DCO- Dungeon Core Online

Chapter 60

“They’re here,” James said as he got the message from Z. He and Fel had moved to the living room, deciding to mindlessly watch a movie while they waited for Z to arrive. Fel had eyed the door to his parents’ workshop, and he knew she’d wanted to inquire about it, but she’d managed to restrain herself. Which, was probably poor wording on James’s part, considering that thought had made him think of how she’d restrained the Cyb3ru5 ruffians who’d tried to kidnap him, in his very living room.

“About time,” she pushed off of the couch, completely uncaring that just the other night she’d had a man bleeding on it as she interrogated him, “I was really getting tired of this shitty movie.”

“Hey,” James started in protest. It wasn’t a shitty movie. Okay, maybe it was a bit B-Rate, but it wasn’t shitty.

“Of all the things to put on,” she looked at him, “I didn’t expect a B-Rate Isekai. Though, I suppose I should be somewhat impressed. It was one I’d never seen before.” She shook her head as she looked at him. “Who the hell came up with a protagonist that had mastered tennis skills from the real world, getting transported to a fantasy world and given magic spells?”

“Okay, when you say it like that, it sounds silly.” James relented. “And that’s my bad. It’s actually a sequel series to one called Aced.” James explained as they walked towards the door. “Pretty much—”

“I don’t care.” She stopped him. “Maybe, if I’m really bored, and really drunk, or high, I’ll check it out. Till then though,” she looked at him, “sports anime aren’t my jam.”

“Suit yourself,” James muttered, the conversation feeling absurdly normal considering what loomed in the near future for them. It was nice, actually. “But I’m just saying, sports-based stories can really surprise you in a good way. More people should check them out.”

“Not me,” she said, “not now, at least.”

They were at the front door, so the conversation ended. Just as he heard a knock at it, James had the door open, revealing a grinning Zach, and four other faces he didn’t recognize. Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. Two of the faces were familiar, one more so than the other.

“Hope you don’t mind me swinging by with a crowd,” Z walked into the house as James welcomed him in. The old school nurse was carrying a couple boxes of pizza, and behind him, one of the others was carrying a bag full of ice cream cartoons, and another a couple twelve packs of soda. “But sometimes official nurse duties have to part ways for mandatory friend time you know.” He motioned back at them, “it’s our Dungeons and Dragons night.”

“Oh, right,” James remembered Z saying that they played the TTRPG, in person still, instead of using immersion. Was it really their D&D night? Or was that just his cover story? Could be both, honestly.

“And I see you’ve already got company,” Z nodded towards Fel, who took the pizza from him and carried it over to the table. “How’s Alex doing Fel?”

“Better,” she responded quickly, “though he’s really not a fan of being stuck in a hospital bed. And I really wish my boyfriend was bedridden. Makes things less fun for the both of us.”

James looked from Z, to Fel, and back to Z. He knew they’d gamed together in DCO. But hadn’t realized they knew each other in person.

“I met Zach when he visited Alex,” Fel answered his unasked question. “Apparently Alex had helped Zach here tend to you when you got your ass knocked out by that waste of flesh Dwight, and so he came to check on Alex when he heard what had happened to him. We’ve met up a few times in DCO since too. He’s been a major help in leveling us.”

“Oh,” was all James could say. He was nowhere near as quick on the uptake, or cover stories, as they were. Everything they said made perfect sense. Was it all true? Or planned? If it was planned, how’d they coordinate so well? He decided to move on to other things.

“I know you,” James said as he looked past Zach, towards one of the four others who were standing awkwardly in his kitchen. “You’re a teacher at my school.”

“Guilty as charged,” the man, one of the teachers assigned to teaching Senior level classes at his school, said with a nod. James had never interacted with him, but he’d seen him in the halls on a few occasions. He wore a sharp looking pair of glasses, and James wondered if they were purely cosmetic like his or served to help his vision. He was slender, with age showing its wear on him. His dark hair was streaked in silver, which matched his salt and pepper beard. His eyes were kind though, and his cheeks showed he smiled often.

“Students know me as Mr. Lancaster,” the man said with a smile, “Ralph for my peers and friends though.” He looked at James, “or, in DCO, I go by Elm.”

