[Music Recommendation: "Interweave” by Yu-Peng Chen (Genshin Impact OST)-available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

Chills ran down my spine. I went crazy enough to think that “death” came looking for me since I’m supposed to be dead. Was this a sign of him fetching me? Even if I was just playing a game like what my mind tried to tell me over and over, I couldn’t help but think of it as a warning on my life.

While I was still busy getting nervous and overthinking, a message popped out from the chat window. Yes, Ken mentioned that to me, too. He said we could chat with other players via “global chat”, “room chat”, “private chat”, and others. I wasn’t sure how to differentiate them but still, I got a message.

“How did you find this place?” the Grim Reaper asked. He was dressed like an assassin from head to foot, with a black hood covering his head and a mask covering his nose and mouth. Only his dark purple eyes were visible from all the darkness.

‘Phew! Okay. So he was a player like me… right?’

I went over the chatbox to reply to him. It took me long to do so though, it was hard trying to type words using a controller instead of a keyboard. I had to hover around the letters of a virtual keyboard on my screen.

“I’m not so sure. I was just exploring and I somehow ended up here,” I typed and sent it.

He was silent for a moment. Then he asked me again.

“Newbie?”

‘How did he know?’

“Yes. Does it show that much?”

“You’re wearing all the freebies given, even useless ones. Most newbies do that.”

“Right… Sorry for that.”

… And there was silence again. I wanted to quickly leave the place and forget all about him and never meet him again in the future but I didn’t want to be rude and just leave like that.

“What is this place, btw?” I typed again.

“It’s a secret place with extremely rare treasures. There’s 12 of them scattered throughout the whole world. This specifically, is the ‘Garden of Sacred Weapons’. You should know since you got your staff from the box.”

“Yes, that’s right! And what did you receive?”

“The ‘Sacred Katar’ since my job is an assassin. The box gives you a weapon depending on your job.”

“Oh, I see. That makes sense. If a mage gets a sword then it's useless for her.” Yes, I found it sensible. “Whoever made this game put a lot of thought into it, huh?”

“Of course,” he swiftly replied. “Games don’t just get created in an instant. It takes years and tons of efforts and teamwork. Not to mention, money and other resources.”

“Yes, that’s true,” I agreed.

“Did you like it? The game?”

I didn’t expect him to ask that so I pondered for a moment.

“Hmm… yes, I quite like it. Though I do have a couple of suggestions.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“I hope it's a bit new user-friendly, you know? Like maybe an ‘easy mode’? Because honestly, I never played games before and my friend just lent it to me so I can have some fun.”

“Fair point. What else?”

‘Was it me or he seemed like an interrogator?’

“Ahmm… I love the story mode but it’s a bit predictive. And if it’s easy to predict, I get bored. So maybe, some improvement in the story line?”

“That’s subjective. What else?”

‘Yup. Confirmed. It wasn’t just me. He really was an interrogator. Ugh. He’s asking too many questions. What’s this? Some sort of test or survey?’

I thought for a whole minute before answering again. Then, a sudden idea hit me. I was reminded of the many beautiful sceneries and perfect background music.

“I know it may sound weird but… somehow, I wish I could see this whole world in a virtual reality.”

He went silent for a few minutes. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking. Well, we’re basically chatting online without seeing or knowing who the other person really was so it’s pretty hard to tell.

“That’s a perfect idea… Senara Lee.”

‘Oh, he just mentioned my name. Was that some sort of acknowledgement from him?’

“Thank you,” I’m not sure why I’m thanking him. “By the way, why are you still here? You already got your weapon, right?”

“I’m waiting for the portal to open again.”

“What? The portal closes?” I typed hurriedly. That means I could have been stuck in there for who knows how long!

“Yes. It has an hourly interval and the room appears at random places. But once you get in, you can only get out after an hour has passed. This is to prevent too many players getting access to the secret place. It was meant to be discoverable by only 0.0001% of the population of players.”

I blinked my eyes a couple of times in my surprise.

“That means I’m super duper lucky, right? I just stumbled at this place by accident! I even thought it was a glitch.”

“Could be.”

‘Ugh. Why can’t he just answer me in a nice way. He’s way too grumpy. Or maybe it's just the way I’m interpreting his chats? Maybe he’s just blunt?’

“My time is up. Goodbye.”

“Wait!” I instantly typed. Why though? I was looking forward to him going away. But somehow I just felt like… “Friend! Can I add you as a friend?”

“Huh?”

Aww… Was that weird? We’re supposed to meet friends globally in the Open World, right? I thought maybe we could play together and join some guild or whatnot.

“You don’t want to?” I shyly asked. Not that you can ask shyly in chat but I felt nervous and embarrassed. I was never good at making friends. Hora and Ken were a miracle for me.

And there was silence again. Maybe he didn’t want to be friends with a noob.

Ping! A sudden pop-up message appeared on my screen.

“Friend request received!”

My eyes lit up as soon as I saw it.

“Do you accept ‘Grim Reaper’ as your friend?”

I quickly tapped yes.

“Thank you!” I typed it in to thank him. But as soon as he read it, he was gone.

Well, that’s fine. I could still play with him or her in the future. All in all, I’m just so glad I got another friend—my very first online friend!