A few days passed by after the events in the mansion. Aside from the elves, no one else knows what happened as most of them are playing the game or just outside and I didn't want to worry them about it so I kept quiet about it. I also asked the elves and Pixie to keep quiet about what happened, and they agreed.
Now, it should be the day when the final raid should be happening. I am curious about what will happen without a new raid enemy to fight, so I decided to log in to the game to see what would happen.
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This time around, players are now scattered into the swamp, waiting for the time to end. Everyone else is also there and they even asked me for some supplies which I naturally gave them but I am wondering whether they will be using them.
I waited for the timer to finish until it stopped with zero marks. And so everyone got tense.
BUT...
Nothing came. Everyone waited since they thought the monsters are just slow-moving or just delayed... but still, nothing came. The swamp is calm. Seeing that nothing is coming in, the players started complaining. Everyone even started flying beyond the swamp to check the incoming monsters but soon returned with their heads shaking, signifying that no monsters were present in the area and they were just wasting their time.
Soon, players started complaining that they wasted their time too and they have done what they should have done and yet, the timer was a false thing and nothing came. As a result, one of the captains scratches his head and gathered the players. Based on his gestures, I can tell that he is proposing the expedition to check on what happened and to find out where the monsters are coming from beyond the swamp which cooled down the mood of most players though some are not so easy to quell their disappointment.
From the looks of it, it's going to be just another fruitless expedition but hey, I am not sure whether the monsters I killed the other day are all back up again so who knows? As for me, it's no longer my problem now.
I am about to log out of the game when I received an in-game mail. I rarely receive in-game mail but I don't recall the game getting any kind of reason for them to send out a mail. I checked the sender first and I was surprised since the one who sent the mail was none other than the GM. GMs don't usually send anything like this unless they are expressing thanks as a whole to the players who would then be accompanied by some sort of announcement. And yet there's none so I am a bit skeptical about what this was about.
Opening it, my little guess was indeed correct. This mail was specifically sent for me, by the GM no less.
"Good day, Mr. Bladeheart. Or should I say, Tsukasa Manato..."
Just the beginning of the letter made me frown. The GM is addressing my real name. It's somewhat weird but I am sure they knew my name already as I needed to put my real name as well to attach my bank account into the game for the easy money transfer.
"....This is Nobuhiko speaking and I am here to summon you to the Nexus Company main building. We have something to talk about urgently and this involves what happened to you before the very "beginning" which I knew you would immediately understand. It's an important discussion and I hope you can come anytime this week as long as you don't come during closing hours. I will be waiting on the top floor, just present the Reality Verse Nexus Tattoo to the representative once you are ready to meet with me and he will send you to me. I am eager to meet you once again. Have a good day."
Nobuhiko is summoning me and based on his choice of words, what he is referring to is my "returning to the past" incident. I don't know what he was trying to discuss with me but I guess he technically helped me return so it should be fine for me to go and meet up with him to learn what he was trying to do. Tomorrow is a good day. I am free and I don't have any appointments or any need to log in to the game for that day which is the perfect time to go.
Now that I have nothing to do here now, it's time to log out.
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The next day...
I drive using my motorcycle to the Nexus Company as early as I should. They open very early and there are lots of people so this place is pretty busy which is why I wanted to get there before the rush hour of people.
When I arrived, I sighed in relief seeing there are fewer people around since it was still pretty early, and looked around for the receptionist. I soon found him and approached him.
"I have an appointment with Mr. Kasaguchi."
"Ah, you must be the one he is waiting for. But first, let's scan your Nexus tattoo first before we proceed to verify your identity..." Using a scanner, he scanned the tattoo on my neck like some kind of barcode before my identity appeared on the screen of her scanner revealing my name.
"Alright. You are cleared. Follow me."
He then led me to a long corridor and we walked for a while before we stopped in front of the elevator.
"Just use this elevator, press the highest number on the buttons, and wait for this to arrive. The boss is waiting for your arrival."
After leading me here, he left and didn't turn back. As for me, I sighed and entered the elevator, press the highest number which is 10, and waited as the elevator slowly climbs up the elevator. The moment it opens, I saw the swivel chair turned around, revealing Nobuhiko wearing a suit of a businessman. Beside him is his assistant.