Like always, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter and please feel free to leave a comment below. Thanks!

Chapter 4 – Revelation

Ding Dong!

“He's here!” exclaimed Yuri excitedly. She ran over to the door (almost slipping on the carpet underneath her) and unhooked the latch from the door. She opened the door and shouted, “Happy birthday, Papa!”

Her father was in his late 30's, though he looked a lot younger than his actual age which often earned him the attention of several of the women at his workplace (and some of the men). It had apparently been a busy day as he looked pretty tired, but the second he had seen Yuri's smiling face, his features brightened almost instantly as he scooped Yuri into a tight bear hug.

“Ah my cute little fairy princess! Hope I didn't make you wait too long!” he laughed while kissing the top of Yuri's head repeatedly.

“It's fine, I know you're busy Papa.” her voice somewhat muffled as she was being pressed into her father's suit.

“Happy birthday, dear. How was your day?” asked her mother, reaching behind from Yuri and enveloping her father so that they were all in large group hug. It was a fairly common scene for Yuri's family, though other people may have thought the affection displayed, even for a birthday, was a bit excessive.

“Pretty busy for a Friday. But let's not talk about work, because I think my nose detects something rather tasty coming from the kitchen.” his nose sniffed a few times and he looked towards the kitchen hopefully.

“You glutton.” scolded her mother, but she laughed and kissed him anyway. “Freshly made so it's still warm. You can thank our little princess here for that.”

“You made dinner, princess? Oh thank you-ah-Ah-choo!” he sneezed violently when his nose detected the few dog hairs still left on Yuri. Yuri hurriedly pulled herself away from them and brushed herself off again; she thought she had gotten it all off when she left. Her father was pretty allergic to animals, so it prevented them from keeping any pets; despite his insistent snot-filled objections that he was fine. Still; Yuri loved animals and she compromised for not being able to keep a pet by spending a lot of her free time helping out at a nearby animal shelter.

“Sorry! I thought I got everything off when I left the shelter today.” quickly brushing herself off. Fighting back another sneeze, her father wordlessly pulled her into another tight hug. The moment was ruined when both her and her father's stomachs growled together. They all started laughing.

“I don't know about you dear, but we're starving!”

For a few seconds, Yuri thought she was sleeping on her own bed, and even though it felt a little uneven in some places, it was toasty warm and the material wonderfully soft. Thump Thump Thump. Most beds didn't have a heart beat though. She kept her eyes closed as the alpha wolf shifted beneath her, wanting to enjoy his warmth and the memory of her dream just a little bit longer.

It had been a little over one day in this world when they finally beaten the kobold leader. Based on Guinevere's explanation, one day here translated to six hours in the real world; already that was a long time to stay connected, even if it was the start of the weekend.

“Earliest I'll be able to log back in will probably be another full day here. But I will come back, so don't worry.”

“What if the other kobolds come back?”

“They won't. We already killed their strongest, so they'll probably leave this valley to us. Plus, if I log out while in the cave, they won't know I've left and will probably still assume the both of us are here.”

True to her words, no sign of the kobolds could be seen, although some of the wolves stayed on watch outside of the cave. Yuri blearily opened her eyes, stifling a yawn with her – well, Alyne's really – hand. How long have I been sleeping? “System clock.” she said quietly, not wanting to wake up the other sleeping wolves.

[p=center]Current time in Seoul, Korea: Saturday Oct. 18, 3:36[/p]

Barely half-an-hour had passed since Guinevere had logged out; her body – scratch that, her avatar was laying peacefully on a small cot that the kobolds had been using. It was weird, she looked like she was just sleeping which was apparent by the gentle rise and fall of her chest.

The strangest part was that Yuri had actually felt like she had been sleeping for two hours. Certainly not a long time, but she felt more refreshed than she did than if she had slept for only thirty minutes. Maybe it has to do with that whole REM sleep thing you go through in the night. I think I remember reading that your brain only needs three hours to fully recharge. Maybe that's why I feel pretty good.

Moving ever so carefully, Yuri gently disentangled herself from the pile of wolves that surrounded her. There were apparently a lot more wolves in cages in the kobold's lair. They were all exceedingly happy when Yuri had freed them, that they practically danced around her. Despite the horrors she had been facing, helping these wolves gave Yuri was incredibly rewarding. Emotionally and literally.

The kobolds had quite the treasure stockpile on them in these caves. Guinevere seemed almost regretful that she had to log out when she saw the treasure hoard, though Yuri assured her that they would go through the pile together when she got back. That got her an ecstatic hug from the energetic girl; the memory of it brought a smile to Yuri's face. Her body felt a little sore from sleeping in such an awkward position, but a few good stretches as she walked out of the cave quickly dispelled that feeling. The two wolves standing guard at the entrance at the cave looked up at her approach and wagged their tails happily as they padded towards her.

“Good work you two. Go in and get some sleep now.” crooned Yuri, brushing back their fur with her palm. The two wolves vigorously shook their heads, their eyes seemed to say that they would continue to stand guard. Though they pressed themselves under Yuri's arms, nuzzling her affectionately. Giggling, Yuri gave them quick scratches under their chins, “Fine then. I'll stay here with you two, until the others wake up.”

