(Each chapter usually have a picture that comes with it. It's quite a bit of picture to upload. You can check them put pn www.drezoregalaia.com)

Chapter 3

Moving shadows

July 17, 2054. Friday. 9:30 am.

"Beep. Beep. Beep." The loud digital alarm went off. Kiyro reached over with his hands as he searched for the audible obnoxious alarm. After a couple of attempts, he finally could silence it with a heavy downward force of his hand. The alarm clattered and fell to the side.

"Ugh," he groaned. He was still tired from last night's ordeal. Flashes of last night's events were recalled in his mind, bringing him fully awake. He bolted upwards and scanned around the room.

"When did I get in bed?" He checked his clothes and noticed they were still the same as what he had worn last night.

"You're finally awake." Sylph chirped. The Embryo Alive glasses automatically turned on. A small holographic bird appeared before him on his lap. "I was wondering when you would finally get up. We got a lot of things to do today."

Rubbing his eyes, Kiyro recalled every last thing that happened last night. The surreal events that seem to come out of a horror movie happened last night. So the whole event felt like a dream; he did not know if what happened last night even happened.

"What are you waiting for? We've got to help speed up the next World Quest. Are you going to act stupid all day long?" Sylph chastised him.

"That was not a dream?" Kiyro whispered lightly under his breath. His mind was groggy from sleep.

"Did you say something? I couldn't hear you. Speak up."

"Last night wasn't a dream, right?" Kiyro stared intently down at Sylph, waiting for an answer. "No, wait. You bastard. You lied to me last night and left me without giving me a good reason." Kiyro angrily raised his hands towards Sylph and tried to grab him but failed. His hands slipped through like butter.

"Kuhuhuhuh. I'm holographic."

"I'll get you for this."

"You can try." Sylph shrugged it off as if it was nothing. "Either way, I was programmed to make it my top priority to complete the mission handed down to you. So I had to use what I was given."

"Don't ever do that again. Next time you pull such a stunt, I will find a way to get rid of your existence." Kiyro's hands popped and crackled.

"Deal. I knew it would only work once." Sylph shook his head in understanding, but for some reason, Kiyro didn't believe he did. "But why do you think it's a dream? Have you hit your head or something? Do you want me to personally replay the videos that happened last night? I recorded everything."

"You recorded it?" Kiyro said, surprised.

"Give me a second, and I'll pull it up." Sylph tittered for a moment and blanked out. His eyes glazed over as he searched for the necessary data. "Here it is. I made some quick edits, so it's fast forward." Then, finally, he came back to reality.

A holographic video appeared before Kiyro and played in real-time. The camera scanned around him, the sunlight slowly diminishing into the background and becoming night. The streetlight flickers on and lights the streetlight that was once off. Before him lay the empty playground where no insects sang their usual songs. The scene skips to him, placing the stones in each location that the Alive gear has specified. Each time the scene changes and stops to relive the moments.

The white cat appeared before him and meowed. Then, one by one, the cats increased in numbers and surrounded him as each rune stone was placed in its location. When he finally appeared at the final drop site several times, static disrupted and made the reel flicker.

"Was that a power outage or electrical interruptions?" Kiyro asked.

"What do you mean?" Sylph looked at him, confused. "Where?"

"Go back a couple seconds." Kiyro directed, and Sylph rewound the reel where the static flicker appeared.

"There. Stop." Kiyro raised his hands. "Play it again from there." The scene once again replayed where the screen created a disturbance in the video.

"What about it?" Sylph asked, confused at what Kiyro was going on about.

"Didn't you see it? Humanoid shadows were moving in the background; even the screen had static at that moment. I don't think this is the only time. Play the rest, and you will know what I mean." Kiyro's voice was full of worry. What happened last night was real, and what he saw was real. The video was proof of the whole ordeal.

"I don't see what you are talking about. I think you are going slightly insane from yesterday's

ordeal. Seeing shadows and stuff." Sylph huffed and rolled his eyes.

"I'm not. Zoom in and clarify the picture on the top left."

"Come on. There is nothing there."

"Just do it." Kiyro pointed toward the area where he wanted Sylph to zoom in and make the image clear.

