After getting Meriyaah's cloak, the logout feature was available again. Evie did not skip a beat and immediately left the game. It wasn't her intention to be so obvious of evading Ren, but it ended up seeming like that.

However, now that she was back in her room, Evie couldn't help but think about Ren. She didn't even realize that an entire hour had already passed and that all she did was look at the ceiling from her pod.

Ren was giving her mixed signals, and she didn't know how to react to them. She didn't understand anything anymore. Back then, she thought that he was confessing to her, only to be slapped in the face upon seeing his hand in hand with his high school crush.

But whenever they were alone, he gave her the impression that he liked her. But if he did, then why was he together with Saya?

Evie didn't think of Ren as someone who would play with a girl's feelings, though. She pegged him to be serious and the type of person who wouldn't waste time on unnecessary things.

Or did she do something to him, causing him to take revenge by confusing her and making things awkward for her?

She doubted that. Ren did nothing but help her from the very beginning.

"So why . . .?" Evie whispered and covered her eyes with her arm. She had a headache from figuring out the reason behind Ren's strange behavior.

She thought that seeing Ren and Saya together was the most painful thing, but receiving mixed signals that would raise her hopes every time they were together, which would be crushed every time she was reminded that he was with someone else, was even more painful.

No . . . Evie shook her head.

In the first place, she had no intention of saying 'yes' to him, so the turn of events was in her favor.

She admitted that she admired him, but that admiration unknowingly bloomed into something else. However, having a relationship was the last thing on her mind.

Should she leave World Conqueror?

At this point, leaving without saying goodbye was the best course of action.

However, if Ren saw her at her school, it would only make him more suspicious, and knowing him, he wouldn't take no for an answer. He'd just keep pestering her until she gave in and told him why she was avoiding him.

It wasn't like she had a good reason not to tell him. In fact, there were several reasons why she should. But she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Evie knew that once she did, he'd start asking questions about her past and where she came from. And while she could definitely talk to him about those things, she didn't want to.

Not yet, anyway.

She needed time to figure out how much of her past she wanted to share with him before she opened up. Plus, she still wasn't sure what his reaction would be when she told him about her family.

But it seemed like she no longer had to think about those things since Ren was already dating his high school crush.

That 'thing' with them was her own misunderstanding.

In fact, she might have misunderstood Ren's kindness all this time.

Yep, leaving and changing schools sure looked tempting right now. Evie mused to herself.

With nothing to do and wanting to avoid thinking about Ren, she decided to check Meriyaah's Cloak.

[Meriyaah's Cloak (Artifact)

One of the artifacts from the three-piece set of Meriyaah's equipment that catapulted the Enchantress to the top.

Made of all-white silk came from the special breed of Draconic Silkworms. Its white leather hide that made up the armor of its torso came from the skin that Meriyaah managed to chip off from the fabled Azhurma, the gargantuan dragon boss. Intricate details decorated the cloak, and the white metal armors flanked on each shoulder were said to be made from Angelic Stones.

When equipped, immune to all Status Effects and Mind Control attacks.

Acquired after completing the second part of Meriyaah's quest.

HP +10 000, MP + 5 000, DEF + 500, MDEF +500

Only Meriyaah's successor can wear this cloak ]

With this, she now had two artifacts and equipment with her, and she could easily be the number two player, just behind Ren. That was only if she chose to register her stat into the system, so it could post her standing on the leaderboard from all the thousands of players playing the game.

Of course, the leaderboard would only display the player's name, class, and subclass.

But, like Ren, she preferred to keep her stats private.

So far, the Albino Twins were topping the leaderboards, with Scar not far off behind them.

Evie decided to take a bath with her mind in the clouds. She turned on the shower instead of the heater, and she jumped when the cold water hit her face.

After taking a bath, she put on her clothes backward and proceeded to the kitchen, accidentally burning her toast and pouring juice on her cereal.

". . ." Great!

Evie threw all those food away and proceeded to reheat the leftover food, only to realize that she didn't transfer the food to a plate, so the plastic melted into her lasagna, and that was the end of it.

Evie sighed over the ceiling and decided to order takeout instead, lest she burnt the house for being absent-minded.

After eating her food, Evie was ready to dive into sleep, but she only tossed and turned on her bed.

Like she was possessed, she rolled out of her blanket and decided to log into the game . . . just to see if she could spot Ren or something along those lines. Not that she was going to talk to him or anything.

It was just so she could satisfy that 'itch' to see him.

When she logged inside World Conqueror's headquarters, there was no one around except Alice, whose face lit up like a candle upon seeing her.

"Finally, you came!" she beamed and zoomed on Evie.

"I've been waiting for you!"

"Is there something you need?" Evie asked while her eyes darted left and right to check if it was just really the two of them there.

Alice snickered over her hand. Her eyes turned crescent with glee. "There's none. But the one you're searching for is not here."

Evie's face heated behind her mask. "I-I'm not . . ."

"Anyway." Alice flew above in circles. "You know that I'm always here in HQ, right? I'm bound to this place until I completely repay Ren for rescuing me."

Evie looked at Alice suspiciously. "What about it?"

"Nothing much. I just . . . heard a lot of things, tis' all."

". . ." Evie didn't reply. She wasn't really interested in what the ghost was saying.

Still, she was disappointed for not achieving her goal, and she knew that the urge to see Ren would keep her from falling asleep.

'This is annoying,' Evie said to herself and was about to log out when Alice zoomed on her, and she stepped back with a scare.

"Aren't you at least going to ask me what I heard?"

Evie shook her head. "I don't want to spy on others."

Alice blinked before she straightened her back and smiled like a mischievous cat. "Really? Even if I tell you the reason why Ren and Saya are together?"

". . . What?"

"Teeheehee! Now you're interested!" Alice giggled before putting a finger over her chin with her eyes on the ceiling, seemingly thinking of something.

"Hmm . . . but since you don't want to pry on other people's secrets, then I guess you won't want to know."

Alice was about to fly away when Evie grabbed her skirt. Behind her mask, her flushed face was paired with a pout.

"Tell me."

"Hmm . . ." Alice thought hard before she beamed. "Okay."

Evie was surprised at her response. That was fast.

"It's something about you, actually."

Evie's head tilted to the side. "Me?"

"Yeah. Something about a video or something that Saya will post online if Ren didn't do what she wanted." Alice then leaned over to Evie, their face just inches apart.

"So what is it? What's in that video? Do you know? Is it you caught on camera picking your nose or sliding along a slippery hallway? I understand. My colleagues often spot me doing it back in the days, and I can understand how humiliating it is. Don't worry. You can tell your most shameful secret to me. It's very safe!"

Evie wasn't listening to Alice, though. Her mind felt like it would split, and her heart felt like it would explode at any moment.

Could it be . . .

"What about the video?" Evie disrupted Alice. "Do you know what's in the video exactly?"

Alice blinked, and she raffled her fringe. "Do you not know? Bummer . . . and here I thought that you did."

"You don't?"

"That's why I'm asking you."

". . ."

"But maybe Leonel knows," Alice said meaningfully and winked at Evie. "Why don't you ask him?"