Chun Hei, also known as Guinevere in Royal Road, had had a hard time falling asleep after she logged out. After meeting that mysterious girl, Yuri, so many questions were buzzing through her mind. Eventually she did fall asleep though, with considerable effort, knowing that she would need her energy for the following day.

Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.

Chun Hei slapped a hand on her alarm, her misty vision clearing as she focused on the numbers that the digital clock displayed: 7:00. A bit later than she usually woke up, although that could be excused considering it was a weekend. She wasn't planning on going to her Grandfather's dojo either until around evening with her brothers.

There was movement downstairs and the sound of something sizzling; evidently some of her family was already up and making breakfast. Hmm, it's been about 4 hours since I left. I should try and get back within the next three. I'm a little worried that those kobolds might come back for her.

If someone could have read Chun Hei's thoughts, they would've thought that she was being a bit overprotective of Yuri. After all, Royal Road, no matter how realistic it may seem, was just a game after all. Yes there was the sensation of pain and yes you could die in the game, but that wouldn't be you, would it?

But what is this bad feeling I'm having...Chun Hei continued to ruminate over such things as she opened the door to her room and entered the adjacent bathroom. Turning the faucets, she splashed water on her face to help herself wake up, patting herself dry in front of the mirror.

Apart from the hair (black and shoulder length in reality), she looked exactly like she did in Royal Road, so that when she gave a crooked grin to herself, she could easily imagine the bard known as Guinevere grinning back at her.

“Morning.” greeted her older brother Dae-Hyun who was setting out five bowls of steaming rice on the table, his older twin Dae-Jung was at the stove frying eggs. “Morning, sleepyhead.”

The wall-mounted television was turned onto the news channel. The pretty female anchor with shining white teeth and handsome co-anchor were finishing up a previous segment:

“...And our hearts go out to Mr. Seong and his family. And now for news of the world of entertainment, it's the craze that's driving our nation and the rest of the world insane: Royal Road! What do you think about this 'Dandelion' fellow that's been making such a buzz in Royal Road lately, Yun?” “I think his name is 'Weed', Kwan...”

“Morning, Oppas.” replied Chun Hei as she turned and greeted the smiling woman in the photograph resting on the table. “Morning, Mom.” The picture had captured enough of her mother's vitality that her eyes seemed to be sending a greeting back to her. Chun Hei started grabbing cups from the cabinets and setting them on the table. “Where's Dad?”

“Downstairs. He's trying to get some extra work on a company project done, but he says he'll be up soon.” answered Dae-Jung, turning off the stove and spooning bits of fried egg into each bowl. Her dad was a software designer working for a major advertising company. He had recently been promoted to managing a whole team and he had been getting more projects to work on to reflect his new position. Chun Hei grabbed the two plates with radish kimchi and sliced fish sitting on the counter top and set it on the table. “And Dae-Ho oppa?” she asked just as the front door opened.

“Right here.” answered the man himself. The youngest of her three older brothers, Dae-Ho was dressed in a grey track suit for his morning run. “I didn't want to wake you up before I left in the morning.”

“That's okay, now she can go with us.” retorted Dae-Jung, draping his arms around Chun Hei and propping his head on her's. Dae-Ho scowled as both Chun Hei and Dae-Hyun laughed.

“Well you all seem to be in a good mood.” closing the door behind him with a tired smile was her father.

“Morning, Dad.”

Her father kissed her on the forehead, “Morning, sweetie.” Without further ado, they all sat down at the table and started to eat their breakfast, light conversation was passed around throughout the meal. Her father finished his breakfast fast, thanked Dae-Jung and Dae-Hyun for the breakfast and retreated downstairs to continue working on his project. Dae-Jung leaned across the table towards her and asked, “You up for a jog later?”

Chun Hei shook her head, “Sorry Oppa, I've got some other plans later today.” Her polite refusal created a look of triumph on Dae-Ho's face as she rejected their offer for a jog.

Dae-Jung cast an annoyed glance at his younger brother while his twin asked Chun Hei, “Royal Road?”

There was no derision or judgmental tone in that question, just a simple curiosity. All five siblings were casual players of Royal Road, and that hadn't changed even when Chun Hei had somehow managed to win a pod for their household in a lottery drawing hosted by Unicorn Corporation three months ago.

“You were in there for a while yesterday, weren't you?” said Dae-Ho, entering the conversation, “What were you doing?”

Mulling over the question for a bit, Chun Hei made a decision and just decided to tell them everything. “It all started when I met this girl...”

“Seriously...what the fuck.” cursed Dae-Ho.

“I thought about looking through the forums for anything like this after breakfast but...”

“You don't think you'll find anything.” said Dae-Hyun, finishing her sentence for her.

“Right.” nodded Chun Hei gloomily. “Do you have any idea what could be preventing her from logging out Oppas?” Dae-Hyun and Dae-Jung were both in their last year of computer programming and hopefully they had more answers than she did.

Both twins scratched their chins thoughtfully and leaned back against their chairs, “Hmmm...” said both of them. Dae-Ho and Chun Hei shared a grin at the twins' synchronized, unconscious actions.

“I doubt it's a curse.”

“But it could be.”

“Could be, probably not though. Bug in the system?”

“Pretty major bug if you ask me.”

