"Surprise!" she sang, leaning close to the camera. "What, shocked to see me? You ditched me on my trip, so I decided to hang out with Lily instead. She's way more fun than you."
Marcus blinked. "Wait, what? You're with Lily?"
Amber gave a triumphant nod. "Yup! We went sightseeing today. She even took me to the Rose Garden. You would've loved it, but too bad you were too lazy to come."
Lily laughed softly beside her. "She needed a travel buddy. I figured I'd show her around before heading back."
Amber threw her arm around Lily's shoulder and grinned at the camera. "See, she's an angel. You could learn a thing or two, big brother."
Marcus shook his head, half amused, half mortified. "I can't believe you two teamed up. That's cheating."
Amber smirked. "You deserve it. Maybe next time you'll actually invite Lily to go somewhere with you instead of waiting for her to do it."
He opened his mouth to defend himself, but nothing came out. Lily's soft laugh filled the silence.
"Don't take her seriously," she said. "I didn't plan to go anywhere either. Amber came by, so we just went out for a couple days. We'll be heading back soon."
Amber poked Lily playfully. "See? She's too nice. If it were me, I'd have made you feel guilty."
Marcus smiled faintly. "Lily, when you get back to the city, call me. I'll pick you up from the airport."
Amber crossed her arms. "Oh, now you're ignoring me? Rude."
"I'm just trying to survive this ambush," he said, laughing. "So, did you at least bring your loving brother a souvenir?"
Amber looked smug. "Nope. Why would I waste money on you? But I did take plenty of photos with gorgeous girls. Maybe I'll show you if you're nice to me."
"Alright, alright," Marcus said quickly. "I surrender. When you get back, dinner's on me. And I'll even give you a back massage, deal?"
Amber pretended to think about it. "Hmm. Bribes already? You're hopeless. But fine, maybe I'll forgive you."
Lily covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.
Amber suddenly perked up, grinning at the camera. "Oh, guess what, Marcus? You wouldn't believe it, a bunch of people wanted Lily to be their model! Like, actual resort reps asking her to shoot commercials. Isn't that crazy?"
Lily groaned and turned pink. "Amber, stop exaggerating. It wasn't like that."
Marcus raised his brows, intrigued. "Wait, really?"
Lily sighed. "One of the resort owners joked about it. I said no, obviously."
Amber elbowed her playfully. "See? She's too humble. Everyone was staring at her the whole time."
Marcus smiled. "Can't blame them. You'd make a great model."
Lily shook her head, but the blush deepened just a little.
Amber looked offscreen. "Oh, the cable car's here. Time to head up the mountain. Later, big bro!"
Before he could reply, the call cut off.
Marcus stared at the blank screen for a long moment, a strange mix of warmth and longing tightening in his chest.
"Lily…" he murmured under his breath. "I really owe you too much."
He set the phone down and leaned back in his chair, the quiet of the apartment closing in again. Maybe it was time to stop running from everything, time to make things right
After a good rest, Marcus put his VR headset back on and reentered Dominion to continue his adventure.
A flash of light, and he reappeared at the same spot where he had logged out. After taking a moment to orient himself, he started toward the forest in the northwest corner of Newbie Village.
He hadn't gone far when he spotted a player locked in combat with a Corrupted Hedgehog. The creature glowed faintly blue and darted around with astonishing speed. Clearly, this wasn't an ordinary monster.
The player, a Mage, was having a hard time keeping up. He kept circling the creature, dodging as best he could, but the hedgehog's steel quills fired in volleys, piercing the air and forcing him to keep his distance. Each quill left a faint shimmer of frost in its wake, and when they hit, the slowing effect was obvious. The Mage kept gulping potions, struggling to even find a window to cast a single fireball.
Marcus activated Insight.
Corrupted Hedgehog King: Leader of the Corrupted Hedgehogs. Level 12 Normal BOSS. HP: 1500
Skill: Ice Quill – applies 3-second freeze effect.
A BOSS. No wonder it was giving the Mage such trouble. Still, Marcus was impressed, the player's control and reflexes were quite sharp. He was managing to stay alive far longer than most would.
Mages, after all, were known for their devastating single-target damage and powerful area spells, making them stars in parties and large-scale battles. But their low health and weak defense made soloing bosses nearly impossible. In team fights, though, their damage output was indispensable.
"Need a hand?" Marcus called out, not the type to steal someone's kill without asking.
"Yes! Quickly!" the Mage shouted back.
A system prompt appeared: "Stonehaven, player SoulSync has sent you a party invitation. Accept?"
Marcus accepted.
"I'm almost out of red potions," SoulSync said. "Can you tank the boss? I'll handle the damage."
Judging by Marcus's level and gear, the Mage assumed he was solid enough to take hits. Marcus just nodded. "No problem."
