*Ding!*

I read the message from Becker, I stand up and look at Ivonna who’s still thinking about the invasion.

“Let’s go, he’s here.”

Ivonna looks at me and then nods with understanding.

We are on our way to the First District where Becker and his friends are waiting for us. All the players are looking at us and they’re all jealous about my relationship with Ivonna. Grisell sent me a link to the forum and it was about me being the most handsome player in the game because I dated Jessica and now I’m dating Ivonna. I have no idea how and why did this happen but it said that it was because Elise during our interview earlier and she made all of this commotion in the game community.

Becker is laughing with his friends at the table near the billboard where players gather all the time. Becker looks at me and waves his hand while smiling at both of us, Ivonna raises her eyebrows while looking at me.

“Isn’t that your friend, Maxwell? I know him already though.”

I look at her and smile.

“Yeah, I know but there’s something that I want you to know.”

Ivonna is humming while waving back at Becker.

All of Becker’s friends are shocked when they see both of us standing in front of them, they all immediately introduce themselves to both of us with excitement. Becker is standing next to me while giggling proudly as if he wants to show off that he knows me.

I put my arm around Becker while staring at his friends.

“Did he cause you troubles?”

All of them are laughing while nodding in agreement, then one of his friends is raising his finger while staring at me.

“Every time we play together with Becker, we always ended up in a dangerous situation! Once he led us to our death because we fell into some kind of a trap. He also brought a mini-boss toward us when he left to take a dump! He always brought everything dangerous with us, but it was always fun to play with him.”

They’re all starting to tell their own stories whenever they played with Becker, I just listen to them while can’t stop smiling about how silly Becker is and how he enjoys the game with these friends of his.

I look at Becker while shaking his head.

“You really are troublesome, huh?”

Becker is just grinning at me while giggling, then I look at his friends and clear my throat.

“I’m glad that you guys enjoy playing with him, and don’t hesitate to scold him whenever he does something like that again, yeah?”

All of them are chuckling and nodding with understanding and then one of his friends looks at Becker while crossing his arm.

“Man, we really want to meet up IRL but he’s always busy and we all have met each other except for Maxwell. But, I guess it’s fine since we are not pressuring him to meet up IRL, we are just curious and want to see him.”

My smile disappears in an instant and I don’t know what to say, Becker puts his hand on my shoulder while smiling.

“Well, what can I say? I’m busy with my girlfriend, okay? She doesn’t want me to go abroad just to see you guys!”

All of them are laughing and chuckling while I’m just standing here listening to them but I can’t get over what his friend just said earlier.

Finally, all of his friends log out from the game.

“So, why do you want to meet me, Trev?”

I look around and there are too many players are staring at us.

“Let’s go somewhere quiet.”

Becker nods with understanding and then I open a portal to the pub in Fjel Town, the three of us enter the portal and I immediately close it.

  I can’t feel Avriel’s presence at all because I lose all my stats, but I think she’s not here.

We all sit down at the counter and I look at Becker.

“I think it’s okay to tell her everything.”

Ivonna looks at us while Becker is looking at Ivonna.

“Oh right, before that can I congratulate you both? I’m glad that Trevor is now has a girlfriend and I never thought that she would be Miss Ivonna.”

I smirk and scoff while shaking my head, Ivonna is smiling and thank him for that.

Becker stands up and stands in front of us, he clears his throat.

“I guess I should change my appearance now…”

As soon as Becker changes his appearance, Ivonna’s eyes are wide open, and covers her mouth with disbelief. She looks at me and I just smile at her and nod because words are unnecessary now since a nod is enough to answer all her questions. Becker is smiling so widely while looking at Ivonna, he then rests his hands on his waist while giggling.

“That’s right! I’m Becker, the one who made this game!”

Ivonna is staring at Becker for quite a while and she seems confused.

“Are you an A.I.?”

Becker is shaking his head.

“Nope! It’s the real me!”

Ivonna looks at me and she still can’t believe what she heard, I tilt my head and nod.

“It’s true, this is the real Becker. Long story short, before Becker passed away, he transferred his consciousness, or to be exact he took his brain out from his body and put it inside a pod. So now, he lives inside the game forever, or at least that’s what I know.”

