Chapter 83: (1). Forest of Love -4
After receiving the quest from Iriel, he started to look for one of the fairies’ house.
‘I can’t see the quest’s difficulty level… it must be because it is too difficult for it to be marked with a
level…’
The quest was way too hard. Ian had never seen nor heard anything like this during the 20 years of
his gaming life.
Bukbuk tried to encourage him.
Buk- Bukbuk!
However, that didn’t help much.
‘The fairy, Witson, lives on the top of the hill. I should go to him first.’
The two fairies Ian had to make fall in fall love were Witson and Carol.
‘I think it would be easier to talk to a guy than to a girl.’
Witson was the male fairy while Carol was the female fairy.
Ian really didn’t have a choice as he knew that talking with a girl about love would make him lose his
mind before he could even try the quest.
‘Well, this should work somehow! I think…’
Soon, Ian arrived at a cabin on a small hill.
…
“What? You are going to help me?”
Witson’s eyes widened at hearing the reason Ian was there.
Witson looked more like a 12 years old boy, his height only reached Ian’s chest.
Ian nodded, “Yes. I will help you date Carol.”
Witson had been in love with Carol for a long time.
However, Carol was not interested in Witson. At least, that’s what Witson believed.
“But can you really help me?”
“… probably?”
Ian was the worst when it came to love.
Witson was starting to doubt Ian, “I can sense the smell of a single on you.”
“…”
“How long have you been single?”
Ian had never been on a relations.h.i.+p, therefore, he thought about his birthday.
Then, he bitterly said, “About… 7000 days?”
He didn’t want to calculate the exact number.
‘Witson will not trust me now… maybe I shouldn’t have said that.’
However, to his surprise, Witson’s face brightened up.
“Wow! Really? That’s quite short! I have been single for 55027 days? You must certainly be better
than me at this!’
Witson was a fairy who had lived for 150 years.
He believed that Ian was also a fairy-like him and concluded that he must have been on a relations.h.i.+p
recently.
Even though Ian realized Witson’s misunderstanding, he decided not to point it out.
‘It’s best if I leave it like this…’
Instead, Ian thought he should listen more about Witson’s story, “Have you met Carol lately?”
Witson nodded, “Umm… about a week ago. I will meet her again tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes. We will go to pick mushrooms together.”
Ian thought, ‘First, I need to see how their current relations.h.i.+p is.’
Then, he spoke, “Is there any way for me to eavesdrop on your while you meet her?”
Witson thought about it for a second, next, he went to his store to get something.
“Here. Put this near your ear and you will be able to listen to us.”
Ian took the thing. It looked more like an earplug, “Will it be okay if I’m away from you?”
Witson nodded. “As long as you are within the 200m radius, it will work.”
“I see.”
200m was enough to hide and eavesdrop their conversation.
Ian and Witson agreed to wait for tomorrow.
…
Tweet- Tweet!
With a blue sky, the day was beautiful.
Ian couldn’t even imagine a bad weather in the Forest of Love, however, he still grateful for the
beautiful day.
‘It would have been a problem if it rained.’
The place where Witson and Carol were going to meet was a large mushroom farm on the edge of
the Forest.
Ian was hiding on a tree to watch them.
‘Oh, they finally met each other!’
He couldn’t exactly see because he was too far away, but he could still discern that Carol was a pretty
girl.
Buk- Bukbuk-!
Bukbuk was on Ian’s shoulder and was watching the two as well.
For some reason, it had insisted on getting another ‘earplug’ from Witson. It was currently wearing it.
Then, Carol and Witson started to talk.
‘Now, Witson. Talk to her.’ Ian looked at Witson.
However, to his surprise, Carol spoke to Witson first!
- Witson, you came on time. It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?
- Yes, it is.
The moment Ian and Bukbuk heard Witson’s answer, they felt something was wrong.
‘Hmm… what is it? I don’t know why but I have a feeling that Witson just did something wrong.’
Buk-
The conversation didn’t continue.
The fairies started to pick mushrooms in silence.
‘Oh! What is this? Are you just going to pick mushrooms?’
Ian had advised Witson to talk as much as possible with Carol.
However, instead of having a conversation, Witson was avoiding Carol while picking the mushrooms.
Ian got bored and started to doze off, “Uh… this won’t work…”
But then, Carol spoke to Witson again.
Ian and Bukbuk listened carefully.
- Witson, it’s hot, isn’t it? Aren’t you tired?
- I’m fine.
- Witson, how many mushrooms have you picked?
- …
Witson’s barrier was as hard as Bukbuk’s sh.e.l.l.
Actually, Witson was so nervous about picking mushrooms with Carol that he had started to count the
number of mushrooms.
After that, they talked for a few more times but their conversations were more or less the same.
The deadly, boring time was coming to an end. Finally, the three hours of silent mushroom-picking
ended.
- You did a great job, Witson.
- You too, Carol.
- Then, goodbye!
Listening to this, Ian could almost feel cancer cells growing in his chest.
“Uh… what should I do?”
However, there was nothing he could do now, therefore, he returned to Witson’s home.
…
“Witson.”
“Yes, Ian.” Witson sounded so sad.
Ian sighed loudly to look at him, “Why were your answers so short? Carol even talked to you first!”
Tears welled up in Witson’s eyes, “I… just couldn’t talk.”
Ian started to get a headache, ‘Ha… he is even worse than me at this!’
