Chapter 98 - Mysterious Boxes

Hiro found it hard to believe that the girl who was standing in front of him, the girl he had often passed by in Tokyo, was Anonymous. The one who had irritated him so many times.

Even though Hiro kept trying not to accept the fact, Alice explained everything to him. About her identity as Anonymous and what her purpose was in doing so. She spoke so quickly, like an AI translator machine.

Hiro still denied the fact, though. He didn’t know whether to feel disappointed or happy after knowing the true identity of the person who had planned everything for him so he could get into the LSO game.

“So, what’s your relationship with Yuujin?” Hiro asked after hearing her explanation. Alice said she did all this just to uncover the mysterious death of Hiro’s brother. He wouldn’t believe it if the girl gave him an answer that he was just Yuujin’s fan because her efforts so far were excessive.

“A big fan.” Hiro knew Alice was lying. However, he didn’t want to interrogate her any further because he was sure that the girl was just not ready to tell him yet.

There was still a lot of information about Anonymous’s goals and plans that he hadn’t got until now. Hiro wanted to hear it directly from her.

Broadly speaking, Alice only told Hiro that she had prepared everything to investigate Yuujin’s death. And in order to do that, she needed someone she could rely on in the game world.

Alice was 99% sure that the LSO game had a very strong connection with Yuujin’s death.

But still, Hiro didn’t even know how Alice could find him, finding a fairly reliable gamer who was also blood related to Yuujin. How could she know that? Yuujin never talked about his brother in front of the camera.

Funnily enough that the Anonymous, who had been in his shadow all this time, was a thug-looking girl in front of him.

“So, give me an update about Yuujin in that game.” asked the girl, lighting a new cigarette.

“Wait–you didn’t know that? It should be a big news!” Hiro thought that he might have missed many updates from the internet about the return of the king. But—it seemed that no media was talking about that when he’s kidnapped.

“What is it?”

Finally Hiro explained his encounter with WynterRain. He told her how WynterRain appeared and wiped out the survivors from The Haunted Maze until there was no one left and made Hiro fail in the first mission given by Anonymous to win the event.

Alice listened with a serious face. She really didn’t have the look or impression of an intelligent person in the slightest.

“I knew that something like this would happen. He is an attention seeker.” Alice chuckled, imagining herself being in Hiro’s position, watching Yuujin’s nerve-wracking appearance, which was fascinating.

“But still, what the hell is with the media? How could they keep silent in such a big moment like this?” she’s getting mad all of a sudden. Hiro has the same thoughts. It was too big to hide in fact.

Even so, the girl changed the topic like she knew already that the media would do this.

“He’s aiming for that dragon, huh?”

Hiro didn’t give any comments. He waited for the girl to give her opinion on the information he had provided. However, Alice didn’t say anything at all. She didn’t even look the least bit annoyed right now.

“Alright, it has been two days since the last time you played the game. Your power must be left behind for now. Do you think you can catch up with others?” Alice walked over to Hiro and sat on the wooden chair in front of him.

Two days, huh?

Hiro recalled WynterRain’s words before the man eliminated him from the game.

That night, he talked about Hiro’s party members. When Hiro thought thoroughly about that, it felt like WynterRain gave them an evaluation rather than mockery.

Then, he talked about Hiro’s power, which would be impossible to catch up with him at that time.

Hiro felt something was off with those sentences. It was as if his brother was trying to convey a message that wouldn’t be understood by the others who might watch him right now?

A powerful party?

A powerful avatar?

Did that mean WynterRain was telling him to get stronger?

Hiro was certain there was a secret message from WynterRain’s words. Hiro knew his brother was very smart in using words. And he was sure, one hundred percent sure, that Yuujin couldn’t possibly tell him to stop playing the game.

Because, if Yuujin really asked Hiro to stop playing the game… then this would be the first game that Yuujin forbade Hiro to play.

But—about the party? What’s wrong with his party members?

Click!

“You didn’t hear what I said at all, did you?” Alice snapped her fingers in front of Hiro’s face. That snap managed to startle Hiro, who was deep in thought.

“Did you say something?”

He really heard nothing.

Alice took a deep breath. “Here, take this and get back to the game.”

Hiro got his android bracelet back from Alice’s hand. Nothing had changed about that thing.

“You really broke into my house, huh,” Hiro grumbled as he put the android bracelet back on his wrist.

“Did you forget that I’m an expert at it?”

Alice helped Hiro to prepare the VR set. The girl really forced Hiro to return to play the game as soon as possible.

“Get a pet soon.”

Was that the reason Alice pushed him to win the haunted maze event?

Hiro took a deep breath after putting the VR helmet on his head. Even though it had only been 2 days, he really missed the device now.

[Checking the connection…]

[Synchronizing player information, please wait…]

[All set]

[System linked]

[Welcome to Last Shelter Online]

Hiro opened his eyes, and he found himself on a very dark map, as if he was in a black box.

He was kissing the ground. He couldn’t remember how he ended up in that position.

As he stood on his feet, he saw a warp in front of him.

“Am I still at the event venue?! Did the kidnappers knock me out while I was walking towards the warp? That’s weird.”

…

[Beginner Town]

Hiro had been teleported back to the beginner town square, which was very lively, even though it was already night.

“Ah—I almost forgot that my actual body is in America now. The time has no difference with the game time.”

Ding!

[You have a new message from GM Juno]

[Thank you for participating in The Haunted Maze event]

[Here is your participation reward]

[You have obtained 3 Mysterious Boxes]

“Only a participation reward, what a waste.”

Hiro checked his avatar’s level and his avatar power was left far behind the other.

“System Calls.”

[NightFall] [Barbarian] [CBT King]

Base Level 29

Job Class Level 27

Health 16570/16570

AP 2550/2550

Energy 250/250

Fame 6190

BR 16110

Basic Stats (Points 0)

STR 90

AGI 51

INT 22

VIT 42

DEX 24

LUCK 22

Skill Stats (Points 15)

Sword Combo Skill Level 5 Max

Bloodsteal (passive) Level 5 Max

Martial Combo Art Level 5 Max

[Current World Level 30]

[ World rank based on Level… Rank 251]

[Word rank based on battle rating… Rank 175]

“Alright, not too far behind. I can still catch up. It looks like the others get additional BR from the pet feature that is unlocked at level 30.”

Hiro didn’t ask anyone. Even though it was clear what he had just experienced made him left behind.

But—if he had never experienced it. He would never see his brother’s body in person and at the same time find some information that connected to each other.

Ding!

[Dear NightFall, you have been offline for more than 24 hours. This is the longest time for LSO players to stay offline. I hope that you are okay. Here is a gift for you – Nyx]

[+2500 EXP]

[+2500 EXP]

[+2500 EXP]

Ding!

[Base Level Up 1x]

“Only 2 days and they thought I had died or got a severe disease?”

Hiro was flabbergasted that he got a huge EXP reward just for breaking the longest offline record in the game.

At that moment, he was interested in opening the mysterious boxes he received from the event because he didn’t want to keep it in his inventory for too long.

Ding!

[You have obtained 1 pack of sunflower seeds]

Ding!

[You have obtained a broken sword]

“Can they give me something worthy?”

Hiro held his breath prior to opening the last mysterious box with his hands.

Pop!

A bright light came out from the box and blinded him suddenly.

Hiro felt something solid and a bit heavy on his hands. When he opened his eyes, he could see an egg as big as the ball from American football.

Before he could read the name of the egg in his hands, a server broadcast popped out in front of him.