Author's note: I know the last chapter was short so here's the next.

Disclaimer: Read the others.


Lag

The crusader raised her broadsword to deliver the final blow and froze with her sword upraised. Dita frantically clicked on the monster in a desperate attempt to get the crusader to kill it. By the time the screen cleared up, her crusader was already lying dead on the ground. "Aaargh! That's the fifth time that has happened!" she screamed at the screen, shaking her fist at it.

"Calm down Dita. There's no need for you to shout," Barnette said from just beside her. Just then, her blacksmith died. Expletives spilled out of her mouth, fast and fluidly, as her voice raised itself to a crescendo. When she finally stops to take a breath, Dita told her, "Calm down Barnette. There's no need for you to shout." Barnette just glared angrily at her. "Or use those kinds of words." Dita paused. "What do they mean anyway? Like fu- "

"Forget it," Barnette interrupted her. She leaned around Dita to look at the person beside her. "Parfet, I thought you said you fixed the problem?" "I did. Somebody must be casting spells that use a lot of visual effects. The system can't cope with the overload." As one, the three girls turned to look at Jura. She paid them no attention, all of it fixed on her screen. Her brows were furrowed with concentration and her tongue stuck out of the side of her mouth. Her screen was covered in white. After a few moments of shaky shots, it cleared up to reveal a wizard standing over a dead body.

"Jura! Must you always use storm gust to kill a monster?" Barnette exclaimed in frustration. Jura looked at her with an expression that said 'are you kidding me?' "Why not? It makes me look great, just like how I really am." Parfet rolled her eyes at that comment. "You're causing the whole system to lag just because you want to show off," Barnette told her. That surprised Dita and Parfet. Nobody had ever heard Barnette said anything bad about Jura before. Jura just shrugged. "Not my fault. I'm using it because I can kill the monster with or without lag."

Barnette was about to say something when Parfet intervened. "Anyway, it won't help even if she stopped using that spell. The lag would still be there because there's not enough memory space to run this system. We're overcrowded." "You mean there's nothing you can do about it?" Dita asked worriedly as the thought of dying repeatedly flashed through her mind. "I didn't say that. In fact, I've got an idea." Parfet's glasses gleamed in the soft light.

"I'll need both of you to help me," she said, looking at Dita and Barnette. "And also Pai." She glanced at the nurse who was sitting in a corner, scribbling in her handy notebook. "What are we going to do?" Barnette looked eagerly at her. "We're going to steal Pyoro."

To be continued...


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