Evening Game

Similar to Adastra, Hatasdei was a city engulfed in constant sunshine. Even when the world outside was dark, Hatasdei was blessed with eternal brightness. Player comfort was an essential thing for Aldhia, thus the curtains that blocked the window were thick and rarely let any light through. That same, dark room was where Ethan found himself waking up. Unlike better hotels, this one didn’t have a restaurant, so it didn’t sell any meals, either. He didn’t need them, of course, but he couldn’t help but want something to greet him when he woke up.

Nevertheless, he ignored those feelings that crept up on him for no reason and headed out from the hotel he slept at. He rode his scooter down the streets, heading for the guild. He hadn’t said anything to Chione following their trip yesterday, and since she didn’t contact him, he assumed that she would be going out with Calista and Mason. He still didn’t know why her sister sent him here, especially with how lackluster his meeting with Mason felt, but for now, he decided to hang around.

He entered the guild, which was built inside a large, clean silver building. It had a large, wavy silver canopy in front of the main entrance. The guild’s emblem wasn’t located above the sliding doors, but instead behind the large receptionists’ space. It looked similar to an airport’s check-in space but without the conveyor belts nor the screens showcasing airline flight numbers.

The floor had a combination of white, iron gray, and black tilings forming patterns across the ground floor. The roof and walls were painted in gray but with a combination of graphite and white lines, forming some kind of dance as they intertwined across the building.

“You’re here.”

Ethan jerked his head to the space left of the entrance. Chione walked up to him, as if coming out from the shadows. In truth, she was simply standing there in clear sight, it was just that Ethan didn’t expect to actually see her here.

“What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you.”

She stated in a matter-of-fact manner. Ethan went up to the receptionist and took his quests. He assumed she did the same when he saw her following him outside. He then brought his scooter back out from his inventory, the dark green body glittering under the sun, still looking like new even after months of being in his dusty inventory. Before getting on, he checked his inventory, looking for his weapons. He would need to swap his trusty double-edge spear if he wanted to have any chance of getting some kills. He managed to find his old gun and energy sword, though they were only medium-level ones. He sent Chione a trade offer and gave the gun to her. He took the sword out and gripped it tightly, drilling its image into his brain. He needed to do that if he wanted to use the weapon switch properly.

With his gun in Chione’s hand, there was no reason for him to use weapon switch, as he didn’t have any other weapon on him at that moment. But, in the case he managed to find a second weapon, that skill would surely be useful. Weapon switch was among those things that Ethan rarely expected to use, but was there to back him up when he needed it.

Seeing him, Chione mimicked his movements. She brought out her gun and examined it, but it wouldn’t have an effect on her, at least not yet.

“Where are the others?”

He asked as he returned the sword into his inventory.

“Swan and Mason are playing together.”

“I Didn’t…”

“... You didn’t what?”

“Nevermind.”

He didn’t expect Calista and Mason to be playing together, as they hardly interact in class, but saying that would tell her that Ethan observed them. It would put her on alarm, so he decided to stop his words and instead got on his scooter. Chione wordlessly climbed on, standing behind him.

“Is it alright?”

She asked.

“For?”

“This.”

She brought her arms forward, putting them on Ethan’s body.

“Oh.”

Ethan didn’t comment but instead turned the vehicle on and started moving forward.

“Where’s your quest location?”

“Hatasdei West Dungeon.”

It was different from his. The quest he picked was located not far north from that dungeon, however, so time wasn’t the problem. He didn’t have school tomorrow anyway.

“You know about free areas?”

He couldn’t see her face, so he couldn’t exactly tell what her reaction to it was.

“No.”

She answered as they sped through the busy city streets. Getting into a crash wouldn’t kill them since they were within a city, an area described as the green zones. Green zones were places where players couldn’t die, no matter what they did. Hatasdei West Dungeon, the Northern Forest and Southern Forest located near Adastra were yellow zones, where they could die from mob attacks and lose some of their inventory, but not from players.

Hatasdei Old Power Plant, Ethan’s quest location, was a red zone. Players could kill each other here, and the items placed in the five top rows of a victim’s inventory would be rewarded to the killer. They provide the largest amount of rewards and pose the most threat as well.

“My quests are located there.”

The thing about the red zones was that the victim would only lose the items on the five top rows of their inventory, resulting in two types of players that would often be found there. Some would purposely move all their belongings to a different slot or store them in the guild’s inventory, which Ethan didn’t use because he didn’t own that much stuff. They would then come into the area with their spare weapon and occasionally without anything at all, to troll the PvP players. It served as a good way to train players’ skills, as long as they can afford to lose one low-level weapon. Other players would move their essentials to the top, as most weapons had a weakness or two.

Weapon switch only worked if the desired weapon was in the top five rows, as if for this very reason, and most weapons had a weakness or two. He had never personally met someone that wielded something without weaknesses, so dedicated players usually mastered a couple of different types and put them all in their top five slots. Inventory management was also disabled in this area, so players couldn’t move their loot down after getting them. They could still take the items in the first five rows out in battle, or fit new items down their inventory. One of the common ways to counter this was by filling the top rows with useless junk, so that items they picked up automatically filled up the bottom rows.

Occasionally, PvP players would strike a goldmine when they met a newbie who had collected a fair amount of wealth but didn’t know about the rules regarding the red zone, causing them to drop all of their precious belongings after their deaths. Ethan explained the red zone briefly, but she didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.

“I’ll just move everything but the gun to the bottom slots, right?”

He could feel her right hand moving away from his body, and from the mirrors he saw her fingers moving in the empty air. Ethan slowed down a bit so that she could have an easier time doing the arrangement.

“Correct.”

“Alright.”

Ethan saw a car rental beside the road. Since they would need to visit two different places, he thought that it would be faster if they rented a car. He parked his scooter and returned it to his inventory, while Chione looked around the car lot.

“We need a car.”

Ethan said to the NPC watching over the rental. A screen offering various types of vehicles appeared in front of them with varying prices. He selected a small hatchback and took the keys for it.

“Can you drive?”

Chione asked, as if reading his mind.

“Not exactly.”

He learned how to ride a motorcycle, but not a car. Even in the game, he only drove two-wheelers before. Chione held up her palm and Ethan dropped the keys into it. She entered the driver’s seat which was located on the left and Ethan entered the passenger seat on the right. They drove off the lot and,

“!”

Ethan could feel his virtual body being propelled backward as the car accelerated dramatically. He glanced at Chione, and found that she was literally planting her food in the accelerator.

“Automatic…”

She muttered, looking slightly disappointed, her eyes glued on the road. Ethan quickly pulled the safety belt, locking himself into his seat. Chione glanced at him and did the same, acting as if she just did it in case virtual police caught sight of her. The speedometer rotated right as its speed increased, going past one hundred kilometers an hour and heading for one-fifty. NPC and probably other players’ cars filled the roads, and she fearlessly swerved in between them.

“What- what are you doing!”

“So you too have things you’re scared of.”

“Of course! I’m a human!”

Ethan held on tight to the handle above his door. The scenery passed by, trees on both sides of the road becoming more and more blurred.

“Map?”

Ethan used his left hand to open a menu and shared it with Chione. A screen appeared in front of Chione and she set it aside.

“Hold on tight.”