Bab 96: Moving Shadows (V)
"What? How? Did I just miss the person, and what's a call out?" Kiyro read the quest with confusion.
"I didn't see anyone either." Sylph searched around him, trying to find anyone suspicious but found nothing. "Now you are like a sitting duck with a red neon sign saying here I am. That's what a call out is."
"What!?" Kiyro spoke a little too loudly. People turned their heads towards him and gave him a strange look. He pretended to look busy and whispered back. "Where?"
"It seems some players took the bait and are heading this way." Sylph pulled up a map of the area and highlighted them in red.
"Who are they?" Kiyro's hands inched towards his pocket where his knife lay. "I can't believe the mission was a game quest. Who in their right mind would request this quest to become a mission."
"You got two coming from your right, one in front of you and another two on your left."
When Kiyro glanced out into the distance, he noticed that the heads of the people that took the bait had a diamond-shaped icon over their heads. They were coming closer and closer.
On his right, he noticed the girl he had met at the grocery store. She was a short female with glasses. Her short hair was cut to her chin. But, if he was to give her a rating of looks, she was very adorable. She was wearing leggings with a light green one-piece dress. She was smiling next to the guy who was walking with her. In that instant, he remembered her. It was Isabel.
Next to her was a college-aged male. Kiyro couldn't help but feel like he saw the guy's face in the game of Growth, but he didn't remember where and when. Compared to the short girl, he looked like a giant standing next to her. His clothing style reminded him of the popular male fashion trend in Korea. His hair was dyed light orange, while the back of his head was brown. A gold pair of cuff earrings glinted; his clothes were neat and tidy, wearing a collared shirt with a vest and black pants. Girls chatted and turned towards him with interest.
They arrived first and headed straight towards Kiyro.
"Oh! Hi. We meet again." Isabel waved at him with a cheerful attitude. "Are you the one who sent the message to do a quest?"
Kiyro slowly nodded his head.
Isabel held out her hand and smiled. "This is William, or you could call him Will. Everyone knows him as Aldran from Hercules guild. I'm from the same guild too."
Kiyro took her hand and gently shook it. "It's nice meeting you again." He let her hand go, turned towards Will, and shook his hand. "My name is Kiyro. I go by the name Zero."
Isabel smiled, showing her teeth. Her contagious chirpy attitude put Kiyro at ease.
"You're the Aldrin?"
"Yes. Nice to meet you." Will pulled out his hands to shake his. "We noticed your shout-out to form a party. Do you mind if we join?"
"Sure. Give me a moment."
"I'm already on it. Sent an invite to them." Sylph whispered in his ears. "I'm going to watch from the sidelines."
"Oh! Is this the so-called Real World Hidden quest: Alpha Division? I so wanted to try it out." Isabel squealed in delight. "Check it out, Will. It's so cool. Didn't you just complete yours yesterday?"
"Yes." Will nodded. Both Isabel and Will agreed to join in on the quest. "I feel like I heard your name from somewhere. I just can't remember exactly."
"I met you before during the raid. I was the fox creature."
"Wait, you were that cute fox?" Isabel cuts-in in excitement. "I was so jealous when I heard that the other girls got to touch your fur." She stopped for a moment and giggled. "That came out so weird."
Kiyro couldn't help but chuckle.
"Ah, now I remember. I watched you fight. It was quite a feat," said Will. "Are you by any chance interested in joining my guild? It would be fun having someone like you join my guild."
"I'm going to pass for now. Let me think about it for a while, and I'll get back to you on it," Kiyro
replied.
"It would be great if you do. Do you mind if I register you as a friend?"
"Sure."
Kiyro and Will each had their personal game name registered into their friend lists.
"Kiyro?" A familiar voice called out towards him.
Kiyro turned around and was surprised to see Eve with a guy walking toward him. Eve was wearing a white blouse with a pretty feathered necklace. Her short black pants showed off her long legs, and she wore high-top boots covering her knee. Her blue hair swayed side-to-side as she chatted with an older male next to her. The man next to Eve was a European-looking man. He looked like he was in his late twenties. His muscles were finely tuned, and he had no facial hair. His yellow hair was slicked back, and he was comfortably dressed.
"It's Kiyro. What are you doing here? Wait, were you the one that sent out the party invite to the quest?" Eve walked up to him.
Kiyro nodded without answering.
"It was you. Oh wow, what are the chances?" Eve cracked an angelic smile. "I'll be glad to join."
"Hi." Isabel interrupted the conversation between the two. "I'm Isabel, and this is Will. We're from Hercules guild. You are?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Eve, and the guy next to me is Jack. We both came here because we got a call out to form a party. I was interested in what the quest was going to be about and thought I would like to try it out."
"Jack? You don't mean the dwarf Jack?" asked Kiyro. He remembered the dwarf blacksmith that asked him to help him out in melting a stone.
"Yes. That Jack."
Jack waved his hello. "I'm glad to meet you once again. I didn't expect to see you out here in such a way."
"Same," said Kiyro.
"If you don't mind. I'd like to be friends with you?"
"Sure. I was thinking about getting your contact info as well."
"I want to as well," chirped Isabel in excitement. "Sweet, more friends."
Their contacts were quickly exchanged from person to person.
"I remember you," said Will towards Eve. "You were next to Zero when we had that friendly bet. You look similar to your avatar even in the game world. It's just your hair color is a bit different."
"I could say the same about you. You're Aldran, right?" asked Eve.
"Yes."
"It's nice to meet you. I didn't expect the leader of Hercules guild to be in Georgia."
"I do live in Atlanta," said Will. "We were also going out to eat lunch when we got an unexpected call to do a quest. So we thought we would check it out."
"Would you guys like to get something to eat before we start this quest?" said Isabel. Her stomach grumbled loudly for everyone to hear. She turned scarlet and cast her gaze down onto the floor.
"Sure, why not. I was getting hungry," said Jack.
"Same," replied Kiyro and Eve.
"Then let's get something to eat. I know a good place to go and grab something quick. After that, we can go and conversate about the quest there."
"Sounds like a plan," replied Jack.
"Wait. I still need one more person to join our group before we leave. It needs six people, including myself. We only have five, to begin with. One more took the call and headed towards us."
"Really?" said Eve. "Where?" She tiptoed to look for the next possible candidate. "I don't see anyone."
"He should be here." Kiyro glanced around, trying to find the diamond shaped icon around him.
"Zero? Agnis?" said a familiar male voice.
Kiyro stepped past them to see where the voice came from.
A young man in his mid-twenties stepped forward behind a group of people. He was about the same size as Kiyro. His brown hair was styled nicely and fit well with his outfit: a pair of blue jeans with an unbuttoned collared shirt. Underneath his shirt was a black hugging top that stuck to him like glue.
"Alex?" said Eve with a surprised tone.
"Yes?" A deep voice was called out towards them.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone