By the time Renan arrived back home, it was already pitch black. After getting ready for bed, he promptly did so. Renan had fallen asleep almost as soon as he hit the bed.
"Nghh…"
"Hmm…"
Renan tossed and turned every so often, deep in sleep.
In his dream, he faced off against the Dark One.
The body of the dark god was not visible. Instead, his large imposing body was covered by long flowing black robes, with a hood covering his head. His face was entirely hidden behind shadow, only red glowing eyes visible through the darkness.
"Dark One!" Renen yelled out, holding his wand tight. His heart beat quick, his eyes dilated.
How can I possibly beat him?
Seeing the Dark One not move, Renan calmed and began chanting an ultimate spell. "O' Light, give me-"
"Michealtastic!" Renan's chanting was interrupted by a third party.
"What." Both Renan and the Dark One looked over towards the source of the voice.
Floating far in the air was a humanoid figure. More importantly was a gun. A gun that was slightly long…
By estimation, it was around a thousand feet long.
BOOM!
The gun shot out, a massive bullet moving out at infinite speeds. It pierced the Dark One with a flash, the God's body falling over.
"B-but…" Renan looked around, but when he looked down somehow he was the one in the air, the one with the gun.
He felt his mouth involuntarily move. "M I C H E A L."
The scene suddenly changed.
The restaurant wasn't anything fancy. A mid range, casual chain he'd picked at random from a search map, just making sure the place had good reviews. It had bright colors, friendly staff, and an almost aggressively cheerful atmosphere.
"Welcome to Mike-Tastic Diner!" The receptionist beamed as he entered. "Table for one?"
"...Yeah." Renan nodded, mildly taken aback by the name.
He followed her to a corner booth, slipping into the seat as she handed him a laminated menu. He glanced over it.
Mike-Tastic Burgers. Mike-a-licious Wings. Micheal Melt Deluxe…
The pattern was obvious. A bit much, but fine. Branding is branding. He suppressed an amused snort.
Whoever this Mike guy is, he's certainly committed.
The server came by not long after, just as enthusiastic.
"How are we feeling today? Ready for some Mike-Tastic flavor?"
Renan gave a polite smile. "Sure. I'll have the Micheal Melt Deluxe. And a coffee."
"Mike-excellent choice!" the server beamed, scribbling it down before practically bouncing away.
Renan leaned back against the cushioned seat, exhaling. The faint background noise of silverware, conversations, cooking… it was nice. It was real. People, existing, in a society. That was a good thing.
I just want the ability to relax, throw myself in bed with some gentle music, and not face deadly consequences.
Still, the theme was oddly persistent. Every poster, every slogan, every bit of staff banter followed the same formula. Some variant of Mike or Micheal jammed into every corner of the brand.
He let his gaze wander lazily across the walls, where framed photos and plaques decorated the diner.
One particular plaque caught his eye.
Founded by Micheal Whiteman Marketwire, 2020.
Marketwire…
The name scratched at something in his memory. He frowned faintly, tracing the thread back to yesterday.
That's right! One of the authors on those business books Lucas pulled out. Micheal Marketwire.
Weird coincidence.
Renan shrugged to himself. Small world, I guess. He took a sip of his coffee as the server returned with his food, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. It wasn't at all about the food or even the place. It was just the concept of existing in a place without something urgent to do.
That was good.
Tomorrow would not be like today.
…
"What." Renan awoke with a small headache and a strange sense of confusion. And yet, he didn't know why he was confused. He vaguely remembered his dream, which was unusual because he never remembered his dreams.
Something about Micheal?
Oh well.
Renan got up, beginning to go about his day. Once he finished with the essentials, he got into Nitro to begin notifying and coordinating with everyone. From Lena, to Gabriel, to the others.
After all, with limited time, he had no intentions of waiting afk in game for someone else. After he had everything ready, he hopped into the Game Pod once more.
His vision slowly came to him. Renan, now Lumi, was back in that familiar library.
What the heck was that?
He sat up, barely, head swiveling toward the sound. There, crouched along the floor, was Lena.
Lena, that crazy girl, was barking under her breath. And purring. Both. Alternating. Maybe simultaneously. Her hands were forming symbols. Like a cat casting a spell… or maybe not.
He had seen cats cast spells before.They had more grace than this.
Renan could only sigh with a smile.
Of course.
Before he could say anything, Lena bounded up and leapt into his arms like a cat.
"I missed you so much!" she exclaimed, nuzzling his shoulder as if he'd been gone for years.
Lumi blinked confused, backing away a few steps at the sudden invasion of privacy. "Lena… it was just a day."
