58 Gathering Back

"Ah, that was hard!" Ryuji complained to the skies before looking at the palace in front of him. People toed and froed the lavishly decorated main gate, chianti cups in their hands, and talking and laughing with their companions. If not for their attires, he would have thought that these players were nobilities.

Ryuji entered the palace and looked around. Everyone was eating and drinking all kinds of high-end food while soft music played in the background.

"Hey, Ryuji, you finally came. Come here."

Knowing Sakura's voice, Ryuji turned around until he found her gesturing for him to come with a smile. Shesmu stood next to her, a cup of wine in hand.

"Ah, master, Sakura. How was you guys' trial?"

"That's what I should be asking! I got scared to all hell when we were separated, but since you're here, I'm guessing you passed."

Ryuji scratched his head in embarrassment at Sakura's expectations before he said in a timid voice, "Well, I did die a couple of times… Okay, maybe more than a couple of times. But I had to fight a horde of skeletons that didn't want to die. They just kept reviving over and over again. In the end, I just ran past them as fast as I could to reach the goal."

Sakura chuckled at the imagery Ryuji painted in her head. "Seems like you had it tough too."

"What about you?" Ryuji asked her. "How did the test go for you?"

Given the chance to complain, Sakura didn't miss the opportunity. "You can't believe the bullshit I had to go through. The moment I teleported from that dark place, I was on an island where it rained lightning. Yes, it rained fucking lightning. Bolts just struck the ground like they were raindrops. And guess what the test wanted me to do? It wanted me to control it."

"Woah, can you now control lightning?" Ryuji had a starstruck face at the thought. His eyes glittered like precious stones as he looked at Sakura.

"Ah, no way. I don't know how I was able to pass the test, but after dying to the lightning so many times, I was able to survive one bolt. I felt a zapping in my head and then the notification came. I'm honestly still confused about what happened."

"Seems like you attuned yourself to the lightning element," Shesmu clarified the situation. He listened attentively to the two's conversation, and he was surprised when Sakura talked about the island where it rained lightning. To think that you were sent to Thunder Island, what luck.

"Ohhh, does that mean that Sakura can now control lightning as she wants, master?"

Shesmu shook his head at Ryuji's assumptions. "I don't know, Ryuji. I just started playing this game like you two. But if I had to guess, maybe she can now control it better than before." Shesmu focused his attention on Sakura before he continued, "Either way, it's something only you can answer."

"Huh, let me try something." Sakura closed her eyes and put her hand close together. However, her fingers did not touch. She muttered inaudible things under her breath while her eyes stayed close. Soon, a zap went from one index to the other.

"Ohh, nice! So you can control lightning now, right, Sakura?"

Sakura scratched her head before saying, "Well, a little bit. And you don't need to call out my name every time you're talking to me, you know?"

"Ah, sorry, just a habit."

"Don't worry about that," She then looked at Shesmu, "more importantly, what about you? What was your trial?"

"Nothing too crazy," Shesmu responded. "I just needed to pass through some obstacles."

"Huh, I would have assumed that you got the hardest test out of all us, seeing how the system seems to have tailored it to each and every single player."

Shesmu heard Sakura's response and looked around the room. Soon, his eyes focused on a burly man making his way towards their group. It was Hector.

"Hey Hector, seems like your party has also just finished gathering up."

Hector turned around to look at his party before he responded to Shesmu, "Well, it did take some time. What about you guys, where is Leo?"

"He had something to do IRL." Sakura was the one to first respond. "He had some problems he needed to fix so he logged out early."

"Oh, I see. That's a shame. I would have loved to talk with him. As a tank, he is top tier."

"Of course! He is master's friend after all!"

The wave of cringe that surged from within Shesmu's depths could drown an entire city.

Hector chuckled awkwardly while Sakura sighed in disappointment. "Hey Ryuji, you know, Shes would really appreciate it if you stopped calling him that."

"Oh?" Ryuji looked in confusion at everyone's various reactions.

Hector coughed twice to change the subject before he asked in a low voice, "Well, more importantly, how is you guys' search for the hidden monster? We still have no idea who it could be since it didn't seem to have made any move yet."

"Well, Shes had his suspicions, but-"

"But they were just suspicions, that's it." Shesmu cut Sakura halfway through her speech. "I don't think that listening to suspicions is the best idea. I think we should just look at the game objectively, predict what possible moves the monster could make and take precautions against them. And once it finally takes the bait, we can then surround it and kill it."

"Sounds like a good plan," Hector responded. "Let me bring my teammates in and we can start brainstorming."

"Sure, let's bring them in." Shesmu nodded at Hector. The latter made his way back to his party, while Shesmu focused back on his own.

"What do you think?" Sakura asked. "I know that you have your suspicions fully placed on Arthur, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a chance other people are too. Hector, no exception."

"Ehh? Hector, the monster? But he seemed like such a good person."

Ryuji's complaints made Sakura grit her teeth.

"It's just a hypothetical!" She said annoyed.

"That's definitely a possibility," Shesmu responded. His eyes then drifted towards Arthur's party before he continued, "And I know that I would definitely be biased in my judgment, so why don't we split the task? I focus on Arthur's party while you focus on Hector's. That way, no one's emotions get in the way."

"Sure, that's a good idea. I can do that."