Suddenly, ten minutes into his contemplation, the bathroom door opened with a freshly showered Stacy walking out in her room clothes, rather than her battle gear. It was simply a large blue T-shirt and some blue short shorts. He was so lost in his own mind that he failed to even notice her setting foot in their bathroom to begin with.
“Well, good night,” Stacy muttered, the ten minutes having done nothing to unwind her tight knit nature, which was the complete opposite to her usual disposition.
“Good night, Stacy.”
Dusk took this opportunity to take a shower himself. Unlike Stacy, this shower did wonders to melt his stress. The gentle pounding of the liquid rays took his mind to another world—a soothing world, absent of conflict. Peace, only peace in its infinity in this temporary haven. He wished he could stay in that world forever, but it ended all too soon. It always did. A moan of contentment whispered beneath the bulbous lights as he walked out, refreshed. He plopped down on his new bed, situated in his new virtual world.
Well, I’m sure I’ll get stronger physically as well as mentally as I level up and find myself in these situations more and more. I’ll just have to do my best and take what comes as it comes. Never a dull moment on this game is there...
These were his last thoughts before he drifted off to a tranquil slumber.
Chapter 5
September 17, 2018.
Dusk awoke nine hours later. This time he instantly knew where he was. He was becoming accustomed to his harsh new home. The soft fabric of sheets nuzzled his creamy skin. He craned his head around his chamber of slumber, searching for his companion. Stacy wasn’t there.
She must be waiting downstairs or something.
He crawled out of bed slowly, yawning and stretching for a few moments, cracking bones and surging muscles, ready to start the day. He walked groggily out of his room door and went downstairs.
“Hey, Stacy,” Dusk said in a voice just loud enough to get her attention. “Are you here?”
Dusk looked around and saw a few players littered about, walking past, perched on their chairs as they engaged in idle chatter. He could pick up bits and pieces of the conversations; it was mostly about the game. Stacy was nowhere in sight.
Hmm, well I do know of one way to locate her.
Dusk brought up his friends list on the menu. Frost was in the Trading District and Stacy was in the Crafting District. What could she possibly be doing there? He decided to call. After a few rings, his Cleric companion answered.
“Hey, sleepyhead, what’s up?” It would seem whereas the shower failed, a good night’s sleep was enough to return Stacy to her usual upbeat personality.
“Hey, sorry I slept a little long again. Where are you?”
“I’m at the Culinarian’s Academy. Do you know where that is?”
“Not quite, but I’m sure it won’t be that hard to find. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be there.”
“Okay.”
Dusk hung up. Was Stacy taking up a craft? He had never imagined her to be the type of person whose interest would lie with such a thing.
About ten minutes later Dusk found the destination he was after, resting in the heart of the Crafting District. The Culinarian’s Academy huh. The building was composed of brick, decorated with thick glass windows and doors; it looked like a typical modern restaurant. He pushed the transparent doors and strolled inward. His leather shoes slid across the hardwood floor as he continued the hunt. Violet tablecloths hung over the tables. The spacious dining room was devoid of light fixtures, only visible from the faint glow of the numerous candles positioned deliberately throughout. The smell of cuisine quickly overwhelmed his senses. Steak, chicken, fish, pot roast... so many delicious smells all at once merging together to create the most supreme smell of all. A goblet of drool nearly crept down the side of his mouth at the luscious thought of biting into the mouthwatering dishes. A waitress NPC stood at the entrance, arms rested atop a wooden podium. She was dressed in a dark green shirt that stopped before the elbow. Black slacks flowed down to her feet, half concealing a pair of matching colored pumps. Her light brown hair stopped before the shoulders, her bangs pointing downward to her vivacious chocolate eyes.
“How can I help you today, sir?”
Dusk was surprised for a moment. He forgot that the NPCs would often speak to you when you got close to them. This one was programmed to act just like a waitress at a restaurant. Just what were NPCs anyway? Were they really just programs? If so, how would they act in a normal conversation? Would they crash and loop in the same way a computer ‘blue screens’?
“Um, I’m here to see a friend, Stacy?”
“Ah yes, she said you would be coming, she’s back there in the kitchen, sir.”
“Thanks.”
Stacy meanwhile, was in the kitchen preparing a feast.
Now let’s see. I need 3 more tablespoons of white wine, 1.5 more teaspoons of butter, and a touch more of salt.
She was interrupted from her train of thought by the sound of the kitchen doors opening. She instinctively looked to see who was there. It was none other than her Phantom friend.
“I guess you found it here okay, huh?”
Dusk shoved his hands into his cotton pockets, gazing at her curiously.
“Yeah. So I didn’t believe it when you said you were at the Culinarian’s Academy. I didn’t think you were actually trying to learn cooking, but here you are.”
“Why didn’t you believe it?”
Dusk laughed. “Because I’ve had your cooking in the real world, and... let’s just say I’ve had better food.”
Sometimes Stacy wondered why she was friends with this hopeless nerd. He could be pretty mean at times, and seemed to be a complete simpleton when it came to talking to women. It annoyed her that he treated her like a guy friend sometimes. Did he have no comprehension of how to talk with the fairer sex?
