The man smiles at me knowingly and then proceeds, “Please, come in and have a seat”
I compose myself and breathe in, nodding respectfully at the man in front of me, “Hello, Mr. Park. Thank you!”
I make my way to the seat he is pointing at in front of his desk as I revere at the thought that Chang Ho Park is the ‘staff’ that would attend me. Countless thoughts go through my head as to why would one of the main developers of the game and probably one of the most influential people in the whole world would have the need to meet me in person for a system error.
Internally I smile bitterly, but on the outside, I show a calm presence, in the end, nothing would come at getting anxious, so I choose to see what he had to say before my thoughts eat me.
As I get to the seat, we both sit down. He looks at me in the eye as if analyzing me and smiles satisfied as he says, “It’s truly a pleasure to meet one of the top ‘players’ of our game.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Park. But sorry if this may seem blunt, but I am really puzzled as to why someone such as yourself would deal with something as minor as a system error” I nod at him politely as I tell him of my thoughts directly. I have never been one to keep sharing pleasantries or waste time.
He grins at me and says, “We are of the same mind, it seems! Well, the reason I am meeting you is that what you suffered from isn’t really a true system error, it was pre-programmed.”
I look at him surprised and then I ask doubtful, “Why is something like that pre-programmed?”
He looks at the side, a huge monitor on the side showing the world of Parallel with its exquisite background and magical places, people doing their daily routines, fighting monsters or against each other, series and series of videos flashing again and again, different than the last, but all about the same thing. Parallel.
He smiles softly while looking at that, “From what I could see, you got the concentration stat, and it should be quite high too. In fact, most top players have that stat, of course, it isn’t truly needed to have it to be one of them, but it surely helps in a lot of things,” Then, he looks at me and asks, “Ezequiel, what do you think is the meaning of stats?”
I look at him blankly, not expecting those words and that question, I start to think as I stroke my chin. Trust is, I did ask myself that sometimes. Parallel felt… too real to simply be guided by levels and status. Skill exp and skill levels held a lot more information than what it actually shows. The system has a lot more dynamism instead of systematically getting stronger. I could feel my body getting stronger, my senses heightening, and my abilities sharpening, and that wasn’t only because of stats increase or because my skills let me.
“They have always felt like… a guide to me about my current capabilities and the path I am taking…” I say that as I am still deep in thought, and then I look at Park, who had a serene expression while watching me.
He nods at me and says “You could say it is kind of a guide. It helps ‘players’ to arm their character and have a clear comprehension of their abilities. They become stronger when ‘getting’ exp and allocate ‘stats’ when they ‘level up’, creating a ‘build’ unique to them. But that’s the basics,” He smiles and looks at me with sparks in his eyes, “You can say they are a tutorial!”
My eyes widen and shock runs through my body, my mind enlightening and my hand trembles a bit as I ask, “A tutorial?”
“Yes, you can say that statuses are a tutorial guide for someone to build themselves” Park nods satisfied at my response, “And one way to go through, or complete said tutorial, has to do with what you did…”
He smiles mysteriously as he says, “To experience the real Parallel world”
I look at him blankly as my mouth opens slightly, it felt as if a thunder felt right through my head and I think, ‘Damn, how didn’t I think about that before?’
But then, another question goes through my head as I ask hurriedly, “But what about the other people, how are they going to… experience the real Parallel world? Because I doubt many others can do the same that I did, and that could create trouble for you”
Park answers calmly as if waiting for that question, “In truth, while we thought that an abnormality would happen and someone below level 399 would achieve it, we never thought it would be so soon,” He looks at me meaningful, “They will have a choice to make due time, of course, it won’t be a permanent one, but they will still have to choose between ‘staying in the back’ or become a ‘vanguard’ even for normal players. But for them getting over the barrier will be another tribulation, you just had a head start. I will say this, from level 390, things are going to be slightly different, and later, it will be completely different.”
He smiles widely and adds, “Of course, you will be presented with the choice, but I don’t think you will be staying in the back, am I right?”
I look at him sharply, and resolutely tell him, “I wish to be a vanguard!”
Park nods and then tells me, “I will certainly relay that to the system. Do take note that yours is a special case, which is the reason why I am meeting with you. Though… I am quite sure that a few more special cases will arise on the upcoming event” He smiles mischievously and then continue with a serious expression, “But I will have to ask you that you keep this information as confidential as possible. Of course, I don’t mean to deprive you of your free will of talking about it, but for now, we would prefer for the ‘players’ to keep struggling and get to their answers by themselves. Of course, if you want, you can throw hints and the like”
I nod at him, for some reason, I felt that if the others get to the same place by themselves, it will be for the best. I would throw a hint or two along the way, but I didn’t want to put in a silver plate everything.
“Yes, Mr. Park. I will make sure to keep this between us”
He smiles, “Well, I don’t want to keep you here all morning, I am guessing you are very busy” as he stands up and offers me his hand.
I stand up and smile at him while shaking his hand firmly, “Thank you for having me!”
He smiles back and I turn to the side while watching the monitor, all the videos and images taking a different light in my head. I smile and turn around, walking resolutely.
“Oh… and Ardha” Park calls me from behind, and I look back surprised, he looks at me serious and says, “There is more to it than a simply increase in difficulty in the second + of the quest, be careful of fissures.”
