John’s POV:

I just couldn’t wipe the grin off my face! This is all so wonderful!

It’s only been a month and I have gotten so much work done and have gotten so much stronger that it’s crazy! It’s all thanks to Miss Margaret, I really owe her a lot!

I wonder if I should give her something as a gift…? Oooh I could make something for her! But no… I’m not that good in anything yet… I should wait till I get better before making her a gift!

With that decided, I started looking through the blue squares again. I didn’t understand some of the things like the ‘Beginner lvl’ that was showing on so many things, perhaps it shows that I’m just an amateur right now and it will tell me when I practice more and get better…? I think that’s it…

It’s strange, I sometimes get the feeling that something or someone is helping me when I perform tasks… like my hand would somehow be guided at the exact point on where to strike the wood I’m cutting to cut it in one swing. Or how my hands would automatically start sewing properly when I used to do some tailoring. It’s really weird… I wonder what it is that helps me…?

Anyway…

This ‘quick learner’ skill is the best I think. This must be why Miss Margaret always said how she has never seen anyone else learn as fast as I did. If this is the reason why I picked up so many things so quickly then I’m very thankful for it! This will enable me to learn quickly and get stronger faster!

Still with a grin on my face, I fell into a comfortable sleep dreaming about getting stronger.

It felt like I had barely gone to sleep when a loud DING! sound woke me up! I opened my eyes and my whole vision was filled with a flashing blue square!

System Notice!

Attention all players, the beta test will end shortly. Please make sure to finish up all your tasks and log out, otherwise you will be forcefully logged out when the beta test ends.

Thank you for participating in our beta test and helping to make this game better with your valuable feedback!

Time remaining in beta test: 20 minutes.

Huh…? What…?

I shook my head and rubbed my eyes, still half asleep, while I tried to understand what this thing that woke me up was saying…

The beta test! I had completely forgotten that this was something that Mr. Leonard said all those days ago! I still don’t know what it meant…

Logout… What does that meant…?

‘This game…’ That’s right! I had completely forgotten that this is all a game! It feels so real!

The more I thought about how this was all a game, the more stupid I felt. The blue square thingies now made sense and how my hands somehow felt guided to perform tasks also made sense… this must all be related to this game! Wow… It took a blue square to remind me that this is all a game… Idiot John!

Wait a minute… It’s been almost a month and I haven’t had a need to go to the bathroom all this time even though I have been eating and drinking… Even with this weird fact staring at me I failed to remember that I was in a game… Yeah, I must be a special kind of idiot!

Still scolding myself, I suddenly remembered… Miss Margaret!

Is she a real person? Or just some kind of game system too…? I had always thought of her as a real person… But no, this makes more sense! Obviously she isn’t a real human, she’s too nice to be real! I should have realized this sooner too!

Oddly enough, I didn’t feel sad at realizing she wasn’t someone ‘real’. She was real enough for me and I don’t care what any blue square says, she is my teacher and a wonderful person!

I glanced at the blue square firmly and was about to swipe the thing away when I noticed the time.. 20 minutes! Does this mean that I will have to leave this place after 20 minutes…? But… I don’t want to leave! I don’t want to leave Miss Margaret!

Oh no… I didn’t even make her a present! And now there isn’t enough time! I am such a terrible person!

I don’t have enough time to be sad now! I have to go and see Miss Margaret! Otherwise I will be forced to leave without even saying goodbye!

Angrily swiping the blue square away, I barely noticed the sunlight streaming in from the window signalling that the day had started, as I pushed away all the chairs from the door and ran downstairs toward Miss Margaret.

I found her in the kitchen getting ready to prepare breakfast, she noticed me and said, “Good morning young… What is it? Is something wrong??” She hurriedly asked. She must have noticed my face full of tears I guess.

I ran towards her and hugged her tightly, not wanting to leave her side. I felt silly at how afraid I was of her when we first met, and I felt bad that I didn’t trust her enough to stop blocking my door after all she has done. I couldn’t even make any words come out as I sobbed uncontrollably in her embrace.

She seemed shocked at first but then she gently started patting my head without saying a word. She is so nice!

