【Ｗｅｌｃｏｍｅ ｔｏ Ａｓｔｒａｌ Ｌｅｇｅｎｄｓ．．．】
【Ｅｎｔｅｒ ｙｏｕｒ ｕｓｅｒｎａｍｅ．．．】
"Guys, nakikita niyo ba—" Hindi ko natuloy ang aking sinasabi dahil paglingon ko ay wala na ang mga kasama ko. I'm alone, someone suddenly appeared right in front of me. A girl inside a tube—she had a lot of wire connected to white spherical headgear on top of her head, she suddenly opened her eyes. Her eyes are emitting a sensory laser as if she was scanning something in the thin air.
She swiped something in the air. I was shocked when many codes suddenly popped in my front. It is a screen that looks like a hologram, but it can be touch.
"Welcome back, player. Do you want to use your previous character?"
I was eyeing the artificial intelligence curiously. She just said the word previous character. Before I could speak what's in my mind, another hologram screen pop in my front.
【Ｙｅｓ】【Ｎｏ】
I clicked the word 'yes' unknowingly what will happen next. The dimension feels familiar. This nostalgic feeling is really bugging me as if telling me that I am back inside the game, inside Danima. But, we erased Danima five years ago. It had a special place in our heart, but we chose not to remember the game, to be honest, Danima is the reason for the things we have now.
"Please select your username." the A.I. said.
【Ａｍｅｔｈｙｓｔ】
【Ａｑｕａｒｉｕｓ】
I bit my lower lip while looking at the choices. This Astral Legends must be really connected to Danima, those are my usernames in that damn game. Amethyst was the first one that they got from my accounts, and Aquarius is the one I used when I when Austin gave me his rename card.
I clicked Amethyst. Hindi na kailangan pa itago kung sino ako, I mean—the codename Amethyst had a special part in my heart. Bata pa lamang ako ay nakadikit na sa akin ang pangalan na 'yan.
【Ｒｅｇｉｓｔｅｒｉｎｇ．．．】
██ 20%
███ 40%
████ 60%
█████ 80%
██████ 100%
【Ｒｅｇｉｓｔｅｒｅｄ】
"Welcome back, Amethyst." The female voice said. The hologram in front suddenly disappeared, the female A.I. suddenly look into my direction and smiled."You will receive a parcel. Your equipment will be there; stay tuned. And good luck, Amethyst."
"Hey—"
"The game master is pleased that you are back. Wait for your parcel, and you will know the mechanics of the game."
"What—"
"This will be a hide n seek, the game master is hiding, and the players will find the game master. You can no longer quit the game once you are registered. Good luck."
The A.I. slowly shut down, and everything turned black again. Marahan kong pinikit ang mga mata ko because something is making do it, malulutong na mura ang narinig ko sa paligid dahilan para mag mulat ako ng mga mata ko.
"Putangina, Hunter! Dapat hindi mo na pinindot 'yun." Inis na sabi ni Zayn, I can feel how nervous Zayn is. I can't blame him, maraming masasakit na nangyari noon when we played Danima, and now it is repeating itself.
"Ikaw ang nag-utos sa akin. Siraulo." Sabi ni Hunter. I am just watching them, for sure ay nakaregistered na lahat kami. Wala naman kasing choices na we can quit or exit.
Para bang gustong-gusto talaga ng creator na laruin namin ang game. I saw how crumpled Richard's face is while dialing on his phone.
"Damn it, hindi ko ma-contact si Darren," Richard said. His eyes are screaming about his frustration that he is feeling right now."May klase ba siya ngayon sa Phantom Academy?"
"Dude, bobo ka ba? Sunday ngayon." Austin said. We all stayed silent after that; given that the Astral Legends knew about our Danima accounts, then there is a big chance that Darren created this shit.
He is now a professor in Phantom Academy though most of the time he is developing online games and virtual reality games. Darren and Richard are business partners and dapat alam ni Richard ang mga games na ginagawa niya because they always work together on the codes and interfaces.
"Bukas na natin siya puntahan." Hallie calmly said. Tumingin ako sa wrist watch ko and I was shocked nung nakita ko kung anong oras na. It was already 10 o'clock in the evening, apat na oras ang lumipas.
"Ten na," I said. They all threw me a grumpy face as if telling me not to joke around.
I pointed to my watch, and they all check the time through their watch and phones. They all groaned.
"The fuck, kakadating ko lang e." Kamot ulong sabi ni Clover. Medyo natawa ako saka ako lumapit kay Hunter.
"Hmm?"
"Sunday ngayon." I reminded Hunter. He suddenly smirked and wrapped his arms around my waist.
