Login 11: Jewel of the Golden Deity

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Time 10:45 PM

After dinner Jae went to bed first, leaving Nico and Allyson at the kitchen. They were both silent for a few minutes before Nico spoke.

"How are you feeling?"Nico asked, knowing full well that Allyson is still in the process of absorbing everything.

Allyson let out a sigh as she rubs her thumbs on her mug "I honestly don't know. I've always imagine my first meeting with Jae, but never expected it to be like this. It's a little over whelming"

"I know how you feel" Nico nodded in agreement

"Meeting him for the first time, was a bit too familiar. He was exactly like you when I met you the first time; full of sadness and depression" Allyson said as her mind was deep in thought "What happened to him? How in the world did he end up here?"

"That's the thing. The original reason why I've asked you to come is because of this" Nico pulled out a flash drive from his pocket and slid over to Allyson "You know a drama major from school right?"

"Yeah, but what's that got to do with this?" Allyson asked in confusion

"Have them analyze the video. That might give us more information about the situation" Nico explained

"I don't really get it, but okay. I'm actually meeting them tomorrow for coffee" Allyson said as she puts the flash drive in her bag

"That's great. Thanks Ally" Nico said with a soft smile

"I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it for my precious Jae" Allyson said, making Nico chuckle.

After chatting for a bit longer, Allyson stated that she has to go. Nico saw Allyson out, not leaving until she got inside a cab and left. Nico returned to his apartment and finally felt exhaustion taking its toll on him. He took a warm bath first then went to bed. As soon as his head hits his pillow, he was instantly out.

<<***>>

Time 8:45 AM

Jae woke up to the sound of sweet, soft music filling his ears. He opened his eyes, then slowly blinked the blurriness away. He rubbed his face with both hands and let out a sigh. He then used both his arms in supporting himself to get up, but as he was getting up, he felt a sudden flash of pain on his torso, making him wince. He let out a painful groan, remembering that he has a broken rib that's still healing. He then placed a hand on his rib, before he slowly and carefully got up. He successfully got up but remained seated in bed. Just him getting up took a lot of effort that he actually panted very lightly.

"How are you feeling?" A familiar voice asked, making him look up to see Nico starring at him.

"Rested" Jae answered honestly, "I haven't slept like this in a very long time, so my body's feeling oddly energized"

"That's good" Nico nodded, when he heard what Jae said. Then he said "How about your rib? Is is hurting bad?"

"Right now, its really painful but It'll get better in no time" Jae said, before another wave of pain flared inside his body, making him let another painful groan.

The pain made his arms weak, making him collapse to the bed. Thankfully Nico was fast enough for him to support his back and carefully sit him back up again.

"You can drink your painkillers later, but you have to eat first" Nico said "I'll get you some food, don't move too much" He instructed Jae before going to the kitchen. Jae's broken rib might be to painful for Jae if he keeps moving, so Nico decided to bring the breakfast to Jae instead.

While Nico was at the kitchen, preparing Jae's meal, Jae's eye hovered around the apartment, then locked at particularly old piano.

When Nico came back and saw that Jae was starring at his piano, he said "It was my parents'"

Jae quickly took his eyes off of the piano and saw Nico walking towards him, holding a tray. Nico carefully placed the tray on the bed, revealing the scrumptious food on it. The delightful aroma of the food entered Jae's nostrils, stimulating his appetite. Jae gratefully thanked Nico as he took the fork that Nico passed to him. An involuntary moan escaped Jae as his mouth burst with an explosion of flavors when he took a fork full of eggs and ate it. Nico smiled when he saw that Jae was enjoying his food. He then let Jae be and walked over to the kitchen once again to prepare Jae's medicine.

Jae was enjoying his breakfast very much, but suddenly his mind went back to what Nico said earlier, making him frown.

"He addressed his parents in 'past', does that mean....?" When he realized where his train of thought was going, he immediately shook it off. He didn't wan't to jump into conclusions too quickly, because he might be wrong after all.

