Page 18 of Our Final Game

“So, what’s your type then?” he asks as he starts toward the town, signaling for me to follow him.

“Tall, attentive, maybe reliable,” I hum through the headset.

“I might know somebody for you.” He chuckles.

“Oh, really?” I say, just when we’re making it back to the town and to the NPC that has the quest, I guess he wants us to go on. It’s also above my level, but I know I’ll be fine with him, though I think it’s even a little above his level too.

“Yeah, maybe you can meet him someday.”

“You’re such a tease.” I laugh.

“You never know,” he says, the quest popping up in my drop-down list. I accept it, and we head towards the location where the item we need to finish it out is.

“I’m going to finish this off really quick and then we can level you again. You might level in this map though, monsters are kinda strong,” Zero says.

“Okay, sounds good. I’ll just follow along and collect the loot.”

“Perfect.”

We make it to the tomb and enter. It’s completely dark except for the light shining from our characters. He kills the first few monsters pretty easily. The lower-level ones are always at the bottom stages. I wonder how far in we have to go to get the item, though.

I don’t want to distract him too much as we get higher, so I try not to talk much till we find it. I collect all the loot the monsters are dropping and use buffs on him when they run out.

“Thanks, one more level, I think.”

“Okay, take your time,” I say, a little yawn escaping me.

“Are you tired?” he asks softly, and I bite my lip.

“No, it’s okay.”

“If you’re tired, I can finish another time.”

“No, no, I wanna stay on with you.” I hope that didn’t sound too whiny, I already wanna kick myself for pouting.

What the fuck is he doing to me?

“Alright, I’ll make it quick. How’s your exp bar?” he asks.

“It’s almost done.”

“Good,” he says, and we keep moving through the tomb. The monsters are getting more difficult to kill, even for him. Zero stabs his sword into a bat-like creature, and the screech of it dying out snaps me awake a little. I’m dozing off a little, the day finally catching up to me. I breathe in deeply. “Have you tried this tomb before?” I ask.

“Nah, this is my first try, that’s why it’s taking longer than usual. Even though I feel like the quest isn’t that high of a level quest for the monsters not to drop the metal yet.”

“Hmmm, is it the right monster?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s these ants.” He chuckles.

“Let’s keep looking, at least I’m about to level again.” I laugh.

“Yeah, I’ll go on for a little bit more if you’re okay with it.”

“Nah, I’m good still.”

“Alright,” he says before jumping back into the respawned monsters. I buff him again, and my experience bar fills for the second time tonight. The screen lights up, celebrating my new level, and I give him a heart emoji.

Some time passes, and I feel my eyes getting heavy. My breathing evens out as I rest my head on my wrist cushion. Hopefully he can’t hear me if I take a little nap while he’s completing the quest.