CHAPTER 4

27-01-2514

The figure reached out behind him and pulled out a pair of gleaming dual blades.  He leaped from the building and flew across the neck of the wyvern. Red streamers followed behind him, carving his mark on the wyvern’s neck. He landed on a rooftop opposite the one he leapt off of.

Suddenly the wyvern swooped a hand at the player. He jumped back but soon lost his balance. He fell off the roof, tumbled down and landed on his arm. For the first time, people caught a glimpse of his face. The boy’s face paled as the wyvern approached him.

Nara noticed the boy looked much younger than the majority of players. The wyvern was slowly closing in on him. The boy was grasping his shoulder with his other hand, his face scrunched like paper.

Without a second thought, Nara rushed towards the boy. She could feel her heart drilling through her chest and her mind leave with the wind. She immediately collapsed beside him. The boy looked at her in shock, wincing as she took his arm.

Both Himchan and Yongguk watched her in disbelief but quickly followed after her. They instantly jumped in front of Nara and the boy with their weapons in hand, ignoring the obvious gap in strength and level between them and their opponent.

Yongguk gripped his blade, his eyes fixed on the opponent. He tightened his grip to stop his hands from trembling. He squeezed his eyes shut as cuts of war began to play in his mind. Each time he opened his eyes the memories just seemed to grow clearer—corpses everywhere and the smell of rotting flesh in the midst of fresh blood. He could feel the blood of his comrades’ splatter in his face and his own drip down his dirt covered skin.

Himchan’s eyes flickered towards his partner—his teeth were gritted to keep them from chattering and his sword was shaking in the air. 

Nara’s eyes hesitantly glimpsed back at her teammates as they stood courageously between them and the wyvern. She looked back at the boy with rushed eyes. She took a breath. “What’s—what’s your name?” she asked the young boy, hoping it’d calm him down.

The boy looked behind her cautiously. Nara was reciting a spell under her breath as he answered. He swallowed, “Yu—” he suddenly tensed as the spell began to take effect. He could feel his shoulder grind against his other bones then suddenly snap back into place. He moved it around slightly and nodded. “Yuhan,” he replied after a moment. He was obviously avoiding eye contact.

Nara pressed her lips as she glanced back at the wyvern. “Y-Yuhan,” she said hesitantly, “can you help us?”

Meanwhile Yongguk charged in and plunged his sword between the wyvern’s toes. Himchan, as practiced, took a few steps back. He pulled out an assault rifle and began firing at the beast beside Nara. He shot at the wyvern’s legs. Before a bullet could disappear into its flesh another was fired, followed by another and another.

The wyvern became startled for a moment but its health barely dropped. They looked up at it in horror—how were they going to defeat such a monster?

Suddenly there was a bright glow, the party felt their muscles strengthen and movements lighten. They looked behind them and realized Nara had finished healing the boy and was diligently buffing the team, sharpening their skills and encouraging their health and mana to regenerate faster. The boy was standing beside her. He had switched weapons again and this time was grasping a long sword tight in his hands.

This was the start of a long battle.

Very few players were still alive. Many were scattered on the streets rotting like trash. Those that were alive, both injured and healthy, were hiding.

Gradually the group began to win the upper hand. The wyvern was strong but due to its colossal size its attacks were predictable and easily dodged.

People cautiously began to glimpse from behind their shields, windows and doors as the sound of the beast’s massacre hushed. They could hear people fighting back—the sound of gunfire, swords swinging and the chanting of spells. They watched the fight silently from the side lines with bitten lips and clenched fists. They finally realised the shame in hiding while their fellow players fought for their sakes. They felt like cowards—pathetic—but with a mere glimpse at the wyvern their fear would resettle in their stomachs and make its presence heavier. The fear outweighed any guilt, immorality or shame.

Yuhan relentlessly attacked the wyvern. Each time he changed weapons, his stance and technique would change along with it. At times he focused on strength, other times agility. Nonetheless, out of the four of them he was making the most damage.

It was as if Yongguk’s own chest was pressed against his ear—he could hear his heartbeat loud and clear, echoing in his hollowed chest. Segments of war flashed into his memory, blinding him each time he leapt in to attack. His eyes could only see red. His muscles were pulsing. Each move reminded him of a similar one he used years ago. It felt all too natural and flow that it scared him. His brows furrowed as his mind began to flash with gory images, pasting them like posters on the walls of his skull.

Deep in thought, Yongguk began to hurl his emotions at the opponent, on several occasions almost hitting Yuhan. Suddenly he felt a claw plunge into the side of his gut. His face paled as he looked down to see the foot of the wyvern in his stomach. He collapsed onto his back.