Jae was still deep in thought, as he took a small forkful of his breakfast. He debated internally if he's still going to ask or should just let it go. If he let it go, his curiosity will eventually end him, but he if decides to ask, he didn't know how to properly address the question. It was truly a conflict that's making his head hurt.

When Nico returned, Jae didn't even noticed him. Nico saw the wheels in Jae's brain going on over drive, as his internal conflict get worse and worse.

Nico took pity on Jae and decided to put him out of his misery.

"You wanted to know if my parents are still alive or dead, don't you?" Nico said, making Jae turn to him with huge eyes, which only confirmed that Nico was right.

Nico already knew that it would come to this, from the moment he mentioned that his piano was left by his parents. He wasn't so cruel to just let Jae continue to suffer in his internal conflict, so he decided to be straight forward with it; besides... the past already happened, he couldn't bring it back even if he wanted to.

"Both of my parents died 4 years ago from a car crash" Nico said as his eyes filled with longing, while he starred at his parents' most treasured piano.

Jae didn't know what to say at the moment. He had guessed that Nico's parents might have already passed away, but hearing Nico say it, took a blow on him that he never expected.

"I-I'm sorry" Jae could just say with a soft voice, filled with sympathy.

"It's okay, it already happened" Nico said with a sad smile.

After the conversation about Nico's parents, the apartment fell into silence. It stayed like that for a few minutes before Nico let out a sigh and stood up.

"Hurry up and finish your food, we can't be late" Nico told Jae, as he walked over to piano.

"Where are we going?" Jae asked in confusion.

"To my friend's" Nico answered simply, as he shuts his laptop off and put it inside its bag. But when he saw Jae just starring at him, he frowned and said impatiently "What are you still waiting for, didn't I say we can't be late?"

For some reason Nico reminded Jae of his Mother, which really weirded him out, but also scared the living daylights out of him. He immediately stuffed his breakfast in his mouth, forkful after forkful.

When Nico saw Jae finish his food in record time and saw his clean plate, his jaw dropped. "This guy can really eat" Nico thought to him self.

"Drink this first, then you can freshen up in the bathroom" Nico then said, as Jae passed him his clean plate, while Nico gave Jae his pain killers" Check your bandage if something came loose. Also I bought tooth brush, it's in the cupboard above the sink."

"Thanks" Jae said gratefully, before taking his medicine and downed it with water. Nico went to the kitchen and wash the dishes first, while Jae was still preparing.

Jae took about half an hour for him to come out of the bathroom. Although Nico understood Jae's situation, he still couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed. At such a young age, it was drilled into his brain by his parents to be always on time or even early because by being late, is a form of disrespecting others. So it was needless to say that as he grew up, this habit stuck with him.

As soon as Jae walked out of the bathroom, Nico tossed him a thick cotton, hooded jacket. Jae reflexively caught the jacket and starred at Nico in confusion once again.

"Wear that, it's really cold outside" Nico said as he placed a pair of white slip on shoes in front of Jae "I still haven't used these shoes. I hope it fits you"

When Jae still didn't move and just stood in place, Nico let out an exasperated sigh. He forcefully sat Jae on a small bench, then proceeded in putting each shoe on Jae's feet. When Nico saw that the shoes fitted well, a small triumphant smile appeared on his face.

Jae was stupefied as he watched Nico put shoes on him, like he was child. Then the next thing he knew, he was being dragged out of the apartment.

Nico wasn't kidding when he said that it was cold outside. When the cold temperature hits Jae's skin, he instantly shivered and put on the jacket that Nico lent to him. Although the temperature wasn't as severe as the freezing temperatures that Korea has, he still wanted to stay warm, since the cold might affect his recovery.

"Oh..... and also wear this" Nico personally put on a black mask on Jae, then a thick black framed glasses.

Jea was really surprised by the gesture, that he really felt like Nico was becoming more and more like his mom.

