14 Vol 1. pt. 14 Back to Reality (2/2)

>TheMemeStruggle: Let me invite you to the group chat, Miss Defense Attorney.

Invitation to The Great Meme War of '34 sent to HushedVoice

Their conversation switches over to the group channel. He's surprised that she's not trying to keep talking in direct messages.

>Dwarfaholic: Who is this.

>TheMemeStruggle: Hey, Bone, that's Serra.

>HushedVoice: The big green guy! Hi, Bone! I'm Serra. Thanks for carrying me to safety.

>Dwarfaholic: You talk more now.

>HushedVoice: And I can actually understand what you're saying now without that accent!

>Dwarfaholic: YOU HAVE PROBLEM WITH MY VOICE. I REGRET CARRYING YOU TO CAVE.

>HushedVoice: xD, sorry! I'm just not used to hearing accents. Your voice is like… a rock!

>Dwarfaholic: WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEN

>Dwarfaholic: MEAN*

>Viktor's Favorite Slut: omg

>Viktor's Favorite Slut: serra your hilarious

>Viktor's Favorite Slut: we need to be like best friends

>Viktor's Favorite Slut: pls

>Viktor's Favorite Slut: pls gib nao

>HushedVoice: Olly! I think you're Olly, anyways. There's nobody else in this group. How do I change my name so it's not just one word?

>Viktor's Favorite Slut: hang on bab, i got u

Viktor's Favorite Slut has changed HushedVoice's nickname to Fenny's Bae

Fenny's Bae: What! >///Viktor's Favorite Slut: omg

>Viktor's Favorite Slut: i have no idea what your referencing

>Viktor's Favorite Slut: but its great

Ryouta stares at the conversation in disbelief. He had no idea that Serra would be like this. It's really true that some people can behave completely differently in text than in person. Some people treat virtual reality the same they do real life, which he's assuming that she does, while most just treat it like it's the internet still. That's what he does.

>TheMemeStruggle: Glad to see you're all getting along so well! I can't wait to see you be this talkative around us in-game, Serra.

>Fenny's Bae: OLLY PLEASE CHANGE MY NAME COME ON X///////////X

Viktor's Favorite Slut has changed Fenny's Bae's nickname to Orc Cock Lover

>Orc Cock Lover: THIS. IS. EVEN. wORSE. THAN. BEFORE. OLLY I DEMAND YOU CHANGE MY NAME RIGHT THIS INSTANT OR I WILL COCKBLOCK YOU FROM EVERY GUY YOU EVER MEET

Viktor's Favorite Slut has changed Orc Cock Lover's nickname to Fenrir's #1 Fangirl

TheMemeStruggle has changed Fenrir's #1 Fangirl's nickname to Serra Berra

>Serra Berra: >////> okay I'll keep this one, it's kind of cute.

Viktor's Favorite Slut has changed Serra Berra's nickname to Blushing Emoji XD

>Blushing Emoji XD: Hey! Are you making fun of me? I'll beat you up, punk!

TheMemeStruggle has changed Blushing Emoji XD's nickname to Serra Berra

A battle ensues between Ryouta and Spencer over Serra's nickname. The battle only ends when Spencer finally says goodnight and logs off.

>Serra Berra: Hey hey, Bone, aren't you in Russia? Shouldn't you be sleeping? Isn't it like super later over there?

The green dot next to Dwarfaholic's name turns red.

>TheMemeStruggle: He just set himself to do not disturb, so I guess you made him realize what time it is. Don't worry, he never says goodnight. He's rude like that.

>Serra Berra: Oh, okay!

Ryouta sees her typing a message to him in direct messages. She types, stops, types, stops, types, stops. He wonders if she knows that he can see her indecision or hesitation, whichever it is.

>HushedVoice: Hey, ummm, is it okay if you tell me your real name? I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours! Sorry, this might be weird, but I'm not really used to the character name thing. It feels so much less… I don't know, less personal. It'd just be really nice if I could call you your real name! Is it too soon to ask that? Sorry if it is, I'm new to this whole thing, so you might have to teach me the rules, Teach!

>HushedVoice: Ah! My name is back to normal! I liked Serra Berra…

>TheMemeStruggle: Oh, yeah, nicknames are just for group chats basically. Anyways, it's alright. Just don't go asking for everybody's real names. Some people might find it weird, but I don't really have a problem with it.

Despite sending that message, he still hesitates in typing out his real name which she seems to be waiting for. There are some people online who would love to get ahold of his real name. That would make their jobs so much easier. Damn kids with nothing better to do with their lives.

>TheMemeStruggle: It's Ryouta.

He instantly wants to delete his message, hopefully before she sees it, but he knows it's too late when she immediately starts typing. She's already seen it. Now he just has to hope that this doesn't come back to bite him in the ass.

>HushedVoice: Ryouta! I like that, it's a really cute name.

Ryouta cringes. She just had to go and call his name cute. He hates being called cute. It's the only thing anybody ever calls him. He knows she means it as a compliment, but it may as well be a mocking slap in the face to him.

>TheMemeStruggle: Aha, yeah, I get that a lot.

>HushedVoice: I'm Serra!

>TheMemeStruggle: Come on, tell me your real name! That was the deal.

>HushedVoice: That is my real name!

Ryouta blinks a few times.

>TheMemeStruggle: Really? You used your real name? Next you're going to tell me you made your character look like yourself.

>HushedVoice: I did! I'm pretty happy with my name and how I look, so why not be the same in the game? I'm pretty cute if I do say so myself!

Wow. She's got some confidence when she's not face to face with people. He likes that, actually. There are too many people who complain about themselves in reality and pretend to be somebody else in-game.

Like himself.

>TheMemeStruggle: I will admit you're pretty cute, so you're not wrong. I guess you're not a 500 pound guy in your mom's basement.

>HushedVoice: >//////////////////TheMemeStruggle: Okay, I'll never call you cute again.

>HushedVoice: Wait! I take that back!

>TheMemeStruggle: Anyways, dork, you should probably change your name and looks. If that's your real stuff then it would be easy for somebody to dox you or stalk you, and trust me, you don't want that.

>HushedVoice: You said you'd protect me, so that's your problem!

>TheMemeStruggle: How am I supposed to protect you in real life?!

>HushedVoice: You'll just have to come move to New Charleston so you can protect me from all the bad guys wanting to kidnap me!

Ryouta's heart skips a beat. He steps away from his computer to open the blinds and look out over the city in front of his window.

Don't coincidences like living in the same city only happen in shows and stories?