End Online: Volume 3

by D Wolfin

  “It must be some kind of high class fire magic! Oh no, it’s spreading onto the houses!”

  “Idiots! Let me, I know much higher water based magic than that amateur spell you used. And I can do it chantless.”

  “That did nothing!”

  “I don’t know what’s going on, I submerged it in water and it still didn’t go out! What the hell kind of fire is that!”

  I don’t want to stick around for them to start chasing down whoever started it, there is a chance that someone witnessed me leaving the scene of the crime.

  I hurry east, trying to get to the Gold Run Inn as fast as possible.

  About fifteen minutes later, I arrive at the inn in question. It is in a small lane off one of the main paths that lead to one of Grenton’s exits. The inn is made out of the same dark wood as every other building, but it is about five times the size of any other building in the area.

  Walking in, the sound of players slurping drinks and shouting enter my ears. I am surprised I didn’t hear such a racket outside, before entering. The main room of the lobby consists of simple wooden barrels for tables, stools placed around them for the chairs.

  Large candelabras light the room as nearly a hundred players clamour about making an enormous racket.

  At a stool in the corner, I see a familiar hooded figure and knight in shining armour. I walk directly over to the two.

  “Verde, it is good to see you again!” I know I should probably greet the other guy, but I just feel awkward just thinking of it. Not that he cares, he only pays attention to girls that could become his damsel in distress anyway.

  “Ah, Lost! Yes, it is good to see you too!” She shows a smile from under her hood as my eyes are drawn to her rosy lips. My heart rate begins to climb as I feel a hand placed onto my shoulder.

  “Lost, we have been waiting for you! I take it all of you are acquainted?”

  The person behind me with a hand on my shoulder is Mason, Matrix at his side. I forgot to tell him about the others so naturally he is curious.

  “Ah yes, allow me to introduce you to Verde and Prince Charming. These two are Mason and Matrix, brothers in real life.”

  The prince’s face twitches when I call his name, but nothing more. Verde seems to giggle a little and I spot Matrix staring at her wide eyed. I feel a little pang of jealousy when she smiles back at him.

  “Lost,” Verde calls out, “Where is Fen, isn’t she always with you?”

  “Ah… She is sulking.”

  “Oh! What did you do?”

  “I didn’t do anything! Anyway, how about we go see this bartender? I will send the party requests.”

  “Changing the subject.” She giggles while everyone listens to our exchange of words.

  I send out the party invite to everyone and within a minute we form a party of 5 people. The only one missing is Fen, because she is currently back in my VL.

  I walk up to the inn keeper and take out the recommendation from the uncle back in Leaz. I start to panic as I realize that I should not be in this room when handing it to him. But before I can turn around, the owner is standing in front of me behind the bar.

  “W-What can I help ye with?” Yep, my intimidation is definitely working.

  “I was given this to hand to you.”

  As soon as he opens the letter and reads it his eyes widen in surprise.

  “Oh, I ‘ave been waiting for someone like ye! Honestly, ye terrified me at first. But if me’ brother ‘as given ‘is recommendation, then clearly ye must be trustworthy! I actually did’n want to ask this o’ anyone else, tis quite a personal matter ye see. Lately, me daughter ‘as been disappearing each mornin’ round sunrise, takin’ a ‘ole bunch of food wit her. Does ye think ye can find out where she be going for me?”

  “Oh! Yes!” I am shocked. To finally receive a request directly, I can almost cry in joy.

  Quest: Follow my daughter

  An innkeeper of Grenton, Rix, has requested you to follow his daughter when she leaves the house at sunrise to find out exactly where she goes. When she leaves, she will usually carry an unusually large amount of food.

  You must not be caught following her.

  Refusal will cause Rix to lose trust in you, possibly even refusing to offer his services.

