Ian was stunned as he looked around. This orphanage seemed to be situated in the middle of nowhere. He noticed that apart from the route they took earlier, the only access to this place was a dirt road adorned with willow trees on both sides as far as the eye could see.
Furthermore, the children and the nuns caring for them acted extremely ordinary, not paying any attention to Eric and Erica, who were clearly quite different from them in terms of appearance. First of all, the gear worn by the twins was the most advanced technology. The boat they had ridden earlier wasn't an old vehicle either. It was in stark contrast to this orphanage named Hope. Ian almost let out an ironic laugh because even the orphanage he and Roe had lived in before was better than this. Yet, even that place had made him and Roe feel like the unluckiest kids in the world. A sense of pity suddenly welled up in Ian's heart for the children being cared for here.
"Quick, get inside!" Eric pushed Ian, nearly causing him to stumble.
They circled around to the back, heading for the kitchen door, where they found another nun stirring something in a large pot with steam rising. From the smell, Ian guessed it was potatoes. Only one stove was lit, and it pained Ian to see it.
They exchanged their footwear for the same house slippers worn by the people in the orphanage. Their shoes and the wraps they had used to cover them were held in their hands. The orphanage wasn't that big, measuring only about 20x15 meters with a long structure extending towards the back. They headed to the front, towards a small chapel with a large crucifix hanging on the wall behind the pulpit.
When Ian was puzzled about where he was being taken, Eric pulled out a laser pointer from his pants pocket and aimed it directly at the nail in Jesus' right hand on the cross.
An invisible door slid open on the floor, revealing a steep straight staircase going down, which seemed to go quite deep, almost 10 meters. Ian furrowed his brows.
"Why? Remember home?" Eric jeered, patting Ian's shoulder and urging him to go down first.
"Huff..." Ian just let out a long sigh, suddenly experiencing Deja vu.
He descended the stairs, and upon reaching the bottom, he realized that this room was shaped like a long capsule, reminding him of a submarine. Unlike the sewage pipes where he used to live, this underground room didn't have the smell of waste. There was only the scent of hot electronics mixed with sweat. If he had anticipated that the room might be stuffy, he was wrong. The ventilation in the room was quite good, thanks to a large exhaust at the rear.
Eric flopped onto a beanbag in the center of the room, which Ian assumed was a recreational area. Erica powered up her multi-display computer setup, her hands skilfully dancing across the keyboard. Ian felt odd again about the contrast between the orphanage and the situation down here. How could they coexist so harmoniously? What kind of symbiosis had they agreed upon? Commensalism? One party benefiting and the other gaining nothing?
"Put your confusion aside for now. You said you wanted to contact your friends, here." Erica could guess what was swirling in Ian's mind, then handed him an old-fashioned cellphone connected to her computer. "Relax, this is just to scramble the call signal so it can't be traced."
Ian took the phone and called Josh. "Tsk!" Ian muttered irritably as Josh didn't pick up the phone. Cold sweat formed on his forehead, worrying about his friend's safety. He also called Roe... with no answer either.
'Where are they?! Could it be they've been captured by Bartwin?' Ian thought, tapping his foot anxiously on the floor.
"No, they... They're still safe, though their destination seems to have changed," Erica once again read Ian's concern, showing two blinking red and yellow dots on a map.
"Hey! Are you tapping us?!" Ian grumbled as he also realized that a blue dot was on the map where he was currently located. Since when had these people been tracking him and his friends? No wonder they could track them so quickly and accurately. If they had the trail, what about Bartwin or even Magenta?
"Does it matter right now? What if we didn't track you? You wouldn't know your friends' fate." Erica retorted.
"Don't try to justify it, but fine, I can forgive that for now." Ian finally relented and now focused his gaze on the two blinking red and yellow dots. He also didn't recognize the location of his friends' whereabouts.
Then he remembered something, 'Did they end up taking care of Gertrud, Connor's cat? Because if they did, then they are safe for now.' Ian reassured himself that they were indeed at the address Connor had given him earlier, then nodding with satisfaction.
"Who are you really?" Ian now questioned Erica and Eric.
"Surely you know that players come from various places, right?" Erica asked, her attention now fully on Ian, while Eric continued to be engrossed in his game. Ian could tell that Eric was a pro-player.
"Yes," Ian answered shortly.
"We know that Bartwin is aware of your meeting with Chester. He won't let you win tonight; he'll execute you. Chester won't be able to stop him, even though he knows it's Bartwin's doing."
"And you got this information from?" Ian asked.
"From this." Erica displayed a screen showing a wanted poster with Ian's face on it, a reward of £10,000 offered for his head.
"The bastard, he values my head that low?!" Ian felt offended.
"You're not surprised that he wants to kill you, but you're surprised at the price on your head? Haha..." Erica laughed.
"That's too expensive, you know! Bartwin overestimates you! I would even understand if he promised £100," Eric taunted.
"Oh really? Then why bother saving this £100 guy? I think you're just good at boasting," Ian retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.
Eric tossed the console in his hand and stood up, "Oh yeah? Wanna bet? Who do you think is just boasting?"
"Of course, I can't wait," Ian accepted Eric's challenge, even though he didn't know why the guy disliked him for no apparent reason. After all, this was their first meeting, right? At least that's how Ian saw it.
"Hey... hey, calm down. Our hands are quite full for now. Look, Bartwin just raised the reward for your head, Ian, and this time he doesn't care if they kill you in the game or in the real world."