“I didn't say it was in the 'system', stupid.”

“'System' doesn't only refer to software, jerk-off”

The twin rattled off verbal insults to each other as they simultaneously discussed the problem in a rapid-fire conversation. Knowing their habits, Chun Hei estimated that they would have an answer in another 16 insults.

“...All the pods are factory-made. Standardized. No chance of a major design flaw being so unique without other reports.”

“There are special ones though, custom-made. Combat simulators used for military purposes.”

“As if a 16 year old girl would be in a combat simulator. Dumbass.”

“That was just an example. Ever heard of those, Einstein? But a bug is far more likely if she's in a unique pod.”

“Well now we possibly have an answer for 'How' and maybe even 'Why', now we just need to know the 'Who'.”

“I don't suppose you know her last name, do you?” Chun Hei was suddenly brought into the conversation and she took a few moments to answer the question.

“Uh...I never asked.” she said abashed. Why didn't you ask? Idiot!

“It's fine.” reassured Dae-Hyun, “We know her character name. Two names actually with this mysterious 'Alyne Fainesworth' person actually.” supplemented Dae-Jung.

“Jog to Unicorn?” suggested Dae-Hyun to Dae-Jung.

“Hopefully they'll let us use the database.”

“Well they did gives us their numbers.”

“Somehow I don't think they wanted us to call for something like this though.”

“Eh, it'll be fine. Probably.”

“Probably not.”

“More for me, if you're not coming chickenshit.”

“Please, I was the only reason they even tolerated you.”

Chun Hei wanted to ask what they were talking about, but at the same time she knew the answer would probably just be something stupid. Still, she knew that they were dropping everything to help Yuri out. “Dae-Hyun oppa. Dae-Jung oppa. Thank you.” she said sincerely.

They responded by dashing around the table and hugging her in earnest, “Awww, of course we would help you out!” Chun Hei felt a smile tugging at her lips despite their embarrassing actions. Dae-Ho came to her rescue at that moment and pried their arms off of Chun Hei and scooted them out of the door. With a quick thanks, Chun Hei helped him to clear the table and clean the dishes as they settled into more lighthearted topics.

“I was going to go to the library later today, but do you need any help with anything?” offered Dae-Ho. Dae-Ho was planning on entering the Korean National Police University in Yongin to pursue a career in law, though he was doing so via a program hosted in the same university Dae-Hyun and Dae-Jung were attending. The program offered a full scholarship to attend the academy along with free lodgings for the top five students. As could be expected, it was quite an intensive program, though Chun Hei knew Dae-Ho was motivated enough to overcome such a hurdle.

“No thanks, oppa, but thanks for the offer.” said Chun Hei, “Will I see you at Grandfather's later today though?”

Laughing, Dae-Ho ruffled her hair, “Definitely. Hope everything works out with your friend.” walking over to his room to change.

I hope so too.

“Identify!” intoned Guinevere, a hint of excitement in her voice.

[p=center]Great Bear's Claws

Description: The great power and ferocity of a bear are said to be infused in these gauntlets. The warrior who equips these will surely be granted some of that great strength.

Effects: +40 ATK (compared to currently equipped 'Gauntlets of Pain'). 10% chance of stun effect every second hit.[/p]

“Good find?” asked Yuri with a tinkling laugh.

“Definitely! Along with the new armor and gold, this was definitely a good find!” Bards were restricted to using leather-type and cloth-type armor, though Guinevere didn't mind it, the light weight the leather armor provided far outweighed the defense benefits she would get from the higher-class armors. Guinevere was outfitted in a pair of short leather pants that, while having the same defense as her old shorts, were augmented with a speed bonus. The upper body was replaced with a shirt and jacket combo that when she tested out a few straight punches in them, didn't restrict her motions at all.

All those kung-fu movies about so-called martial arts masters fighting in suits didn't make any sense, such clothing would only impede one's range of motion. Finishing off the ensemble was a rather delightful pair of boots in the same vein as her original 'Spiked Gauntlets', that shot out a smooth curved blade every time she shot out a kick.

For her part, Yuri was equipped in brand new armor: High quality leather pants that was reinforced with a shiny metal at the knee along the sides of the thighs. Replacing the leather jerkin was a dark blue blouse that flowed down her body and creating a snug fit against her body. Though it looked frail, the blouse provided a higher defense stat (along with the added bonus of partial stun and poison resistance) than the leather jerkin Guinevere had made for her.

Both of them were wearing several rings, necklaces and earrings that provided health and mana boosts as well as several other enchantments. One ring in particular that Yuri was wearing provided a lightning enchantment to all projectiles. The rest of the items either had lower stats or they were both too low level to equip it, several such pieces caught Guinevere's eye and she was planning on storing them in the bank. Still there was a sizable amount of treasure still left in the cave. Guinevere didn't want to go past the 70% limit of inventory space where she would start feeling the weight of her items and Yuri didn't seem too interested in any of the items.

“All set to go then?” asked Yuri.

“Yup, you?” Guinevere asked the same question in kind. The reason for this was because when she'd returned, Yuri had been happily playing with the wolves, even now, some of the wolf cubs were tugging on the hem of her pants to keep playing with them. In her arms was another wolf cub, sleeping peacefully.

