30 Casual Conversation
Sob~
Bob shed a tear and sobbed when he chewed his first bite. The flavor reminded him of home, and his home was with his mother.
'Mom.'
The grief finally caught up to him. His tear ducts worked overtime and Bob no longer held his sobs back.
"Ugh. Mom."
Everyone on the table, who was busy stuffing their mouths with virtual food, suddenly stopped. It was awkward to eat whilst someone was crying their hearts out.
"Hey, buddy. You alright?" E, being the party leader, said in a soft voice.
"Hik. I-I, she, my mom." Bob made incoherent noises. But everyone somewhat understood his misery.
"There there. You'll be alright." E stood from his seat and walked towards Bob. He ought to do something.
E rubbed Bob's back. The act of rubbing the back of a man he just met was bizarre, which caused E to think.
'This rubbing action would be very inappropriate if he wasn't crying.'
While E was thinking useless thoughts, someone else tried to comfort Bob with words.
"Hey there, champ. Wanna talk about it?" Enma cautiously said.
'Shit. I hope his mom didn't die or anything.'
"Hik. M-my mom just died."
"Ah fuck. I mean, my condolences."
Enma obviously didn't know how to handle the situation. And Annera was there to the rescue.
"If it makes it easier, you can voice out your grief." She said.
Bob listened to her words. She was held in high regard by Bob since the beginning because of her healing.
Bob calmed down as E's back rubbing continued. He began to speak about his woes.
"My mom died just earlier today. And I couldn't do anything."
Bob complained. No one else talked about anything and kept quiet, but that was enough.
"That's why I'll kill them all. I'll never forgive them." Bob's voice was filled with rage.
The party members were alarmed at Bob's enmity. They never would have thought that his mother was killed brutally in real life. They were all thinking as if Bob was a real person.
But there was someone else on the table that was not a player.
"Believer. It is not right that you hold that grudge. I understand that you want to taste the blood of vengeance, but it is never right to include those that weren't a part of it."
Fera, who was an NPC, was the only person that thought of connecting the werewolves' attack with his mother's death. She was not aware of a world that was beyond her programming, just like Bob.
Bob looked at her with sullen eyes. He knew that she was right but his anger would not be quelled until he spilled some blood.
"Think about it. How many did you kill today?"
When Fera asked that question, Bob got into thinking. He did kill those werewolves who were also part human. They all had lives aside from the event today.
'Oh no. How could I bring myself to do such horrid things?'
Now Bob realized the weight of his actions. Causing him to feel even worse than before. However, unlike earlier where he was tearing up, he was now just feeling bad.
"I-" Bob choked on his words.
"It wasn't my fault. They attacked me first!"
He explained to everyone with excuses that they could understand. Their conversation was convoluted but it wasn't unusual to fight when you are attacked. However, someone was paying close attention to their conversation.
'Today? Bob killed people just today?'
Annera, who was highly suspicious of Bob, noticed the tiniest of details.
'And why is this NPC speaking like she knows everything?'
"Nobody is blaming you, Bob. Whatever happened today is the result of an enemy attack by the werewolves. I surmise that the werewolves are currently in a crisis if they had to do these horrible things."
Fera continued comforting Bob with war facts. Officially, Bob committed murder, but the situation came first before his actions. The bigger issue was regarding the werewolves' sudden attack.
"Bob. You are a person that this church values. We don't want you to fall into degeneracy by keeping that grudge. If you will, I offer you a place here and we will help you."
Fera felt bad about Bob's situation, and all she could do was offer him a place to stay. A place where he wouldn't be alone. This was what Bob needed the most right now, a place to call home.
"Sniff. Okay." Bob replied.
And with those words, Bob continued eating.
'Ugh. Mom. I'm sorry.'
As he chewed on the delicious food, he somehow felt better. The familiar taste of home was something that he had to let go of. The virtual world continues its story despite how bad things are.
"This food. It tastes so good." Bob commented as his tears continued flowing.
"That's right. Eat up." E stopped rubbing Bob's back and went back to his seat.
Seeing that Bob has calmed down, everyone relieved. The mood may have turned sour, the food on their plates was still heavenly. They all ate in silence with happy smiles on their faces.
Bob saw those smiles and he couldn't help but smile as well.
'Yes. There are other people in this world.'
Bob overcame his grief by replacing it with positives. He didn't dwell in sadness and would appreciate the kindness of other people instead.
"Thank you, everyone." Bob voiced out.
Nobody said a word. They were eating, after all. But it was certain that everyone had the best of sentiments in mind as Bob said his thanks.
-
After dinner, there was not much to do. So the party just had a discussion.
"That was a fantastic dinner. I'm full." E said as he patted his stomach.
"Be careful E, although you might feel that you are full, you may actually be hungry in real life." Annera warned.
Annera was talking about their real state. In the real world, it should be the evening in Asia. So it was just the right time for dinner.
"Oh shoot!" Enma exclaimed. "I have to go! I forgot that I have to make dinner before my parent's come home."
"Oh. Hurry then! It should still be around 7 pm there, right?" E stated.
"Be careful of your portions." Blight uttered.
And with that, Enma logged out.
-
"Good. It seems they aren't at home yet."
As he got off his virtual reality rig, he checked the house's atmosphere. The lights were off and no appliances were turned on.
"Aight. Let's just cook a simple meal. Fried rice it is!"
He headed to the kitchen as started the cooking procedure with rice.
"1 part rice, 2 parts water."
Uncle Roger is disappointed.
-
"Now that Enma's gone offline, we should get going as well. We can't continue with two of our members out." E decided to end today's gaming session.
"We started playing early today, and Annera was late, but it's all good." He continued.
"Okay." Blight said.
*Part Member 'Blight' has disconnected from the game. [Logged-off]
"I'm sorry. I had to do some stuff in school." Annera lied.
"It's alright. We were able to get a few materials from the werewolves. Although I'm not confident that it's worth anything." E replied.
"What are you guys going to do?" Bob interjected.
As he asked, someone stood from her chair. It was Fera.
"Bob, I'm going to have to go and talk with the church head. You can wait here." Fera explained.
"Oh. Okay."
Fera walked away from the table and walked deeper into the church proper.
"In my case, I'm going outside. I have some stuff to do." E said.
"Oh? Do take care, and have dinner first though." Annera stated.
"See ya!"
*Party leader 'E' has disconnected. [Logged-off]
"How about you, Annera?" Bob asked.
"Hmm. I don't have much to do. I wouldn't be singing karaoke alone if I had responsibilities." She explained.
"Karaoke?"
"Oh, yea. We don't know much about each other."
"Yes."
"I'm Annera. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, Annera. I'm Bob."
They shook hands after properly introducing each other. They were already acquainted but they only formally acknowledged each other now.
"Now that we have the introductions out of the way. May I ask you a couple of questions?" Annera uttered. Her eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"Okay. I also want to know more about you, same with everyone in the party." Bob replied.
"Nice. I'll ask you a question first then?"
"Yes."
"Bob, what are you really?"
"Excuse me? I don't understand your question."
"First, your HP bar is weird. Second, your scream of pain. Lastly, you killed people?"
"My HP bar? You asked about this earlier. My total HP is 100. Why do you ask?"
"100?!"
Annera could not believe Bob's answer. It was only expected that a person that could survive a couple of hits from that big werewolf would have a huge stack of HP for their level.
"Then why didn't you die?" She cut to chase.
"Oh? Someone asked me about this before. I'm an Essential."
