Page 276

In fact, at this moment, Dorothy wasn’t the only one getting excited; the Masked Senior Sister on her forehead and the nearby Senior Mia both had their eyes light up, showing interest in the topic.

It was just Sophia who was rather aloof, lacking interest in these lovey-dovey matters.

Then there was Miss Moon Rabbit, who was utterly bewildered by love. After all, shouldn’t a partner just be someone you’re equally paired with? Why would one need to pursue anyone, and what does "pursue" even mean?

Meanwhile, Audrey, under the watchful eyes of the Merry Makers, felt her recently calmed social anxiety threatening to flare up again. However, this was a golden opportunity to learn unique techniques from her senior sister, and she didn’t want to give it up.

After a brief struggle, the longing for a beautiful romance overcame her social anxiety. Little Fox lowered her head, blushed, and, despite feeling ashamed, finally managed to speak up.

"Senior Sister, she is not from the academy, I don’t know much about her. We are just familiar online friends for now."

Dorothy: "....."

My goodness, you’re jumping straight into online romance, such an advanced level game. Can a naive girl like you even handle that? With your level of experience, I could deceive you thirteen times in a single evening with just a spicy snack.

The Homebody Witch started to worry that her na?ve little junior sister might have been conned on the Magic Network. After all, with the Magic Network between you, one couldn’t even tell if the person on the other side was male or female, or even human for that matter.

Oh, it seems that to a witch these concerns are actually non-issues, so never mind.

But then again, considering Audrey’s level of social anxiety, it seemed that her only option for finding a partner might truly only be through the Magic Network.

"Senior Sister, she really isn’t a con artist, I’m certain of that. We’ve known each other for quite a few years, and neither of us knows the other’s real identity. She has always treated me like a little sister, making it clear from the start that we should just be online friends and not discuss our real lives. But I don’t want to just be online friends anymore. Please teach me, Senior Sister."

Seeing her senior sister’s expression, Audrey, who also had years of mixing on the Magic Network, knew exactly what her senior was thinking. However, she didn’t have much to object to because over the years, she indeed had been tricked quite a few times on the Magic Network. There were always scammers with tricks up their sleeves, but thankfully, while she fell for small traps here and there, she never fell into a big one. After all, as long as one is enough of a homebody, no scammer could lure her to meet offline.

But those days of being tricked were long past, because now she had gotten into the habit of consulting her sweetheart before making any decisions. Any online scam she encountered couldn’t escape Sister Chi’s vigilant eyes.

Moreover, Sister Chi was so formidable that those scammers who still tried deceiving her would come back respectfully to apologize and beg for her mercy. It was clear without even thinking that Sister Chi was responsible for that.

In Audrey’s heart, Sister Chi, known online as "Carmine of True Red," was practically a god in the Magic Network.

It was just that Little Fox had never mentioned to her senior sister that her sweetheart’s online name was, in fact, Carmine of True Red. After all, Sister Chi was quite famous on the Magic Network, and she feared that by mentioning it, her senior sister, out of curiosity, might make contact and then her Sister Chi would become her senior sister’s.

She had to be wary of her own senior sister’s somewhat devilish charm.

After listening to Audrey’s explanation for a bit, Dorothy finally began to understand what was going on.

She summarized it briefly: Audrey, this foolish girl, had been conned miserably in the Magic Network when a rare Magic Network Vigilante came to her rescue, a hero saving the damsel in distress.

Since then, this innocent silly girl had developed a crush on the Magic Network Vigilante who had helped her, yet the other party only saw her as a little sister.

So, Audrey was no longer satisfied with the status quo and wanted to take their relationship to the next level, to become romantically involved with the Magic Network Vigilante.

However, as Dorothy began to grasp the whole picture, her brows furrowed, realizing that this mission was a bit challenging.

After all, she sometimes would play the role of a Magic Network Vigilante herself, and among her many Magic Network alternate accounts, there were four that she used the most.

The most famous of these was surely the Witch of the Forest, a username she logged in with at the Magic Web Library—a persona that was never to be revealed.

The second was the username Philosophical Fairy, which she used for the Magic Web Duel game. However, she had semi-abandoned this one since the Fairy King had retired, and she had stopped playing Magic Web Duel altogether.

The third was her genuine social account, Fairy of the Forest, which she used to keep in touch with family and friends.

The last one was Carmine of True Red, which was her carefree alternate account used specifically for browsing various forums; it was the purest Magic Network account and the one she worked hardest on.

It didn’t have the overflowing talent of the Witch of the Forest, nor the unbridled defiance of the Fairy King, nor the low-profile reserve of the Fairy of the Forest.

The role Carmine of True Red played was that of an ordinary yet justice-hearted little witch who liked to boast on forums, chat about keyboard politics with goofy netizens, and watch pretty girls on Magic Network live streams...

She might have some talent, being a prominent figure in the Magic Book Craftsperson forum who generously helped newbies write configuration lists, and she was the armchair strategist on military forums, pontificating on front-line situations...

But she wasn’t out of reach, as she could be found in the streams of beautiful streamers looking for luck, and she was also the one making off-topic comments in risqué groups...

Dorothy had pegged this alternate account’s role as being responsible for fun and joy. Every time she used this account, she would shed the witch’s halo and remove the fairy’s mask, blending fully into the virtual world of the Magic Network to enjoy the ordinary day-to-day of a common witch in peaceful times.

It was meant to be her relaxation account, so she didn’t want to engage in daily keyboard spats with others; consequently, her actions and style were very righteous, focusing on kindness, helpfulness, and spreading the beauty of truth, goodness, and humanity.

What exhausted her was the recent lack of security on this account. Her initial intention was just to be an inconspicuous user in the Magic Network. But who could have known that this account’s influence would inexplicably grow bigger and bigger? Wasn’t she just a helpful person who liked to be virtuous, who helped novices? Wasn’t she just a sociable person who became popular because she was unrestrained, and liked to make friends everywhere?

She hadn’t done anything special, yet somehow she had become a well-known Magic Network celebrity. She couldn’t be bothered to count how many zeros were behind the number of her account’s followers; all she knew was that she had long met several small goals.

Consequently, now that she had become famous, she could no longer feel the same sense of joy. Sometimes saying something offhand could have a huge impact, which made her feel restricted.

Like the time she was investigating the puppetry market and stumbled upon a charming-voiced young lady. She casually posted about it, recommending her, and overnight that young lady’s following skyrocketed by nearly a million, despite her puppet shows truly being boring—to the point that besides a pleasant voice, they were essentially without merit.

Such was the influence of Carmine of True Red.

And now, the person Little Fox had a crush on seemed to have a persona somewhat similar to that of her alternate account, which spelled trouble. After all, with her experience, she knew those who embody the Magic Network Vigilante persona tend to make a clear distinction between the virtual and reality.

The Magic Network is the Magic Network; the Mortal Realm is the Mortal Realm. The two are parallel worlds that should not interfere with each other. For these people, you want an online romance with me and even to meet in real life?

Get lost, don’t even think about it.

Though, the problem wasn’t all that big. Ah, Audrey, oh Audrey, you’ve asked the right person today. Had you asked someone else, they might genuinely not know how to pursue someone with such a special persona. But for me, it feels like self-empathy.

Well then, let me think, if I wanted to pursue someone like myself, what would I do? Ah, I’ve got it.

"Listen up, Audrey. Today, your senior sister will impart to you the skills I’ve honed over my lifetime. Don’t let me down. You’ve got to nail it this time. You just need to do this, and then that, and finally..."

...Dorothy imparting her pursuit techniques...