“Meet me back there!” Juuka shouts whilst pointing at where they initially split up. Without further ado, they set off, tracing back their path. Which wasn’t hard as the path was a single zigzagging cave. Kanade steeled onwards, and Han for the first, time needed to up the gear to keep up with her. Their silent walk through the humid caves ended far quicker than he thought as the loud trickling reached them once more.

  Juuka, who was previously leaning against a cave wall, straightened herself. She swiftly examined them, and that managed to surprise him. Since he guessed that she would be happy if Kanade got injured, no need to use the extra rations and arrows then.

  “D-Did his tail have that white part?” Her keen gaze even managed to find the single part that was different.

  “Mm.” For some reason, Kanade nodded. There wasn’t a reason he could think of that would make any difference to Juuka. He ignored her wishful secrecy and followed after them. The excruciatingly quiet walk was irking Han, Juuka kept fidgeting with her bowstring the whole way while barely keeping up with them.

  Nonetheless, they reached another area, it led back to the open cave area, however they were on the upper ledge where Juuka sniped the monster beforehand. They weren’t there alone; Berdrogh’s eyes shifted to a more serious one, yet unexpectedly didn’t say anything. Han was sure that he didn’t even see what happened. Then the world halted. Literally. His, and everyone else’s, gait halted mid-step.

  His mouth produced more saliva as his gut sank to the ground; he couldn’t even swallow it. The golf ball-sized realization in his throat prevented him—he had almost died. If the monster had eaten Pochirin, it wouldn’t have been the only thing. It wasn’t as if he could take off the NR helmet at any moment and return to the Phantom Realm. The gravity seemed to shift, snapping him out of his thoughts, promptly reassessing what was going on.

  “Hey! Pooch, stop squirming. You don’t want to fall, do ya?” Berdrogh said as he kept climbing a dingy rope ladder at the side of a ledge. He was unknowingly hoisted over Berdrogh’s shoulders; the shoulder plates kept him steadily in place. Although Berdrogh had barely climbed a couple of steps, they were already pretty high up. Soon enough, Han’s head peeked over the top.

  “Go on.” Berdrogh paused just before reaching the top, letting Han carefully climb on actual ground. Lionel was already there darting his finger around the system. Juuka had gone first, whilst Berdrogh and Kanade came up after him. The aforementioned way down was up ahead, in another identical cave.

  “Phuu…” He glanced around everyone, even the glue of this party was seemingly tired. “Let’s take a break for today. What do you say?” He asked everyone, yet still the choice was up to Lionel. Han wasn’t up for rest, though his intuition fought his logic every time he thought of Kanade.

  “Um…” Juuka prematurely added, evidently checking the real-world time in her menu. “Yeah, fine with me. Let’s do it here, no?” She points at a deep alcove besides them.

  Without answering, Lionel’s eyes darted around mid-air. Promptly extended both of his hands, in which multiple pieces of firewood fade into existence. His white cloak didn’t get dirty despite him kneeling.

  “Wizards… are weird.” Berdrogh muttered under his breath along with quite a long sigh. That comment, though, was caught by Juuka.

  “…Wizard?” She swiftly turns to Lionel, who was setting up the logs together. “What level are you? I’m 16.” She added, whereas Lionel didn’t seem in any rush to answer; after some finishing touches that were rocks, he made a small pit for the firewood. A necessary thing for players that allows them to exit safely, then stuck his pointer in between the logs. With a mutter, his hand is inflamed, adding the last thing that made it a campfire. He hid his soot-covered hand under his white robes.

  “Almost 19. Peabrain’s 34. Don’t know about the cat and dog combo.” Like before, he extended his hand; a rolled-up thick material appeared in it, and he undid the string and threw it in the corner. He lay in the sleeping bag and turned to the side. The liveliness, or lack thereof, completely disappeared. Leaving a husk behind.

  Asshole.

  Juuka glanced back at them, then grabbed a sleeping bag of her own and went to take up a place in the alcove. The trio also arrived and sat opposite of each other. The other sleeping bag was for Berdrogh. This place was perfect, practically hidden, and hid them from the humidity as the campfire quickly ate any semblance of it.

  Unlike Lionel, or even Juuka; Berdrogh and Kanade needed to be comfortable to end the day. Luckily for Han, although weirdly enough, he was practically naked. Kanade needed to take off her hard, leather chest plate and the thickened boots; getting rid of her “battle” armor. Though Berdrogh, well, Berdrogh was a completely different man without the armor; still big regardless, even bear-like, but there was definitely a beer belly hiding his abs.

  “Do you…?” Juuka turns around in her sleeping bag, “Do you want anything? Food maybe?” She said her face was facing Kanade whilst her eyes were darting around.

  “Mm, no thanks.” Kanade shook her head and slowly went back to staring at the ground. Juuka faced the cave wall once more and seemingly left the game as well. Their character bodies are still in this world perpetually sleeping. Since time passed differently, that meant they won’t be back here for six or seven hours.