The sky. It looked just as it did that day. After the bomb had blown off his legs and he was left to drag the remainder of his body like trash. A red trail followed him like a red carpet, a red carpet he hoped to never drag himself to again. His whole body ached and each breath became a struggle.

“Watch out!” Himchan yelled.

Yongguk’s eyes widened as he came back to reality. He quickly rolled to the side and scrambled back to his feet. At some point his health had fully recovered and the blow to his stomach had curled up into itself. His legs jolted in unnecessary motions as he attempted to dodge the beast’s stomping. He was growing tired and the wyvern’s health was still half full to say the least.  

Even though Nara was consistently filling his health bar, his stamina was inevitably being out of him. He was breathing heavily, sweat running like streams down his face as he relived World War III.

The wyvern’s health was slowly but steadily decreasing. All the players’ blood slathered onto its body like lumpy jam had dried. Tearing through the plates of dried blood was the monster’s own—a thick wine red oozed down the wyvern’s body. Likewise, the battle was taking a toll on the beast’s opponents, particularly the ones less experienced, particularly Yongguk.

Yongguk’s movements became sluggish. His mouth suddenly felt dry as his feet began to scrape the ground, barely leaving it for more than a split second. He could see flashes of the desert dotted with corpses and lined with ditches, another mine bomb any moment. A bright flash followed by a high pitch ringing in his ears. His surroundings began to turn as he felt his body lock and fell to the ground in exhaustion. Yongguk was panting like a hound and was barely able to utter a word of plea. The exhaustion had made him delirious.

Himchan immediately ran in to save him. He pulled on his arm that was slick with sweat. Yongguk almost slipped back to the ground, unable to support his own body weight. Himchan slung his limp arm over his shoulders and heaved him up, hugging him with both arms as he attempted to drag him away.

“Hurry!” Nara screamed pointing above them.

The wyvern’s foot was falling rapidly towards them like a blooded avalanche.

Nara squeezed her eyes shut. Both hands clasped around her staff, ready to heal or, in the worst case scenario, resurrect her teammates. She was holding her breath. Worries filled her mind. Her jaw began to ache as she bit down on a cry. Silence. She couldn’t hear a thing. She opened her eyes.

Nothing.

Yongguk and Himchan were clamped together, eyes closed in cold sweat underneath—underneath nothing. The wyvern had disappeared.

Gradually the silence was filled by murmurs of the other players. They were all hesitantly coming out of hiding, cautiously looking around for the large beast that had vanished in thin air.

Yongguk and Himchan’s eyes opened. They looked more shocked than grateful to be alive. They looked around them in confusion, then at Nara.

“What happened? Where’d it go?” Himchan huffed as he readjusted his partner’s arm over his shoulder.

Nara’s mouth was gaping open. She was at a complete loss for words. “I—I don’t know,” she stuttered. Her teammates looked at her in disbelief.

There was a long pause before the Himchan turned to Yuhan and thanked him for helping them out.

“It was only because I owed cleric-noona a favour,” he replied, “I could have died then.” He nodded to Nara in acknowledgment. He was about to take his leave when he suddenly his heel.

“Don’t mention me to anyone,” Yuhan said, “anyone.”

“What does he mean ‘don’t mention me to anyone’?” Yongguk muttered after the boy had left. He had taken a seat on a pile of rubble and was leaning over with his hands between his knees. He was staring at his hands, watching them quiver for a moment before squeezing them into fists.

Nara pulled up her sleeve. The white of it was now stained in flames of blood. She gazed at the band for a moment. The countdown was now a series of dots and zeroes. It was time to go. ‘Even if you don’t leave now they’ll leave you,’ she thought to herself and began listing possible locations that would have fewer locations.  She figured towns surrounded with high level monsters would be empty.

“Are you leaving?” a Yongguk asked feebly, his mind was recovering someplace distant. He squeezed his eyes and began to massage the bridge of his nose.

Nara turned to the two men and nodded. Her hood, now patched in blood, casted a dark shadow over her expression.

Himchan looked at Yongguk then Nara and back again. “We’ll meet up next time we log on!”

Yongguk flinched slightly. “Why?” he muttered.

“We still need to find him,” Himchan hissed then turned to Nara with pleading eyes.

“Who?” Nara replied. Her head was telling her to leave now—they weren’t to be trusted but curiosity was getting the best of her.

Himchan turned to Yongguk, a perplexed expression on his face. “Was it a Yoo?” he tipped his head and sighed, the name had completely slipped from his head.

“Yoo Youngjae?” Nara blurted immediately covering . ‘Impossible. There’s no way. ‘Yoo’ is a common last name.’

Himchan rubbed his neck. “Was it?” he murmured to himself. He had never been good with names, there were always too many to remember.