After seeing that everything was set, Nico began walking "C'mon"

Jae followed Nico and they walked for about 15 minutes. Although he was the least popular in Hysteria, he would still gather some attention because of the scandal about him; Thankfully nobody recognized Jae because of the mask and glasses that Nico gave him, plus the thought of Jae walking around the neighborhood of the Philippines with just one companion, would be deemed rather impossible, If anything he should be still enjoying life even if he already left Hysteria.

Nico and Jae walked in comfortable silence before stopping at an Internet Cafe. Nico entered the internet cafe first, leaving Jae outside. When Jae saw that their stop was an internet cafe, he wavered. Memories came flooding of him, used to be playing in one of these. Those memories were one of the good memories that he still kept in his heart. Those were the times that he still enjoyed playing Rampage and didn't think about something like fame, but now everything has changed.

He still didn't go in the internet cafe, making Nico walk out and dragged him in the internet cafe, despite his protest. Nico's hold on him was like a vice grip that no matter how much he struggles, it was all futile.

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Once inside the Internet Cafe, Jae didn't have a choice but to continue moving forward, since Nico was blocking the exit.

They made a quick stop at the front counter. Nice greeted the receptionist and chatted for a bit, before they moved to the back of the Internet Cafe.

While walking, a wave of nostalgia hits Jae as he watched so many young gamers with huge smiles on their faces as they play Rampage.

"You used to be one of them" Jae thought to himself as the pure unadulterated joy in their faces made his heart clench.

Jae then reacted his gaze from the costumers when they reached their destination. At the back of the internet cafe was a door that Nico walked straight towards to, then knocked lightly before entering. Jae didn't know what was in the room but he just quietly followed Nico's lead, since there was already no tuning back.

Joseph was sitting behind his computed when he heard a knock.

"About time!" Joseph said with a hint of annoyance, when he saw Nico walked in. But when he saw that Nico wasn't alone, he turned curious "Who's this?" as his eyes never left the guy that followed Nico in his office.

When the guy removed his masked and glasses, it was safe to say that Joseph was really stunned to see the person that was standing in front of him.

"J-J-Jae?!" Joseph exclaimed, jumping out of his chair, like he saw a ghost or something.

Jae was really surprised as well, that Joseph knew who he was. Taken that he was far from being his celebrity self, his hair was still even sticking out, yet he was discovered in just once glance.

One the other hand Nico wasn't really surprised and just introduced them to one another "Jae meet my very close friend Joseph; Kuya meet Jae, I'm sure you already know who he is?"

"Oh I definitely know who he is!" Joseph said as a matter-of-factly, "The question is, what is he doing here? Didn't he suddenly disappeared or something?!"

When Jae heard Joseph's question, he visible winced. Anger started bubbling up inside him as his hands turned into tight fists. Nico saw Jae's expression and instantly knew that Joseph hit a nerve.

"Kuya, just sit down. We'll explain everything" Nico said calmly as he sat on the couch then placed his laptop bag on the coffee table.

"Oh, there better be an explanation!" Joseph said, immediately sitting down, and looking at Nico with eagerness.

Nico turned to Jae and saw that Jae was still standing on place. He let out a sigh, then pulled Jae arm down, forcing him to sit down. Jae glared at him but Nico just gave him a sharp look telling him to behave. Jae was still angry but he remained quiet beside Nico.

"You ready?" Nico asked Joseph

"As ready as I can ever be" Joseph answered, before drinking from his mug.

"Okay"

Nico then began telling Joseph the whole story on how he met Jae. Of course he left out a few details that were still a bit sensitive topics. With Nico's straight forward personalty, the story telling didn't took much time and was finished within 10 minutes.

Joseph remained seated in his chair with a calm expression on his face, which was quite unsettling. Knowing Joseph, he should be firing questions non-stop by now or better yet freaking out, but his zen aura was freaking Nico instead. It was truly unnatural and scary.

"Kuya are you alright?" Nico asked cautiously, like he was handling a ticking time bomb.

