บท 17: Strange Town (2)
The first two days of their stay in town went peacefully. Aerine and the others tried to make use of their days and then tried out the activities to play in the sand dunes.
Even if this place wasn't exactly a dream tourist destination spot, that didn't mean they lacked such activities whenever a tourist did visit the town. After all, some people like Aerine's group could stumble into this town in the middle of nowhere close to the border.
Of course, right?
During these past couple of days, even Ronald seemed to have forgotten what he said—that this town was a bit strange, and they acted as normally as they could while filming their activities and then practicing the songs that they could come up with.
Before they set off, the four of them had managed to choose the best song among the five that suited their group the most.
They also tried to make an activity where they were singing while they slid down in the sand dunes, and that was rather not a good experience, each of them managed to eat a handful of sand, with Sheena being the worst of them as she was clumsy in the first place.
That might not be their best experience, but it was rather good filming material, so they decided to include it in their footage. Sheena was the only one who refused, but of course, the majority won.
After their initial excitement, the four of them were already getting bored with the sand. Sometime in the night, when they all finished taking a bath, they all decided to stop by Divine's room. It was because her room seemed to have a more spacious veranda than the others.
Like the most famous phenomenon in the desert, when it was morning, especially afternoon, the temperature was high, and it gradually decreased when it was evening.
The wind breeze was also rather cool and made them refreshed.
Aerine stood against the railings, and she was looking down on the street below her. In her eyes, the town was still as peaceful as the first time they arrived here.
While a few were walking around on the streets, most of the citizens here seemed to go home early after they were done with their jobs or school.
For her, their actions were normal, but as the days passed, she seemed to finally understand Ronald's words.
This town was too monotonous. But of course, perhaps it was attributed to the simple life they had, just as Aerine had before on the island.
"There's no internet and signal. So boring," Sheena pouted while putting down her phone and almost lying down on the ground.
"You can't expect this town to have internet when we chose it, right?" Divine sneered.
Out of everyone, aside from Aerine, who was used to not having internet, Divine was someone who also didn't care about it.
"Still, I'm getting bored, and we have a few days left to stay here," she complained once more.
"If that is, we can last until that day," Ronald muttered out of nowhere, which made every one of them look at him in shock.
Aerine was also surprised by his words.
"What did you say?" Sheena exclaimed, not quite believing what she heard.
Divine clicked her tongue. "Ron, tell me, are you on drugs or something?"
Ronald hissed and didn't pay attention to Divine but he focused his eyes below them.
"I also thought I was going crazy." After a while, Ronald confessed.
Aerine observed Ronald and stared into his eyes. They were calm, unlike someone who was close to being mad.
"You still think this town is strange?" Unlike the two, Aerine somehow paid attention to Ronald's words. At least she didn't dismiss them as though he was being ridiculous.
It was because Aerine was not an ordinary human. She was aware of the mysterious existences and events that were hidden under the veil of the peaceful human-dominated world.
Didn't Aerine's existence represent a supernatural event?
Divine rolled her eyes and puffed a breath.
"Even you, Aerine?"
"I don't know. Why don't we give Ronald a chance to explain himself? This is still for our safety," Aerine explained.
Not only two women, but Ronald looked at her in surprise.
"Do you really believe what I'm saying?" He asked.
"I'm willing to listen." Aerine's impression of him didn't change, but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious.
Divine and Sheena looked at each other and also stood up, as they were all now looking down from her veranda. They decided to look from the perspective of the two and try to discern what was strange about this town.
"So, what's giving you a strange feeling?" Again, Aerine asked and looked at Ronald.
Ronald licked his lips and furrowed his brow.
"I don't know." He gave a frustrated groan.
Divine knitted her brow. "How can we believe you if you don't know the answer yourself?"
Sheena didn't say anything, but her face showed she agreed with Divine.
Ronald palmed his face and then chewed his lips.
"I really don't know." He paused and then seemed to ponder something, and his eyes shot up and he looked at them. "Right. Do you think they all act like some NPCs?"
This time, it was Aerine who became confused. "NPCs?"
Ronald nodded. The three women's attention was focused on him now.
"The NPCs in the games have fixed movements and missions. At first, I also thought I was overthinking things, but... After spending here for two days, my suspicions are slowly piling up."
Aerine was about to ask what NPC meant, but after Ronald explained, she immediately comprehended it. While she never tried to play any games her whole life, she was at least aware of some game mechanics, but the terms were unfamiliar to her.
They looked down again, observed the people in the town, and also thought of their interaction with the townspeople.
Light dawned on the three women's eyes, and they looked at each other with shock. Even Aerine was slowly being convinced as well. Since she lived a rather monotonous and boring life on the island, she never did the same thing every day either.
Some days she was helping her mother with the chores, while others she was only in the house or at sea while she played around with fish. She never repeated the same thing over and over again.
While in this town, the townspeople, aside from those they interacted with for some time, seemed to repeat their actions for the past couple of days.
"T-This is impossible..."
"Are we on some supernatural shit?"
The two women exclaimed after realizing it. Aerine only fell silent, but she also became anxious. Unconsciously, she was already touching her left chest.
What was going on in this strange town?
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