Chapter 118

Hiro felt very close to knowing the secret behind the door, but he didn’t know whether he was ready to accept it or not. His hands were getting wet with sweat and his heart was pounding crazily.

He stared at a transparent screen that appeared in front of him. Staring at the only column listed without knowing what to fill it with.

What if he doesn’t have a chance to try 2-3 times when he entered the wrong password?

Below that column was a continuous display of time.

[2m 18s]

“Ehmm… Alice, looks like I have to enter a password. Can’t you help me with this machine?”

Hiro pointed his android bracelet at the screen in front of him, so Anonymous could check it out.

“Hmm, I see. But, even if I can hack it, it will take time, you know? And it is too risky if we run out of time. A smuggler alarm may have been set automatically.”

“Didn’t that girl tell you something?”

At that moment, Hiro realized he had forgotten one piece of information that sounded trivial, but could be the most important thing in his search.

“Her cat’s name,” he muttered.

Hiro immediately input the word that popped up in his head with a tension feeling. He was really curious about what was behind the door.

[Monica]

[Password Correct]

[Access Granted]

The iron door in front of Hiro opened automatically, moving like a sophisticated transformer machine.

Hiro immediately walked into the room in front of him without a second thought. He almost didn’t care about his own safety anymore.

After he entered, the door swung shut again automatically.

A very luxurious room. It was as if the place was a hidden penthouse in a hospital.

In the sky, there was a roof that displayed millions of stars as if he stared directly at the night sky. The light source in the room came from the stars, which looked exactly like a real one. Even if Hiro stared at it for a long time, it was hard to prove that the starry sky was just a very high resolution LED screen.

Then, Hiro’s eyes immediately fell on a luxury sleeping capsule the size of a 2028 Lamborghini-type sports car that was in the middle of the room.

At first glance, Hiro felt he had seen the model of the sleeping capsule design before. However, he was sure that the one in front of him was much larger.

Slowly, Hiro walked towards the sleeping capsule with an increasingly restless heart.

“What is that thing, I—”

His hands took off the earpod he was using to stay connected to Anonymous by force. He really wanted to focus on the thing in front of him right now.

Getting closer to the sleeping capsule, Hiro felt a bad feeling.

A goddess—no, a beautiful lady looked sleeping soundly on her back with a very peaceful face. A smile spread across her naturally pink-plumply lips. The girl was wearing an exquisite white ornamental flower dress, glittering with diamonds on top of the dress.

Her long blonde hair scattered beautifully behind her back. The girl had radiant white skin, and she looked very healthy.

Hiro couldn’t close his gaping mouth for a few seconds. He never thought he would see a sleeping princess in the real world.

“Libe.”

Hiro’s throat felt parched. He really didn’t know what to do.

The feelings were mixed together. He was happy because the girl was real and finally he could see her in person. However, he also felt anxious and restless when he realized the girl seemed to have been asleep for a very long time.

“What happened to you?”

Hiro observed Liberty’s body through the cover of the sleeping capsule. He was sure that the girl was still breathing, although her breathing rhythm seemed abnormal. It was too slow.

Does sleep make a person’s breath slow down drastically?

Hiro turned around, looking at his surroundings for other clues. He really wanted to know more about her. What really happened to her? If it is possible, he will touch her and wake her up.

However, he couldn’t do anything. He even couldn’t find anything suspicious in that room.

No oxygen cylinder, no electrocardiogram, no IV drip. She didn’t like a patient being hospitalized in a hospital.

There was only a huge sleeping capsule that reminded Hiro of the very famous robot alien movie when he was a child, Transformers.

“Is she sick?”

Hiro looked back at Liberty, who was sleeping soundly. He really wanted to see her wake up from her slumber and noticed that he had come to visit.

However, after thirty minutes had passed, there was no sign that the girl would wake up.

Ding!

Hiro was startled by an incoming message from Anonymous, which he had been ignoring for quite a long time.

“Get out! Now!”

Hiro really didn’t realize that he had run out of time. An hour guaranteed by Anonymous was absolute.

Although it was very hard for him to leave the girl, Hiro had no other choice. At least he already knew what was in the room Libe had told him about.

He would ask her directly about what had happened to her when they met again.

…

Hiro managed to return to Alice’s shabby and spooky rented apartment. His mind was full of questions.

He only told Alice about what he found in the room. However, Alice didn’t look the least bit surprised. Instead, she looked normal and her face showed that she was not at all interested in anything Hiro found there.

She was completely focused on her main goal of unraveling the mystery of Yuujin’s death.

Hiro didn’t know what made her so eager like that. He was really curious about Alice’s relationship with his brother for real.

“I’ll play the game.” Hiro couldn’t wait to meet Liberty and ask the girl directly.

“Go on!”

[Checking connection…]

[Synchronizing player information, please wait…]

[All set]

[System linked]

[Welcome to Last Shelter Online]

Hiro was back in the Eternity Kingdom. It was 10 p.m..

It was difficult to meet Liberty at this hour of the night. What was more, he didn’t have the girl’s contact, nor her new address.

Although he could randomly tag Liberty via world chat, he preferred not to because it was too attention-grabbing and made him look like a desperate person.

Hiro looked at the full moon above the sky of the Eternity Kingdom. The light was very bright. And suddenly he remembered a quest he got from a bat-shaped boss that suddenly appeared in front of him.

[Lost Sigil Map]

When he activated the item, Hiro got a map. The directions on the map could only be seen when the full moonlight touched the surface.

Hiro walked, following the map that led him deep into the forest to the west of the Eternity Kingdom.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Rustle!

The forest was not so dark because of the moonlight. He continued walking in the direction the map showed. He could even see his footprints. His position in the forest was exactly the same as on the Lost Sigil Map. It seemed the map had magic material on it.

Rustle!

Hiro had heard the sound of bushes rustling behind him twice. However, when he looked behind him, he didn’t see anyone there. Not even monsters existed.

He kept walking until he reached the cross on the map.

There was a giant transparent bubble that stretched out to cover the gap between two giant trees that rose 40 meters above ground level.

While Hiro was staring at it, suddenly someone grabbed his hand from behind.

“Libe?!”

A completely unexpected event. The girl appeared before Hiro with a body drenched with sweat and gasping for air. She wore a robe that covered her entire body.

“Hiro, run. They’re coming.”

“What?!”

Without knowing what the girl meant, Liberty suddenly pulled him towards the giant transparent bubble in front of them.

And then, he heard her scream.

“Aaarghhhh!”

Ding!

[You have entered the Cursed Witch Lair]