"Me? Don't mind me, I'm okay" Joseph answered calmly

"You didn't seemed surprised at all" Nico said, even more freaked out.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm truly, deeply and utterly shocked. But I can't let this affect my emotions or else I'm going to die" Joseph said, calmly as ever but his hand were griping the arm-rest of his chair tightly, turning his knuckles white. Then he looked at Nico, staring straight into his eyes and said "I've been freaking out enough with the issue of what rewards I'm going to get in the past Hunt. Why did you tell me this? At least tell after I saw my rewards!"

Nico was taken aback with the accusation, that he retorted "Aren't you the eager one to hear the story?"

"You know what? Enough of this. Can you just please login, so we can end my misery once and for all" Joseph said through gritted teeth.

Nico just let out a sigh, because he knew that he was really at fault here. He's been friends with Joseph for so long, that he practically became family for him. So he knew that keeping the suspense going was going to take a toll on Joseph. On the other hand if he tell Joseph to open the rewards first, without him, then Joseph's stubborn personalty with pop up, insisting that they should do it together.

"Did someone already got one?" Nico asked as he sets up his laptop.

"None yet" Joseph answered which surprised Nico.

There will be a system announcement that will appear once someone received the Jewel of the Golden Deity.

Nico logged into Rampage and loaded CherishedSong in. Jae's eyes widen when he saw Nico's character class being a Minstrel. He just had a quick glimpse of it on the edge of his view but basing on his professional eyes, it could be said that Nico's character could be already a professional character used but professional gamers; and not just any other professionals, but the ones that competes on a world level.

Jae's curiosity and interest were piqued, so he inched a little closer to Nico so he could get a better view.

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11:36 AM, Philippine time | Asia Server

Once CherishedSong loaded in, Nico immediately clicked on the mail icon. He saw that he had 10 mails waiting for him, and that three of them were rewards for the Hunt, which were: The Participation Reward, The Party Ranking Reward, And The Personal Ranking Reward.

His courser was hovering over the first reward mail, when a private message popped up form SavageGentleman.

"You ready? *Sweating Emoticon* *Nervous Emoticon* *Fainting Emoticon*"

"Yup! *OK Emoticon* *Nodding Emoticon*" CherishedSong replied

"Let's do The Participation Rewards first then Party Ranking then Personal, Okay?" SavageGentleman sent in the private chat.

"*OK Emoticon*" CherishedSong replied

"On three" SavageGentleman started

"1"

"2"

"3!"

Once three hits, both Nico and Joseph opened the first mail. The rewards were bountiful, that it would make any normal players' eyes pop out from their sockets. But of course for Nico and Joseph, they didn't pay too much attention to it because their eyes were only dead set on one item.

While scanning through the rewards, Nico, Joseph and even Jae, held heir breathes in anticipation. But after going through all of the rewards, Nico and Joseph couldn't help but let out a sigh of disappointment. Neither one of them, got the reward they were looking for.

But no matter, that was just the first reward mail. They then quickly went through the second mail, only to be disappointed the second time. Their party was on the top of the leader board, yet they still didn't receive a Jewel.

The only hope for the both of them to receive a Jewel now is through the third and last reward mail, which was The Personal Rankings Reward.

Both Nico and Joseph gave each other a look of encouragement, before nodding at each other. Their heart beats were going so wild that it was getting harder and harder for them to breath.

"1" SavageGentleman once again started the count down

"2"

"3!"

Hitting three, both Nico and Joseph shut their eyes as they both clicked the last reward mail. The whole office was quite, when suddenly Jae spoke.

"Oh my God!" Jae exclaimed breathlessly, as his wide eyes starred at the only reward on Nico screen.

Hearing Jae's surprised voice, Nico and Joseph couldn't bear it anymore and opened their eyes, only for their eyes to widen simultaneously. Seeing both of their reactions, it wasn't hard for Jae to guess that both of them got the same reward, which only stunned Jae even more.

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Then another system renouncement appeared.

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Two players receiving the much coveted JGD, made players around the world erupt in conversations.

[How is that possible?! *Wide Eyes Emoticon*]

[Dude! Two at a time?! That's just lucky!]

