Chapter 4 – A Schism, A Mask and the Future.

Chapter 4 – A Schism, A Mask and the Future.

It wasn't much later that Akagi and Kana's parents entered the room. Their stay was brief and it seemed that nothing had changed in the four years Akagi had been gone. The two of them were more worried about Kana and complained that Akagi's condition could have caused Kana's grades to drop. They berated Akagi for her gaming habit causing problems for the family and told her that she had better figure out her life quickly as they wouldn't be helping her now that she was nearly twenty-one.

Naturally, Kana was furious; for the first time in her life, Akagi watched as Kana yelled at her parents. Kana had never been one for arguing and would rarely get mad, let alone scream at someone. Their parents were taken aback by this sudden outburst and at first, blamed Akagi's influence but this only set Kana off even more. It seemed that all the stress and resentment towards her parents had finally come to a head and Kana was finally saying what had been on her mind for nearly a decade.

Once Kana was finished, she "requested" their parents to leave and told them that she would have a friend drive her home. Akagi watched this entire thing with ostensible shock but deep down, she had known this was coming for years. She knew that Kana adored her and that she hated how her parents treated her. For years she had always talked Kana down from confronting them by telling her that she would one day leave and that the issue would solve itself. Of course, getting trapped in FWO for nearly four years had thrown a slight wrench into those plans.

It didn't help that during her time in FWO their parents had been less than supportive. Sure they treated Kana as well as they always had, but it was as if they didn't even acknowledge that their other daughter's life was endangered. Apparently, they even told Kana that that her schoolwork was more important than visiting her hospitalized sister. Naturally, Kana ignored these complaints and there was little that their parents could do to stop her.

Despite everything, Akagi wanted Kana to have a normal relationship with their parents. Whether their love of Kana was because they saw her as a meal ticket is up to speculation. But from the outside, they were supportive and loving to her and Akagi wanted it to stay that way. Of course, there were plenty of times when Akagi wanted to put a wedge between Kana and their parents, but she always held off on doing so out of love for her sister.

After their parents left, the two sisters continued their conversation. Kana asked Akagi to tell her about what happened in FWO over those last four years and Akagi obliged. She kept nothing from Kana telling her how she had spent her time there as an assassin taking contracts from players and NPCs alike. Contrary to Akagi's expectations, Kana took it all in stride becoming interested in the details of Akagi's work.

{I'm not sure whether I should be happy or concerned that Kana has taken such an interest in my line of work. Perhaps she is more fascinated by the absurdity than anything else?} (Akagi)

Eventually, Kana asked about a specific player.

"If I'm not mistaken, before you went into FWO you had been talking with that friend of yours Hishya right? You were supposed to play together, was she in the game?" Kana asked

Akagi thought for a second.

"I wouldn't say Hishya and I are friends. If anything, we could best be called kindred spirits." (Akagi)

The detectives stayed for almost two hours, asking a seemingly never-ending barrage of questions. Akagi had been close to asking them to leave when they declared they were finished and would return if they had any further queries. After that, Akagi sent Kana home, something the girl vehemently opposed. After some convincing and reminding her that she could simply come back tomorrow Kana called her friend from school and got a ride home.

It was now well after dark, Akagi was alone in her room and the hospital was eerily quiet.

{Now then, with today's game of two thousand fucking questions done. It's time to see what the hell is going on with my body. First of all, let's confirm that I can actually use body strengthening and that earlier wasn't a fluke.} (Akagi)

Akagi took a moment to remember the sensation from earlier and cross it with how she understood body strengthening in the game. What resulted was an all too familiar sensation spreading throughout her body and into each and every muscle.

{Well, that confirms that I can use body-strengthening magic in the real world. In fact, I can sense my magic pool as I did in the game only this time it's more of a feeling rather than a status bar.} She brought her hand up and snapped her fingers causing a small amount of fire to appear above her them.

{I can use my fire magic too. How is this even possible, it was just a game, a simulation made of electricity and code, things carrying over IRL shouldn't be possible.}

{The only explanation I have is the reward the system spoke about right at the end. So does that mean 99 other people have come back into the real world as their characters? And if we got to keep our skills, I wonder if.....} Akagi's mouth changed to a wry smile as she reached her hand out in front of her.

Suddenly, a small black distortion appeared causing Akagi to become excited as she reached inside. After a few moments, she withdrew her hand bringing with her a sheathed Wakizashi. After a few moments, she slowly unsheathed the blade and pointed it toward the ceiling.

"Ha ha Ha ha Ha ha Ha ha Ha ha Ha ha Ha ha" Akagi began to laugh in pure delight. "Well my friend, I guess this means we're just getting started."

Spoiler

World Breaker!

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