"Fine," Sylph grumbled. The screen zooms in and amplifies a dozen times. In the background, near the edge, a human male silhouette barely became visible. "Am I seeing things?"

"No. I'm seeing it just as clearly as you are."

"That's a man. How is he transparent? Is the government making new technology?"

"Could be, but I'm not so sure it's possible yet. It's a little weird. Don't you see it's like the shadows are transparent? If they were making something invisible, wouldn't it make sense that they want to disappear all the way?"

"That's true." Sylph paused for a moment and paced back and forth. "Wait."

Sylph stopped and pulled up the same video and faced forward to all the other spots in the video where there was static. Each time he checked and amplified, he found different silhouettes of the shadow man that were present almost off-screen from the reel. Only once, near the end of the clip, where Kiyro was speaking out loud, there was a full image of the shadow man clear as day.

The face was captured clearly even though it was transparent. A human male stared back full of anger and hatred. His lips were curled in a snarl, and he seemed to carry a weapon on his waist that Kiyro believed could be a sword. Kiyro shivered when he stared at the picture. The man's eyes were completely black with no irises. Claw-like hands were outstretched towards Kiyro, coming down to rend him in half.

"I don't believe this," Sylph said with complete loss. Where did all these shadow people come from?" More than fifteen images of the shadow people were out for Kiyro and Sylph to see.

"I don't know, but I'm not liking where this is going less and less," Kiyro replied. He leaned back on the wall on his bed.

"It seems you were telling the truth."

"Well, it's over and done with. I need some answers. Do you think you can find something about this on the website?"

"Let me check." Sylph's eyes glazed over while he was accessing the information.

Kiyro sighed in relief that he was not insane. The footage proved to him that this was not a lie, but at the same time, more questions popped into his head. What is the world hiding? He thought. How much more?

He didn't know where to begin to search for the answer to the shadow people. There were already too many questions and answers that were not quickly answered. He wondered if Eve had received a Real Live World Quest as well.

"Okay. I think I got something," said Sylph. He came back to reality and pulled up another holographic web image. "I'm going to save the images and fade out your face. You don't mind if I post it online, right?"

"No, I don't mind. However, I would also like to see what other people say."

"Well then, I'm going to place it on the 1111 website and the forum." Sylph had begun to surf the internet once again.

"Why the 1111 website?"

"They seem to ask for video submissions for the Real-world Quest, and you get paid if they use your video. So I thought you might need some money."

"And how do you know this?" Kiyro folded his arms.

"Look over your spending."

"Wait. Wait. Back up. You did what?" Kiyro asked, appalled. He did not like where this was going.

"Just a small background check."

"It's a felony, and you go to jail for that."

"Not if you don't get caught," Sylph winked and smiled.

"That's true, but you've been caught red-handed. You just stated what you did."

"Yep, but there is no proof. So you can't do anything."

"Why, you little…." Kiyro stopped himself. What he said was the truth. This little imp was seriously giving him a headache. "Don't do unnecessary things without my permission."

"Fine. If you are done grumbling, I'll be going with the plan and uploading it. Kapish?"

Kiyro waved his hands, letting Sylph go ahead with the plan. He actually was antsy for a possible reply from 1111. By making the video popular, he might gain some kind of answer from different people who might know the answer to the questions he was looking for.

"With that being done, I found some interesting video files with some of the quest recorded.

Most people who uploaded their videos don't have anything happening. However, there are sporadic cases where something unusual did happen, but not as over-the-top as yours. I found a couple of the videos have some kind of orbs that look like will-o-wisps floating around the players. Let me show you."

A video reel automatically gets pulled up and is brought in front of Kiyro. A young boy, age twelve, was standing in front of a house. His short brown hair and round face scrunched with worry. His short pants and t-shirt were covered lightly in the dirt, making him look like he tripped and fell. The boy pushed the door open and stood on the side, peeking through. His breath brought out a puff of steam and disappeared into thin air. Then, with weary steps, the young boy worriedly went forward into the dark house.

"He's breaking and entering," Kiyro whispered.

"Shhh. He's not. It's an abandoned house."

