SisterQuery had dressed her best. It was the Lord's birthday after all. The shop had been doing well and she still got base pay along with a percent on everything she helped sell, so she had spent her money on perfume, enchanted lotions, and on a wardrobe. She wore a green dress that paired well with her darker skin. It was warm, tailored to her shape, and showed just enough to attract her one target. She had a cross on her neck with a gold chain, and her hair glowed with small lights, her concession to the world's light-based holiday.

  She laughed to herself slightly. While the world was gaining players, she was the only human female on the team. It was easy to keep Raphael's attention, but she still liked to put in the effort.

  He logged in and met her at the large glowing gift tree. They held hands and smiled. He kissed her cheek and said, "Merry Christmas."

  "Merry Christmas," she answered back. She knew the world was celebrating something called All Night Long, but it wasn't like she was going to not celebrate Christmas.

  They gathered two candles and took them to the gift tree together. They placed the light on the tree, but something strange happened. Instead of two gift orbs, only one came out. It hovered between them. They opened it and their eyes widened.

  "Seriously?" asked Grimmblade.

  Celeste looked confused. It was a ticket, or in fact it was a pass.

  Grimmblade looked to the sky and mouthed a thank you, then looked to SisterQuery. "The world hasn't even offered this to Noobkitty or ExpertBunny yet."

  "But what is it?" asked Celest.

  "It's a travel visa. Coro?en has given you leave to travel the Net. The world still technically owns your data, but you're no longer restricted to stay here," Grimmblade said, still amazed.

  "Wait, does that mean…" she hesitated. "I can…"

  "You can travel to other worlds. You can enter a private streaming space to interact with the real world, you can…" Grimmblade smiled. "I guess we might need to spend Christmas with your folks."

  She almost cried. Since when was that ever a possibility? And the world gave it as a Christmas gift.

  She noticed her UI change. Options opened up, including, for the first time ever, an option to log out.

  "We have to tell the girls," she said. They looked about to find Noobkitty and ExpertBunny, who were looking at a large green egg while sipping hot chocolate. They were very close, and SisterQuery had to smile. The two were cute together. She was sure God loved them too, and the thought filled her with warmth.

  Grimmblade grinned. "Good party, girls, but we are going to bounce."

  They blinked, and Noobkitty asked, "Where are you headed? There's no other party or town in the world yet."

  "We'll just have to leave the world then," he said and showed the travel visa of SisterQuery.

  "Well, looks like Coro?en is winning gift giving, but before you go let us give you our present," said Noobkitty with a smile.

  ExpertBunny held her fiancée close. The two pulled gifts from their inventory and offered them to the happy couple.

  SisterQuery opened hers and found the coffee mug. She looked at it, a bit confused.

  "It's for your morning coffee, since you always put almond milk in your coffee," Noobkitty explained happily.

  SisterQuery blinked and looked slightly embarrassed. Her secret that she put real milk in her coffee was still safe, but now Noobkitty would expect her to use this cup. "Oh thank you, that definitely will be great, especially when we start traveling north to start our own town."

  Noobkitty smiled. "That was the thought, that way you won't miss almond milk in your coffee even when you have to make campfire coffee."

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  "Great… seriously, thank you," said SisterQuery.

  Grimmblade was beaming as he swung his new wood-cutting axe. "Seriously, Noobkitty, this is going to be a huge help. Ten times wood production is insane, and the no-combat part of it made me laugh. Don't worry, your gift is a tool, not an instrument of death," he said, feeling its light weight and balance. "This will help us make the town of Sourdough so much easier."

  Noobkitty beamed that her gifts were appreciated.

  "Now you two head off, but be sure to be here for the end of the festival. Coro?en will be opening his gift," said ExpertBunny indicating the large egg.

  "Will do. I was curious about that green egg, so I've got to see it," said Grimmblade.

  "We'll be back, and I'll look forward to having hot chocolate in my new cup," said SisterQuery, thinking hot chocolate with almond milk would probably be pretty good.

  The two logged out.

  ---

  Skidmark had family stuff. While his moms and he had already celebrated the solstice, the extended family always expects events on Christmas. It cut into their game time and honestly it was dreaded by all three members of the family, but you had to make an appearance… for some reason.

  For now though, he had two more presents to collect.

