Purpose

Who knows what kind of creature was hiding in the mist, but judging from its silhouette, it must be much stronger than the orcs they had fought before. It was going to be a very fatal mistake if they persisted in fighting the creature.

"Chronos, we have to find a hiding place. Hurry up." Asher pulled Chronos' hand, a tense expression on his face.

Asher's eyes slowly moved, seeing if there was any place they could use to hide. Unfortunately, the forest was full of fog and they couldn't see clearly around them. Hence, they could only see a collection of dense bushes not far from their position.

Without taking long, both Asher and Chronos immediately ran toward the bushes and jumped into them. Fortunately, they both quickly found a place to hide because not long after, the creature appeared, passing by Asher and Chronos' hiding place.

'Hey, do you see that thing? Shit, I can't see at all, these bushes are so annoying. How about you, Ash?" Chronos whispered curiously, a look of tension on his face.

"Same. I don't see that figure at all either." Asher shook his head, a disappointed look on his face.

Not long after, the figure simply vanished. Seeing it gone, Asher jumped out of his hiding place, and immediately ran back to the village of Altaria, hoping that the fairy elders might know about the creature.

"Fairy elder, we managed to bring the fairy you were looking for." Persea smiled, her happiness not lost on her face.

"Thank you, I appreciate your work." The fairy in the scarlet hat smiled, feelings of happiness and emotion mixed.

'You have completed Quest 7: Searching for the missing fairy (2/5).

Earned 1800 Exp.'

'You have obtained 1300 gold coins, 2x fairy shoes, 3x bombs,'

[Fairy shoes: delicate cloth shoes used by fairies for traveling and believed to bring good luck to the wearer. increases luck by 10%]

"'Fairy elder I have a question to ask you. During our time in the orc forest, we catch a glimpse of a large shadow in there." Asher rolled his eyes to the left, trying to remember "It is probably about as tall as the trees inside the orc forest." Asher showed a serious look on his face. "Do you know what is that?"

"From the description you have given, it must be an orc king." The fairy elder in the scarlet hat furrowed her brows, a tense look on her face. "Thank God, he doesn't see you. That thing will not hesitate to kill whoever is around him" T

"Orc King?" Chronos furrowed his brows, his face looking even more curious.

The fairy elder in the scarlet hat explained a bit about the creature. The Orc King was the leader of all Orcs and also part of the darkness. He had an aggressive and savage trait.

"That creature has destroyed almost all the fairy villages in this region. The Orc King is the horrible creature." The elf elder shook his head. "Alright, enough of the short story. I will take all these fairies to the resting place, once again thank you for your help." The fairy elder bowed his head, showing respect to them.

Hearing that explanation, Asher was extremely grateful for following his instincts while in the orc forest. Perhaps if they hadn't hidden back then, they would have died there and must back to the beginning once more.

"Ash, I think we should stop the game for today. " Chronos yawned, a look of exhaustion on his face.

"Yeah, it's almost midnight and we have class tomorrow, Chronos." Asher stretched his body, trying to stretch his muscles. "Alright, see you in class," Asher pressed the log-out button to end today's game.

***

During the online class, Ethan always kept his head down and did not move his body at all. The sound of his snoring was also occasionally heard during class. He was tired from having only slept a few hours yesterday.

"Ethan, are you asleep?" The wrinkles on the old man's forehead became more and more obvious. "Hey, Ethan!" the old man shouted quite loudly.

"Uh no Sir, not at all. "Ethan's face stiffened, his sleepiness seemed to disappear.

"Ethan, once again I see you falling asleep in class. You will never enter my class ever. I'm serious!" The old man raised both his eyeballs, a serious look on his face.

"Uh, yes, Sir." Ethan nodded his head weakly. 

"Alright, today's lesson is enough and I hope you'll keep studying over the weekend. Remember, the final exams are coming up soon and you need to prepare yourself to get into the university you want." The man's voice sounded firm and steady, there was no hesitation at all.

"Yes, Sir!" All the kids in the class shouted in unison.

One by one, Ethan's screen of friends slowly left the classroom, as did Ethan. Although the class was over, the teacher's words were still ringing in his mind. How was he supposed to tell Aunt Luna and his mom if the teacher took him out of class? That would be terrible, and his mom would be furious.

"Wait, Aidan has to sleep during class. But why wasn't he caught sleeping?" Asher stroked his chin, curiosity evident on his face. "Patsi has a trick up her sleeve and I think I can learn from her."

Asher slowly got up from his chair, stretching his muscles that were getting stiff from being in front of the laptop for too long. He walked into the kitchen to see the food that Aunt Luna had prepared for him.

"A bowl of rice, vegetable soup, and a few slices of ham on the table, sounds quite interesting," Asher said quickly taking the food, then walked back to the living room.

While walking to the living room, Ethan's phone on the couch suddenly rang. Was it Mom by any chance? So without waiting long, he rushed to pick up the phone and answered it immediately, hoping it was Mom.

"Hello, Mom?" Ethan's voice sounded happy, a happy look on his face.

"Mom? Aidan laughed at the words that came out of Ethan's mouth. "No, it's me. Aidan. Now quickly turn on your television, there is something I wanna show you."

Ethan immediately took the television remote lying on the table and then turned on the television. His face immediately tightened when he saw the news that the owner of the medical company where his mother worked was the same company as the creator of this game, Ali-Stair Biotech Corporation.

"Wait, but how?" Asher shook his head, a look of disbelief on his face. 

"Hey, the Ali-Stair family is so rich that they can buy anything they want. If they manage to find a vaccine drug, their wealth will continue to grow." Chronos said in a clear voice.

"Yes, you're right. Aidan. "Ethan nodded his head quickly.

"But, until now they haven't found a vaccine for this virus themselves. I just hope it's not Ali-Stair who finds this vaccine because many rumors are saying that if they manage to get it, something bad will happen. "Aidan whispered. "But, I don't know, that's just a rumor too." he sighed in despair. 

"Aidan, there's something I want to show you in the game." Ethan's voice sounded much more serious than before.

"Oh, ok fine, I'll go then," Aidan replied to Ethan's words enthusiastically.

***

Chronos' eyeballs immediately widened as Asher showed him the message he got the first time he played this game. Feelings of confusion and happiness were mixed up inside his mind, clearly visible on his face.

"Gosh Ash, where do you get this?" Chronos shook his head. "If this is real, we can end this pandemic once and for all." A happy expression was clearly on his face.

"I don't know, someone named athena08 sent this message to me. But have you ever heard of this location?" Asher frowned. "The 8th floor of the Ark Tower, it sounds quite strange doesn't it?" He sighed, a glimpse of frustration on his face.

"I've never heard that name either. But for now, don't tell anyone about this, Ash. Don't let any bad people take advantage of this." Chronos patted Asher's shoulder, a serious expression on his face.

"Yes, you're right. But I just want to know how this message got into my email?" Asher shook his head, a confused look on his face.

"I don't know, maybe that figure is someone you know, Ash. " Chronos shrugged his shoulders. "Try to remember, Ash." He scratched his head, a confused look on his face.

Asher immediately fell silent after hearing Chronos' words. It all made sense. The sender must be someone Asher knew, but who? He didn't know, not even a single name came to mind. Strange, but maybe there was a reason why the sender sent this message to him.