"It looks too new to be abandoned. Are you sure?"

"Yes."

The wooden floor creaked softly underneath his foot as the young boy walked into the dark house. Only dim lighting from the moonlight cast its lights through the window allowing the boy to see around him. A few pieces of furniture left over from the previous occupants were covered with white sheets. Broken wooden chairs littered the vicinity making it slightly difficult to maneuver around.

The dimmed light made the place a bit more challenging to see for Kiyro. Small green orbs appeared from the ground and floated around the young boy. One-by-one, more and more appeared already. Finally, a good handful moved around him like fireflies.

"Fireflies?" The boy spoke in confusion. His worried face slowly released and turned into a smile. The green orbs danced around him, whizzing past his head and body like rockets. It was difficult to keep track of darting orbs, and their sporadic movements gave Kiyro a slight headache.

The scene fades out and switches over to the boy in a room. In front of him, he had chalk in hand and was drawing a large magical circle that encompassed his whole body. It was a five-pointed star inside a circle. A triangle shape and an eye-like design were in the middle of the star. With the finishing touches, he picked up the chalk and placed it on the floor.

Rummaging through his pocket, five small tea candles were brought forth and placed on each end of the star. Next, he brought a lighter and began chanting a strange poem.

"Five points on a star. The first to bring forth warmth is fire," the boy lights the top point of the star and goes clockwise. "Then, the stable mother earth is called to protect our surroundings. The blessed metal shapes and brings up the structure of the place. Then the water that cleansed the land purifies the unclean land and brings it back whole. Finally, the wood that brings forth life is asked to close the circle to bring back everything into a circle."

The young boy sits back and pockets the lighter. He clasped his hands and closed his eyes. A language that he had never heard before left the boy's mouth. It made Kiyro's hair stand up as he flinched in startlement.

"What?" Kiyro asked.

"Tongues," said Sylph.

"Tongues? You mean human tongues?"

"No. What the boy is speaking is a language that is new to him. A language that humans don't understand. I could not find a single database that sounds like what he's saying now. It sounds like gibberish, and I can't help but think it is. It seems from the comments people are stating its Tongues."

Tongues? Why? Kiyro thought. "How can someone talk in another language they do not know?"

Sylph shrugged, not knowing the answer. "That's something even I can not answer."

Around the boy, once again, green orbs appeared. Their erratic motions calmed down and danced around him like they were protecting him in his trance. The fire flickered and waned. Around the young boy, outside the circle, humanoid shadows prowled around him like a jaguar waiting for its prey to falter. The green orbs fought back whenever the shadows tried to jump into the circle. Each time they connected, the green orbs created holes in their bodies, making them look like swiss cheese.

"It's the shadows again." Kiyro pointed out. "Stop for a moment. Look." He pointed out. "They're even there."

"That's peculiar. I wondered if the footage has been tampered with." Sylph was pruning his feathers, and he looked up to see. "Nope. All clean. Not a single tampering."

"Really? No computer graphics added on to it by hand?"

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Sylph shook his head. "It's in its original format. Went to look at where the footage was pulled out at. It seems another A. I named Bom was recording the whole process."

"I'm guessing Bom is another being like you. That has been hand-picked from the game to be our guides."

"Yep. But not everyone has one. Most camera angles are in the first-person real-time recording of all the recordings I have seen. A third-person recording needs an A. I help to get it into such view."

"Then why have you come to me exactly?"

"Well, about that. I have been told that certain people who were given the real-world quest will have a difficult time completing the quest. So with that being said, a guide was sent to help. I think it's a waste of time; from the intel, I have collected so far, ten percent of the A is already gone. So I have failed to help complete their quest. Those quests can be picked up and done again, but each time it fails, it becomes twice as hard to complete as the last time. I'm not sure how that is possible."

"I'm not sure either, but look. There are things here that had not happened in my quest. Green orbs. Candle lighting, drawing circles, and even these ghostly-looking orbs. What are they? They remind me of spirits."