“Yeah...I had a lot of fun, but I really do want to get back home.” she said regretfully, stroking the sleeping grey cub tenderly. Yuri gently lowered the cub onto the surprisingly soft bed that the kobolds, and then Yuri, had been using.

Guinevere slung a arm around her shoulder as they walked out of the cave. The wolves seemed to understand that they were both leaving, though they did not cry out, they only bowed their heads in gratitude as they left the cave.

“So your brothers are helping out too?”

“Yeah. I told them about your situation and they offered to help out. Two of them should be in Unicorn Corp. about now.”

“I'll have to thank them personally when I get out then.”

Guinevere laughed, “Don't lay on the praise too thick then. It'll go straight to their already inflated heads. Actually we might even see them in town by the time we get there.” She looked at Yuri critically and warned, “Make sure to stick close by me if we do meet them. You're really cute and they're total perverts.”

Guinevere checked her map to see what would be the quickest route back to Danaweir, the town where she had received the quest from and was conveniently also home to a Church of Freya. Waiting for them at the lip of the valley was the silver alpha wolf. It was holding something in its mouth and as they approached, it deposited the object at Yuri's feet before bounding down the trail back into the canyon.

Seems like even wolves have trouble saying goodbyes. “What is it?” Yuri picked up the object, medallion really, holding it up by the leather cord that was looped through it. On both sides of the medallion, there was the emblazoned head of a wolf that was surrounded by a ring of small red gemstones on each face.

“Let's find out. Identify!” A thoughtful expression appeared on her face as she read out of the description of the object: “'Medallion of the Beast Friend'. An item granted to those whose soul is filled with goodwill towards animals.”

Guinevere waited for her to continue when she realized that that was everything in the description. “Effects?”

“None.” Though Yuri didn't have a dissatisfied look on her face, rather it almost seemed that she was flattered, “But it was a gift after all. Equip 'Medallion of the Beast Friend'!” There was a flash and the 'Giant's Necklace' that she was wearing was replaced in a flash by the wolf-head medallion. “So I'll accept it with gratitude.” finished Yuri.

Laughing, Guinevere looped her arm through Yuri's and teased, “Let's get going then, Ms. Beast Friend.” As they left behind the valley, the sound of howling could be heard emanating from it's flowery depths, bidding the two girls a mournful, but fond farewell.

“Wow...” breathed Yuri.

“Hehe, welcome to Danaweir my fair lady.” giving Yuri a theatrical bow as she swept her hands towards the town. Compared to the shabby looking town in her mind, the one displayed before her took Yuri's breath away.

The building's were colorful and all had very unique appearances to them, the potion shop for example resembled a giant cauldron, the appearance of flames seemed to bubble out of it's roof. The blacksmith was a great open expanse of space with bare-chested burly looking men beating on anvils with mighty blows as a great hearth illuminated the center.

They passed by numerous stalls that spilled out of the main thoroughfare and set up a kind of recreational suburb just outside of the city proper. Delicious smells floated through the air along with vendors calling for their attention to fantastical objects and mysterious liquid that seemed to glow with an inner light.

But it was the people that really impressed the 'fantasy world' feeling on Yuri. Knights in shining silver armour cantered casually through the streets on imposing armored horses. Peoples of all different sizes, colours and even species intermingled freely throughout the place. Yuri couldn't resist gaping at some of the more outlandish people that passed by her, of which Guinevere informed her about cheerfully,

“Oh yeah, those guys are called Orcs; pretty intimidating right?” Yuri drew closer to Guinevere as one of the orcs in particular seemed to overhear the conversation and grinned at them. Yuri quickly broke eye contact with him and returned to looking (more hesitantly this time) at the people around her. Beautiful men and women with long pointed ears were fairly common in Danaweir apparently.

“Elves?” asked Yuri

“Yep. Lot's of different sub-races too.”

“Exactly how many races are there?”

“29 primary races; most have their own sub-race. One exception are humans for example.”

“That's...quite a lot of choices.” admitted Yuri. Just over to her right, she could see a pair of women with the lower bodies of horses shooting a target with massive longbows.

“We could explore for a bit if you want.”

Yuri was definitely tempted, but the thought of just going home outweighed that impulse. “Thanks, but I think I'd rather just get to the temple.” She glanced at one of the stalls selling sticks with malt candy that was constantly changing colors and another with slices of chicken-pot pie. “But maybe we could get something to eat along the way?” trying to turn it into a suggestion, though her stomach betrayed her with a growl.

Yuri belatedly slapped a hand to her traitorous stomach and felt a blush coloring her cheeks. Guinevere took her hand in her own and pulled her over to one of the stalls she had been eying.

“Thank God. I thought I was the only one that was starving.”

“You know when we gave you our numbers, it wasn't for something like this.” frowned Chung-Ae. Her younger twin sister Ae-Cha was giving Dae-Hyun a similar frown. Well she was trying to at least, Chung-Ae could tell her little sister was happy to meet Dae-Hyun again. Chung-Ae and her sister had been working at Unicorn Corporation for about two years now and had recently been promoted so that the two of them had got their own office, much to the chagrin of their former supervisor who was always making disparaging comments towards them.

