The following words were written in the white box.

New quest available!

Acquire huge quantities of evilese and become the king of at least five clans of monsters!

Rewards: Potentially get back legs usable in the ‘real’ world. ‘Potentially’

Would you like to accept this quest?

Yes/No?

Yes, potentially, not a guarantee. But just the revelation that I had a shot at a normal life in the real world made the hairs of my skin stand erect.

“What is it?” Sam asked, noticing that I had turned mute.

“I got a new quest message. Says that if I complete it then I might potentially get legs usable in the real world.”

“Well then accept it!”

That's what I did.

Immediately a new message followed. It was accompanied by the trust and faith the Skhites and the Hornies currently regarded me with.

Aside from evilese gains, your Trust and Faith levels will determine your ability to become the king of more clans!

Current Trust: 7/100

Current Faith: 8/100

The single digit numbers were not very uplifting. It was beyond doubt that the figures were a direct result of my prolonged absence. I made up my mind to journey back to the Skhite village when the tunnel opened.

The blue sage resumed his meditation.

Sam said that though he doubted if the game world could really provide me new legs, he still thought it was a good idea to undertake and complete the quest, and see the outcome.

The following day, during the short interval in which the tunnel connected with the outside world, we came out of it. I transformed to my Skhite form and was able to roll the boulder back to its place. The ordeal left me a little out of breath.

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“So now it’s back to the village, right?” I said to Sam.

But Sam was quiet, gazing into the distance with pensive eyes.

“What?” I asked Sam.

He pursed his lips and placed his hands on his hips. I understood that he did not want to accompany me.

“Are you afraid that the Skhites will kill you when you are sleeping? They won’t lay a finger on you, I promise. They are loyal to me.”

Sam guffawed.

“It’s obviously not that,” he said.

“Then?”

“I need to pay my bills in the real world. I need to help other players to earn a living. Don’t worry, I won’t lead anyone to the Skhites or the Hornies.”

I sighed and dropped my shoulders. I embraced Sam and patted him on the back.

“It’s okay,” I said to him. “You can go. But keep visiting me, all right?”

“I will.”

A light wind was whistling softly. We were about to part ways when something crossed my mind.

“Can you give me that gold dust of yours?” I asked him. “The one that can be used to create portals to the real world.”

“Sure,” Sam said. He fished out his pouch and handed it to me. “What are you going to use it for?”

“There is someone I would like to visit,” I said to Sam.

“Visit?” Fear flickered in Sam’s eyes. “Do you remember the last time you went to the real world when I was not around?”

“Don’t be concerned,” I said, “I won’t cross the portal to the real world.”

“I know who you want to visit,” Sam said. “Your girlfriend did call me a couple of times after you had disappeared. But I didn’t take her calls because I did not know what to tell her. After that the phone’s battery died.”

So, Sam and I went our separate ways. He to the pompous town, I to the shadowy village. Along the way I came across two groups of players, but narrowly avoided coming into contact. I had to lie low behind some thorny bushes for several long minutes. Only once I was confident that they were gone did I dare to get back up.

While I was stronger now because of my new spells, at the same time I did not have any desire for a confrontation.

It took me half a day to journey to the village. The Skhites were jolly. They had feared that I left them forever. A good number of the Hornies too had been awaiting my return in the village. The monsters organized a feast in celebration. I made up my mind to visit the dome shaped home of the Hornies someday soon. The trust and faith levels were lower in them than in the Skhites.

That night when I returned to my chamber, I checked my stats and saw an uptick in the trust and faith levels. I took out the pouch of gold dust and felt its fabric for a while, considering whether I should visit Kiara, the one girl in my life. She deserved to hear from me. It had been months since I had seen her. My heart yearned for her, and my ears thirsted for her soft voice. I tossed the glittering powder into the air.

The portal formed.

I froze as I beheld Kiara’s bedroom. She was there, sleeping peacefully on her bed. But then some clouds must have parted and the light of the real moon streamed through the window panes and illuminated her face. Were those tearstains? My heart sank. I realized that Kiara was not as peaceful as I had hoped.

I recalled the last time when she had absentmindedly cut her hand. Kiara had always looked at herself as someone who had nobody in the world. And then she met me and there was a spark between the two of us, and for some time she believed she had someone to connect with.

I wanted to step right through the portal and tell Kiara everything was fine and that she needn’t be sad at all. It was just a matter of time, and with the help of the game world one day I might step back into the real world completely healed.

The portal began closing. The fiery rim became smaller and smaller. As the portal disappeared, I caught a glimpse of Kiara opening her eyes.

I stood still, staring at the empty space in front of me. Would it be wise to recreate the portal? I began to scoop the dust from the floor and put it into the pouch. Could I bring Kiara to the game world? Would she freak out if she saw my devotees?

No, bringing her abruptly to the village would be a complete shock for her. However, there might be other ways around the problem.