Chapter 360: Run.

Michael had a change of clothes when he was at the orphanage.

After leaving the building, Michael drove his way over towards their family's gym.

Stepping foot inside their building, Michael's nose was quickly assaulted by the smell of sweat and hard work!

A place where men and women alike goes to enhance their physical capacity and outlook, and at the same time, a place where a lot of people also frequent because of their inferiority complex about their masculinity compared to other people.

Which in itself is actually not a bad thing because you shouldn't let other people's criticism or judgment define who you are.

A saying that Michael believes in and lives with.

"Michael! It's been a while since you came here!"

Alex, the gym instructor that works here came walking over when he spotted Michael coming in from afar.

When Michael saw him, he couldn't help but laughed and said, "Are you a psychic or something? How come you're always here whenever I decide to come here?"

Alex laughed with him as they gave each other a bro fist, "Maybe, maybe not. We won't know"

"So what brings you here today man? And how come I don't see Dylan lately? Did he get married or something?" Alex shot Michael with a barrage of questions while laughing, and the receptionist who was watching from the reception desk was just shaking her head.

'Here he goes again with that machine gun mouth of his that almost never stops'

"Well, he's busy with his girl and me on the other hand, is also busy with mine" replied Michael with a snicker towards Alex.

"Tch, I'm gonna find one myself someday too" Alex clicked his tongue when he noticed that Michael was indirectly mocking him for being single.

Michael glanced at Sasha who's manning the reception desk and currently busy talking to a customer before turning his attention back to Alex and said, "What about Sasha? She's single and just ten years younger than you"

Alex abruptly turned his head towards Michael when he heard what he said, and couldn't help but exclaim in shock.

"What? No way! She's too young for me man"

"What do you mean too young? Didn't you hear what I just said a second ago? She's just ten years younger than you stupid!"

"Anyway, enough about girls. Come and let me spot for you"

Alex quickly changed the subject as he seemed to not want to talk about it.

Michael just laughed and said, "If you need a wingman, just tell me"

"Shut up, you brat"

Michael worked his butt off in the gym for an hour before making his way back home after a quick shower.

Arriving home, Michael saw his mom in the living room watching some TV Show and his dad in the kitchen, cooking something delicious.

"I'm back!"

No one answered him for two seconds, and Tom gave his wife a quick glance before quickly opening his mouth.

"So how did it go with Dylan, son?"

Michael who was stuck standing over the doormat sighed and answered, "It went well. Allison's parents seems nice people"

"Anyway, I'm heading to my room"

Michael hastily made his way towards his room, and when he was just about to pass by his mother, he glanced at the back of her head, and just sighed to himself.

'I guess she's still sulking'

*****

Shua!

Shadow once again appeared at his usual spot, and the camp he made before he left was already a wreck, and the campfire was long extinguished.

A lot of things had happened in the game during his absence.

The village under him is developing well, as there's already one or two group of players who discovered the village thanks to the road that the villagers and players from Flame Rose Guild had made by painstakingly plowing through the snow towards the direction of Orlborg Mountains, which consumed a lot of manpower that slowed down the construction of the new wall.

But thanks to their painstaking efforts, there's already a lot of old players who made their village their new home, especially for new players who picked it as their novice village, and there's also natives from Pan Kingdom who had decided to migrate to avoid the civil war after hearing a village that's erected in the forbidden snowy region that humans and other races rarely ventures to.

And on that topic, in the Pan Kingdom, the negotiation between the King's Faction and Rebel Faction fell through when a group of people in black garbs sent by the King's Faction tried to assassinate Count Azuna during the talk.

Resulting in another stalemate between the two sides as they once again rallied their men as they prepared for the final clash between the two sides, which kept Solitary Tempest and others busy as they needed to protect the Count and the Old General from continouos assassinations from players!

While on the other side of the continent, the undead horde and the alliance of kingdoms had a brief clash, where the alliance made massive losses because the horde seemed endless during the skirmish because they will just replenish their numbers through the dead.

But also because of this, the churches and temples also received a batch of new believers who became Priests, Warrior Monks and Paladins to combat the disadvantage that the undead imposes towards the living.

And all of these events made Shadow really envious of the other players because he was stuck here in god knows where all by himself, which really made him feel regret of accepting this stupid quest.

'Should I just forget about this and just eat this damn egg?'

Shadow quickly shook his head when he had those thoughts as he was afraid what Millie, the Red Dragon would do to him if she finds out that he had actually made a meal out of the dragon egg she gave him.

After that, Shadow started preparing for a hunt, as he started cooking while lightly repairing his items.

And soon after, he was already on the move as he planned to grind some levels before making his way deeper inside the Wildlands.

"Rawu! Rawu! Rawu! (Pig meat really delicious..We hunt more...for tribe!)"

"Rawu! Raww! (But we eat first!)"

"Rawu! Rawu! (Brother is right, we need a full stomach to hunt well, so eat!)"

Just above them, Shadow is currently hiding on top of a tree branch while watching a group of three wolf headed kobolds feasting on the carcass of Dual Horned Boar that they hunted.

"I wonder what they are talking about?" Michael muttered under his breath, feeling curious, and at the same time, he slowly pulled the dagger attached on his waist.

"[Shadow Meld]"

Shadow softly muttered under his breath as his body slowly disappeared into the shadows, and quickly appeared behind one of the Kobolds enjoying their feast!

"Ruwaaa! (Behind you!)" one Kobold noticed the disturbance behind one of them and quickly warned him!

But it was already too late, as half of the dagger had already stabbed through the head of the kobold, killing it in one unbelievable one hit!

"Ruwaaa! (How dare you!?)"

"Ruwa! Ruwa! (Kill the human!)"

The two Kobolds quickly jumped from their seats while taking their weapon with them as they quickly charged over towards Shadow in anger!

Michael stood his ground, weapons ready as he looked at the two Kobolds charging towards him with unstoppable momentum!

But then, his body slowly turned around….and made a run for it!

"F*ck! Run!"