“Wake up…” Hawk’s voice woke me from slumber as I felt his finger gently poke my cheek.

Rubbing my eyes to wake myself, I checked to find that I slept for fifteen or so minutes. I look around to find Players arguing amongst themselves. “What’s wrong?”

“The reward from the Boss battle was 250,000 Fitts and the ‘Tome of Goble’. While the money can be equally distributed, there is a huge argument on who acquires the Tome of Goble. The leaders and vice-leaders of the Parties as well as Crow and Ave as representative of the freelance are going to have a meeting soon.”

The leaders forbid the Players to exit the dungeon until they decided on who acquires the tome. Only we, the leaders and vice-leaders plus Crow and Ave exited and sat in a circle and the Tome of Goble was placed in the middle.

Ave was frankly an overweight woman almost twenty years of age. Her face was fat and filled with freckles and her brown hair that reached her shoulders was shriveled and in a mess. No offense to her, she gave me the impression of an overweight NEET who spent most of her time in front of a computer. Surprisingly, if she fixed her appearance as well as her weight, she could be attractive.

1xTome of Goble 14

Type: Item

Rarity: Artifact

A Spellbook written by the creator of a Goblin Spell. Teaches the user a Goblin Spell. Single-use.

“The meeting to discuss the ownership of the tome begins.” states Zoe, who sat beside me.

“I believe as the one who got the last hit, I should have it.” states Swan.

“You just so happened to get the last hit. We wouldn’t have beaten the boss without the numbers brought by Crimson Swords.” rejected Burst.

“What do you think?” I whispered to Hawk.

“I want the item, but I can’t deny we have no right to it. We only contributed 4 people. I even had to force you out of the main fight since you were losing your control.” he replied.

After a while of senseless bickering, which was annoying, Hawk finally suggested, “Why don’t we just vote of which party receives it? Of course, you can’t vote for you own Party.”

After another series of annoying talk, everyone finally agreed on Hawk’s suggestion with the added rule that Players from the same Party could not vote for the same Party. I could see that Hawk was getting irritated that every point took forever to discuss. Personally, I just want this to end since we aren’t getting the tome anyway.

We would simply write down who we voted for on a piece of wood and show the vote at the same time.

“Who do we vote for?” I asked Hawk.

“Vote for who you think deserves it. I won’t tell you mine since it might influence you.”

As I wrote my vote on Platina Knights, I remembered something Hawk mentioned. No matter what language you write down in Reality, it would appear as your most comfortable language when you read it. Hawk experimented on writing Chinese characters, but when he read it and showed it to me, it still appeared in English.

I voted for Platina Knights because Swan was by far the best performing Player in the battle as well as taking the last hit. Hawk double-checked that we didn’t have the same vote.

In the end the vote was cast as follows:

Swan: Cerulean Seas, Sheev: ARF, Kin: Platina Knights, Gin: Crimson Swords, Purge: Cerulean Seas, Razor: ARF, Hawk: Cerulean Seas, Dove: Platina Knights, Zoe: ARF, Kotel: Platina Knights, Blitz: Platina Knights, Burst: Cerulean Seas, Crow: Cerulean Seas, Ave: ARF

The vote tallied as follows:

Cerulean Seas: 5

ARF: 4

Platina Knights: 4

Crimson Swords: 1

Hawk smirked when he found out we were actually tied 2nd with Platina Knights.

“With this, the Tome goes to Cerulean Seas.” declares Zoe in a tone that tried to hide excitement.

“Why did so few vote for Crimson Swords and so many for ARF and Cerulean Seas?” said Burst, who I noticed served as the brains of Crimson Sword.

Everyone looked at each other for a bit before Hawk spoke up and bluntly said, “It’s because nobody values the numbers you brought to the battle. Since we fought in groups of weapon type instead of Parties, the coordination of Crimson Swords sub-Parties that could have been important is moot. If we called freelance Players, there would’ve been no difference.”

I chuckled as Hawk criticized Burst like it’s his right. Of course, many take Hawk’s criticism to personally but those who did listen tend to be better off.

Swan then added, “Zoe did most of work in controlling the battlefield in the chaos. He led most of the non-top Players. While her battle performance may not match the rest of us, leading the other Players is much more important to me.”

Zoe then finished, “You guys probably didn’t noticed, but Hawk forced away, sometimes violently, Players fighting the main boss who were losing their cool and giving in to their instincts, including his own girlfriend. If it hadn’t been for that, we might have had a handful of casualties. To some of us, this is far more important than who fought the best.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.” Hawk interjected.

