'Aleiya, let's talk about this!'
'Aleiya!''I'm worried about you.''If you need someone, I'm just right here.''I still love you.'These are the messages that pop from a phone in a pinkish bed. It is beside a girl who sheds her tears while sleeping, but there are no signs of crying. She's already unconscious, but what's causing it is the technology covering her head, the NTS Gear.
Argos explained what happened to his two friends. Starting that day, they gave him empathy. They left him alone, fighting his spirit. Heartbreak is his friends' worst nightmare. They don't even know what to do when that happens.
The next day is Saturday. Classes won't interrupt the gamers. Most of the players spent their time grinding until 4 PM, the time of the welcome event. By that time, ev
Earlier that afternoon after the announcement, they didn't even have the chance to farm experience points as the players swarmed through the wilderness. There's no space for them to grind. Almost every player joined or formed a party. As they wander out of the spawn point, the other players left nothing but footsteps. They stopped at the plains and watches thousands of players killing armies of slimes. "Are those greedy assholes plan to kill us?" Zeus said as he breathes loud. "They just left the spawn quickly, more like a person's response in buying groceries in a pandemic," Walter said with a deep sigh. He notices Argos staring at the floor with no energy left. "Hey, are you okay?" After a second, Argos comes back to his senses. His reality shocked him, causing him to wake up. "Oh
"Please... Help my grandson," she said, but she expected not a quick answer. "Sure," Argos said with a smile. Zeus smashes his head and spoke. "Hey! That was quick! Are you forgetting about us?" Zeus looks at the woman and asked. "What can you offer us?" The old woman looks left as she shakes, wanting to cry. Tears shed out her eyes as her breathing hardened. In no time, she continues her mourn. "Is that a no?" Zeus asked as he faces her chin up. "Hey, Lennard. You're being rude," Argos said as he drags Zeus's shoulder to face him. "It's Zeus!" "That's not the problem here," Argos said while showing him the paper the old woman gives. "Look! Her grandson is missing. She needs hel
"Excuse us!" Walter said as he leads the team in entering the empty cabin. From the outside, the view is somewhat a hidden house from the missing Atlantis. Inside is a zone of floating dust with different kinds of herbs hanging on a string above the entrance. There is a table in the middle of the room with only one chair. Above it is a lit candle and a small mortar. The house is so closed that only limited light can enter. The house has a second floor, but the stairs are already broken. The first floor contains three rooms including the main dining room. Besides the right door is a cupboard full of ceramic plates and glass bottles. Like the entrance, the doors also have hanging ingredients above them. Argos enters the right door and discovers just a normal bedroom. The bed already froze, losing its comfort. Having asleep there is no different from sleeping above ground.
The loud wall-banging reached outside the room. Zeus and Walter rushed to open the door that triggered their danger alarm. As they broke it with Zeus's foot, they saw Argos being choked in his neck against the wall. Adeline's loud breathing covered the room as she sweats. Later she realized that her emotions controlled her. She released her hand as Argos coughs, sits down her bed and lowers her head while avoiding eye contact. "Please, go," Adeline said while trembling. "I'm sorry," Argos said as he leaves the room, closing the door. *I'm the one that should be apologizing.* Adeline thought. Meanwhile, as the door closed, the three agreed to clean the house. "What the h
"Aw! Damn you, Le..." Argos stuttered after seeing Adeline above him in her pajamas."Le? Who's that? Your girlfriend?" Adeline asked as she tilts her head. "Anyways, Zeus is preparing your breakfasts. Follow us and eat.""But I thought..." Argos said as he is shocked that Adeline allowed them to eat breakfast."No buts. Before you go, you'll do your breakfast here," she said as she goes down the stairs.*That's weird. What's into her?* Argos thought and followed her down. He saw Zeus cooking their breakfast.*"Late again? Do you have insomnia? I bet Adeline's cough made the house shake so you can't sleep," Zeus said and laughs. Adeline clenches her fist as she knit
"Here, have some tea first. Your sweats show your tiredness," Marza said as she gives a tray of tea to Argos who sits at the ground with his team. They're brought by Marza in a tent where she stays. The tent is so small that it can only fit 5 people in it. The people share the same facilities like the bathroom so it's usual for it to be crowded. Argos notices that the shakiness in her arms didn't disappear. It has been two days since they've met, but he sees a drastic change in her weight. More wrinkles appeared on her skin. "Thanks for the treat, but is this alright?" Argos asked as he holds one of the plastic cups. The two took also theirs. "Feel free young adventurers. I owe you more than that," she said. Suddenly, she grunts as she holds her chest with pain. The trio enters pani
Noon already passed as they got out of the tent. Argos leads the team towards where the vice chief is. Like the villagers, she stays in a tent but her place is separated from the villagers and is protected by some guards. They tried to pass but the guards blocked their way. "No official business until the crisis is over," one of the guards said. "Is the vice here? We're adventurers. We would like to hear more about these," Walter asked. "I said no official business," shouts the guard as they push the team back. "Just a word with her is fine! Please let us!" Walter shouted with struggle. Moments later, the woman inside the tent spoke. "Stop! Let them in." The guards gave them the way. As they go inside, they've seen a half-elf with red eyes. She turns around as they enter. Her appearance is gaunt and her tears are just recently swept out like she's hiding them. "I'd just thought that we won't need outside help, but I was wrong," she said.
"Sevy, can we talk in private?"Sevy agrees to walk out with Argos to the outskirts of the plateau. Argos first checks to see if there are people present around them. When he sees no one in the vicinity, he speaks."You're such a good liar, Sevy.""So you chose to save this village?""You're just thirteen. Why do you think like an adult?""Hello, I'm already fourteen. It's just normal for teens to decide things.""It's just a one-year error, but you're still a kid. By the way, you already know what to talk about right? Why didn't you say this to us first? While seeing you not worried at all, it felt strange.""By that time, I still don't trust you. I don't know what you've talked about with my grandma, but I'm sure her goal is different than mine. If I have one wish, I want him gone in this world!""So you want us to kill him?""Dispose of him by all m