NOVEL NEXT Chapter 19: In The World Of Ones and Zeros
Lady currently lying in bed while staring at the ceiling absentmindedly. He had turned down the offers to stay with Noel and Emma on the condition that he allow them to drive him too and from school. His chest ached slightly but not enough to cause worry. Speaking of worry, Lady was surprised that so many people had been worried about him.
Not only his boss and teacher but several of his classmates had skipped school just to visit him. It was the first time people had ever worried about him when he had been sick. For as long as he could remember, the gazes directed at him when he was sick were filled with disdain rather than pity.
Lady got out of bed and decided to clean up his room. While it was by no means dirty, he hadn’t been expecting guests and was slightly embarrassed when everyone came over and saw his unmade bed, messy desk, and scattered clothes. He began to pick up the dirty clothes around his room and opened the closet door to deposit them in his dirty hamper.
Surprisingly, there were far fewer dirty clothes in there than he remembered their being. He didn’t think much of it though and reasoned that he must have just done laundry recently and forgotten. As he continued cleaning his room, Lady questioned why. Was he expecting guests? Would those girls really visit him again? A part of him certainly hoped so.
He finished cleaning his room and made his way to the kitchen where he removed Tupperware from the fridge. A few hours after everyone had left, Emma had returned with his prescription of pain medication which she had picked up from the pharmacy and several containers of food he could reheat for dinner tonight and tomorrow. He reheated the food while setting the table for himself. Looking at the empty spots at the table, he wondered if he would ever be able to enjoy a meal with others.
He had grown so used to being alone. And yet, he was finally opening back up. He had made friends with Lily and Maria. His boss Noel was kind to him. His teacher, Miss Emma, cared about him. Even Anna and Rachael seemed to be trying to get closer to him. He could only wonder as he ate how long it would last.
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Maria was sitting around her room contemplating the events that had happened earlier today. She had gone with Lily to visit Lady, namely under the guise that she wanted to skip school but also to satiate her own curiosity. She was suspicious at first but now, she had no doubt. Lady was Ladykiller
She had thought his voice sounded familiar after they first met but talking with him after school on Tuesday allowed her to put all of the pieces together. They both played the same games. Lady sounded just like her online friend Ladykiller and he played the same games as well. There was no way it was a coincidence.
She doubted he knew who she really was though. She made an effort to give her voice a higher pitch and suppressed her accent when she was online. She felt giddy having experienced such an unexpected encounter this week. She recalled when she met Ladykiller online.
Unlike most of the people that tried to get close to her. Ladykiller had only wanted to have fun. He never tried to ride off the coattails of her success and judging by what she knew about him now, she doubted he had befriended her with any malicious intent.
Speaking of Lady, he was somewhat cute. At least, In the same way that the animals in an ASPCA commercial were cute. I can see why Lily’s taking a liking to that little guy she thought as she pulled out her phone. Maria quickly typed a message and sent it
NekoGirl: You down to game rn?
LadyKiller: Sure, not streaming tho
NekoGirl: No prob, me neither.
His reply was fairly quick and she responded in kind as she booted up her computer and began loading into a game. She was about to invite him when she received another message.
LadyKiller: My friend just invited me to a game.
NekoGirl: She can join us if she wants.
Ladykiller: Ok, but I’ve never used vc with her so I’ll probably lurk in game chat.
NekoGirl: No prob, we can go analog if you want ;)
NekoGirl: But you talk during stream, she might have heard your voice there?
There was a delay before he replied. It was possible that he hadn’t realized this online friend of his had watched his streams. She became even more curious as to who this person was. And why Lady apparently didn’t want them to hear his voice. After another minute he finally replied with a simple
Lady: Maybe
She noticed that Ladykiller had logged into the game and invited him to a party. Shortly after joining, he also invited someone else. A user by the name of MagicalGirlLover. This third party began to pique Maria’s interests even more. Lady had referred to MagicalGirlLover as her in his messages. He also implied that she had never heard his voice or more accurately, he had never used voice chat with her.
Was it possible that he knew who this MagicalGirlLover was in real life and if so, could it be that she was one of the girls that had been at his house earlier. What are you hiding Lady, she wondered as the three began playing together.
The three of them had decided to take on an older raid called the Sunken Castle in order to farm resources. Lady had suggested the group use long reaching weapons to combat the corrupted knights guarding the castle which used short swords. Maria had wanted to use a pair of daggers with a fire enchantment but MagicalGirlLover had insisted she follow LadyKillers advice.
{LadyKiller: Attack} his avatar cried out after he used a callout and charged the gate with a halberd in hand. NekoGirl's avatar launched a barrage of fire when she pressed the 3 key and she followed in after him while her magic recharged. {NekoGirl: Enemies Spotted} she responded with a ping of her own as she noticed two enemies that were flanking the group. {MagicalGirlLover: I’m on it} the third avatar said as MagicalGirlLover buffed herself and prepared to engage.
The group communicated mostly through the use of the in-game callout and ping system which was surprisingly helpful in situations where they didn’t have time to type out a message. After killing the remaining knights, the three of them entered the castle and began clearing it of enemies. {Ladykiller: Let’s split up} He said as he began heading towards one of the far hallways.
{MagicalGirlLover: I’ll join you} the girl replied as she followed in the direction of LadyKiller. I guess now I know what Velma feels like when Fred and Daphne go off to look for clues Maria thought as she watched the two venture off down the hall. She began her own trek through the castle smashing vases and chests along the way in order to find loot. After several minutes, the three regrouped in front of the boss room with their pockets metaphorically full. {NekoGirl: Let’s do this!}
The boss known as the Corrupted King was difficult due to his tanky health and powerful attacks, aside from that though, his patterns were simple and his attacks were predictable. {MagicalGirlLover: I’ve got you covered} Her avatar said while applying a defense buff to LadyKiller. The three started to engage in combat with the king as they launched a variety of attacks at him while avoiding his own.
The boss launched a silver projectile from his staff at Lady but it was intercepted mid-flight by MagicalGirlLover who tanked the attack. Lady seizing the opportunity, attacked the boss with a heavy strike from behind. Several more attacks from him and Lady finally weakened the boss and triggered his final stage.
While the animation of the king evolving into a grotesque monster played, MagicalGirlLover Applied another buff to Lady. The second stage was more or less a joke to the three skilled players who beat it in under a minute with several well timed magic attacks.
The group collected their rewards and began to log off one by one. Maria couldn’t help but wonder as she looked through the profile of the offline MagicalGirlLover, just who is this girl? The person seemed very protective of Lady in game and seemed to revere him, always following his advice or going along with his plans.
Maria decided to table the problem as she logged off and began preparing for bed. Unbeknownst to her, someone else had been trying to figure out the identity of MagicalGirlLover. They had also been trying to figure out her identity. While the three online friends had been playing, someone had been watching them. Like a digital ghost.