I sighed to myself within. Why can’t people not tease us so much? I understand that its fun to joke about people’s love lives, but sometimes it can get in the way of their relationship if you tease too much.

We went our separate ways as we returned to Naut City.

“How do you think we can prevent unfriendly competition and withholding of information? Especially with the item drops; I solved the problem this time, but as this issue repeats, results will become worse and worse.” asked Zoe to Hawk, who, along with the rest of Cerulean Seas, travelled together with us.

“Why are you asking me? I withheld information about the sewers except to you.”

“A guilty person would know best how to remove the possibility of said guilt. Besides, while you neither have the interest or the capability to solve this issue, you are smart enough to have some ideas.”

“There is one way. A common enemy is the only thing that can create unison. Unfortunately, completing Reality is far too abstract to identify as an enemy and so is the hooded figure who trapped us here.”

It was near midnight when we arrived in back at our house. Along the way, we discussed ARF to Kiwi.

“A new Party member?” asked Sylvie after she welcomed us back home.

“Yes. I am Kiwi. Nice to meet you Sylvie.”

“Nice to meet you too. Hope we get along.” replied Sylvie.

Tired from the battle, we took our baths. Kiwi slept in the solo room as she and Canary went to sleep. I went back downstairs and sat on the sofa where Hawk just finished taking his bath since he was the last to do so.

“What is it?” he asked after noticing my presence.

“I thought you’d be lonely if everyone was asleep after you finished bathing.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“Besides, you’re worried. I guess about what Zoe said?”

Hawk looked at me for a few seconds before smiling to himself and said, “Yes. I’m afraid of getting betrayed by other Players.”

“It doesn’t matter; I won’t betray you.”

“I’d commit suicide if you did.”

As much as it sounded like a joke, I knew it wasn’t. Hawk would break if I betrayed him now.

“Turn around.”

Hawk did not question like he usually did and simply complied. I embraced him from behind and said, “I would commit suicide myself if I did betray you.”

Hawk held my embracing hands and intertwined our fingers. After a while of pondering, he finally said, “Dove, I love you.”

“Thank you.”

“What kind of reply is that?” answered Hawk.

“Well, I am very thankful for your feelings for me.”

“And?”

I thought to myself. Memories of Hawk and myself both outside and inside Reality flashed before my mind as I thought what to do. Hawk must have realized I was thinking since he remained silent.

“Hawk, I can confidently say that I like you; however, I am still unsure whether I love you. What I feel about you is all jumbled thanks to being in Reality, and I am unsure of what this feeling is myself. So… I am going to be selfish and ask you to wait for me… wait for me to sort out these feelings. It will probably take a while, but I promise I will give you an answer in time. Is that… alright with you?”

“I waited three years in reality, guess I’m going to wait another three years in Reality.” said Hawk as he turned around before continuing, “Of course, I’ll wait you, not only because I love you but also because you are worth waiting for. Just… promise me one thing… no romantic advances with other people aside from me.”

“Of course! That goes without saying!” I replied enthusiastically.

Finally, after liking me for almost four years now, he finally confessed. After he threw and choked repeatedly during our time in university, he finally managed to not do anything stupid that would destroy his chances with me. It felt pretty good; however, I was not ready to commit yet. Ever since coming to Reality and meeting Hawk, my emotions had been jumbled. I knew Hawk liked me. The moment I accepted to be his Party Member, I already predicted we would grow close and one day he would confess to me. Of course, I didn’t want to think about it since there was one complication, but I guess had no choice but to deal with it now. Well, predicted would be a term Hawk would use; however, anyone with a functioning brain should realize that two people Partying together had a high likelihood of ending up together, especially since one side already had romantic feelings in the first place. Even so the reason I had yet to commit was simple: I was unsure. Were these feelings of mine true love or love of circumstances? Did I like Hawk because I like him or because I needed to like him? I knew full well I wouldn’t give him another chance in real life given how stupidly he acted on his feelings.

The suspension bridge effect: two people on a suspended on a hanging bridge have accelerated heart rates and body activity. These body changes combined with human’s desire to procreate on the verge of death as well as increasing dependence on each other due to having the same experience often created an illusion of love between the two. Currently, I did not whether I was experiencing this effect or not. Only when I confirm the truth would I answer his confession.