didn't even hear Riko's response.

She looked at me with worry and handed me the phone.

"Damn, she still didn't change her ways. I might have to tell her to change that, especially to people who don't know her behavior," Janus scratches his head in annoyance.

"Did I say something rude to her?" Rika looked at us with a worried face.

"Nah, don't worry about it. You will see," Janus grinned and give her a thumbs up.

"How about you join us for lunch? It's almost lunchtime so it's a good time to eat."

"Well, since I am here, then I am grateful to join."

...

About 5 minutes later, just enough time for me to finish all of the dishes The dishes I was cooking are all about to be fully cooked when we heard a knock on the door. I quickly rush towards the door before the monst- I mean that person outside knock off the door off its hinges. The moment I opened the door, she also went out with her eyes immediately scanning the surroundings, checking the location of Rika.

"Where, where is she?"

I closed the door and helped her remove her jacket after getting inside. "Hey, calm down, will you? Stop that, you are scaring her if she saw you like this. Also earlier, when you dropped the call, she was upset at you for doing that.

"Wha? Where is she? I needed to apologize!"

"Damn! Stop rushing, can you? It wouldn't hurt to slow down for a bit. Anyways, she is at the kitchen's dining table. We are just about to eat lunch. I know you rushed here without eating anything so join us."

"You really know me well, huh?" Riko scratches her head with an embarrassed look on her face.

"Too late to get embarrassed. Now go and the food is about to be done."

Riko and I went to the room and she immediately spotted Rika who is still waiting for us.

"Wah! It's really you Sparrow-chan! In the flesh indeed!"

"Dolly?"

"Yes! Yes! That is indeed me! I can't believe it! It was really you!"

Riko who was ecstatic is the quite opposite of Rika who seems to be getting embarrassed by how Riko was acting.

"Hey, hey. Giver her some space, will you? You will creep her out."

I then handed her a plate of her food to let her get off from her immediately.

"Since the gang is partially here, shall we introduce ourselves this time?" Janus suggested.

"Oh, good idea. Alright, I will go first! I am Akusabe Riko in real life and my name in the game is Dolly! You can call me Riko just like the others do in real life and I should say, we strictly stick to our in-game names once we are in the game. Call me Dolly if we meet in the game! Nice to meet you!"

"That is a bit too much info, Riko. Anyways, I am Hagane in the game and my real name is Janus Mcgrey. I am an American who decided to stay in Japan since I found it comfortable here. Also, Japan has all the anime culture, just staying here will allow me to bathe to all the anime content I wanted."

The siblings also introduced themselves. "This is my sister Sora, and my name is Akira. We are Topaz and Iron in the game. Nice to meet you in real life, Sparrow-senpai!" Akira greeted.

"Is... Is Sora blind perhaps?" Rika tilted her head.

"Yeah, according to Brother, I am blind since I was born. I can see normally if I was in the game though so I am not even sad about it."

"Alright, since everyone has already told their names, I will introduce mine last before you introduce yourself. I am Tsukasa Manato. I am Bladeheart in the game. And you know the rest now."

Rika nodded and breathed a bit before she started to introduce herself. "My name is Tsukinara Rika. My game name is Harmless Sparrow. It's nice to meet everyone in real life and thank you for allowing me to join getting lunch with you guys."

"Alright! Now that was wrapped up, is the thing you revealed on the internet earlier real? Are those actually real? No joke at all?" Riko asked, with her eyes seems to be sparkling.

"Ah... yes. All of them are real."

My eyebrows furrowed when Riko asked her about it. Just what the heck did she reveal that made the internet seems to be on a buzz that even Janus who rarely cares about the matters on the internet seemed to have gotten more attention to it?

"Ah... sorry about this but I am out of the loop and I have yet to check what is happening on the internet. Can you tell me what the heck is this thing that you guys seem to be too interested in?"

"Oh, that's right, Manato. You haven't checked your phone or your PC right? Okay, here, read it on this one. This is the main thread on where Rika posted it."

Janus handed his holophone again to me and I started scrolling through the thread the first sentence that caught my eye is the sentence, "The Vice President of the Blue Sky Guild is a sick sexual predator who targets male players and threatens them to go on sexual acts with him. If the other party declines, they are then proceeded to be killed by him and the other guild members and reduce his level back to zero.