  Grade: Orange

  Chapter 14.5 – Valentine’s Love

  -Lost-

  I accept the quest from the inn keeper, Rix, with the greatest pleasure. It has been such a long time since I have accepted a request directly. I also don’t gain any infamy.

  ‘Could this be one of those rare times where it is possible for me to gain fame!?’

  I shout in my mind, recalling the first effect of the ‘Intimidating Aura’ skill.

  - Intimacy cannot be grown with NPC's under normal circumstances.

  As time passed on, I slowly forgot about this effect. The description of it did not pass on when the skill upgraded to ‘Class Skill: White Warrior’. But, the effect itself still seemed to pass on.

  Looking over my shoulder at the others. Verde, and even that prince, have looks of complete surprise on their faces at me receiving a quest directly. Mason and Matrix, still not fully unaware of my circumstances, give me a thumbs up.

  “I’m sure you have all already read the quest.” I speak to everyone as I return to the makeshift table they are at. “All we need to do is follow his daughter without being seen. Surely it cannot be that difficult.”

  “I can probably do it myself,” Mason puffs out his chest in pride. “I have never once been caught before. I will follow her over the rooftops and discover where she goes.”

  “I’m pretty sure you are not supposed to be on the roofs. Last I heard, the guards will start chasing you once they spot you.”

  “That’s only if I am spotted!”

  I want to try and explain to him the difference between hiding in a city and hiding in a jungle, but Verde speaks up before I do.

  “I think I should be the one to do it. I can definitely follow the child without being seen.”

  I look at her out of curiosity, she seems extremely sure about herself, almost arrogant. Mason however, refuses to back down.

  “Hah! What can you do? I can silently travel along the roofs and keep an eye on where she goes from afar. I will not be spotted, nobody ever looks up.”

  “I have a class skill which allows me to cause everyone’s eyes in the area look anywhere except at me. I can walk directly behind the girl and nobody will know, not even the hundreds if not thousands of players I will walk past.”

  She is now standing, leaning forward with her hands on her hips as if trying to pressure Mason. There is no need however, the knowledge of her having a class skill is more than enough to damage his confidence. The knowledge of her special skill crushing what remained.

  “Tch. Fine, you do it.” He flicks his head away, looking anywhere but at her.

  I smile to myself, hoping they will slowly get along better.

  “Well,” I speak up, clearing my throat to ensure I have all the party members attention, “it is currently the beginning of night, and the innkeepers daughter does not leave until sunrise. How about we log off for the three hours that we have to wait and come back here?”

  Everyone looks at each other slowly, giving a slight shrug of agreement.

  “We will see you in three hours.” The brothers log off first, automatically leaving the party as they disconnect.

  “Umm… Bye, Lost.” Verde says nervously before rushing to log off, Prince Charming silently following suit after her.

  ‘I suppose it is time for me to log off. Fen should be in the locker, probably mad by now.’

  I open my main menu and select the log off button, causing the world around me to instantly disperse like an illusion.

  I find myself standing back in my locker, the classical decor theme called ‘China3′ is as marvellous as ever. I mean, it looks good even with half the furniture turned upside down. The only furnishings that are st
ill where I left them are the coffee table, wall mounted television, and the main sofa couch. On that sofa, Fen is currently seated while facing the opposite way from me.

  “… Fen.” I stand behind her, pretending to ignore the situation around me. “You’re mad?”

  “… Why… Why can’t I… be with you?” She turns her face towards me, tears brimming up.

  I am speechless. I don’t exactly know why, but I have a guilt rising up inside of me. She just stares at me, ready to break out into tears at any moment by the look of her.

  “Umm. I…” I don’t know what to say to her. I only wanted to walk through the town by myself. Maybe I would have run into Verde, who Fen doesn’t get along with. Isn’t it better she wasn’t there at the start.

  That is a poor excuse, I know it but I will not say it out loud.

  “It’s all… I want… to be with… you.” She looks like she could break out into tears any moment.

  “…” I open my mouth, but no words form.

