A voice i heard, which was a familiar ring in my ears, "...hide?"
i froze momentarily, as a million thoughts struck my mind in a minute, the only one standing out was 'what is she doing here?'
I glanced at the door, standing there for a while before speaking up, "what the heck are you doing here, rin?" There was no sound behind the door, as I opened it slowly to see her seemingly determined expression. I let out a sigh, holding the door in place.
"You have something to say?" I questioned bluntly. The hallway was empty, so I wouldn't have to deal with the embarrassment for being unknowingly dramatic over seeing a girl I've known for years. Rin pointed at her left eye, "your scar got larger." I froze and turned to my left so it wouldn't be visible.
I normally feel ashamed when a person points out my insecurities out bluntly without consent of how the other person feels, but rin is a different case. She knew I had a scar under my eye from being allergic to ashes, when I was six and my grandad's ashes were presented before me. I never saw her for a long period, which my scar just became worse when kiyoshi was the next one dead.
I always wondered if the system I had triggered something which made my scar grow, and my eye almost changing colour. It would have been easier if I had my long hair before, but now it's much disturbing with my hair cut short.
I glanced at rin, normally anyone would have something unusual in their body if they had come to this place. But rin seemed fine, why would she come here?
I finally asked her, "why did you come here?" She remained silent, there wasn't an answer coming from her mouth. Instead she changed the topic, "well it's been a while, hasn't it?" She said With a smile on her face. I wasn't fooled, and repeated my question in a serious manner, "Don't skip the question. You aren't supposed to be here in your status." Her smile faltered, replaced by a hint of sadness in her expression.
"T-the truth is...I came to your house, but it was in an abandoned state. I asked the neighbours, and they said they didn't know who you were. They just said that the house was here abandoned for a long time. I was worried sick, but I entered the house despite the warnings." I listened with thought as she continued.
"The house was dusty, many metals were rusted, and old picture frams were broken. I picked one up which was lying on the floor and saw you with kiyoshi. I felt bitter. And dusted it a little, then kept it in my bag. I was trying to go in further when I saw a figure of a person. I couldn't see it clearly cuz of all the dust. But I was scared and went out of the house as quickly as possible."
I kept my expression blank as she kept going. "I saw a man with a suit, looking at me intendly, and I felt an unusual aura around him. I saw a shadow with a bunch of eyes as red as blood, and I was terrified. That's when I realised I had something abnormal in my sight since the neighbour could have moved out if they knew there was a creature inside the house, but they didn't. I was told to come to this place by the man."
My inner mind breathed a sigh of relief thinking that story has been completed. For some point I thought it was messed up and I just remarked her, "if you had something abnormal in your sight that means you practically need glasses." Rin hit my head with her hand, and I grasped it in pain. "Ouch, what the heck?!" I exclaimed. "I'm telling I saw something abnormal and that's your reply?!" She blurred out in annoyance. "Well I'm not wrong, I probably think you need an eye-check since it's been so long you had updated me." I chuckled at her. That girl just pouted at me thinking I would make up my mind to apologize to her, but I already made my conclusion that she practically needs glasses.
Kiyoshi stood behind me with a happy look. His lack of presence almost gave me goosebumps, but I backed him off since rin had no idea he was brought up from the dead. He gave a disappointed look at me and stuck his tongue out as I turned my gaze to look at him while rin was distracted. I waved at him with an awkward look, feeling slightly back for him to not have a reunion with rin. I turned back at her and wanted to speak out something, but I stopped when I heard a notification from the system. The panel opened, revealing a new quest. I knew I had to go back inside, and faced at rin.
"I have something important, shall we talk when I get the free time?" I said. Rin nodded, "sure, just knock at my dorm when you're free." And waved goodbye. I closed the door and sat on the bed, looking back at the panel and reading the quest
+
[ Dimensional Gates ]
[Outer World Act] : - l -
[Quest Description]
Clear a gate through difficulty levels of consequences and stand upon their consciences. You are reliable for the cause of your actions inflicting in the real world.
[Allotted time]: 1 week [per gate]
[Rewards of completion]:
Reanimated incarnation [kiyoshi izumi] time extended, death count reset.
Penalty for failure: Death, restart of scenario.
+
This is new. What is an "Outer World Act?" I stared at the panel for a good amount of time and looked at my wardrobe, then back to kiyoshi who I didn't notice the entire time. The cracks in his body were almost prominent, like he could slip away from my hand anytime. I clenched my fists tightly, hoping that day would never come, then released it after sometime and spoke up. "Kiyoshi, you better stop coming behind me. Your lack of presence is giving me chills, idiot." I say with a hint of annoyance. Kiyoshi just gave a smug look on his face, "Well, I'm getting a chance like this once in my lifetime." "Twice in a lifetime, smartass." I corrected him.
He chuckled awkwardly, then got up from the bed and took a snack, sitting in a chair and eating it. A small smile formed on my face looking how innocent he looked, although we know very well about each other. I joined in kiyoshi's disaster when he once took a magazine and threw it at my face, showing something I was never meant to see. I covered my face with my hands and tried to control my flushed but embarrassed face and threw the book right at him. From that day he wouldn't stop teasing me and tried pestering me to read seemingly innocent books.
An idea flashed in my mind, as I took my phone out and keep the screen on for sometime. I opened a system panel and wanted to try transferring the system to my phone. The facility normally discourages the use of modern gadgets inside, but I managed to sneak it inside, I had to warn myself in every case.
I hovered my hand through the panel and moved it towards my phone. I felt like a forcefield blocking the two from meeting, but I was quite persistent and pushed it towards each other. I realised it was a terrible mistake as a shockwave surged through my body which had me almost losing consciousness. I rubbed my head and looked around, seeing kiyoshi minding his own business. I was relieved and glanced at my phone with a hopeless sigh.
I tried to open a panel but there wasn't anything popping up. I got confused and opened my phone. The home screen was normal, but I was able to swipe from the left side this time, as I saw the quest panel opened in the screen. I gave a grin to myself, thinking 'it actually worked!'
I checked on my quest again, then turned my phone off and went to my wardrobe, picking a set of clothes to move for the scenario. "A shirt, jacket, pants, a glove- that should do." I muttered to myself. I picked my necessities and kept them in a small bag and my phone in as well. "Kiyoshi, pack up." I said as I turned to him.
Kiyoshi looked at me with confusion, "what the- where are we going??" He said perplexed. "A small trip back to the dimension for a week." I told bluntly. Kiyoshi exclaimed about how it was so sudden, but wasn't backing out either. I kept a few clothes for him as well, since we both had the same size of clothes.
It was night time outside, I wrote a letter to my professors who would come looking for me and went outside of the dorm, with kiyoshi behind me. I locked the door and gave the key to allen, which he just smiled back and bowed at me like he usually does. We headed outside, into a secluded place where no one would notice, especially the guards. I took my phone out and scanned the area, which my phone detected the gate's presence through the system.
A strong beam flashed in front of us, revealing a green door-like gate that could be the dimension we're looking for. I didn't waste time and stepped forward, opening the door with full force and stepping inside with kiyoshi.