Chapter 032 - A Way to Find Alice.

[Karla]: “We don’t know”

Cyan turned around and saw Boss and Karla were standing behind him.

[Cyan]: “You don’t know?”

Karla saw the gun in Cyan’s hand trembling, she could only let out a sigh as she understood what Cyan was feeling right now, and then she gave a glare to her dumb brother.

Karga could only shroud his shoulders, Karla had told him to distract Cyan for a while, and she did not say anything about preventing him for getting him a weapon.

[Karla]: “We got this note 5 hours ago”.

Karla then took a note out from her inventory and handed it to Cyan.

[Note]

We got the Girl, if you want her back, deliver 1.000.000 Credits to Floor 6, you have 12 hours, King.

Cyan read throughout the note, immediately after he tried to run to the elevator, but Karla stopped him from going.

[Cyan]: “Senior, please move aside”

[Karla]: “Calm down newbie, Alice is not in Floor 6, we had already checked”

[Cyan]: “Then where she is!”

[Karla]: “Sigh, I already had told you that we don’t know where she is”

Cyan could only clench his hand around his gun. He then tried to bypass Karla but Boss stopped him instead.

[Cyan]: “Boss move aside”

[Boss]: “Cyan put your gun down for a moment, and please listen to what Karla has to say first”

Cyan turned around to look at Karla, urging her to speak.

[Karla]: “We already went to Floor 6 and the Players of the King faction has told us that if we try anything they would do something to Alice, we could only go back, even so, we managed to inspect the floor before that and she is not there”

[Karga]: “Cyan, we also want to rescue Alice, but we have to remain calm right now, I am sorry for lying to you just before”

Cyan could only drop his shoulders and shake his head.

[Cyan]: “It is not your fault Senior”

Cyan took a breathed and calmed down his raging emotions after realizing that acting all rash would not solve the problem, instead, it would only make it worse.

After Cyan had calmed down, everyone took a seat on the table, Cyan then took notice that someone else was missing on the table.

[Cyan]: “Senior, what about Cale? Where is he?”

Karla could only continue to massage her temples; she has been using her skill [Theory] all morning, and now her head has a splitting headache and the fact that Cale is not here only make it worse for her.

Instead of Karla answering the question, it was Karga that it did.

[Karga]: “We don’t know, we sent him a message but we didn’t get a replied, we also went to his room #304, but there was no answer either”

Cyan though for a moment, room #304 was next to Alice’s room, #305.

[Cyan]: “Seniors, don’t think that…”

However, Karla interrupted Cyan before he could finish his opinion.

[Karla]: “We don’t know that yet, for now, we first have to find Alice before trying to see if Cale has any relation with this incident”

Even so, Karla has already written down a theory that involucres Cale in this event, but they have not confirmed it yet.

Cyan thought about the 1.000.000 Credits the note was asking for, as he opened his inventory and checked the amount of credits he has in his inventory.

[Inventory]

Credits: 327.150

[Items]

[Ticket for entry to Floors 5 to 8] x5 [Energy Drink] x 10 [Energy Food] x 10 [Advance Grow Potion] x 2 [Black Sword] ….

[Equipment]

School Uniform [Black Gun]

Even though Cyan had earned many credits for the last couple of days, this was not nearly enough for the asked 1.000.000 Credits, even so.

[Cyan]: “Seniors, I only have 300.000 Credits on my inventory”

Karla was surprised by the amount of Credits that Cyan had; however, she still dismissed it while shaking her head.

[Karla]: “We only have 400.000 Credits, so we are short by 300.000 Credits, getting that amount in 7 hours shouldn’t be normally possible”

Cyan could only clench his fist as he tried to think a fast way for gathering 300.000 Credits in 7 hours, maybe he could ask Willy for it and then paid it back in a later time, he could also sell the items of his inventory.

However, Karla that could read Cyan thoughts like an open book interrupted him before he could express his opinion.

[Karla]: “Give that thought up newbie, even if we have all the Credits, paying the rescue wouldn’t mean we would get Alice back, in cases like this, paying the rescue is the last thing you do, and you do it only to gain more time”

Cyan wanted to shout at Karla, but when he saw her pale face, he could only let out his anger with a sigh.

[Cyan]: “Then… what we should be doing?”

Karla smile to try to reassure Cyan that they can handle this situation; this was the GP field of expertise after all.

[Karla]: “Of course we have to rescue her! But first, we need to know where she is”

[Cyan]: “Senior, do you have any clue where Alice could be being held?”

Even though Karla wanted to reassure Cyan, she could only let out a sigh in this case, because finding Alice location was not an easy task, and even though there are only eight accessible Floors inside the Tower, each floor was bigger than the one before it, starting with the [Lobby] that was as big as a football field.

[Karla]: “I have theorized that the most likely place for Alice to be held, should be in Floor 2, inside a locked room”

Cyan wanted to jump out of his seat but he was stopped by Karla next words.

