Lajien wrote this chapter last year. The story (Chapter 18) is currently around late winter, but we will skip to where Erinna and friends visit a Cosplay Gaming Convention near Halloween. This story was originally split into two parts, but they are combined here.

Julia

Chapter 1

It was around 3 pm when Heather pulled in front of Erinna’s school. She still couldn’t believe all they had gone through. Looking back at it, she was happy. Who would have expected her boy to become the girliest girl in the world? She was still the fearless and intelligent kid that Heather is proud to call her child.

It was the 29th of October, and Heather had bought a surprise for Erinna. Heather spotted Erinna coming out of the school with her usual group. Stacy, Hazel, Shelby Oliver, and Dakota. Everyone was there. Erinna and Oliver held hands; honestly, she thought it was cute. Over the summer, they had grown closer in their relationship and now seemed inseparable.

George was already home; surprisingly, George was sick at home. Even though he insisted on Heather going to work and not bothering him, he said he could take care of himself. However, George didn’t win the argument and ended up being in bed while Heather cared for his needs.

Entering the car, Oliver and Erinna took their seats before Erinna leaned in to kiss her mom. “You had swim practice today, right?” Heather asked, feeling Erinna’s dry hair. Erinna’s hair had already grown by a couple of inches. It was just like what Heather had imagined it. Beautiful was a small word to describe how she looked with her long hair.

Erinna, however, still struggled to dry her hair entirely after her swim practice. It surprised Heather that Erinna’s hair was dry. “Yes, why?” Erinna answered simply.

“Your hair is dry,” Heather commented, making Erinna giggle.
“Coach Monica decided we should blow dry our hair after showering, especially me,” Erinna explained.

Coach Monica enjoyed having Erinna on the girls’ swimming team; she was the best swimmer in school. Unfortunately, once Erinna was transferred to the girls’ team, the boys’ team performance dropped significantly.

Heather nodded with a smile before starting the car. “I know you guys don’t want to go trick or treat anymore, but you still want costumes. For that, we have a surprise for you,” Heather said while Oliver and Erinna looked at each other, not understanding what Heather meant.

Heather headed home and dropped Oliver home first. She then drove home and parked in the garage. They entered the house, and Erinna immediately walked to George’s room. George was rarely sick, and she was the one with weak immunity, not him. However, when George gets sick, he’s very ill. George’s door was open, and Erinna caught him doing pushups on the floor.

“What’cha you doing?” Erinna said with her hand on her hips. She didn’t look threatening in her blouse and skirt uniform, but George knew better.

“Nothing. Listen, you’re not going to tell mom about this. She had locked the gym, so I can’t work out today,” George admitted standing up quickly. He was allowed to watch TV, play video games, or do anything without performing physical work.

“I won’t, but get back to bed, or I will tell mom,” Erinna threatened. George sighed and got on the bed. Erinna smiled, walked to George’s nightstand, and took out the dirty glass. “Would you like chicken soup?” Erinna offered.

“Fine, but only if you make it. If mom makes it, it will be too much even for me to finish.”

Erinna just laughed and walked out of the room. She headed straight to the kitchen; Heather was already baking a cake. She looked at Erinna as she put the dirty cup in the dishwasher, headed straight to the fridge, took out the soup, and started to heat it.

“Is that for George?” Heather asked. She looked at Erinna, who nodded and poured some soup into a mug. “You don’t have to do that, you know? I can do that instead.” Erinna had been helping more and more around the kitchen, and she certainly helped more than any other daughter would. She knew that Erinna could take over the kitchen if she wanted to.

“Cooking is fun.” Erinna just shrugged. It’s not like someone was forcing her to do it; she just liked working in the kitchen. Erinna’s home economics teacher was always excited to have her in the class since Erinna was her star pupil.

“I don’t mind,” Erinna admitted.

“You know I appreciate your help,” Heather said, walking to Erinna, hugging her, and kissing her forehead. “You’re still my little girl, and it’s my job to take care of you, not the other way around,” Heather said, pulling away from the hug. “I will take this to George. You go change and start your homework, ok?”

