Evening Game
Chapter 5

Ethan spent most of his time in school either studying or doing his homework, so that he didn’t need to do it back home.

“Come on, Pinky, spend some time with your friends for once.”

Mason slammed the table, but true to his rule, he didn’t reply. He promised himself that no matter how bad the beating, he wouldn’t spare anyone who called him that a thought. It was the one thing he didn’t want to relent to.

“Ethan.”

Mason finally called his name, giving up for now.

“What is it?”

Ethan asked, his spoon in his hand. He had woken up earlier today and cooked his family fried rice.

“Cafeteria?”

Mason asked, not bothering to hide the irritation in his voice. Ethan tapped the pen three times, bringing Mason’s attention to the homework he was working on.

“They’re called homework, HOME. WORK.”

“A task is a task.”

“Fine, whatever. Suit yourself. Don’t say I didn’t invite you.”

Mason turned around and stormed off, heading for his friends who waited for him at the door. Ethan continued his work, unbothered.

“Why did you reject him?”

Chione asked from beside him, her buddies around her table. Her two friends, one sitting in front of her and the other seated on the left side of Chione’s table, right next to Ethan, all looked at him, as if expecting an answer.

“I want to get this done.”

“Can’t you do it some other time?”

“No.”

He had promised to help her, after all. This caring, soft girl sitting next to him felt like an entirely different person to ‘that’ Chione, but he didn’t want to say anything, not in front of her friends. He also had some other reason he didn’t want to go with Mason.

They’re pitying me.

And he didn’t like it, not one bit. He didn’t want to be invited just because he was a loner, just because he was always left alone. He would rather be friendless compared to being friends with someone like him, out of pity no less.

Chione shrugged and returned her attention to her friends. She picked up her workbook and showed them. Ethan wondered if she was teaching them again as he brought his attention back to his homework and continued scribbling through the paper.

“Ah, sorry, I have a promise later tonight.”

Chione said rather suddenly. Ethan glanced her way, trying to see the expression she wore. She waved her palm, her face showing an apologetic smile.

“Ah, you’re no fun. You’ve been really busy lately.”

Calista, the one sitting in front of her, uttered.

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

Tonight…

It answered one of the biggest questions Ethan had in his mind. Ethan decided to concentrate on his homework so that he could prepare himself for tonight.

The second he returned to his empty house, he immediately rushed to finish all his homework. He ate dinner alone before heading into his room. He took his headpiece onto his head and started the application.

Ethan woke up under the brown, wooden ceiling of his medieval home. This ceiling didn’t have any light, not that it needed them, nor did lightbulbs exist in the era this region was based upon.

He checked the time and headed out. He was fifteen minutes early by the time he left his home, but decided that he would just wait for her in the guild. As he walked, he thought of the things he could do while he waited. He considered visiting the guild’s second floor, checking out the various services the guild provided. To Ethan’s surprise, his eyes caught the sight of her the second he entered the guild. She stood on the left side, leaning back on the wall, looking at the players lining up in front of the receptionists.

She turned her head his way.

“You really like that cloak, don’t you?”

“Says the girl with the beginner clothes.”

Ethan said while pulling his cloak lower, covering half of his face.

“I don’t have money to buy any.”

“What happened to the starting cash?”

“I’m saving it up.”

“Oh.”

Ethan then looked at the receptionist.

“You grabbed a quest?”

Chione shook her head.

“I had just arrived.”

Ethan then made his way to an empty receptionist.

“Welcome to the guild. Can I help you?”

Ethan selected the quest screen and searched for missions located in the Northern Forest, which had easier and lower-level monsters. For this, he could afford getting all high-level quests.

“Thank you for your patronage.”

Ethan moved out of the way and let Chione choose. The guild receptionist repeated his words, his voice and tone only slightly different.

“Which one?”

Chione asked. Her hands tapped a space beside her screen, and an invitation for a party appeared. Ethan accepted, and after a few seconds, he could see Chione’s mission selection before him.

“You know about parties?”

“Studied a bit. So, which one?”

Ethan felt slightly surprised that Chione was the one to add him to a party. Screen sharing didn’t require the two to be linked like that, and he didn’t even think about adding her in the first place. He wanted to ask, but then he remembered that he was there as FireRock, and FireRock could care less about things like these.

Ethan’s eyes traveled to the top left section, where he could see his in-game name along with Chione’s in-game name under his. FireRock786 along with ChioneAyadi. It was Chione’s full name, and seeing it up there filled him with concern. FireRock didn’t know who she was, however, and he couldn’t say anything about it.

He then brought his attention back to the mission list. The game didn’t differentiate from level, and all players were offered the same. Since she was with him, he should be able to give her some assistance in completing them.

“The medium-level ones.”

Despite being able to see Chione’s screen share appearing right in front of him, he opted to reach his hand out and pointed toward three different missions on Chione’s own screen, the one that appeared in front of Chione’s face, and Chione accepted.

“Thank you for your patronage.”

The receptionist let out a smile. Ethan smiled back and bowed his head, despite half of his face being covered by his cloak, and they made their way out of the guild. The Northern Forest was located closer to the town, only ten minutes away.

It could be quicker had Ethan been alone, his agility allowing him to travel faster, but that would mean leaving Chione behind. By the time they left the gates, Ethan pulled back his cloak, exposing his in-game face to the elements. A cool breeze blew over them, shaking their clothes.

“Why didn’t you use that cloak outside?”

“I like the atmosphere here.”

The soft windy breeze, the smell of spring plains, and the emptiness of the roads, it felt refreshing. The world beyond the gates, beyond the dull, crowded, and uninspiring town that he lived in, it all felt like an entirely different world.

He couldn’t really blame it on the town’s design, though, but the atmosphere there just didn’t suit him. If he could, he would rather get a trailer and park somewhere out in the wilderness. It was unfortunate that Aevimedii, the country Adastra was a part of, banned all forms of technology, including cars and trailer homes.

Ethan somehow felt Chione’s eyes on him, and he looked back to confirm whether or not that had been the case. To his surprise, he was correct.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Chione shook her head from side to side, her brown hair swinging left and right as she moved. It looked rather cute.

Ethan brought his eyes back on the road, the Northern Forest not far ahead of them. He noticed an NPC standing on the side of the road, looking rather uneasy. Ethan approached the NPC, intending on teaching Chione about how to accept requests outside the guild. The NPC looked their way, and for a second their eyes connected.

She then came running toward him.

“Sir, I need your help!”

She called. She wore a light blue t-shirt with black joggers, her height about the same as Chione’s. On her head was long, pink hair, tied in a ponytail. Ethan looked back at Chione as the NPC approached.

“I’ll teach you how to accept requests outside the guild.”

“I know how to.”

“So should we skip-”

From that distance, it should be impossible for her to listen to their conversation, but for some reason, the NPC stopped dead in her tracks. For a moment, Ethan thought he was seeing things when he saw the NPCs eyes light up, but he didn’t expect the word that came from her widely grinning mouth.

“Chione!”