Last Shelter Online

Hiro had expected it.

His intuition was very strong. The figure flying in the sky near him was Yuujin with his terrifying disastrous magic. Everything happened so fast, and he still had to tightly hold on to something so he wouldn't be pulled into the tornado his brother created.

For a few seconds, Hiro completely forgot to breathe when he witnessed Yuujin's confession in front of the semi-transparent screen that was now floating in front of him.

Even Yuujin admitted that he was dead.

'A dead player? What does that mean?'

Hiro was about to shout out the question in his mind when a figure suddenly flew toward him, causing him to roll down the stairs outside the building.

Thud! Thud!

"Ouch."

Before he could react any more, a hand quickly moved to cover his mouth. It felt very soft and was even very slightly… fragrant?

'A girl?'

He turned his head a little to check who it was, and…

"Libe!?" Hiro's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Ssshhh!"

He truly didn't expect the girl's identity. Liberty appeared out of nowhere, pushed him until he rolled down, and covered his mouth while locking his body to the corner of the wall.

Hiro froze in place. He blinked several times to make sure that the person who just pushed him down was Liberty, and…

His eyes weren't deceiving him. It was indeed Liberty.

"Look!" the girl whispered and pointed at the spot where Hiro was previously watching his brother in the sky from.

Seven black-robed people he recognized were now occupying the place. Although it wasn't very apparent, Hiro could see that they were arguing about something.

After just several seconds, they finally leaped away.

Hiro gulped. Even though he wasn't scared of going against them, ambushes were still one of the worst things to deal with.

He probably wouldn't have been able to even dodge had Liberty not rescued him.

"Libe?"

Hiro didn't know what to prioritize, shouting toward his brother who was finally in front of him, or interrogating Liberty about how she suddenly appeared and saved him as if she had been watching him since the beginning.

"You… come with me." Hiro grabbed Liberty's left hand and forcefully pulled her back to the upper floor of the building.

This time, he could do both.

"Yuujin!!" Hiro shouted so loudly that his throat trembled. His action even surprised Liberty and caused her to reflexively cover her ears.

His voice managed to split the tornado's loud rumbling and reach the person it was meant for.

While everyone else was still filled with panic, confusion, and joy seeing their idol's indirect return, Yuujin turned his head to look for the person who was so bold to call him directly like that.

When he saw the person who just called him from the roof of a tall and sturdy building, Yuujin tilted his head.

"Come on, Yuujin! What happened to you!? Are you really the Yuujin I know!?" Hiro shouted all his emotions out.

But…

Instead of giving him an answer, Yuujin simply snapped his fingers.

The frenzied rumbling from the tornado instantly disappeared without a trace in the sky.

"Hiro."

After saying the word nobody but himself could hear, Yuujin vanished.

With his departure, the sky slowly became bright again like the sky after the rain. The semi-transparent screen that appeared to warn and broadcast Yuujin's message live in front of hundreds of thousands of players disappeared at that very moment, and the logout button once again worked.

The storm was over.

…

This time, WynterRain's appearance in-game was believed by everyone on the server. Those who were happy, those who were afraid, and those who were in between immediately spread the news of WynterRain's return to the whole world.

Those who logged out raced to post the news update about WynterRain's appearance on all their social media platforms, and those who decided to stay in the game had filled the world chat with a full discussion of WynterRain.

Thus, news about WynterRain's appearance in LSO spread worldwide in a matter of seconds. News portals all over the country even included it as a breaking news special with the topic:

`The return of the legend, coming back as a powerful dead player in Last Shelter Online.'

WynterRain's appearance this time shook the world for bringing the name Last Shelter Online, which was now in the spotlight for its skyrocketing cryptocurrency price.

"Is this a marketing strategy from Ninecent?"

Various theories continued to pop up. A theory rejected the reality that Yuujin was dead and believed his body was hidden somewhere so he would focus on playing Last Shelter Online and appear at the moment arranged by the game developers.

Another theory believed that this WynterRain was a fake controlled by someone pretending to be Yamaguchi Yuujin, and the theory about the craziest marketing strategy by a game company even caused the FBI to get involved in investigations.

Even though a lot of theories were quickly spread without knowing who first brought them up, most VRMMORPG players in the world were thrilled with the news of their idol's return.

The sales request for Last Shelter Online's VR helmets drastically increased minutes after the news world was filled with the information about the legend's return, and the game's marketing department was flooded with calls offering sponsors and cooperation.

Meanwhile, the investigators from the FBI were disoriented by all the contradicting information.

"There's no mistake. This is definitely a marketing strategy used to increase Last Shelter Online's sales."

…

Meanwhile, in the game that became the topic of conversation all over the world.

Hiro stared at the two beautiful ocean blue eyes he missed. He changed his hands' position to hold Liberty's soft and warm hands, the same feeling he last remembered when he did it.

"Libe."

He still couldn't believe that she was truly standing in front of him, looking into his eyes with glistening eyes.

The girl didn't say a word. Who knew what was in her mind, but Hiro couldn't read it.

"Hi!" Hiro really didn't know what to say. He felt as if his tongue shrank, and his mind went blank.

"Hi!" Liberty replied with the same greeting. It was like the two were strangers that just happened to meet.

In his heart, Hiro wished that Liberty's return also came with the memories she lost.

"Libe, do you remember me? What's my name? You remember me, right!?"

Hiro reflexively pulled her and hugged her tight.

Liberty stiffened for a moment. She returned the hug, but her hands were slightly shaking as she began to sob.

"I, I'm sorry."