"Uwi na us?" He whispered in my ear. Tumango ako sa kanya then he kissed my temple, tumingin siya sa mga kasama namin. Saglit siyang bumitaw sa akin upang makipagusap muna sa iba samantalang ako ay umupo sa tabi ni Maddie kinuha ang shoulder bag ko.
"Aabsent kami bukas nina Thalia," Maddie said to me.
"I don't have work during monday, sasama rin ako." Tumango naman sila sa sinabi ko. Sinilip ko si Anikka na lukot na lukot ang pag-mumukha,"What happened?"
"AFK ako sa game. Huhu, penalty 'yung accountko." Maarte niyang sabi. Pare-parehas namin siyang inirapan saka siya tinawanan. Adik na adik siya sa Wild Rift, Si Ahri lang naman ang alam niya at palagi lang siyang binubuhat ni Noah. She's a dumbbell.
"Saan ka ngayon, Scar?" Thalia asked.
"Condo naming," Maikli kong sagot.
"Tsk. Tsk. Don't plokplok ha." Natatawang sabi ni Hallie. I pouted ang laki talaga nang pinagbago niya. And actually, nagpalit sila ni Austin ng ugali—Hallie is now more vulgar on her words while Austin now is the one who always scolds her for being like that.
Though wala pa silang anak. Tatlong taon na silang kasal pero they decided not to have kids first because we are all still young. Ang usapan nila ay mag-aanak sila pagkinasal na kami ni Hunter and I am ready to be a tita-ninang na.
"Let's go?" Yaya ni Hunter na nasa tapat ko na pala. The girls kissed my cheeks before saying goodbye. I also kissed my brothers bago kami nagpaalam sa kanila.
"Ang heavy." Hunter said. Natawa ako dahil ang conyo na talaga niya, napapagaya siya sa mga ka-workmate niya sa banko na mga conyo. Nilagay niya sa likod ng kotse ang mga potchi na pinabili nya, I sitted in the shotgun seat. He started the engine. I turned on the radio para hindi boring ang byahe.
You and I
Could be like sonny and cher
Honey and bears
And you and I
Could be like Aladdin and Jasmine
Let's make it happen
"I love you, Amethyst."
"I love you more, Leo," I said. I kissed his cheeks while driving, I yawned dahil kulang pa ako sa tulog and my eyes are feeling heavy right now.
"Malapit na tayo. Stay still, baby girl." Imbes na magising ako sa sinabi ni Hunter ay tila naging parang isang musika ito sa aking tainga upang makatulog ako.
I felt soft tickly kisses that woke me up."Finally." he said and planted his last kiss on my forehead.
"Binuhat mo ako?"
"Wow ha, hindi ba obvious?" Mataray niyang sagot saka tumalikod sa akin at pumasok sa banyo. Sinamaan ko siya ng tingin saka nag-unat muna bago tuluyan na bumangon.
Lumapit ako sa study table ni Hunter dahil may dalawang maliit na box ang nakapatong doon."Ano 'to?!" I shouted para marinig niya ako.
"Parcel!" he answered.
Binuksan ko ang box na nakapangalan sa akin."Hey, don't open it—" bigla siyang natawa nang malakas dahil nakita niya na nabukas ang kahon sa kamay ko.
"Shet, lagot ka sa kuya mo." natatawa niyang sambit.
"What do you mean by that?"
"We all received a parcel and Logan said na bukas natin lahat 'yan bubuksan."
"Oh, my bad."
"So what's inside?"
I shrugged and opened the main box, "A contact lens." I answered. We both examined it. Halos masapak niya ako nung nilagay ko iyon sa mata ko.
I blinked multiple times saka tumingin sa kaniya. Parang wala akong nilagay, parang wala namang contact lens sa mata ko. Nilagay ko rin yung kabiak at wala nang nagawa pa si Hunter.
"Wala naman e." Sabi ko. I was about to remove the contact lenses when suddenly I can't feel it in my eyes.
"Fucking remove it now."
"Huhu, I can't."
"Stop joking around. Inaantok na ako." Seryosong sabi niya. I was about to grab his arm when I missed it. My hand just freaking wipe the air. I gasped when the hologram thing suddenly appeared in my front.
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【ＣＨＡＲＡＣＴＥＲ ＰＲＯＦＩＬＥ】
【ＪＯＢ ＣＬＡＳＳ】
【ＧＵＩＬＤ】
【ＬＥＡＤＥＲＢＯＡＲＤＳ】
【ＧＡＭＥ ＧＵＩＤＥ】
【ＥＸＩＴ】
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"What the fuck?"
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