Erinna nodded and handed the mug of soup to her mom, and she then walked to her room to change her clothes. Her walk-in closet was now half-filled with clothes. When she was still Ryan, her clothes didn’t fill a quarter of the closet. Now she had so many clothes and was still receiving more clothes. She was offered a job as a model, but her parents refused since Erinna was not interested. She felt that she was busy enough with swimming and schoolwork.

Erinna first took off her shoes inside her closet, followed by her school uniform. She hung her uniform, took off her tights, and started to look for something to wear. She had so many Jeans, yet Erinna opted for a skirt instead of jeans, being such a girly girl. Erinna took out a black skirt with an elastic waistband and a white hoodie and got dressed before putting on a pair of tight black high socks.

Walking downstairs, Erinna retrieved her tablet and settled in the living room to do her homework. This homework was not supposed to be easy for an average student, but for Erinna, it was nothing. In less than an hour, Erinna had finished her homework.

Being idle with nothing to do was annoying, so Erinna left her seat to look for something to occupy her time. Seeing some dirty laundry in the washing room, Erinna sorted it and put it in the washer. Soon enough, she was done and started to look for something else to do.

Around 6 pm, Jeff arrived home after a long day at work. He was writing some new subroutines for his security system. There were new modules he had to incorporate into the system. Unfortunately, not many other of the company’s new programmers were yet as skilled as Jeff. He also met with the shareholders to show off his company’s new security system. He was looking forward to coming home, maybe cuddling with his Princess. But he wanted to cuddle her while watching the football game today.

Walking inside the house, Jeff relieved himself of the necktie and hung his coat. “I am home,” Jeff announced, closing the door behind him. Hearing Jeff’s voice Erinna left her seat and ran to the door to meet her dad.

“Daddy,” Erinna squealed, hugging Jeff, who smiled while picking her up and leaving his 11-year-old daughter in his arm.

“How was your day, Princess,” Jeff asked, kissing Erinna’s forehead. Everyone knew Erinna was her daddy’s girl, and he always clarified how much he loved her. He had been treating Erinna like a treasure. Jeff could spoil Erinna as a girl, and no one would say anything.

“It was boring, daddy,” Erinna pouted, making Jeff chuckle.

Heather appeared, and both she and Jeff shared a kiss. Jeff then asked about George and how he was doing.

“George is much better now and doesn’t have a fever anymore. Last time I checked, he had fallen asleep,” Heather told Jeff, who just nodded.

“By the way, I have the item you asked me to bring with me here,” Jeff said, showing Heather the shopping bag he was holding in his arm.
Erinna looked at the bag with curiosity, trying to figure out what was in there. Unfortunately, Erinna was not able to see what was inside the bag.

“What’s in there, daddy?” Erinna inquired, using her best puppy-eye look. She knew Jeff could never say no to her puppy-eyed face and used it to her advantage.

Jeff chuckled before kissing Erinna’s forehead again. “I have clear instructions from your mommy, and I can’t tell you yet,” Jeff informed Erinna. She was still the curious child she used to be, and many other things remained the same for Erinna.

“Not fair,” Erinna pouted, making Jeff and Heather chuckle.

“Would you like to help me with dinner while your daddy relaxes?” Heather suggested. She knew that Erinna loved to work in the kitchen, and it reached a point where Heather had to hold her back. Some of Heather’s friends expressed their envy, telling her that their daughters didn’t help in any way around the house. Some even joked about it, asking if they could swap their daughters for Erinna.

Erinna followed her mom to the kitchen, and both started dinner. Once dinner was ready, Heather turned around and looked at Erinna. “Why don’t you go wake George up?” Erinna eagerly nodded, and Jeff put her down.

“Ok,” Erinna replied and walked upstairs towards George’s room. Opening the door, she found him asleep, and she crept into the room, making sure not to wake George up.

“Wake up, George!” Erinna shouted as she ran towards the bed, and she jumped on the sleeping George knocking the air out of his lungs. “Mom said to wake you up for dinner,” Erinna said while laughing.

George groaned and sat up, looking at Erinna, who was grinning at him.
“You’re too big to jump on me,” George sarcastically said.

