"So, are there any updates on finding Peter Mina?"
"I don't understand why you're still looking for him when you obviously sacked him." A lovely lady sulked as she folded her arms. "What do you need him for? You already hurt his pride, didn't you?" She was the only person who could speak like this in front of this person.
"Sir, the people I sent in Manila have not found him yet. He already moved out from his old address," a man wearing a branded suit conveyed this information to the president of Han-Jin Gaming Corporation.
"What am I paying them for? Hire someone competent! I need to know his whereabouts ASAP!" He threw the cup of tea he was holding to the officer reporting to him, but he skillfully dodged it. He was already used to this kind of treatment from his boss.
"Yes, Sir!" The man walked out of the room. He was the officer tasked to look for the guy who originally created the Inheritance Kingdom. He arranged for someone to clean up the broken cup.
"Dad, I don't understand why you're still harassing oppa Peter. He's no longer connected to the company, so let him go already."
The middle-aged man looked sharply at his daughter. "Watch your tone, Hanna. I am still the boss here. Even if he left on his own volition, he still has something that I want. That bastard kept it from me."
"As I remember it correctly, you arranged for him to be kicked out from his own project! What a cruel way to crush his pride." Hanna was upset when she learned of this. She made a huge tantrum because she liked Peter. She flirted with him several times, but she cannot move his heart. "Heh! Now you are thinking of taking him back? That's absurd!"
"Who says I am taking him back? I only wanted what's mine." He made a fist and gritted his teeth. "He has some nerve to keep the first prototype from me when his contract stipulated to reveal everything to me about this game. Some trash think he can make a fool out of me?"
There was a knock on the door and his secretary came in. "President, everyone is already in the board room."
Mr. Jin stood up and buttoned his coat. He left his daughter in the room to attend the monthly board meeting. "Hmph!" This gaming corporation was just one of the companies his group owns. He had a personal reason why he ventured into this kind of business. But this reason was what's called 'Suntok sa Buwan' or punch on the moon, which meant impossible to achieve.
"It's your fault that I can't see him anymore! I can't even contact him anymore," she said while her father was walking away. His father was already used to her tantrums about Peter, so he just ignored her.
Hanna Jin was a pretty Korean actress idol. She's the only daughter of the president of Han-Jin Group of Companies. She was against Peter's underhand dismissal from the team. She was so furious when she learned about it. But she could no longer do anything about it since Peter was already gone and her father locked her in the mansion with guards assigned to her for a month so she would not escape. All her scheduled appearances were cancelled, Han-Jin covered the penalties.
It was love at first sight for Hanna Jin. She initially liked him because he's a good-looking guy with a skin colour that's different from Koreans. It made him more attractive and masculine. She tried her best to seduce him, but Peter was extremely focused on his project at that time. He was not a bit interested but was polite to Hanna and disregarded her advances. His gentleman quality made her fall head over heels with Peter. Since she's a popular idol, she's more accustomed to guys going after her. Hence, it was unusual for Hanna to be brushed off. Her charm just didn't work on him. To her, Peter was one of a kind. He was her prince.
***
"Huh? The curse... Did Blumock succeed?" As an assassin, his senses were sensitive to changes.
He rushed towards Sienen. One could only see an after shadow from his movement. It was once of an assassin's passive skill. Broa was barely able to use any active skills since he had a mana curse. However, he was wilful and naturally agile. He reached the area based on the report in the guild where the pit was located. He noticed the rope tied to the shaft of a deep well nearby and followed it. "This is the entrance." He slipped on the crack and descended using the same rope Blumock used. When he reached the bottom, he saw the scattered light sticks and followed that trail. His vision was starting to flicker so he stopped and breathed deeply. He felt he would collapse anytime. He took out his last mana recovery potion and consumed it. When he recovered a little, he ran until he reached the cavern. "Blumock…"
She was attacking a skeleton relentlessly with a silver dagger. But he saw no damage was inflicted. He felt admiration.
[You earned +5 Affinity points.]
"Huh?" Blumock was surprised by the notification.
"I'll help!" Broa approached the skeleton and attacked it using his brutal strength.
"Ah! Broa, are you okay? How are you feeling?" she was concerned about his curse.
"Let's talk later. We need to take down this undead first!"