"If these supernatural occurrences have been happening on the video, I think I need to search for a whole different meaning behind it." Sylph paused for a moment. He fluttered on Kiyro's shoulder and rested. "Here we go. Orbs of transparent balls of light are usually seen during the night and are captured on footage. Some state that they are spirits, others energy, but since the increased use of digital cameras, the sighting of these orbs has increased. Most are caught on camera, usually glass, mirrors, metal, dust, pollen, lint, moisture, snow, hair, or even insects."

"There is barely any lighting, so most of the things you stated will be off the list. The orbs seem to glow without any light source. Where was this video even captured?"

"Parma, Italy."

"That's literally across the sea. Are there any more like these?"

"Tokyo, Japan. Seoul, Korea. Giza, Egypt. London, England. Rio, Brazil. Mexico City, Mexico. Toronto, Canada. Jerusalem, Israel. Moscow, Russia. Baghdad, Iraq. Mumbai, India. Beijing, China. These cities have something appear in their quest recording so far. The quest is not yet finished, but it seems every 200 there is one with a large amount of shadow human, orbs, animals, or bugs appearing in front of them." Each time Sylph said the name of the cities, different footage was brought up in front of him. "It seems like the Eleven-hour game website has also picked up on this. It seems they will be doing a special series on the quests with some supernatural things going on."

All the footage disappeared, and the Eleventh-hour game website was pulled up in front of him. A special announcement was displayed in front of the welcome window. Four dice rolled and stopped perfectly in one.

Eleventh-hour web show for all viewers interested in Virtual reality games.

We have a special announcement for our next show. It is all about the Real World quest: Alpha divisions. We will look specifically into some rare footage that stands out from the rest of the common individual quests. A complete real-life supernatural event that has been happening worldwide will blow you off your feet. By the end of this week, we will have a live broadcast around the eleventh hour at night. We will see you around that time.

Kiyro's curiosity piqued. He, too, wondered what they would say about the other quests that had some very unusual events that had been taking place. "Can you set up an alarm notification for that date? I would like to see it."

"Done. I'll take it further and bring up the video on display wherever you are near a T.V."

"Fine with me. But wait a second. What happened to the boy who was chanting in tongues?"

"Just like you, he succeeded. All the other footage I have shown you are the ones that have successfully completed it."

"Then what about the ones that have failed?"

"That is a bit difficult to explain. It seems that none have been recorded, or it has been deleted. All the other A.I.'s have been destroyed in the process." Sylph said with worry. He paced back and forth, deep in thought. Kiyro was a bit troubled about Sylph's statement.

"How?" Kiyro asked in a low gasp of surprise. He didn't expect to hear such an outcome.

"Someone got to the Alive gear first before it could be uploaded. Without the permission of the player, it can not be uploaded. The majority of them were wiped clean by a virus. This could spell trouble for the higher-ups."

"Ding!" A loud message alerted Kiyro.

"It seems you got a message from Demon Fox."

"Demon Fox? Demon Fox! Quickly pull that message up!" Kiyro sat bolt upright.

The message appeared in front of him.

To: Zero and One

It's been a long time. Has it been over three years? Times sure do fly. I have a client with a specific mission that needs to be completed. It is a Rank B class and in your area. For someone like you, it shouldn't be too difficult. The payment is $250 now, and the other $350 will be hand-delivered to you at a certain place. Send me a recording of this email. Once you accept this mission, the money will be deposited in the usual safe box that we have established in the next hour. Depending on your success, I'll possibly have more coming your way this week and more in the future.

The mission requires you to go to a certain location to get the rest of the details. If you agree to this mission, go to the location that will be sent to you after you close this message. The time limit to arrive at your destination is in three hours from now.

I know you can complete this perfectly, like how you always do. So I'm hoping you or your brother can complete this mission.

Demon Fox

"Demon Fox?" Sylph asked. He stretched his neck to read the rest of the message.

"My superior from Danketsu Ryu. He doesn't usually give out missions to people who have temporarily left the group. This must be important if he sent this message. I'm assuming there is a high chance that I would be meeting my brother. He should've gotten the same message a moment ago as well." Kiyro replied in excitement.

"Danketsu Ryu? Do you mean the Academy you have attended for your martial arts training?"