Erinna gasped and put her hand on her mouth, faking a surprise.
“Are you calling me fat?”

George shook his head and looked at his sister, who had become a master manipulator.

“What do they teach you at the true-lady school?” George said with a smirk.

Erinna just giggled and walked out of the room, heading downstairs. Erinna helped her mom serve the food on the table and took her place, sitting down at the table before Jeff and George joined them.

“How are you feeling now, son?” Jeff asked as everyone took their seats.

“Expect for a little monkey who almost broke my ribs; I am fine, dad,” George replied.

Everyone laughed, and Erinna stuck her tongue out at George. The dinner was full of chatter as always. Once the family finished eating, Erinna helped her mom clear off the table and took the leftovers to the kitchen. She returned to her room to change and get ready for bed. Erinna checked her tablet first, surprised to find a notification from the gaming company that had created ‘NTW.’ Opening the message, Erinna found an Email from the game addressed to Ruby.

Dear player Ruby,

We would be honored to invite you to participate in our first Cosplay event on the 30th of this month. We have provided you with 5 VIP tickets, and you may bring four other players to attend the event. Would you please read the attached PDF file and click on the link at the bottom of this email for further information?

Best Regards,
MegaSoft, creators of NTW.

A pdf file was attached to the email, as well as the link. Opening the link, Erinna found more about this event. It was a cosplay party where NTW players dressed up as their Avatar or favorite Avatar. The event also allowed players of all ages from 10 and above, and no alcoholic drinks were allowed. She entered the address on a map app and found the event’s location was 30 minutes away by car.

Erinna took her tablet and walked to her parent’s room. Knocking the door, Erinna entered after they told her to come in.

“Do you need something, sweetheart?” Heather asked, looking at Erinna.

Erinna nodded and began to explain the NTW Email to her parents. She told them about the cosplay party and everything else. They agreed that Erinna could go, but George must go with her, which sounded even better to Erinna. Erinna decided to tell Oliver tomorrow, knowing that Oliver and Nancy would love to go. Erinna still didn’t have a costume, but her parents had been busy; they already had the perfect custom-made outfit for her.

She walked to George’s room to tell him the news and knocked on the door. George opened his door only for Erinna to place her tablet in his face.

“Couldn’t you decrease the brightness a bit before you decided to stick it in front of my face? And take a step back. I can’t see anything with it right in front of me.”

Taking a step back, Erinna showed George the tablet and the email again. It took George a second to read the email before responding. “That’s great. Who will go with you then? If I accompany you, I can give you a ride if you want.”

“You, Nancy, and Oliver, of course, but I don’t know who to bring for the fifth spot without offending anyone else,” Erinna admitted.

“That’s great. Oliver and Nancy will be happy to be invited. If we need a fifth player for the competition, I am sure we can find someone there,” George said to Erinna, who nodded.

She walked to her room, placed the tablet beside her phone, and connected them to the charger. Erinna then changed into her nightie, walked to her bathroom, and brushed her teeth. She went to her parent’s room, and after kissing each of them goodnight, she returned to her room, got under the covers, and quickly fell asleep.

•••••••••

Chapter 2

The next day was typical for Erinna, just like any other, except when Heather picked her up from school, they didn’t go straight home. Oliver had left with Carol, which was weird since they usually went home together, whether in Heather’s or Carol’s car.

Instead of going straight home, they went to the mall. Seeing the confusion on Erinna’s face, Heather decided to explain.

“Joshua said he has something special for you and wants you to see it,” Heather explained.

Walking through the mall took a great deal of effort from Erinna and Heather to walk straight to the shoe shop and not go into every store they walked by. Joshua welcomed them as they entered the store. He still liked to look uniquely different with short hair, but now, it was a short pixie cut.

“Hi, Joshua,” Erinna greeted with a smile.

“Hi Princess, it’s nice to see you again,” Joshua said, and as he turned around on his 4-inch heels, he walked to one of the shelves and took out a box. He opened the box and removed a pair of black thigh-high platform boots with 4-inch block heels. Two red dragons decorated one side of the boots, while on the other side, Joshua spelled Ruby vertically in big red letters.