  “I have to go.” I don’t know what else to do, so I go to log off. Opening the main menu to press the log out button.

  “NO!” Fen cries out, pouncing at me.

  It is unfortunate but she is too late, I already press the button. Only, nothing happens.

  As if I am clicking a broken internet link, nothing happens. My mind starts to panic at the thought of being trapped in virtual reality. Thinking back when I first started using the VL, I recall the emergency shut down command.

  “System command; Terminate connection.” I speak the words out loud and everything slowly starts turning to mist while an emergency shut down script is played out in front of me.

  “Stop… Running away!” Fen calls out, hitting me with her body and knocking us both to the ground.

  System Error.

  Emergency shutdown aborted.

  Searching for anomaly...

  Search complete.

  0 anomalies detected.

  Recommencing emergency shutdown.

  Emergency shutdown aborted.

  Errors start flowing down in front of my vision, the mist returning back to its previous state. Eventually even the repetitive loop of errors stops by another unknown error and they all vanish.

  ‘W-What is going on!’

  The terror in my heart starts to grow. I can’t form any words and stare at Fen now pinning me to the ground.

  A tear leaks out of one of her eyes and drips onto my cheek, I feel the cold liquid drop run down my cheek to my ear.

  My heart quivers while I look at her. Through my fear, I can somehow feel her fear and sorrow.

  “Fen…” I utter her name.

  “Stay… With me…” She pleads to me, more tears form and her nose starts to sniffle.

  “Okay.” I give in to her.

  The fear of being trapped in virtual reality starts to pale in my mind, but it cannot possibly disappear.

  The wolf girl slowly gets up off of me and looks down, not at me, but her feet. Standing up, I move to the couch and sit down. Fen follow behind me.

  I see the cup of coffee on the table and look at the girl.

  “You’ve… Been drinking coffee?” I look at her dumbfounded.

  “Mmm… It’s… Horrible… But you… Drink it.” She sniffles throughout talking and stares at the half empty cup of coffee, now stone cold.

  She is strange, I have rarely even drunk the coffee, let alone in front of her. I think she assumes I must drink it based on the fact that it is here.

  The situation grows oddly quiet, so I pick up the remote to the television from the end of the table. Fen eye’s me strangely as I point it at the device and press the power button.

  I’m not particularly interested in anything that is on, but the silence is causing the unrest in my chest to steadily grow.

  It is early evening in the real world so the news is currently displayed. Fen immediately clings to me nervously at seeing the strange sight in front of her.

  On the news is currently a story of a tidal wave that hit in one of the neighbouring cities. Thanks to modern day technology it was detected early so everyone was successfully evacuated, but it could not be stopped.

  Up to twenty kilometers of the coast is flooded up to ten meters deep by the force of nature. Houses and cars can be seen flowing in the current.

  “W-What… is that?” Fen clearly has never seen much of the real world except for outside the single window in my locker. And she is completely shocked by not only the destruction but also something completely new to her.

  “That is my world.” I say to her quietly. “These sorts of things sometimes happen. Sometimes the entire earth will quake, other times a devastating tornado of wind will form. They are all terrible disasters, but they happen.”

  I don’t know how else to explain it to her.

  She clings on to my arm even tighter in sadness, so I change the channel. The second channel is also currently playing the news. Thankfully, it is showing something more pleasant.

  The reporter is discussing the days events and all the valentine’s couples that have been seen around. They even play footage of some big shot celebrities on a date that they thought was secret.

  Fen looks at the two holding hands and walking through a public place in my city of Taile, her eyes intently fixed on the two.

  I can’t remember the names of the two, but they apparently got together in a recent movie they filmed. I try not to pay too much attention to the love life of celebrities, they seem to change with every season.

  The scene skips two the two having lunch, the man feeding the woman with food off of his plate.

  “I… I want… that!” Fen’s eyes are glistening, still slightly red.

