The first thing she did was look for the website for LOWG. Of course, it was possible that it might not exist anymore, but if it still did, it was sure to have some of the information she needed. While it wouldn’t have all the answers, it would probably give her some clues. She had never actually visited the website, so she couldn’t go directly to it. Surprisingly, it was the website for the game was the first result on Go*gle. Clicking on it, her mind received a shock.

There was a large table titled “North American Server” with two columns, one titled “Escaped” the other “Trapped”. The one titled “Trapped” held thousands of names, taking up over half the page. She recognized a few of the names, but almost all of them she didn’t know. However, the “Escaped” columns was the one that caught her attention. It held only one name, one that was very familiar to hers.

In green font, Cahs.

It was Chloe’s username for the website’s forum. She didn’t know why it was only hers. Surely, there was someone else that had escaped. She clearly remembered freeing another person from the game as well. In fact, she talked to the real him, not a game body. How was it that only her name was there? Her eyes wondered to the left side of the screen, where a title caught her attention once more. It was a thread, titled “The escapee, Cahs.” She clicked on it.

It read:

“Friends, I would like to bring something to your attention. If you haven’t already seen, someone has escaped the death game. I’m not sure if it’s real, but the name “Cahs” is now in the “Escaped” column. I’m not sure if it’s true, but if it is, then this is a monumental discovery. I’m not sure what happened, but does anyone have thoughts on it?”

Chloe was, and always had been, a curious person, therefore, an article like this, that might hold some important information, did not escape her eye. She scrolled through most of it, as they were mostly “what, no way” s and “that’s amazing” s. A few people offered actual theories on what might’ve happened, but none of them came close to the truth. Of course, there was no way Chloe would ever expect someone to find out the truth, as they all believed that LOWG was purely a game, and not the real world. It was until she came across one comment that she thought it was useless.

It read:

“Well, the only thing I can think of happening is the Worlds Gate that’s the center of the game. After all, it’s supposed to be able to travel across worlds.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

It certainly wasn’t too suspicious if you were just looking through the comments without any background knowledge. However, for some reason, it made Chloe feel uncomfortable. She looked at the username, “Blue Rabbit Cafe”, with a picture of a little anime girl with bunny ears. It truly wasn’t suspicious at all. But, something made Chloe feel off. It was simply too similar to Lilia, simply too much of a coincidence. If you saw someone who looked almost exactly like a murderer and, without ‘seeing’ the crime scene, guessed what happened, it would be obvious that it would be suspicious.

The frown on her face deepened, before turning into a smile and blowing out a puff of air. She signed into her profile for the first time in ten years, and posted a comment. It was a simple comment, stating “Hey, I’m back”. While the comment itself was out of place, the name of the poster was bound to attract attention. She leaned back in her chair, enjoying the idea of the massive amounts of shocked people. However, she leaned back too far, and her chair fell backwards.

“Heheheheheh… Wa!” Chloe laugh evilly before falling.

She sat up and rubbed her head, putting her chair back on its legs at the same time. She stood up and minimized the window. Slowly, she closed her laptop. The thread had attracted her attention, but it hardly gave her anything except a laugh. Chloe’s stomach growled, forcing her to search for food in the kitchen. She repeatedly checked the cabinets, but she was disappointed with what she found.

“Aw… Only microwave food… Actually, why did I even get microwave food? I don’t even eat these!” Chloe complained.

Chloe picked up her wallet from the kitchen table and inspected it for money. It was a new, cheap wallet, but the only thing it held was forty dollars. Chloe felt like she was going to cry. Her original wallet had been left at her house, along with almost everything else she owned. She definitely wouldn’t be able to get money from a bank or ATM without her debit card. Her first-world problems were quite severe.

“However… My username appeared on the “Escaped” list… does that mean those researchers weren’t connected to the Gatemaster? Or is there some grand plan I don’t understand?” Chloe mused.

Chloe had seen two Awoken people. One was James McFly, the other was Samuel Lorian, who she had personally Awoken. All people who wished to use Nadisign’s games were forced to make an account for their online community. Therefore, anyone who has played LOWG has gotten an account registered. That means, even if Chloe did not know the current state of the two Awoken, she still saw them up and about in their real bodies. Clearly, they had logged out, yet why was there not a single mention of them on the internet?

She only came to two conclusions. One, she was the only one to ‘properly’ log out. Two…

The Gatemaster’s forces found them.

A shiver ran down her spine as she thought of the second conclusion. If no one could discover the escape of Samuel before the Gatemaster’s forces got to him, then that meant that they were right on her trail, if they were chasing her. If they weren’t, then that meant that their ability in mobilizing forces was at a lightning-fast level. Even for a living legend like her, she was afraid of them. The man (woman) who could defeat a dragon bare-handed felt fear before a group of mere humans. That sentence was enough to give a testament to how strong they were.

Chloe put the matter aside, and went to her bedroom. Picking up the backpack on the floor, she proceeded to stuff two sets of clothes into it, as well as a portion of her candy stash. Even though she was a 28-year-old woman, she had not touched candy in 10 years, one could hardly blame her for her desire. She checked over her supplies, then left the apartment. She was headed to Lemoore, the place where it all began.