'Finally, I can start playing my beloved game again. The two days I was without the game felt like torture. But it all ends now.'
"Hey Olivier, the doctor said to take it easy-"
Olivier did not even let Natasha finish before he was darting for his room. The first thing Olivier did was to open his game and change the security on his account.
Now that he had his account back, he was not going to let anyone else play with it. Olivier also needed to account for his inventory and what else he might have lost.
He also messaged Terry to tell him the good news and to let his acquaintance know that Olivier was taking his account back.
Olivier's phone vibrated as soon as he put it down, indicating that he had a message but Olivier ignored it for the time being. He could check that message later.
For now, Olivier opened his game, and his happy mood instantly soured.
"W-What is this history? Just how many p-vs-p requests did I get? And what is with the blocked inbox? It is out of storage space? Is that even possible?"
Olivier might have been exaggerating a few things here or there, but he was shocked to see his inbox and all the pending requests.
He was about to open his messages when his phone rang. Olivier decided not to ignore this call and pick it up.
[So, Olivier, please do not be surprised by what you see once you open the game. We tried to stall as hard as we could, but someone leaked the footage of your fight against Jack.]
Olivier's voice tried to sound calm on the other end, but Olivier could hear how it was vibrating with nervousness.
"Yeah, I get that. But I do not understand what it has to do with all these pending requests I am currently seeing in my inbox."
Olivier opened one of his inbox messages, but it was a pending request for a p-vs-p. Even the event notifications he had been looking forward to had gotten buried beneath the garbage that was unseen requests.
"Sorry, Olivier. But hey, on the other hand, you are famous now. Enjoy your newfound fame as long as you can. And do not forget to drop by the club tomorrow."
Terry cut off the call before Olivier could rage about this to him.
Seeing as there was nothing else Olivier could do, he decided to do what he did best in such a situation - ignore the requests he had gotten and continue to play the game.
He was rather proficient in the art of ignoring the problem. No matter how glaringly it came for him, Olivier knew he had enough patience to outlast the problem.
He continued to level up for about two hours more. In this time frame, Olivier had captured a looming boss for the new event and maxed out the exp points.
He was lucky that this event had a cap on the number of prizes one could earn. Otherwise, it would have impacted his overall character.
Olivier was about to log off from his account when he sensed someone coming after him. The first warning he got was the sound of footsteps.
Then, he noticed that the location had gone quiet. It was an indication that the music was about to change.
Someone charged at Olivier and he managed to avoid the fatal attack. His health fell to 80% which indicated that the attack had been lethal.
[Wah, this feels good.]
The avatar that was attacking Olivier stilled for a second and then the message popped up on Olivier's screen.
By the time he was done reading it, he was being attacked again.
Since the fight was a closed-ranged one now, Olivier had no chance to gain any distance and attack. His only way to save his life and his progress was to go to a safe zone.
[Where do you think you are going? Are you trying to run away from a fight?]
The taunting words were asking Olivier to turn back and fight. His reasoning was also beginning to find the upcoming fight more and more alluring.
It was only his rationality that kept Olivier dodging. His health had finally fallen to 50%.
But in exchange, Olivier had managed to take down his opponent's 20% health as well. It was an impressive feat in an open-game state where Olivier was quite a few levels below his opponent.
'I need to run a little more. I am almost at my destination.'
The safe spot was finally in his sight. It seemed like Olivier would not be losing his exp today.
[I see what you are planning now. But unfortunately, you will not get to achieve your goal.]
Olivier read the text body message and missed the timing of his next step. It saved him from falling into the summoner's trap a few steps ahead of him.
[Tsk, I guess he is a gamer. He saw through my trap.]
The summoner's typing felt sullen but interested at the same time. Olivier watched as his avatar was surrounded by both sides.
To get to the safe zone, Olivier would need to cross the summoner. But the summoner did not seem to be in a mood to let Olivier pass.
"This is bullying. This is so unfair. Why am I being ganged up on by strangers?"
If this was the state of his account the past few days, then Olivier felt sorry for the person playing on his account. It was difficult for him to even get an easy breath.
[Sorry kid. It is nothing personal. My 'friend' wanted me to do this so if you want to blame someone, blame my 'friend.']
The summoner quickly denied being part of this fiasco.
[Oi, stop blaming me for everything. I did not force you to come here, you agreed to come here. You were interested to know just how good this kid was as well.]
Olivier counted his lucky stars as he watched his opponents get distracted. He quickly dashed across the distance to reach the safe zone.
[Shit, he slipped by.]
By the time the summoner realized what Olivier was doing, Olivier had already run past him and toward the safe zone.
He touched the zone and the fallen hp went back to full.
[I do not know what your problem is, but I am tired of your bullshit. Please harass someone else next time or I will have to report you to the mods]
Olivier issued these words as a warning and finally logged off. He had played the game for a solid 2 hours but he still did not feel satisfied. He was sure that he could play the game for a few more hours.
Olivier was agitated but he quickly closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep.
Despite spending two days sleeping, Olivier's body fell asleep rather quickly. And next day, it was finally time to go back to school.
......….
"Hey Olivier, is it true that you injured your head? I heard from the seniors who heard from her classmates who heard this from your sister. Did you have a head injury? Clement refuses to tell us anything so we decided to ask you directly."
Olivier looked up from his notebook, only to come face-to-face with an overly excited classmate he did not know the name of.
Clement, who had been sitting on Olivier's side looked more offended by her remark than Olivier was.
"Hey, you should not ask such questions to someone who just returned to school. Did no one ever teach you manners?"
Clement's anger caused his desk to rattle. It startled everyone in the class and they instantly looked away from him.
Even the girl who had just asked Olivier the question about his absence fell quiet. She had seen how angry Clement had gotten and she did not wish to push any more of his buttons.
"Everyone, back to your seats. I do not know what you find so funny and entertaining about the school, but it all ends here. The first semester exams are about to start so you all need to pay attention."
Olivier was half paying attention to what the teacher was saying. Whatever she taught him had already been covered by his tutor. And Olivier was sure his tutor would just re-teach it all to him once the exams were nearby.
The more important thing to know right now was what happened to Clement. He seemed to have taken this situation rather seriously and looked offended.
/Hey, is everything alright? You got a little triggered back there. /
Olivier passed the note to Clement. Clement looked sheepishly at the note before the tension drained out of his frame.
/Yeah, I am alright. It was just some personal matter I was concerned about. You are going to the club after school, right? Captain asked me to bring you along. /
Clement wrote back to Olivier. Olivier looked at the note and nodded along.
There was no way he was missing another day of the club activity. Especially since the locals would start soon.
"You all, pay attention to what I am saying."
It was safe to say that no more notes were exchanged in the class that day.