Chapter 43: Chapter 39: “A Night of Hauntings”

CHAPTER 39: “A NIGHT OF HAUNTINGS”

 

“A dragon?”

Tirto gave a solemn nod. The man’s shoulders were slumped and his hands were clenched on his knees. This man didn’t look weak in the slightest. Though he was already quite into his golden years, Ai could see the defined strength in his arms. After all he’d been living alone in the old, burnt, and broken down village for who knew how long exactly. He needed to be able to survive. Physically and mentally, Ai knew that Tirto was stronger than he looked but now, as he was recalling the tragedy of his village and what had happened, Ai saw that strength flickering. It was like a candle flame that had been gone on for far too long and was reaching the end of its limits.

Solitary, living on a burial ground of the people you once knew, it was wearing the man down.

“Ai,” Morion suddenly whispered in his ear. “The quest log.”

Ai frowned in confusion. He gave Morion a sideways glance and saw that the player was distracted by something. Ai opened the [Thought System] and checked the [Quest Log]. It was a standard feature in any game that told the player what they needed to do next. Ai had never really checked his because he’d been too immersed in the story he had encountered so far.

In the [Quest Log] he had two officially completed quests with it being the elf beginner quest and the siren quest. The other smaller quests he’d undertaken were placed under [Extras] since it was technically extra little quests that he had unlocked by going down a certain path in the story and weren’t officially side quests.

As for the ongoing quests…

it was empty?

Ai tapped his chin as he thought curiously about the empty log. He was sure that they had taken the quest when they agreed to slay the dragon. So why wasn’t the quest there? If this was reality then this wasn’t an issue, but since this was a game and it hadn’t declared that the players had officially undertaken the quest, the game wouldn’t give the players rewards either if they did the task anyway.

Was there something they were missing…?

Tirto glanced out the window then stood up. His expression had returned to his normal, calm expression now that his cutscene was over. He gave the two players a smile that felt unsettling to Ai just because of how the man was feeling not long ago.

“You must be exhausted. Come and stay the night. We shall talk more in the morning.”

As Ai stood as well and followed the man wherever he was taking them, he glanced outside the window. A white shadow ran past the open window, too fast to clearly see but he was so sure that he saw it. He stared at the window, at the sight of rubble and destruction, then turned around when the shadow didn’t appear again.

 

***

 

The room that Tirto had them use was not located inside the house but rather at a distance away. It was a separate building that wasn’t in a better condition that Tirto’s house with its thin wooden walls, straw roofing and floors that were made of woven bamboo. It didn’t have any lighting brighter than a single candle, making the surroundings barely visible.

Their bedding situation was pretty quaint as well, only two single mattresses laid out on the floor next to each other. Other than the two mattresses there was a single table with a lit candle and not much else. Despite being old and quite rundown, the room was clean and neat. Before the village was destroyed and everyone was still around, it might’ve been a cozy room at one point.

Ai wasn’t too bothered by the simple lodging. His room in the real world wasn't too different from it, only his was much messier and dark even during the day.

He took a seat at one of the mattresses but he didn’t feel himself getting sleepier or tired. Sleeping in a VR game was such an odd experience that he could never get his head around. He would go to sleep in a fully refreshed condition yet wake up in the same condition. He truly couldn’t ever get used to the feeling.

It was a nice change, kind of. Usually he would fall asleep feeling tired and wake up even more tired than before. Though it felt weird, he welcomed the refreshing feeling that was ever present as he played [World Symphony].

“Heading to sleep?” Morion asked. The other player didn’t take a seat but instead leaned against the wall with one hand on the hilt of his sword.

He wondered if it was all in his imagination, but Morion looked unsettled and fidgety. The darker it got, the more his brows furrowed and the more wary he seemed. Every so often, his eyes would look at his surroundings.

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Ai answered his question by a shake of his head. “I thought I’ll take the time to think or maybe explore the area?”

“Explore the area…” Morion rubbed his neck. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Ai tilted his head in confusion. Why wouldn’t it be a good idea? As he stared at Morion’s face in the darkness, he wondered if there was something on Morion’s mind. He seemed more and more uneasy as the night progressed.

Then his eyes landed on something. A white ghostly figure and this time it didn’t vanish right away. It lingered and stayed, watching them. Ai wasn’t sure if it was female or male, but they were wearing a long white gown with their hair covering their entire face.

Ai blinked and pointed to the figure. Unexpectedly, Morion turned around extremely quickly with one hand gripping the hilt of his blade extremely tightly. His eyes warily scanned the spot for a good few minutes before he finally relaxed his grip just a little bit. But once he turned back around to face Ai, he once again almost drew his sword, his shoulder flinching slightly.

Concerned, Ai looked back but ultimately saw nothing out of place.

Facing Morion’s concerned expression, Ai wondered if he saw something as well. “Did you see….?”

Morion nodded, his body tense and drawn to fight. “A person, white as a sheet. It disappeared when you looked back.”

So he wasn’t the only one who saw odd things around the village. The child he saw earlier during the day, the white shadow that passed the window at the house and now what he and Morion just saw. It came to no surprise that the village was haunted since it made for a more interesting game setting.

“I wonder if this is part of getting the quest?” Ai wondered, tapping his fingers against his chin. 

Athens, who previously took a spot in one corner of the mattress Ai occupied, awoke from its sleep and much to Ai’s surprise changed to its beastly form. It wasn’t as big as the form it took during the fight with the siren guards, but rather it looked more like a slightly bigger wolf. The beast curled itself protectively around Ai as its eyes looked around.

Morion’s frown deepened. 

“Let’s try and find Tirto.” Morion said, halfway towards the door, almost an instance.

As Morion passed him, Ai managed to grab the player’s sleeve and stopped him in his tracks. He didn’t think that they needed to hurry too much. So far, whatever they saw didn’t seem to do much of anything. If anything, it was more like they were simply observing the two strangers that came to their home. They couldn’t rush.

“Let me check something.”

Without letting go of Morion’s sleeve, Ai opened the [Quest Log] once again and checked his list of ongoing quests. Sure enough, there was now a quest listed there. It was an [Unranked Quest] titled [A Night of Hauntings].

“Is there a quest listed in your log?”

Morion opened his own [Quest Log] to check, but strangely he shook his head meaning that he got no quest. 

But what exactly was different between Morion and his circumstances? They arrived at the village at the same time, met the same NPC, went through the same cutscenes and were even staying at the same place. So why did he get the quest but Morion did not? Perhaps a level difference? Maybe the quest was a special quest restricted to players below a certain level. In any case…

“We should try and complete this quest.” Ai suggested. He couldn’t see Morion’s face in the darkness but he felt his hand flinch slightly. “It might open the next quest path…”

Morion pulled his sleeve from Ai’s hand. “And what does the quest say we need to do.”

This time Ai stood as well and dusted his trousers. Athens followed his lead and continued to stand protectively around him. 

“Survive a night in the village.”

 

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