Chapter 72: Aftermath
"Is this the end?!" Charles shouted out.
Ensia and Hikari quickly cast spells against the crystal at the base with the help of the minions. Although Yupin and the other member respawned, they couldn't make it out of the sanctuary in time in order to stop them from destroying the crystal.
In the end, it was destroyed.
[ System Announcement - Winner: Vain Blood! ]
"Ohh! It looks like the match has been decided! The overall winner for today is Vain Blood!" Vick announced.
Seeing the winning announcement on the screen, Zayden who sat on his couch let out a sigh of relieve. "Phew, looks like they won huh?"
Getting up from his couch, he reached out towards the remote as he switched off the television. Soon after, he turned towards the clock on the wall to look at the time: [8:11 PM.]
"Ah? It's already eight?" he abruptly said. "Then that means Jisa should be back from her tuition now..."
Hasegawa Jisa was a second-year high school student studying in a private school. She was the type who took her studies seriously, one who just did practices, read and revisions over and over for most of her free time.
"...hmm, maybe I should wait for her to come back so we can have dinner?"
With his phone in hand, he switched it on as he entered into the Discord app. Then, scrolling through his countless direct messages, he stopped at @Jisa. Going into the chat, he sent her a message.
@Shinto: When will you be back?
After sending the message, a reply came almost immediately.
@Jisa: Huh? You're out of the game at this time? Wow!
@Shinto: Ahem... I wanted to watch Vain Blood's match today...
@Jisa: I thought you were apart of the main roster for that match?
@Shinto: Well uh, things happened and so I'm out of commission for a while.
@Jisa: So you say.
@Jisa: Anyways, why you asking me when I'm coming back?
@Shinto: I just thought that we'd have dinner today seeing as how I'm out of the game and haven't eaten.
@Jisa: You- Of all days, why today?!
@Shinto: ...?
@Jisa: I'm doing a study group at Yuna's house today TT
@Shinto: ._.
@Jisa: Hey! Exams are soon! Besides, how was I supposed to know that today of all days you wanted to go out and eat a proper dinner?
@Shinto: Yeah... good point. Well, I'll just eat some ramen...
@Jisa: Don't you dare. I made two servings enough for lunch and dinner. Did you eat lunch today?
@Shinto: Yes, I did. Thank you for cooking it.
@Jisa: Good! Now eat dinner!
@Shinto: Alright, alright, MOM.
@Jisa: You're supposed to be my older brother -_-
@Shinto: Well act like a little sister :p
@Jisa: Jee. Anyways, I'm going offline now. I'll be back around 10, Yuna's mom will fetch me home so don't worry.
@Shinto: Right. See ya.
...
'Hmm, since I'm still in the app, I might as well just send my congratulations to them while I eat.' Leaving the chat, he thought to himself as he made his way to the kitchen area.
Soon after, he opened up the fridge as he took out a container containing his dinner that was cooked by Jisa. Quickly, he placed them into the microwave in order to heat it up.
Whilst waiting, he went through the list of people he had received messages from and scurried towards the main members of the Vain Blood team. Giving them each a private message.
Although he could've made his work lesser by just sending the congratulations in the discord server of his guild, his presence in the channel would make for an uproar among the members.
Successfully sending the message needed, he heard the microwave's ringing noise. Taking out the dish, he began to eat it.
...
After eating, he headed to the capsule as he logged into the game again.
[ Logging into the game... ]
[ Player 'Shinto' has come online. ]
Within the tavern of Parm, Shinto stood on the old wooden floors as he opened his eyes.
"Alright... I'm in the game now," he said as he looked around. The kitchen area was quiet, however, the lights of the kitchen as well as in the room that he was in were on. Though despite that, there weren't any signs of Greld anywhere. "Hmm... what time is it right now?"
His eyes looked towards the small clock on the walls of the tavern. Seeing as it was now [11.37 PM] in-game.
"Oh? It's already this late here?" he asked himself. "Hmm... since everyone would be asleep right now... I guess I'll go hunting," he said as he turned towards his friend list. "Whose online right now?"
Upon a glance at the list, he saw that most of Vain Blood's members were online. Ignoring them, he scrolled down towards the latest friends whom he added. [ Frey ] and [ Raina ]. The status of the two was online.
Seeing as to how Frey was on, he sent her a whisper. However, he was surprised by the following notification after he did so.
[ You can't send a whisper at this time! ]
"Huh? What's this?" he raised his brow in suspicion. "I can't send a whisper at this time?"
"...hmm, is she in a dungeon right now?" he asked. The notification wasn't a typical notification where one receives when they chose the 'do not receive whispers' option in their settings. The notification right now was one when the receiver or the sender was in an instance dungeon or when communication around them is blocked.
"I'll shoot her a whisper later then..." he shook his head helplessly. "Should I send a whisper to Raina instead?" he contemplated. Since the time right now is nighttime, Shinto's damage would significantly drop, so it was better for him to have a mage that can help clear waves of monsters easily while Shinto just has to heal.
"I guess I'll do," he nodded his head as he sent Raina a whisper.
[ You can't send a whisper at this time! ]
"Huh? Raina is busy too?" he let out a sigh. "Sigh... I guess I'll go out and hunt, myself..." he made his way out of the tavern
The moment he stepped out of the building, he heard footsteps coming from the direction leading out of the alleyway, simultaneously, the sound came from the other side as well.
"...?"
The steps drew nearer as a silhouette of a man appeared. Following after was a voice,
"...Shinto, I presume?"