They had met the Dae-Hyun and Dae-Jung at a mixer that a friend of theirs had begged for them to come to. Funnily enough, both their younger siblings really seemed to hit it off with each other, while the older two...got along well enough she supposed. Chung-Ae had to admit that they were both fairly handsome, but Dae-Jung was a bit too cavalier she thought. Still, when his younger brother asked for Ae-Cha's number, he immediately requested the same of her; perhaps realizing that her younger sister would've been nervous without her.

Which brings us here...great. Dae-Jung was delivering what he probably thought was a charming smile towards the still frowning Chung-Ae. “Come on, it's a favour for our sister. Her friend does have a serious problem you know?”

Sighing, Chung-Ae relented, “I know, but there are protocols for doing this.”

“How long would those take though?”

“...A few days.” admitted Chung-Ae.

“It is a serious problem though unni, if a player can't log out.” asserted Ae-Cha.

“Okay, okay. Let me just call our supervisor so I can get the admin rights to look through our database.” Punching the extension number on the phone at her desk, her boss picked up the phone after only two rings. She explained the situation quickly to him and he gave her permission to access the player database surprisingly easily; evidently showing a great trust in her judgement.

“What's her name again?”

“Yuri.”

Punching in the keys for the name, the program searched for all players with the name. It was a fairly common name though, so Chung-Ae made sure to impose specific search terms based on the twin's description of this mysterious girl. No matches showed up based on the time frame that she had appeared, even though Chung-Ae made sure to include the fairly large period of a month.

Perhaps he noticed the disappointed expression on her face, but Dae-Jung asked, “Nothing?”

“Not necessarily.” Dae-Jung raised his eyebrow at this remark, though Ae-Cha was the one who answered his unspoken question.

“Unni looked through the general database of players in commercial pods. But if Yuri is in a special one, then there are separate parts of the database that we can search through for such pods.”

On a hunch, Chung-Ae opened up the “Medical Applications” section of the database and changed the search term for Character Name from Yuri to the name of the patient. 1 match. “Got it!” she said triumphantly. Due to patient confidentiality reasons, the most that the database showed was the name of the patient and the hospital that housed the pod they were using.

“We're not allowed to print off any records, so you'll just have to take what you can remember from here.” said Ae-Cha. Dae-Jung turned her screen around so the twins could read the information.

“Oi, isn't this where Hyun is working?” muttered Dae-Hyun.

“Yeah. He should be on his break now too.” affirmed Dae-Jung.

“Thanks for your help girls, we'll definitely make it up to you somehow!” exclaimed Dae-Hyun.

“Dinner and a movie would be a good start.” said Chung-Ae, a smile breaking across her face for the first time since they entered. “And I hope you two will be wearing something better than this.” she remarked, looking at their plain clothes. She laughed inwardly when she saw the two twins do a synchronized blush.

“What's that?” asked Yuri, pointing at the large board that dominated the centre part of the town square where many adventurers were clustered around. The girls had finished their delicious tour of the edible delights of Danaweir and were now on their way to the Church of Freya. The day was coming to an end and the sun was painting the sky in colourful shades of red and orange, bathing the city in vivid hues that seemed to make it even more beautiful.

“Bounty board.” she mumbled, still picking her way through a shish kebab they had purchased earlier...along with several other delicious foodstuffs. “NPCs will put up requests on the board for various problems. Some of them can be quite rewarding.”

One of the posters on the board bore the caricature of a flamboyantly dressed man wearing a eye mask. Underneath his picture were the words:

WANTED: DANDY MAN

Wanted for crimes against the sovereign territory of Dale.

Suspect must be brought in alive to Great Knight Gordon to claim bounty.

REWARD: 2000G

“Is 2000G a lot?” Guinevere followed her line of sight and frowned.

“Yeah, it's a lot.” she sighed, “Over something really, really plagiaristically stupid.” Finishing her food, the stick faded into particles of light as the item was consumed. “Ah, this is it!”

Yuri's question of what “plagiaristically” meant, died on her tongue as she took in the sight of their final destination, marveling at it's architecture. It was a large dome-shaped building with two large spires on either side. The entrance was a magnificently decorated arch surrounded by pristine white marble pillars that held the overlying terrace extending out of the dome roof and overlooking the town square. Each pillar was exquisitely carved in the fashion of a gorgeous looking woman, the spirals of marble that crept up the pillar served as a loose fitting robe for the woman. As could be expected of a foreign religion, there was no large decorative cross, star of David or any other common religious symbol could be seen ornamenting the front of the temple.

Robed priests and priestesses milled around the entrance, welcoming visitors and extolling the virtues and blessings of their goddess. They walked up the short set of steps and were welcomed by a smiling priestess, “Welcome to the Temple of Freya weary travelers. Do you seek to receive the blessing of the benevolent goddess?”

“Indeed we do.” began Guinevere eloquently, a completely uncharacteristic beatific smile decorating her face, “My companion here recently fell victim to a curse most horrendous and seeks the grace of Freya for her salvation.”

“Oh my, that sounds terrible! It is truly good that you came to us in your time of need! For with Freya's great benevolence, your friend shall surely be healed. Thank the goddess that she has such a faithful devotee in you.” delivering a bright smile towards Guinevere.

