It was early evening, the students had started gathering in the courtyard. They were free to move around the academy till seven, two and a half hours from now before the feast starts.
The corridors were filling in, the teens were meeting with their friends and girlfriends, and boyfriends to find the play center (where a play by William Shakespeare was being performed), some went to the Vr-cade in a while to relieve the stress.
Hitori was sitting in his house, sitting in his school uniform, and browsing the internet. He had logged in today, but neither saw Onogi or Reon online… seeing Kamiya's account inactive for weeks, he got used to it.
He calmed because he knew what happened to Kamiya, fortunately, Divine Valley's audience did not know what happened to him. They were booming his inbox with questions.
Hitori opened the game's website, he was going back to the trending list.
Even he had got many messages from the players asking when their next fight would be held. Why did they disappear all of a sudden, are they together or did they decide to break up, will they ever come back?
Hitori never bothered to answer any of the questions, he simply deleted them. When he looked at the invite he had put before the conquest, only twenty people had applied for joining his guild. Not many players were interested now it seems.
He sighed and left it. Right now Hitori was following the trending list. But something unexpected happened. Divine Valley was on the first spot.
Hitori had never expected it to be true, but it had happened. Divine Valley was still in the top spot. The reason? Well, it took Hitori some time to figure it out. But when his eyes fell on the second spot, his heart jumped inside his chest.
He found his and two other people's name on the second spot. It was Ryu, God's Hell, and Leonine. The trio who disappeared, the unsolved mystery.
Hitori chuckled. "We are not a mystery… perhaps we are."
He sunk into his chair. What was happening? He learned one thing about the trending algorithm that day.
First– you get famous and hit the top spot on the trending list if you make it big by defeating a big shot or conquering a high-level dungeon.
Second– if you do something stupid and it has a negative impact. You do not reach the top only if you win or attack, you become even if something negative, like disappearing mysteriously, happens.
Hitori closed the screen without scrolling any further. Tears had formed in his eyes, he stopped them from flowing, though. Hitori tapped the table, pushed the chair, and left the room.
He went to the hall and grabbed his white cloak. He grabbed the handle, twisted it, and pulled. It did not move. He tried again, the door budged, but did not open. Hitori groaned and took a step back. He drew his wand and aimed it at the door, he held it. He was breathing hard for some reason. He wanted to burst the door, it was his anger acting– or maybe his pain.
It had happened to him before. He was hurt and in pain, angry, and frustrated when he was standing in the Spawn spot. Suddenly an urge took over him and made him throw spells all over, kill everyone, destroy the already ruined spot, the pillars, and the fountain.
Log out, then bang the console till his knuckles were dislocated or broken, or till the wooden cum metal console breaks. He reflected on it and realized it was stupid, idiotic, and whatnot.
He spent the next half hour searching for the key. When he found it under the sofa, he raced to the door, inserted the key, and twisted it. He heard a click. He grabbed the handle and twisted it open.
He walked out and saw the bluish-black sky. The sun had set and the night was falling, it was past six. That was for sure. Hitori walked down the stairs when he realized he was supposed to lock the house.
He turned around to lock the house when he found the key missing. He frowned, then realized he had left the key on the other side. He pursed his lips and turned, he spun in circles before reaching for his wand again.
His fingers fell on his wand and he paused. Hitori bit his lip. He groaned in anger as he lowered his head. He stomped his feet and climbed the stairs. He snatched the key from behind.
He pulled the handle in anger, and the door banged against its rim, shaking the wood around. He put the key in the slot as if loading bullets in a gun, he twisted the key as if pulling the barrel, then he removed the key and put the gun (key) in his jeans (pocket).
He teleported. Using magic cost mana, and somehow, losing mana calmed Hitori. Using mana drained his stamina, and the exhaustion in return drained his anger, too.
So he refrained from using the wagons, instead, he used teleportation to reach the castle. To his surprise, it was already full of life. 'Oh, I hate people,' he thought.
Students were dressed in all kinds of robes but covered them was only one color– the white cloak. The corridors were colored white, filled with whispers, shouts, and laughs, and the smell of meat, noodles, riceballs, and fish was floating.
Hitori chose to take the way that was the longest, hence the less crowded since most did not bother taking a long way home.
It was the back way, it was the way where only two or three lamps were lightened in the corridor. If the scientists were planning an invasion, then they would likely plant a portal around there.
Hitori raised his head when he reached a turn. On his right was a dead end, on his left was a wall, and in front of him was the way to the main hall where the feast was supposed to be held.
He just took a step when he felt like he saw something. A person? A silhouette, maybe. Hitori gulped. He moved his hand over the cloak and grabbed the wand as he took a step back.
He lowered his eyes, then took another tiny step back and glanced to the right. A person was standing with his back to Hitori, he was walking towards the wall when he suddenly stopped.
Hitori stepped away from the dead-end and stopped when his back banged against the wall. He felt a bolt of pain due to striking his back against the rock, but he ignored it.
The side of his white cloak flapped as he drew his wand and aimed at the person. The person had a hood over his head and was wearing an emerald robe. A fourth-year student?
Hitori wanted to ask who he was, but he could not find words within himself. It was like his tongue was tied– or it was not even in his mouth anymore. If that person did turn out to be an enemy, he wondered how would he cast a spell?
But he had done it before. Although it was in the heat of the moment, he had cast Bakuhatsu without saying it.
Then he wondered whether he would be able to aim with his trembling hands, what if the fears delay his spell by a moment and the enemy uses his card?
Hitori was scared shit when the person with the green hood glanced over his shoulder. Hitori could not believe it, but there were tears in his black eyes.
He sobbed and Hitori's fear vanished. "Nothing…" he said, his voice was deep– too deep, it sounded like a powerful but old navy commander, "just collecting a few items… a few important items."
But right now, after saying that much, he sounded like he might break out like a baby any second. Hitori, for some reason, felt guilty for pointing his wand at the man, so he lowered it.
He listened and the man continued, "He will be better, he will be alright."
Hitori noticed the man had tied his hair in a bun over his head, covered in the hood, that created a bulge.
The person sobbed again. "I am sorry. Bye!"
Hitori stood watching as the person jumped into the wall and disappeared. His mouth dropped open. He glanced around in confusion. What the hell just happened?
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