Ivonna starts to think about what just happened earlier when we were talking with Becker’s friends, she immediately makes the same expression as what I did when his friends wanted to see him IRL.

Becker is humming while staring at Ivonna and then he looks at me.

“I guess, she might need some time to process everything. So, while we are waiting for her to accept all the truths, how about we talk about why you want to see me.”

I nod with understanding.

“Well, as you know, I’m confused with what happened to my character right now. This debuff, is it really because I consumed Alucard’s heart, or is it because of the aftereffect after I used the Contained Purification Energy?”

Becker crosses his arms while nodding.

“That’s right, it’s the aftereffect when you consumed Alucard’s heart and the purification energy is putting the seal inside you right now. I was surprised when I noticed that Alucard has been resurrected because I never thought he would appear this soon, that’s why I messaged you back then and helped you to deal with him.”

I’m humming with understanding while rubbing my chin with the back of my fingers.

“I see, so were you the one who gave me the item when I maxed my bond with Saintess Aria?”

Becker shakes his head.

“Nope, that wasn’t me, it was the system and that’s exactly what you need to meet the requirement to get the godly item from Alucard’s heart. So, I was surprised that you got everything in order like that.”

I tilt my head while furrowing my forehead.

“So, the Alucard’s Wings are not forged by Vermel like the other godly items?”

Becker nods while walking to the back of the counter to pour himself a glass of rum.

“That’s right, Alucard’s Wings are not like the others because as you know that the wings can only be created once. So, rather than finding clues and information like the other godly item’s quest, I made it like this and removes all of that by putting a seal on the player once he or she consumed the heart and used the purification energy. A year is equal to the time where players look for clues and information during their godly item’s quest, right?”

I’m humming with understanding but then Becker is snapping his fingers.

“Oh! One more thing that you need to know, Trev. You shouldn’t die a lot because if you die a lot, it will affect the seal and the Alucard’s heart will win over the pure energy that will make Alucard possess your body like when you consumed his heart.”

I furrow my forehead while staring at him with confusion.

“Wait, are you telling me that if I die, the period of time will get extended or even break the seal? Is that what you’re trying to say?”

Becker is drinking the rum while nodding in agreement.

“Yep! So be careful because to get another contained purification energy will be as hard as getting the godly item.”

I’m humming with understanding and now I know everything that I need related to this seal. I need to be careful to not die or don’t die at all, so this is basically as hard or even harder than doing the other godly item’s quest as he said earlier.

Ivonna is looking at Becker and raises her hand.

“Mister Becker, can I ask you a very sensitive question?”

Becker looks at Ivonna while smiling and nodding.

“Sure!”

I look at Ivonna and her gaze is focused on Becker.

“Are you happy?”

Becker is staring at the bottle of rum in front of him for quite a while and he takes a deep breath.

“I think I’m happy because I can see a lot of players and befriend them as you saw earlier. I never thought I would be able to enjoy the game even though knowing that I won’t be able to live outside this place. But, Trevor said that this was my second chance, so I will treasure this life and make sure to live to the fullest and do anything that I want.”

Ivonna is looking down while playing with her thumb.

“But this is not real…”

Both Becker and I are looking at her and we both know that she really is concerned about him.

Becker chuckles and looks at Ivonna.

“Real or not, it doesn’t matter to me, Miss Ivonna. I’m happy to be here and I’m not ready to leave…”

Ivonna immediately looks at Becker while panicking.

“I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry…”

Becker shakes his head while smiling.

“It’s okay, I’m trying to overcome my fear, and maybe one day when I think I had enough fun in this world, I will gather some courage to face the truth that I’m already dead and then accept my fate.”

Both Ivonna and I are staring at him and can’t say a word about that.

Becker leaves the counter and stands in front of Ivonna, he smiles while grabbing her hands.

“But what matters the most is that I can see that you and billions of people are enjoying the game that I created. Not just that, but I managed to give a love life to Trevor and you as well, right? Thinking about it, there are so many people like you both that they find the love of their lives from this game and I’m glad that I can connect people with each other. So, even though I’m living in a different world, I’m glad that I can bring happiness to everyone in this world of mine. So please take care of Trevor for me because he’s my only best friend and my only friend.”

Ivonna sheds a tear and looks at Becker while smiling.

“Yes, I will take care of him for you, Mister Becker, I promise.”