“You’re a jerk you know that? My cooking was amazing!”
Stacy gave everything she had into keeping a straight face, but she just couldn't. After all, she had tasted her own cooking before, and even she had to admit, it ranged from mediocre to downright terrible.
“Okay, so maybe my cooking did suck, but all the more reason to learn how to cook, huh? Besides, I’m getting tired of eating Caesar Salads all the time. I know it gives me the best stats for my class and all that but a girl needs a little variety in her life you know?”
“Oh I see. That’s why. Well, I can understand that, but I doubt you’ll be able to cook here either.”
“Hmph! Shows how little faith you have in me. I’m gonna prove you wrong. I’ll be finished cooking this dish in about five minutes, so until then just sit your ass down and wait.”
Dusk slouched down in one of the kitchen chairs and put his hands behind his head. The kitchen was decidedly unremarkable compared to the dining room, but then again, it was always like that. The divine scent of foodstuffs still lingered in the air, basking the craving swordsman in its alluring call.
“Well, I guess I can wait five minutes to see what terrible concoction you’ve cooked up this time.”
“Say another word and I’m gonna spit on your portion.”
Dusk had the profound urge to say, “Well it couldn’t be any worse anyways,” but decided to hold his tongue, lest he lose it.
That bastard, Drake, I’ll show him, Stacy grumbled to herself. I’ll become a master chef in no time and make him eat his words as well as my cooking.
Dusk’s mind was not even thinking about that at that moment; he may as well have been light years away.
I hope Stacy and Frost have recovered from what happened yesterday. Truth be told I’m still a little shaken up over it myself. But we have to become stronger—all of us. Maybe there’s something to be gained from all of this. Maybe if we become strong enough here, we’ll become stronger in the real world too, just maybe. I’ll have to be more on my guard from now on. By the time I noticed that snake it was too late. That battle didn�
�t need to happen.
“All done!” Stacy said gleefully.
Dusk was snapped out of his daydreaming by her singsong voice. “Huh?”
“My dish, it’s finished. And now it’s time for a taste test. Here you go, Drake.” She extended a plate to him.
The dish looks like seasoned chicken covered in a white sauce. That’s what it looks like anyways; with Stacy who knows? Dusk thought, grinning to himself.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh nothing, nothing, you didn’t spit in this did you?”
Stacy narrowed her eyes and smirked mischievously.
“It was tempting, but no not this time. You’re safe. Now eat up.”
Dusk reluctantly stuck his fork into what appeared to be the seasoned chicken. He brought the chicken to his lips as slowly as he could, his body wracked with uncertainty. He was making a dramatic production out of this.
Stacy was getting fed up with this joke; it had become old long ago. Didn’t he realize that?
“Will you stop being so dramatic and eat already?”
Dusk was getting a kick out of annoying his friend, but he had drawn out this part of the joke long enough. He finally decided to consume what was on his fork.
I guess it’s chicken after all, the white sauce makes it creamy, but it could be a little juicier. All in all, it’s decent.
Stacy was leaning forward, staring at Dusk intently. After all the effort she put into this dish he damn well better like it.
“So? So? How is it?”
“Hmm, it’s not bad. It’s better than what you cooked in the real world anyways.”
“Coming from you I’ll take that as a compliment. That was just a level 1 recipe, Garlic Chicken. Just wait until I cook a level 100 recipe! It’ll knock your socks off!”
“Hmm, that is if you haven’t given up by then.”
Sometimes she had the urge to just slap him, not with malicious intent mind you. Just strong love taps to let him know when enough was enough, but she was too nice for that. “Hmph, I’m not gonna give up! I love cooking. I just never had any time to really learn how to do it. But now I do!” Stacy put her finger up to her chin for a moment, lost in thought. “I’m gonna be so behind on schoolwork and stuff by the time we get back to the real world.”
“Ahh damn, why’d you have to remind me of that?”
Stacy’s tone suddenly ascended into her rare seriousness.
“Hey, Drake, how long do you think it’ll take before we can get back to the real world?”
“I honestly don’t know. I’ve discounted all possibility of this being a prank. It really depends how long it takes to level up. Right now we hit level 14 in two days, but the later levels go slower in every MMO. It could even take us half a year to level up to maximum.”
Stacy’s eyes shot open in disappointed astonishment as her heart jumped out of her chest and rolled across the floor. She didn't have that much time to waste messing around in this place! She placed a hand on her breast, which now ached with longing. She missed her parents and her other friends.
“Half a year?!”
“Yeah. That’s not counting the raids and dungeons we’ll have to do later on and finding out how the obelisks are connected to us beating this game. It might even take a year to get out of here—if we succeed that is.”
“But... but... the administrators will figure out a way to get us out before then won’t they?”
“Who knows? I hope you’re right about that. The message said they had a virus that changed its coding all the time. I find it hard to believe such a virus exists. But if they are telling the truth, that would be an extremely difficult virus to remove.”
“So we could be here up to a year?”
Not if I have anything to say about it. “I hope not. But yeah, it’s a possibility.”