He charged forward, drawing the Corrupted Hedgehog King's attention. As someone who aimed to become a Knight, this was exactly his role: taking the blows so others could deal damage.
The hedgehog's spikes hit for steady damage; fifties, sixties, nothing too threatening. Marcus deliberately held back, suppressing half his strength so SoulSync wouldn't notice how strong he really was.
Damage numbers flickered across the screen: Miss. -40. Miss. Marcus couldn't help but frown. Seriously?
The agility boost from his Fluffy Rabbit Mask, combined with his high luck, made his dodge rate absurdly high. Most of the hedgehog's attacks simply whiffed past him.
It was getting harder to hide his real power. He almost regretted jumping in to help.
"Bro, are you aiming to become a Knight or Assassin? Your defense and dodge are off the charts," SoulSync called out, clearly noticing something strange.
"A Knight. The mask just gives a decent dodge bonus," Marcus replied, naturally avoiding the full truth.
As they spoke, Marcus became even more careful to conceal his strength, trying to appear as ordinary as possible.
"Oh, watch out! The Corrupted Hedgehog King's skill attack doubles its damage and applies a freeze effect. It's tough to deal with," SoulSync warned. He felt something was off. The Corrupted Hedgehog King's normal attacks dealt at least 70 damage to him, and its Ice Quill skill dealt over 150, quickly depleting his health.
'This player with the rabbit mask has incredibly strong defense, and his attack doesn't seem low either', SoulSync thought. 'I, a high-damage Mage, can only deal 80 damage to the Corrupted Hedgehog King.'
"It's fine, I have plenty of potions. I can tank it." The Corrupted Hedgehog King's Ice Quill skill only dealt 80 damage to Marcus, posing no significant threat, though the 3-second freeze effect was annoying.
Experts could tell each other's skill at a glance. SoulSync was definitely an elite player, exceptionally skilled. His experience was rich, and his technique was seasoned. Their cooperation was flawless.
The Corrupted Hedgehog King was no match for their combined efforts.
"Someone's coming, SoulSync, hurry up!" Seeing the Corrupted Hedgehog King's health drop below 100, and noticing several figures approaching from behind SoulSync, Marcus quickly warned him.
Seizing the opportunity, after SoulSync's fireball attack, the Corrupted Hedgehog King had only 40 HP left. Marcus delivered a decisive Slash, finishing it off.
He had high luck, so he had to make the most of it.
Under Marcus's final blow, the Corrupted Hedgehog King let out a howl, a -60 damage notification appeared above its head, its health dropped to 0, and it collapsed, dropping a golden staff glowing with yellow light and 2 gold coins.
Marcus casually picked up the golden staff and the 2 gold coins. Knights may do the hard work tanking, but we're usually first to claim the rewards. The satisfaction of victory made it all worth it.
"Congratulations, Stonehaven, you have killed the BOSS Corrupted Hedgehog King. Reputation +10."
Reputation was awarded to the player who landed the final blow. He then examined the golden staff he had picked up.
Blackstone Staff: Golden weapon. Effects unknown, cannot be equipped.
"Here, it's for Mages. Golden equipment! You've struck it rich. You'll need to return to the village to identify its specific effects."
"You keep it for now. We can identify it back in the village. If it weren't for your help, I would have definitely died here."
"I was just helping out; no need to be so polite. Besides, it's exactly the weapon you need." Marcus wasn't entirely magnanimous; he also wanted golden equipment. But he had genuinely helped the other player, and he wasn't lucky this time, as it dropped Mage equipment. If it had been Fighter equipment, they would have had to discuss the item distribution.
"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony," the veteran player said, without any false politeness.
"Hey, we're here! Where's the Corrupted Hedgehog King?" The group who had been arriving finally reached them, and their leader greeted SoulSync right away.
So they were SoulSync's party members. Marcus immediately understood the situation.
SoulSync had found the boss but could not handle it alone, so he had called for help. The Ice Quill skill turned out to be especially brutal against Mages, and waiting for reinforcements would have been a death sentence, hence he asked Marcus for help.
"I couldn't hold it alone and couldn't wait for you all. This friend here helped me out, and it's already dealt with."
"What did it drop?"
"A golden staff for Mages. Its specific effects need to be identified back in the village."
"Golden equipment! Bro, that's awesome! Let me see."
SoulSync handed the golden staff to his companions, then turned to Marcus. "Stonehaven, thank you. Let's head back to the village to identify it."
Because Marcus and SoulSync were in a party, he knew Marcus's name.
"No, I just came from the village. I'm heading out to level up."
"Alright, then I won't press you. Let's be friends. If you ever need anything, just let me know."
"Sounds good."
After adding each other as friends, Marcus continued towards the black bear's location in the northwest forest of the Newbie Village.