  I should—no…

  Han instantly stopped himself before the thought could breed any possible realities where he executed it. Since they wouldn’t wake up from anything, they were easy kills. Level 16 and 18. Quite a decent chunk of EXP; however, once they come back he would have immortals after him and Kanade. Han’s fur stood up for a moment.

  —Clink! Clank!

  The sharp sound echoed in the small alcove, and grabbed their attentions immediately. The perpetrator simply stopped and glanced back akin to a child.

  “What? They sleep heavy…” Berdrogh said and continued. Kanade’s focus was drawn back to the two players that wouldn’t wake up if she kicked them. Before landing back on Berdrogh to see whatever he was doing, she took note of the way they came from. Her instinct screamed at the fact that he was making noise in a dead end.

  “I don’t think you should be doing that. You’re making noise.” Her mind instantly went to the two beside her, “Even if they can’t. Someone else, out there, could.”

  “Finishing… touches… and done.” His hand ran through the stone wall, and with a quick pat to clear out the dust, the letters “BH” revealed themselves behind his hand.

  “Are those your initials?” She then asked.

  “Berdrogh—Home.” He pointed at their respective letters and then promptly plopped down on the thick sleeping bag he had yet to unroll. “Like most, I don’t have a last name. Since you like your home, you should name yourself Home; that was my daughter’s train of thought.” He chuckles and glanced at her.

  “Who… Who doesn’t like their home? I couldn’t have my imaginary last name be my daughter’s y’know. So… I went with Home.”

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  “Kanade Beruh.” She added. “That’s my name.” Berdrogh’s eyes returned to focus after staring at the campfire.

  “…Sorry, haven’t heard of it.” He nodded slightly as if that would bother Kanade. Instead, she glanced back at the carved letters.

  “Why did you do that?” Kanade gently pointed with her chin. Berdrogh softly shook his head at her.

  “It’s complicated… don’t wanna get all touchy-feely before slee…” A yawn cut off his sentence short. He opened up his eyes back up, he was met with a smiling Kanade.

  “Berdrogh Home?” She pointed out the fact of what he said before.

  “Alright, that—that was different, and I won’t…” He broke apart when he noticed both Pochirin and Han staring at him relentlessly. For some reason, even Han insisted, though the majority of it was because Kanade did so.

  “The letters, right? They show intelligence and a name. If some poor soul is having a tough time here, he’d connect with it; Oh? Look, someone was here before me; they survived, and so will I. Something like that… it’s like a… a mirror to the past for them. The future, for me.” He finished his explanation, but a quick silence ensued. Nothing of interest was happening, the campfire popped, and the water outside trickled. A yawn crept up on Han. He had enough strength to resist it. And soon enough, someone couldn’t resist.

  “Since we were talking, my turn to ask. How did you meet your Pooch?” He shifted around on the sleeping bag, then leaned against the cave’s wall. Han also peeled his ears back, essentially getting ready for story time. Though, neither of them knew how short it would be.

  “Auction house…” Her voice was normal, but her tone struggled to be so. Han wasn’t the only one that caught on. Berdrogh naturally shifted back.

  “Lady… I don’t want to sound rude, but—“

  “I was a part of the merchandise. We bonded together, somehow.” She interjected.

  “Guessed so…” He lingered but quickly returned to the topic. “I heard there are summonings and rituals that force it to collaborate and stuff. Did?—Did your parents…?”

  “Mm.” Nods, “I don’t blame them. They needed to feed my brothers and sisters. I was the oldest.”

  “You plan on ever meeting them?” His words made Kanade’s shake involuntarily.

  “Don’t know. I’m not from here. Even if we did pass each other—they wouldn’t recognize me. They were… and I was… young.”

  “Hope. You don’t have to say it, but saying; I hope I will meet my siblings. Will help. Trust me.” His eyes dart off for just a moment. “Ah, not to rub it in... That and—” Out from his shirt he takes out a necklace, a wooden pendant. It was small, though he was unsure whether it was because it was on Berdrogh or that it actually was. With crude and uneven chicken scratch carvings, it depicted a simple asymmetrical shield. One that Han or many other early-game players would probably see.

  “Can you believe this? I come home with shavings in my bed, and this… All’s I’m trying to say is that stay close to the ones you love, they provide hope. Life moves on. And hope? Hope remains.” Suddenly, he cackled and patted his stomach. “Sheesh… I’m giving out preachy hermit speeches. I’m a young thirty-nine, damn it.”

  Soon, the stillness enveloped them, though it was quite warm this time. Giving out these pent-up thoughts must have given them some reprieve. Given the time, Han, on the other hand, was sulking.

  Am I even in a game?