"Yes." Kiyro pulled the blanket off him and quickly changed into his clothes. A simple t-shirt that hugged his chest and black jeans.

"I'm assuming you're Zero, and One is your brother?" Sylph flew over to the desk.

"Yea. We fought over who will take Zero and who will take One. I won that one, and the nickname has stuck with me till today." Kiyro replied while putting one hand through the sleeves. "We need to go now." He said in a rush.

"So quickly? You have six hours."

"Kyle might get there earlier than me and try to duck out of meeting me. So it would be best if I get there as soon as possible before he does and wait on him. Send me the location of the spot." He said while stumbling over and putting on his black jeans.

"This is the only clue I have that could possibly lead me to my brother. I don't have time to dwaddle." Kiyro picked up the Alive gear and Bluetooth headphones in a rush. He jogged out, grabbing an apple from the fruit basket.

A message appeared before him, showing him the location. It was located at the train station at Five Points, where all the other train stops converged, allowing the passengers to go east, west, south, or north of their choices.

"This is going to take an hour to get there." However, Kiyro was anxious to get to the location as quickly as possible.

"The bus will be arriving in the next minute. There it is. It's pulling up," said Sylph. He landed on Kiyro's shoulder. "I'll go back into the Alive gear and talk with you through the Bluetooth earphones."

Kiyro turned on the headphones that were wrapped around his neck. Sylph disappeared and instead appeared in the lens of his Alive gear. He moved around, making it his home.

"I thought this would make you look less crazy. Having a talking bird flying next to you would be considered strange."

"Are you sure? Talking to myself would be considered mental."

"You are always like that. So it's alright."

"Whenever I am with you, you make me look mental." Kiyro rolled his eyes.

"Bus is here."

The bus stopped with a screech and opened its door. Kiyro quickly walked up the stairs and tapped his card against the machine. Then, he went to the closest seat and made himself comfortable.

"Time limit to the bus station is about thirty minutes," said Sylph. "Hopefully, your brother won't be there before we do?"

"I hope so. Wake me up when we get there." Kiyro folded his arms and leaned back. He leaned slightly to the side near the window, supporting his head.

"No problem. I'll wake you up with a blast." Sylph chuckled. "I know the perfect tune too."

Kiyro ignored him and took a light nap. He needed all the rest he could get.

#####

"We are arriving at Five points." A female's voice loudly spoke out through the microphone. An annoying static-like sound followed, making Kiyro cringe.

Kiyro got up from his seat and headed over towards the door. "Don't you dare blast that rooster crowing crap in my ears," he threatened Sylph.

"What are you talking about? I have done my job perfectly. If you had slept any longer, you would have stayed on the bust till it left."

"That's not the problem. You blew up my ear. I thought I would hear nothing but a high pitch buzzing sound for a while now." Kiyro tapped his ears with his hands. "Luckily, the sound is gone."

"What's done is done. The location where we need to come up is up the stairs and right around the corner."

The door opened, streams of people went out, and just as many returned. Kiyro power-walked, went into a jog and finally sprinted the rest of the way. He did not want to miss a single second to miss the chance to meet his brother.

"We're here," said Sylph.

"Where?" Kiyro breathed in deeply, trying to steady his rapid heart.

"You're in front of it. Turn around towards the wall."

"The wall?" Kiyro did what he was told. There was a large poster with a white rabbit in a triskele pattern on a black background.

"Ding." A notification for a message appeared before him.

Hey Zero,

I'm so glad that you have decided to take on the mission. It seems your brother has as well. I'm surprised he would have taken the mission. The last time I remembered him stating that he would not do anymore. He seemed a bit strange when he left that day. Because he arrived there first, he would be taking on a different task. His specialties do lie in some other areas. That said, someone will come by to give you all the necessary information. Stay underneath the poster, so the person knows who you are. I'll look forward to your success. Also, the payment has been sent to you in the usual drop spot.

Demon Fox

"He was here," Kiyro said with disappointment. He wasn't too sure if he was a tad bit too late or Kyle was already an hour ahead. Kiyro looked around the area to see if he could get a glimpse of his brother, but even then, the number of people that passed by made it challenging to locate.

"Sylph."

"Hmm?"

