Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 58 - 57 - The Soul

In truth, he was unsure about her worry.

Logically, this was just a game, right? Nothing in a game would affect the real world.

Unless...

His blood suddenly ran cold.

Unless she already knows Masteria was real. However, how could that possibly be the case?

There would be no way of knowing Masteria was real, unless somehow, they were related to Masteria in some way. For example, if she was an agent of the Dark One...

He quickly shook his head. He wouldn’t ignore the possibility, but he wouldn’t cast too much suspicion upon her just yet.

He opened the door as soon as she knocked.

She threw herself at him the moment the door opened, arms wrapping around him so tightly it hurt. "You stupid, stupid boy! What were you thinking? What if they changed you? What if you weren’t you anymore? What if-"

"Shh." he said gently, guiding her inside and closing the door. "I’m okay. I’m still me." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Are you?" She pulled back to look at him, hands coming up to frame his face, checking for differences. "You feel the same, but what if it’s subtle? What if they made you think you’re still you but you’re not?"

"Lena, it’s ju-"

"No!" She was crying again. "You don’t understand! You’re the only one who gets me! The only one who doesn’t think I’m too weird or too much! If I lost you..."

He pulled her close again, letting her sob into his chest. This brilliant, beautiful girl had attached herself to him so completely that the thought of losing him sent her into panic.

"I’m not going anywhere." He replied to her softly. "The bindings don’t change who I am. I’m still your Lumi."

"Promise?" Her voice was muffled against his robes.

"Promise." Lumi affirmed. "After all, that’s..." He wanted to say ’It was just a game’, but referring to being here as a game was specifically one of the things the system disallowed. Therefore, instead, he said, "When we leave, this wouldn’t be the case, would it?"

She understood the implication, and blinked.

"Right..." They stood there for long seconds, just holding each other. Gradually Lena’s sobs quieted to sniffles, then to just shaky breathing. Finally she pulled back, wiping at her eyes with her sleeves.

"Sorry." she said. "I got your fancy new robes all snotty."

"Worth it." he replied, guiding her to sit on the room’s plush couch. "Lena, we need to talk about what happens next."

She immediately tensed. "You’re leaving, aren’t you? Going off to get stronger with Knight support. Without me."

"I-" He paused, trying to find the right words. "The Knights are only willing to provide opportunities to me because of the bindings. They can’t trust others the same way."

"So get me bound too!" The words tumbled out desperately. "I don’t care if it hurts! I don’t care if they restrict me! I just want to be with you!"

"No." he said firmly.

Lena had no idea.

No one did.

To descend into the game, it was the process of your soul being transferred into the game avatar.

That meant that anything that affected the soul would affect the real player behind the scenes directly. That included these very bindings.

"Lena, you don’t understand. The pain, it’s not normal pain. It touches your soul. It’s hours of agony that goes beyond what is usually allowed. And the restrictions-"

"I don’t care!"

"I care." he said, taking her hands in his. "I won’t let you suffer like that. Not for me. Besides, it’s not necessary for you. You don’t have the same situation I do."

She was quiet for a moment, then asked in a small voice. "Will I see you again?"

"Of course," he said immediately. "This doesn’t mean goodbye forever. I want to see you again. I want to know everything about you. In Masteria, and out of it. I want to talk to you every day, know how you’re doing, and be there for you even if we’re not physically together."

"Really?" She looked up at him with big blue eyes.

"Really. I-" He paused, then decided honesty was best. "I really like you, Lena. More than like. What we have, it’s special to me. Distance doesn’t change that."

A smile broke through her tears. "Thank you~! Even though I’m weird, you like me~?"

Lumi gave her a smile. "Especially because of that. Why would I want normal when I could have you?"

She laughed. "I’ll give you my number, and my address! Oh, and my age, I’m twenty two, by the way. Is that weird? Am I too old? You look young but I don’t know"

"I’m eighteen." he said, which was true for his real body if not his mind. "And no, it’s not weird."

"Good. Good." She was bouncing slightly now. "I’ll tell you everything. My last name, my medical history, my favorite color...it’s pink obviously! My social security number,"

"Maybe not the social security number." he said, alarmed at how quickly she was ready to hand over literally everything.

"Why not? Don’t you want to know everything about me?" She tilted her head. "I want you to know everything. That way you can find me if something happens. Or you know, send me presents."

She put on a cheeky smile. "You could show up at my door and kidnap me!"

"???"

Lumi was completely taken aback. "What? Let’s start with numbers and go from there."

"Okay!" She brightened considerably. "Oh, this is exciting! It’s like we’re taking our relationship to the next level!"

She shifted on the couch, ending up with her head in his lap, looking up at him with bright eyes. "This is nice and comfy. Your lap makes a good pillow."

"Glad to be of service." he said, running fingers through her blonde hair.

She was quiet for a moment, then began to motion to get up. After all, she had no desire to waste time in Masteria either, given limited time. They had spent a few minutes, she had no intentions of prolonging it.

But then she remembered her current position, and a mischievous glint entered her eyes. "You know..."