"Thanks," says Daniel.
"No big deal," replies Natasha, sipping on her favorite matcha latte.
"You should be thankful to Natasha, for making the teacher hold you back. Otherwise, Seamus might have killed you. Haha..." says Steve.
They chat about various things, especially the major update in WoW.
"The rumor is, our characters will be reset because of the major update..." Hector reads the news that he got from FWC.
"Well, it's not a problem. Our characters have been reset before because of that fake report," says Patrick, enjoying his favorite lemon-flavored coffee.
"Do you mean the report made by Seamus?" asks Steve.
"Yeah, who else," replies Patrick, annoyed.
That moment is unforgettable for he and for them all. Seamus made a false report that the developers responded to by killing off all their high-level characters.
"Thinking about it, I really want to beat him up. We'll need months for grinding," Logan responds, throwing punches through the air as if practicing his powerful punches aimed at Seamus's face in his mind.
"What could be his reason for doing something like that?" Natasha's voice is clear to all, though she intended to ask herself.
"He didn't like us choosing Patrick as the leader, he wanted to be the leader. But his attitude is more like a child, unlike Patrick," answers Ethan.
"Frankly, the difference is thin-" says Logan, glancing at Patrick still sipping his lemon-flavored coffee, "Patrick is just smarter, but their childish attitudes are the same."
"At least we're more mature than you, Logans," Patrick retorts.
Logan responds by throwing a crumpled paper cup at Patrick's face, but Patrick easily dodges it.
"Miss by ranged, you fool," mocks Hector, sitting next to Logan.
"This is close, not range. Try if you can," Logan replies, handing the crumpled paper cup back to Hector.
Hector takes on the challenge and tosses it right at Patrick, but this time, Patrick doesn't dodge. Instead, he catches it and throws it back to Hector.
While Patrick, Hector, and Logan play paper toss, Natasha is busy with her smartphone. She sends a message to her dad to buy TAGAR so she can play with her friends.
Meanwhile, Steve, Ethan, and Daniel are engrossed in playing games on their smartphones. They often play lightweight games like MOBAs to hone their individual skills, aside from having fun.
"By the way, yesterday our power was much lower than Seamus'. I wonder how long it'll take to get back to our previous level, same as Seamus," remarks Vincent, still reading FWC to find WoW tips and tricks.
Patrick, still playing paper toss, answers, "It took seven months to reach our current level, and that's not even a third of Seamus' level. So, if we calculate linearly, it'll take 21 months or almost two years. But because the game system doesn't work that way, it might take three to four years. Assuming we grind and don't pay."
"Fortunately, WoW got rid of their pay-to-win systems. I really hate games like that," Ethan says, focused on his smartphone screen to win his game.
"I agree. Clearly, if it were pay-to-win, Natasha would be much stronger than all of us," says Steve, whose hand is bumped by Natasha, almost dropping his smartphone, "Sorry."
"Anyway, my dad will buy TAGAR if I rank high," Natasha says joyfully, though her expression doesn't show it at all.
"That's too long to know the results. Why not buy it now?" Vincent suggests.
"You have to meet with my dad, Zhend."
"Actually, you can persuade him," says Patrick, pulling out his smartphone, pressing the screen, and showing Natasha a promo code, "I got this promo from pre-ordering TAGAR alpha, you can get a 30% off."
Without hesitation, Natasha takes a photo on her phone to note the promo code, "Thanks, I'll give you medic bots later."
"Why not a kiss?" Steve teases Natasha again, and Natasha bumps, or more accurately, punches Steve's arm.
Fortunately, Daniel catches Steve's smartphone that fell from his hand.
"Nat, don't bother him. We're on the same team," says Daniel, handing back Steve's smartphone.
"You must told him to be quiet," Natasha replies. Then she sending a message to her dad about the promo code Patrick gave her.
"By the way, guys, why haven't there been any tips and tricks for the major update yet? All information about the latest features is only from beta testers," Vincent comments again.
"Maybe they forbid spoilers, or maybe no one has made them yet," Hector replies.
