[BONUS]

Forced to log out from the game, Ren shot out from the pod and picked up his phone to call Leonel, so they could meet up in his unit to talk about what happened.

Ren found it hard to believe that there would be players who could kill Isolde, much less Leonel.

He needed to know what happened, fast.

Eventually, Leonel, Ren, and Evie met up in Ren's place.

"Agh . . . what happened, huh . . ." Leonel started, scratching his head. "To be honest, I don't really remember."

Ren wanted to smack his head. Maybe that would shake his brain a little.

Didn't he know that this was important?

"Did you meet Dracula?" asked Evie. "Or a mini-boss?"

Ren was really hoping for him to say yes.

Leonel thought for a moment before he shook his head. "No. It was a player."

Leonel didn't think much about it. His reasoning was that he had 500 ATP. If he had that kind of ATP, then there was bound to be someone who had the same ATP as well.

However, Ren's face went pale.

If even Leonel was killed, then it only meant that there was someone who had an ATP higher than Leonel that was roaming around in the game without him knowing about it.

No matter how hard Ren thought, he couldn't wrap his head on how that player could possibly reach that high amount of ATP in just six months.

"Who is it?" he asked with urgency.

"Is it Joker from Black Lion again?" Evie further questioned.

Ren was thinking of that man as well. Whenever there was an anomaly, Joker was always at the center of it.

When Leonel shook his head, Evie knew that Ren held his breath, for she heard them ceased.

"Who is it then?" Evie asked Leonel when Ren went quiet.

"Let me explain what happened from the very beginning," said Leonel, "So Isolde and I are just walking along this cemetery path, minding our own business. Until eventually, we had to fight a few monsters here and there.

"All was proceeding according to plan when out of the blue. We stumbled upon players. Well, we were bound to meet them eventually, but there's this group. I think their name is . . . err . . . Sleeping Dragon?"

"What?!" Ren shot to his feet, and this got Evie and Leonel looking at him with curious and worried expressions.

Ren's face was as serious as his voice when he spoke, "Continue."

". . ." Leonel didn't know what was going on and why Ren was acting like the world was doomed. Still, he continued like the latter asked.

"Uhm . . . Then this group fought us all of a sudden. Without rhyme or reason, they attacked us. So Isolde and I retaliated, but the next things that happened made us wonder about them until now."

"And what is it?" both Ren and Evie asked at the same time.

Leonel's face turned serious. He took a deep breath and told them, "It's like . . . they knew where we're going to aim and what moves we're going to make . . . and before we know it . . . we're dead."

. . .

. . .

Silence hung thick in the room, and the serious faces of the three were in deep thought. It was that scene when Helen came into the living room to serve them snacks.

"You three. There's still school tomorrow. Don't sleep late, okay?"

And without reading the mood, Helen went back to the kitchen and fixed something again.

It was only then that Evie seemed to have woken up from the game.

She gasped when she realized that she should be helping Aunt Helen with the snacks!

Evie shot to her feet and trotted to the kitchen. She decided to take a break from thinking about the game for now and headed to the kitchen to help with work. She didn't want to be a freeloader and definitely didn't want Ren's parents to see her in a bad light.

Besides, she felt like she wouldn't have anything to contribute to their discussion, so it would be best to fix something for them to eat and drink and clean the waste and plate in the kitchen after.

Back to Ren and Leonel, the former was awfully quiet, while Leonel didn't care anymore. Once he said his piece, he munched on the chicken sandwich that Helen served them.

Leonel was so hungry after all that terror and horror. He alone finished everything on the table.

Ren was thinking hard about what Leonel said and asked his best friend. "Leo, did you see anyone in Sleeping Dragon that is suspicious?"

"Suspicious?" Leonel scratched his head. "It was foggy there, so I can't really remember their faces."

". . ." With the lack of evidence and details of what exactly transpired, Ren couldn't piece a conclusion.

In the end, he gave up since the pounding in his head also intensified. It was getting late too, and everyone was exhausted from the horror they had experienced at the event.

It was time to rest their mind and body.

Eventually, Leonel went home as well, but not after he had eaten his fill.

Ren had a quick jog outside to clear his mind and went back to Evie right after. He found that the dirty dishes in the living room were all cleaned up, the pillows tidied, and the floor mopped.

Ren then went to the kitchen and found Evie washing the plates. His mother had probably gone to bed.

Evie felt Ren's presence and found her man right beside her, silently drying the glass and plates with a clean towel.

Evie found that Ren's shirt was off, and his pair of sweatpants were pulled up to his knees. He looked like he had been working out or something because he was covered in sweat, and his muscles were flexed.

"Did you go for a jog or something?" Evie asked.

"Yeah. Just clearing my mind."

There was a short silence before Evie asked, "Is something bothering you?"

". . ."

"Sleeping Dragon? Do you know them?" she added at Ren's silence.

( . . . continuation on NOTES)