Unlucky?Player

Chapter 196: Parallels

"Hmm? What happened here?" Nate commented as he looked at the dark tire marks on the ground as well as the very obvious signs of some sort of accident. "It's not that far from the house...hmmm. Perhaps I'm overthinking it?"

Nate was on a walk, after all, for the past few days had been locked up in the room trying to defend Vraun. It was reason enough, but that didn't mean he didn't need to relax or catch a breather. Especially with all the work, he was soon going to have. After the tournament, he had been receiving a lot of collaboration emails. Naturally, everyone would want to meet and play alongside one of the best players, but actually sitting and sorting through the important emails and the ones that weren't was a hard thing to do.

There was no one he could give this work to, at least not yet. Nate had a plan, and according to that plan, both of them were going to be world-famous and more than self-sustainable. As of that moment, only the latter remained and even that would soon be taken care of. With every passing day, new players crossed level hundred, unlocking a multitude of content. The first ascension was the gate to the true world of Genesis, perhaps up until then, the game could be considered something like a tutorial. Nobody was wasting time, especially after Night's display in the tournament.

"Haaah," Nate let out a sigh, his entire life was soon going to change, meaning they would most likely have to quit college. It wasn't that big of an issue, and everyone would understand, after all, at this point, they were more or less celebrities. "A proper setup, a new place to stay with a gym inbuilt, okay okay okay, should be doable in the next few months. But first, I really need to go through those emails,"

Even if they were to find a new place to stay, where would that be? There were a lot of decisions to make, and at the moment, Nate was the only one in his senses. At least out of the two of them. Of course, he could take help from any of the other clan members, especially Valerian and Aurora.

Valerian's company, Milo. inc reached a global stage within the first 3 years of its debut. There was no doubt that Valerian could help with such a task. It was probably just a call away, however, before he resorted to that method, Nate wanted to try and do something on his own. After all, if he couldn't do this much, then how would he manage as the Clan leader.

"Hold on.....Liam still hasn't come back....It's a little worrying but I guess he is an adult and I shouldn't be worrying for no reason.....damn, just when we were about to find out who he was in-game, he just had to go away, tch" as he spoke to himself, he turned around after hearing the distant sound of a car. "With people driving so rashly, I'm not surprised accidents are common..." he commented as he turned around and continued down his original path. However, it was odd. The sound didn't fade away, instead, it only got louder and louder. 

It was only then that Nate realized what was happening. Nate thought he was about to lose his life. The black van only got closer and closer, it was fast and showed no signs of stopping. For some reason, he could already picture the headlines tomorrow. However, just when he closed his eyes and prepared himself for the worst, he heard a very nostalgic chuckle, it was something that took him back. Back to the hardest times of his life. He looked up and saw a face he never thought he would see.

"What the fu-"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Another one? That's interesting. Wait a second....that's player Night, isn't it? So it's true....I didn't believe it when a friend of mine texted me this, but it's actually true. Who would've thought Player Night would show up at the Assassin's Den...."

"Wait a second, if he's allowed here, then doesn't that mean he's going to give the Phantom Trials a shot.....B-but how....shouldn't that be against the rules.....Just what kind of a class does he have....."

"Hah! Don't be absurd! Do you actually think he's here for the Phantom Trials? That's stupid. He's probably here to train or something..."

"But why would they simply allow him into the Sacred Grounds? Isn't this supposed to be holy for the assassins? I highly doubt they would let just anyone inside....something doesn't sit right with me....."

"But he isn't just anyone. I'm sure he displayed his skills and only then did they think off letting him inside. I don't see any reason as to why they would allow someone of a different class here. Besides, It doesn't make sense as to why he would want to undergo the Phantom Trials..."

"Have you forgotten that he is above level 100? Meaning he's an ascender, rules such as classes tend to become weaker. Who knows, what if his second class has something to do with Assassins? Wouldn't that explain why he's here?"

"Wait a second....That's elder Sketch.....and he's taking Night towards the entrance of the trial.....what do you have to say now huh?"

"Bah he's obviously warning him not to enter or else he'll be killed on spot. It's obvious, maybe if you paid more attention to the body language. Have you ever seen Senior Sketch that on guard? It's obvious he's trying to put Player Night in his place,"

While that seemed plausible, the real reason Sketch behaved in such a way was because of what Night was capable of. He got no answers whatsoever, even for how Night managed to see in the dark, or how he knew he was behind the boulder. There were just far too many variables, besides that there was one thought that constantly stayed in his mind.

'Who the heck gets a Guardian around like that??! It's not like they're shopping??!'

"This is it, by the way, you might want to stretch properly," Sketch said as he looked at the large entrance. On both the sides of the entrance, there stood a guard. The main entrance was blocked by a door. It worked similar to the gate they previously saw. It wasn't something that could simply be pushed, it needed activation of some sort.

"Alright thank you..." Night replied and soon got to stretch his body. He made sure every part of his body was prepared and relaxed to jump into action. Of course, he asked Noctis to sit on Shade's head and made sure Shade patiently waited here.

"Oy, he's stretching....and he even gave his weird pet to his companion.....are you sure he's not undergoing the trials....."

"I-....uh..."

The other players there said something or the other with every move Night made. It was the same everywhere Night went, to be more specific, it was the same anywhere a celebrity would go. They would always face unnecessary comments. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Night barely even noticed the presence of other players.

"I'll be back Shade.....and buddy, while I'm gone, stay safe, and hopefully you get better okay?" Night told as he patted Noctis's head and Shade's shoulder. "See you in a bit!" he said before he jogged forward and stood right in front of the huge door.

"Put your hand on it. It might sting a bit but it should be bearable. If you wish to exit the trials for whatever reason, simply destroy this crystal. I'll give you another one the next time you enter. Good luck and try not to die," Sketch said with a smile as he dropped a small red crystal into Night's pocket.

"Thank you," Night replied as he pressed his hand against the gate. A bright blue light slowly spread across the carvings in the wall until they appeared to be runes. Fog slowly emerged out of nowhere. It was weird, while Night could see in the dark, he couldn't see through the smoke or fog. It's been a while since he was deprived of his sight.

*ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZPPPP*

"Ou-"

"-ch....?" Night pulled his hand back, but he noticed that everything around him was different. He was in a location that he had never seen. It was confusing, Taka told him that the trials everyone faced would be different and something somewhat personal. Was that a lie?

"You're here," a raspy voice said, he recognized it, but it was one of those voices. Ones where you could recognize it but couldn't quite figure out who it belonged to. However, it was unusual, it was a voice he was very much accustomed to and yet it felt distant, it stirred something deep inside him. Unable to hold in his curiosity, Night turned around, and as soon as he did, he could feel the energy in his body leave.

"What the fu-"