"But isn't that weird? Information about new features from major updates are usually not this late, it usually takes just an hour."
"Yeah, quite strange, especially since there was no livestream on all platforms before. Maybe it's still under NDA or the major update is delayed."
"Yeah, whatever it is. At least we need another 300 to download the update, according to the latest rumor."
"That's crazy, my storage is almost full. Looks like I have to buy a new one," Logan says.
"You can use mine if you want, just format it," Patrick suggests.
Natasha, who has been busy playing with her smartphone, suddenly hugs Patrick and says, "Pret, thank you for much for the promo code. We can play after exams."
"Good, we should gather as soon as exams are over. If characters are reset, it might be a golden opportunity for us to match Seamus's power level." Patrick replies.
Patrick's words, with the same tone, but the impact changes significantly. They all stop what they're doing and focus on Patrick, then either nod or say "Got it" to agree with Patrick's words.
"Whatever happens, I hope we can be together forever in WoW," Ethan continues, receiving the same response as Patrick, agreement from them all.
###
On the eighth-day exam, the school feels much quieter. Patrick and his friends gather at their usual spot in the school cafeteria, waiting for the bell.
The cafeteria is usually quiet in the morning before bell, but today it's even quieter. There's only Patrick's group and another group of four students.
When the bell rings for class, they all head to their respective rooms. Until the exam supervisor arrives, a quarter of the class is empty without the presence of students who should have been in those empty seats.
The exam proceeds normally, except for a few absent students with no explanation, and some claiming illness.
During the break before the next exam, Patrick's group reunites at the cafeteria.
Patrick, Natasha, Steve, Hector, and Ethan gather at a table after grabbing their food. The rest join when the five still eating.
"Hey, did you guys notice almost half the students didn't show up today? Weird, considering it's an exam," says Vincent, approaching them with his tray of food, then sitting next to Ethan and taking a sausage from Ethan's plate.
Ethan snatches his sausage back and eats it, looking annoyed when Vincent gives him a look.
"Yeah, my classroom had only three people, and that made things difficult, you know-what-I-mean," says Logan, who just arrived.
"Seems strange, but we still need to focus on the exams. At least for a few more days," Natasha replies.
"By the way, Seamus has been missing too. Without him, we can't chill like this," Steve adds, then purposely drinking Vincent's milk.
Daniel arrives late, as usual. Luckily for him, with many absent students, he can grab extra food that was originally allocated for those who are absent.
He sits next to Patrick, sharing the food he brought. "A lot of people ditched, so the cafeteria robot let me take extra. Anyone want some?"
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Without waiting for an answer, Steve, Vincent, Ethan, and Logan take sausages from Daniel, while Patrick asks for his salad. Hector grabs sauce for his fries and sausage because he loves that sauce. And Natasha remains silent, not participating in the feast.
"On the bright side, we get to eat more... haha," Logan says, laughing to himself. The others nod in agreement and continue eating.
"Did you purposely wait to grab food last, Cils?" Patrick asks.
"No, I was reading for the next exam. When I wanted to get food, the robot offered it. If you want, you can ask for more," Daniel replies calmly while eating.
Hearing this, Steve, Vincent, and Logan rush to get more food.
"Steve, get extra sauce!" Hector half-shouts.
"Me too, but for extra salad," Patrick joins Hector. "Are you full, Dens?"
Ethan faces Patrick with a mouth full of sausage, struggling to speak, "Ihus ams whya-"
Natasha smiles but looks disgusted by her friend's behavior. Patrick, on the other hand, adds another sausage to Ethan's mouth and moves his jaw to help him chew and breathe.
"You're absolutely heartless. He could choke and die, you know," Natasha says, then glancing at her smartphone.
Patrick smiles at Natasha, "You can revive him if he dies."
Daniel, when calmly enjoying his meal, hears that and wants to laugh but ends up choking. Swiftly, Patrick comes to rescue him.
Patrick hugs Daniel from behind, placing his hands just below Daniel's chest, then presses hard. The first aid technique for someone choking.