  It is a complete turnaround from how she was before.

  “What?” I stare at Fen in surprise.

  What does she mean she wants that?

  “I want… that!” She repeats herself, not looking away from the screen.

  Suddenly staring at me, she pleads with her eyes.

  “F-fine. Let’s go back t-to Grenton.” I cannot think of anything else to say. Somehow I can’t log out and I know it has something to do with Fen.

  I have no trouble logging back into End Online, reappearing where I left. Looking around me, I cannot see Fen.

  ‘Of course, she will return to where she left.’

  I now have Fen’s companion status on the side of my vision so I know she is definitely here.

  I walk towards where she left from, at the entrance to the city. Before I can even reach there she comes strolling up to me through the crowd.

  She looks completely refreshed as soon as she sees me.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, her hand clasps mine, sharing its warmth. With her fingers intertwined with mind, she starts pulling on me.

  “We… need to… eat.” She has a charming smile while deciding what we will do.

  With her holding my hand, my heart feels like it is skipping every second beat. Only, it is not out of nervousness, but fear for this girl. I can’t shake the feeling that I am dancing with true death.

  As we walk through the crowd, countless players glance my way. I feel like a hundred jealous daggers are pointed at my back from all the glares. I even hear a player murmur about how did some guy like me get such a pretty girl.

  Looking around, there are currently a lot of valentine’s couples around. But, none of the ladies can match Fen’s beauty. Some of the male partners glance at her only to receive morbid stares from the females.

  Fen stops suddenly and turns to look at me, a slightly pouting look on her face.

  “Why… do you have… that hood on?.. That guy… didn’t have… A hood.”

  “Sorry, but it doesn’t come off.” I give a pained look, but it is difficult to see under the shadow of the hood.

  “No!.. It must… Come off!” Starting to mope, she reaches up and grabs the hood before I can react

  She exerts force to pull it down, but the hood does
n’t budge an inch. After two tries, Fen gets irritated by the fact that she can’t take it down.

  “Why… Won’t it… Come off?” She stops pouting and gives it another pull, more serious than ever.

  She continues exerting force on it, slowly getting stronger. Perspiration breaks out on her forehead as she brings her other hand up to pull with both hands.

  A cracking sound emits from the hood, followed by a blistering pain inside my head. A light floods my vision, temporarily blinding me.

  The light fades, and I glimpse a notification before it vanishes. Unfortunately, all I get to read is the first line.

  WARNING!

  I wonder what it could possibly be, but there is nothing I will be able to do about it now, I cannot even leave virtual reality.

  As the pain in my head begins to fade, I Slowly touch around my head. Feeling for the hood, only to find it is not there.

  With my eyes widening in disbelief, all the fear inside me vanishes before my shock.

  “W-W-What!?” I cry out.

  I eventually calm down enough to think about what just happened, turning pale at thinking about the consequences of revealing my true identity to others. If my identity under the hood gets revealed and the two are connected, then all the infamy I have gained will be carried on.

  I am currently on a main pathway in Grenton, which is swimming with players.

  Opening my status, I breathe a sigh of relief when I see that my infamy has turned to zero. The title I had as ‘The Hooded Man’ also vanishes, but surely that will return upon putting the hood back on.

  ‘Perhaps it is NPC’s who have to become aware of my true identity to incur the negative effect. Also, why couldn’t I remove my hood but Fen could? This girl, she is far too mysterious and frightening!’

  I go with Fen to some sort of cafe that she tracks down by sniffing the air.

  We sit down on two outside seats when an NPC waiter comes up to us.

  “Good afternoon Sir, Madam. What can I get for you today?”

  As soon as this butler style waiter asks me for my order a window appears in front of me with a list of possible food options.

  I am really not feeling hungry at the moment so I only choose a large slice of ‘Fig Banana Bread’ and a coffee. Ironically, everything in this game is at least slightly different from real life, yet coffee is still the same.