"Exactly!" she said, as if it all made sense. "A day! An entire day! Well more like twelve hours... wait no the point, that's like, a bunch of hours!"
He opened his mouth… then promptly closed it.
"Right," Lumi muttered, chuckling. "Missed you too."
And he meant it.
Lena lightly pouted. "Really! That's long! That's like… that's like… I don't know!?"
She grabbed onto his hands. "I really like being with you! And everything else isn't so fun. Not only was I gone from you, but I was doing not so fun things."
Hm?
Lumi looked her in the eyes, confused. "Did something happen? Didn't you sleep shortly after?"
"Yeah but…" Lena trailed off for a bit, her excitement fading. "But I also have to interact with family. And that's not the nicest thing. They don't like me very much."
Lumi's smile faltered. "Oh," he said, he squeezed her hands gently. "I'm sorry, Lena."
He was about to ask, but Lena herself stopped him.
"No!" Lena stepped back. "You told me we aren't wasting time, so let's go!" Then squeezed his hands back and started heading out of the library.
"Thank you." Lumi had to let her know his appreciation. Even when she clearly wanted to complain, she held back. "Tell me later, if you still want then."
He took his hand back. "One moment."
Lumi opened his friends list and had to search by name. Otherwise, it would be impossible to find the specific people he wanted to add, when there were over ten thousand requests. He added TrueKnightRyan, ToraX, and VICE. The reason he couldn't add HazyNova is because he was forced to disable friend requests earlier due to the sheer amount he was receiving, which meant HazyNova didn't have the chance to send him a request.
It was but a small matter however, as he sent her a request instead, which was accepted nearly instantly.
He quickly sent a message to all of them to go to the Golem Ruins in Macres as soon as they receive their First Rank class. This additionally included directions, both on the best way to travel to another city quickly, that being the airship, and where exactly that Golem Ruins was.
"Lena." Lumi began speaking to who he had become strangely fond of. "You remember the plan?"
Lena nodded. "Merath is willing to help us, yet he cannot leave Elenora right now. Yet there is nothing of grand importance to do in Elenora at this time that would require his power. Therefore we're going elsewhere to grind EXP, and capture some dude."
She rolled her eyes. "Did you really think I'd forget?"
"Just making sure," Lumi responded. "Let's go now, then." He extended a hand over to lead her out.
"Oh my god he's touching me…" Lena said slowly.
"Sorry." Lumi pulled his hand back, unsure.
Lena quickly reached out to grab his hands and pulled them into her. "Take my hand again."
"Okay." Lumi obliged, taking her hand.again. "So we're going now." He led her out of the library room, back to the main floor. As they were about to leave, however-
"Wait." Merath's aged voice rang out before they had a chance to fully leave. "Aren't the two of you forgetting something? I promised you equipment, did I not?."
He waved his hand out, and two neatly packed sets of items in boxes flew towards them. "I'd give you something better, but you wouldn't be able to use it."
"Thank you, Great Merath." Lumi honestly replied, bowing slightly. "It was our mistake to forget."
"Oh, um, thank you!" Lena hurriedly added. "Very good! Thank you!" She gave a thumbs up.
Merath was silent for a bit, then turned away. "That is all."
Lumi nodded and put his box in his inventory, Lena doing the same. Afterwards, they made their way out of the library completely, back into the heart of the city of Elenora.
"Ah, damn that Jimmy Polaris. He must have poisoned my hamburg!"
"???" As he made his way outside, he heard some idiot saying words. He already knew that was a player.
"Damn shawty, you have a liscencecece for that ass?" Some random player spoke, "I'm gonna expose my L-shaped object!"
Then some other random player replied with nonsense. "Dant E. also walked into the room, but he had his 12 inch suabway footlong, for 4.99 for a limited time, only at participating restaurants."
The first player replied, "Wow, I didn't know they served meatball footlongs at Suabway!"
Yep, those are players.
It's obvious. No normal person living in a real world would ever start spewing absolute nonsense in public. The only explanation, of course, is that these are players who don't realize the world is real. Whatever, though. These incidents are bound to happen.
"Gahahaha!" Lena directly let out a loud laugh. "People are so interesting, man!"
"Hah." Lumi couldn't help but give a short laugh too. "Not as interesting as you."
Lena lightly blushed. "Aww~ you're so cute to me. Such a flirt~"
"I wasn't flirting." Lumi had to add to make it clear.
"I know~" Lena nodded along, "But I'll take it as if you were."
"You…" Lumi didn't even know how to retort, so he let the issue drop. "Let's move along."