[Karla]: “However, we can’t check the 200 rooms at the same time, and trying to brute force one door at the time would no doubt alert the King’s faction of our actions and put Alice in danger”

Cyan could only clench his teeth, at that time the sorrowful voice of Boss was heard by Cyan.

[Boss]: “I am sorry Cyan”

[Cyan]: “Boss?”

Cyan turned around to look at Boss defeated expression.

[Boss]: “I had failed you and Alice, I have promised you that I will protect you two, but now I let Alice to be put in danger, I don’t hope for you to forgive me for this”

[Cyan]: “Boss that’s…”

Cyan wanted to say; “You are actually doing too much for us” however, he stopped himself as could see it for the first time, Boss heartbroken expression

That was the face of a person that really wanted to help them but has failed to do so, nevertheless, Cyan knew that Boss and the Twins had been helping them without expecting anything in return since the beginning, being a GP recruit was just an excuse, even more so, after Cale had said that the GP center was evacuated.

Cyan could only wonder what was this sense of responsibility that Boss and the Twins possess towards them when they had just met a short week ago, and even now, when Alice has being kidnaped, they had been desperately trying to find her since this morning, while their consciences were filled with that sense of responsibility and guilt.

Cyan looked at Karla white pale face as she massaged her temples with her hands, a splitting headache a side effect for overusing her skill [Theory] repeatedly without minding her own status.

Cyan then looked at Boss expression of self-contained anger and burning guilt.

Lastly, Cyan looked at the sorrowful and apologetic expression of Karga that was feeling like a waste of himself for lying to Cyan, while he could do anything to help Alice.

Boss and the Twins can and probably would have trashed the King’s faction on Floor 6, if not for the fact that Alice could be had put in danger if they did just that. If they did not care about Alice safety, then they would not mind solving the problem that way, instead of returning to Floor 3 where Cyan was.

Cyan felt his conscience being prickle by guilt as he remembered how instead he has thought that maybe Boss and the Twins were the ones behind Alice disappearance, even more so, he was also guilty for not protecting Alice himself, if he had stayed yesterday in Alice’s room and slept on the floor, maybe, the history could have been different.

Even so, he could not discard the possibility of Cale being involved in all of this, but for now, he could at least confirm that Boss and the Twins were on his side.

What Cyan needs to do now was to find Alice, and he has a method to do just that, now that he knew that Boss and the twins were on his side, he could share this method with them.

Cyan had never lost the hope to find her because he could already track her position.

Cyan smiled as he remembered one week ago, the first time he had met with Alice as her Tutor and the method that he had used to find her for the first time, as a white-blue dot on the [Map].

[Karga]: “Newbie are you ok?”

Karga on the other hand though Cyan had gone crazy because he started smiling now.

Cyan ignored Karga worried face as he took his phone out of his pocket and sent a messaged to Willy.

Reply: “Willy”

Message [Willy]: “Alice location is already being shown on the [Map]”

Cyan was reminded once more of amazing Willy truly was.

Cyan moved to open the [Map] in his phone and then searched for each floor until…

[Cyan]: “I have found her”

Everyone in the table went “eh?” at the same time.

[Karla]: “What are you are talking newbie, how could you have found her?”

[Cyan]: “I was Alice Tutor, as her tutor, I can track her position in the [Map]”

Of course, Cyan brushed off the fact that the Quest was already over and this was thanks to Willy help.

Cyan then put his phone over the table while showing a [Map] with six white doing surrounding one white-blue dot.

Karla read the [Map] info and she was surprised by it.

[Karga]: “She is in the [Lobby Area]?”

[Cyan]: “That seems to be the case; however, she looks to be outside the area”

This did not make sense for Karla or Cyan; however, it does make sense if you consider a fact, Karga eyes lit up in an instant as he remembered something.

[Karga]: “It must be because she is inside a [Hidden Area]!”

Karla and Cyan eyes lit up at the same time, as they remembered too that the [Hidden Area] are not shown on the [Map], they have learned this fact just yesterday.

Karla could let out a sigh because after overusing her skill [Theory] even her Brother was smarter than she was, making her feel frustrated.

After Boss looked over the [Map], he then thought of a question for Cyan.

[Boss]: “Those white dots around, are the other Players?”

Cyan nodded.

[Cyan]: “That’s right, Boss”

Now that they had confirmed Alice position, Boss has to come out with a plan, however, this was the easy part for him.

Boss gave a refreshed smile as started to issue orders to the Twins.

[Boss]: “Karga!”

[Karga]: “Yes! Boss!”

[Boss]: “Go to the [Lobby] and confirm the [Hidden Area] entrance, you have 1 hour, don’t let them spot you, go”

Karga nodded, and then he stood up from his seat and went to the elevator.

