Afterlife Dream

Now that we knew what happened to the others and what was about to happen to us, it was natural to again have doubt.

I looked at my five friends one by one, and they were looking at me as well. There were a lot of things that crossed our minds but were difficult to discuss. After some minutes of silence passed, I decided to say something to clear the stuffy atmosphere.

"It is not too late," I said. "I understand if some of you want to retreat."

Livina opened her mouth to say something, but she then just shook her head repeatedly and said nothing. ZhaoYun merely lowered his head and said nothing.

I understood them completely. I was not just saying that to make them feel better. Who would want to freely enter after knowing what would happen? It turned out that Cecilia would

"I will go," Cecilia raised her hand with a grin.

We all looked at her. She beamed at us, showing off two rows of bright teeth. "What is it? It's okay. I am interested to go. I want to go."

"Really?" Livina asked, a deep crease forming between her brows. "If you go, you..."

She did not continue. She merely shook her head again in distress.

Cecilia put her arm around Livina. "Don't worry about me. I really want to go. It will be fine."


"I will go too," I said with a smile, relieved that I wouldn't be the only one.

"Yay!" Cecilia put her other arm around me. "So happy that Antares will go with me!"

"Of course I will go with you. I think I am the first one who wants to go face the Dimensional Master."

HellWitch stepped in front of us. "That makes me the third person then. I will also go."

If HellWitch agreed to go, naturally Lazarus would as well.

"I will go too!" Lazarus quickly said, as if afraid of being left behind.

Now that four people agreed to go, only two more people were left to make their decisions.

The four of us gazed at Livina and ZhaoYun, who exchanged terrified glances with each other.

"You two don't have to go," I repeated my words. "Go back, it is not too late. You can just exit the portal and..."

"No," Livina cut me mid-sentence. "We have to go."

"..."

Didn't I just say that they did not have to go?

ZhaoYun cleared his throat. He patted me on the shoulder and smiled at me.

"Antares, the two of us really have to go. Even if we stay behind, what is the point? Wait for the others to reach level 120 so we can exit the game?" ZhaoYun asked.

"Um, yes, there is that option," I pointed out. "A safer option."

As opposed to going through the portal and facing an enemy that we did not know the strength of.

"Nah, I don't want to," Livina said stubbornly. "I don't want to go back there."
ZhaoYun shared the same sentiment. "I also don't want to. Let's just all go together."

"Wait a little bit," I said. "Are you two sure that you are not going to regret it?"

They both shook their heads in unison before exchanging knowing smiles.

"We have had plenty of time to consider before we agreed to join all of you. And then while we trained to get to 150, we also considered aplenty. I think we had enough time to retreat but we didn't," ZhaoYun explained.

Livina nodded in agreement.

"Then, let us go together," I said, holding my hands out to my friends.

We took each other's hands, forming a circle.

"Let's do this," Cecilia said.

"We will succeed at all cost," HellWitch declared.

"We will go back safely," Lazarus beamed with excitement.

"We will bring the others back with us," ZhaoYun gave a shallow nod to all of us.

"And then we will save the game," Livina said with tears in her eyes. "And we will all exit the game together."

While we were hesitating, time was slowly ticking away.

Knowing that the raid was not going to end within two hours, it did not matter if we did not enter at 10 AM sharp, but we still had to enter before the two-hour period was over.

And so, we entered one by one.

Cecilia went first.

And then I went as the second person.

Before I clicked on the NPC, I threw one last look at the cold corridor. And at my friends. I was glad that I did not have to enter alone.

I was glad that I had friends to look at before I left the Afterlife Dream realm.

As soon as I clicked on the NPC, my sight blurred until everything around me disappeared. I could feel myself disappearing as well. Dispersing into nothing.

Daniel...

I frowned.

Daniel...

Who?

Who was calling me Daniel?

I was not Daniel.

I was...

I was...

I ripped my eyes open in fright. Above me, the lamp was shining brightly at the white ceiling. I could hear the ticking sound of a nearby clock.

Tick, tack, tick, tack...

"Daniel?"

A woman loomed over me, blocking the blinding lamp light. She looked somewhat confused. I did not recognize her at first. She looked somewhat familiar. And then...

Oh!

I widened my eyes when I realized who it was. It felt as if I had not seen her for ages. The dark brown, curly hair that reached to her shoulder. The bright blue eyes. The shallow wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. The face that I had seen every single day since I was young, but also the face that I missed very much.

"Mom."

My adoptive mother beamed at me.

"Daniel, you finally woke up. I thought you are going to sleep until noon!" she joked while pulling my blanket off my body.

Sleep until noon...

"How are you feeling today? You look so much better than yesterday night. I am so relieved."

Without waiting for me to answer, Mom reached out to feel my forehead. I was not feverish at all. She heaved a sigh of relief.

"Your fever is also gone. Are you feeling anything? Any chest pain? Do you have any trouble breathing?"

"No."

"Cough?"

I shook my head.

No, there was nothing.

I raised my hand and touched around my throat and chest. It used to hurt there, right? For some reason, I could not remember anymore what it felt like. Weird. I only slept one night and suddenly I was healed. There was not a single trace of pain. As if I never fell sick in the first place.

Mom heaved another sigh of relief. "I am so glad that the doctor is wrong. I am going to get him to check on you in a bit. Why don't you eat your breakfast for now?"

Mom put a small wooden table over my lap and brought a tray of hospital food over. There was a plate with two slices of white, untoasted bread, two small packages of butter and jam, a bottle of fresh milk, two boiled eggs, and a bowl of chicken broth. A standard hospital breakfast.

I looked at the breakfast in front of me for a long time. Somehow, the food seemed unusual but I had no idea why. Did I not eat this kind of breakfast almost my whole life?

Mom gave me a kiss on my forehead. "I will go get the doctor. Eat your breakfast, they will not fly into your mouth automatically."

I nodded.

Mom left and I started to gobble down the food. They tasted just the way I thought they would.

Just as I was wiping the corner of my mouth with a napkin, Mom came back with the doctor in tow. The elderly doctor with sparse hair was my doctor for years. He knew my physical condition more than I did. Doctor Thompson was more than delighted to see me.

"Daniel! Wow, I am surprised! You look amazing, son!"

I laughed. That was what he said every time we met. I might be wheezing, trying to grab at the last straw to stay alive, and he might still tell me that I had never looked better.

"Lie down, let me check your pulse and everything," he said cheerfully while putting on his stethoscope. Mom removed the tray and the table, and I lay down obediently.

The doctor unbuttoned my shirt and pressed the cold metal disc at various spots on my chest and stomach. I looked at the doctor's face as he listened to my heart rate and respiratory rate.

"Hmmm," he said, blinking in amazement. "You are... fully recovered, I believe."

Mom's jaw dropped in surprise. "Doctor, are you just... Really? Is our Daniel good now?"

The doctor shrugged and held his hands up.

"Everything is normal. It was as if the pneumonia never existed. I am more than surprised but I am happy with the development. He is as good as new!"