"I need you to send Demon Fox a message. Now."

"What would you like me to write to him?"

"Ask him when my brother came to this spot and if Demon Fox has a moment to talk. Also, tell him my number is still the same."

Kiyro's email was brought up, and Sylph began typing up the message that Kiyro had wanted him to write.

"Sent."

"You think he would call you?"

"Yes."

"Why not call him instead?"

"That's the problem. I can't. He uses temporary numbers when it comes to missions. I also lost the old number when I dropped my phone in the toilet, and it deleted all my old numbers."

"Wait. Usually, the phones save all those information on the web. How?"

"Lost password and forgot my mother's old email. She was the one who set it up." Kiyro bluntly stated. "It was a family plan. Not only that, I had difficulties getting most of my friends' numbers, but getting my teacher's number was a bit more difficult. I haven't called Danketsu Ryu's main office in three years."

"Wow. I never expected the school to be so different. There is a huge contrast between the main location and the other branches." Sylph pulled up pictures of the Danketsu Ryu's main office. There were only pictures of the place's exterior; each building did not seem out of place. The buildings were a mixture of modern and traditional Japanese buildings. Plants, trees, and shrubs were neatly trimmed and kept neat. There were pictures of the natural scenery of the surrounding forest and streams.

Students work out and train in the dojo, go fishing and even eat together in a large cafeteria. It was almost like a private college where students from different parts of the world come together to learn and grow.

"Yea. That's just the pictures. If you actually lived there, it's a completely different world. I actually missed that place. It has training facilities that you would be surprised to see."

"I'll give them a call." Within seconds Sylph searched through the internet and found the business number for Danketsu Ryu Academy of Martial Arts. "Though I'm not sure if he'll pick up. Is he someone that just teaches there?"

"No. He runs the place with his sister. I heard it's a family-run business. If I remember correctly, they're second-generation owners."

The phone rang for a couple of seconds, and a female voice answered the call. "Thank you for calling Danketsu Ryu Academy of Martial Arts. How may I help you?"

"um…" Kiyro was caught off guard by the lady picking up the call.

"Come on. Go ahead and talk." Sylph whispered in his ears so that only he could hear.

"I'm looking for Demon Fox. I mean Grand Master Axis Aurelius."

"I'm sorry to inform you, but he is busy now. Would you like to leave him a message?" She replied sweetly.

"Yes. Can you inform him that Zero has called him?"

"Zero?" She paused, slightly confused. Kiyro heard a voice call out towards the lady. "Please hold on a moment." The line went quiet.

"It seems the lady doesn't even know who you are. Are you sure you went to this Academy?" asked Sylph.

"I did. I had never heard of her before. Probably a new hire."

"Probably."

"I'm sorry for the hold," the lady spoke again. "Grandmaster Axis is on the other line. Please give me a moment."

The line switches over. A young man's voice, rich in sound, called out toward Kiyro in a joyful tone. "Kiyro. I'm surprised you called. I just received your message. How have you been doing?"

"Fairly well. I'll be starting college soon. I had some questions regarding Kyle."

"Kyle? Is something wrong?"

"Well, to be more exact, he's been missing, and when you just sent me the message that Kyle has accepted the mission you sent out, I was wondering if you had any contact with him."

"No. Today was the only day that he accepted the mission sent to him. I was surprised that he was not in contact with you for so long."

"Did he say anything to you? And what kind of mission did you send him on?"

"Nothing. Oh wait, he did send me a simple message stating that the gates are closing and to be ready. Also, you should already know that giving out other people's mission is considered a taboo."

"I'm sorry. It's just my brother." Kiyro sighed, and he raised his hands to pull back his hair.

"And what do you mean the gates are closing?" Kiyro walked towards the wall and leaned against it.

"Yes. It would be best if we talked face-to-face, but lately, I've been busy, so it would be better if we set up a meeting time. Would next Friday be alright with you at one of the Danketsu Ryu branch schools? I'll be there all day."

"Okay. I'll see you Friday next week."

"If I get more about your brother, I'll tell you by then."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Are you sure you don't want to come back soon?"

"I'll think about it and give you an answer by Friday."

