Chapter 2: Chapter 02: Going Back

Happiness.

Something he had thought he lost long ago.

But here, he could see his mother's smile.

Could hear his father's laugh.

And could feel his sister's warmth.

And for a moment, he thought that he was home.

That maybe falling into The Lost was the gate to his original world. That maybe the system had just made a small error. And that everything was as it should be now.

But when he opened his eyes, he was lying in a room that he knows all too well.

It was Leon's room.

He was in Leon's home.

Now, as he laid in bed silently, he wondered how he got here. He surely remembered jumping into The Lost. His body and soul should have disintegrated. He shouldn't be existing right now. But here was, lying in a bed that wasn't his.

"Leon,"

And immediately, Leon understood how he got here.

At the door stood the protagonist.

It has only been a couple months since he had seen the protagonist and he honestly hasn't changed all that much. He was still cool as ever. Dressed in all black, carrying a heavenly sword on his back, and all stoic as an immovable mountain of ice.

Leon sighed and sat up from his bed.

Then with his signature goofy smile, he waved, "Hey-"

SLAP!

It hurt.

But it couldn't compare to what he felt inside.

"What were you thinking?" the protagonist scowled, "What the hell were you doing?"

Leon chuckled innocently, "What do you mean? I just slipped-"

"You slipped into The Lost?! You want me to believe that you slipped into The Lost?! You-"

"-That's right," Leon awkwardly smile.

Silence.

Leon could feel the protagonist glaring holes into him. If it wasn't for the fact that he held the position as the protagonist's best friend, he would have been beaten half to death by now.

Rey angrily sighed and went to sit at the chair beside the bed, "So, you slipped. Why were you there in the first place?"

"Honestly, I was . . . curious," Leon replied cheekily, ". . . And you?"

Leon couldn't help but wonder, 'Weren't we supposed to go our separate ways? Weren't you going to travel the world? Why were you there?'

Rey tsked and crossed his arms, "There were rumors of a crazy person causing mayhem at the cliff, who would've thought it was you?"

'Oh . . . ,' Leon chuckled nervously, "He he,"

Silence again.

Unable to keep a smile on his face anymore, he solemnly turned away, "Why am I here?"

Rey stared silently at him, confused, "I thought you wanted to go home,"

"Oh,"

Silence once more.

Rey sighed, "You were out of it for a couple days, mumbling all sorts of words. Going home was the only coherent thing I heard," he stood up and headed for the door, "your family is waiting to see you, come down when you're ready,"

Leon's family.

'Not mine,'

He slowly got up to get dressed.

Looking into the mirror, he realized how miserable he looked. His hair was unkempt, his cheeks hollow, his eyes lifeless. Months without selfcare seemed to have done a number on him, but that was fine, he didn't mind at all.

It wasn't his body after all.

After deeming he was presentable enough, he went to greet Leon's family.

Leon was from a normal, countryside family. He, too, had a mother, a father, and a little sister. Even a freaking dog.

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Thinking of this, he felt as if this world was mocking him, trying to replace the family he once had. He gripped his fist, fighting the urge to yell.

"What took you so long?!" his little sister came hugging him the moment he walked out the door, "What happened?! You never came home!"

"I-"

"You're awake!" his mother beamed when she saw him, "I just finished making breakfast. Come eat, you need to eat,"

He was hurried off into the kitchen.

There, you can see a fancy warm breakfast waiting to be eaten. Leon's father and the protagonist sat awaiting his arrival. His sister happily took a seat next the protagonist, hearts and admiration in her eyes. His mother sat him down next to her.

It was your typical happy family setting.

And even though there was no longer a system to tell him what to do. No punishment being inflicted. He still put on his happy smile and pretended to be the Leon they all knew.

Habits of ten years can be hard to stop.

Leon's family lived in a small village in the outskirts the Exethia Kingdom, one of the many kingdoms of the human realm.

He was months away from The Lost now. That meant the protagonist had to have a teleportation device on him. Though a teleportation device can only be used once, he knew the protagonist was more than prepared. He had to at least be holding a couple of them. Leon just had to get a hold of one.