"Okay." She moved away to recover her vitality and mana by taking. She dropped the rest of the mana recovery potions on the ground so Broa could pick it up.
"Broa take those potions! I will attack again." She formed a party with Broa.
He obediently took all the potions and consumed them. "Much better," he said as he stretched his limbs. His head was no longer muddled, and his vision turned normal. "I could not use a skill." He used an attack skill on the lich.
"The skeleton's movement is currently limited because it has not resurrected yet. Don't let it charge mana from that core he was holding! Be careful, that lich is extremely powerful."
"Thanks for the warning," Broa said confidently. "Ring of chaos!"
[Damage -1000]
"Power Strike!"
[Fail]
"Power Strike!"
[Damage -10]
"Silent Nova."
[Critical Hit!]
[Damage -1500]
(Damn it! My hits are nothing compared to Broa's hit)
"Power Strike!"
[Fail]
"Aaargh!!!"
"Blumock, move away, I will take care of the undead," Broa said.
(He thinks I am just a nuisance. He thinks I am weak. Huhuhu!)
"Give me some more potions."
"I gave you everything. There's nothing left."
The lich laughed eerily. "Frost Wave!"
It was an entrapment offense skill. Maria could not move. She was trapped near the lich and her eyes widened when she saw the lich was reciting an incantation while drawing visible runes in the air.
Broa was able to dodge the entrapment. He launched a counterattack with his brute force since he could no longer use the remaining mana for his skills. He had to stop him from his chant.
The runes started to descend in Blumock's skin one by one, glowed as it landed, and marked her skin. "Aaagh! What's happening?" Her skin felt like burning. Her insides were turbulent and felt like she would burst anytime. Her eyes glowed like molten lava. Her skin started to crack. She mustered her last strength, jumped while aiming for the night core in the undead's bony hand. She swung her crystal dagger and made a collision with the night core that interrupted its activity. The crystal dagger started to emit a silvery light. Without thinking she swung it again and the night core dropped and rolled on the ground, far from the lich.
"You! Despicable human player! You're already marked. You can't stop me from resurrecting in your body." The lich resumed his incantation while parrying with Broa.
"No, you will not!" Broa gave his mightiest blow to the lich.
Maria's HP was draining as the runes continued to burn on her.
[Blessings of Amity activated.]
She crawled to where the night core was and stabbed it with the crystal dagger. The mana contained in the core forcefully entered Blumock's body, but her mana force exploded. Her skin turned dark blue, runes were shining, she felt empty. She passed out.
"Blumock!"
***
The room was still bright when her senses returned to normal. "This is my room. I don't remember logging out from the game." She looked in the capsule and found herself still lying there. Her jaw dropped. "Wait-what? A-am I a ghost? Did I die? Why am I seeing myself?" She looked for a sign of life on her body. She could still see her body breathing. The monitor indicated her steady pulse. "Thank goodness, I'm not dead. Is this a dream? An astral projection? What is really happening?"
She stared at her body and waited for it to move. After a few hours, nothing's happening. She started to panic. "Peter! I have to call Peter." She looked for her mobile phone but sadly she couldn't even hold her phone. She decided to lie on the capsule, but her body was not merging with her ghostly self. She just closed her eyes and waited.
After two days, she heard a beeping sound on her door. She quickly stood up and went to the door like a ghost. "Peter!"
Peter brought a bag of groceries and went inside the door. He deposited the bag on the counter and decided to sort the items out.
"No, no! Go to my room first! Put that down, please. Go to my room!"
And as if Peter heard a wisp of sound, he turned his head. He stopped what he was doing and decided to go look for Maria.
When he entered Maria's room, he saw Maria inside the capsule, so he returned to the kitchen.
"No, no! Check me out! I am no longer playing!" Maria's ghost was by his side shouting on top of her head.
Peter started to prepare to cook. He was slicing some vegetables when he heard another wisp of sound. He had a sudden intuition to check on Maria again, so he put down the knife and went back to Maria's room. This time he moved closer to the capsule and looked at her lying inside. The pulse was stable on the monitor. He was about to leave when he saw the timer. "What's this? Is this broken?" He lightly tapped it.
[Login Time: 64:23:13]
"What?! She's logged in for more than two days?" He urgently opened the capsule and forced logout Maria. "Maria! Maria! Wake up!"