“Something like that,” Yongguk replied, shrugging limply.

Nara stood her ground. “What—,” she paused and rethought her phrasing, “why are you looking for this person?”

Himchan’s eyes darted towards Yongguk for a second as if he had the answer. “He’s a colleague,” he answered unsurely.

Nara stared at them for a moment before taking her leave. ‘That’s just ridiculous.’

***

“Are you sure you want to just let her leave?” Yongguk mumbled as they watched Nara leave. “You could’ve tried adding her as a friend.”

“She declined the friend request,” Himchan muttered. He sighed then smirked, “We have connections. It’ll be easy to contact her.”

Yongguk frowned. “We’re becoming spies—no, stalkers now.”

Himchan looked out towards where the girl had walked off. “There’s  no way she levelled that much in just five hours,” he pressed his lips together and turned to his partner. “If my instincts are correct, she’s definitely what they call a beta tester.”

Yongguk narrowed his eyes. “What’s the point?” he asked as he rethought the plan.

Himchan crossed his arms. “If we stick to her we’ll be able to not only level up faster but we might be able gather information about the game faster.”

“Oh,” Yongguk scratched his head, “but why did you mention that reporter?”

“Yoo Youngjae,” Himchan said, “he’s the bait,” he explained as he recalled a scene earlier that morning. He had walked into the reporting department and caught a phrase that caught his attention on one of the reporter’s screens ‘I’m never letting those wolves near Nara.’

“I’m sorry Youngjae,” Himchan smirked, “You’ve lead us right to her.”

***

Nara opened her eyes. She was lying in her own bed with a wet cloth placed on her forehead and her duvets tucked neatly under her chin. She slowly pulled herself up. Her brain suddenly felt like it was being pressed against the side of her head, pain mashing it with its clawed fists.

“Darling, are you okay?”

Nara looked beside her. Her grandmother was sitting by her bed. Her old wrinkled face crumpled more as her granddaughter gave her a weak smile.

“Yeah, I’m okay Grandma,” Nara whispered. It suddenly came back to her. She was helping her grandmother with their store downstairs when she suddenly collapsed.

Grandma took one of Nara’s hand in hers, a sweet smile on her face as she gazed at her beloved granddaughter. “You’re not allowed to leave this world before I do,” she said as she gave Nara’s hand a firm squeeze. She leant over to kiss her on the forehead before walking over to the door.

“Get some rest,” she said before quietly pulling the door behind her.

***

28-01-2514

Nara watched as yellow planes slid across her room through her half-open shutters. The clock by her bed was glowing steadily until it flickered to the next minute—7:04am. The girl’s eyes lay sheepishly on her hands in her lap, lightly the white band strapped on her wrist. She was wondering what had happened the other day, wondering about it ever since she had logged off yesterday evening. She hadn’t logged in since then because she hadn’t had a blink of sleep. The segments of yesterday still prodded her mind with questions, doubts, fears and a trifling, yet undeniable, sense of thrill and excitement.

***

Nara pushed a button and her seatbelt slid across her body, readjusting itself comfortably around her figure. Youngjae glimpsed at her, checking she had buckled up, before waving to her grandma goodbye and reversing out of the driveway.

The drive was a little quieter than usual. Both were immersed in their own thoughts.

Youngjae had both hands on the wheel and was staring distantly out at the road. He was wearing his usual white collared shirt that was often rolled up to his elbows but this time was fastened around his wrists despite the fairly warm weather. His darkened eye bags were evident in a single glance, popping out like a bruise on his pale face.

Nara looked around the vehicle as she fidgeted with her sleeves.  She was dressed neatly in her school uniform—a clean cut white blazer over a white blouse with gold embellishments on the collar, a thin navy tie and a pleated skirt. ‘There’s no way he’s actually playing the game, right?’ she thought as she recalled her former teammates mentioning his last name.

“H-Have you been busy at work?” Nara asked hesitantly.

Youngjae glanced at her with an expression that was difficult to decipher. He fidgeted slightly with his sleeves—one of the few new habits the man had gained. He looked back to the road, a reassuring smile plastered on his face. “I’ve just gotten a few new…” he paused and rethought his wording, “assignments.”  Youngjae pressed his lips into a smile.

Nara nodded. ‘That’s right. Youngjae playing Paradox Online is absurd.’

Youngjae dropped Nara off by the school. There was the few usual second looks at the gleaming white car boldly advertising a well-known company on its side, then at the girl getting out of the car and the man driving. 

Students looked at them suspiciously as they walked to school. Girls often lifted their heads higher as they looked Nara up and down. Boys would grin as they looked her up and down.

Nara was walking with her head down through the hallway, towards her locker. She realized many students must have purchased Paradox Online since she could see dozens of students wearing white bangles around their wrists.

