A Quarter Pounder with Cheese with a side of French Fries and an Oreo Milkshake… or a Kid's Meal.
Which one should he choose?
Of course, the Kid's Meal.
Not because he wasn't craving the first option, but because he barely had enough money to afford it.
He tapped his foot impatiently, eyes fixed on the bright screen of his phone as he pressed confirm.
Now all Silas Stone had to do was wait for his delivery.
He pushed himself up from the couch and slipped his phone into the pocket of his hoodie, heading toward his room.
Just before opening the door, he caught a glimpse of his reflection.
His skin was as pale as a paper. Beneath his blue eyes were black circles making his expression even more ghostly. He was wearing an old black hoodie with a denim jeans and a pair of slippers.
But what stood out the most were his palegrey hair sticking out like a sore thumb.
Silas clicked his tongue.
Yeah… he was definitely dyeing it later.
Click.
With a shove of his foot, the door slammed shut behind him. He dropped into the chair at his desk, leaning back as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You really are a pathetic loser, Silas."
"Don't ever show your face again or we'll beat the crap out of you."
"Stay away from me. You disgust me."
Silas' eyes dimmed as he remembered those words people had spat at him a few days ago.
"Perhaps I really am a pathetic loser..." he mumbled dejectedly.
"...but who fucking cares?"
With a click of his tongue, he grabbed his mouse and scrolled to the colorful icon on the left. Silas clicked on his favourite game, "What Lies On The Other Side".
The name never made any sense to him. Honestly, for an action RPG, it was lame. Silas could name hundreds, if not thousands, of better names.
Still, "What Lies On The Other Side" was a global sensation.
The game was set in a world where humanity had gone extinct, and now different species ruled the land. As a player, you choose your own species and try to level up in this multiplayer game.
His screen finally loaded, and the music of the game started playing.
As he stretched, his eyes trailed off to his window. The sun was finally setting, and the sky was a mix of blue and orange.
A part of Silas was taken aback as he admired the beauty.
Then...
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
"Huh? What's happening?"
[Your friend GrandDemon12 has been killed]
[Your friend Rampage8938 has been killed]
[Your friend Wtfshouldinamemyself has been killed]
Silas' eyes widened. His jaw dropped.
The notification sound didn't end there. It continued with no end.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Silas pursed his lips and saw that his character's bar was still full of health.
Since he was exploring ancient ruins the last time he logged in, so he was thousands of kilometers away from any player or settlement. He didn't know what was happening.
Whoosh.
He quickly pulled out his phone and scrolled to the SNS app.
[Uni B Batch 2022 - Unofficial Group Chat] +99
[What Lies On The Other Side - Uni B Fan Group] +99
[WLONTOS - Fanmade Community] +99
Silas' phone was on silent, so he didn't hear any notification sounds. But for the first time in his life, he had seen all groups go so wild together.
His eyes darted away as another realization hit him.
He wasn't kicked out yet.
But more than worrying about that, he wanted to know what the hell was going on in the game right now.
Click.
He opened the groupchat of his university.
[Yuri: @everyone Hey, I think there's a virus in my game. The NPCs suddenly killed me?!]
[Damien: I don't think that's a virus. Me and my friends were also killed by NPCs.]
[Allen: Hey, where did you all die? I died in the Serpent King lair, and they said something like, "How dare I be in a place like that," or something?]
[Yuri: I died in the vampire kingdom. There's a village in the south, and I went there for loot.]
[Dune: Hey, help. I can't revive after dying?]
[Mia: Can you all shut the hell up! This is a university group chat for studies and stuff. Go somewhere else to talk about your games.]
[Allen: Is there someone who's even alive??!!]
With a swipe, he activated the keyboard.
[You: I am]
What followed was silence.
Not even one person replied to him, and just like that, Silas knew he messed up.
[Dune: Lol?! Why has no one kicked this mo*********r out?]
[Mia: @Admin Non-university students are not allowed. Kick him out.]
[You have been kicked out of the group chat]
"Well, fuck you all," Silas mumbled back before slamming his phone on the table.
He shifted his eyes back to the game, his character was doing idle animations.
Silas grabbed his mouse and started moving his character in the ruin.
[Calypso Ruins] The blue screen hovered on top of the structure.
[Number of players finding this ruin up until now: 0]
Silas knew he had hit the jackpot. An ancient ruin that no character nor NPC had ever found. He had stumbled across it after being lost for days in the game. At one point, he was going to delete his account and restart the game because of the frustration of finding no exit.
But hours of effort made him stop. In the end, it all paid off.
[You have an in-game notification!]
[Octopus67: Bro, are you alright?]
Silas stopped for a moment. Octopus67 was his online friend, and they were closer like brothers. They had been friends for about 6 years now.
He had never met him in real life. Silas knew that Octopus67 was a mute so they never talked in a voice call either.
[You: I'm fine. What about you? Where are you now?]