“Throughout my travels, I have encountered many dangers and challenges that I thought were impossible. It was only the faith that I had in Freya that allowed me to overcome every single one of those challenges.”

The priestess glowed with happiness at those words, though a small frown distorted her beautiful features. “Ah, well there is a small fee involved in removing such curses.” She bit her lower lip and looked around at her fellow men and women of the cloth and leaned in towards them. “But for such a faithful devotee such as yourself, perhaps a discount can be arranged.”

Yuri was barely managing to resist rolling her eyes at the smug satisfaction that she could almost feel coming from Guinevere. “Sister, you are far too kind.” expressed Guinevere.

In a private room of the surprisingly spacious interior of the temple were four people currently undergoing a purification ritual. Based on the confused and frustrated expressions on their faces, it was clear that something was wrong. In particular, the dark haired beauty sitting on a ritzy looking couch who was making strange motions in the air had a fairly distraught countenance. Her fingers trembled as they moved through empty space though no sound could be heard coming from her mouth.

A few words were passed between the girl with spiky electric-blue hair and the man and woman who were draped in the clothes specific to those who were followers of Freya. It was clear that neither party seemed to understand what had evidently gone wrong with the ritual, but the matter was settled peaceably enough as the priest and priestess bowed their heads apologetically towards the two girls and left the room.

“I...I don't understand.” she said shakily. Her fingers remained pressed against the still greyed out option bearing the words 'Log Out'. But despite the ritual, it remained quiescent no matter how hard she pressed her fingers against the ethereal display. “Why didn't it work?” her hand slumped to her side as she looked at Guinevere imploringly.

Her friend looked just as lost as she felt. Guinevere shook her head, mumbling to herself about what could have gone wrong. “I don't know...if it's not a curse...I don't...” Guinevere suddenly straightened up, “Oppa? Where are we? Ah, we're in the temple at the moment.”

Tump. Tump. Tump. Came a knock at the door along with the voice of an older man, “Guin? It's me.”

“It's not locked, come in!” responded Guinevere. The door soundlessly opened and two young men entered the room. No, scratch that, one of them had almost golden looking skin with a tattoo of a sun on his forehead and long tapered ears. The human was immaculately dressed in what could only be a white tuxedo along with a matching top-hat. They closed the door behind them and Guinevere greeted them in a surprised voice.

“Oppa, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work right now?” her eyes narrowed; a slight reprimand in her voice.

The man laughed and held up his hands in front of him in mock surrender, “Calm down there, I'm keeping my nose clean. Technically I'm still at work.”

“Who is this?” asked Guinevere, nodding to the sun elf.

“Hi there, I'm StrangerDang- Er. No that's wrong, sorry. My name is Dr. Lee and I work as a physician in a special ICU ward at Seoul General.” said the man with a friendly smile. He sounded a little nervous though. His gaze settled on Yuri and the smile changed subtly, looking more forced now. “Are you Yuri?”

Yuri swallowed reflexively, her throat suddenly feeling dry and her voice raspy: “Yes. Who are you?”

He had already introduced himself, but the question was clear: 'Who are you to me?'. Though Yuri already knew the answer in her heart. “I'm your doctor, Yuri.”

The priestess they had met outside of the temple had been kind enough to bring in more chairs and even a small table for the new occupants. They seemed to sense it was a rather serious situation and insisted that they use the private room for as long as they needed. Sitting across from her and Guinevere was Guin's eldest brother and Dr. Lee.

Yuri had just finished telling them her story, the same one that she had told Guinevere the day they had first met each other. Dr. Lee had his head in his hands, looking tired beyond belief. “I can't believe something like this happened. Yuri, I know it isn't worthy anything at all, but I am so sorry that this occurred.”

“Please...I just want to know what's going on.” begged Yuri.

Dr. Lee hesitated before answering her, “Four days ago...you were involved in a very serious accident on Highway 63.”

...What? “A driver who had fallen asleep at the wheel crossed over from the other side of traffic and hit the car you were in. You had several severe injuries: Multiple open fractures, an epidural hematoma and even a cerebral contusion. On top of that, there was some minor esophageal trauma that would limit oral feeding. Consequently you were rushed to Seoul General for an emergency surgery.” his face darkened, “But apparently there were other complications.”

“What does this have to do with me being in this place? And why don't I remember anything?” said Yuri quietly. She thought she managed to come off as sounding calm, though her heart was in turmoil. Her hands clenched on her lap. A small hand overlaid them, delivering a quiet warmth to her. Thanks, Guin.

Dr. Lee decided to answer the second question first, “After great traumas, a condition known as retrograde amnesia can be an uncommon occurrence. Over time though, those memories will return.” he frowned and then asked, “Not to get off track, but I want to know how much you do remember.”

Yuri nodded and gave her tacit consent. “First of all, what is your name?”

An easy question to start with, “Yuri...It's Yuri...I can't remember my last name.”

“OK, that's okay. Your name is Yuri Hyeon.”

“Yuri Hyeon...” rolling the word around in her mouth. Definitely familiar. “Sounds right.”

“Good! Let's try some other ones...” Unfortunately the other questions such as her father's or mother's names and even her address were beyond her capabilities. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember. Despite Dr. Lee's assurances that her memories would come back in time, the fact that she couldn't remember her own history was terrifying. Guin's hand squeezed her own and she gave her a relieved smile.

