“Libe, are you really alright? I am so worried about you. Geez, this hacker, just who the hell is he?!”
Liberty tried not to laugh at the voice that came from the cat in front of her who claimed to be her brother, but she couldn’t. With her brother’s style of speech and a voice that she thought resembled a grandmother, Liberty’s laughter finally broke out.
“Ha ha ha ha. Ace, you are so funny! Your voice is.”
Hiro felt that the girl would not be able to speak seriously for a while. So, he took over and talked to the cat who was now in Ace’s control just like Alice controlled Spyro.
“Are you able to enter the game using your account? If you can, log in, I need your help,” Hiro explained without beating around the bush because they were in a dire situation right now. “About Liberty, she’s fine. I’ll protect her no matter what,” he added.
“I can’t. If I could do it, I would have done it long ago. But I can’t, the server has been locked by someone. What do you need from me? Since when did a NightFall who could always do anything on his own need help from someone like me?”
“I need to gather my friends, my mates. They’re in danger. Did you know that the game has changed, especially for the death penalty rules?”
The cat turned its neck to the side and sat while still wagging its tail. It looked like Ace didn’t know anything yet.
“If they die, killed by the monsters or someone out there, it means that they’ll die in real life too.”
Hiro explained briefly what he had learned to Ace. This time, he had memorized some of the important parts so he could be even more careful.
After hearing everything, Ace became worried about the fate of his friends.
“I’ll be back. Please wait.” He left without explaining anything.
“Where did he go?”
Hiro didn’t want to waste any more time waiting for Ace. He had to move quickly. From the information he got from Wheelie and Cara, he guessed that the three of them weren’t really that far apart. A place with scorched and very barren ground, also cracked as if it had been burned, and with no trees showing, it seemed they were far from the forest. Hiro was certain that they were currently in the territory of the Underworld City.
However, because he didn’t find any ruins, Hiro was sure that it was quite far from the city.
“We have to keep moving, Libe. And prepare your weapons.”
“How about Monica? Can I put her back?” she asked.
“No, just let her be with you. She’s your pet. She will protect you when I can’t.”
“Uhmm… Monica, are you okay with that?” Liberty sounded a little apologetic. It seemed like she really thought of the pet monster as a substitute for her real cat, so she spoiled it.
“Meoww–” The cat didn’t seem to be bothered by that request.
Meanwhile, Alice still wondered why the cat’s AI still refused to talk and kept meowing like a real cat even though the AI ??was able to communicate with its master. Well, maybe because it is just a cat–.
Hiro checked the global map of the place. In contrast to the original world, which was round, the world in the Last Shelter Online game was depicted in a rectangular shape so that there were outer limits of the world that cannot be crossed. And with such a form, Hiro could easily guess that as long as he walked east, southeast, or south, he would be brought closer to the position of the Underworld City where it was impossible not to leave any ruins behind.
Hiro used the help of his GPS System to check where he had to go if he wanted to go to the southeast.
“This way is correct. Let’s go!”
They just walked at a brisk pace. Meanwhile, Liberty still couldn’t believe the sight in front of her. She thought the world had ended. Instead of seeing the surrounding area, Hiro checked his progressive status to see if anything had changed there.
“System calls.”
[NightFall] [Raider] [Underworld Baron]
Base Level 101
Job Class Advance Level 55
Health 105.075/105.075
AP 21.890/21.890
Energy 250/250
Fame 55.575
BR 209.915
Basic Stats (Points 0)
STR 297
AGI 175
INT 80
VIT 145
DEX 131
LUCK 109
“All sets.”
Nothing had changed. It was still the same, and it seemed that the regulations on the progressive status were still in effect right now. “Good. This way, everything will be fine. I hope so.”
“Hello, I am back!” It was Ace talking through Liberty’s cat.
“Ace, you’re back here!”
“Libe, can you help me contact my friends? I mean only Dimitri, Niklaus, and Alaric. I need to know that all of them were fine. I have called them, but according to their family, they are not home yet since the attack from the hackers.” Ace’s voice sounded very worried. Hiro also could feel the man’s feelings right now.
“What do you mean by that?”
“They stay at the hospital, Libe. The same place as you. They are still playing the game.”
“No–wait, their status is offline right now, Ace. Don’t make me confused.”
“No–how could they be offline if they never log out?”
“Okay guys! Guys! Listen to me!” Hiro couldn’t stay silent after hearing the commotion between the two siblings. Their voices grew louder and louder so that he was afraid it would attract the attention of the monsters nearby.
“The old friendlist system has broken. You can no longer use that one. You have to add them as friends again. I have done this before and trust me, if they’re okay … they will accept your friend’s request in seconds or minutes.” Hiro explained. It made Liberty look at each other with the white Maine Coon Cat for a few seconds.
“Are you sure?” Ace asked, still needing further information.
“Yes, I did it twice. Contacting my two friends. Actually, I tried to contact more than that, but until now, only two of them accepted the friend request.”
“All right, I will add them as friends. Just you wait, Brother.”
Just as they had to stop to wait for Liberty to add the three names to her friend list once again, they suddenly heard a scream from a distance not far from their position.
“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!”
Hiro looked at Liberty, and the two of them nodded without saying anything. Then, they ran towards the source of the sound, which they could easily guess where the location was.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
“Libe, get your gun ready. Be careful, don’t get too close.”
“But–how about you? No healers here, Hiro!”
…
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