"Hm?" After getting out of the shower, Anna picked up her cell phone and looked at some messages she had received. One of them was a message from her mother, not just one, but several messages that said the same thing.
[15:10 - Is your brother out with Philip? Something was going on at the event they went to. ]
[ 15:21 - Is your brother home yet? Answer as soon as possible. I can't leave work right now ]
[ 15:40 - Anna, I'm getting worried about Lukas, he's not answering my messages ]
There were still several others. Anna looked at this confused and quickly put on her clothes. After that, she sent a message to Lukas. The messaging application showed that he had been online a few minutes ago.
[ 16:20 - Lukas, what happened? Our mother is worried. She sent me several messages. ]
After sending her message, Anna sat down on the couch and then turned on the television. As usual, the channel that appeared was channel 1, the main channel in the area, and the afternoon news was on.
While a reporter was saying a few things, some images were shown. A building was partially destroyed, and it was also starting to catch fire. In the streets, some bodies were lying.
They used some technology to censor everything even though it was live.
And through the streets and inside the building, some black humanoid monsters were walking back and forth.
"What's that? Wait a second." Anna picked up her cell phone again and saw that Lukas had read her message but had not replied. She breathed a sigh of relief as her brother had given some sign that he was okay.
[ 16:26 - Were you at the place that was attacked? ]
Again her message was read but not answered.
Then Anna paid attention to what the reporter was saying. She could see some of those anime things lying around the streets, some posters, and some dolls.
Even though Anna knew that her brother was reading her messages, she started to get very nervous. She got up on the couch and then turned off the television. Picking up her cell phone, she called Lukas.
But did he not answer the call.
Because of this, Anna started biting her nails and continued to text and make some calls to Lukas. During this time, she warned her mother about him reading her messages.
[ 16:4JUdGzvrMFDWrUUwY3toJATSeNwjn54LkCnKBPRzDuhzi5vSepHfUckJNxRL2gjkNrSqtCoRUrEDAgRwsQvVCjZbRyFTLRNyDmT1a1boZVDon't worry, the situation at the event seems to be under control. ]
Anna turned on the television again, and there she could see some hunters arriving at the attack scene. It was already late as some people were dead, but the damage could have been more significant.
But Anna wasn't worried about that, and she just wanted to know about her brother. Again she made more calls, but Lukas completely ignored her.
"Please don't do this to me..." Feeling her hand go cold, Anna threw herself on the couch, trying to calm herself down.
####
Lukas was still inside the subway. Even after a few stops, he didn't get off.
His cell phone was vibrating nonstop. He had received messages from his mother, father, and sister.
He opened the messages and read them but didn't answer. He knew he was doing something wrong because it would make his family worried, but at the moment, he just wanted to be alone.
His head was hurting more than ever, and he just wanted to close his eyes and sleep right there.
[ We've reached the last stop. ]
"?!" But before he could sleep, a female voice startled him.
He quickly got up and then left the subway.
When he got out, many people looked at him. Lukas lowered his head and then climbed the stairs out of the subway.
"How many hours has it been?" Lukas put his hand on his head and then looked at the time on his cell phone.
'It's almost 17 hours now. Have I been in the subway that long? And I don't even know where I am.' After getting out and looking around, Lukas noticed that he was in an area that looked a lot like the neighbourhood he lived in.
It was a simple neighbourhood and also not very busy.
"I don't think I've ever been in that place before." The streets had potholes. Plus, some old cars were parked in front of equally old and damaged houses.
"I need to find a cab to get back, but I don't know if I have enough money." Lukas reached for his wallet and found that he had only a $20 bill.
"That sure isn't enough." He smiled bitterly.
So he started walking down the street and then turned around a few corners. Meeting some people on the way, he sought some information to get to his neighbourhood, but the information was not encouraging at all.
His neighbourhood was miles away, and it could take him hours of walking to get there.
"Can that 'Status' help me in any way?"
Lukas thought but then shook his head.
"What am I saying?"
[ Note: The user finds himself lost ]
[ The map is being created ]
[ Loading exact location ]
[ User is outside a dungeon, This will take longer than expected ]
[ Assembling map...10%...15%...16%...25% ]
####
After receiving a lot of information, Lukas felt his head hurt. His eyes closed as he suffered from the pain. And after his eyes opened, he took a few steps backwards.
A map had opened up a few meters in front of him. A translucent blue screen that had many drawings resembling Google Maps. There, a red dot was glowing.
"Is that my location?" Still not believing what he was seeing, Lukas approached the map and tried to touch it. His hand went across the screen, and the people walking on the street looked at him. He looked crazy.
'Alright, there are some things written on it too. Let's see, how do I do this?' Lukas thought for a moment and then gave an order to the system. He asked the system to show a path to his neighbourhood. And it appeared.
A yellow line was turning several streets until it reached his neighbourhood, almost 20 kilometres away.
"It's far, and it will take me a long time to get there by walking. I need to find a taxi or call an Uber." Lukas logged on to the app, but as soon as he went to call an Uber, he saw a taxi approaching.
So he signalled, and the taxi pulled up next to him.
"Excuse me; I want to go to Broad St..." After a long negotiation with the driver, he agreed to take Lukas for the $20 he had in his wallet. Lukas began to think that this was a high amount, but he didn't care.
He put on his seat belt and then looked out the car window.
'Is Philip okay?' Still worried about his friend's safety, Lukas took out his cell phone and sent a message. But the message was not even arriving on Philip's cell phone.
Lukas couldn't even think that the worst had happened to his friend. He continued to text, and he waited for a reply all the way home. And even after he reached his home, he had not received a response from Philip.
He then walked through the front door and quickly heard some footsteps approaching. His sister suddenly appeared and hugged him tightly, almost breaking his ribs.
"Hey, what happened? You're hurting me!" Her sister was much stronger than he imagined.
"You idiot, I was worried. Do you realise how worried our mother and father are? They were so worried that they almost called the police or the Hunter association to ask about you!"
Anna shouted as she continued to hug him.
Lukas smiled and then stroked Anna's back.
"I'm sorry for worrying you. Text our mom and dad and tell them I'm fine. I need to take a shower." Lukas hid all his worry and went directly to the bathroom.
Anna cheerfully took out her cell phone and texted her mother.