Breathe in. Breathe out. “Okay, okay...just...continue.”

Collecting his thoughts, Dr. Lee continued his explanation: “A day after the surgery, you were in a tremendous amount of pain that did not seem to respond to any painkillers. So, after some consideration, we decided to place you in a capsule.”

“...Because anything that's affecting me in reality won't be translated here...right?”

“Right.”

Just the mere thought of her being in accident was blurring her vision. She felt sick. Luckily; Guin asked the question she wanted to know the answer to.

“So what the hell happened then?” demanded Guinevere, “I get that she wasn't supposed to wake up in that horrible cave,” her fist slammed onto the table, “But was she meant to just connect into this place all by herself!?”

While he flinched at the sound, he managed to deliver a proper reply, “The capsules we use here are special ones; designed to be used in a hospital environment. Although I think the specifications could be better explained by Min-Kyung here.” nodding to Guin's eldest brother.

Yuri turned her attention towards the gaudily dressed man. “I work at Seoul General as a biomedical engineer. Typically that would mean I work on the diagnostic machines like the MRI, PET or CT and the like. And while I still do, Seoul General recently added these medical capsules to fall under my superintendence as well.”

“Wouldn't that need a different kind of engineer though?” interjected Guinevere.

“It does, I work together with another guy and we inspect the capsules together and make sure they're working properly. This might be a bit of a long explanation, but I'll try to give you the essentials of the medical capsule.” He paused to orient his thoughts, before delving into the explanation.

“First is the function that all of the capsules have: Total disconnection from body sensations. Senses of vibration, touch, temperature and pain are all blocked when connected to the virtual reality interface. The feature of blocking pain is a particularly nice feature as it prevents us from having to give potentially addictive drugs to a patient with a large amount of intractable pain. The medical capsule has several unique features to it; the largest being is that the body can be interacted with while the mind is connected to virtual space.”

“I thought you couldn't do anything to the body while you're in the game?” she looked at Guin for confirmation, “Otherwise you get disconnected, right?”

“Normally that's true, but if that were the case, we'd never be able to change bandages, deliver IV lines, feeding tubes and the like.”

“Feeding tubes?” she repeated hollowly.

“While we repaired most of the damage to your throat, it will still take some time to heal. However because of that; we needed to get nutrition into you some way. It is still a temporary thing and you will heal eventually Yuri.” explained Dr. Lee

“Right, OK, sorry. Not sure why I'm stressing out about a tube.” giving a dry chuckle. “Please: Continue explaining Mr. Min-Kyung.”

“A-Ah, Right.” answered Min-Kyung somewhat hesitantly. He cleared his throat a few times. “So, these custom capsules allow us to care for and monitor the patient without breaking the virtual reality connection. Though the only ones who are able to access the capsule to deliver such treatments are the patient's doctor and a few nurses. That's about all of the special features of the hardware. The software is also custom-designed in that players who connect to Royal Road via a medical capsule are treated to a kind of personalized tutorial.”

At this point Dr. Lee took over the explanation and attention was once again focused on him. “Some patients are like yourself Yuri; people who are suffering from amnesia and don't remember they were in an accident. In this tutorial, a special representative from the rehabilitation department acts as the patient's companion and helps them understand what happened to them and answers any questions they have.”

“So what happened to me then?” asked Yuri, trying to keep an accusatory tone out of her voice. It was hard though, waking up in that place would give her nightmares for years. Both men looked at each other and once again apologized emphatically to Yuri, self-condemnation could be clearly seen on their anguished faces.

“If I had checked with the representative, maybe I would have found out about this so much sooner.” declared Dr. Lee.

“It's my fault.” admitted Min-Kyung. “I was the one who said every capsule was working properly. I'm so sorry!”

“Oppa-What happened? What do you mean this is your fault?” demanded Guinevere.

“Two days ago, part of the hospital was involved in a major electrical disturbance that shorted out nearly half of our systems. It was mainly the machines designated for life-support that were involved and while our priority was on restoring their functionality, we knew that other systems were probably affected.” said Min-Kyung through clenched teeth.

“Like the capsules.” said Yuri who was now beginning to understand what happened.

“...While I didn't look through all of them, I was the one who was responsible for checking your capsule. The only thing I had found was that the recording equipment was fried; the system responsible for recording and saving footage from Royal Road.” he took off his hat and set it on the table, putting a hand to his head as if he had a headache, “I even tested it myself by entering the capsule and saw that everything was working...but apparently I missed something crucial...”

She felt tired, though she felt somewhat of a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She should be angry at what happened. But seeing how much what did happen was clearly torturing these two men, her anger had all but evaporated. “It's...well it's not okay...but...you two did everything you could. And you saved my life. So...thank you.” finished Yuri, giving them a small smile who gave her relieved smiles of their own. It was a strained one however, as one question still burned inside of her. “What...happened to my parents?”

They didn't answer. The silence in the room was deafening. She wet her lips and asked them again, “Dr. Lee: What happened to my parents?” I don't want him to answer, she thought fearfully, harshly berating herself for asking the question.

