“AaaArRgGhh!”
Isolde’s muffled cries were drowned against the soft cushion of her pillow. The frustration was eating her alive!
All that grinding and quest hunting –– gone!
Just like that!
And she was going to start from the very beginning again.
Her advantage over the others was gone!
It was like she was going to enter the game the first time again!
It might not be unremarkable in real life because of the time difference, but it was like five days in the game.
Isolde released a heavy sigh.
She stumbled over the bed and went to one side of her wall that displayed her medals and awards. Revolving one of the frames, her walls opened to reveal a secret compartment that keeps most of her precious gun collections.
And her little baby at the moment was her family’s top-of-the-line Gambino SX4X7 shotgun, specifically for the world’s most demanding class of gun owners, including the Olympians who compete every four years for the title of the world’s best in skeet and trap shooting.
But of course, hers were custom made with her name engraved on its blue finish steel barrel.
The SX4X7 Gambino shotgun model was priced well over $400,000 due to the 12-gauge, side-by-side shotgun’s performance capabilities and the striking aesthetics created through engraving.
Far lighter than most other shotguns, Gambino’s break-action shotgun features a 66-inch barrel and weighs just over seven pounds unloaded. With blue finish steel and whiter and blue front luminous sight, the SX4X7 Gambino Shotgun was further set apart by its hand-sculpted and custom-engraved receiver and sidelocks with a rebounding-hammer firing mechanism.
After a while of cleaning her baby piece by piece, Isolde carefully placed it back in its rightful place as the centerpiece of all her collection.
She placed both hands over her hips and released a satisfied smile.
Looking at her collection, Isolde regained her calm, and she could think clearly again. It always worked whenever she was feeling frustrated and out of mood.
She then went to bed and lay on her tummy.
It was nearing eight in the morning in the real world, and Isolde immediately logged in on COVENANT’s App.
This allowed the user to be connected with her avatar and everyone else in the game. She could also check her messages, items, and status in the app.
Isolde retrieved Ren’s number from her deleted logs.
She hesitated at first but decided to send him a message in the end.
[Isolde: You’re right. Just six members couldn’t defeat the boss.
Rather, do you know the final boss? You could have told me that it’s a Thunder God with an exaggerated ATP.]
She then pressed send before she changed her mind.
A minute passed, and Isolde just stared at her phone without blinking. Her eyes were strained, and her expectation felt duller each second that there was still no reply.
. . .
. . .
Isolde released a sigh.
Did I come too strong? Should I have said sorry instead of blaming him?
Isolde bit her nail, and she was worried that she had made a blunder again.
Why wasn’t she gifted with social skills?
Maybe he was busy? She comforted herself.
Just as she was about to take a bath and refresh her mind, a notification rang on her phone.
She stumbled onto her bed once more and checked her notification in a hurry.
[Ren: If I told you the final boss, would you not have entered?]
Isolde didn’t even notice that she was smiling from ear to ear as she quickly typed her reply.
[Isolde: You’re right. I would still have entered and got wiped out in the end.]
Isolde was so sure that she would still enter to see for herself.
There was no one to blame but herself.
[Ren: I thought as much]
Isolde hesitated before she typed.
[Isolde: How did you know? Are you a beta tester? Or have you been in Thunder Cave before us?]
. . .
. . .
There was a whole minute of silence, and Isolde wanted to smack her head for asking that question.
Why did she always have to make everything complicated?
Her line of thoughts was disturbed by a notification rung on her phone, and she scrambled to open it.
[Ren: Is that important?]
She immediately typed.