"I don't know how I did it, I only thought of my system and it just appeared. Maybe we're able to summon it voluntarily through our will instead of speaking".
What he said made quite the sense.
"Let me try," said Derrick. They watched him. He closed his eyes and centered his mind on calling forth his system. Afterwards, he opened his eyes to peek "did it work?" He asked and opened his eyes fully.
To his satisfaction, it did. Which meant Jason was right.
"Wait Derrick, you have a quest" said Gabbie, her eyes searching all over the status screen.
"Oh this?" He let out a dry chuckle "it popped up as soon as that Crystal thingy took you" he explained, though it sounded shabby.
Her brows creased "why didn't you perform the quest?" She asked
"My limitation, remember?" Derrick recalled,
She sighed and leaned back on the wall, she was still quite lost and the fact that they escaped the stampede didn't make much sense but she trusted them.
Back to Jason, "Is there a logout icon?" Eiden repeated his words.
Jason threw him an uneasy look.
"Hey" Gabbie called out to Jason "if it turns out there's a logout icon and we're still in the game, then—"
Jason cut in "I'll be out. Don't worry about me"
She felt slightly inflicted by his words but remained silent.
Jason, faced his system. He was well determined to try it out. Whether or not they're still in the game relied on Jason's sacrifice.
If he logs out then that means the others can come out when they feel like it.
"system logout" he said and paused.
[Invalid command], the system showed a warning with a light buzz sound.
Jason furrowed his brows and uneasiness spread through to the rest of them. He repeated, "system, log.out." he said slowly this time.
Same warning sign and buzz sound [invalid command].
Pissed, Derrick went closer "HE SAID SYSTEM LOGOUT! GODDAMMIT!" but nothing happened, the system didn't respond to his voice.
Unsure of his next move, he sat back down and chuckled wearily
"I was right," he said, "we're stuck here".
The words felt like a dead weight on everyone's shoulders, how did they get here? Why? Was it fate?
They all sat in silence, lamenting. The words Derrick spoke, though they were plain, meant a whole lot more to the situation they were in.
"No, I can't be stuck here" Gabbie's voice broke in a whisper.
Gabbie Kains, daughter of a renowned lawyer and a famous journalist. Her parents wanted her to aspire for these two fields but Gabbie wasn't interested in either. She hated that her parents tried to force their ambitions on her with the reason "they're afraid she would disgrace the family's name".
She wanted to be the best gamer out there so instead of studying she would sit behind her computer almost everyday. Luckily for her, she found people who had similar interests to hers.
She couldn't afford to be stuck there, she didn't even inform her parents about her short trip to Stripe's VR store. She planned to return late and make up an excuse, but now, How was she supposed to do that?
Eiden's burden was far heavier, his mind kept drifting to his mom to whom he promised that he would be back to join her for dinner. What if she starts thinking that he ran away, abandoning her just like her family and relatives did.
They just had to crave the game so badly and now they can't escape this labyrinth.
Eiden's mind snapped, if this is all real, does it mean that if they hadn't been saved by that man, would they have died actual deaths?
The thought of it was terrifying. Now what?
Derrick stood up, all eyes were now on him except Eiden who kept his head hung low.
"What are we going to do now?" He asked "are we just going to sit here and do nothing?" He asked again, he clenched his fists.
"Is there anything we can do?" Jason asked
"I don't know about you guys but I'm getting out of here" Derrick's new found hope was a bit edged. Eiden looked up at him, his clenched jaw and his dark gaze.
The seriousness in his eyes were completely in contrast with his normal playful look.
He continued, "I just bought tickets to see the live concert of my favorite band which is happening next week, I don't know what all this is about but I'm leaving this place and attending that concert"
Funny enough, his little speech was just enough to get the gang up in spirit again. The atmosphere lightened a little.
"You little douche bag, we're in a serious situation and you're talking about a concert" Gabbie hissed.
Derrick turned to her, "you want to leave here too right?"
She nodded at his question.
"Then you better find your motivation," said Derrick.
Eiden let out a dry laughter, "to think you'd be the one telling us this" he stood up, smiling. He just found his own motivation, he must make it just in time to join his mother for dinner.
Their spirits were up again, Derrick swore to attend the concert, Gabbie desired to make it home in one piece, Eiden wanted to see his mother again, as for Jason? He just wanted to make it out and survive with his friends.
They stood up with fresh zeal.
One of the doors on the alley wall suddenly creaked open. A chubby woman holding a trash bag walked out. She was dressed in formal Chinese maiden attire made of fine silk and vibrant colors, she looked beautiful, her big eyes spoke innocence.
Once her gaze landed on the four, she scrunched up her face in disgust and spite. Without a word, she dumped her trash in the alley where they stood and walked back in.
They didn't hear any sounds before but a woman spoke loudly "darling, you must chase the beggars away, they might tear the rubbish bag and leave dirt all over the place".
It was most likely the chubby woman who saw them. She spoke loudly as if with an intention of making sure they hear her clearly.
What Eiden and his friends were oblivious of is that ornate accessories and silk fabric were evidence of living a high status life. She must have thought them to be beggars seeing as their clothes weren't as flashy.
Eiden dressed in a gray old hoodie and worn out jeans and used to be white sneakers.
Gabbie, on a green crop top and brown mini skirt and black boots.
Jason, wearing a blue short sleeve shirt, plain black trousers and wristband,
and lastly Derrick, short sleeve blue t-shirt and blue jeans.
Casual from where they originated from but considered beggars clothing here.
"I think we'd better leave here," Jason suggested and they nodded in agreement.
They feared going out of the alley, thankfully, the deadend of the alley had a broken exit which they could squeeze through.
"Shitty ass woman" Derrick cursed while he crawled through. She looked so cute and innocent but her face changed immediately she saw them, such a superficial individual.
Their broken exit was an entrance, an entrance to the front yard of an old abandoned temple.
The entrance was blocked with huge rocks and the place was downright wrecked, it could have been a great equipment hub if it were a game.
"What do you guys think, do we search the place?" Jason asked.
Gabbie shrugged, "I don't see any harm".
They spread out to different parts of the broken temple and minutes later, met back at the front yard.
"Couldn't find anything" Gabbie reported
"Me neither" said Eiden, and same with Jason and Derrick. The place was a total mess, debris here and there, almost like a nuclear energy was released there.
"What's going on here?" Someone spoke.
The gang turned to face the voice, a hint of familiarity and annoyance flashed in Derrick's eyes "you guys again?" He sneered.