The morning after the fight, Sevs went to school in a daze. Father was up, and they had breakfast together before they headed out.

On the ride to school, Sevs reflected on his time in the tutorial. It was the tiniest fraction of his life, not even registering in the grand scheme of things. That was just the thing, though. In many ways, this might have been the most impactful portion of his life since childhood. Of course, there was the possibility that this was recency bias, but Sevs didn’t think so. There was so much he had done, even a little ago, he would have never thought it possible. Before his conversation with Bexy, he was not sure what he would do. Now, this might be the one. In all of his life, he had never changed like this. After the first century, change came so slow he never recognized it.

The things he had learned from Father and Markus were things he had heard of before. Of course, there was very little he had never heard of. Maybe it was just the way it was presented. Maybe he just needed to find the right people. To come down to a low enough low that he was willing to listen.

It also could be that the system was still improving or figured him out enough to give him a little help. As much as it seemed to work against the players, it was on their side after all. The need to learn the player’s minds was the entire purpose of the game. Whatever it was, Sevs didn’t care. All he could think about was how sad he would be to leave this place and the bonds he had formed with the people in it.

As the bus rolled up to school, Sevs tried to focus on the gratitude that he felt. All his friends had given him so much and what hurt more than he would like to admit was that there was literally nothing he could do for them in return. What would a simulation want? Sevs didn’t know what would happen to them after he left. So he did the only thing he could; the thing he had tried to do in every tutorial. Sevs treated them like real people. He had to say goodbye.

Sevs got off the bus, and as he walked into the school door, something occurred to him. They didn’t know he was leaving. It might get suspicious if a teenager randomly started to say goodbye out of nowhere. That usually didn’t have a good meaning, and he didn’t want to worry people in his last couple of days.

Hank and Lily were waiting for him at their usual table. They waved him over with a smile. Sevs did his best to return it. He hoped he had done a good enough job. They seemed not to notice his undertone and were still talking furiously about the fight last night. Sevs came and joined them. Before they were able to start a conversation, someone came up to congratulate Hank on a dominating performance. Judging by Hank’s reaction, this wasn’t the first time that had happened. Based on the looks they were getting, Sevs doubted that it would be the last either. They barely managed to exchange words before they had to go off to class.

Sevs floated through the day. He went to each of his classes. Each felt a little pointless, even the ones he originally looked forward to. Not knowing that he wouldn’t be able to actually finish any of them left Sevs with a little bit of emptiness on the inside.

Mr. Tart got Sevs caught in a vigorous debate about world-building in early fantasy, and that brightened his mood a little before lunch. Due to a quick message in their group chat, the friends decided to meet outside. They had a little out-of-the-way spot for lunch. This way, they had some time for themselves. Where they could just talk.

“So, Sevs, when are we doing something like that again? It was so much fun!” Lily asked.

“You just like commentating,” Hank said as he poked her ribs. “If you had to fight, it wouldn’t be as much fun.”

“I didn’t see you complaining. You won easily. What are you trying to say; I don’t want to fight? I have a better record than you.”

“I don’t think ten and one is really better than eighteen and two.”

“It's a better ratio. Learn some math.”

“The ratio isn't everything. When you have twenty fights we'll see if you are that good. Besides, my division has more competition.”

Sevs smiled as his friends bickered. He was glad to have been able to do that event with them. He wasn’t sure if it was worth it, though. Was it worth a couple years of quiet moments like this? He was sure he might have been able to solve the quest in a more subtle way that got him less EXP. The excitement got him carried away, and it wasn’t until it was much too late.

Lily broke him out of his thoughts. “So? It only took you a week to set it up, and we barely had to do any planning.”

Sevs shook his head slightly before responding. “I don’t know. What would you like to do next? I don’t know if we want to have fights frequently. We would burn the school out and get in trouble. Besides, what year-long feud with a team member do we have going on?”

“Hmmm, I don’t think we do. Maybe we can get something going with a band? You know that is where Henry gets all his sound mixing skills from.”

Sevs actually didn't know that. It made a lot of sense. “Sure, why not? Let's get him famous.”

They spent the rest of lunch planning for an event that could never happen. Sevs could not have been happier. When they went to go, Hank stopped Sevs. “Hey man, Really I want to thank you. You helped me out a lot there.”

“Of course, Hank. I would do anything for you, brother.”