บท 18: Rect Of Emptiness
"By the way, what are your stats, Adas?" Ricky asked.
"My Stats? They are normal."
I opened my menu and showed them my stats.
I am thrilled I got faker skill so that I can fake my stats.
[You should thank me for that.]
I forgot that this annoying brat is still on my head.
What do I need to thank you for? It's not like you gave me this skill.
I wanted to yell it out loud but held myself back.
"What are your stats?" I asked.
"See it yourself," he said as he opened his menu.
Ricky's stats are
[LVL- 27]
[HP-100]
[ATK-123]
[DEF- 200]
[AGILITY- 102]
"How is your defense so high even though you are only level 27? The armor is the same as I am wearing." asked Elena.
"It's because of this shield."
"It's an SSR item." Rikka quipped.
"Is that good?" I asked.
"It's the rarest item in this game."
"...!"
"Just kidding~. It's good but not that good."
"Look at my sword too," quipped Elena.
Her sword is SSSR.
"The rarest item in this game."
"And that is a joke too, right?" I questioned.
She stared at me as she puffed her cheek, saying, "Yes."
"Don't forget who gave you this," remarked Rikka.
"So what?"
"Can't you at least act grateful?"
"Why should I?"
Feeling confused, I asked, "Umm...what is going on?"
"Oh, we told you that before, right? Our leader is very greedy. She took the items we found."
"Don't say it like I am a bad person!"
"You are not?"
"I am not!"
"None of us use swords, so we gave it to her."
"Hmph!"
"Be grateful."
"Yeah, yeah, I am grateful."
My girlfriend is greedy.
Rarest huh? I wonder what my sword is. It must be SR.
I looked at my sword stat and...legendary?
But I just got it by defeating some skeletons.
"What rarity is your sword, Adas?" asked Ricky.
"Oh! It's normal."
[Let me explain. The type depends on the rarity. The first comes, 'Common.' The sword you had, when you were in world Zero, was ordinary.]
[Then second comes, 'Uncommon']
[The third is 'Rare.' And as you saw, rare have different types. SR. SSR. SSSR.]
[Then the fourth is 'Epic.' Most of the top players use 'Epic' equipment. You can get them by crafting the materials or by buying them from the shop. Platinum armor falls under 'Epic. You use materials to upgrade it, and you can upgrade it up to +500 DEF.
[The fifth one is "Legendary'. The sword you have is legendary. The most powerful sword.]
That was a long explanation at once, but I think I got how it works.
"Here are my stats."
Rikka's stats are,
[LVL-25]
[HP-100]
[ATK-153]
[DEF-112]
[AGILITY- 133]
Her stats are...uh...average.
"Mine too!"
Elena's stats are,
[LVL-43]
[HP-100]
[ATK-222]
[DEF-132]
[AGILITY-172]
Her ATK is higher than mine. As expected of my girlfriend.
"You both are sword users. So it's good in its way," said Ricky.
"Why did you choose to be a shield user?"
"Well, my wife here doesn't like close combat, so..." he pulled Rikka close and hugged her shoulder.
"Hehe." Rikka blushed as she scratched her cheek.
What an incredible couple. I still can't believe they got married at 18.
"It's your turn to make breakfast tomorrow," Rikka said.
"I know."
So they live together too.
I thought they might be living separately since they are married at such a young age.
I would love to live together with Elena as soon as possible.
Elena was sauntering. She has been silent for a while; what happened to her?
"Reina?"
"Adas!"
"Yeah?"
"You are leveling up tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay"
I was worried about nothing.
"There is a world boss fight every Wednesday too."
"World boss?"
"Yeah, it's a super crazy strong monster. All the players can fight it at the same time. And you get rewards depending on your ranking. So you have to level up tomorrow, okay?"
My girlfriend is greedy.
We rushed our way to the sea and, "Here we are."
Amazing! The sea at night looks fantastic.
Elena took me to the forest yesterday, and it was terrific, but this is on a whole other level. All the stars in the sky are reflecting on the sea surface; it's truly unique.
