Chapter 50: Lesson One

It was evening, the sky painted with a reddish-orange hue.

The air felt chilly as the trio stood at the entrance of the palace, waiting for their carriage to arrive.

They had already said their goodbyes to the princess and the queen.

Kaisen was in high spirits.

He had promised the princess that he would return and bring her a souvenir from their travels, although she vehemently opposed the idea, insisting he shouldn't come back at all.

He knew that meant she was secretly longing for his company.

"Man, we really are stuck here, aren't we? The maintenance or bugs or whatever it is fucked us over greatly. How long till they fix it."

Llyod shook his head, looking up at the evening sky, the wind caressing his short brown hair.

"I have a feeling it won't be soon."

Alice stated, looking down, her hand behind her back.

"Well, at least we get to explore the world. And it's not like we'll die in real life if we die here, right? I mean, we're just unconscious."

Lloyd stated optimistically, gazing at the horizon.

"I highly doubt that. There's something wrong with the game. I mean, there are beings from other worlds who have the same game with slightly different lore. Like..."

Kaisen interjected, his tone tinged with uncertainty.

Despite enjoying his time here and having everything he wished for in his life, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

"Like beings from other worlds. Another freaking world? Can you believe it? This game is how we discovered there are aliens living outside our world."

Kaisen exclaimed, frustration evident in his voice as he kicked a small rock, watching it tumble across the ground.

"Yeah, aliens with their own cultures and societies."

Lloyd added, shaking his head in disbelief.

Alice remained silent, lost in thought.

"Hey, aren't Maximus and Sable late or something?"

Lloyd asked, as if the thought had just occurred to him.

Suddenly, as if on cue, hooves thundered behind the trio, and they turned to see black stallions racing towards them... but without any carriages in sight.

"Where's the other half?" Alice asked, shading her eyes with her hand to see more clearly.

Maximus and Sable rode on two stallions, both of them clad in full cloaks that covered them from head to toe.

Kaisen couldn't even catch a glimpse of Sable's boobies bouncing up and down while riding, thanks to the loose cloak.

The moment she said that, the brown horse kicked Lloyd with its back leg, sending him flying several feet away before landing in the mud with a resounding splat.

"Oops."

Sable commented nonchalantly, not even flinching to help poor Lloyd.

Maximus, on the other hand, laughed maniacally at the fall, as if he hadn't seen such a sight in years.

Both Alice and Kaisen looked at each other, their eyes wide with shock, and gulped nervously.

"Next."

Sable announced, whipping her head towards the duo, her smile taking on a seductive edge beneath her cloak.

"Oh, shit."

Kaisen muttered under his breath, feeling the weight of Sable's gaze on him.

"Haha, come on, Kaisen-kun, you've got this."

Alice encouraged, giving Kaisen's shoulder a reassuring pat.

Kaisen responded with a look that clearly conveyed his exasperation: "Why me?"

"Fuck you, Alice-san."

Kaisen cursed under his breath before striding towards another horse.

This time, a black one.

Not as majestic as the stallions, nor as imposing in size.

'Dammit.'

The horse glared at him, its dark eyes drilling into Kaisen's soul as it squared up, clearly wary of his approach.

Taking a deep breath, Kaisen slowly extended his arm towards the horse, adopting a non-threatening posture.

"Come on, horsey. Come to papa. Aren't you a good girl?"

He cooed softly, coaxing the horse with gentle words as he extended his hand further.

However, the horse only squared up more, its demeanor still guarded.

'Fuck me.'

Suddenly, Kaisen's mind conjured images of the horse charging at him like a bull, trampling him under its hooves.

Ignoring the nagging fear, he continued to coax the horse.

"Come on, horsey, papa won't hurt you."