“Nice to officially meet you, Mr. Lancaster,” James said, trying to remember his manners as he reached out to shake Elm’s hand. Elm handed off his bag of ice cream to the man beside him, who took it to the table.

“I’m glad to see you’ve been recovering,” Elm said with a look towards Z, “I felt partially responsible for your attack. As teachers, we’ve a duty to protect our students, and we obviously failed for both you, and young Alex.” There was genuine sorrow in his voice.

“Er, it’s fine.” James said, not knowing what else to say. Another figure stepped forward, and James didn’t know what his real name was, but he had a guess who it was within DCO. He knew from spying on them… that Oak and Elm were brothers. What he hadn’t realized was they were twins.

“I’m George Lancaster,” the man who looked just like Elm said, “no Mr. Lancaster please. Makes me sound old.” He laughed, but James noticed his smile and laughter lines didn’t reach quite as high as his brothers. James had a feeling that just like in DCO, George had spent his life putting others before himself, and taking one, in a sense, for the team.

“Nice to meet you,” James shook his hand, “George.”

“Not sure if we’ve met in game before,” George continued, “but you probably know me as Oak, the best tank in DCO.”

The others all chuckled at his joke, and James couldn’t help but smile as he felt the comforting strength in George’s grip, and his eyes. Reliable was what he was. The tension he’d been feeling was fading.

“Guessing since you’re Z,” Fel cut in, “and the twins there are Oak and Elm, that means the last two of your little party are Faust and Med Ic?” She bit into a slice of pizza, which she’d helped herself to. “Sup guys, I’m obviously FlashFyre.”

“What?” The other individual, who James was guessing had to be Faust, considering he vaguely recognized the man, said in a mocking tone. “I never would have guessed you were FlashFyre. It’s not like Axel calls you Fel all the time in game, and you know,” he motioned at her, “your hair is a dead giveaway.”

She smirked and continued eating the pizza. “Glad we got that out of the way,” she said mid bite. “Food’s getting cold.”

“She’s right,” the man said as he turned towards James, “I’m Faust from the Knight’s Who Go Ni, though in the real world I go by Frank.”

James held out his hand and shook the mans. “James,” he said, “though I think you already knew that?”

“Guilty as charged,” Faust said, “glad to see you’re in better shape than when I was driving you home the other night.”

“And that leaves me,” the final member said. Unlike the others, the final person had vibrantly colored hair. It was a mixture of blues and greens and purples, swirling in a strange ombre down his shoulders. “Names Eric Tillman,” he didn’t offer his hand to James. Instead, he held a few fingers up towards his temple, and offered James a weird type of salute with the flick of his wrist. “Med Ic in game.”

Compared to how Med Ic acted within DCO, James wasn’t sure what to make of the obviously eccentric member of the group. Dyed hair wasn’t itself that crazy, but the number of piercings in his ears and lips, and his clothing, that fit more appropriately in some weird homage to bands from the late 1900s, were out of place. Somehow, hadn’t let go of the past.

“Uh, nice to meet you.” James looked the man up and down. He was shorter than the others, by a good six inches, though James only realized that when he saw how tall the platform boots were the man was wearing. So not what he’d expected of the best healer he’d ever seen in action.

“Well then,” Z clapped his hands together, pulling everyone’s attention towards him. “We’ve got dice to throw and monsters to slay, so let’s all grab a quick bite, and be off. I’m sure James doesn’t want us crowding his house, especially when he’s got company over.”

“Before you leave,” Fel said, another slice of pizza already in her hand. “I’ve a gift for you. A thank you, if you would, for caring about Alex, and all you’ve been doing since.”

“Oh, well, I’m never one to turn down gifts,” Z said, though he stiffened slightly. There was something being said between the two that James didn’t know. “Can it wait till we eat?”

“Sure.” Fel said, and as if that was the deciding factor, everyone quickly rushed to the table, and the kitchen turned to chaos. Soda was opened, pizza was snatched, sauce and cheese spilled, and ice cream slowly melting as everyone, for a moment, lost themselves to what felt like a gathering of long-lost friends. James treasured every moment of it.