Afterlife Dream

Half of us crumbled to the ground while the other half held onto each other and jumped off the ground with unsuppressed joy.

"WE DID IT!!!"

"WE DID IT!!!"

After a few failed runs, Survivors finally succeeded again.

Sadly, only a single Black Chimera Shield dropped.

Livina approached me with a smile. "Antares, take it. You earned it."

"Thanks," I said, quickly picking it up before it disappeared.

"No problem. Ten of us will leave the game after the raid anyway," ZhaoYun said while looting the remaining items. Scrolls, potions, and whatnot.

"I will sell the rest and split among those who stay."

"Eh, sure."

Even gold was no longer important. People just wanted to escape as quickly as possible.

After we were done with looting, the familiar mechanical voice was heard.

"Dear Adventurer, please choose. Would you like to receive a Life Points box that contains a random amount of Life Points (80-160 for the raid that you just completed) or a Surprise Raid Gift box?"

This time I hesitated. I already had enough Life Points and I did not plan to get other benefits. Why not try the Surprise Raid Gift box for once?

So, I did.

I picked the Surprise Raid Gift box.

The gift box glowed and spun in the air a few times before it unfolded before me and revealed a thick, leather-bound book with mysterious rune inscriptions on the cover.

I was not the only person who gaped at the book. Everyone else was also gaping at it.

"What the hell is that?" ZhaoYun asked. He stepped closer to me and squinted at the book.

"Antares, take it. Let's look at the item description together," Livina encouraged me with a pat on my arms.

I clicked on the floating book and it dissipated into a wisp of light that went into my arm. Soon after, my user interface screen lit up and a notification popped up.

"Congratulations, Adventurer! You have received the 'Inverse' Skill Book. This skill can be used to invert all the effects of your original skill. To use it, you need to cast it together with your original skill."

Invert all the effects of my original skill?

An inverted Heal would be reducing the target's HP instead of increasing it.

An inverted Divine Guard would be reducing the target's magical defense instead of...

"Awesome," Lazarus said, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "Can we test it out???"

"No," HellWitch said with a frown. "Not here. Too many glitches happen during raids these days. I don't want to have you die here and disappear like everyone else."

Lazarus' face crumpled in disappointment. He tugged at HellWitch's sleeves. "Then... can we test it out in Frozen Tundra Land? The answer was of course another "no".

"Lara, please..."

"Theo, you are going to leave this place now. I already said that many times."

Before Lazarus could say another word of objection, the game's mechanical voice again echoed through the arena.

"Dear Adventurers, congratulations on having completed the level 120 raid, 'The Fall of the Black Chimera'. Some heroes come to stay, some heroes come to leave. You now have two paths in front of you. The left door will take you out of the game, and the right door will bring you back to the game. Should you decide to exit the game, please make sure that you have no more untraded Life Points in your inventory. Untraded Life Points will be lost after you cross the door to leave the game."

The two doors appeared before us, the STAY door on the right side and the LEAVE door on the left side. The carvings on the door were as vivid as ever. For a moment, I too wondered what it would be like if I chose to leave today. Would I feel free? Or would I feel guilty?

The ten players who planned to leave looked at the blue door with eyes full of longing.

"Finally," one of them whispered.

"Yeah."

Garron started to sob like a little girl. He was not the only one. The others also started to cry. We all exchanged last hugs and final words before we all went through the doors that we picked.

"Thank you, everyone, thank you for making this raid a success."

"Good luck in the next life," I said as I shook their hands one by one with a smile.

When it was Garron's turn, he grabbed my hands and shook them vigorously. "Thank you very much, Antares. You are our good luck charm!"

I laughed nervously. "Well, I get to loot the Black Chimera Shield so..."

"Oh please, that inconsequential loot," Garron chuckled as if I just said something really funny.

The ten players lined up to leave. The blue door opened and beyond it was the same blinding white light. One by one, they went through the door and were engulfed by the light. When the last player disappeared beyond the door, it closed with a soft thud.

HellWitch shoved Lazarus in the direction of the LEAVE door.

"Go now," she told him with a sharp tone.

"But Lara..." Lazarus whined. "I really don't want to leave..."

HellWitch grabbed her brother's shoulder. "This might be our last raid in this game. Everyone is leaving. The next chance will come in months or maybe after we defeat the Dimensional Master. IF we defeat the Dimensional Master. Listen to me. This is for your own good."

Lazarus covered HellWitch's hands with his own. His gaze hardened when he looked back at his sister. "In that case... Lara, let's go together."

"No," HellWitch answered abruptly.

"Why not?" Lazarus demanded. "If you go, I go. If you stay, I stay."

"Because I don't want to go yet," HellWitch insisted. "You don't have to stay here just because I am staying."

"But Lara, I WANT to stay," Lazarus whined. "Please don't force me to go. I really don't want to go."

ZhaoYun and Livina pulled at my robe and gestured at the STAY door. Livina whispered to me urgently, "HellWitch has been trying to get Lazarus to leave for a while. This is a private matter. We should not intrude."

That was true, but... if Lazarus was truly going to leave, I kinda wanted to say goodbye. Although we did not exchange a lot of words, he was one of the players I met back in the day. When we were but low-level players in Dai City.

I thus shamelessly interrupted their conversation while ZhaoYun, Livina, and the others who stayed scurried through the STAY door, not wanting to get caught by HellWitch's wrath.

"Guys, can I just... say something?"

"No," HellWitch snapped at me with a deep frown between her brows.

"Yes please," Lazarus said right away. I could see that he was glad for any interruption that could stop the senseless argument between him and his sister.

"I just want to say that you two are dear friends to me and whoever decides to leave today, I really will hate to part without goodbyes," I sincerely said.

Lazarus gave me a weird stare. "Then, why don't you come with me today?"

"I... what???" I sputtered from the sudden suggestion.

Lazarus grabbed my hands. "Come, let's all go together. You, me, and Lara."

I turned my head to look at HellWitch who was completely flabbergasted.

"I don't want to leave alone. If you go with me, Lara will also come. Won't you, Lara???"

"Antares won't go," HellWitch mumbled quietly. "He still wants to save Aurendiria."

"It is not only Aurendiria," I corrected her. "It is BlackPuma, DragonTalon, Ingenious, ArrowRain, Hime..."

HellWitch put her hands up for me to stop. "Anyway, you are not going to leave today. For whatever reason."

HellWitch's words annoyed me greatly. Did I not already make clear to her that it was not only about Aurendiria? So what if I once had a crush on Aurendiria?? She was in love with BlackPuma and BlackPuma was in love with her!

I believed that HellWitch was being ridiculous.

Lazarus looked at me and HellWitch alternately.

"I think I know what's going on," Lazarus slowly said. "Lara, you like Antares so you don't want to leave before he does."

HellWitch's eyes turned round.

My jaw dropped.

What... what was Lazarus even talking about!

HellWitch, liking me?

HellWitch had been mean to me for weeks!

And yet I did not hear her denying the accusation.

"Theo, you..!!!" she shouted, her face already turning crimson from rage.

Lazarus ran toward the STAY door and turned the knob. He looked at me and HellWitch one last time before shouting, "I am NOT going to leave before Lara leaves and that's it!"

He left just like that, leaving me and HellWitch gaping after the closed door.

I slowly turned to look at HellWitch. "That... what he just said, it is not true, right?"

HellWitch glared at me.

"What if it is true? What will you do then?"

I stared at HellWitch, one of my closest friends. Did she just say what I thought she said?