Versatile: Alternate World



While the Argo is still traveling, I decided to log out since it's been a while since I logged out and returned to the real world. I am not worried about the others as they treat this as a vacation to Nagoya and with my parents as the guide, they would enjoy the sceneries and whatever stuff happening much easier.

Returning to the real world, he realized that it is currently raining outside, which means everyone are back home and didn't travel for today. Checking his phone, he saw a few missed calls from someone. Checking it revealed that the one who is calling him is Janus. There are no messages from him and only a few missed calls so I am not sure what is going on.

I dialed back Janus's number but...

"The number you have dialed cannot be reached. Please try again later."

This made me confused. Although the call was around 7 hours ago, I doubt he won't pick up his call and answer. After all, Janus always keeps the phone in his pocket. And I don't think he is going anywhere that will render the signal on his phone useless. I dialed it once more but it just didn't get connected at all so after trying and trying, I gave up and decided to check on the others.

As I went down the stairs, I only saw the others currently playing in the console they brought with them. It seems they are having fun playing console games while raining. To my surprise, even the elves are engaging in the game and I didn't expect them to play games right now. Perhaps everything is done?

"Oh, hey there, Manato. Looks like you are finally done with what you are doing huh?" Riko was the first to notice me going down the staircase. Currently, she is watching the game while eating chips with Rika.

"Come here, Manato! These guys are pretty good at the game, I can't believe they just started learning it!" Rika was excited as she points out the television where the game was currently showing. They are currently playing Tekk*n.

"KO!"

I heard the announcer in the game declare the end of the match and Alena sulked as she lost the game while Labo grinned with pride after the defeat of her wife. Then, Alena cracked her knuckles and grab the controller once more before leaning a bit with fire in her eyes.

"One more round."

I sat down to the vacant spot on the sofa and grab one pack of chips lying on the table and opened it up.

"You guys didn't go into the Alternate World?"

"Nah, we are a bit tired from all the vacations we have done and we just wanted to relax for a bit instead of going there. Besides, we have decided to postpone it until we are actually there," Riko answered while chewing the chips she had just eaten.

"Is that so? Where's Mom and Dad?" I asked.

"Ah, they told us that they would be back later as they needed to prepare some stuff before we leave. You know, the "plan"? They needed to take care of the business to keep on running while they are gone for a while, they said and I think they might use the excuse of "getting a vacation with my wife" to get away from that," Riko explained.

That's good enough. That way, once we return, they can continue their job for later. We don't know how long we will be going to remain in Alternate World but I can easily assume that it will take a long time, perhaps a few years even.

"By the way, did Janus call you guys?" I asked. I needed to know whether he contacted them and learn why he tried to make some calls. He knows everyone's contact info so there is a possibility he contacted them.

"Janus? Nope. My phone has been silent since this morning. I check it multiple times and I didn't receive any," Riko frowned as she pulled out her phone from her pocket and revealed that she didn't have any calls since earlier.

"I didn't receive any messages from him either, nor a call present as well. Here, take a look at my phone and check," Rika handed me her phone and like she just said, there are no signs that Janus has called.

"What's the problem? Why you suddenly asked that all of a sudden?" Riko asked.

"Well, when I returned to the real world, I checked my phone and received dozens of calls from him a few hours ago. I tried calling him on the phone but he cannot be contacted at all," I explained.

"Did you call the siblings? They are still at home so they might know whether Janus returned home." Rika suggested.

"Ah, good idea," I nodded before dialing the number of Akira. A few rings later, the other line picked up.

"Hello? Big bro?" Akira's voice registered in my ears.

"Ah, is this you, Akira? How are you guys there? Is everything alright?"

"No worries, Big bro. Everything is fine and dandy here. Are you still not coming back just yet?" he asked.

"Soon enough but not yet today. But anyway, we have a different question this time."

"A question? Sure go ahead and ask away," Akira listened.

"Did Janus go back there already?"

"Big brother Janus? Oh, he came back last night but he was not here today. He left early in the morning and seems to be in a rush. I was even not sure why he looked like he was on the edge. I wanted to ask but he was always busy and so I didn't get to know the reason."

"I see. Then, call me if he comes back, yeah? Tell him it was me calling."

"Okay, sure."

"Be careful while we are still here, alright? We will be back soon."

"Okay!"

After that, the call ended.

"So, is he there?" Riko asked.

"Nope. Akira said he left early in the morning. He was there last night."

"It's getting weird, don't you think so, Manato? He is barely home nowadays and I don't think that he needed so much overtime in his work. I don't know what is happening but he didn't say anything," Riko complained.

"You also noticed that, Riko? He started acting strange so I don't even know what is happening either. He was acting suspiciously and yet I don't have an inkling either on what he is doing," Rika agreed.

"Let me try calling him. Perhaps he will talk? Isn't he the only one we have yet told the plan, right?"

"Yeah. With him always out of the house and barely in the Alternate World, I don't have chances to even talk properly with him nowadays," I answered.

Riko dialed his number. Just like the result on mine, the call didn't connect. Riko continued dialing in case one of those calls connects. But nothing has connected just yet and all ended up without any connection. After a few more tries, she stopped doing it after failing.

"I don't understand. Is he just in a place where the signal cannot reach him? Or did he turn off his phone? He didn't even contact or talk to us at all which makes this even weirder. Janus is quite a talkative person and whenever he has problems, he never hides it from us and we are the first people to even know," Riko shook her head and rubbed her temple.

"There must be something currently happening to Janus. There is no way he is just like this without any reason. Also, I think he is just hiding his problems from you guys because he didn't want to trouble the two of you or any of us," Rika tried to calm Riko down.

"No way. Friends help each other and making secrets like this just makes us doubt him further."

"But there's nothing we can do. We don't know where he is right now and his phone cannot be contacted. The only thing we can do is wait. Akira has already informed us that if Janus comes back while we have yet returned, he will be calling us and let us talk to him. We shouldn't stress ourselves too much. Who knows, maybe we don't need to be this sensitive," I suggested. 

"Manato is right, Riko. Just making a fuss over it will just be troublesome for us. We should be focusing on what to do next."

As we continue to discuss, Rennata approached us.

"Are you guys done discussing stuff now?" she asked.

"Oh, please speak. What's going on?" I looked at her and she smiled.

"I was meant to talk to this the moment you came down to the stairs but because I was busy watching the game, I got distracted. Anyways, I can proudly say that we have completed the task now. We will now be able to perform our plan."

I was surprised but also excited. Looks like it's time.

"We should start preparing then."

End of Arc 10