They were identical to the boots she had designed for her Avatar in the game.

“When your mom told me about your game avatar, I had to do it. I created these boots myself, and I hope you like them,” Joshua exclaimed enthusiastically. He was happy to have made custom boots for a special young lady such as Erinna, so instead of getting black boots from stock and decorating them, Joshua decided to create these new boots from scratch for Erinna.

“Hold on. Did you make those? In two weeks? Honey, you didn’t have to go that far,” Heather commented. Heather was happy that Joshua was giving special care to Erinna. Still, she only asked him to decorate a pair of boots so they could go with Erinna’s costume. Erinna was at a loss for words. Although she was beginning to understand the whole picture, she was amazed and unable to say anything.

“Nonsense, Mrs. Houston, I enjoyed working on those boots, knowing who will be wearing them,” Joshua said, turning to Erinna. “Now, please take off your shoes and try these on. I need to know if they are perfect or not,” Joshua instructed.
Following Joshua’s instructions, Erinna took off her shoes and took the pair of boots, pulling them on. She could tell Joshua had paid much attention to details when making the boots. The boots had a long zipper down the back, which made them very easy to put on. They were a perfect fit and felt very lightweight and warm inside.

Walking out of the mall with a single shopping bag felt weird for Erinna and Heather, but they didn’t have any time to waste. The event Erinna will be going to will start in two hours, and she needed to be ready by then. By now, Erinna could see the whole picture even if Heather didn’t tell her everything. She was looking forward to how her costume will look. She was sure the outfit wasn’t that hard to find, but replicas of Ruby’s weapons may be impossible to get.

At home, Heather took Erinna to her room and started to run her a bubble bath. Having a bubble bath was not something she usually did in the middle of the week, and it consumed a lot of time.

“I will prepare your costume while you take your bath,” Heather said, and Erinna nodded.

Erinna started to remove her school uniform and folded it neatly. She then took off her bra, tights, and panties before placing them in the laundry basket. Outside Heather started to layout Erinna’s costume on the bed. She didn’t know how her daughter could be this creative, but she liked how fashionable it was. It was not that easy to get, but it was worth it.

The bubble bath was tremendous, and Erinna couldn’t help but smile and the flowery smell of the bath. She wrapped a long fluffy towel around her body that Heather had left for her. She then walked out of the bathroom. When Erinna saw the outfit on the bed, her jaw fell to the floor in awe. On the bed was everything, including the sniper rifle and the scythe. She couldn’t believe the lengths they had gone to that her parents were even able to get the replica weapons.

“So, what do you think?” Heather asked, walking in behind Erinna.
“It’s awesome, mom! Thank you so much,” Erinna said, hugging her mom.

“I am glad you like it, now let’s hurry up. We don’t have much time,” Heather said, pulling Erinna towards the bed. She handed a pair of black panties and a bra that Erinna put on. After that came a belt that Heather wrapped around Erinna’s waist. Erinna could recognize the garter belt that her mom wore from time to time.

“Now, don’t get used to this. You’re still way too young to be wearing stockings and garters,” Heather informed Erinna, who nodded with a smile.

Heather pulled out a pair of opaque black stockings, and Erinna rolled them up and pulled them up her legs. The stockings felt way better than the tights or the thigh-high socks she was used to, and she loved how her legs looked in those stockings. Heather showed her how to connect them to the garters.

After the stockings, then the mid-thigh kilted skirt and a white blouse. The over-top corset was only for decoration and was not even cinched up. Heather didn’t want her daughter to look too sexy, and she was too young. Erinna already looked more mature and older than kids her age, and Heather didn’t want to add anything.

Before putting on the hood, Heather sat Erinna in front of her vanity table and started to add curls to her blonde hair with a curling iron. Once she finished with Erinna’s hair, she applied some makeup, keeping it to a minimum. Heather sprayed some perfume and finally allowed Erinna to look in the mirror.

“Woooow!” was all Erinna could say. She looked exactly like her Avatar; it was truly incredible.

