Silas sat on a lounge chair, soaking in the beach sun.
Alfred sat beside him, resting his back fully with a dark shade covering his face.
"Isn't this interesting?" Silas asked himself rhetorically as he released a long exhale.
"Look to the left," Alfred whispered to Silas.
After a brief thought, Silas checked, looking at the three girls laughing together.
"Which do you want?" Alfred asked, removing the glasses from his face.
His gaze was so intense that Silas felt like he could get swallowed.
"None," Silas said, shaking his head slowly. "I don't want stuff like that yet," he added.
"Ohh, okay then," Alfred said, standing up from the chair smoothly. "You guys might have to leave without me," he said with a smirk.
The implications behind his words were clear. "To think Vice-Governor Alfred was like this," Silas mumbled to himself before closing his eyes.
"So, Amelia, how is Max's place?" Aldric asked.
He had come about 30 minutes earlier and had even talked with Silas before he went to see Amelia, who was sitting closer to the ocean.
Amelia was baffled by Aldric's question. Why would he ask something like that?
"It is okay," she replied slowly, unsure of what to say.
"Funny how both of you were able to stay with him without running away," Aldric whispered with a smile.
"You know I can hear you, right?" Max said, turning to Aldric.
Aldric shrugged in answer.
"Have you seen the new episode of…"
Aldric and Max began to talk about a movie, not even caring about Amelia, who was there.
The day passed quickly. They had spent over two hours at the beach already.
Currently, they were sitting together on a mat and eating.
"So, after this, why don't we go for some games?" Max asked with bright eyes. "I heard there is a new virtual shooter game here," he added, as if to convince them to join.
"Let's go," Silas was the first to agree.
"Okay."
Everyone agreed. Even Aldric, with his hundreds of years of age, seemed even more eager than the others.
The arcade section was at the far end of the beach, sandwiched between a souvenir shop and a smoothie kiosk.
"I can get you a souvenir when we are coming back," Silas said to Amelia with a smile.
Amelia looked at him for a while before nodding.
They soon entered the game hub, Max spreading his arms wide.
The place seemed to be something that was brought straight out of science fiction.
Flickering blue neon light shone through the room. Several pods were arranged side by side.
"Not bad," Silas commented.
"Not bad?" Max turned to Silas with a betrayed expression. "Silas, look at it," he added with a facepalm.
"I said not bad," Silas shrugged.
"You've seen better, why are you so surprised by this?" Aldric asked, patting Max on the shoulder as he walked past him.
"This is on my planet, those are from outside it."
"That makes sense," Amelia nodded, also walking past Max.
"Wait, where is Alfred? He did not show up when we were eating too," Max suddenly realized.
"That…" Silas scratched his head. "We won't be seeing him till tomorrow, that was what he told me," Silas said, quickly walking to avoid further questions.
Max furrowed his brows. "None of my business, at least he is not here to scold me," Max beamed.
He felt even happier now.
"Good day, how many pods, sir?" a staff member asked Max.
"Four," Max said, counting his fingers.
"Five," a voice suddenly came from the entrance.
Everyone turned to the direction the familiar voice had come from.
There, Alfred walked in slowly, hands tucked into his pockets, his glasses now hanging on the collar of his shirt.
There were faint traces of lipstick smeared on his cheeks, purple, blue, and red mixed together. He had not managed to wipe all of it off.
Silas stared at him.
Alfred met the gaze with perfect serenity.
"Don't," Silas said.
"I never said anything," Alfred said with a smile as he walked past him.
"You were about to."
Alfred remained silent.
"Umm, you did not clean the lipstick well," Amelia whispered from the side.
"Oh, thank you," Alfred said, wiping the lipstick with a handkerchief that appeared in his hand.
Max shook his head at Alfred.
"Give us five then."
The attendant quickly brought out five chips.
"The game is a 5v5 multiplayer connected to the virtual server. It means that you can be matched with people from other sectors entirely," the attendant began to explain.
"So, if we were not five, who would take the last spot?" Silas asked curiously.
"You will get matched with a random player."
After getting the full gist, all of them entered the pods, and they were activated by the attendant.
In the next instant, all of them appeared in a ruin.
The sky was hollow, with smoke rising from every corner, giving the air a metallic scent. Giant vines wrapped around some buildings.
The place itself seemed to stretch for over 100 miles.
They were all separated from each other. The only link between them was the group communication.
Silas appeared on a rooftop. He was currently reading the status screen that appeared before him.
[Inventory: None]
[Players remaining: 10]
[Teammates remaining: 5]
[In the game, cultivation is locked.]
"Let all of us gather at the green building," Aldric's voice echoed in all of their ears at the same time.
Silas looked up, then sighed. 'The enemy will most likely also try to gather there,' he thought.
"I should get a weapon first. All thoughts come after that. But I don't think I will be going there."
At the same time, in a certain building, Max also had the same thought as Silas.
But their approaches to it were in stark contrast.
"I should get there to kill all of them quickly."
He gazed at the crate in front of him and began to loot.
After a few minutes, he was completely equipped.
A black combat vest, a pistol, and a knife.
Without much thought, he ran out of the building, towards their rendezvous point.