4. Talking to Girls
Nothing was left.
My house, it was gone. Destroyed and burnt down by monsters. My parents were still nowhere to be found.
There weren't any more people running about outside, but there were still monsters roaming around. Occasionally, I saw bodies of dead soldiers.
What happened while I was gone?
The sun was beginning to set, and I sat on among the rubble, on what was left of my house.
I gazed into the distance. Occasionally I saw monsters, but they were no longer in a frenzy like when I saw them before. Perhaps there's just nothing left for them to kill or destroy anymore.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
I took it out, thinking that it might be my parents. But no, it was a Discord notification... from kentaros.
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kentaros!: hey, are you there?
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I clumsily typed out my responses.
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orpheon #1 player: yeah
kentaros!: where are you?
orpheon #1 player: sitting on my destroyed house
kentaros!: oh sorry... are you alright?
orpheon #1 player: yeah. idk where my parents are though
kentaros!: wanna try and meet up? i'll help
orpheon #1 player: maybe, depends on where you are
kentaros!: you told me before that you lived in auburn. i'm there rn, at roegner park or whatever its called
orpheon #1 player: idk where that is i dont go outside
kentaros!: shut up and use google maps idiot
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I guess it could be a good idea to find kentaros first. He's the only person aside from my parents that I know at this point. I wonder what all the other Grand Cross members are doing, since nobody else seems to be talking.
I looked up directions to Roegner Park. It was actually pretty close to my house. If I knew it was this close, I might've even considered going out there once in a while.
I don't know where all the monsters went, since I saw none on my way to the park aside from Slimes, which are blind and not even hostile or threatening. The big monsters probably just moved along to find another town to destroy.
At the park, I walked around the area, looking for kentaros.
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orpheon #1 player: ok im at the park where are u
kentaros!: sitting at a bench near the playground with the red slide
orpheon #1 player: kk
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I spotted the playground ahead, and ran towards it. I started looking around and spotted a girl with short black hair, wearing jeans and a gray hoodie, sitting on a bench. She was staring at her phone, so she didn't see me.
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orpheon #1 player: where are you at? i dont see you
kentaros!: you sure? im literally just sitting here. is there anyone else there?
orpheon #1 player: idk, theres some girl here but i cant even ask her since yk i dont talk to girls
kentaros!: oh lmao
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"oh lmao"? What kind of response is that? He's really just mocking me here, isn't he?
Suddenly, a hand slapped me in the face.
I looked up to see the short-haired girl standing in front of me with a mischievous expression.
"Huh?"
"You mongrel, I'm here."
"What?"
"I'm kentaros, you moron."
"...What? You?"
"Yeah."
"No you aren't."
"Yes, I am!"
"What weapon do you main on Orpheon?"
"Gunblade. I'm the only gunblade user in Grand Cross."
"Holy shit, you're kentaros."
HE WAS A GIRL??? There's no way. The kentaros who pushes me around online was a girl the whole time? I really am pathetic...
"You're Best? You don't look as bad as I thought. From what you told me, I thought you would look like some greasy, scrawny geek. You actually look somewhat normal."
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"
"Uh, maybe? Anyway, I don't intend to keep calling you Best, since it's a shitty username. What should I call you?"
"Uh... Kaiser."
"Fuck off."
"Whoa, what's your problem? It's a pretty good name, if I do say so myself."
"Sure, but I meant your actual name. You have one, right?"
"Uh, yeah... I don't remember it well since I always use my usern-"
"Stop joking and tell me."
"Alright, man... er, woman, I guess... my name's Soren. Soren Card."
"That's a weird name."
"I know, that's why I didn't want to tell you- wait, what's your name anyway?"
"Est."
"What kind of name is that? That's even weirder!"
"It's short for Esther, you dip. It's not that uncommon."
I paused. Wait, am I actually talking to a girl? Like a normal person? What's wrong with me?
"Well, Soren, let's go find your parents."
"How?"
"Most people have evacuated already. I know where a lot of them are at, I can take you there so you can find them."
Est grabbed my wrist and started marching out of the park.
"Ow, you don't need to grab my arm! I know how to walk! Hey!"
She let go and made that mischievous look again, with that odd half-smirk and narrowed eyes.
"Oh yeah, sorry. My bad."
What's the deal with this kid?
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We walked for a few hours. Est would often try to break the silence, but there wasn't much to talk about, and I was starting to get anxious about my parents.
Soon, we came to a motel barricaded with cars and various debris.
Est jumped towards the entrance.
"Well, here we are. This is where most of the people retreated to. The army came to try and take the people to a safe area, but most of the soldiers got killed since normal weapons don't seem to work on monsters. So, people ended up gathering here instead."
I followed her inside. The motel was eerily quiet.
"You sure there are people here?"
"Yes, I saw them earlier today. They're probably quiet to avoid attracting monsters. Let's try going door to door to see which room your parents are in."
Starting from Room 101, we went across the motel asking for anyone with the last name "Card." It looked like each room had around 10 people squeezed inside. Unfortunately, my parents weren't in any of them.
"That's a shame, I'm sorry, Soren."
"It's not your fault, it's fine."
"Soren!"
Someone shouted my name from a distance. At the entrance of the motel stood my parents.
"Soren! You're here! We've been looking for you!"
"Hi mom! Uh, sorry, mom. When I came out of the basement, the house was empty..."
"I'm so sorry, we didn't know what was happening and people dragged us out of the house to bring us here. We've been trying to look for you outside but couldn't find you... but here you are!"
"Uh, yeah. Here I am."
"You must be tired. Come to our room, we'll get you a pillow."
Est and I were led to Room 107, where my parents were assigned. We maneuvered through the other people in the room and sat on the floor next to the window.
"Who's this girl?" my dad asked.
"She's a, uh, online frie-"
"I'm his girlfriend!"
What the hell?
I looked at her face with widened eyes, and she was making that expression again. Seriously, what is the DEAL with this kid?
"Nice one, young lady. I know my boy doesn't get girls."
Sometimes I hate my dad because he just says these things... but he's never wrong, which makes it worse.
My mom handed me and Est a pillow.
"I know you kids are tired, get some rest."
I put the pillow against the wall and sat back on it, closing my eyes.
In a few minutes, I was close to falling asleep when Est slapped me awake.
"What the hell, Est? I'm trying to sleep!"
"Look at your screen!"
In front of me was a blue window.
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Congratulations on completing your first day in Phase 2! As a reward, we are distributing 100 Silver to each player!
Starting tomorrow, we will be assigning Main Quests that they must be completed for players to progress in the game!
The first Main Quest is as follows:
Attain Level 10 within 24 hours. Players who fail this Quest will be eliminated from the game.
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