Fantasy Realm – Infinite Worlds Adventure-Chapter 289: Miracles and Disasters

Alex, Tereza, Menchi, and Jewel enter the Realm.

Before doing anything else, Alex checks his messages and sees that he has two unread notifications.

“1337! Display my unread messages!” Alex orders.

[Here is your first unread message, Host.]

[Stephen:

Hey Alex, where are you?! I thought we were going to meet up, but I’ve been waiting for nearly two weeks! This last mission was easier than I thought, huh? I breezed through it. All I had to do was find the seven Dragon Balls! Goku helped me—just because I asked him—and carried me through; I barely did anything. That was a lot of fun! Anyway, message me when you’re back.]

“...”

“Really?! Did that guy lie to me about his stats? His LUK stat seems way higher than mine!” Alex blurts out.

Good old Stephen actually made it. Could he be the final boss, disguised as a casual dude? I lied to him about my stats… maybe he did the same. Nah… my thoughts are running wild. This isn’t a damn manga, movie, or game. Whatever—forget it for now.

Alex quickly replies and invites him to meet up in a few days.

“That’s all fine and interesting, but that’s not the message you were hoping for, huh?” Tereza urges, smirking. “Read the next one, we want to know what Rishi was thinking!!”

“Fine… 1337, give me the next message! Also, remind me when I have unread messages! I could’ve seen this earlier. Is this one old too?” Alex asks, mildly annoyed.

[This system can only answer questions the Host asks. It is not my function to remind the Host of things he should be doing.]

Alex sighs, knowing full well that 1337 is right.

Despite saying it’s not allowed to help like that, 1337 has stretched the rules for me before. I shouldn’t be complaining—kinda ungrateful, actually.

“Sorry about that, 1337. My mistake. Anyway, is this message old?”

[Host has received this message exactly 0 hours, 46 minutes, and 21 seconds ago.]

So it’s new…

[This message was sent with an alias—you can contact the sender and respond, but you won’t know their true identity.]

[The Matron:

Welcome back to the Realm, Alex Kerber. I hope you and your two friends are feeling all right. I’d like to invite you three to a little chat. I’d appreciate it if you could explain to me why my two precious friends, who were planning to join my guild, are no longer alive.

Depending on your answer, I fear we might have a slight problem on our hands—but surely you’ll provide me with a satisfying explanation, right?

The contracts that prevent lying are all prepared. Please visit me within 24 hours, or I’ll have to assume that you were the cause of their demise. You can find me at our guild house.

If you haven’t been told our name yet, we’re called The Coven. You’d do well to remember that.]

“...”

“...”

“...”

“She sounds like a reasonable person,” Tereza snickers.

“Doesn’t sound too bad. Maybe we can solve this without too much trouble. At least she’s giving you the option to explain yourself,” Menchi adds. “From what you told me, it really wasn’t your fault.”

“Are you two out of your minds? This kind of woman is the worst—I just know it. This is, without a doubt, a total lunatic. Just look at the name of their damn guild. The Coven. And she calls herself The Matron. They are idiots who like to imitate Witches. We are screwed. We can’t even lie. If we tell the truth, she’s absolutely going to twist it and blame us—which, to be fair, is at least partly true,” Alex groans.

Tereza nods solemnly. “I fear you’re right this time, Alex. This isn’t looking pretty.” She immediately begins writing a message through the system. “I’m informing Rishi right away.”

“Rishi will probably respond with: ‘Good for us. More weaklings targeting us means more loot,’” Alex says dryly, clearly not holding out much hope for a diplomatic resolution.

“Maybe we can prepare some controlled questions,” he suggests. “Ones that let us avoid telling the whole truth. We didn’t kill them, and we didn’t directly cause their deaths. So technically, the truth is mostly on our side.”

There’s a hint of desperation in his voice.

Menchi puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “No need to worry just yet. Let’s wait for Rishi to return before we deal with this. You had business in the Realm, right? One thing at a time.”

Alex offers a dry smile and turns to Menchi. “You’re right… Panicking isn’t going to help. Thanks, Menchi. Perhaps we can still turn this around. We could maybe buy their forgiveness, even if it’s expensive. I just want to avoid getting into conflict with an entire guild when we are more or less alone and brand new in the Main Realm.”

