End Online: Volume 6 (21 page)

“Verde, are you still
online?” I call out into the hallway.

Verde’s head pokes out
from the cell next to mine, she looks around for a bit before seeing me and
saying timidly, “Yeah. I’m sorry, we got so close yet we were caught in the
end.”

“It’s not your fault, so
there is no need to apologize. Let’s just hope that the tablet isn’t taken
before we get there. Perhaps Sir Laurence and Gladox can protect the building
until we get out.”

“Did someone call my
name?” A blonde pretty boy pokes his head out of the cell on the opposite side
of me.

“Sir Laurence!? What are
you doing here?” I call out in shock.

“Lost? My Lady? I see, so
you were caught in the end. I saw that the guards were about to change their
patrol and possibly find you, so I rushed out and attacked them to keep their
attention. What the hell are those city guards, rabbits? Their numbers just
kept multiplying until they had become an army and subdued me.”

“I don’t know whether to
thank you for helping, or throw something at you for getting caught as well.
How long are you in for?”

“Two weeks.”

I curse aloud at him. The
idiot prince is locked up for longer than us so even if we get out of the
prison before the other AI steals the tablet, he won’t be able to help us get
to it first.

An unfamiliar head pokes
out from another cell in the prison hall. I don’t recognize him so I choose to
ignore his stare, but he looks at Verde before cooing and shouting out in a
roguish accent, “Ooh, there’s a pretty lady what got locked up with us!”

Every currently online
prisoner in hearing range pokes their heads out to have a look. There are only
nine other players in this hall, but it is enough to make Verde terribly
uncomfortable and hide back in her cell. There aren’t usually violent prisoners
and most players are usually docile when they even bother to login in jail, but
on occasion there is the odd obnoxious one or someone who says too much.

Sir Laurence and I stare
daggers at the group of heads lining the hall as the guard finally enters.

“Prisoners! Keep all parts
of the body inside the cell at all times! Some of you have been warned before.”

The guard brandishes a
whip and cracks it at the nearest head poking out of the cell. The player
notices this and attempts to pull his head back in a rush, but only succeeds in
hitting his head on the iron bars before getting hit with the whip and falling
backwards. I hear loud curses of frustration coming from the cell.

Along with all the other
imprisoned players, I pull my head back and retreat to the rear of my cell to
avoid the whip. There are still a few shouts from troublemaking, roleplaying,
and sarcastic players outside and the guard keeps cracking his whip at them,
but I pay it little attention.

I send Gladox a private
message, asking him to protect the museum for the next week and try to prevent
the AI from taking the tablet. I then type out a word and hover over the send
button, waiting for his inevitable reply… There it is. “REJECTED!” Of course he
can’t have a day with Fen as payment. Laughing, he still agrees to the guard
duty.

Sharing a few words with
Fen, I soon log off.

***************************************************

Three days after my
confinement, the longsword ‘Severing Breeze’ finishes selling in the auction;
the final bid is a jaw dropping 8,700 dollars. This price puts this sword as
the most expensive item in the game for both this week and this month.

I almost can’t believe the
immense price that it sold for and check the buyer. The player who bought it is
someone who has bought an item from me before: HonourTheLast. It’s hard to forget
such a strange name. I feel sour that this person has so much money to throw
away on a few game items, but I’m thankful that at least the money is being
thrown at me.

The posts under the
auction are also crazy, people still posting even after the bidding has
finished.

There are tens of
thousands of comments attached to the auction, and the numbers keep on growing.
I wonder if I have received more comments on a single auction than Mason has on
his videos. The thought makes me chuckle, and my bliss at such a great sale
turns that into a slightly maniacal laughter.

As I am expressing my
unhinged joy, somebody knocks on the front door. The sound is very faint so I
strain my ears to make sure that there is actually someone at my house. Whoever
it is knocks again, and I rush to the door and open it.

The person, actually three
people, are a surprise even greater than the final selling price of the
‘Severing Breeze’. It is Aunt Jude and my two sisters, Joelle and Shari.

“Girls, you’re here!” I
excitably call out and open my arms, allowing them to rush in and hug me.

The girls use too much
force and I roll back few meters into the hall, but that is of little concern.
Due to the joy of reuniting with my sisters, I completely forget about my Aunt
and don’t notice as she enters the house, walking past me. By the time I
process that she is here too, I look up to find her not standing outside
anymore.

I tell the girls to wait
in the living room, then roll myself to the kitchen where I find my Aunt going
through the cupboards.

“So filthy,” Jude
vehemently says while pulling out cups from one of the overhead cabinets.

“Unfortunately, I have a
little trouble reaching up there to clean.”

Jude glances down at my
wheelchair, but doesn’t show any sympathy.

“I’ve brought the girls
over so you can spend a day with them.” Jude sets another dirty cup aside
before ignoring it and sitting down. “The girls are much more manageable when
they are in contact with you, so perhaps this arrangement could continue.”

I understand that she is
hinting at Joelle and Shari coming over once a week instead of calling, but
it’s too sudden a change to be from the goodness of her heart.

