Afterlife Dream

"It is a suicide mission, to put it bluntly."

Cecilia laughed nervously. I stared at HellWitch.

"We will be careful. It is just to investigate," I insisted.

HellWitch folded her arms before her chest and pinned me with a glare.

"Then what if you wake up a sleeping dragon? There might be something in there that will drag you into nothingness."

"We will escape when that happens. There are hundreds of portals to escape into."

HellWitch scoffed.

"Antares, you are overestimating yourself."

HellWitch's tone was hateful. I disliked it. Clenching my fingers into fists, I said through gritted teeth, "No one is asking you to come. I am asking and not forcing, Cecilia."

HellWitch looked away from me with a "Humph" and continued dedicating herself to drinking her grape juice.

I gave Cecilia a look full of expectations. "What do you think, Cecil? Do you want to go?"

"Well... rather than that, do you remember that we once had an agreement with Dominion to go visit Lava County together?"

I remembered. That was before we lost thirty people in one go. Finding Suzuran and the others was still the main focus at that time.

"Yeah but... I assume it is off the table now? HinoKun is also gone."

Cecilia shook her head.

"SakuraChan is still here. HinoKun gave her all his Angel Feathers before he went to Dimensional Sphere. She has a pair of Angel Wings now."

Oh.

"Assuming that the missing players all land in the same place... Antares, are you not interested to check it out?"

Cecilia was not wrong. The crumbling Lava County and Summer Rainforest might just be our entrance gates to the place where the missing players were kept. Also, we have been there. Those two places could be considered safer alternatives to the bottom pit of the universe.

"Okay," I agreed. "When shall we go?"

"Why don't I talk to SakuraChan first... Take a seat, Antares..."

I sat awkwardly next to HellWitch. Cecilia shot me a glance, then she walked away, leaving me and HellWitch alone.

I cleared my throat and attempted to have a friendly conversation with HellWitch.

"Ahem... HellWitch, what have you been up to?"

As soon as the question left my lips, I felt awkward. Just what could we all have been up to, in light of the situation?

HellWitch propped her chin up with a hand as she gave me a haughty look.

"The Survivors contacted me, wondering if I would be interested to join their guild, and also their raids."

I furrowed my brows.

It was not my place to criticize anyone. Everyone was given the freedom to choose what to do.

"Oh. What are you going to do?"

"I refused to join their guild, but I did help out with their raids."

"..."

"..."

"So... how many people have left Afterlife Dream these days?"

"A lot. I watched all of them depart to their new life with a sense of relief. At this point, no one cares about the end-game equipment anymore. People just want to get out of the game."

"And what about you?" I asked. "Why are you still here? Don't tell me that you still want to gather more Life Points."

The event was over. HellWitch and Lazarus must have converted every single Life Point that they earned during the event into Lucky Stars. They had no interest in the life benefits on the list, so what were they collecting more Life Points for?

"Maybe I am staying for the same reason you do," HellWitch slowly muttered.

I stared at HellWitch in amazement. She and Lazarus did everything together and kept a respectable distance from everyone else. HellWitch and I knew each other from way back, and I considered us good friends but never the best of friends.

To my knowledge, HellWitch was not close to anyone. Sure, maybe she hung out with other girls in the guild occasionally, but she was not one who fostered deep and lasting friendships with anyone.

HellWitch squirmed in her seat, clearly very uncomfortable with me gaping at her.

"What?" she snapped at me. "Am I not allowed to stay???"

"You are. I am just very surprised."

Hurt flashed across HellWitch's eyes. I scratched my head in desperation.

These days I really did not know how to talk to her. We used to be good at communicating with each other. The HellWitch that I know was straightforward and reliable. And reasonable.

The HellWitch that stood before me was irritable, not unlike a ticking time bomb. The least aggression could set her off.

"Okayyy. I talked to SakuraChan," Cecilia announced when she came back a while later.

"How about this afternoon? She will come to Paradise Island so we can head over to Lava County together."

"Oh. Sure."

"Can I come as well?" HellWitch asked all of a sudden.

I widened my eyes in surprise. I did not think that it was a good idea. Thankfully I did not have to be the one who told her that. She might rip my head off in the process.

Cecilia put her hand on top of HellWitch's and squeezed it.

"Hon, I don't think you should go. You will be the only one without a pair of Angel Wings. What if something happens to you and you cannot escape?"

HellWitch gave Cecilia a pleading look.

"Please let me come with you."

Behind HellWitch, I too gave Cecilia a pleading look. Only wordless.

'Please don't let her come,' is what I hope my puppy eyes conveyed.

Cecilia's eyes darted between the two of us. She deliberated for a while and finally decided.

"Fine, you can come with us. But you have to be careful and you have to run away as soon as there is any imminent danger!"

"Yay!"

HellWitch hugged Cecilia like a little girl who was allowed to come to Disneyland.

My puppy eyes turned into scowling puppy eyes. Cecilia gave me a look that literally translated to "What do you expect me to say? Why don't you say something if you dare!"

I had no other choice.

SakuraChan was also surprised to see HellWitch there. She frowned and commented, "Isn't it too dangerous for HellWitch to come with us? What if something happens?"

HellWitch smoothly answered, "Four people are better than three. Don't worry you guys, I can take good care of myself."

SakuraChan threw me and Cecilia confused looks, but she eventually agreed to take HellWitch with us.

The question was where to go.

"Lava County or Summer Rainforest?"

"If we go to Lava County, the danger of being drowned in a lake of lava is imminent," I told everyone. "It is going to hurt."

"On the other side, we don't know what is going to happen at Summer Rainforest," Cecilia said thoughtfully. "Which one do you all prefer? Certain danger or uncertainty?"

We unanimously picked Summer Rainforest. I was glad to know that no one needed persuading to avoid going to a map that might be submerged in a lake of lava by now.

In order to reach the Summer Rainforest, we had to take the Giant Macaw. When we arrived at the station, we had to wait a while but eventually the giant bird arrived.

"Looks like a normal trip," Cecilia remarked. She inspected the basket as soon as she entered. "I don't see any abnormalities."

"What do you expect?" HellWitch asked with a frown.

"I don't know. A stray claw or a moving finger."

"..."

"..."

"I like watching horror movies, hehehe..."

"Dear Passengers, please quickly board the basket. We shall depart in one minute..."

There were naturally no other people but the four of us. Everyone knew to avoid the raid maps after the raids had been deactivated.

The Giant Macaw took off soon after, and we were carried across the sky to our destination.

The Summer Rainforest map was basically a rainforest. Tall trees with huge trunks grew wildly in random order. Vines snaked around the branches and trunks, looking a lot like resting snakes. The only empty area was the landing port for the Giant Macaw. From above, it looked like a light green patch that was surrounded by a wide expanse of dark green color.

The trip was supposed to take around 15 minutes. As the girls sat together and chatted, I remained standing and leaned against the basket while watching the beautiful greenery pass beneath the basket like water.

I first noticed something was wrong when the Giant Macaw started to fly in circles. It was not as apparent at first, but then the circles became smaller and smaller that even the chatting girls noticed that something was amiss.

"Antares, what's wrong?"

"It has been more than 15 minutes, right?"

"I cannot even see the landing patch..."

I had not even gotten the opportunity to answer before the bottom of the basket opened up without a single warning.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The girls screamed in terror.

While being dumped like trash, I desperately tried to hold on to the basket. My fingers scratched at the wall to no avail. I was going to hit the trees at high speed.

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