  Split between two worlds was a feeling alright. Unsure whether they would have had this conversation without him really irked him. These thoughts were hard. Deep inside, however, he was happy. Happy that there was a chance he will get to connect with someone, despite the fact that they were not real.

  No… they’re real. This is my new reality… and I’m glad.

  With a new outlook on his upcoming life, a few interesting ideas came up. With a smile, he pondered, the fact stands that hosts are most likely needed to survive.

  Yet, how long is the lifespan of a mana tick?

  Dying of old age really would suck. Especially if it came out of nowhere and, more importantly, if old was a couple of weeks. The variables once again were murdering his mind.

  “Mm.” Berdrogh let out a noise, gently grabbing both of their attentions. “Want to take it?” His hand pointed to the sleeping bag that he was sitting on.

  “Don’t need to. Pochirin’s good enough of a blanket.”

  Eh?

  Out of her pouch, she brought out a large drape and laid it near the stone wall. Promptly, she lay down with her back against the cave, the outerwear acting as the pillow. He inwardly sighed at her waiting gaze, and finally, he joined as the blanket. It was quite smart of her. He was rather large now and was hiding her completely; combined with the wall and his warmth. She was as safe and comfortable as one could be in this position.

  “Good night. I’ll stay awake a tad longer… for lookout and all.” He says with a rather toned-down voice, to a point where his last sentence became a mutter.

  “Don’t need to. Pochirin and I will sense anything, even in our sleep.” Kanade stated the obvious, although her voice was muffled because of Han, she got the point across.

  Han stared at the fire for a bit and eventually closed his eyes to relax before snoozing. Even after Berdrogh had fallen asleep and the campfire’s logs had turned to ashes, she still seemingly was awake. She kept switching between hugging him and putting her back against him. It didn’t really bother him, just couldn’t let go of the fact.

  The journey continued in the morning. By the behest of Lionel, they hadn’t split up. The formation stayed the same, with Berdrogh in the front and damage in the back. Realistically, the trio couldn’t compare to him. Anyhow, Kanade, without the worry of arrows, started supporting Berdrogh, loosening up the burden ahead of him.

  Despite being rather uneventful, Han was still happy with the AFK farm; the seldom zombie or skeleton were giving enough EXP despite the boredom. Berdrogh’s quips and the party’s varying responses kept him entertained until they reached Floor 19’s end. Han’s AFK farm had to end, and the results weren’t absurdly horrid. He remained level 15 whilst Pochirin went up a level and turned level 16.

  The hard part had arrived. Except for Berdrogh, every minor mob they face will be higher level than everyone else. Although Berdrogh had carried them through 19 floors, he would have to shine even more in the next ten if they wanted to succeed.

  “You’re not afraid of heights, are you?” Berdrogh spouted a question to Kanade. Before she could answer, the scene changed. Han was unable to see what was ahead of him. The party left the cave and entered an area that could be described as a nightmare. Endless wide bridges so above, so below. They were accompanied by lamps, set apart a couple meters throughout the abyss.

  He went closer to the ledge; despite how little ground he had, the next ten floors were the same bridges. A command entered his mind that just instinctively described the words; be careful. Promptly, his focus was turned to the bridge ahead of him.

  It was more than 5 meters wide and seemed to be some kind of stone. It was rather smooth, akin to modern concrete sidewalks, moreover, the repeating rectangular pattern made it seem as such. The main issue, aside from actually moving round; was the boss ahead of them.

  The 20th Floor boss. A dark figure that sat on the edge of the bridge. Its pitch-black armor barely reflected the lamps around him, and its head was staring into the abyss below. Through its stomach, a large sword was poking out; the blade itself protruded through its belly, while the handle was in the back.

  A droplet caught Han off guard. Then, another and another. The gray stone bridge turned a darker shade as it got covered by rain. The boss’s head glanced upwards at whatever the source of the rain was.

  “Listen.” Lionel spoke up without lowering his voice. Berdrogh’s armor clanked as he winced. “We’re using the regular formation; damage in the back, tank in the front. Don’t—“

  “He means literally.” Berdrogh whispered amidst Lionel’s speech.

  “Don’t be extra. Any wrong move, all of us are dead.” Han assumed that he’s directly talking to him. Nonetheless, he stopped talking and gave time for everyone to prepare. How graceful. Juuka brought out a couple more arrows to fill up Kanade’s quiver, and Berdrogh, well he was doing some kind of a ritual. He breathed wildly, posturing his head forwards, directly pointed at the black knight.

  Is he a bull or what?

  The party set off. Han spearheaded the whole formation along with Berdrogh. The grip on his battle-axe screeched as the gloveless hand gripped the handle with force. The two of them were the first ones to set foot on the stone bridge; unlike the others, Han didn’t need to worry about the slippery polished stone since he didn’t have any boots. His wandering mind, and gait, faltered.

  “Aers yous one…?” Like a muffled sentence through a rusty pipe, it spoke.