Meanwhile, Patrick rescues Daniel. Ethan, upon witnessing the scene, sprays the sausage from his mouth and laughs after the obstruction in his mouth is cleared.
The sausage spray spreads across their table, including their trays of food.
Natasha, witnessing the disgusting scene, shows signs of wanting to vomit but holds back and quickly goes to the toilet.
While Hector manages to save his food and continues his activities at the next table, safe from Ethan's sausage spray.
From a distance, Steve, Vincent, and Logan, grabbing some food, spot the incident and burst into laughter at them.
Shortly after, the bell signaling the next exam rings. Reluctantly, they don't have time to finish the food they grabbed.
###
Days pass quickly when their activities become monotonous. Patrick just tackles exam questions, goes home, and settles into his room. Most of his time is spent reading holobooks, not about lessons but about programs and the history of the video game world.
In his heart, he's very curious about the evolution of video games. He's never had the chance to try playing the hit games from the 21st century. Grand Theft Auto, famous for its open world. Dota 2, the birthplace of the MOBA genre. Or MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, one of his favorites and a major inspiration for World of Worlds —they even share the same abbreviation, WoW.
There are many more games he'd like to play, but unfortunately, the third world war destroyed much of civilization, wiping out most of the intellectual wealth of the 21st century, now just history and memories for those who experienced it.
Steve, Ethan, and Daniel are busy with exams, whether studying or preparing cheat sheets. They also spend time playing mobile MOBA games. For them, honing their gaming skills is as important as training their brains for school.
Natasha is the ideal student, focusing on studying with occasional breaks for fun activities like checking social media or chatting. And for her, the most important thing is still studying, especially biology, which remains her top priority.
Hector is quite active in physical activities, more occupied with sports. Even while everyone else is busy studying in the morning, he's up early running several kilometers before heading to school.
Logan, like Patrick, Steve, Ethan, and Daniel, also loves games. But he prefers first-person shooter (FPS) games and enjoys playing alone. His FPS skills come in handy in WoW, but he must cleverly consider the differences in mechanics.
That's why Patrick often gets frustrated with Logan's behavior due to his self-centered attitude. Nevertheless, Logan gradually adapts his playing style when switching between FPS games and WoW.
Vincent is a WoW maniac compared to his friends. He was the first among them to play WoW. However, due to an incident, he lost his account. So, during exam time, besides being busy with exams, he's also caught up in reading about WoW updates.
While Patrick's group is busy with their own affairs, one by one, their friends disappear, absent during exams with no news.
###
"Are you guys done?" Patrick, using the nickname Preta, asks in the FWC group specifically for the eight of them, known as the "Sun of Lion Knight."
"Not yet, can you provide the answers?" Steve, with the nickname Vector, requests.
"Please don't share the answers here," Natasha responds with the same nickname as her name.
"I'll give you access asap. Nat, relax, we appreciate your effort," Patrick replies.
"Ta, me too," Hector, with the nickname Hexon, requests.
"Me too," Logan joins the conversation with the nickname Gans.
"Guys, have you heard about WoW? They say all progress will be reset, and it will be like starting over, with no limits. So, we can grind until an unlimited level. This info is from MTF," Vincent, with the nickname Zhendra, changes the conversation topic.
"I've heard that too, especially that gender and race will be removed. So, we can create new genders and races," Ethan, with the nickname Dens, chimes in.
"That's a hoax, MTF has confirmed it," Daniel, with the nickname Crocils, replies.
"Yeah, that's right. MTF says gender is still exist, and so is race, but it's simplified." replied Vincent.
"So, how many races are there?" Preta asks.
"MTF mentioned humans, orcs, elves, dwarves, gnomes, undead, juraks, hass, and many more," Daniel answers.
"Yes, but it's simplified to just a few types, including initial attributes will be more simplified to body, brain, spiritual, magic, aura, and dark energy," Vincent explains.
"So, a reduction, huh? Wasn't there a rumor a few months ago about adding many attributes?" Steve questions.
