The long-awaited return didn't take long. Everything went black around Louise, and the next moment, he was already back in the toilet. The ghosts were gone, and there were even a few people about to enter.
Louise took a few seconds to calm himself, feeling a mix of relief and disbelief at what had just happened. He couldn't help but smile as he recalled the entire battle, thinking about how close he had come to losing. If things had gone slightly wrong, he would have surely lost his life. The adrenaline and tension from the fight were still fresh in his mind, and he marveled at how he had managed to survive.
He suddenly looked at the ring on his right hand. Memories of his time with Ymir flooded back. He had spent quite some time on that path, dying countless times. However, the vivid memories of those deaths seemed fuzzy now. It surprised him how the farmer's death had suddenly resurfaced so clearly in his mind.
"Maybe it's because of this ring," Louise thought, examining the intricate design. "Soul-mending Ring, huh..."
Shaking his head, he thought about his friends. He quickly washed his hands and splashed a bit of water on his face, then exited the toilet. After a while, he found Francis and Fred at a table, both with unnatural expressions. It seemed they, too, had faced harrowing battles, and he needed to check on them.
"Hey guys," Louise greeted, settling down at the table.
"Hey," Francis replied, looking slightly shaken but grinning nonetheless.
Louise glanced between them. "Did you guys win? Did you survive?"
Francis grinned wider. "Who do you think I am?"
Louise chuckled, nodding. "Me too. What about you, Fred?"
Fred, with a serious expression, began recounting his experience. "I found myself in the middle of the grasslands, holding a bow. Around me were will-o-wisps that I had to shoot. There was a time limit, and I had to kill as many wisps as possible within two minutes. I've never used a bow before, but luckily, I could use a type of magic where each arrow I shot is homing."
Francis chimed in, "My battle was much simpler. I just had to keep moving forward while fighting against my demons. I won't get into the details, but I went so far that I was given a gift."
Fred nodded knowingly. "I knew about your battle, Francis. In fact, I also knew about Louise's battle."
The atmosphere turned serious. Louise frowned. "How do you know?"
Fred looked at them both solemnly. "I was given the title 'The Observer.' I can look into bits and pieces of both the present and the future."
Louise suddenly remembered the prophet guy from the forums. "Are you ModernProphet17?" he asked.
Fred shook his head. "No, but I know who it is and why that person started the forums."
"Why?" Louise asked, curiosity piqued.
Fred glanced around and lowered his voice. "We're not in the right place to talk about it."
Francis raised an eyebrow. "Then why are we still here?"
Fred grinned, raising his drink. "Because we haven't finished our drinks."
At that moment, Louise suddenly remembered Anna. He had been so engrossed in the battle and meeting up with his friends that he had completely forgotten about the person who had woken him up from that damned memory. Quickly, he took out his phone and checked his Discord.
He saw that Anna was typing, so he immediately left her a message.
—Moxie: Are you okay?
It took another minute before Anna finally sent her message.
—Kyporith: I found myself in an unfamiliar place, like a deserted island, as if I was on vacation. It was so beautiful, with a white sand beach and clear blue water.
—Kyporith: My quest was to simply survive for an hour. A timer appeared, and after that hour, the "Quest Accomplished" notification showed up in my eyes.
Louise was quite shocked, noting how easy and unremarkable Anna's battle event was. She didn't even fight anything, so he was quite confused. He quickly asked her if there were any other details she could share about the hour she spent there.
—Moxie: Was there anything else? Did anything happen during that hour?
—Kyporith: At first, I was tense, thinking something would attack me. I even picked up a random stick on the beach as a means to defend myself.
But after a while, there were no threats or anything. So, I simply explored the beach and waited until the timer ended.
—Moxie: Give me a second.
Louise looked at Fred, his curiosity turning into urgency.
"Fred, Anna's quest was so relaxed compared to ours. She just had to survive on a deserted island for an hour. How is that possible?"
Fred stayed silent for a moment, contemplating deeply. "Anna entered a bonus round."
Both Louise and Francis turned to Fred in astonishment. Francis blurted out, "There's a bonus round?"
Louise, still astonished, asked, "How did you learn about Anna's quest so quickly?"
Fred smiled slyly. "It's just an ability I picked up after my time in the three doors. But there's more to it."
Louise's eyes narrowed. "More to it? Like what?"
Fred shook his head and said, "We can talk about it later. In any case, it's a good thing for your new sweetheart."
Louise shook his head. He thought Fred was being secretive, but he realized it was more of his abilities had some restrictions, preventing him from talking too much. He tapped on the table and felt even more lost.
"What's the plan?" Francis asked as he sipped more of his frappe. Both he and Louise looked at Fred. It seemed right now, they could only rely on the latter.
Fred relaxed on his chair and thought for a few seconds. He then said, "The opportunity coming in 3 days is more of a final assessment. Each of us will have a challenge to face, and depending on how we do on those challenges, we will be..."
Fred showed a terrified expression all of a sudden and clutched his chest. "Damn it, I talked too much. Just be ready. It'll be a peaceful two days, so we can take a short break. After that, a lot of things will happen. Let's get some food first, then we can discuss everything at Francis' home."
Louise nodded and said, "Then let's do that. I'm quite exhausted."
Francis replied, "On the contrary, I'm very excited. The boring days seem to be over."
Louise argued, "I kinda believe that boring days are better than being in a survival game."
Francis just smirked and didn't say anything else. Fred kept mute, but he seemed to be in deep thought.