Dusk and Stacy stared at one another with intensity—the room hushed into a dead silence. Having no more desire for a standoff, Dusk decided to break the still air.
“Anyways, enough about that for now, it’s time to level up. After what happened yesterday and the conversation we had just now, are you sure you’re okay to do this?”
This conversation had turned in a grim direction. Combined with the battle yesterday, in which their lives were hanging by a thread, she found it increasingly difficult not to take this game seriously. She didn't like it. Games were meant to be fun, light-hearted distractions. She refused to let it be anything else.
“Yeah,” Stacy replied, peppering joy into her voice as she let her worries go. She mustered her resolve for what lay ahead. She would conquer any trial that awaited her, and protect her friend despite himself.
Dusk took this opportunity to rise up from his hardwood chair.
“Okay then, it’s time I call Frost so we can start leveling up again.”
The anxious swordsman dialed up Frost from the friends list and waited.
“Hey, Dusk, what’s up?”
“Hey, Frost, not much; Stacy and I are gonna go level again in the same spot as yesterday, are you good for that?”
“Yeah sure, we’ve all gotta reach max level, right? Heroes never rest!”
“Yeah, see you in a bit, and be more on guard for boss monsters this time. We don’t want another event like yesterday happening.”
Before Frost could reply Dusk hung up on him. He really wished Frost would tone down the hero routine just a little.
Stacy and Dusk met Frost at their usual spot at the Gate of Stone. After the usual greetings and pleasantries, the trio set off for another day of fighting—another day of deathly encounters—mnemonics of their mortality.
They found themselves in the rainforest, under the same green canopy that sheltered them the day before. This was the general vicinity of the colossal snake that nearly devoured their lives. They got to work grinding for a couple of hours. Dusk’s new sword was helping considerably in their killing spree.
At least something good came out of that boss fight, he mulled grimly.
Frost was level 15, while Dusk and Stacy trailed behind at level 14. Once they all hit level 15 they would need to leave this rainforest, as the normal mobs would start giving reduced experience. Before they could finish their grinding in this area though, they stumbled upon a disgusting sight.
On the lush green grass, between the rows of tropical bark, lay a dark skinned woman sporting scarlet cloth, wrapped neatly together with a soft yellow belt. Attached to her hands were sharp protruding claws, making her similar in appearance to a wild tiger.
She must be a Monk, Dusk thought. The Monk class was a pure damage class, but it was a bit more versatile than the Phantom. Monks could evade attacks just like the Phantom, but their evasion was not as high. To make up for this shortcoming, the Monk had better defenses than the Phantom. These disciplined fighters have mastered at least one martial arts form, sometimes several. They could also occasionally heal themselves by tapping into the chi within their own bodies. This combination made them terrifying opponents to face in one on one combat, though their damage capability was not as high as the Phantom in group situations. He could swear to himself he had seen her before, but where? Just who was this woman? Ahh, that’s right, he remembered seeing her briefly on the very first day. Back then he had received his first bitter taste of death, having to watch a stranger die before his very eyes. This woman, she had tried to save the dying stranger, not succumbing to the panic that had seized everyone else. Now she was in an even worse situation, but Dusk could tell that fear had no claim over her.
The clawed tiger was looking upwards at her assailants. Six men, all of whom were around level 12, grinned at the woman malevolently. Their vile intent loitered in the air like a bad odor. By all rights this woman should be wrought with terror, but as Dusk looked upon her, he could tell it wasn’t fear that was crippling her, it was rage — pure, unfettered rage. Reading the atmosphere, he could definitely tell these men were up to no good. There was an orange star above each of their names
, what did that even mean? He was at a loss. One thing he did know though was every player he had come across thus far had a green star above their names. He was never really sure what it meant, but the fact these players had orange stars above their heads meant they were different somehow. The men were saying something to the woman but he was unable to make out what it was from his considerable distance.
“Look, lady, don’t make this any harder than it has to be. We don’t wanna kill you—we just want your crylla and items.”
The dark skinned woman grit her teeth, her eyes lit ablaze with fury. She looked like she was ready to fight them all at any moment.
“And if I refuse?”
The man called Menos, who looked to be the leader of the group, stepped forward. He was a stout man with raggedy brown hair and heavy armor which was a dull gray in color. His foul eyes of mocha leered menacingly at his helpless quarry.
“Well, if you refuse...”
He got on his knees and leaned in towards her face, “Me and my boys here will have our way with you several times. You ever been part of an orgy before? You wanna find out what it feels like to get railed by six guys at once?” His obnoxious chuckle disturbed the moist jungle air as he licked her face.
The woman couldn’t take it anymore; the well of rage within her was ready to explode. She slapped the man across the face so hard Dusk imagined it could be heard throughout the entire area. The man looked at her with astonishment baked in to his eyes as he rose to his feet. He was rubbing his face where she had slapped him. A large red mark now dwelled beneath his concealing hand.
“That was a huge mistake, bitch. We can’t let that slide. All you had to do was give us your crylla, but noooo; you had to be a bitch. And now, you’re going to pay the price.”
Menos paused for a moment before issuing his deathly command.
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