But he can tell the protagonist was uneasy of him right now. He was sure that the protagonist had seen him in a completely different state. Something completely out of the norm. And as the duty of a best friend, the protagonist would definitely worry about him.

He should have ended it quicker if he knew this was going to happen.

Like a pro, he acted as if 'Leon' was functioning just fine. His jokes even brought a small smile from the protagonist. Just like this, he will continue to unguard the protagonist. After all, he was the one and only loyal best friend.

While bringing out an unguarded protagonist was easy, the hard part was actually obtaining the teleportation device. The protagonist knows that he had 'slipped' into The Lost, so there was no way he would willingly give Leon a teleportation device right after. And knowing Leon, anything he did was headstrong. If Leon tried to forcefully take it, the protagonist would definitely fight back.

But he wasn't Leon.

Sneaking around and stealing wasn't something Leon would ever do.

The protagonist would never even realize.

After all, they've been 'best friends' for ten years.

For now, he will work on lowering the protagonist's guard. And slowly but surely, the protagonist would continue on his merry way as a wanderer and Leon would disappear from this world.

With this in mind, he guessed he could live on for just a little while longer. After all, death is all but a fleeting moment.

Three days have passed since then.

Leon and the protagonist had just finished fighting a couple of wild beasts in the forest. Of course, they came out unscathed. Nothing could ever compare with the battle against the villain.

As the best friend of the protagonist, Leon is expected to be just as good, but never better than the protagonist. Being a close combat fighter, he relied on speed and strength to defeat his enemies. He was a swordsmaster, able to fight with any kind of sword. And with this, he can defend the protagonist's back.

A back that was trusted to Leon for so many years that the protagonist didn't even realized that he had been robbed of one of his teleportation devices.

If the best friend was a close combat fighter, the protagonist, on the other hand, was a powerful mage. As a half-demon, he possessed supernatural powers and strength. As a half-human, he was gifted with blessings from the gods and elves. His sword on his back, for one, was given to him by his one true love. A gift to exterminate any sort of evil or curse. It was the sword that ended the villain's life.

In actuality, the protagonist was strong enough to fight any foe alone. The best friend and his one true love was only there to excite the drama. To help inspire the protagonist to continue fighting.

Anyway, there was really no reason for Leon and the protagonist to go defeat some wild beasts. They weren't hurting anyone. Leon just needed a reason for the protagonist to believe that he may have dropped one of his teleportation devices.

"Really," the protagonist said unconvincingly, "You're really okay?"

Leon gave him a dramatic, betrayed look, "Who do you think I am?! We've know each other for years!" He crossed his arms and held his head up high in proud manner, "If anything, slipping and ending my life in that manner would have been so hilarious it was believable,"

Leon continued to laugh at himself as the protagonist could only gawk at him.

"Imagine if you failed to save me! Even death would have failed to tear us apart," Many proud Hahahas followed after.

The protagonist could only sigh in disbelief. It seemed like his friend was truly okay. He was back to his easygoing manner, smiling and joking at every little thing. It was as if there was really nothing to worry about in the first place. That he truly did just slip in a moment of curiosity.

Sighing for the thousandth time that day, he turned towards Leon, "I'm going to continue my journey. There's a lot I still want to see. If there's trouble, you know how to find me. But I'm sure you'll be fine," with this, he bid his farewell.

"Hey!" Leon shouted towards the fading back, "You should at least say bye to my family! You sleep and eat under our roof for free and leave just like that?! Where're your manners?!"

His friend was truly annoying, "I killed more beasts than you and willingly gave you all its' goods. What more could you want?"

"Hah?! That was all on you, I didn't ask for any of them,"

This was the relationship between the protagonist and best friend.

If the protagonist was the cool one, then the best friend had to be the funny one. It was Leon's job to make sure that the protagonist wasn't cool all the time.

As such, the protagonist must fail to make his cool getaway.

It's Leon's character settings after all.

In the end, the protagonist still had to say goodbye to Leon's family members.

And as the protagonist left, Leon waited till nightfall to go back to The Lost.

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