The monitor’s image was blurred and distorted due to Jim’s hot tears, but he could still make out Nekomata’s figure kneeling in the middle of the scene. Neko was shouting and cursing at the gods and demons, as his hands held tight to Gregory's motionless body. Lilly, a NPC raccoon, advanced slowly with her arm stretched out, ready to console him, her dark eyes set with determination. Neko was stunned and overwhelmed by grief, unable to accept that his beloved companion Gregory had left them for good.
As they had walked side-by-side on their journey, Gregory's inner strength and fortitude never failed to shine through. Neko gradually uncovered the dark secrets that plagued him—the death of his father in defense of their people against raccoons, and his mother's boundless fury towards 'the trash pandas'. Each new level of understanding illuminated the staggering burden Gregory carried. Roused by a pursuit of justice, Gregory never wavered from being an example of goodness and purity. Alas, fate had other plans and prematurely stole him away.
It was the start of a grand, yet fateful quest. The tension between the humans and raccoons had taken its toll on Lilly. She was pushed to her limits, feeling a call to avenge the death of her father - an honorable raccoon elder - at the hands of George, his killer.
Unbeknownst to her, Neko had already been dispatched on a perilous quest to take out Lilly - for George had falsely branded her as a peddler of arms to both sides, perpetuating the conflict.
Punches were thrown and curses were uttered until they realized they were merely pieces in someone else's game of chess. Anger boiled in their veins as they directed their rage to the conniving merchants who had fooled them.
The merchant's leader, Gregory's own mother, loomed like a spectre of death over the land. The woman revealed to her son a cold and calculating nature as she set her sights on having Lilly executed, and her son a hero in the process. Her actions would have put the feud between humans and raccoons beyond redemption. In a grand and daring act of courage, Gregory made the ultimate sacrifice, laying down his life so that Lilly could live. Fleeing in defeat, she vowed revenge against the raccoons for now taking her son as well.
Lilly carried with her Gregory's parting words: a dream of a world where both species could live side by side in harmony. She vowed to ensure his courageous act never faded from memory.
Jim felt his heart swell in anguish as the realization of what he had achieved hit him. He hadn't realized he had finished the quest until he was presented with his reward, but he could hardly take joy in it as his grief still lingered.
Lilly unveiled the legendary [Prized Pendant of Gregory] before Neko. Neko struggled against his rising emotions as he took the trinket in hand, feeling a connection to it like he had never experienced before. For a moment, he felt as if his best friend Gregory was with him once more; it was a reminder of how strong the bond between them had been. Neko accepted not only the promised reward, but a lasting memento of his friendship with Gregory - a sacred pledge to safeguard the pendant at any cost.
Jim stared at the monitor, transfixed. His life was running before his very eyes—all the choices he had made and not made. Mistakes, regrets and triumphs all illuminated on the screen as if it were a tapestry of memories in sequin form. He viewed with dread all the times he had taken the easy route and forsaken opportunities that would have enhanced his journey. How many items in his bags right now had stories with their own Gregorys and Lillies, what kind of monster was he to have ignored them?
Jim sighed wearily as he observed the piteous pleas for help radiating from the whisper window. It was a heart-wrenching sight - players imploring him to join their squads and advance their dungeon scores, but Jim had grown too wise to get taken in by hollow claims of ever more fruitful plunder. His values had shifted, and now he experienced empathy for those ceaselessly clambering up the stairs whose each step was being fashioned right there before them.
One of the messages was from his guild leader, Steven. He ominously declared that everyone had to be 'legendary' geared by the weekly reset or be excluded from the raid. Jim didn't give it a second thought. Soon enough, they'd all be trudging through the dispiriting cycle of upgrading their gear only to have it outclassed yet again. All that hard work in vain, and the rewards the raid promised were another lie themselves.
Jim thought Steven sounded strangely wound up and a little too formal; There was a distinct change in the way that Steven was speaking – almost as if he were a different person. Was it just a trick of the light or had Jim been blind to who Steven truly was all this time?
Jim gritted his teeth and pushed forward, his thoughts heavy with the pressure of his last quest. He felt like he had been through so much already, but that didn't stop him from moving towards the pier. His eyes squinted as he navigated past the row of fishing boats and onto the dock. The cool mist kissed Nekomata's face and for a moment, all he could think about was the salty scent of the sea and how it seemed to envelop him in its embrace.
Neko sat and steadied himself on a creaky old box and cast his line. His thoughts were still filled with Lilly and her long journey, but his arm was sure. With a mighty heave, he sent the rod careening through the air, farther than ever before. Unfortunately for Neko, he had hooked a relic boot from forgotten days instead of a fish.
The grizzled fisherman a few stalls away cast a dubious glance in Neko's direction. "What madness do you think you're up to with that rod and line, lad?" He growled the inquiry.
Neko thought it was obvious, "Fishing?"
The old salt silently sent a supplication to the gods and devils, "If you think that's fishing, perhaps best the grave claim me soon."
Neko was reluctantly dragged along by the crusty old fisherman, his displeasure palpable with every step. Against his better judgement, Neko endured the salty seadog's instruction in the finer points of fishing - when to cast out, how to ready the bait, and the myriad other details that Jim had no idea existed in the fishing minigame. Despite the stern reprimands, there was something strangely calming about watching the seasoned fisherman demonstrate how it was done - even if he was 'failing in a way that was hard to watch'.
A notification blared on his monitor - an urgent request for a diplomatic summit between various groups to strategize their next raid. Ignoring it, he turned back to the task at hand. Neko didn't miss much, the old man was still ranting about the colorful fish around these parts that kept snagging his bait.