Conrad stared at his friend who had been reduced into a madman after his wife died. Fred used to be a high man, someone who could stand next to him. No, actually, he was way above him. As a very high-level host, he could even conquer countries and empires and declare himself a Great Emperor. And he was not stupidly making claims.
However, because of love, this great man chose to retreat from the world and hide into a normal husband's disguise. And then when his beloved passed away, he chose to also retreat from the non-hosts' world, rotting away in this abandoned mental hospital. The magnate was quite sad that his friend ended up like this just because a woman he dearly loved was killed. Honestly, he couldn't understand how someone could be so deeply invested in a person not related to him by blood.
He studied the doctor's tired face and then shook his head, not liking the thoughts swimming in his mind.
It was when Fred unemotionally asked, "So, are you now usin
More than good decisions, people are more prone to commit mistakes throughout their lives. And Eithan did just one of them today.This happened after he advised Irene Middleton and the police about the bomber lurking around the mall.The folly of a youth who has yet to discover that most of the time, age equates knowledge and experience.He stupidly assumed that by throwing away his sim card, no one would be able to lead the message back to him. He didn't know that the network's records could be hacked, and even if the possibility crossed his mind, he assumed that there would be nothing to worry about because all he did was tipped off the police.Also, unlike the other hosts who knew they could use the system to mask delete their records or traces, Eithan knew none of it. His system AI was ultimately like its brethren with a nasty little hobby of letting their hosts discover the system's functions by themselves.Hence, he didn't know that he could
A couple of moments later, he had confirmed that he knew the person. It was someone he met once in Alina City. To be exact, at the police station there. However, unlike in his current situation where he was interrogated just because the group of people here found or created the least bit connection between him and a criminal, in Alina City Police Station he met this person through Misty, the egotistical muse of that station, and in there he was one of the acting detectives, forced to contribute ideas by that annoying woman.'What is he doing here?' he asked himself as he watched the cold-faced man approached the middle-aged officer together with the beer-bellied officer whom he assumed was one of the higher-ups.After their greetings and salutations, the two oldest men in the room talked for a while through whispers until a minute later when the fellow who came in together with Misty's brother stopped talking and the other officer turned to him in surprise.The
'What an accursed day,' he complained to himself with a face that seemed as dark as the bottom of a pot. The sun outside the station could not drive away the ominous clouds floating above his head.Truthfully, he was not yet outside of the police station. He stopped at the lobby and those rays of light which could not really alleviate his gloomy mood were merely refracted through the glass window. But actually, putting his mood dampened by all the unpleasant experiences he had within that room aside, there was another reason he said his Friday was cursed.'...What the hell is this?'Two people called out his name, and both stared at each other promptly after. However, their staring contest only lasted for two seconds and their attention went back to him.Eithan chose to turn around and faced Baron, ignoring the other. He nodded at the man in acknowledgment. After all, even though the officer did not help him much, Baron did try his best to put good words
This occurred when his still coughing father turned on the TV to watch the evening news. The time on the lower left corner stated that it was 6:13 pm, quite negligible when compared to the large space occupied by the face of the reporter and the footage of the explosion.53 dead. 154 wounded and injured. 13 missing.The explosion incident was bigger than expected, and he only came to know about it when it got reported as flash news. Eithan could only dumbfoundedly look at the figures showed on the screen, his mind finally realizing how big the disturbance was.Hearing vague details from the police was a different matter. When he watched how great of devastation that bombing incident had brought to that mall was, he realized that he underestimated the gravity of the situation. Or maybe, he just forgot how huge the matter was due to being caught in a troublesome affair.Now, he knew that people died. Many people even. Not to mention those injured and missin
Eithan felt his body growing colder as he at least recognized that he was not even in his own neighborhood anymore. His face showed just how much shocked he was for discovering that in just a second, he was no longer inside his house.'So a host could so something like this, huh?' he asked himself when a bit of calmness returned to his body.'Maurice then?' He began guessing as to lessen the panic in his heart.'For that frickin' phone?'Just when his mind was being plagued by so many questions, he suddenly felt the back of his scalp and his spines tingled. Something inside his brain suddenly screamed of danger. He felt cold all over, his senses perceiving something which appeared behind him. For how he sensed that, he didn't know. He also didn't know why he had this feeling. If he had to guess, maybe it was the enhancement which the system told him five days ago.However, no matter what the reason was, he did sense something, no, someone appearing behind him. As if the embodiment of
"Big bro, sorry by the way for suddenly kicking you and making you end up like this. But actually, it's your fault. Anyway, I'll just consider this my payback for ratting me out yesterday. Punishment for making me upset." "..." "Right. You asked why I'm targeting you. It's because of this." "Hahaha. You know. When I was feeling happy that a police branch finally managed to locate and predict my moves, my companion just suddenly told me it's actually a system-user who did." "Aye, you don't know how disappointed I was! You're so bad for making me feel like that! So I located you and summoned you here!" "..." Only one thing crossed Eithan mind when he finished hearing the lunatic boy's speech. With widened eyes and body still trembling from pain, he mentally shouted to the system, 'Sandro Smith!!!???' "Distant water cannot quench a fire nearby." The wise words from some ancient dude of the oldest and biggest empire in the east. This saying was pretty spot on in Eithan' current si
Without knowing how many minutes or hours had passed, within the thin boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness, Eithan seemed to see a woman madly ordering other people in white attires to take care of him meticulously. He also seemed to hear her voice, her fierce tone reminding him of someone who used to raise her voice at him before like this. Due to this woman, the memories appeared close, but also distant, making him feel so restless to take a look at her face.Sadly, whenever he tried to open his eyes to see who it was and to check if she was that person, a heavy feeling of drowsiness would always strike him, preventing him from even take a sneak peek at her face. Before sinking to sleep again, all he would remember was her long straight black hair that falls like a waterfall behind her. It was very beautiful. So beautiful that it even appeared in his dreams...Unknown whether the gods wanted to torture or reward him in his sleep, he saw that long and beautiful black ha
"Sarmiento, did Aura give you an update?" she asked her bodyguard, masking the unease in her face and heart."Sorry, Miss. She said there is really nothing even after she hacked all the CCTVs around and in between the possible routes from his home to the basketball court." The man also shook his head and stared at his boss, worry evident from his eyes. "Miss, I'm not sure if he's just unluckily victimized. However, the perpetrator's means are so clever and efficient that even I who came from the military was awed."No more elaboration was needed. Irene understood that he was advising her not to involve herself with the guy anymore."I know what I'm doing, don't worry." The girl gave the other a small smile, then stood up from the monobloc chair.It was because a doctor still in his green operational gown, walked in so Irene got up from her seat and greeted him."How is he, Doc?""He's now at least brought back from half-death," replied the slightly haggard-faced man. "However, his sta