  He placed a glowing snowball on the tree and it gave him an orb of light. Not waiting on ceremony, he opened it and found:

  Boomerang Ball:

  A small lightweight bouncy ball that always returns to its owner.

  Skidmark smiled. He had played enough that he knew what the use of this was for. It found traps, it called aggro, it made distractions, it tested depth and falls. It was an amazingly useful tool. He bounced it a few times, then he looked for a distracted town guard. He threw the ball. It bounced off the NPC's head and flew in the air till it returned to his hand. The guard was confused and could not find the source of what hit him.

  "Sweet, thanks Coro?en," said Skidmark. He had come to realize the world itself was alive and a person, so he started to try and remember to be polite to him.

  "Now I bet Noobkitty made me something fun too," said the goblin kid, looking for his "in-game moms."

  He found them serving players pastries and sweets, some of them looking like they weren't from Coro?en and were visitors from the net.

  "Skidmark," said ExpertBunny with a smile. "Do you like the toy Coro?en gave you?"

  He smiled and threw it to the roof of the sweet shop. It bounced down the roof, off the tree, down the sidewalk, across part of the street, and to his hand. "It's pretty cool," said the kid.

  "So, I guess you expect another present," asked Noobkitty. "Were you a good boy?"

  Skidmark shrugged and tried to play coy. "I mean, I did help save the world."

  ExpertBunny and Noobkitty looked to each other and smiled. "Yeah, that's good enough."

  Noobkitty held out the present. It was wrapped, but it felt like a pouch. Skidmark opened it, curious what it could be, and his grin widened.

  Death Jellybeans

  Must be consumed willingly!

  One of these jellybeans will instantly kill anyone who eats it and send them painlessly to their respawn location, with no penalty to inventory.

  XP will still be lost upon respawn.

  He took one out and popped it in his mouth. His hit points instantly plummeted, he lost 10 percent of his current level’s XP, and he found himself back at the gift tree at the center of town. He rushed back to Noobkitty and ExpertBunny with a smile.

  "That death tasted like oranges! Thank you!" He hugged them and was hopping with excitement. He could explore and unlock the local map fully and be able to respawn back in Starter without risking his inventory. It was awesome. He was excited to explore. He hugged his in-game moms.

  "I'm going to use these for so much exploring… after I get back. I have to do prime world family stuff," he said. He was genuinely excited.

  "Go, don't make your Prime moms wait," said ExpertBunny.

  The goblin logged out.

  ---

  "You know, we haven't gotten gifts from Coro?en yet," said ExpertBunny.

  "He gives us enough and is busy," said Noobkitty.

  "No seriously, I've been waiting for you two to get yours. Come get them so I can see your smiles from what I picked," said Coro?en, an excitement in their voice.

  "Didn't you already tell me you got me a coupon?" asked Noobkitty to the world.

  "Yes, you'll like it. ExpertBunny is getting a piece of paper too," said the world.

  She laughed a little. "All right then, God of the world, we'll come get our paper."

  From the off-world treats table, Noobkitty picked a glowing orange candy on a stick. ExpertBunny picked something that looked like the planet Saturn but made of glowing marshmallow.

  They went to the tree and placed their offerings.

  Two balls floated down. ExpertBunny opened hers first. It was indeed a piece of paper, but to be precise it was a large paper with a location and an X. The bunny girl's eyes lit up at the treasure map. "Is this…"

  "What you want is in the dungeon. It takes two or more to conquer it," said Coro?en.

  ExpertBunny grinned and looked to her confused fiancée. "Do you think Skidmark’s moms would be up for a quest?"

  "Um, probably. What's in the dungeon?"

  "A surprise," said the bunny cryptically.

  "It's your turn, Noobkitty."

  Noobkitty opened her present and it indeed was a coupon, as promised.

  The Un-Nerfed Coupon:

  The owner of the Coupon is entitled to purposefully craft ONE world-breaking enchanted item.

  She blinked and grinned. She had no idea what she'd use it for, but she had 'ideas' coming to her mind, she needed to level her crafting more.

  "This seems like a bit of favoritism, Coro?en," said Noobkitty.

  "I've read the forums. Players expect me to show favorites," Coro?en said plainly. "I'm glad you both like your gifts."

  "Yep, Coro?en is winning gift giving this year," teased ExpertBunny.