Chapter 8 - The end

Kolt slept until the next afternoon and when he opened his eyes he found himself at home, feeling all over his body with both hands, his limbs were sound, his kidneys were fine, and he looked exactly the same as he did before he passed out, except he was naked.

Kolt's mind was in a daze, and when he looked next to him, no one was there. There was no one in the house, and when he called out, no one was probably home either.

He had no recollection of what had happened last night, or even if anything had happened at all. He fumbled for his phone and called Ronnie, asking who had brought him home last night.

Ronnie said, "Adler."

"Holy shit!" Kolt's phone came off and scrambled to pick it up again, "So this ... this ..."

"What about this?"

"Is this, is this me f**king him or is this him f**king me ..."

Ronnie on the other end of the phone couldn't help but be silent.

"What the fuck? I don't feel anything. I think I slept with him ... but wasn't I the one who got drunk?"

"Kolt ..."

"Damn, Ronnie ah, what am I going to do?"

Ronnie, being Ronnie, was calm and unperturbed: "What if nothing happens?"

Kolt was silent for a moment, and gave a downcast "oh".

"So, why don't you get up, get something to eat, and then go back online and question Adler."

"Okay." Kolt sagged out of bed and pulled out two pieces of clothing, intending to take a shower. He stopped subconsciously as he passed the dressing mirror and took a good look at his body, which was covered in only a pair of trousers, and felt pretty good about himself; it was really Adler's loss if something didn't happen. He hummed into the bathroom, unscrewed the tap and plunged into a steaming pool of water.

While waiting to get online Kolt reached for his cigarette case by his mouse, but it was empty. He looked down and saw that the computer desk was unusually clean and the cigarette case had been neatly tidied away on a nearby shelf.

As he entered the game, Kolt found himself at the top of the tallest tower in the main city, his view of the vast grasslands beyond, the sun setting in the west, the afterglow majestic. Kolt didn't know that it was possible to jump up here, but he had tried it before, and had given up after a few falls. If he had climbed any higher, he would have fallen and died, another painful loss of rank. But the view here was something else, and Kolt took a picture of it.

It looks like Adler came to play on his computer last night, and Jumping Adler has lived up to the word "jump" by jumping here. Adler hadn't logged in yet, so Kolt didn't know when he'd left. When he accidentally clicked on his profile, Kolt glanced at it and froze.

When had he gotten a new ring on his right hand?

Kolt wondered if this was a rewind in time, the ring was exactly the same as his old one. But when he clicked on it, he found that the properties of this one were better than the previous one.

And then he looked at the length of time he had been online today: eight hours.

Did Adler really do nothing with him last night and fight for the ring here? He had such bad luck with him that he had actually got the ring?

Kolt slapped his head: Fuck.

He took out his phone and called Adler, who was slow to pick up, and Kolt said, "You were playing for that ring all last night?"

Adler was probably catching up on his sleep and woke up to him, exhaling a nasal sound in a daze.

"... Don't you like it?"

Kolt's thousand words were all caught in his throat.

"I ... quite like it." Kolt took a deep breath and Adler on the other end of the line hummed softly, his breathing gradually evened out again. Kolt was speechless, holding the phone and listening to his sleepy breathing, hesitating for a long time before reluctantly pressing the hang up button.

The wind howled from the tower as he sent an offline message to the grey gunsmith's avatar. He said: Where do you live, I'd like to come and see you.

—End—