Skywalk

The door to the transport pod closed behind us as we stepped into a room with wooden floors and walls. When I looked back, though, the capsule had already disappeared.

The surroundings looked similar to the room of the Adventurer's Guild building we were just in, but this space was much smaller. A few small, round tables littered the area, but instead of laughing adventurers, silence filled the air.

To the right, there was a cozy reception area, where a single woman sat sleeping. I looked at the windows and saw that it was still daytime here, but the cool color told me it was morning now rather than past noon. So it was an all-nighter, perhaps?

We walked up to the desk and stopped in front of the sleeping receptionist. Abby gave the wooden countertop a firm knock, trying to wake her up. It didn't work, so Ari came up and slammed his fist into the wood. A bang swept through the room, and I could feel the ground shudder.

The woman peeked her eyes open, still half asleep. However, when she realized the situation, she quickly lifted her head and stood up.

"H-how can I help you!?" She asked quickly, looking at each of us in her bed hair.

"We're adventurers," Abby explained, "and we're here to complete a quest."

The woman seemed to be stuck in a daze for a moment until she blinked a few times and shook her head violently, ruining her hair even further. "Yes! Adventurers! Yes, I was expecting you guys to come yesterday, but, um… Yeah, just never mind that. So, Ah… welcome to Conlincia! This is the guild's outpost here. Umm…" She stopped again, trying to think of what to say.

"The ques—"

"Ah, yes! The quest! Yes. The antidote, right? Yes, yes… uh…" She rummaged through what sounded like papers behind the counter, then tilted her head back to us. "Your cards, do you have them?"

We each took out our ID cards and placed them on the counter. I sighed, feeling good that I could finally have the feeling of using my card instead of having someone scan it from a distance.

The woman slid the cards behind the desk and fiddled some more with papers and tools. Although I couldn't see it, I imagined a messy table from her perspective.

"Uh… yeah, so looks like you guys are at the right place," the lady told us, handing our cards back. She sat back into her seat, clearly tired. There was a long moment of silence as we stood motionless.

"Umm… you guys need something…?"

"Well, we're not sure what we're specifically supposed to do," Abby replied.

"Ohh, yes, okay." The woman stood back up and went through her disorganized desk again. "The quest tells you about this…ah…infection…pandemic thing, right?"

We nodded, but she didn't look up or wait for us to respond. "Hmm…where is it…? I swear, I… ah!" Her hand shot up, holding four pieces of paper. Movie tickets? Plane tickets? Or just coupons?

"The city you gotta get to is Texford. Here are your transport tickets there, so… yeah, just get there."

Abby grabbed the tickets hesitantly, and they vanished into her inventory. "Then, what do we do from there?"

"Oh, well… just find the source to the sickness, I guess."

"And how...?"

The woman shrugged. "I dunno. They didn't tell me where exactly the source is. Your goal is just to stop this pandemic, right? Just get that done, and you're all good."

Abby gave out a sigh in frustration. "Can't they just give more detail about these quests? You got any more information you can share with us?"

The receptionist slouched back into her chair and yawned. "…probably no… they give me the same exact stuff they gave you. Now, I didn't really have a good sleep, thanks to you guys. You should get going before this pandemic thing actually happens— Oh, and just a side note, but you should probably hide those weapons of yours or something… doesn't quite match with the current fashion trends…"

We all watched as the woman fell asleep again. So we really are preventing a worldwide sickness? With just the four of us? Doesn't the government here care about it?

"So…if we really do have to hide our weapons…" Em spoke in the silence, gripping her long staff tightly.

Abby held out her hand. "Here, I'll take care of it."

Em placed her staff in Abby's hand, and it disappeared in an instant. Then, Abby held her hand to Ari. "Your weapons too."

"But…" Ari stared at her hand hesitantly. But after a while of deliberation, he eventually gave Abby both his swords.

When she looked at me, though, I immediately stepped back and shook my head. "I'm not on your team anymore, remember? And I haven't forgotten how long you kept my coins. Plus, my dagger's small enough for me to hide it myself."

Abby sighed and turned away from me. "It's your decision."