[Boss]: “Karla!”

[Karla]: “Yes! Boss!”

However, before Boss could continue he was interrupted by Cyan.

[Cyan]: “Boss! I also want to rescue Alice; it is also my fault that Alice has been kidnapped”

Cyan thought that one of the reasons that the King faction have targeted Alice was because he has unlocked Floor 8, and then he joined Boss faction, Cyan thought that this was also probably the reason why they are asking for 1.000.000 Credits.

Even when Cyan thought, he would be left out of the rescuing mission, Boss has already taken into account for Cyan to participate into the mission, even though, this would have been an irresponsible act from his part back on earth, he could not be picky right now.

[Boss]: “Karla”

[Karla]: “Yes! Boss!”

[Boss]: “Take Cyan to Floor 7 and teach him how to shoot, you have less than 1 hour, make it count”

Boos has taken into account that the gun in Cyan hands was not an ordinary [G-17], however, he could not allow Cyan to go without a minimum degree of knowledge, Cyan should at least know how to aim and press the trigger so he does not miss his target.

Even if Karla was feeling sick right now, she could at least teach Cyan for one hour on how to handle a gun.

This was one the reasons why Boss has sent Karga to find the secret entrance instead of sending her, and the other reason was, if she keeps overusing using her [Skill], her head will most likely split in half, or at least that’s what Boss thought would be happening.

Cyan could only give his thanks to Boss before leaving with Karla.

[Cyan]: “Thank you! Boss! I will definitely rescue Alice without fail”

Boss nodded to Cyan declaration.

[Boss]: “Go”

Karla nodded and moved with Cyan to the elevator, she did not even need to ask Boss what he would be doing for the mission before leaving, because she was already aware of what Boss will do.

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.

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On Floor 7 [PVP Arena].

Karla and Cyan entered a closed ring where other Players cannot watch them practice.

[Karla]: “Alright, newbie, have you ever used a weapon before?”

Cyan shook his head; he has picked a gun because it was easy to learn and easy to use, and not because he knew how to use it already.

[Karla]: “Can you show me your weapon for a moment?”

Cyan nodded and handed his [Black Gun] to Karla.

Karla held the gun in her hands while she examined it, Karla was very surprised how similar it was to her [G-17], however, when she pressed the trigger nothing had happened, even when the safety lock was off and the gun was live with ammunition.

[Karla]: “Huh? It doesn’t work?”

Cyan shook his head as he thought of something.

[Cyan]: “I think I am the only one that can use it”

Cyan remembered how the item was bonded to him now, it probably meant only he can use it now.

[Karla]: “Alright, then you give it a try”

Cyan took the gun back from Karla's hands, but, before he could take aim with his gun, Karla had stopped him.

[Karla]: “That’s not how you hold a gun, use your two hands first, and then line out the sights, like this, check that the safety lock is off and that the gun is live with ammunition, after that confirm the target distance and then make the necessary armaments in your position, like this”

Cyan followed all of Karla instructions as he memorized into his head, and then he took aim and pressed the trigger.

Immediately after, a blue dot traveling at a very fast speed was shoot out from gun cannon, and hit the energy barrier of the ring, causing a small ripple to form that had disappeared shortly after two seconds had passed.

Cyan did not felt any impact forced coming out for the gun as Karla had told him to expect, and the ring barrier had not been damaged in a permanent way, the only thing Cyan had felt was a wave of hot air that stroke his face after the [Energy Bullet] had impacted into the ring barrier.

In the other hand, Karla, that knew how tough the ring barrier truly was, was speechless; they had tested the ring barrier durability before, and the only thing that could cause a ripple was when Boss fist punched the barrier while using his skill [Armor Break], everything else would feel like hitting a solid wall and not rippled was form.

Even so, Cyan was unaware of this fact.

Cyan]: “Senior, was that ok?”

Karla returned to her senses because this was not the time to delve into this matter.

[Karla]: “Cough, cough, yes, now let’s begin with your training; because there is no time to waste, I will be your target instead, now, use the gun as I have told you, and try to stop me from reaching you”

Cyan was stunned for a moment, as he would have to shoot at his Senior now.

[Cyan]: “Wait, Senior…”

Karla would not hear any complains coming out for Cyan mouth as she took her knife out from her inventory, and dashed into Cyan direction.

However, even if Karla has taken her knife out, this was only to scare Cyan, as she would not be using it on him.

[Karla]: “Don’t you want to save Alice? Then shoot!”

After Karla has brought up Alice name, Cyan could only clench his teeth and raise his weapon up while taking aim. He has created this weapon exactly for this purpose, so he could not back down now.

Cyan aimed to Karla's legs because he was afraid of hurting her, however, after he pressed the trigger, what happened next was that Karla has dodged the bullet, and then she struck him down with a kick and disarmed him with her hands.