"Yes, but those are the initial attributes. As you level up, there will be child-attributes and even grandchild-attributes, whatever they call them," Vincent replies.
"How accurate is this information?" Ethan asks.
"MTF isn't that accurate, but compared to other leakers, he's the most reliable," Patrick responds.
"Yeah, you're right. But it's also confirmed by JC, Da-n-Bro, and IYG media," Vincent interjects.
"Okay, whatever it is, we can face it from the beginning. Remember to add friends right away and choose the same server," Patrick advises.
"No need, the rumor is that all servers will be merged," Daniel replies.
"Great, we can choose where to start, or will it be random?" Steve asks.
"It seems the same as before, everything still appears in HCU," Vincent answers.
"Herald Center of Universe?" Steve confirms.
"Exactly."
###
Their conversation continues, discussing the updated information in the WoW game after receiving a major update that brought significant changes. Although they are still in the midst of the exam that has shifted back to online.
Their conversation continues even though the exam is over, and they all managed to answer every exam question, of course with the help of cheat sheets, except for Patrick and Natasha.
From their conversation, it seems like they can't wait to play WoW, the game they've been eagerly anticipating throughout the holidays. At least, their wait is about to end because today is the last exam day.
"By the way, why did only forty students submit their answers?" Patrick remarks in the midst of their discussion about WoW's new feature, which allows players to have different personal dimensions.
"Are you serious?" Natasha asks, rejoining the conversation after focusing on the exam questions.
"How many students in our school are taking the exam, a hundred?" Daniel wonders.
"847 according to the platform database. Yet on the first day of the exam, everyone submitted their answers except for three who were actually sick."
"Are you still accessing it, Pret?" Logan asks.
"Of course, by the way, did you know Seamus has been missing since the sixth day?"
"I didn't know that, but it feels strange because since the second week, many people whose faces I recognize haven't shown up. Even Mr. Hendru hasn't been here since then," Ethan replies.
"Weird enough. Why did they all disappear during the exam?" Logan questions.
"Maybe it's related to the virus that recently exploded, I forgot its name," Natasha says.
"The Chyporn virus?" Patrick asks.
"Yeah."
"But isn't that virus quarantined in Demrok city and far from our country?"
"There seems to be something else," Ethan states.
"Yeah, whatever it is, I hope you all stay healthy. So, when do we log in, tomorrow as usual?"
"Pret, are you still accessing the platform?" Logan asks with the same question.
"Not anymore, why?"
"Nothing, I just want to know my score. If it's good, maybe we can play earlier in the morning."
"Don't worry, your scores are all good, that's why I checked the platform. Your suggestion sounds good, but what about the others? Can you guys wake up early?"
"Doesn't seem like it, I'm still tired of this madness, just the usual," Steve declines.
"Me too. I need to set up my TAGAR first, so the usual schedule for me," Natasha requests.
"Alright, see you in the game."
"Hey, by the way, if all characters are reset, will you guys change characters or stick with the same ones?" Vincent asks.
"No. It's better to stick with the same ones and start focusing more on our specialties from now on, not like before when we were still experimenting. Got it?" Patrick suggests.
All of Patrick's friends agree with his suggestion.
Patrick leaves the chat to eat, while the rest continue chatting briefly before returning to their respective activities.
###
While enjoying his meal, Patrick's mom approaches him.
"Are you guys still playing WoW?" Patrick's mom asks.
Patrick, chewing his food, just nods in response to his mom.
"I heard from a friend that her kid got stuck in WoW. Do you guys know anything about it?"
Once again, Patrick shakes his head as an answer.
"If possible, take a break from playing. I'm worried," his mom says.
Patrick swallows his food, takes a sip, and then smiles, saying, "Don't worry, maybe he's just obsessed with WoW. It's a common thing, but we're not that obsessed. So, Mom, relax."
"Okay, that's a relief. But still, don't play too often and be careful," Patrick's mom says before leaving. "I'm going to the supermarket. Anything you want me to get for you?"
Patrick, still chewing, shakes his head again in response to his mom.
####