Chapter 19：The Ocean

[Music Recommendation: "Good Night, Liyue" 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 ~

Overwhelmed… would be the perfect word to describe how I felt after everything that happened. Even after I laid on my bed now, recalling the miraculous events of today, I still couldn't believe it got resolved just like that. Truly, I'm very, very thankful.

In my past life, none of these things happened. And it was still July! I wondered what changed that contributed for such a miraculous event to occur. I didn't do anything though. What was the different thing I did compared to my last life? Hmm… If there was anything, all I did was play games this time, and confront my dad. Maybe dad did something after we talked that he didn't notice and that might have contributed to it? Yes, it was probably that. There's no way my playing games would do anything to resolve the issue. Plus, he met that lawyer, too. Maybe it was the lawyer then? Well, whatever. As long as everything's okay now.

After mulling over things, I remembered I had to tell Mr. Grim Reaper about what happened today. So I jumped out of my bed, turned the console on, and logged in the game. It was 7 o'clock in the evening. If my memory served me right, Mr. Grim Reaper should be online right now.

"How do I check my friend list again?" I asked myself as I scratched my head. I should really explore all the features of this game and familiarize myself. I completely forgot all about them in just a week of not playing.

Ping!

A sudden pop-up appeared on my screen.

"Mr. Grim Reaper!" I blurted out in my surprise. "Oh my goodness, is he a psychic? Can he tell that I forgot how to search for friends and message them?"

"Hi." he said. So brief. He really was a lazy typer, wasn't he?

"Grim Reaper! Helloooo!" I replied quickly, and with much vigor. I hope that lengthened Hello gave him a hint that I'm doing well.

"Call?"

"Pft! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" I laughed so hard. Did he hate typing so much?

"Sure!" I answered. Good thing my headset was still on the coffee table in front of the couch I'm sitting. I just had to grab it and insert it on the controller again, and put it on my ears of course.

"Grim Reaper is calling you!"

And there it was, his call. How could he tell that I still didn't know how to make a call? I answered his call with a smile on my face.

"Grim Reaper! You won't believe what happened!" I started the call with too much enthusiasm.

"That sounds like good news."

"Yes, it is! You see…" And I told him everything that happened—from last week's me trying to console my dad, up to this lunch where my dad suddenly came to school to fetch me, how those nasty big whales got their retribution, how our family made up, and my dad even befriended a really awesome lawyer. In my excitement, I probably talked really fast. I hope he understood all the things I said.

"That's really great to hear. And I'm glad you're all safe."

Awww… that's so sweet of him.

"Yes… thank you very much," I thanked him from the bottom of my heart. If I could express my gratitude more, I would, but I wasn't sure how to do that on a call. "It's all because of you."

Clank! Splash! I suddenly heard the sound of a cup tumbling over and a spilling drink. Oh no! I must have grossed him out, making him spill his drink!

"OMG! Are you alright? I'm so sorry if I—"

"I'm okay. It's just pumpkin juice."

"Oh, okay. I thought it's something hot that could have scalded you."

"No. I lifted it and my finger slipped so it fell on the table."

"Phew! That's good."

"Anyway, congrats on overcoming your family problem."

"Thank you… and thank you very much for listening to me that day! I really appreciate it. If you ever need a friend in the future too, let me know! I'll be sure to listen!" My voice couldn't sound any more overly helpful and energetic.

"I didn't even do much for you to thank me a lot."

"Of course you did! When I was so down, you listened to me—a complete stranger."

"By the way, I've always wanted to ask."

"What?"

"Your name. I can't possibly keep on calling you Grim Reaper, right? How should I call you?"

And there was silence. Perhaps, he wasn't comfortable sharing his real name?

"Ahm, if you don't want to say it, then it's fine. I'll just keep calling you… Grim?"

"No, it's fine."

"Really?"

"Kai… my friends call me that."

Wow… what a beautiful name. Weird, it sounded familiar. Oh yeah! I remember! In my past life, I had to travel to Hawaii once for business purposes. I stayed at a hotel near the beach. In the morning I would take a walk near the shore, and I would often hear the locals saying "kai" or "makai'. It was only when my workmate explained to me that "kai" meant "ocean" in their language and "makai" meant "towards the ocean". I found myself laughing remembering that.

"What's funny?" Grim Reaper—or Kai, asked.

"Ha-ha! Sorry. I just found it funny because… don't get me wrong—your name's really pretty and I think it suits you."

"Really, huh?" He sounded skeptical.

"It's true!"

"Yeah, whatever you say." Oh my—he's not believing me.

"Nooo! I'm not making fun of your name! Hear me out—come on!"

"Pft! Ha-ha!" Ahh… he laughed. I began to love his laugh—I mean, like. "Fine. What's the reason?"

"It's the meaning of your name," I explained. "In Hawaii, it means ocean. And remember we were making ocean-related analogies last time we spoke? So I just found it funny because you said it, too—that… since we're having problems with big whales, we'll need the help of the ocean."

And once again, there was silence…