Turning around, he started to walk back towards the house. Anna, his sister, ran over to Kiyro, confused. She was wearing pink pajamas, covering the majority of her figure.
"Kiyro? What's wrong?" Her long black hair trailed behind her, completely out of breath.
Kiyro didn't answer. He walked ahead.
"Kiyro? Where's Kyle?"
With a grumble, Kyle pushed the sticky note on her chest and kept walking.
"What's this?"
"Read it, and you'll know."
Anna brought it up to her face, scrunching up her eyes to get a better look. Moments later, her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped completely. "Are you serious?" She whispered. "Is he crazy?!" She shuffled forward, her short legs trying to keep up with him.
Kiyro didn't slow down and was busy thinking over everything that had transpired.
"Kiyro, where is Kyle? Did you find him?"
"No."
"He could be out there in the dark fending for himself!"
Kiyro rolled his eyes. Kyle fended for himself; he was considered one of the best scouts and knew how to survive in the wild. His getting lost was something other than what he would have to worry about Kyle. Instead, Kyle was the one who was good at finding him when he got lost.
"Do you think he'll be okay? Oh my god! I need to call 911!" Anna rummaged in her pants and fumbled with her phone. She desperately started to dial the number and waited for someone to pick her up.
Kiyro didn't stay behind to hear his sister's hysteria; he went inside and passed his father, who was standing in front of the door. He didn't say anything and pushed by.
"Kiyro." His father called his name, making Kiyro stop in the middle of a step. "Kyle left, didn't he?"
Kiyro grunted in acknowledgment.
"I see." He didn't say anything further, allowing Kiyro to return to his room. He entered and flopped onto the bed and allowed sleep to take over.
#####
November 11, 2054. Wednesday. 10:11 AM
Kiyro woke up with the blaring alarm. Today was a free day. He planned on going online, but he didn't feel like it was right at that moment. This past week, he had been diving into the game, mindlessly playing as his second life. There were a lot of things that he had accomplished since Draconis Village finally became a full-fledged city.
Every major quest he had done for some reason connected with Draconis City, allowing the city to flourish and eventually turn into what it was. The number of players and NPCs has been increasing drastically.
Life was flourishing to the point where the city looked like a city in the sky. Beautiful skyscrapers, lush green elven plants, fertile soil from the magma magic, mythical creatures that don't often interact with players, and even levitation magic were why many players either move to the Draconis city or visit for sightseeing.
Though things had changed drastically for the new players, they had protection inside the city walls. All the other kingdom's cities were less safe for new players to grow, especially since the protection of the Fire Continent disappeared. High-level monsters could even stumble upon the newbie grounds, making leveling much more difficult than normal, causing a sharp decline in wanting to play in the difficult setting.
It also opened new playable species that allowed players to choose different races that weren't just humans, trolls, or elves. It has become Lunar Rabbits, Leprechauns, Cat People, and dragons. In addition, the city was quickly filling up to become a haven for Beast-type creatures.
The last time Zero had met Russ, his guild had swollen in size. They had officially taken over the whole city, pushing away other small-time guilds. Russ conquering of lands had become rough and vicious. After his fall, from the loss against Zero, he was officially kicked out as an advisor. Infuriated, Ross took this opportunity to conquer small villages and rapidly expanded outwards. There had been rumors that Ross's dictatorship had caused a shift in powers between the King and himself. Not only that, the hunt for nonhuman type creatures eradicated has increased in numbers. Russ has gone far to the point of calling it the Holy War, eradicating any nonhumans with a snap of a finger. The Kingdom of Terra has now become a war zone, making it impossible for nonhumans to live in.
What was Russ even trying to do, causing such huge strife between the other species? He didn't know what, but he didn't like it one bit. The number of riots, wars, strife, and hatred he was causing was becoming a heated topic in both the game world and real life. Russ was becoming a strange religious icon in the game world.
The religious war intensified even more furiously after October 31, making Kiyro wonder if the true driving force was the black dragon that possessed Russ's body. This was making the whole game and the real world stranger and stranger.
Even Elves started to migrate and live in the city, their presence even making it even more possible for the city to bloom into an enchanting place, making it completely different from even the Elven city. Moreover, their magic had caused the natural collection of pure waters in the clouds, eventually forming even lakes and rivers. At this rate, he wouldn't be surprised if waterfalls suddenly formed.
Every day they were something new being formed in Draconis city, things that he never thought would be possible. Living in this enchanted world was like a dream, and he enjoyed every minute of it. First, he went into the game to get a job, and eventually, it has become where he now pursues it to find his brother.
Old memories resurfaced in his mind. What was his brother doing out there right now? Why did he leave with such a cryptic note about finding him? These thoughts occasionally pop up when his mind has nothing to think about, eventually becoming annoying thoughts.
With a sigh, he slowly got up and placed his feet on the floor, heading towards his desk. With a stretch, he yawned. He reached over towards the Alive Gear that they had issued out back to everyone. Now he could get online and surf the web without having to sneak into one of the rooms late at night.
His fingers felt around the side of the Alive gear glass and pressed down on a button. With a click, he heard the glass turn on its usual greeting bell. Old and new messages had begun to pop up from the glass screen; he opened them up, reading them in his leisure.
"Open up Alex's message." He called out.
"Hey, Kiyro. I need your help in a dungeon I found; come meet me at the usual place." Alex's voice rang in his ears.
"Reply. Okay." The screen blinked a couple of times, typing his response. "Send."
He also looked through the other's message until he finally came upon a strange one. It was encrypted with numbers that he recognized. A code for his brother and him that we usually use to talk without other people finding out. The moment he opened it, he saw some more numbers, and his mind quickly went to work.
The thought of his brother finally sending him a letter made him wonder what he had to say. To go this far to code it was already strange in itself. Did this mean that Kyle knew where he was to write in codes? If so, how was he connected to this place in the first place? Finally, with the answer deciphered, he knew what his brother had written.
You were right.
Kyle
Kiyro read the words over and over again. Was he right? What does that mean? Nothing came into his mind, but a nagging feeling of the message his brother sent made him feel like a long overdue stress that he had harbored until now had been released.
Strange… He thought. While he thought it over, he was rewarded with throbbing pain. Flashes of memories resurfaced in his mind, though everything was jumbled into incoherent pieces that he didn't understand.
With a faltering step, he stumbled towards the desk, holding himself up. The Alive Gear on his face faltered and fell onto the ground with a clatter on the floor. He braced himself so he wouldn't fall and walked over with a partial limp as he collapsed back on his bed. Instead, he was swarmed with memories he didn't want to remember, and he was lulled back into the dark depths of his sleep.