[BONUS]

Evie didn't know what to make of the situation when she found Ren alone in front of Lone Valley. What happened to the others?

"Where are the others?" she asked.

Ren shrugged, "I don't know."

"What's going on?" she inquired further. If this was a plot for her and Ren to be alone then she wasn't amused. "Didn't you say that they were coming?"

Ren looked down at her with an unreadable expression. "If you want to, you can call them. I've been trying to contact them since morning."

Evie's suspecting expression was hidden under the mask, and she decided to call the others herself. It wasn't like she thought that Ren was lying. It was just . . . to make sure that he wasn't lying.

"Hello?" Evie greeted as soon as Leonel picked up.

"Leo, are you not coming with us to Lone Valley?" she asked immediately.

Leonel coughed on the other line. "Sorry, I'm sick. I had too many drinks last night that I couldn't even get out of bed."

"Leo! You lazy a**! Are you going back to that game of yours without even washing your dirty plates?!"

Evie heard a shout on the other side that wasn't Leonel's voice. It was a woman and she suspected that it was his mother.

Leo immediately bid her farewell, "A-anyway. I can't come. Bye!" He quickly ended the call.

Tut!

Evie stared at her screen for a moment before dialling another number.

"Isolde?" Evie didn't even get to ask a question when Isolde stopped her with a barrage of excuses.

"Sorry, Evie. I can't make it. There are so many things I have to do in Guns and Knives."

"Hoi, Isolde! There you are! When are you coming over to the guild? You're busier helping other guilds than Guns and Knives! It's been weeks since you last time showed yourself!"

Evie was about to speak after hearing that growling voice on the other line when Isolde beat her to it.

"Ahem. Anyway, I am very busy with the guild right now. See you later." Isolde also quickly hung up.

Tut!

". . ." Evie wasn't having it, and she was not the type to give up easily.

She even dialled Sumeri's and Nikolai's numbers, but the two were finishing a quest of their own. Even Ragnar, who usually didn't attend his meetings, was now busy in a meeting with his business associates. Which was a lie, of course, Evie could feel it was.

While Evie was busy contacting everyone, Ren just watched her did so. Even though he couldn't see her face, he could feel her uneasiness from meters away.

He couldn't blame her, though. He would also feel awkward after what happened last night.

Though he was back to his usual cool faade without a trace of alcohol on his face, he was giving his all to look that way.

This morning, he woke up feeling like shit. He felt like he had been hit by a truck and got dragged through the dirt for hours before getting thrown into a river.

His head hurt so bad that he thought his brain was going to explode and crack his skull. The only thing keeping him from passing out in bed was the fact that he had the promise to fulfill with Evie.

Ren was hoping that if he pretended to be indifferent to the whole situation, Evie would forget what happened last night.

Though he doubted that she would, based on her reaction.

"Well?" Ren asked when Evie finally ended the call.

Evie looked at him with a pout. "They're all busy."

"I guess so."

"Then I'm not going," Evie told him.

". . ." Ren only shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Ren then entered the valley without another word, much to Evie's surprise.

Was he really going to go in there alone?!

Evie took a deep breath and let it out in one long blast.

When she first met Ren, he seemed unapproachable and seemed like nothing could faze him. But after seeing and talking with him when he was drunk, he didn't even appear like the same person.

Alcohol could really bring out another side of a person.

And now, Evie was stuck between two choices -- to go in or not. To leave Ren on his own there or face the unbearable tension between them when they were alone.

And who knew how many hours or possibly even days they would venture inside there. With just the two of them, Evie wasn't sure if she wanted that.

But one thing she was certain of was that . . . she was needed to trigger Meriyaah's quest. And she knew that Ren was too stubborn to back down with his choice.

Evie released a long sigh over the horizon.

She blamed Ren for giving her mix signals and for breaking their once comfortable relationship. But above all, she blamed herself since all of this started because of her.

And she knew that there was no going back. They could never be the same like they used too. Now, they would be forever this awkward strangers who didn't know how to move and talk around each other. Which she hated.

Though there was also a part in her that felt relieve for some reason. And that part she didn't want to know further.

It was getting dark fast. Thanks to her indecisiveness, it took Evie a whole day to think before finally deciding to appear in Lone Valley.

She should just leave. Ren could take care of himself. After all, he was strong -- probably the strongest among all of the players now. No one could defeat him.

And besides, he had Pii with him. No boss was a match with that bug.

But contrary to her decision, Evie's body moved forward and before she knew it, she was transported inside Lone Valley after she went through the cold jelly-like transparent magical barrier.

At that moment, she knew that she would regret her decision of doing so.

The first thing she checked was the [Logging Out] button and she felt dread creping inside her when she was unable to press it.

There was no logging out!

Evie felt trapped all of a sudden.

Why was logging out not allowed when she wasn't even in the Boss's room, yet?

Was this place . . . the whole domain of the boss?

How did that happen when Sebastian was clearly the Boss of this place?

Did something happened to him?

His message really seemed like urgent.

Evie frowned and started looking around for clues. There was nothing unusual. No mist, no fog, and no rain clouds forming overhead. There was just a beautiful snow-covered valley with tall dead trees surrounding it and a crystal lake running at the center.

Evie shook her head and started walking towards the laid-out path. Her gut feeling was telling her that something was off.

The valley was beautiful, but it also felt wrong. The air was heavy with moisture, and there was a strange scent in the air. It reminded Evie of something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

When she arrived near where Ren stood, she paused in her tracks and stared down at the ground.

"Where's Sebastian?" she asked. The only one who she thought could keep this invisible tension between them at bay was the centaur.

"Not here," replied Ren and started walking ahead.

Evie followed behind him with tight lips.

"I'm sorry about yesterday night," Ren started after a short silence.

Evie looked at him and smiled weakly. "For what you said?"

Ren stifled a laugh. "No. For being drunk while saying it."

Evie caught her tongue, and her heart skipped a bit. A not-drunk Ren while saying those words was even more dangerous compared to last night.

Since he was now sober, she could no longer justify his actions using alcohol as a reason.

What was she supposed to say? They were only at the beginning of their journey, but things were already looking 'great' for them. Mind the sarcasm.

Evie knew that stepping foot into this place was a bad idea, but she still went anyway.

While Evie was internally struggling, Ren didn't feel the least guilty for making things awkward between them. He knew that he shouldn't have said those words, but he just couldn't help himself. Evie was already avoiding and treating him like a stranger, so what was the point of being cautious now?

Ren thought about it for hours, starting when he left the island last night until now. And the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced to play it aggressively.

( . . . continuation on NOTES)

A/N

Only one chap today. There's a family problem to resolve so I didn't get the time to write much.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Happy New Year!