I look at him seriously and nod politely, “Thank you for everything.”
He nods with a serene expression and then sits.
I take my leave, his last words repeating in my head.
‘Really, nothing ever comes easy’
——————————
Swish ~
Gentle gales of wind were generated every time I swing my sword.
Exhaling gently, I swing it again and again, trying to not lose the feeling of my last slash against Alwen.
‘I can feel the path, but… I still can’t get it’ I think as I continue swinging my sword without stop. I finally could see the light of breakthrough, the second phase of Heaven Splitter, when I clashed against Alwen.
I fuse every bit of intention and will on each swing of my sword. Time slows down trying to perfect it as much as I can, sweat runs downs my body despite the gentle slashes.
Before doing another, I close my eyes and stop. I breathe out deeply and open my eyes, shaking my head slightly.
‘Any more is useless… I am at a wall again’ I lower my sword and put it away as I relax my body and thoughts. ‘But at least I have an idea on how to proceed’ I think as I stare at my hands.
‘The legacy of my master is going to continue!’ I clench my fist tightly, power rushing at it swiftly and mighty and then I let go of my grasp.
Suddenly, bright light shines, and I see Kagito standing up and smiling at all of us he waves his hand, “Hello, everyone!”
I smile and nod at him, ‘That man has surely changed a lot. I remember when we encountered him for the first time, he was completely in rags, a beast-like expression on his face, very alert to his surroundings. It was very amusing seeing him so glad to find us that he almost jumped in joy’
Kagito’s presence has also transformed, his disposition strong and powerful, full of confidence. ‘He is probably the one that has evolved the most out of all of us’ I muse while more lights start to shine, one by one, by the end, almost everyone is here except for Ardha.
Ardha had become one of my closest friends, the partner I have gone through life and death battles and one who could rival myself in almost every aspect. I give helpless smile as my friend has become one of my fiercest catalyst to become as strong as I am today.
Soon, another presence could be felt, a familiar one that I wouldn’t mistake for anyone else. Grinning at the person that just appears, I speak of the words Isa seems to love, “You are late!”
Ardha laughs and says “Why am I late this time? Hello everyone!”, then he looks at me, a mix of pear green and sky-blue mixing in his eyes, “You seem tired, were you training?”
I nod at him while smiling, and I could see his eyes turning amber, and then true blue as he rubs his chin, thinking about something, then he looks at me apologetically, light guilt shining in his eyes as he says, “Sorry… You are as real as me and everyone”
I look at him blankly and then puzzled, “Huh?”. He laughs and says, “Don’t worry about it! I am just babbling around”
I shake my head and say, “You are as weird as ever”, my friend’s behavior has always been…not the most common. But friendship is all about acceptation.
Then, Kagito seems serios and says, “Zenith, something has happened”
My expression changes and I look at him, my aura leaking slightly before controlling it again, “Did something happen to Peko?”
Everyone smiles wryly, and he answers, “Peko is fine… just that she is at Gardan fighting against the lizards of waves. Eliana told me she is well protected… though not that she needs much protection, she is basically one of the strongest there”
At that, my expression relaxes, and I say, “Oh, I knew that would happen” I say helplessly, knowing the temperament of my wife. She wouldn’t take things lying down and let other protect her. While it is worrying when she is carrying our baby, she does take precautions, and also… “She should be with the dress of darkness on her”
Everyone stare at me puzzled and I smile helplessly at them, “Don’t worry, she and the baby are going to be okay. Peko is someone extremely protective and cautious.”
Everyone seems a bit more relieved because of that, but worry is still in them. Seeing them, warmth goes through my chest and I think about Peko, my dear headache.
I chuckle as I think how she would kick my ass if she gets to know what I am thinking and I hold my sword again, putting it on my back.
“Well then, we have to hurry up, if Peko knows I am slacking off while she is working hard, she will come here to put me in my place” I smile at the rest as I get ready to go.
Ardha looks at the rest and say with a wide grin, “Well, you heard him, let’s go!”
“Oooooh!” Everyone shouts loudly and get ready to go.
Before we go out the safe zone, Ardha looks at the Rune Word on the wall, still vibrant with power. His eyes turn emerald green as he looks at it suspiciously. Ardha hasn’t realized, but because of the constant exposure against death aura, be it from me or the dungeon, his body has absorbed it quite a bit, even now, he gave off a small resonance with it, while also being mixed with the rest of the elements.
I look at it, Death calling me, enticing me to go beyond. But I smile and look at everyone waiting for us to go. I pat Ardha’s shoulder and nod, he smiles lightly, and we finally start making our way to the other side of the dungeon.
The waves of monsters toned down from before, and we easily went through to the other part of the dungeon. Well you can say it became easy because we have clearly become stronger since we started on this journey, but that’s another thing.
Seeing the bright light coming from the other side, we start running faster!
Going beyond the light, what waited for us is the beautiful view of Warsaw Valley. Even if I struggled to see far and far away, I couldn’t envision everything.
A sigh comes out of my mouth as the beauty of the Earth Realm keep surprising me.
Hope is born in my heart, to maybe one day, bring something like this to my people in the Underworld.
‘…and, I hope I can bring Peko and my child someday to watch this.’
Unknowingly, a warm seed sprouts in my chest.