"Um…should we get going, then…?" Em asked.

"Yeah, let's get to wherever those transport tickets could be used," Ari said. "Abby, you know the layout of the city, right?"

She nodded her head and lead us to the exit. "But it's only because this world is part of my database. The guild didn't even bother to give us any information about this world, well, other than 'there will be a pandemic.' Who knows how other adventurers would have done, even if they are A-ranked?"

Outside, we were greeted by a dazzling sight. It all looked normal at first, with an open court with a few trees and bushes. However, it was only when I turned my head up when I saw the complex web of tubes weaving through the sky. Some of the tunnels were closer to the ground, while others floated at the top of the tall skyscrapers.

The tubes were made entirely of glass, except for the solid ground. And without much effort, I was able to see many people traveling through the tunnels.

"This is the way the larger cities of this world are organized. Pretty cool, huh?"

"I wonder… what is it like walking up there?" Em asked, gazing at the highest tubes in the sky.

"Well, there isn't any other way to travel across the city, so we'll have to go through the sky tubes, and the entrance is right there." Abby turned and pointed at a place on the ground where one of the tubes ended. From the entrance, the tunnel spiraled up in a gradual slope and disappeared behind a building.

I wondered how people could walk so high without getting tired, but that thought was quickly answered. At the entrance, I was able to see that a moving walkway guided us through the tunnel. Without even moving our legs, we could already travel pretty fast.

This moving walkway, however, was different from the ones I had seen before. As we went deeper into the tunnel, I seemed to become faster, until we were speeding through the tube with the wind blowing on our faces. With further usage, I found that I could even change my speed based on how far forward I leaned. No matter how much I thought about it or how long I looked at my feet, I couldn't figure out how this odd walkway worked.

"Wh-why doesn't this thing have railings?" Ari complained from behind us. He was following in the back at a slower speed.

"Oho, so you're scared of heights?" Abby joked. "You learn something new every day, don't you."

I looked to the side and out the glass walls. Just as Abby implied, we were already high into the air, and still climbing even higher. For a moment, it felt like I was flying. But when an uneasy feeling started to come into my head, I looked away from the ground, back at the scenery of passing skyscrapers.

There were intersections here, too. Well, they were less like a hallway intersection than a highway intersection. If you would like to turn to the right, all you had to do is lean to the right, and at the next exit, there would be a gradual twist around the corner.

The more challenging part, though, was traveling through the walkway with other people. Most of the time, everybody would travel at around the same speed—that is, the maximum speed the walkway allowed. However, sometimes, a person would randomly slow down without warning, causing me to fumble to get out of the way just in time.

We traveled like this for a while, and I was even starting to enjoy this "ride." But my fun was soon cut short.

"And we're closing in on our destination," Abby told us. She motioned her head to a large building outside the glass walls. Unlike the other places of the city, the ground near that building was crowded with people. This place must be this world's version of an airport.

Slowly, the tunnel started to descend back to the ground. With the see-through walls and ceiling, it like I was a bird landing at the end of its flight. If only they had these back on Earth. Going outside would be so much easier and enjoyable.

But it was then when a man suddenly came up from behind me and placed her hand on Abby's shoulder. I looked up at him in surprise, but with just one look at the two, I froze in shock. They were wearing the same suit.

"So, you've been trying to catch up to us for a while now," Abby said as she looked up at the man. She was unfazed by neither his sudden appearance nor their matching outfit. "Who are you?"

"A-Abrielle… it's really you!" He leaned in and gave Abby a tight hug.

"What the hell are you doing!" Abby yelled, trying to escape from the man's arms. A few people glanced at them, but went back to their own business. "How do you know who I am!? And answer my question! Who are you!?"

The man ignored Abby's questions and continued, "I mean, I knew it was you when I first saw you from the other tube there, or, I mean, when my system told me it was you… but I'm so glad you're okay!"

The man finally released Abby, who quickly made distance between herself and the mystery person. Abby studied the person. She examined his suit and followed the same blue curvy patterns she had on her own uniform.

"I'm going to ask you again," Abby spoke again after a whole minute of silence, "Who are you?"