“Alright, let’s get you into the rest of your costume. You don’t want to be late for the event,” Heather commented, pulling the red hood around Erinna and tying the two laces around the neck. On the back of the hood were two straps made to hold the sniper rifle and the scythe.

Once the sniper rifle and the scythe were in place, Erinna pulled on the boots when she heard a car horn outside. Erinna could recognize it as George’s brand-new car that he received when he turned 16 and passed his license test.

“Ugh, men in this family have no patience,” Heather said, rolling her eyes and making Erinna giggle.

“Don’t forget to take your phone with you,” Heather said, handing Erinna a red purse. Erinna just smiled and nodded. Hurrying up to her room, Erinna retrieved her phone. She then ran downstairs, where George was waiting in his car outside of the house.

“Wow, you look just like Ruby. Get in,” George said, folding the front seat and enabling Erinna to get into the back. Once she was in the car, George drove to the Collins house. Oliver and Nancy stood out front, dressed like their Avatars, only that Oliver looked precisely like his Avatar, ‘Oli Captain.’ Once everyone was in the car, George drove to the event. It took place in an E-sports center, and the whole place was buzzing with music, with many people already going inside.

George parked the car, and they all walked toward the VIP entrance. The main entrance had a long line of people waiting to enter, while the VIP entrance was empty—the VIP entrance for mystical ranks only. As the message stated, any mystical rank player can enter with a group of four or fewer.

At the VIP entrance, the security guard stopped them. “Only mystical ranks can enter here. Go stand in the main lineup,” the guy said, blocking their way.

“I am a mystical rank,” Erinna said, showing him the email and the ticket.

The guard took one look at it and started to laugh. “ There is no way Ruby is a little girl, and girls can’t play video games, so go home and play with your dolls or something,” the guy said, shocking everyone.
George stepped up and stood right in the guard’s face. The guard was about 5’7”, while George was already 6’1” and could make that guy swallow his words.

“I want to speak to your supervisor immediately,” George said loud enough so everyone could hear.

The guard looked at George, obviously intimidated. If a fight started, George could beat the crap out of him before anyone could pull him away.

“There’s no need for that, just....”

“What’s going on here?” The guy was interrupted by the sound of a girl coming from behind him. She had dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. She was wearing an event T-shirt like everyone working here, with a skirt, black hose, and a pair of black ballet flats. Her name tag showed that she was a supervisor.

George was surprised to see her here since she was an intern at his father’s company and a senior at the university. George had worked with her on several projects when he used to help his dad at work.
“Oh, Hannah, I didn’t expect to see you here,” George said, a bit surprised.

“George!” Hannah walked closer to see what was going on. Now she was more interested. “And you must be Erinna. George and Mr. Houston always talk about you.”

Erinna blushed a bit, mouthing a thank you.

“Now, what’s going on here? You’re not causing trouble again?” Hannah asked, turning back to the security guard. He shifted uncomfortably. Seeing that he wasn’t about to answer, she turned to George again. She asked George the same question, and George happily explained everything to her.

“Is that so? Can you show me the email, sweetie?”

Erinna nodded and held her phone so Hannah could read the email along with the VIP ticket.

“Alright, come in,” Hannah said. Once inside, Hannah pinned a golden badge to Erinna with her Avatar’s name on it. The security guy was about to complain, but Hannah shot him a glare that shut him up.

“This NTW badge will allow your group into the reserved VIP section. You can buy drinks or food using your gold NTW coins so you won’t need money here. Sorry about what happened earlier, and please enjoy yourselves,” Hannah said mainly to Erinna.

Nancy was the only one who didn’t like her much. Hannah was standing way too close to George and sweet-talking Erinna. She didn’t like that since George was her boyfriend and Erinna was her little sister.

As they walked away from Hannah, George looked at Nancy and said, “She only works for my dad, and we have no relationship.” Nancy kissed him on the cheek and smiled.

The four soon found a table in the reserved VIP area and sat down, checking the event for today. There’s a costume competition, a team competition, and a 1x1 competition. Both Nancy and Erinna signed in for the costume competition, and they all signed for the team and the 1x1 competition.