"That would be wonderful. I'll be hoping to hear your answer by then."

"Yes, sir."

The phone line disconnects between the two, and Kiyro sighed with disappointment.

"The gates are closing? Was that all he had to say? Why doesn't he send me any messages?" He curled up his fist and punched the wall in anger.

"You do know if you hit the wall any harder, the wall is going to win," said Sylph. "On the bright side, now you know a couple of things. First off, your brother is alive. Second, he's doing a different quest than yours. Third, he must be on a mission or on the run. Why else would he be so secretive."

"That is true. What the hell did my brother get himself into?" Kiyro's eyebrow was crumpled with worry. He started returning to his old habit of tearing his nails.

A new mission has been sent to you by an unknown user. The continuation of the Real World Hidden Quest: Alpha Division individual quest has been initiated.

Real World Hidden Quest: Alpha Divisions individual quest

You have been given another quest by an unknown user. This quest has been confirmed to be transferred over to Zero. The quest cannot be given to any other person anymore. An automatic call out to the nearest groups of players has been sent to your location.

To begin the quest, form a party of six to initiate the quest. When all six players have been assembled, the next step will automatically be sent to all parties.

Total Individual quest that needs to be completed 3333 worldwide. 1320/3333 completed at this time.

Time Limit: Six hours.

Quest Level: B

Reward: Depends on your completion of the quest. Each individual party member will be different.

"What? How? Did I just miss the person, and what's a call out?" Kiyro read the quest with confusion.

"I didn't see anyone either." Sylph searched around him, trying to find anyone suspicious but found nothing. "Now you are like a sitting duck with a red neon sign saying here I am. That's what a call out is."

"What!?" Kiyro spoke a little too loudly. People turned their heads towards him and gave him a strange look. He pretended to look busy and whispered back. "Where?"

"It seems some players took the bait and are heading this way." Sylph pulled up a map of the area and highlighted them in red.

"Who are they?" Kiyro's hands inched towards his pocket where his knife lay. "I can't believe the mission was a game quest. Who in their right mind would request this quest to become a mission."

"You got two coming from your right, one in front of you and another two on your left."

When Kiyro glanced out into the distance, he noticed that the heads of the people that took the bait had a diamond-shaped icon over their heads. They were coming closer and closer.

On his right, he noticed the girl he had met at the grocery store. She was a short female with glasses. Her short hair was cut to her chin. But, if he was to give her a rating of looks, she was very adorable. She was wearing leggings with a light green one-piece dress. She was smiling next to the guy who was walking with her. In that instant, he remembered her. It was Isabel.

Next to her was a college-aged male. Kiyro couldn't help but feel like he saw the guy's face in the game of Growth, but he didn't remember where and when. Compared to the short girl, he looked like a giant standing next to her. His clothing style reminded him of the popular male fashion trend in Korea. His hair was dyed light orange, while the back of his head was brown. A gold pair of cuff earrings glinted; his clothes were neat and tidy, wearing a collared shirt with a vest and black pants. Girls chatted and turned towards him with interest.

They arrived first and headed straight towards Kiyro.

"Oh! Hi. We meet again." Isabel waved at him with a cheerful attitude. "Are you the one who sent the message to do a quest?"

Kiyro slowly nodded his head.

Isabel held out her hand and smiled. "This is William, or you could call him Will. Everyone knows him as Aldran from Hercules guild. I'm from the same guild too."

Kiyro took her hand and gently shook it. "It's nice meeting you again." He let her hand go, turned towards Will, and shook his hand. "My name is Kiyro. I go by the name Zero."

Isabel smiled, showing her teeth. Her contagious chirpy attitude put Kiyro at ease.

"You're the Aldrin?"

"Yes. Nice to meet you." Will pulled out his hands to shake his. "We noticed your shout-out to form a party. Do you mind if we join?"

"Sure. Give me a moment."

"I'm already on it. Sent an invite to them." Sylph whispered in his ears. "I'm going to watch from the sidelines."

"Oh! Is this the so-called Real World Hidden quest: Alpha Division? I so wanted to try it out." Isabel squealed in delight. "Check it out, Will. It's so cool. Didn't you just complete yours yesterday?"

