‘Twas truly a mystery. The Gate energy did not provide enough nutrition to facilitate growth in the human body. It held true to it’s purpose, and Chloe’s body did not grow any bit in the ten years it was in a coma. However, it failed in stopping the growth of her chest. It was a hardly noticeable difference, but a difference nonetheless. Thinking about it, she had only observed a male that was trapped in Ionis, not a female. It might differentiate between genders after all.

“But why would it be different?” Chloe muttered to herself. “What would drive a person to… ah. Yeah, the Gatemaster is probably male. I bet all my money he likes them big...”

That was the temporary conclusion Chloe had came to. Since she had never actually saw the Gatemaster, she wasn’t sure of his gender; however, her intuition told her that the Gatemaster was a man. She had trusted her intuition for many years, seeing as how it had helped her out many times. However, even with her trust in her intuition, she still could not come up with anything definite. Sighing, she focused on Samuel once more. Quietly, she activated [Sins]. The blue flames came out more subdued, but still as strong as ever. Chloe felt her body begin to drain of stamina, but when she maneuvered her mana to touch the Gate energy that was flowing through Samuel’s body. Meeting the Gate energy, her mana trembled and tried to retract, but she held it firmly in place. Suddenly, the Gate energy shook and started following the mana back to Chloe’s body. She felt her heart stop momentarily when the Gate energy entered her body, causing her vision to blur and her breathing to become ragged. However, her heart immediately restarted, and she returned to normal. The Gate energy started coming in quicker, and eventually completely left Samuel’s body and entered Chloe’s. Seeing this, she quickly canceled [Sins].

Relaxing, Chloe fell backwards, out of breath. She had stolen the Gate energy from Samuel’s body and took it for herself. As her body was not as strong as it should’ve been to hold that amount of Gate energy -no matter how minuscule it may have been- she should’ve died, with every organ in her body rupturing and causing blood to pour out of her pores; yet, because she had activated [Sins], the Gate energy that was taken in was immediately consumed by it, allowing her to continue living. There was still Gate energy in her body though. She had not waited until all the Gate energy had been consumed and instead canceled [Sins] as soon as all of the Gate energy had left Samuel’s body. Her reason for doing so was the incredible properties of Gate energy.

In a weaker body, one would be unable to withstand the great power of Gate energy, causing them to die a gruesome death. However, if they were to take in an extremely small amount of Gate energy, then they would still be able to live. With Gate energy residing in a body, there will always be changes. If the person with a weaker body were to keep this Gate energy withing themselves, their strength would grow exponentially by the day. Not too much later, they would be able to take in more Gate energy, accelerating the growth of their body’s strength. With the accumulation of Gate energy reaching a certain point, the person who originally had a weaker body would gain the body of the average level 300 LOWG player. At this level, one could punch a hole in a foot thick block of titanium and the person on the other side would have their spine and rib cage broken.

Stabilizing her mana, Chloe closed her eyes and concentrated. Since it had come into contact with Gate energy, her mana had been seemingly seized by a great fear, refusing to circulate at all. She grabbed hold of her mana node and forcefully brought it under her control. Her mana calmed down and circulated once more, but refused to go near her heart, where the Gate energy lied. However, her mana originally did not pass through the heart, so the path her mana took was unaffected. Satisfied, Chloe opened her eyes, only to find Samuel having sat up, VR console in had, a confused look on his face. He looked around and noticed Chloe, the confusion in his eyes only growing.

“Yo.” Chloe greeted him.

“Y-yo...” Samuel returned the greeting hoarsely.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Then, my job here is done.”

“Job…?”

“Mm. Your parents let me stay the night, so instead of using what little money I have, I woke you up. By the way, you can go back if you want to, just not in your game body.”

“Who…?”

“Ashfield. Chloe Ashfield.”

“James Bond… reference…?”

“...” Chloe stared at him flatly. “You ruined it. You ruined it and I’m leaving.”

