1 Su Muqiu wakes up

"Ye…Xiu…?" Su Muqiu mumbled hoarsely, then coughed, blinking blearily at the man standing in shock above his bed. "…Where am I?" he finally managed to get out.

"What?! Are you awake? How? …um, excuse me," the man said, the book that he had been holding falling to the floor.

"Where am I? What's going on?" Muqiu repeated.

He took a deep breath. "It's okay; you're okay. You're in a hospital recovering after being almost killed in a car accident. And…you've been in a coma for almost 8 years," the man said, deciding it was probably better to tell him everything at once, rather than letting him be confused at the current year. "I'm sorry. The accident…it was all my fault. I distracted the taxi driver when he hit you. I've done everything I can think of…if you need anything, just ask."

"Thanks, you didn't have to," Muqiu said politely, out of habit. He was still rather confused at all the information the other man had just told him, as well as the blunt, concise way he had said it, as if he were reading off a grocery list of items to tell him. Well, maybe he did have a rehearsed list of things to tell him considering… "Wait, 8 years?! …And, Ye Xiu, how did you afford a taxi? And I thought you were playing Glory…?" After all, from Su Muqiu's point of view, he felt as if he had only been asleep for a while. Sure, he was a little stiff after lying in bed for some time, and his voice was hoarse from disuse, but it shouldn't have been eight years, right?

"First of all, I'm Ye Qiu, Ye Xiu's brother. How do you know him?"

"We were friends, and we played Glory together. How's—" he cut off as the door opened.

"Ye Qiu, its time to leave again," a young nurse called, then saw Su Muqiu. "He's awake!?" she cried incredulously, then ran out of the room to get a doctor.

"Um…I think she's new here," Ye Qiu said apologetically to Muqiu.

"So, how is Ye Xiu? Can I talk to him?"

"He's doing alright, I guess. He's still in City H, so I don't know that he can come visit you anytime soon. That brother of mine is too obsessed with his video games. You can try his QQ, though."

"QQ? I don't think I have an account."

"You can borrow mine, for now."

Just then, the young nurse came back, along with another nurse and a doctor. The doctor began looking at all sorts of measurements from a computer, and asking Muqiu questions about how he felt, and what he remembered, and telling him how it was such a miracle that he woke up and how he would have to do so many months of rehabilitation to be able to walk and function normally again, but it would be okay, he would be able to get back to normal, and for now he should just try not to worry about anything and get some rest. Muqiu bore it all with a pleasant smile, wondering if Mucheng was doing alright, and reassuring the doctor that he was feeling alright and would do his best to recover for the time being.

~

The next day, Ye Qiu came over again, bringing a laptop computer. He logged into QQ and pulled up his brother's account, handing the computer over to Muqiu so that he could text him (Ye Xiu).

Ye Qiu: Hi this is Muqiu

Lord Grim: You're dead. Ye Qiu, stop messing with me. That's not funny.

Ye Xiu responded surprisingly quickly.

"Why does he reply to you immediately?" Ye Qiu mumbled to himself.

Ye Qiu: I really am Muqiu. According to your brother, I've been in a coma for 8 years.

Lord Grim: …Are you drunk?

Ye Qiu: Please. How can I prove who I am? The last thing I said to you…I told you to take care of Mucheng. And our glory… he thought. Damn it, does he still play Glory? Does it even still exist?

Lord Grim: how do you know that? video chat with me

Lord Grim: gimme 5 minutes to finish this dungeon

"We're waiting for him to finish a dungeon," Su Muqiu explained to Ye Qiu when he stopped typing.

Ye Qiu sighed. "That useless brother…always playing games. Now that you're here, I'll never get him to come home."

Muqiu laughed softly. "He's really passionate about it, though. Can you say you would have found something to do if you were the one to leave?" He knew something of Ye Xiu's family situation, enough to know that he had run away from home in the place of his brother.

"I suppose. Our parents really do want him to come back before he gets too much older, though. He needs to start a career."

"Glory can be a career. We'll make one of it."

"I meant a real…never mind." They lapsed into silence.

~

Ye Xiu finished the dungeon, conflicted. He had long since come to terms with his best friend's death; he had never expected him to be alive. Was it really too much to hope for? But how could Ye Qiu know those things? He wouldn't know until he found out. He clicked on QQ and started the call.

Muqiu answered immediately. When the live video feed began on Ye Xiu's QQ, it showed a picture of a young man with light reddish-brown hair. His face and body were thin and frail from years spent lying in a hospital bed in a coma, cheeks sunken, skin pale, but it was Su Muqiu. It was definitely, definitely Su Muqiu.