War Grounds 25 KNOW YOUR PRIORITIES

When Yamasteh was just a few body units away from him, he teleported to the position of his summoned tentacle that was still chasing Al.

Vanish!

This scheme has already saved him a lot of times from ambushes and near-death experiences.

Successfully escaping death, RockSalt could not hide the grin on his face. 'Bunch of fools! Do they really think that I'm that stupid?" The man muttered to himself as he slowly stood up, examining his surroundings. He was in a staircase.

Swoosh!

"Fvck!" RockSalt's bliss was suddenly spoiled when he raised his head in response to the sound. He helplessly found himself staring at a flaming arrow in point-blank distance.

Struck!

With only 0.05% of his HP left, the five red candles attached to the tip of the arrow were more than enough to send him to hell.

...

Previously, Al's determination granted him a brief focused state as everything around him seemed to slow down. When he released the bow's string, he suddenly felt a calming sensation. Deep inside, he was confident that the arrow would successfully find its target. In reality, everything happened swiftly.

Hit!

"Die!" With a dizzy head, the boy still managed to squeeze a curse. "Huh? Why is there a person?" Al's vision started to blur again; the red color in his display has not yet fully dispersed. It was not until the system alert popped up that he finally understood what had happened. He could not believe it.

[You have slain RockSalt.]

[Assessing rewards due to a massive level gap ...]

[You have earned 6,000 EXP.]

[Level up! Congratulations, you are now Level 2. Awarding 3 Attribute Points, and an additional 2 Attribute Points due to the passive skill, 'Jack of All Trades'.]

[Level up! Congratulations, you are now Level 3. Awarding 3 Attribute Points, and an additional 2 Attribute Points due to the passive skill, 'Jack of All Trades'.]

The system notification kept on appearing and only stopped when Udil reached Level 10.

Al was speechless. He was dumbfounded by what had just happened. Not entirely convinced by the system's notifications, he immediately opened his gaming profile. "SARS! SARS! Did you hack my attributes? How did I manage to kill RockSalt?"

However, nothing was wrong with his attribute. It was normal, one that belonged to a Level 10 player. Due to the rapid increase in his levels, two additional slots were added to his skill tree, which was now sitting empty. Also, 45 attribute points were waiting for him to allocate.

Al did not know what to feel.

Meanwhile, the red flames started to dissipate, revealing a disintegrating figure of RockSalt. "I'm gon-..."

RockSalt was reduced to particles before he could even finish his words. It was the consequence of having a mutated account.

Mutated users will be barred from logging in for the next seven days, after their death. At worst, their level will decrease by five, and 60% of their loots will be dropped.

RockSalt was doomed.

Many items were scattered on the staircase, where RockSalt was previously standing. Al's mouth gaped. This was his first time to see a mound of loots in person.

Still not sure of the sudden flow of events, Al crawled his way down, making sure that this was not a trap nor an illusion. "SARS! SARS! Where are you? Is this some joke? Are these items really mine for taking?" The funny face of greed started to twinkle in his eyes.

[Pick it all up and log off from the game. Stop enduring the pain. I'll appraise the items after you're gone.] SARS coldly replied.

Al nodded his head. He's been denying the pain that he was feeling all this time. He immediately picked up all the items and stored them in his mini-pouch, not minding to count his loots nor read their names.

[Are you sure to log off?] The system asked.

[Yes.]

...

"Where is he?" Yamasteh and the rest of the gang, immediately scanned their surroundings to find any traces of RockSalt.

"Sunset and Tyler search for him! We must not allow him to escape!" Lidar immediately instructed as he tried to deduce the possible escape routes of RockSalt.

Scatter!

'Big Brother!' Nisha immediately remembered Al. He quickly opened his contacts to send him a message.

'Offline?'

...

Phewww!

Al sighed a deep breath as he took off the yellow gaming helmet. It was already noontime - no wonder why he's feeling dizzy.

His stomach was already growling, and the back of his uniform was already drenched with sweat.

He once again shot a look around the room. Who would have thought that a prodigy resides here?

Nisha. The name lingered in Al's thoughts.

'Damn! I forgot to send him a message!' Al immediately dismounted his phone from the gear.

[You have a message from Sophia <3 <3 <3]

Al's heart skipped a beat.

'What to do?' Al panicked as he quickly deliberated in his head on whether to open the message now or later. In the end, he tapped the notification with a tight hand.

'Today seemed to be a creepy yet lucky day.' He thought.

[Hi, Al. This is Sophia. I got your number from our teacher in Advanced Algebra. I hope you're well. The teacher assigned a pair-reporting for next week. Are you available this afternoon? Let's discuss the topic assigned to the both of us :)]

Knock! Knock!

The loud knock on the door shocked the hell out of Al.

"Al? Hey! Are you okay there, buddy? Nisha messaged me to check on you. Open the door!" It was Osho.

Creak.

( T_T )

"Eh? Why are you crying?" The door opened, and a teary-eyed Al greeted Osho.

Al immediately pressed his phone's screen towards the face of Osho.

"No way! What the hell do you think are you doing, mate? Know your priorities! I need an update to what happened to you in Alistor City!" Osho feinted as if he did not care, but deep inside, he was happy for his best friend.

Al grinned. "Let's eat first! I'm famished!"

...

The two shared a dozen of takoyaki, which they had ordered, and a couple of stories over the round table in Osho's kitchen.

"Hey! I thought that you were busy grinding with your new guildmates! How come you were able to take a break?" Al's tone was probing as he grinned. The color of his life was back to normal.

"Hehe. Come on, buddy. You know that I'll leave everything just to save you." Osho winked.

"Save my ass! So, what guild annihilated your team?" Al already knew the real reason behind the lousy excuse.

"Damn! You're really, my friend. It was Burning Orient! We were slaughtered by a blue-haired female Divine Magician named Xoraida!" Osho admitted.

"Hmmm. I think that I also happened to encounter a blue-haired magician, but that player was a male. Nevermind. You won't believe what happened to me today!" Al pondered before proceeding to the main event.

"What happened?" Osho was like a puppy waiting for his treat to be served.

"I killed RockSalt. Bow down before me, you lowly creature." Al winked, his face demanding some worship from his friend.

"WHAT!? Nisha and the rest of his gang were still hunting him! Why did you not say it sooner?" Osho raised his voice.

"Woah. Relax! Everything happened in a blur! First, I used SARS' autopilot mode and killed a tentacle that was chasing me, then I passed out, then I opened my eyes, but I'm still in the game, and everything was red. Then, RockSalt appeared and more tentacles started to chase me again, so I ran, then I decided that I'm tired of running, and I'm going to fight back! Then, I fired an arrow, and then RockSalt was dead. The end." Al answered in a slur.

"But hey! You mentioned about 'the rest of his gang.' What's the meaning of that? Who was with Nisha?" Al followed up with a question.

"WHAT!? Do you mean that you did not see Lidar? He was there! You fool!" Osho felt like choking Al. His friend just missed an encounter with his idol! How ignorant could he be? Lidar was in Alistor City!

"No way! No way! First, Sophia, then, Lidar! Bless the God of Fortune!" The boy was genuinely amazed, yet somewhat regretful.
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"I need to get back in the game!" Al stood up with excitement and determination. He has been waiting all this time to get a chance to meet Lidar.

"You should be! How about Sophia?" Osho responded.

"Dude! I know my priorities." Al winked as he raced back to Nisha's room. He forgot to mention the loots.

Chapter end