Chloe then walked out of his room, waving her hand in the air. Samuel moved his legs and tried to leave to chase after her, but his legs gave out and he fell over. Unfortunately, his nether region happened to come in contact with a hard object, causing sever pain. A pain filled scream awoke everyone in the house. Chloe quickly glanced back at him, her pace pale, and her eyes empathizing. It seems she had understood his pain. Despite wanting to be there to comfort his sore nether regions, she dashed downstairs and grabbed her backpack. Without bothering to look elsewhere, she dove out of a window she had opened earlier. Splendidly landing into a roll, Chloe escaped the panicked household and dashed through the cornfield. The sight of her running through the cornfield, panting and occasionally looking back might remind one of a horror movie, with Chloe being the last survivor. Of course, there was no one chasing her that wanted to murder her.

~December 20, 2044. Lorian Farm. 1:12:06 am. About 30 minutes after Chloe’s escape.~

As lights went on in the Lorian house, a company of black vans, SUVs and other cars pulled into the dirt lot that was both the front yard and the driveway. A multitude of men in military gear flooded out of the cars. From the two expensive looking cars came five men in black suits with sunglasses, the spitting image of villainous corporate grunts from the movies. The military men stormed the house, causing the already panicked Lorians to raise even more of an uproar. With guns pointed at them, they quickly surrendered and were detained. Samuel was held at gun point, but not handcuffed. Instead, he was escorted to the dining room table, where the five men in black suits stood. Samuel was forced to sit in a chair, opposite the five men in suits. The suited man in front sat down as well, becoming the representative of the others. Soon, food and water were brought to Samuel and placed in front of him. He gave a piercing glare at the man in military gear who served him.

“Samuel Lorian, was it? It’s good to know that you’ve awoken.” The suited man spoke.

“What’s it to you?” Samuel spat back.

“No need to get all anxious, we’re not here to hurt you. Now then,” The suited man pulled out a small stack of papers, which he then skimmed through. “You were trapped in the game known as ‘Legends of The Worlds Gate’ for around 10 years. Due to a mystical energy that was inside you for that time, you stayed in the game. You did not die and managed to survive until now, so you have many techniques up your sleeve. However, you met with Chloe Ashfield and were awoken prematurely. That correct?”

“If you already know, then there’s no need to ask.”

“Hoho, no need to be mad. I’m just confirming some information before I take you in.”

“You sound like the police. Should I tell them? Or will you break the news?”

“We are not doing the police’s job. After all, the police have no reason to be here.”

“Heh. As far as I know, only the police can break into people’s houses like this and get away with it. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Now now, calm down. Just answer me this, where is Chloe Ashfield now?”

“… Even if I knew, you think I’d tell you?”

“Yes… if I have anything to say about it.”

Slowly, the suited man took off his sunglasses and stared Samuel in the eyes. Samuel’s smirk was wiped away, instantly replaced with fear. His face drained of blood and he wanted to back away, but the gun to his head denied him. Now, an evil grin arose on the suited man’s face. He stared at Samuel intently, and said one sentence.

“Let’s do this again, shall we; where is Chloe Ashfield?”

~December 20, 2044. Fresno, California. 7:53:72 am.~

In the city of Fresno, cars that ran on better energy were everywhere. No smoke came out of exhaust pipes and in fact, exhaust pipes on longer existed. Cars no longer used wheels that would cost so much money to replace, they instead ran on small-scale flotation devices, which had just enough power to keep them floating. The people wore the same clothing as many years ago, the fashion style having not changed in over 20 years. Skyscrapers were made of stronger and cheaper material, allowing them to be built higher and higher then ever before. One building in particular drew attention. It was the hub for flying cars, an invention that became available for commercial use just three years ago. The scene was straight out of a sci-fi world. And there, on the sidewalk of this insane city, stood Chloe Ashfield, out-dated by 10 years. She stared at the unfamiliar world before her. The things she saw were unbelievable, something that she hardly understood.

“So this… is the new Fresno…”