“1337! The rules of the Realm forbid targeting the family or players in the real world, right?” Alex asks his system.

[Family, friends, and loved ones may not be targeted—neither directly by players nor by proxy, nor through any other indirect means. The Host has the Realm’s assurance on this, which is reliable. Players may also not be targeted in the real world. However, there are various system-sanctioned means to harm players through official methods.]

“Fuck me,” Alex mutters. “What means?! Like… forced duels or something?”

[This system is not permitted to disclose further details. Host may wish to consult more experienced players.]

“…Menchi, maybe you have to ask that Melissa girl we met earlier,” Alex says reluctantly. “She liked you… might as well ask her.”

“I’d rather not. I hate that type… but fine. I’ll do it,” Menchi grumbles.

Princess Jewel will defend her Soulmate and her friends with her life!

Thank you, Jewel. We’re depending on you. But… we made that decision during the last mission. Now it’s our turn to live with the consequences.

“Let’s go, then!” Alex says, trying to refocus. “Who knows how much time we have. Let’s do what we can now. First stop: the market. After that, I’ll spend my stat points and upgrade my skills, I even have one more skill slot now that I’m lvl 5! Item rank upgrading comes last.”

The group, no longer in the mood for lighthearted exploration, leaves Alex’s room and makes their way toward the stairs—planning to descend the tower.

But as they reach the staircase, they’re greeted by an odd sight: two female players standing directly in front of the stairs, arms crossed. Both are cloaked, their faces mostly hidden beneath their hoods. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

“…”

I have this feeling. You know the one. This is so damn suspicious.

Princess Jewel doesn’t understand. What does Soulmate mean? Are these two peasants somehow important?

“Good day to you, fellow players. The Coven greets you,” one of the hooded women says politely.

Soulmate knew, Soulmate is so smart!

“...”

“We’re looking for two male and one female player who recently arrived in the Realm,” the other continues. “Since all players have to leave their rooms eventually—unless they’ve purchased teleporters, which I doubt newbies like you would know about—they’ll have to use these stairs. That’s why we’re waiting here. May we ask your names?”

Alex flashes a smile. “Hello there! Always good to make new friends. I’m Robin Müller, and these are my friends Susi and Nicole. We’d love to get to know you a little better, always happy to make new acquaintances.”

“You’re such an approachable and nice man… Robin, was it?” the woman replies sweetly. “I’d love to get to know you better… Robin. Or should I just take the next step in this relationship and call you Alex? A foolish attempt at deception—especially with such a unique follower walking beside you. You might as well wear a name tag.”

Alex’s friendly expression distorts slightly, clearly annoyed.

“Oh my, you look displeased,” the woman continues in a mock-concerned tone. “ Aren’t you happy that two nice and friendly women know about you? We know quite a lot about you. Please don’t look so sad… now I feel bad. How could I cheer you up? Do you want to stuff that deadly grenade of yours into my mouth to calm down? I heard you like using it for all your problems. I’d wonder if it will work this time. Anyway, would that make you feel better?”

“I’d like to stuff something else into your mouth…” Alex growls, unable to hold back.

“Oh my, how vile!” she exclaims, looking dramatically offended. “See, young sister, this is why we don’t let lowly, disgusting men into our sacred Coven.”

“We have one order,” she says, suddenly serious. “Check your messages. The excuse that you didn’t notice it won’t work. Goodbye for now, Mr. Kerber. We’ll be expecting you… very soon.”

With that, both women turn and begin walking away.

“That one was smooth, Alex,” Tereza says with a laugh, prompting both cloaked figures to briefly glance back with curious expressions before continuing on.

“It was a pretty weak comeback,” Menchi adds with a shrug, “but I’ll give it a ‘decent’ as it was at least fitting.”

“Shit! Your mediocre compliments won’t make me feel better! I know it was a bad comeback—but the dog tag made me do it…”

“Suuure,” both girls say at the same time.

Jewel loves it when her Soulmate struggles to come up with desperate excuses. ❤️

Not good…

Alex sighs—loudly—something he’s been doing more and more often lately.

“This is not the time to fool around. Let’s just go! What a shit day!”