[Octopus67: I'm fine. Don't worry about me.]
[Octopus67: Have you picked it up yet?]
Silas squinted his eyes in confusion. "What is he talking about?"
[You: ?]
[Octopus67: You haven't?? Then are you there yet?!]
Silas stopped moving his cursor. He lowered his eyes, biting his bottom lip.
Did he ever tell Octopus67 he found a ruin? Or is Octopus67 talking about something else?
Last time, he got stuck in this god forsaken place, Octopus67 he was offline at that time.
Perhaps, he mentioned it in one of their conversations. Silas had a memory of gold fish to remember anything for a long time.
[You: I don't know what you're talking about, bro. I'm in some sort ancient ruins right now. It's named something like 'Calypso' or something. But it's crazy! The system says no one has ever entered here before. so the loot is gonna be legendary!]
[Octopus67: Ahh Thank God! That means you're there!]
[Octopus67: Now listen closely to me, Silas. There's something you have to get from there.]
[Octopus67: So just follow my lead.]
[You: Octopus]
[Octopus67: What?]
[You: You know my real name?.]
A strange tingle went across his body. In their 6 years of friendship, had he ever mentioned his real name?
He could have… No… no, he never did. One thing Silas made sure of was his privacy in the online world. So he never shared his name.
What followed was silence.
[Octopus67: We go to the same university. I found your name when you shared a screenshot of the game in the uni group chat.]
Silas' eyes shot up.
[You: What?? Then why did you never mention it?]
[Octopus67: It doesn't matter.]
Silas' eyes dimmed.
If they go to the same uni, then he surely also knows what happened with Silas.
Did he think less of him now?
[Octopus67: What matters is you fucking do what I'm telling you because we don't have any fucking time left.]
[You: Fine, fine, bro. Just tell me what to get. Wait, why don't you teleport here?]
[Octopus67: No, I can't! I mean… never mind. Just do as I say.]
[Octopus67: Go behind the ruins and find the narrow opening.]
Silas moved his character. He found the opening in less than a minute. Honestly, it surprised him.
Was it here when he was looking around?
[Octopus67: Go inside.]
[You: Huh? Bro! I don't want to die like that. What if there's someone inside?]
[Octopus67: Just do as I say.]
Silas pressed his lips.
Well, here goes nothing.
He jumped inside.
Thud.
[Damage +30]
He landed on the cold floor. Seeing the damage bar, he almost shrieked.
Using his character, he took in the view.
It was an old temple, white and purple, filled with marble pillars and broken stone. What little view there was only visible from bits of sunlight coming from an opening.
[Octopus67: There, in the center. In the coffin. Pick up the knife.]
Silas moved forward, and just like Octopus said, there was a skeleton, and between its bony hands was a knife.
However, there was something strange.
Usually, when there's loot, there's a status bar mentioning the details of the item. However, there was none for this.
He still picked it up.
[You: So what now?]
[Octopus67: Silas, there's something I want to say...]
[You: For what?]
[Octopus67: I'm sorry]
[Octopus67: For everything.]
[You:???]
[Octopus67 has left the chat]
The world went silent.
"What the hell did he mean?" Silas mumbled in irritation.
Silas thought for a moment.
Did he know this 'Merlin'? No, he didn't. This 'Merlin' person is not even the part of the game's lore.
He turned on his phone and started scrolling mindlessly.
The notification were ringing like crazy.
Well, the good thing is that his character is alive…
and the bad thing is...
His character is the only one alive.
His face turned pale as he saw the headline of the blog.
[Number of online players in famous game [What Lies On The Other Side] has dropped to 1 as all others were killed by NPCs for unknown reasons]
[Players unable to rejoin the game [What Lies On The Other Side] after their mysterious death. Is this the end for this game?]
[Who is the "Mysterious Survivor' in [What Lies On The Other Side]?]
"What the fuck?"
But then the corner of his lips turned upwards.
"How much will my account sell for?!"
"The only account with an alive player in one of the world's most loved games… Can it sell for at least a million? No, no… at least three million. Hell Yes! I'm about to become a millionaire."
Before his excitement could settle, the doorbell rang.
Ding dong.
His eyes, shimmering with greed, looked up.
"My lunch must've arrived."
He happily tiptoed to the door.
"Hmmm…"
Humming a tune, he opened the door.
No one was standing there.
He looked around, and finally his eyes landed on a black package below.
"Huh? What is that?"
He slowly bent down, picked up the package, and looked around. Did someone leave this here?
There was no return address on it.
He pressed his lips and brought the package inside.
He tore open the package and then...
Thud.
The object fell from his hand.
"W-what the fuck?"
The same knife he had taken from the skeleton in the game was lying on the floor.
"What the fuck is it doing here?!"
Before he could panic more, something manifested in the air.
[Host has accepted the offering from the citizen of World 4921]
[Congratulations, host! You will now be transmitted to World 4921]
[Please standby]
The world went dark.