Chapter 278: Not the End
Chapter 278: Not the End
Walking down the stairs, Serah wiped her drenched hair with a towel and then saw her
husband, John, sitting by the television, flipping through the channels while looking for something to watch.
"John, are you coming to bed?" She asked.
"Soon." John pressed the TV remote one more time, and it changed into a channel that specialized in the Mortal Online news.
Since it was such a huge thing in the world and many non-players were curious about its on goings, it had quite popular news broadcasts that attracted a wide audience.
However, John was about to switch channels as he knew that Serah wasn't the biggest fan of it, but then he heard a voice.
"Don't change." Serah sat next to him on the couch and crossed her legs.
"Are you sure? You don't really like it." John said.
"Isn't the war happening?" Serah asked. "I heard from one of my customers. She has apparently a son that is playing it..."
"Oh, you're worried about Adam?" John said with a playful tone.
He expected her to snap at him, but instead, she just kept staring at the screen as the news started.
The news reporter started with flipping through some papers, and at the screen behind her, a picture of the world announcement appeared.
"Today, around one hour and twenty minutes ago, the world's first-ever world announcement appeared." She said. "It has taken the world by the storm."
"World announcement?" Serah frowned. "What's that?"
"Uh, it's something that happens in other games when an important thing has happened." John said. "Like if a player defeated a very strong boss or if an event is about to start."
"Oh, I wonder what it is about." Serah put her hands down on her lap.
At that moment, the picture of the world announcement appeared on the television screen, only showing that and nothing else.
"One hour and twenty minutes ago, S-ranker, Calamity Black, was slayed."
The news reporter took a moment to catch her breath and then continued.
"He was slayed by a fellow S-ranker, Adam Palestar, who has only been in the gaming world for about one year.
"He is a person that has not been talked about in this channel that many times because of the lack of information we have on him, but this is the first time that he has done something publicly, and it was the killing of S-ranker.
"We've also received a picture of his. It was taken a few weeks ago at the walled city of Ebonreach."
On the screen, Adam's picture appeared. It wasn't the most high quality picture, as it looked like someone took the picture from far away, but his face was still very clear.
John dropped accidentally his TV remote.
"I-Is that who I think it is?" Serah asked, her voice trembling.
"Yep..." John gulped. "S-ranker, him? What the fuck..."
"What is S-ranker?" Serah asked.
"I have a lot to teach you..." John said and looked upstairs.
He couldn't believe that right at this moment, in the upstairs, one of the world-famous S- rankers happened to be staying in his house!
"Does Alice know..."
...
In Alice's room, she was sitting flat on her stomach while rolling through her phone. She had studied all night, but she wasn't feeling tired yet, so she was texting some of her friends.
She was feeling slightly lonely as Adam wasn't with her, but she knew that he must be quite busy right about now.
At that moment, she received a phone call, and it was from her close friend, Laura.
'Why is she calling me this late?'
She turned around to lay on her back, accepted the call, and put it against her ear.
"What is it?" She whispered in case her parents were already sleeping.
"Are you checking the news?!" Laura, on the other hand, was shouting.
"Lower your voice, please." Alice giggled. "Aren't your parents sleeping?"
"No, they're also checking the news!" Laura said.
"What's so interesting in the news?" Alice asked while twirling her hair.
"Adam is in the news!" Laura shouted.
"Adam? My Adam?" Alice asked.
"Your Adam...?" Laura's voice turned playful. "Is there something you aren't telling me?"
"Please tell me, is it my Adam?" Alice sat on the bed with a worried frown.
"Yes, it is your Adam!" Laura said excitedly. "I didn't know he was someone so great. Why didn't you tell me? I thought we were best friends!"
"Someone so great... What exactly is going on?" Alice asked.
"I will send you a photo!" Laura said, quickly took a photo of the television screen and sent it
to Alice.
After she received the text, she checked the image and read through it.
"World announcement?" Alice put the phone against her ear. "What's up with that?"
"Adam is apparently S-ranker!" Laura said excitedly. "He killed another S-ranker!"
"S-ranker? I don't really know any of these gaming terms." Alice scratched the back of her
head.
"All you need to know is that S-rankers are crazy strong and popular!" Laura said in
excitement. "You know Konrad Moriarty, right?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"Yes, obviously." Alice said. "Everyone knows him."
"Well, Konrad Moriarty is also S-ranker. Your Adam is on the same level as him! He might
become the next king. Who knows!"
"King..." Alice gasped in surprise. "So what did he exactly do?"
"He killed Calamity Black. That guy is another S-ranker and apparently crazy talented!" Laura
said. "The whole gaming world is in shock!"
"Oh my..." Alice covered her mouth in a surprise.
"My parents didn't believe me when I said that I'd met Adam." Laura said with a pout. "They
don't even believe that he is currently living in Navy Town!"
Alice had to calm her breathing as these news came so suddenly.
"Navy Town will become so popular!" Laura said with a giggle. "The town where Moriarty
was born is now a tourist location. If Adam becomes next king, Navy Town will be even more
famous than ever!"
"Is that a good or bad thing?" Alice asked.
"Very good!" Laura said. "The whole town will benefit from that. When our mayor finds out
about Adam, he'll definitely come knocking on your door to kiss his feet!"
"S-rankers have that much influence?" Alice asked in surprise.
"Of course they do!"
Alice bit her lip and felt her heart beat against her chest like a drum.
"Agh, I gotta go!" Laura said. "I gotta take the dog out."
"See you tomorrow..." Alice disconnected the call and sat absent-mindedly in the bed.
...
Somewhere in the world.
A ragged, red-haired man climbed out of his virtual reality pod and stumbled across the
ground before falling beside bottles of alcohol.
"Argh, damn it!" Calamity grabbed some of the bottles and threw them into the wall.
He sat back up, looking around his enormous mansion with an empty gaze. This whole place seemed incredibly lonely and empty because he was the only resident of this place.
However, he was now going to lose all of this because of his death.
At that moment, his head started aching as he started to remember the fight. "That motherfucker!" Calamity screamed and threw another bottle of alcohol against the wall. "Why the hell did he want to kill me so much? What the fuck have I ever done to him?!"
To him, this felt extremely unfair.
"You think I am done here, Adam?!" Calamity gritted his teeth together and went back to his
virtual reality pod.
He had lost four years of progress.
However, he was Calamity Black, one of the S-rankers!
'He caught up to me in a year? Fine, I'll do the fucking same!'
And like that, he pressed the button and returned to the Mortal Online.
This setback wasn't the end of Calamity Black!
He was a man on the mission.
A revenge-fueled mission!