"So you finally finished the tutorial?" Mirian asked, looking directly at Dmitry, who was sitting across the table from her.
"Yes, but that game... experiencing a hundred years of life, and it felt so real that—"
"It seems like you no longer belong to this world," Mirian interrupted Dmitry in the middle of his sentence.
"Yes, besides that, it's practically everyone who has played this kind of game. But one thing I felt was the strangeness of living in a world that seemed perfect for you," Dmitry said.
"Well, it's incredible that they actually create a completely different world for each player, even if two people play the same game. It's truly bizarre—maybe it's just a tiny difference you make that causes such a thing," Mirian said, pointing to a fried cockroach covered in ketchup on her plate.
"Honestly, I don't even know why we started talking about this. Besides the game being strange from start to finish, it's clear that the people who created it must be aliens to have made an NPC so realistic that it creates a new race that doesn't exist in other worlds," Dmitry said, showing Mirian a screen on his phone with various bizarre creatures that neither he nor Mirian had seen before.
"And to be honest, we should just wait. Soon someone will post a video online explaining how they did it," Mirian said, munching on three French fries with a smile as she continued to speak. "When will we meet in the safe zone? Have you gotten the Altair key?"
"In a few days, the ruler will be born, and after taking control of the world, I will send you a message," Dmitry said.
"Okay. Now that we've talked about the game and the tournament is just two months away, how about we go to a cyber café? Maybe even a karaoke afterward?" Mirian suggested. Dmitry agreed, thinking that it was the best thing to do until the ruler's birth.
They wandered through several comic book stores.
"Hmmm, I think this might be a problem," Mirian said.
"What's wrong?" Dmitry asked, curious.
"This guy here is having a romantic relationship with Death," Mirian said, showing a page from a comic book where a masked man was literally kissing Death.
"Your tastes seem a bit peculiar, but I'll read it," Dmitry said, intrigued, wondering why this was happening.
After spending over an hour browsing comics, they headed to an arcade.
"I'm surprised this place hasn't gone out of business yet," Dmitry said.
"Well, everyone loves playing old games these days, so whoever opened this place must have been very lucky. Something you won't have," Mirian said, pointing at a TV displaying an old fighting game.
"Let's see. Before I started working, I was addicted to fighting games," Dmitry said.
"Owo, breaking news from the God of Assassins," Mirian said, feigning surprise.
"If I win, you'll grant me a wish," Dmitry said with a smile.
"This time I won't lose, so you better start saving up for a new VR device because you'll need it," Mirian joked.
"Okay, but the wish will be equivalent to the cost," Dmitry responded.
Twelve minutes later, Dmitry had lost ten matches and won twenty-eight.
"Wow, you really are better than me at fighting games. Besides, it's only because I haven't played in a long time," Dmitry said, trying to come up with an excuse for his defeat.
"Ah, sure, lack of practice, got it. But don't worry, just buy me the new VR device when we win the tournament," Mirian said, pulling Dmitry's arm and leading him to her house.
"I want to see you play, so show me how you destroy some knights," Mirian said once they were in a separate room just for the VR setup, holding out a card for a medieval game.
"This is a bit of a weird end to our meet-up, but if you want, I'll show you," Dmitry said, allowing himself to be led by her.