She stared at the sensor on her locker as it scanned her eyes. A horizontal silver-blue line moved vertically over her eyes, switched orientation then scanned horizontally across. The locker popped open.

Nara slipped off her bag and placed her lunchbox into the back of her locker. On the ceiling of ever locker was a small USB compartment—Nara had organized hers into her subjects. A small keychain with a subject name hanged off of each USB plugged into the compartment. She pulled out her first subject and placed them into the pocket of her blazer. She placed a hand on her locker to shut it when someone suddenly grabbed her wrist. Her locker was slammed shut.

A girl was standing beside her. The girl’s eyes were wide and staring intently at her wrist before turning to her.

“What is this?” she asked. 

“I-I-I don’t know,” Nara blurted. She thought she was lucky to avoid all the bullies this morning—guess not.

The girl let go of her arm, without realizing it she had grabbed her rather tightly. Nara hastily pulled down her sleeves to cover the band.

“S-sorry,” the girl stuttered as she raised her hands. She noticed the terrified look on the other girl’s face. She paused. She remembered hearing rumours about a girl with jet black hair, white porcelain skin and the expression of a china doll. There were many rumours— from being an android to having a love affair with an older man. The girl didn’t notice she was staring at Nara until she noticed the pair of dark doe eyes gazing back at her.

“Ah, sorry,” she repeated. “Um…” she paused and hesitantly pointed at the white bracelet, “Can you please tell me what is that?”

Nara glanced down at her wrist. ‘Oh that’s all she wanted.’ She lifted her head. “It’s—” she coughed, “It’s—” she repeated, her brows crumpled as she brought her hand to , “—to play Paradox Online.” She barely managed to choke out a reply. Something, she didn’t know what, but something wouldn’t let her say anything more. Momentarily, she wasn’t able to breathe. It felt like her words were extracted from her head the moment she tried to reply. Her mind would blank when she attempted to say more than necessary.

The other girl looked at her with knitted brows, “Are you okay?”

Nara nodded, her hand still by her collar.

“Paradox Online…?” the girl mumbled as she looked distantly behind Nara. She snapped back and hastily thanked the girl. “Oh yeah, I’m Song Jaehee—and you are?”

Nara lifted her eyes in shock. No one ever bothered to introduce themselves to her unless they were a guy seeking female attention. ‘This just might be a prank,’ Nara warned herself but she didn’t see any harm in introducing. “Nara, Han Nara,” she replied timidly.

Jaehee smiled politely before the bell rang and they separated for their first class.

***

Jaehee rushed home. The few words that were in her mind replayed over and over—‘Paradox Online,’ ‘Yuhan’ and ‘How?’ Her mind was all over the place. When she finally arrived home she almost ran into the door.

Jaehee slammed open the door and stumbled in. Without acknowledging anything else she ran towards her little brother’s room. Her mind was suffocating, echoing the same words over and over again.

“Yuhan!” she yelled as soon as she reached his door. Her eyes gradually adjusted to his room’s dim lighting. The world was spinning slightly but slowly came to a halt with Eve in focus.

The family android was gazing down at Yuhan with a bland expression. She lifted her head, her expression still plain.

“Jaehee-nim,” Eve said, her voice faintly resonating around the silent room.

The silent felt heavy, stifling Jaehee as it latched down on her every breath—‘How? No, how else?’

“Eve,” she hissed, “How’d the white bracelet get on Yuhan?”

Eve tipped her head. “Pardon me?”

Jaehee gritted her teeth. Her left eye began to quiver slightly as her emotions swelled up in . “How the is Yuhan playing Paradox Online?!”

For the first time ever Eve looked sincerely shocked but then she blinked and returned to her robotic self. She patted down her apron as she approached Jaehee. They were now face to face. Eve’s lashes stood out like ebony spiders crawling up to her arched brows. The whites of her eyes seemed to glare whiter as a menacing grin crept up her faultless face.

“So you’ve found out.”

Author's Note: I'd like to note the change to the end of the last chapter-- if you haven't already noticed, the anonymous figure is no longer Youngjae. I think if I didn't change it Nara wouldn't be able to grow as a character. With the character change the future of this story (in my point of view) is much clearer. I'll do my best not to go back and forth from now on.

On another note, I'm going on overseas for about 5 weeks so I'll be taking a hiatus until then. Oh! and personal news update: I got my school results-- I've got guaranteed entrance to my University course, a merit award for Visual Art and the highest results in my school. It's hard to explain the grading system here in South Australia but I got a very very good score-- it pretty much qualifies me for any course... and yet I choose visual art ahahaha.

I'll see you guys soon. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.