The first thing that I realized when I gained consciousness was the familiar, pungent smell of antiseptic in the whole room. Opening my eyes, it was a familiar, yet not truly familiar, white ceiling. Around my bed, dirty-white curtains hung, adding a little bit of privacy for me and everyone else in the room.
"... Hospital?"
Just as I was about to raise my body, a figure stirred from my side. She had a head of brown, shoulder-length hair tied in a bundle near the tips. Her sleepy-looking eyes stared at my face as her expression changed every second.
"Mahiro! You're finally awake!"
She jumped up and grabbed my neck, pulling me into a tight hug. My posture was a little awkward, as she was positioned around my sides, making my body bend unnaturally.
"Mother... What happened?" I gently tapped her arms, urging her to let go as I asked for details.
As far as I recall, I was out hunting.
"You can't remember?" Mother looked at my face with worry. "You apparently got injured and were carried here in a hurry. The hospital called me, and I was beside you for almost eight hours."
"Eight hours...?"
I turned to look around, looking for a clock and found that it was really past 8 p.m. already. The window was shut with a thick curtain, and the lights in the room were turned on, making me not realize it at first.
"Wait, eight hours?!"
Finally, I recalled an urgent detail before I was knocked out.
"The boss! What happened to the boss?!"
"Boss? Do you mean a boss monster? As expected, is it the one who got you?"
"Mother, can I borrow your phone real quick?"
With how much time had passed, I bet it should've been hunted down already. Mother was doubtful at first but quickly lent me her phone. I opened the browser, ignored the already opened tabs, and accessed a familiar chatting site where we host our little group chat.
"... Damn..."
I was speechless when I reread the recent chats. Those guys all seemed to have moved to hunt the boss monster themselves! The last chat was about 7 hours ago, meaning that even if they did take it slow, the fight should've long ended.
Although it was a tad bit too late, I still decided to send a message to them.
===
=== Chat Log ===
...
Toki: Let's go beat that b@stard's @ss!
*Ruin Logged into the chat at 20:17!*
Ruin: Toki, what happened after that?
================
===
I watched the screen for a few seconds, but there was only silence. Nobody even managed to "see" my message, it seems.
"..."
They must be busy splitting the loot between themselves. Damn, I definitely missed my promised 30%. Just thinking about the gears I could make with all those materials, my crafting skill should quickly rank up with that.
I logged out and closed the tab before returning Mother's phone to her. Without even checking out what I did with her phone, she just slid it back into her pocket and asked with a worried tone.
"Are you alright? Your face looks pale, you know?"
"It's fine. I just missed out on a grand opportunity, that's all."
As I waved my hand to her, dismissing her worry, her eyebrows raised. A judging gaze fell on me as she blurted out angry words.
"You almost died, you know? And you're worried about opportunities?! Son, we need to talk when we get home."
Oops, it looks like I made Mother infuriated. I must still be half-asleep, mixing my priorities before her. I spent a few long minutes trying to explain my situation to Mother, muddling her anger. Tomorrow, when we get home, I'll message Toki and ask what really happened after that.
---
Turning back time a little, about half an hour after the helicopter dropped by and delivered Mahiro to the hospital, Toki was standing before the gate with her arms crossed. She kept on tapping her feet impatiently, irritable, and extremely angry.
At her feet, there were already five broken phones, victims of her frequent outbursts.
"When are they coming?" Toki wondered as she looked at her last backup phone. The clock had barely ticked since she last checked, and the time still showed 12:55 on the display.
As her grip was slowly gaining strength again, a shadow finally appeared on the far end of the alley. There, three figures were running with light steps.
"Toki! Sorry, we're late!"
At the lead, a woman with short red hair and a long blue lance hanging over her back diagonally waved her hand in greeting. She stopped before the guard and greeted him once more.
"Sorry, we got delayed with looking for each other within the crowd. I'm Hailey, by the way."
She greeted him and extended her hand in a handshake. The guard was taken aback, not sure why she talked to him. Toki, who was right beside her, tapped her shoulders while heaving a deep sigh. "Well, I should've guessed. I'm Toki, not that guy."
"""Eh?"""
The three of them simultaneously turned to her, question marks floating on top of their heads.
"Toki isn't a guy?!" The other girl, a short one with a head of long, golden, flowing hair, asked in surprise.
"To think that I would get surprised twice in a row today..." The last one, a black-haired girl with two guns on her waist, sighed in admiration. "I couldn't guess that Lily was a shortie, but Toki being a girl is more of a surprise."
"Who's a shortie?!" The small blonde girl, who looked like she'd fit in an elementary school, shouted in anger.
"Well, only you and Hailey openly claimed to be women IRL among our guild members." Toki sneered after hearing their remarks. "Though our guild master seems to think that you both are lying,"
The two, Mina and Hailey, were not only using a female avatar in their previous game; their speech and actions were definitely that of a girl too. Mahiro, however, still thought that they were G.I.R.L.s and just passed their gender reveal as a joke.
"Right, guild master! Ruin! How is he?!" The black-haired girl, Mina, asked Toki in a hurried tone.
"He's fine now," Toki responded with a flat voice. "But that beetle still needs to pay its dues."
After hearing her reassuring words, Mina sighed in relief. "So Ruin isn't in danger anymore..."
The other two seemed to have felt a wave of relief too, but they didn't show it as blatantly as Mina did. Seeing that the three had already caught their breaths, Toki clapped her hands and asked.
"Alright, for our battle shortly, let's introduce each other's classes. I'm a Mage Level 5."
After she finished, Toki looked over at Mina and urged her to continue. "I'm a Gunner, Level 7."
"Lancer Lv. 3, leave the front to me!" Hailey shouted as she tapped the long lance behind her.
Lastly, Lily nodded her head and announced, "And I'm a Healer, Level 1. I'll be marking Hailey later, right? Count on my healing!"
"So we have one frontline, two backline damage dealers, and one support? Looks like a good enough lineup." Toki, although she knew of all this information beforehand, acted as if she just learned of it. "And you all really matched your game character's class, huh? Well, I did too, though."
The game that their little group played, Lost Age, was a 100% you-choose-your-playstyle game. Classes of anything you can think of exist, making it a very mind-boggling game for newbies and veterans alike. There, Mahiro, or rather, Ruin's guild, was composed of only the best of the best across the entire server.
They weren't the best because they chose the Meta, but rather because of their unique playstyle.
For example, Lily was a Male Giant Race Healer who actually used heal on herself to weave across the enemies and wipe them out with pure martial prowess. Mina was a female elven gunner who chose mid-range combat instead of long-range.
There's also Hailey, the hobbit lancer, who actually pursues the ultimate damage, aiming to one-hit any enemy she comes across. And lastly, Toki, the cyborg mage, pursues wide-area siege-level spells over interpersonal ones.
Although it would be hard to actually match their gameplay style to the real world, given the similarities of the system, they ended up choosing what was already familiar to them.
"By the way, did Ruin choose Blacksmith too?" Lily asked while tilting her head cutely. She had no time to check the chat during the weekdays, given her busy schedule, so she was clueless most of the time.
The three shook their heads simultaneously in reply, though. "He's still in the starter class, so not yet."
It was just the other day that they realized he was really still at level 1 after all. When Lily heard this, she was surprised for a moment before showing a knowing smile. "I see. If he becomes a blacksmith again, I'll definitely ask him to make my weapons and armor!"
"Everyone's probably thinking the same." Toki smiled. "But before that, let's procure some high-class materials for him to grind his skills!"
The three nodded their heads in agreement before they all turned toward the forest where the boss monster resides.
"Then, let's go!"