Sora felt his surroundings change, and before he could even take a breath, a flood of notifications bombarded his vision. Recognizing the familiar streets of Nara forming around him, he instinctively veiled himself.
He blinked in disbelief. 'What the hell? Why do I have so many friend requests?'
Pushing aside his confusion, he decided to check his messages first. All three were from the same person.
Figures. It’s not like I have many friends outside the Tower.
Sora winced, suddenly recalling the information trade he had arranged in Seoul.
'Damn… I really forgot about that. I asked for intel and never thought I’d be gone for years.'
Shaking his head, he tried to mentally calculate how long he had actually spent inside the Tower.
'Why didn’t anyone warn me I'd spend years in there?'
Dismissing the thought for now, he turned to browse his friend requests. The list was filled with unfamiliar names, but one near the top made him pause.
Without hesitation, Sora accepted, watching as Alius’s name popped into his friend list. Almost immediately, he sent a message.
Alius responded almost instantly.
Sora expected a quick reply, but instead, minutes passed before Alius finally responded.
The flood of bad news caught Sora off guard. His mind raced, instinctively worried about his region, but he quickly focused on Alius’s situation.
Alius took his time, explaining how things had worsened since they last spoke.
Sora didn’t understand the last part and asked,
Sora blinked at the message. What’s happening now? He hesitated, unsure how to respond.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Alius quickly followed up.
Sora chuckled at Alius’s remark and replied.
Closing the chat, Sora looked around. He was back on Earth, and Nara looked exactly as it had half a year ago.
Just as he was about to pull out his [Mana Phone] to contact his parents, he noticed his [Soul Link] with Kara had reconnected.
Kara is in Nara as well, it seems. He smiled at the thought.
Scanning the crowd, Sora noticed players searching for someone, their gazes darting around the plaza. Floating down, he landed near a group and listened to their conversation.
"You're not dreaming, we all saw it. The tower was glowing, as it does every time someone leaves. But no one saw anyone coming out... Maybe it was a false alarm," a bearded man muttered to his companion.
"Only six humans are left inside the tower: Cruz, Frekk, Berger, Casey, Msakni, and Eden," the other man blurted out. "That girl, Kara Spirine, left a few days ago, but she refused all interviews and just disappeared. Frekk and Casey like the spotlight, so maybe they’ll answer our questions, but Cruz hates journalists. The others are rising stars, so they might enjoy the attention."
The bearded man didn’t respond to his friend's rambling, but Sora listened intently. Nearby conversations revealed that most of the players present were journalists or guild representatives, waiting to recruit candidates emerging from the [Ascension Tower].
Time to make use of this mask, Sora thought, equipping his [Liar’s Mask] and setting a generic name and level—displaying "Artas" and a modest level 80 above his head.
Satisfied with his disguise, he left the area and soon spotted Kara exiting an inn.
Just as he opened his mouth to call out to her, her voice resonated in his mind.
'Oh, you've changed appearances... Nice disguise, Artas. Left the tower early as well? Addicted to my [Time-Space], aren’t you?'
Sora smiled as she effortlessly saw through both his disguise and his real reason for leaving.
'Of course! Training in the tower isn't nearly as good. But now, it's time to leave Japan. Are you ready?'
Kara looked surprised, her thoughts shifting.
'Why? Rachel is still in Japan. I checked with Sin Soo-Yun just earlier. Are you postponing your revenge?'
Sora hesitated for a moment before replying, a trace of conflict in his voice.
'I would prefer that too, but Alius is in trouble. Didn’t he contact you?'
Kara’s was taken aback as she replied, 'He did contact me. He asked about you—wondering if you were planning on coming back soon—and even asked about my current level of power. It almost felt like he was disappointed when I described where I’m at right now. He never told me he was in trouble though...' She laughed lightly, the disbelief in her own words clear. 'I know he used to be you, but if we’re going to help him, I’m teaching him a lesson. How dare he look down on me and not ask for my help?'
Sora smiled, understanding both perspectives. 'He’s got level 180 players tracking him and is stuck in safe zones. Salim was right about Hannah Stone. She’s a snake and she’s after Alius. She got greedy, but he saw through her trap. For an unknown reason, she wanted to kill him after that. But since he had Hope with him, she needed backup. Alius thinks that's why she involved the [GODS] guild.'
Kara’s playful demeanor vanished at the mention of the guild. Her expression hardened. 'That explains why he felt I was lacking. There’s no way I can help him at my current level.'
'Don’t worry about that,' Sora reassured her. 'We’ll get him out of this. From what he said, he’s found ways to become incredibly strong, but they attacked him before he could fully develop.'
After gifting Kara a [Liar’s Mask] and showing her how to customize it, the two left Nara swiftly.
Their first stop was Seoul, where Sora settled his debt with Sin Soo-Yun. While he would have liked to chat more with the information broker, he did not have time to linger, so he requested additional information, specifically a detailed analysis of the [GODS] and [ASS] guilds’ members. With that handled, they continued their journey to Russia.
Reaching the city of Mirny, they spotted several figures hovering in the distance. Sora’s sharp senses quickly discerned a group of about a dozen players, their guild tags hidden, but his information clear about their identity. They were [ASS] guild members. Among them, there were also two players from the [GODS] guild.