[I guess the thread in the forums wasn't just a troll after all!]

[Arggghh! I should be the one to get one! *Weeping Emoticon*]

While the whole world was bustling with conversation, unexpectedly another bomb dropped.

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[What the hell is happening?!]

[Is the world already ending?! Three at a time?! *Fainting Emoticon*]

[Wait, why do those three names sounds familiar? *Deep in though Emoticon*]

[Of course they are! Those three were the ones who finished the Hunt!]

[Now that you mentioned it, they were! OMG! They are so lucky]

[They aren't lucky, they're just that strong! *Muscle Emoticon*]

[Yeah, you're absolutely right! Man, I need to watch the live stream again, need to do some research!]

[Me too!]

[I second that!]

[We can only learn form the best!]

While the whole Rampage world is in chaos about the news, in Joseph's office it was completely quite. Then suddenly two pairs of eyes lifted form their screens, then slowly met. As if confirming what they had just saw, two excited screams erupted from the office.

"We got it! Oh My God, we actually got it!" Joseph said in disbelief

"Not Just that, three were actually given out!" Nico said, also in disbelief

While the both of them were celebrating a private group chat popped up on their screens.

"Congratulations! *Confetti Emoticon* *Fire works Emoticon*" PurpleRain sent

"PurpleRain, Congratulations as well!" CherishedSong replied

"CONGRATULATIONS!" SavageGentleman replied.

"I can't believe it, Rampage actually gave out three JGD!" PurpleRain said, who couldn't contain her excitement

"I know I can't believe it either!" CherisheSong sent

"Well, from the very beginning I knew I was going to get one!" SavageGenlteman sent, which made PurpleRain and Nico laugh out loud.

"*Laughing-Crying Emoticon* *Belly Laugh Emoticon* *Roll on the ground Emoticon*" PurpleRain sent

It could be said that, that day is one of the most happiest days of their lives.

Most of the time Rampage only gives out one JGD, and other times they won't even give any, but now, Three were given out? It was truly a moment that will go down in the history of Rampage forever. Who knew when will this ever happened again.

<<***>>

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Time 12:18 PM

A loud shriek rang through out the humongous apartment that it could be heard from every single corner of it. A young man ran as fast as his two legs can take him. He busted through the door and saw his beautiful wife, jumping up and down excitedly in front of her laptop.

"Uhhh... What happened, what are you doing?" The young man asked as he watch his wife with a strange expression.

When the wife heard his husband's voice, she immediately shut her laptop before swiftly facing her husband with a smile, but her eyes were filled with terror.

"Uhhh.... Nothing!" The wife said almost instantly.

"Well the scream says other wise. You even scared the housekeepers" The husband said as he slowly approached his wife.

"Hahahaha" The wife laugh nervously "It was really nothing. I was just excited that the bag I've always wanted has finally gone on sale" The wife explained

Hearing his wife's explanation made the husband frown "Why are you waiting for it to go on sale when I can buy you one for it's original price"

"Honey, I told you I can't use your money, you've worked hard for it, I can't let you use it for something that I just want" The wife said tenderly to her husband.

"But you're my wife, why can't I buy you whatever you like?" The husband grumbled, making his frown deeper "Plus we have lots of money, I can buy more ten of those for you"

When his wife heard this, her heart turned to mush. She was so touched that she could practically melt on the spot. Of course she would very much like what her husband said, but instead she said "I don't need that many bags, you could donate that to charity instead. I don't need material things to know how much you love me. Everyday, I kept thinking of how blessed I'm to have you as my husband"

Hearing this, the husband leaned forward and gave his wife a tender and soft kiss. After doing so, he didn't move much, as their faces were still inches apart.

"I don't deserve you" The husband said softly with such tenderness

"And yet here I'm" The wife said lovingly, as she gave him a bright and loving smile.

Note:

Marina Palace -*Is a fictional high end luxury apartment/condominium, located in Singapore. It is said that the price for a single unit ranges from 85 to a hundred million in US dollars.*