I finally managed to croak out, “I’m so sorry Miss Margaret. I have to leave soon… I don’t know when I will be back…”

“There there child, that’s no reason to worry! Do you think your leaving will change anything? You are my son, and no matter where you go or how far you are I will always be here and you can come find me whenever you like”

I couldn’t even come up with any reply as the tears kept falling, and I could see Miss Margaret also tearing up a little while she had a very kind smile on her face.

I kept hugging her tightly without wanting to let go for a long, long time. Before I knew it there was another DING! sound and white light started engulfing me… I knew I was going to leave now no matter what I did.

This is so unfair, I really don’t want to leave!

Before the light could engulf me completely, I managed to say, “Thank you for everything Miss Margaret, I will never forget you. I promise to come and meet you as soon as I can.”

The white light then completely enveloped me, and all I could hope was that she heard my promise….

End of POV.

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Meanwhile, in a certain specially designed virtual room, a young man named Leonard Hodges was impatiently waiting for John to arrive. As soon as the notice for the end of the beta test had been released Leonard had immediately put on his headset and arrived in this virtual room, with his heart set on providing John with all information that he would want to know.

He was also going to explain about how he was still in a coma, and he didn’t even inform the hospital that he was going to share this information with John.

‘I will no longer let John be in a position where he is forced to learn everything himself without any prior knowledge’ he thought.

A few minutes later, white light flashed and John appeared in the room. However, something was wrong. John’s face was covered in tears and he immediately fell on his knees crying uncontrollably.

“John! What’s the matter?!” asked Leonard in alarm while hurrying over to John and trying to comfort him.

It took a long time for John to calm down and realize where he was and that Leonard was in the room with him. “Mr. Leonard, when will I be able to go back to see Miss Margaret again…?” he simply asked with eyes full of tears.

Puzzled, Leonard looked at John’s face with no idea on who John was referring to. It took a while for him to remember the title of his first quest ‘Help Margaret’ and he remembered that John had been staying with the old woman all this time.

He had no idea on what to say… Truth was that the village in the beta test wasn’t going to be present when the game actually opened, so that beta testers wouldn’t have a huge advantage over others. Furthermore, after the beta test, any NPCs would have their memories wiped so that beta testers won’t be able to capitalize on their existing relationships and get preferential treatment.

But he didn’t have the heart to say all of this to John in such a state, so all he managed to say was, “Don’t worry, as soon as the game starts you can meet her again.”

At this, John visibly cheered up and started wiping away his tears.

Looking for some kind of distraction to take away the attention of John, Leonard spotted the laptop on the desk and an idea came to him. “John,” he said, “I’m sorry that I forgot to inform you about the basics of the game. It was all my fault for thinking that you would know everything. Please forgive me. I came here today to help guide you through the basics of the game. Come here, I will teach you how to use this laptop so you can learn anything you want!”

“Oh wow, really? But I don’t think I should use it… what if I spoil it?” Asked John timidly.

“No worries, I will teach you how to properly use it so that there won’t be any chance of you spoiling it!” said Leonard with a kind smile on his face.

“Awesome!” Exclaimed John while jumping up and running towards the laptop with eyes shining like diamonds.

Chuckling at the enthusiastic boy, Leonard switched the laptop on and started teaching John all the basics. How to switch the laptop on, how to operate it, how to connect to the internet etc…

Leonard was surprised at how quickly John was picking up things, it took him no time at all to get the hang of the basics.

Then Leonard started teaching John about how to browse the internet and how to search for stuff. He showed him the official website for Conqueror and opened up the basic guide which listed all basic things related to the game like what stats mean and what classes there are etc.

Leaving John to read the guide, Leonard backed away deep in thought. He had decided to yet again postpone telling him about his condition and the outside world. He would ask John to stay in here and keep him occupied with the laptop.

He decided that it would be best if Dr. Richard or one of the nurses were to inform him about the specifics, as they would be able to explain much better.

Little did Leonard know, at this time almost all the staff of Cleveland Clinic had tears in their eyes. The doctors and nurses of floor 3 and the ones close to John were especially distraught… As one of their own had just passed away from this world…

Unknown to John, one of the very few people in this world that actually considered John as family had just died…

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Author's note: Had a busy day so didn't have time to finish this quicker...

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Hope you all enjoy reading this chapter and thanks once again for reading! :)