“I am hungry,” said Oliver making everyone laugh. “We can all have a snack,” he said, pointing to the snack bar menu.

“What do you guys want?” George asked, and everyone told him what they wanted. He had a lot of gold coins from farming, so he didn’t mind buying a snack for everyone. Besides, he was almost a mystical rank because of Erinna. After bringing the orders, everyone enjoyed their snack and walked to the costume competition.

Both Erinna and Nancy walked on stage with many other competitors. Some were girls wearing armor, a couple of guys wearing well-made costumes, and one was wearing a Viking helmet and a kilt, looking like a real warrior. Some were boys trying to look like girls, but they didn’t look that convincing.

One of the organizers walked to the stage with a microphone in his hand as the MC.

“Everyone, welcome to the first event of the NTW competition. We have 100 of the best-costumed players on the stage. We will decide who has the best costume.

“The first stage will be ten rounds, each round with ten competitors. We will only pick the top five costumes from each round.”

“We will then have a second stage with 50 people and pick the top three from the five groups of ten. Only the top fifteen competitors will remain in the final championship round.”

“Then the crowd will pick the top three for first, second, and third place,” the MC said as the judges in front of the stage received a list of names.

“Let’s start with our participants’ names, shall we?”

Erinna and Nancy immediately got into separate groups.

The MC started by asking everyone their first and in-game avatar names. When Erinna answered, the whole room stayed silent for a second, then everyone started to cheer loudly after hearing her name, Ruby.

The crowd began to chant, “RUBY! RUBY! RUBY!”

Erinna looked precisely like her Avatar and even sounded like her when she spoke a few times.

“I think we already know who will be the winner,” the MC said as he moved to the other competitors. Once he finished his speech, the voting started.

Erinna and Nancy both won their first two rounds and were both in the final round. After the first two rounds, the number of competitors decreased until the final round, where only fifteen stood on the stage. Erinna didn’t realize how famous she was until now.

Everyone wanted to win except Erinna, who just wanted to do it for fun. Ultimately, Erinna won first place since the crowd yelled the loudest for her. Nancy followed her in second place; surprisingly, the guy wearing a Viking helmet and a kilt was in third place. His Avatar was named Lugh, and his first name was Mark.

After receiving their awards, everyone left the stage and walked to the team competition event. They, however, faced a problem. Their team needed five members, and that’s when Lugh approached them.

“Hi, guys, I noticed you need another player for your team. Can I join you?”

Now that Erinna saw Lugh up close, she could tell he was younger than the way his Avatar looked. He seems to be around 12 or 13.

“Sure, if you want to join us, that would be great,” George said, noticing that Lugh was trying hard not to stare at Erinna. Erinna was lovely and looked older than her age. Although he hated it when people stared at his sister, he couldn’t blame him.

“Thanks... Can I ask something else, if you don’t mind? Are you the real Ruby?” Lugh asked, stammering as he asked the question. Since playing the game a year ago, he has been a big fan of Ruby. He always wanted to meet her and wished she was a real girl. Now his two wishes had come true. Not only was Ruby a girl, but a lovely one at that.

“Yes, I am Ruby. Why is everyone so excited to meet me anyway?” Erinna asked, still not realizing how famous she was in the game.

Lugh looked at her with raised eyebrows. If he guessed, he would say she was the same age as him. He couldn’t believe she didn’t know how famous she was in the game. It made sense that she would turn down everyone who tried to make a deal with her.

“Don’t worry about it, Erinna, and just let it go. Let’s get started, shall we,” George said, laughing a bit. After signing Lugh in as a team member, they all waited for their first match.

Once their first match was about to start, however, the other team looked worried. None of the other players were planning to face one of the game’s best players. Lugh played as a tank. He used a long sword and had very high armor and defense. Oliver was a warrior, so he also helped take some of the damage. Nancy played as an assassin using a katana and two guns. George used a long-range sniper rifle and a long heavy ax close-up for melee.

Having two highly skilled snipers was devastating to other teams. Not only could they get kills without the other team knowing where the shot came from, but they also exposed the enemy team’s position to their teammates. George and Erinna quickly removed any opposing sniper from the game, predicting where they would be hiding.

