The alarm blared through the room, piercing the silence with an urgency that was hard to ignore. After what felt like a Herculean effort in his sleep, battling through levels and vanquishing six formidable foes in the blockade of his dream, Charlie finally stirred. He sat up slowly, the weight of exhaustion pulling at his limbs, and let out a deep, lazy yawn, stretching as if to shake off the remnants of the night's turmoil.
The previous night had been an arduous ordeal. Initially, Charlie had planned to finish his mission quickly—his objective was to eradicate a particularly stubborn tree-shaped infection source. Once that was done, he intended to log off early. After all, he needed to wake up at the crack of dawn; his mother had booked a morning train, and it was his responsibility to see her off at the station.
But as fate would have it, things spiraled out of control.
The late-night gaming session had taken a toll. The relentless battle had pushed well past midnight, and by the time Charlie finally logged off, exhaustion had settled into his bones. This morning, even with the strongest cup of coffee he could brew, he felt like a zombie, dragging himself out of bed. As he passed by the mirror on his way out, he caught a glimpse of his reflection—dark circles under his eyes, a testament to the sleepless night. His mother had given him a concerned look earlier, and now he understood why.
---
As he descended the stairs, still trying to shake off the last remnants of sleep, Charlie was met with an unexpected sight. Fana, a colleague who he had met just the day before, was standing across the street. She clutched a small bag in her hands, her eyes scanning the area as if she were searching for someone.
The moment she spotted Charlie and Megan making their way down, her face lit up with a bright smile. Without hesitation, she crossed the street and approached them, extending the small bag toward Charlie.
Charlie blinked in surprise, caught off guard by her sudden appearance. "For us?" he asked, his voice tinged with curiosity.
Fana nodded slightly, her smile never wavering.
Megan took the bag, her curiosity piqued. She opened it to reveal an assortment of desserts and snacks—precisely the treats they had passed by the day before at a popular bakery, only to find them sold out.
Charlie's memory flashed back to the day before. That particular bakery was notorious for its long lines, with customers queuing up in the early hours of the morning just to get their hands on the coveted sweets. Among the items in the bag was the bakery's famous silt cake, a delicacy that sold out almost as soon as the shop opened its doors.
He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in astonishment. For Fana to have secured these treats meant she must have woken up at an ungodly hour—perhaps even before dawn—to stand in line. And then, she had waited here, patiently, all morning just to deliver this small bag of desserts to them.
Charlie's thoughts raced. At dinner last night, Megan had mentioned that she had a morning train to catch. Fana must have remembered that detail and gone out of her way to do something kind. But still...
"Why?" Charlie asked, his voice filled with genuine confusion. They were colleagues, sure, but they had only shared a meal together once. They weren't particularly close, certainly not enough to warrant such an early morning effort.
Fana's smile widened slightly, her eyes softening as she spoke a single word. "Friend."
Megan accepted the gift with heartfelt gratitude, her smile matching Fana's warmth. She suggested that Fana should visit them the next time Charlie returned to his hometown, extending an open invitation. Just then, the car Charlie had hailed on his phone arrived, and they exchanged quick goodbyes.
As the car pulled away from the curb, Charlie's thoughts drifted back to the night before. He remembered the children he had seen when he had taken Batman to the orphanage, their innocent faces lighting up with curiosity and hope. And then, his mind wandered to Fana's past, the struggles she must have faced, the loneliness she had likely endured.
A thought began to take shape in his mind—a thought that made him pause. To him, their meeting had been a brief, casual encounter. They had shared a meal, nothing more. But for Fana, perhaps it was something much more significant. Perhaps it was the first time someone had shared a meal with her not as a colleague, but as a friend.
As the car navigated through the busy streets, Charlie couldn't resist the urge to look back. Fana was still standing at the intersection, her white dress catching the morning light, making her look like a delicate carnation growing by the roadside. She stood there, steadfast, watching them depart with a quiet, almost melancholic gaze.
And then, for a brief moment, Charlie thought he saw something else—something that sent a chill down his spine. Standing behind Fana, almost obscured by the shadows, was a woman in red. Her long black hair covered most of her face, leaving only a glimpse of her pale skin visible. There was something unsettling about her presence, something that made the hairs on the back of Charlie's neck stand on end.
