35 The quickest recovery

The space left between the tip of his blade and the lord's chest was just the length of a little finger.

Max was determined to get it through his chest at that minute but something expected happened.

[ 00:00 ]

[ Game duration has begun ]

*. *. *.

"You people should have let me teach him a lesson first!" Max shouted, gazing at the sky of the game location he had been transported to.

The location was a desert, just like any other one back on Earth. Strange how these game creators came up with different locations that he thought every one of them to be weird.

Unlike the way it had been with previous game locations, he had met with his first opponent who happened to be a bot.

Player Name : [ Sage_14 ]

Rank : [ Mortal Being ]

[ No. 5012 ]

Number of kills : [ 149 ]

Special skill(s) : [ Telekinesis, self-multiplication]

[ Next skill to be unlocked over the next 20 kills ]

Without wasting even the slightest second, Sage charged at him with the strange weapon in his hand, a huge baton with a number of six spikes on each side and another six spikes in front and behind.

The fight had started off a little to Max's advantage. They were in a desert and there was zero possibility of Sage being able to use his telekinesis on an empty place.

Sage threw his baton forth and back aggressively. Max would be doing him a favour if he were to die by Sage's hands, which would eventually lead his number of kills to become a round figure.

Sage wasted no time in his attacks, so far he hadn't even said a word to Max. His movements were swift and he proved to be flexible. Max had barely managed to dodge a direct hit from the spikes on the side of his baton but Sage had made sure not to leave the kid without even a scratch.

The tips of all six spikes slightly brushed Max's left cheek leaving behind bloody lines on it, paving the way for it to create a similarity to tribal marks.

Max cursed under his breath. Though it was already late for him to avoid getting hurt, he jumped backward. Now, there were two Sages and it was one of them that had bruised his cheek.

'So that's how it is,' Max thought.

With a hot foot, he loped forward but Sage's attacks had nothing but only begun. Sage after Sage started popping out from everywhere.

Another baton was about to hit him in the chest this time when...

As if being controlled by a remote of some sort, Max could feel his foot retrace the steps they had taken. Even the actions he had taken so far retraced themselves.

The while of watching everything that had happened rewind had soon passed. Max found himself back in a familiar position and six spikes brushed his cheeks once again. He jumped backward, though not of his will but that of his body which he seemed to not suddenly have control over. The several numbers of Sages that were attacking him continuously from every angle had surprisingly reduced back to the two Sages he had seen from the start.

"Welcome to the Sands of Time."

These words did Max hear but it was not from either of the Sages fighting against him.

"What?"

*. *. *.

Lord Hendrix with his ever-straight facial expression swung his weapon, which afterward returned to the cane it earlier was.

"Hmph." He scoffed.

The boy's eyes told of how eager he must have been to kill him and also the excitement dancing in his pupils at the thought of how he could have possibly driven his sword through his chest.

But the boy was unaware of the lord's plan. It would only be a shame for the most powerful being in Bazaar Ville to be beaten up by a pauper who displayed skills that requested further refinement. His cane, which was practically his essence weapon would have easily dealt the boy a fatal blow that would have left him paralyzed for his entire life. The boy should be grateful for his stars that the game round had interrupted the fight.

Finally, his feet came to a halt before a mansion built in ancient style yet had a touch of beauty. Two young men who had white uniforms opened the tall and intricate doors that served as the entrance of the mansion.

"Welcome back Master," They bowed as Lord Hendrix walked past the doors without a response or even turning a slight gaze toward them. The lord walked straight to his chamber where two women were already waiting for him.

"Welcome back, my Lord," They bowed their hands though as usual not expecting a response from the arrogant man.

Lord Hendrix, without a word, dropped his cane on the spacious armless chair made from gold just for him. He spread his arms apart and one of the women without being told what to do, rushed to take off his coat and moved towards the other side of the large chamber to keep the coat before returning to prepare a hot bath in the tub built in the middle of the room.

The other woman handed over a smoking pipe to the man who expressionlessly took it from her. He enclosed the mouthpiece emerging from the shank in his lips and allowed the smoke to do the job he had requested.

The man puffed away at the pipe for a while before calling out to the woman who had given him the pipe.

"Bring in Jerry and Luke," He said in a commanding tone.

"Yes, my Lord," The woman made sure to bow even though he wouldn't acknowledge her show of respect. Not doing so would result in her receiving a punishment no normal human being would wish to suffer.

As quickly as the woman left so did she return with the two men the lord had requested for.

"Master, you called for us," One of the men bowed. He was the one known as Jerry.

Luke also made sure to bow.

"I have a task I want you two to complete," Lord Hendrix hit the nail on the head without beating around the bush.

"What do you want us to do?" Luke asked with utmost politeness.

"I want you two to find me a boy. The kid lacks etiquette and mannerism which sells him off as someone born from the bottom of poverty. There's not much detail about him except for his purple eyes that stand out. Dressed in funny clothes that I believe don't originate from this era. He wields a property not befitting someone of his class. Search for the kid in the majority of game locations for today and in whatever you do, bring him to me alive. Am I understood?"

"Yes master," The men chorused.

Knowing what to do when it came to things like this when the lord was in search of someone, Jerry stepped a little forward and his eyes turned pure white for some time before they reverted to their original colour. His figure suddenly became irregular and his skin and bones started reforming. Soon, the one Lord Hendrix was in search of was in Jerry's stead.

The exact picture of the boy from, beautiful silky black hair to ever bright purple eyes to a well-defined body.

"Is this the image of the one you request, my Lord?" Jerry who was now in the form of a purple-eyed teenager asked.

"Very well," Lord Hendrix replied and continued puffing away at the pipe in his hand in a stylish manner.

*. *. *.

Not too long after Ramsey had regained consciousness did his wife not make the mistake of not taking him to the hospital.

So far, the couple had spent a few hours at the hospital. The doctors had diagnosed him to be perfectly fine as if he had never even fallen unconscious.

"Madam, your husband is just as fine as a healthy person but just to be sure he doesn't display side effects later on, we'll keep him under our care for two days. Proper care and medication will be given to him. For now, this is what we can do before his condition further progresses," The doctor had told Daniella.

The couple had chit-chats all day long in the husband's room at the hospital, something they had not been privileged to have since he had fallen under the influence of the game.

Seconds turned into minutes, minutes turned into hours and hours proceeded into the total number of days before Ramsey would be discharged. As expected by the doctors, Ramsey had developed no side effects and was just as okay to continue his life in health and peace.

The couple walked a little further from the hospital in wait for a taxi that would get them back home. Their talks full of laughter and cheerful-toned voices had continued but were soon interrupted by a sudden show of reporters.

"Mr. What happened to you in the game?"

"You have been reported as the first man to ever gain the quickest recovery from the VR curse. Can you tell us about your experience?"

"Was your state of unconsciousness caused by black magic from the game?"

News had spread like wildfire. All cases as regards the VR curse had been recorded and people were quick to find out about Ramsey from this source.

And he was soon tagged as ' The man with the quickest recovery from the curse of visual reality.'