"Yes." Will nodded. Both Isabel and Will agreed to join in on the quest. "I feel like I heard your name from somewhere. I just can't remember exactly."

"I met you before during the raid. I was the fox creature."

"Wait, you were that cute fox?" Isabel cuts-in in excitement. "I was so jealous when I heard that the other girls got to touch your fur." She stopped for a moment and giggled. "That came out so weird."

Kiyro couldn't help but chuckle.

"Ah, now I remember. I watched you fight. It was quite a feat," said Will. "Are you by any chance interested in joining my guild? It would be fun having someone like you join my guild."

"I'm going to pass for now. Let me think about it for a while, and I'll get back to you on it," Kiyro

replied.

"It would be great if you do. Do you mind if I register you as a friend?"

"Sure."

Kiyro and Will each had their personal game name registered into their friend lists.

"Kiyro?" A familiar voice called out towards him.

Kiyro turned around and was surprised to see Eve with a guy walking toward him. Eve was wearing a white blouse with a pretty feathered necklace. Her short black pants showed off her long legs, and she wore high-top boots covering her knee. Her blue hair swayed side-to-side as she chatted with an older male next to her. The man next to Eve was a European-looking man. He looked like he was in his late twenties. His muscles were finely tuned, and he had no facial hair. His yellow hair was slicked back, and he was comfortably dressed.

"It's Kiyro. What are you doing here? Wait, were you the one that sent out the party invite to the quest?" Eve walked up to him.

Kiyro nodded without answering.

"It was you. Oh wow, what are the chances?" Eve cracked an angelic smile. "I'll be glad to join."

"Hi." Isabel interrupted the conversation between the two. "I'm Isabel, and this is Will. We're from Hercules guild. You are?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Eve, and the guy next to me is Jack. We both came here because we got a call out to form a party. I was interested in what the quest was going to be about and thought I would like to try it out."

"Jack? You don't mean the dwarf Jack?" asked Kiyro. He remembered the dwarf blacksmith that asked him to help him out in melting a stone.

"Yes. That Jack."

Jack waved his hello. "I'm glad to meet you once again. I didn't expect to see you out here in such a way."

"Same," said Kiyro.

"If you don't mind. I'd like to be friends with you?"

"Sure. I was thinking about getting your contact info as well."

"I want to as well," chirped Isabel in excitement. "Sweet, more friends."

Their contacts were quickly exchanged from person to person.

"I remember you," said Will towards Eve. "You were next to Zero when we had that friendly bet. You look similar to your avatar even in the game world. It's just your hair color is a bit different."

"I could say the same about you. You're Aldran, right?" asked Eve.

"Yes."

"It's nice to meet you. I didn't expect the leader of Hercules guild to be in Georgia."

"I do live in Atlanta," said Will. "We were also going out to eat lunch when we got an unexpected call to do a quest. So we thought we would check it out."

"Would you guys like to get something to eat before we start this quest?" said Isabel. Her stomach grumbled loudly for everyone to hear. She turned scarlet and cast her gaze down onto the floor.

"Sure, why not. I was getting hungry," said Jack.

"Same," replied Kiyro and Eve.

"Then let's get something to eat. I know a good place to go and grab something quick. After that, we can go and conversate about the quest there."

"Sounds like a plan," replied Jack.

"Wait. I still need one more person to join our group before we leave. It needs six people, including myself. We only have five, to begin with. One more took the call and headed towards us."

"Really?" said Eve. "Where?" She tiptoed to look for the next possible candidate. "I don't see anyone."

"He should be here." Kiyro glanced around, trying to find the diamond shaped icon around him.

"Zero? Agnis?" said a familiar male voice.

Kiyro stepped past them to see where the voice came from.

A young man in his mid-twenties stepped forward behind a group of people. He was about the same size as Kiyro. His brown hair was styled nicely and fit well with his outfit: a pair of blue jeans with an unbuttoned collared shirt. Underneath his shirt was a black hugging top that stuck to him like glue.

"Alex?" said Eve with a surprised tone.

“Yes?” A deep voice was called out towards them.