-Vol 6: Dusk of An Era-

-Co-op?-

While Yuki and Kenshin were having a nice time outside, suddenly, the night sky illuminated so bright that they had to close their eyes by reflex. The illumination was due to brilliant yellow light, not unlike those rays of the sun, but way brighter. But, it didn’t have the same warmth emitted by the sun rays.

“What is this?” asked Kenshin as he looked at the small spherical object in the sky. It looked like an extremely bright star as it streaked across the sky in a slanted angle. But, it's not a star as it was too big to be one. This spherical object was big and bright… from his place, it looked to be the size of a watermelon, he could only think how big it really must be.

“Is it a meteor, I wonder…” said Yuki as she too examined the spherical object up close. Though it looks like its streaking across the sky parallel to the ground, they both were sure it's actually falling towards the earth and would surely land somewhere. But her brows were furrowed as she frowned deeply. Clutching Kenshin’s hand tightly, she exclaimed, “Kenshin, I don’t feel good for some reason after looking at that thing…”

Kenshin narrowed his eyes as he too stared at the falling sphere in the distance. His feeling was also the same as hers, especially when this thing flashed on his eyes repeatedly.

[Dragon sense gains +54 EXP]

[Dragon sense gains +477 EXP]

[Dragon sense gains +112 EXP]

Why would Dragon Sense gain exp just by staring at a falling meteor? It's not like this is his first time seeing one after gaining this skill. He had seen it once when Core left the earth. A small meteoroid fell into the exact place he stood after he left. That time too, his dragon senses didn’t gain any EXP, and the small meteoroid destroyed half of the mountain with the resulting explosion due to crashing at high speeds.

‘There has to be something which roused the DS… come to think of it, my DS would only be stimulated if there was something dangerous to my life. Does that mean that meteoroid was something harmful towards me?’ his thoughts are in a mess, and he was undecided about what to do. For a brief second, he thought of following it, but looking at the distance and speed, he was sure he could no way keep up with it. As for his map, due to the same reason, it too didn’t help him a least in this situation. Unlike Yuki, he too didn’t felt any superfluous feeling or danger. Only his DS gained EXP at an alarming rate.

‘Looks like I have yet to understand the true working of Dragon Sense. I am feeling nothing, and yet my DS is increasing in EXP… it's not practical and doesn’t satisfy the law of causality.’ Thought Kenshin. After thinking about it for a while, he sighed helplessly, ‘no use thinking about what I don’t know… sooner or later, everything will be revealed. Not my problem though, this world doesn’t lack powerful people to manage it.’

Just as he was about to retreat back to his home with Yuki in tow, a notification popped once again.

[Ding!! You have triggered a Quest]

[Quest xx24: Stop the Intruder.]

An intruder has stumbled upon your world, find and stop it before it does irreversible damage to your world. Rewards will be granted according to the degree of contribution. Min reward: 50 skill points; Max Reward: 2 extra life. Duration: 20 days Failure: Long term problems and possible destruction of human civilization. Good Luck!!

[Ding! You can co-op with other System Users to complete this mission. The co-op option has been added to your system function.]

[Do you want to access the Co-Op network now?]

[Yes/No]

“Eh!” he was so startled that he nearly screamed ‘wtf.’

“What is it?” Yuki, too, was startled at his sudden shout, so she was showing a concerned expression and also patting her generous breasts lightly.

“Mm, nothing, don’t worry. I just twisted my leg, nothing more.” Kenshi found an excuse, but his head was still filled with the notification before him. After all, what could he say… this was just too much of a coincidence to him.

‘It seems like fate is really a mean bitch’ he couldn’t help but think so. After all, he was just thinking about leaving this trouble to others, but now his system was forcing him to take action himself. If this wasn’t blotched fate, then he didn’t know what is, ‘but what the hell is this Co-Op function? What is this, CS? Is it going to become fully-fledged MMORPG in reality too?’

His head was filled with a turmoil of thoughts. As far as his system was concerned, the only one he knew was the eccentric old man. Through him he came to know that there were others like him too, possessing a system similar to his. Experience ones could easily detect other system users, like how the old man discovered him.

Later that night, Chiba and her mom stayed in his guest room since she had yet to regain his consciousness. Joy was knocked out on the floor, and Mrs Yui had brought Yuki and Joy’s mom to her home, together with the kids.

After they all went to their sleeps, he too slept on the floor adjacent to Joy who had started to snore lightly. He closed his eyes and made the system notification appear before him, especially the last one.

[Do you want to access the Co-Op network now?]

[Yes/No]

‘This is…’ he hesitated, afraid of something unknown. It's in human nature after all. But after some deliberation, he made up his mind and replied, ‘yes’

Ding!!

[Your current status is Private. Please switch your status to Public before accessing the Co-Op network.]

[Do you want to switch your online status?]

‘…yes’ There was a bit of hesitation in his heart. He seemed to not be able to make up his mind on this.

[Warning! Since your status has become Public, other system users will be able to detect you through their Co-op network. Be careful of the hostile users.]

[Some rules to follow during Co-op]

Please don’t get in the way of your partner’s tasks. Please don’t implicate your partner to danger deliberately. Friendly Fire is strictly prohibited while Co-opping. You can not be hostile towards your ex-partner up to twenty days of your Co-op completion.

[Warning! Breaking any of the rules is a serious offense. Punishments of varying degrees could be applied to the user, depending on the severity of the transgression. The minimum punishment will be a reward deduction. There is no limit to the maximum punishment. Be careful.]

[EXP, gold, and rewards would be distributed among you according to your contribution towards the quest or the monster you have killed. A lower contribution would result in fewer rewards, while maximum contribution would include some bonus rewards.]

[You have been connected to the Intra-network common to all system users. You will be able to see and interact with all those system users who also have set their statuses public.]

“Well shit!!” after reading through all of them, Kenshin couldn’t bite back the curse leaving his mouth.