Their team easily won first place, all members receiving the newest HR set and specially crafted weapon in the game.

In the 1x1 competition, Nancy was the first to lose, earning 7th place. Lugh followed soon after, making 5th place. Oliver lost after he reached 4th place. George lost to a mystical-ranked player and ended up being in 3rd. The final match was between Erinna and the other mystical player whose Avatar name was Allylord. Before the match even started, Erinna got a message in the chatbox.

“Why don’t you go home? This competition is not a place for a little girly girl like you.” was the message from Allylord.

Erinna hated these guys the most. She vowed to humiliate that guy, and he would pay for what he said. While she wouldn’t deny that she was a girly girl and Erinna preferred skirts and dresses over pants and shorts, that didn’t mean she wasn’t badass in the game.

“Why? Is Mr. Allylord scared of losing to a girly girl like me? I am sure a macho big guy like you would hate to lose to a little girly girl like me,” Erinna replied, smirking widely.

Before Allylord could reply, the match had started. The map was an abandoned ship that held a considerable advantage for Erinna. She knew that Allylord relied on a fencing sword and a crossbow as his ranged weapon, and he would charge the enemy and make as much damage as he could before pulling away and using his ranged weapon.

George only lost because Allylord caught him off-guard when trying to find a good spot for sniping, so Erinna decided to use his tactics against him. Erinna moved to expose herself to Allylord. He attempted to hit her with his ranged weapon, but she wore special boots that increased her movement speed. She was way too fast for him to shoot her with his crossbow.

Moving to the perfect spot, Erinna pretended to try and use her sniper rifle while seemingly unaware that Allylord had flanked her and stealthily approached to attack her from the rear. However, he was the one who was surprised as Erinna was waiting to ambush him and used her scythe instead. With just one hit, Allylord died, and Erinna won the match.

“She cheated,” said the angry voice of the defeated player.

“NTW scanned every device after every match, so unless you’re claiming we are incompetent, I suggest you suck it up,” Hannah said, giving Erinna a confident smile. She walked over to Erinna and held her hand high. “The winner of the 1x1 competition is Ruby. This match was fair and square, and anyone who doesn’t like it can leave.”

The crowd roared their approval once again and chanted, “RUBY! RUBY! RUBY!”

After receiving their prizes for the 1x1 competition, the four left the E-sports center. They stopped at a burger place to have dinner.

“That was awesome. You killed Allylord in one hit. How did you manage to do that?” Oliver commented as he was about to stuff his mouth with French fries.

Erinna blushed a bit but smiled. She felt warm every time Oliver praised her. “I just used critical damage. In close-range combat, my scythe has 100% critical hit chance and 100% critical damage,” Erinna answered.

After dinner, they all went home. George dropped off Nancy and Oliver first before driving home. Erinna told Oliver they should dress up and trick or treat together on Halloween in their cosplay costumes.

Oliver kissed her cheek and said, “I wouldn’t miss that for anything.” He and Nancy left the car and said their goodbyes as she also got a kiss from George.

As the car parked in front of their house, George stated, “You go in first, and I will bring in the loot we won in the event,” instructing the sleepy Erinna, who just nodded and left the car.

Entering her house, Erinna saw Heather waiting for her.

“How was it, sweetie?” Heather asked before hugging her daughter.

“It was fun,” Erinna said, yawning.

Heather couldn’t help but laugh a bit. Erinna was more adorable when she was sleepy. “Let me take a couple of pictures in your costume before you go to bed,” Heather said, kissing Erinna’s forehead.

“Do I have to?” Erinna pouted a bit. She couldn’t deny that she didn’t mind, even if she was sleepy. Nonetheless, she posed for her mom to take as many pictures as possible.

Upstairs, Heather helped Erinna get out of her costume. Erinna then changed into one of her nighties, walked into her bathroom, brushed her teeth, and, with Heather’s help, removed the very light makeup she had applied to Erinna’s face.

“Good night, princess,” Heather said, tucking Erinna in the bed and kissing her forehead. Heather left the room quietly as Erinna had fallen asleep, softly closing the door behind her.