The doctor seemed lost as to where to begin and it suddenly struck Yuri that he seemed like a fairly young doctor. While it was impossible to tell based on his appearance, his action seemed akin to a man who had only recently graduated from school. “Your mother received similar injuries to yours, although in her case, shrapnel from the other car had penetrated her spinal cord, resulting in a total lower body paralysis.” Yuri stiffened, her heart sank when she heard this and was about to ask for more information when the doctor preempted her, “But...she will survive. We'll probably even transfer her to a capsule if she wishes for it.”

“Where is she now?”

“At this time, she's probably in surgery to remove the last bits of metal from her body. Your own injuries were more severe and so were prioritized your treatment first.”

Her heart was pounding and there was a lump in her throat. But she knew she had to ask the next question that was on everyone's minds. “And my father?” her voice was so quiet that she was almost whispering the question, “Is he okay?”

Guinevere found Yuri quite fast; she was sitting on a rock overlooking the lake, moonlight reflecting off the surface and giving a magical quality to the air. The lake was just outside of the city, but still within it's limits so that players were afforded it's protection. It was popular for it's serene surroundings and romantic atmosphere that several players came to Danaweir just to visit it at night.

There were a few couples here for just such a reason, snuggling close to each on the shores of the lake. Though Yuri was far from all of these people, sitting alone in what seemed to be the most isolated part of the lake. Guinevere slowly picked her way across the shore. Yuri glanced over to the side when she approached, but said nothing and returned to gazing at some far-off scene.

She had gone after Yuri who had fled the room after Dr. Lee told her what happened, assuring them that it'd be better if she went by herself. Why did she think that she'd be better than a trained professional? Even her brother would probably be better in this situation. Of course she knew the answer to the question, conceited as it may sound: Because I'm her friend.

“Mind if I join you?” she asked. Yuri looked at her again, eyes red and puffy, and gave a small nod. Yuri shivered, though it was not from the cold, and pulled up her knees. Distant laughter could be heard across the lake from a group of people who had set up a campfire. Happy voices and big smiles created a horrible juxtaposition. Though it didn't seem like Yuri was looking at them. Sure her eyes were on the merrymaking, but she was gazing past them at some memory.

A single tear trailed down her cheek.

“I was probably eight years old when my mom died.” said Guinevere. Yuri didn't respond, although she thought the glassy stare she had had faded. Emboldened, Guinevere continued, “Aneurysm. I didn't know what that word meant, but I was old enough to know what it meant when someone died. It was so sudden you know? When it finally sunk in, I think I cried non-stop that entire day. And I did the same for a few days after when it was my dad or one of my brothers coming in to read me a bedtime story instead of her.”

“It might've been two years before I felt close to normal after that. The rest of the family had recovered more or less around the same time. Funny how we're synchronized like that.” Yuri had stopped shaking and it seemed like she was quietly listening to Guinevere, though she could hear a small sniffle every now and then. “It still hurts though. Like someone had just driven a shard of glass through my heart: Painful, gut-wrenching and dizzying. Even today I can still feel a bit of that pain.”

“Time heals all wounds?” whispered Yuri in a voice so soft that Guinevere thought she had imagined it.

“No. Not these kinds of wounds. It was something else that I had found helped me out.” Guinevere gave an embarrassed chuckle and amended her previous statement, “Well it was something my own father told me: 'It hurts so much because we loved her so much. She was amazing. Beautiful. Kind. And that pain is always going to be with us. But while her death causes the pain, her love and the memories we shared with her as a family ease it.'”

Yuri looked at Guinevere and she looked back at her. “What about you, Yuri? What was your dad like?”

Guinevere hopes started to sink when silence stretched between the two and she thought she had failed. “He was an attorney working at a law firm maybe thirty minutes away from our house. He only ever got minor cases, but he was always really serious about every single one of them. Working long hours, he'd come back looking exhausted. But every day he came back, no matter how tired he was, he'd give me this great big bear hug.”

Yuri's knees slid downwards until they once again dangled off of the rock, unconsciously mirroring the pose Guinevere had adopted. “Papa was really overprotective of me and had all of these embarrassing nicknames for me like 'Fairy Princess or Gumdrop Angel.'” Guinevere and Yuri both laughed. “He also really liked making breakfast for everyone on the weekend. He was terrible at every other meal, but his breakfasts were the best.” she trailed off with a forlorn look.

“He sounds like an amazing Dad.” said Guinevere.

“The best.” tears cascaded down Yuri's cheeks, the moonlight that bounced off the like made them stand out even more. “And I'm going to miss him so, so much!” choked Yuri, sobs shaking her body as she started to cry in earnest. It was an awful cry, one where hardly any sound could be heard coming from her throat, but looked and sounded so painful as Yuri doubled over in anguish. A terrible cry that Guinevere was all too familiar with.

Guinevere wordlessly pulled her into a tight embrace, hoping that she could ease her pain. Yuri weakly tried to resist, but soon gave up and let herself fall into Guinevere's lap; soaking it with tears. Stroking her long dark hair, Guinevere continued to murmur softly to her friend as the night wore on, it's silence broken only occasionally by the rustling of small animals returning to their burrows or nests.

And the gentle crooning of a girl with electric-blue hair.

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