7 - Sudden Turn of Events

"You look pretty serious." Olivia commented after a few minutes of us eating in silence.

I looked up from my burger and saw her with a raised eyebrow, her fork still inside her mouth.

"I'm just pretty invested in my game." I said as I shrugged.

"Hmm." She replied nonchalantly, but I could feel her eyes on me.

I jolted a bit when my phone suddenly vibrated inside of my pocket. I carefully placed my burger back down on the table before checking who messaged me.

[ Ryan Hunter: Hey, I'll be online later. I just need to finish returning the books here in the library. See ya! ]

[ Me: Sure. I'm on my way to Wildewick, though. I'll send you something later, so check your mail. ]

[ Ryan Hunter: Dang, I really wanted to see your character. What class are you now? By the way, whatever you wanna send me, thanks in advance.]

[ Me: I'm a Marionette. You're welcome. ]

[ Ryan Hunter: Nice. I'm on my way to my first class advance. I think I'm gonna be a Berserker. ]

[ Me: From Warrior to Berserker, huh? I thought you wanted to be a Fighter? ]

[ Ryan Hunter: Nah. I realized that hand-to-hand combat isn't really for me. But swinging humongous swords? Count me in. ]

[ Me: Well, I can't wait to see you in-game again. See you later, I guess. ]

[ Ryan Hunter: Sure, sure. ]

I returned my phone in my pocket and went back to eating my burger.

"Is Halcyon Dawning really good?" Olivia asked and I almost choked in surprise.

"Why? Wanna join?" I asked back, slowly biting into my burger.

Oh god, my sister doesn't know anything about what happened. I'll get an earful if she learns about what I did.

"Maybe. After I publish my latest novel, I need to relax for a bit and Michael, my editor's new assistant, has been trying to convince me to play this game." She shrugged and I swallowed slowly.

"Well, I mean, it's pretty good." I said, not knowing what else to say to her.

"I guess I'll just look more into it. If it's more interesting than I thought, then I'll try it. If not, then I'll probably just go out-of-town for a vacation." She replied as she finished her salad.

I felt inclined to tell her to not research about any recent news in Halcyon Dawning but it's obvious that it would just make her suspicious. And, fully knowing my sister's attitude, she would interrogate me for god knows how long about it.

"I'll be in my room." I said as I finished my burger.

"As always." She shooed while washing the bowl she just used.

I just rolled my eyes jokingly at her before rushing upstairs. I still have ten minutes left before I arrive at Wildewick so I should send Ryan those extra equipment that I saved for him.

When I logged back in, I frowned when all I see is darkness.

The heck? Is the game currently on maintenance?

"Oh, look. He's back." I hear a woman's voice somewhere.

I tried to move my limbs but I realized that my hands are tied behind my back and my feet are tied together. I slightly scrunched up my face and I confirmed to myself that I'm indeed blindfolded.

Did I just get kidnapped!?

Me!? Really!? Why!?

Once again, I could feel rage suddenly surge inside of me like some sort of volcano waiting to erupt. I've never felt this kind of anger before and I just want to release it.

"You do know that I could easily destroy everything around here, right?" I slowly said through gritted teeth and I could feel the ground beneath me vibrate with every word that I say.

"Woah, calm down. We're not enemies." A male voice said and I took a deep breath to calm myself down.

Where the heck is this anger coming from? I feel like I'm experiencing PMS or something.

"I'm listening." I grumbled, still on the verge of wanting to punch someone.

The blindfold came off and I saw myself inside of a small wooden cottage with three people - a female human Scholar, a male High Elf Archer and a male Werewolf Berserker.

The High Elf who removed the blindfold stepped away from me, probably feeling my current hostile attitude towards them.

I was about to use my one of my spells when one of them suddenly spoke up.

"We need your help, please." The Scholar said, catching me off-guard.

"I don't even know you." I said, staying still.

"My name is Elena. This is Braxas and Akari." She introduced herself before pointing to the Werewolf and then the High Elf.

"And why am I here?" I asked, eyeing all of them.

"We know who you are and, like what Elena said, we just want your help. We were on our way to Raveryn to look for you but we saw your carriage. Unfortunately, you weren't online so we resulted to kidnapping you." Akari explained, standing awkwardly beside the Werewolf.

"What the hell do you need me for?" I frowned, deeply.

"One of our friends entered a high-level dungeon without our knowledge and we can't reach her. We would just let her be and wait for her to respawn somewhere outside the dungeon, but she's wearing a bodysuit." Elena explained and I cursed silently.

"Let me guess, she's never experienced any kind of pain before?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"She's just sixteen in real life and this is the first game that she's ever played. She doesn't know anything." Braxas groaned.

"We don't want her to get hurt, so please. Help us." Akari spoke again.

I sighed lightly, debating inside of my head whether or not I should help these guys.

It's not a violation of my punishment, right? Besides, they're just seeking help and not wanting to team up. As long as I do things on my own, it's probably okay.

I could use them as witnesses if I ever get into trouble after doing this.

"Fine." I said and I snapped the ropes without even using any skill. That seem to surprise the three of them.

"H-How did you do that? Those ropes were enchanted to its maximum level." Elena's eyes were wide.

They were? I didn't even feel anything.

"Don't mind that. Now, which dungeon did she enter?" I stood up and pulled my map from my bag.

They went closer and Braxas pointed out a dungeon just outside of Wildewick. It's just a regular cave, but it's more than 30 levels above them.

"Okay. Just wait here and I'll get her." I said and put the map back.

"Wait-"

I stormed outside before they could even say anything else. I'm still a little pissed about the whole kidnapping thing.

It's a good thing that the dungeon is just a ten-minute walk away from here so I'll hopefully get to her before she could reach the Boss.

If I see that girl, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind. That should teach her a lesson to never be too arrogant when entering dungeons.