[Karla]: “Think where you are aiming at, and try to predict your target movement, and don’t remain still while I am running, you have a ranged weapon, and I only have a melee weapon, use the advantages that you have with you, let’s try it again”

Karla took her position 30 meters away from Cyan and waited for Cyan to be ready.

Cyan palmed his chest where Karla had struck him with a kick, he was still in pain because of that, and his hands have been twisted like a wired, while Karla disarming him. Even so, Cyan took his starting position once more.

[Karla]: “Ready?”

Cyan nodded and then Karla sprinted into his direction just like before.

Once more, Cyan aimed his gun to Karla’s legs and tried to predict to where she would be dodging this time, and then he pressed the trigger, however, like the last time Karla dodged it with no problem.

Cyan could only press the trigger two more times while witnessing how Karla dodged every bullet before he was struck down again to the floor and disarmed out of his weapon once again.

[Karla]: “Your intentions are too easy to read, newbie, I can predict where you will be shooting a hundred times of a hundred times even before you even press the trigger”

Karla returned to her starting position.

[Karla]: “if you want to stop me, stop using your eyes, and let your hands guide your weapon to find his its target instead, let’s try it again”

Karla love for weapons was in another level altogether, one where aiming was like breathing; it was something that comes out so naturally, that eyes were just an add-on, not to mention, she believed that guns have a mind of their own.

[Karla]: “Ready?”

Cyan stood up once more and nodded.

…

Cyan pressed the trigger but this time, no bullet had come out, because, in fact, he had emptied out his magazine, even so, Karla did not give him any chance to learn how to reload his weapon as he was struck down again and disarmed for the fifth time.

[Karla]: “If you are out of bullets, don’t just stop running, and panic like that, you still have your hands and your feet with you, used them, let’s try it again”

Cyan took the chance that they were on a paused, to learn how to reload his weapon. He found in fact, that it was very easy to do, as he only needed to think about reloading the magazine and then the magazine would be recharged in 5 minutes, however, after he did that the first time, he started to feel very dizzy at the same time he got a notification to his phone

Message [Midas]: “Warning, Player [Energy] levels had been lowered beyond the safety threshold, Player is recommended to take an [Energy Drink] immediately or take a rest as his energy recovers”

Then he got another message from Willy.

Message [Willy]: “Cyan, Player [Status] has been updated to reflect Player [Energy] levels”

Cyan opened his status, while he took an [Energy Drink] from his inventory as the message told him to do.

[Status]

[Information]

Type: Player Name: Cyan Status: Normal Location: [Training Tower] Level: 0+ Profession: None Sub-Profession: None Health: ~95% Energy: ~1% Stamina: ~80%

[Stats]

Strength (STR): 53 Dexterity (DEX): 53 Endurance (END): 53 Stamina (STA): 53 Intelligence (INT): 53 Free Points: 3

Cyan took notice of three new tabs, [Health], [Energy], [Stamina] that now was shown in his status, however, their value was not shown in exact numbers like the others, but instead, they had an “~” to them, meaning, “around that number”.

Even more so, Cyan thought it was weird to have his “Health” show up like “%” instead of a fixed numerical value, but maybe this was the reason why [Midas] did not show those values in the first place.

After checking the update in his [Status] and recovering ~50% of [Energy], Cyan went back to his training once again.

.

.

.

Cyan ended in the floor once more.

[Karla]: “Alright newbie, out our time, is up”

After one hour, Karla had called off the training, in the end, Cyan didn’t even manage to get a clean hit on her, the closer he has got, was to gazed her shoulder one time, but that was it.

On the other hand, Karla could only shutter to the thought of being hit by one of those [Energy Bullet], she had been dodging with all her myth all this while, while her brain was still in a fire due the overuse of her [Skill].

This was because even when one of those bullets had just gazed her, it had let a deep burning mark in her shoulder. It was a good thing that the nanobots in her body had fixed it very quickly and before Cyan had taken notice of that, or he would have been too afraid, to even take aim with his.

[Karla]: “Sigh, being a babysitter is too hard”

Karla was very tempted to use her [Skill] to have a better margin of maneuverability, but she ended the hour safely and without having to use her skill to dodge, but in hindsight, she does not know if this was a good or a bad thing in the end.

Having finished their flash training, Cyan and Karla left Floor 7 and went to Floor 1, where Karga was already waiting for them.

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.

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[Karga]: “You are late”

Karla could only massage her shoulder that is why she hated being a babysitter; no one will give her anything good for it but complains.

Karla ignored her brother complains and moved on with the missions

[Karla]: “Did you find it?”

Karga could only smile.

[Karga]: “Of course I did, they are 200 meters behind me, under one of the banners of [Midas]”

Cyan turned his head around to look in the direction that Alice was being held captive.

Cyan clenched his fist as he prepared for what it comes next, a plan for rescuing Alice and without fail.