Ian couldn’t even figure out where he should start.
But then, a strange sound resonated in Witson’s house.
Unng-
Witson’s face turned pale, “Ian, Carol just sent me a message!”
“What?”
The moment Ian heard this, he felt his foggy head clearing a little.
‘What?! NPCs can send messages to each other?’
They hurried to check the message on Witson’s crystal sphere.
- Witson, did you go back home safely?
Ian pressed the hesitating Witson, “Witson! What are you doing? You should reply!”
“Uh, uh… what should I say?”
Ian tried to think with his head frozen in panic.
“Try saying that you came back safely.”
Witson replied.
Witson found some courage since he was not talking to Carol face-to-face, then he added a few more
words.
- I am relieved to know that you went home safely.
Ian shook his head, ‘Oh, you have no reason to be relived. It’s not like there are any monsters that
would attack the fairies in this forest…’
Still, Witson sent a message that meant something. It was some progress.
‘Yes, at least you said something.’
But then, Carol immediately replied.
- If you had been so worried, you could have walked me home…
Silence fell.
Both Ian and Witson panicked. They didn’t know what to say.
“Ian…”
“Yes?”
“What should I say?”
Ian tried to think, ‘Saying ‘sorry’ won’t look cool, right? What should he say at this point…’
However, while he was thinking, Witson just sent a message.
Ian couldn’t believe his eyes, therefore, he asked, “Why… on earth… did you say that, Witson?”
Witson dropped his head, “I don’t know…”
The two waited for Carol’s reply, but she did not reply in this situation.
“Witson, try sending another message.”
“Okay.”
Then, Witson sent a message again.
Ian was frustrated, ‘Oh, Witson. It’s 4 p.m. now! The sun is in the middle of the sky…’
But then, they received a surprising answer.
- Oh, I was going to get a nap. How did you know?
‘What?! We are lucky!’
However, Witson immediately blew that opportunity away.
Bukbuk shut its eyes as if it couldn’t bear to see it anymore. Ian almost gave up.
‘This quest…. This is impossible…’
Shaking his eyes, Ian watched them talking.
- I don’t know. You go to sleep as well, Witson.
- I am not tired!
The conversation was going nowhere.
But then, Witson started to write something.
- Carol! Oyster mushrooms are good for preventing obesity. Enoki mushrooms are good for
preventing arteriosclerosis and s.h.i.+take mushrooms are the most delicious of all, so you have to eat
all of it alone! Okay?
-I… know… that too…
“…”
Now, there was nothing Ian could do about this couple.
Or at least he thought so.
“Hey, Witson?”
“Yes?”
“Why don’t you just say that you love her?”
Witson was surprised when hearing this, “What? Now?! But my friend Falcom said confessing love
through a message is the worst…”
“Still… just try it…”
Ian could barely restrain himself from telling Witson that he would not get another chance.
‘She will not meet him ever again probably…’
Witson didn’t know what Ian was thinking. Therefore, he clenched his fists and nodded.
He then started to send a message.
- Carol, do you know why I keep sending you messages?
- Um… because you are bored?
- No.
Next, he continued to text her.
- Would you like to go on a date with me?
“…”
That was an unprecedented stupid confession of love.
Ian could do nothing but keep watching.
‘Ah… I’ve never felt so powerless in my whole life… this couple has no future. This is the end…’
The conversation continued.
- What? Umm… Witson, did you just send the wrong message?
- … oh, I was just saying. Never mind!
- Just saying? Really?
- Eh… probably?
Ian could feel both his hands and feet rolling and shrinking.
‘Oh, why… am I feeling nervous?’
Bukbuk had also received so much mental damage that it couldn’t handle it. The turtle was banging
its head against the wall.
- No, uh… Carol, I want to tell you something, seriously. I really like you. I’ve kept saying weird things
because I was nervous, but I have had feelings for you for about 3000 days now. I really, really like
you. Please let me take you out!
Ian couldn’t believe the fact that there was someone even worse at love than himself.
‘It’s your part now, Witson… but there was nothing I could do from the beginning…’
Whether Ian suffered or not, the two continued to talk.
- Were you ‘just saying’ again?
- No! I am very serious. Really.
- You are going to say it was a joke later, right?
- No. I meant it. I like you. Let me take you out.
A while later…
Carol’s last message arrived.
Silence filled Witson’s home.
Bukbuk was the first to speak.
“Buk?”
Witson checked Carol’s message again and again, he then rejoiced, “Wow! Ian! It was all thanks to
you!”
Ian was really puzzled, ‘What-what? What has just happened? Did he just succeed? And what on
earth is thanks to me?’
The situation was shocking, even more than Bukbuk giving its meatball to Ly.
Dumbfounded, Ian just blankly stared at the crystal sphere. Witson hugged him.
“I-I really like Carol, but I couldn’t talk properly in front of her… so, I was going to tell her through
messages, but Falcom said I shouldn’t…”
Witson started to shed tears of happiness.
Ian couldn’t say anything, ‘You… just asked a girl out like that and it worked…’
It was way too unrealistic, even for a game.
Ian was so jealous that he was tempted to kill Witson.
‘Ha… this quest, its difficulty level wasn’t present… not because it was too difficult but because I
would succeed on it no matter what I did…’
Ian learned something new from this quest.
‘There is no such thing as people good at love or not good at it. There are just those who succeed in
winning love or those who fail…’