But what truly unnerved him was the fact that the woman in red seemed to be waving in their direction, her movements slow and deliberate.
A memory stirred within Charlie, a fragment of a conversation from the previous night's dinner. Fana had mentioned her family, specifically her mother. "Not alone," she had said, "with Mom."
Could it be that the mother she spoke of was...
Charlie's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly turned to look again, but the car had already driven too far. The intersection was now just a blur of colors in the distance, and Fana's figure had vanished into the crowd, swallowed by the bustling city.
...
After seeing his mother off at the station, Charlie decided to skip school. There was no point in dragging himself through the motions when he could barely keep his eyes open. He trusted his friend to cover for him during roll call and sign-in, so he headed back to his room, eager to dive back into his virtual world.
As he sat down at his desk and powered up his computer, the familiar hum of the machine brought a sense of comfort. After the intensity of the previous night, it was time to check his rewards and see what progress he had made. The game's main interface loaded, and almost immediately, a reward notification from last night's mission popped up on the screen.
The first thing that caught his eye was a logo with vibrant, flashing lightning effects—an unmistakable sign that his account had been upgraded.
Excitement coursed through Charlie. Account upgrades were always a cause for celebration. They often unlocked new features, additional modules, and marked yet another step forward on his path to mastering the game.
This particular upgrage did not disappoint. The first pop-up notification informed him that his three-person team had now been upgraded to a four-person squad. This meant he could now have four characters ready for deployment in battles, a significant boost to his strategic options.
But that wasn't all. The upgrade also unlocked a feature Charlie had been eagerly anticipating: the team function.
Previously, the team function had been limited and somewhat rudimentary. One character would fight while the others remained idle, waiting in the wings. But now, with this new upgrade, Charlie could engage in true team battles. He could send two heroes into combat at the same time, creating a more dynamic and engaging experience.
Charlie had suspected that this feature was on the horizon, especially after a dream the previous night where he had played a mixed doubles match with Moon Knight's two personalities. The game's mechanics had hinted at the possibility of team-based combat, and now that possibility had become a reality.
Wasting no time, Charlie immediately dove into the tutorial levels to test out the new feature. The game's tutorial levels were saved, allowing players to revisit them at any time to practice, experiment with new heroes, or test newly unlocked gameplay mechanics.
After a few rounds, Charlie began to grasp the nuances of the new team function. The gameplay was reminiscent of the doubles mode in the Arkham series. Players could freely switch between two characters during combat, with one character being controlled by the player while the other was managed by the AI. The cooldown time for switching control was a mere second—so brief that it barely interrupted the flow of battle.
For a skilled player like Charlie, this feature opened up a world of possibilities. With precise timing and strategic thinking, he could seamlessly switch between characters, effectively doubling his combat prowess. The fluidity of the gameplay, combined with the strategic depth, made the battles more intense and satisfying.
However, the success of this feature hinged on the AI's intelligence. As the saying goes, you're not afraid of god-like opponents, but of pig-like teammates. A poorly controlled AI teammate could easily ruin even the most well-executed plan. Charlie was relieved to discover that the AI-controlled teammate performed admirably during his simulations. The AI wasn't perfect, but it was competent enough to assist without making reckless or foolish decisions.
The new mode also introduced a feature that excited Charlie even more: combo skills. When certain characters were paired together, their synergy could unlock powerful combination attacks, significantly boosting combat efficiency. Iconic duos like Batman and Superman, Iron Man and Captain America, or Green Lantern and The Flash had special cooperative abilities recognized and certified by the system. These combinations not only unlocked unique skills but also provided slight enhancements to the heroes' abilities and attributes.
This didn't mean Charlie had to memorize every character relationship from various comics to find the best pairings. Thankfully, the system handled that for him. When Charlie selected two compatible heroes, a "Best Match" prompt would appear on the screen, indicating that he had chosen an optimal pairing. This feature made the process of forming teams intuitive and rewarding.
As Charlie continued to explore the new possibilities, he couldn't shake the feeling that something unexpected had been mixed into the game.
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