“What do you want?” I ask
blatantly.

Of course she wants
something. That’s the type of person she is. There is no way she would do
something to help me, or anyone else, if there isn’t a potential benefit for
her.

“Getting straight down to
business? Have you grown up? Probably not. I want that girl you are dating at
school, Verity Lee.”

“You want her? What is
wrong with you? First you take my sisters, now you want to take my girlfriend?”

“Stop speaking nonsense. I
took my nieces because this is the best thing for their future. A future you
cannot give them, so don’t make me sound like some kidnapper. As for your
girlfriend, I want her in the family, or at least her favor. She seems to like
you, a pearl liking the swine, so I hope that you’re not as impotent as you are
useless.”

I blush half out of
embarrassment and half out of anger. I understand I can’t give the care to my
sisters that they need, but my own aunt discussing my intimacy with others, and
even telling me what to do is beyond my threshold.

“I’m not some tool for you
to use. What goes on in my life is none of your concern.”

Aunt Jude frowns while her
brow twitches in irritation, but her expression quickly returns to its usual
demeanour. I was expecting a lecture on respecting your ‘senior family
members’, as she calls it, but for her to drop the matter entirely is
surprising.

“We will come back to it
at a later time. For now, just stay close to that girl and don’t let someone
else get her.”

My aunt stares at me
intently, as if to discern something, before continuing her speech.

“As for Joelle and Shari,
I will return later this evening to pick them up. Make sure you prepare a
healthy dinner and not some greasy fast food. Being unhealthy is a habit, a
sickness, and I will not have you poisoning them with such things.”

I feel a flame of anger
burning in my stomach but keep my mouth shut as she turns around and walks out
the door. Even if I argue with her and speak logic, her authoritative point of
view will erupt and the conversation will go nowhere.

Just as Aunt Jude left the
house, Joelle and Shari both poked their head through the kitchen door. They
had clearly been eavesdropping and secretly hid out of sight till my
conversation with our aunt was finished.

Sighing helplessly at the
two girls who are now looking at me with puppy dog eyes, I roll over to the two
girls and say cheerfully, “I haven’t seen you two in a long time, yet you have
grown so much. You are doing well at school and I can tell that you are being
looked after. I’m very happy for you two.”

“I miss you, Holly. Why
can’t we see you more often?” Shari asks innocently.

“Things don’t always work
out the way we want them to. We can only make the best of a situation with what
we are given, always remember that.”

Joelle is a bit more
mature and asks, “Hollis, you didn’t tell us you had a girlfriend. How long
have you been together? I really want to meet her.”

“Oh, perhaps one day you
will meet her. But a girlfriend, huh. What about you, any boys you like?”

Joelle quickly blushes
like a rose and I teasingly follow up, “I didn’t know this either, why don’t
you tell me a little about him?”

“Well, he’s... you see,
he’s really nice to me. He’s always considerate and caring-”

“Name. Start with his name
first.”

“Oh! His name is Ryan. He
asked me to be his girlfriend a month ago and I couldn’t say no, so we... well,
yeah.”

“I’m sure he is a really
nice boy. Have you kissed him yet?”

“K-K-Kissed?! No! That’s
far too embarrassing... W-We did hold hands last week though.”

I smile and tease my
sister some more as she blushes more and more. Joelle has grown up in many ways
since I last saw her, and that truly makes me happy. As for her to be so
embarrassed over holding hands, I admire her innocent youth. I try not to think
of a day when she is all grown up and that innocence will be gone.

“We haven’t gone out
together in so long, how about we go do some shopping? We will eat out tonight
for dinner as I didn’t know you were coming and didn’t prepare anything. Don’t
tell Aunt Jude though, it will be our little secret.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t!”
Both girls state excitably.

***************************************************

Several days later, our
imprisonment time in End Online is finally over. At least it is for Verde, Fen
and myself. Sir Laurence is still locked away for another week for assaulting
the guards and “disturbing the safety of the city”, or so his charges say.

I honestly can’t believe
the idiot. Who else would have the crazy idea of attacking the guards? I have
to admit that it did indeed help us not get caught before we got into the
building, but there were other methods of approach as well. He could have
delayed them by distracting them, or simply barring the way. As long as he did
not attack them, he would probably have been out before us.

The guard releases Fen,
Verde, and myself outside the front of the prison with a superficial warning of
“don’t do it again”. Of course we are going to break into the museum again, but
this time we will be more prepared.

I chat with both Sir
Laurence and Gladox through a private chat. According to Gladox, the tablet is
still currently safe inside the museum and the AI swordsman hasn’t made an
appearance yet. The idiot prince is dejected about being in prison still and
hopes we can wait until he gets out before attempting it again.

I completely reject his
idea, but Gladox offers to break him out of prison. I know that a player can’t
break themselves out of prison unless they have some rare skills, but I never
suspected it to be possible to break someone out. Apparently, if you are caught
in the attempt, you will only be imprisoned until the player you tried to
rescue is released as well.