But why didn't Elena bring me here?
"Rei...na?"
She has been acting weird ever since we decided to go to the sea.
Hey, by chance, could it be that she is scared of the sea?
"Reina."
"Yes?"
"Could it be that you are scared of--"
"I am not!"
I didn't even finish what I was saying. That's a legit yes.
She made fun of me when she found out that I was afraid of heights, so now it's payback time.
"You are afraid of the sea, right?"
"Wh-what is y-you talking about?" she stuttered.
"You are, right?"
"I am not!"
"So how about you go in there and prove it?"
"I will!" she started walking to the sea as she said, "I will prove it that I am not afraid of the sea."
She was standing in the sea, and the water was at her knees.
"..."
The stars are reflecting on the sea surface, and my girlfriend is in the sea. With her white hair and blue eyes under this beautiful scenery, she looked so beautiful.
My girlfriend is stunning.
But nothing beats her real body.
"See?" She spun and said, "I am not afraid of--"
Suddenly, a giant sea monster appeared behind Elena and ate her.
"Ele...na?"
[Warning]
"Oops, that was the worst way to die."
"Elena...Elena...Elena...Elena!"
I ran towards the sea, but Ricky grabbed me.
[Warning Warning Warning Warning Warning]
"Let go! Elena! Elena!"
"Calm down, Adas."
"But Elena--!"
"It's okay. It's a game; she will just respawn at the login point."
That's...right!
It's a game. Das. It's not real...it's not real.
That monster. I will kill that motherfucker.
"It's the first time you saw it, huh?"
I nodded.
"When Rikka and I were beginners, we used to die all the time."
"Hmm"
"Yeah," Ricky patted my back and said, "Let's go to the login point."
This might have become normal for them. But for me, it's not.
I can't see her die, not even once.
It doesn't matter if it's a game or not.
Though still, what was that voice? It was something like 'Warning warning. What was it about?
They didn't hear it, right? But Lily must have heard it.
"Hey Lily," I whispered.
[What is it?]
"What was that voice about?"
[What voice?]
"That 'Warning warning' sound."
[I didn't hear anything like that]
"Is that so?"
I feel so empty inside.
I feel like my soul has been taken away.
I want to see her. I want to touch her. I want to hear her voice. I want to see her smile.
Without her, I am nothing.
When we reached the login point, I saw Elena coming our way.
"Hey Adas, I was coming that--hey! What are you doing?! People are looking at us."
I couldn't hold myself and ended up hugging her.
"Oh my, he loves her so much!" Rikka said
"Hey, Adas, let go. I am okay."
"Man, he lost it back there," said Ricky.
"What do you mean?"
"After you got eaten by the sea monster, he started screaming your name like crazy."
"Are you okay, Elena?"
"Yeah, I am okay, and call me Reina here."
She doesn't look okay.
"It didn't hurt, right?"
"What are you talking about? This is a game. It just felt like a mosquito bite; it didn't hurt at all."
It hurt like hell for me. But the pain I am feeling right now is a lot worse.
"Well then, we are logging out now."
"Okay"
Ricky and Rikka logged out.
"I am logging out too," said Elena.
"Why? There is still some time left until 1:00 AM."
"I am feeling sleepy so." She opened her menu and logged out, saying, "Bye, see you tomorrow."
Tomorrow is Saturday, so there will be no school. That means we will meet in a game.
"Bye, Lily. See you tomorrow."
[Bye. Take a good rest.]
I opened my menu and glanced around as I logged out.
When I opened my eyes, my head hurt, but I didn't care about that. My legs feel numb, but I didn't care about that.
What's hurting me the most is that scene.
If I hadn't teased Elena, she wouldn't have gone into the sea, and she wouldn't have gotten eaten by that monster.
Maybe it didn't hurt. She said she is okay. But she was scared of the sea, and I teased her. Not only did she go into the sea, but she also got eaten by the monster.
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