Afterlife Dream

The second mission was a riddle. I had not done Dai City Party Quest for a while now so my memory was blurred. We all moved according to HellWitch's instructions and completed the riddle mission.

The third mission was a jumping stage. We had to jump all the way from the left side to the right side. It used to be very difficult to complete for those with poor eye-hand coordination. The door to the last mission would not open unless four people stood on four shiny tiles.

HellWitch and Lazarus quickly made it through. I guided Kitty through every jumping step to make sure that she did not get discouraged and fall behind. Eventually, we completed it.

The last mission was the boss stage. A huge red bubble monster that could invoke an earthquake just by stomping hard on the ground.

"Stay in the safe corner!" HellWitch shouted as she swung her sword at the boss.

The boss immediately spawned little red bubble monsters that Lazarus shot at with ease. Kitty and I also attacked, but it was safe to say that we barely did any damage. It was borderline pathetic.

We completed the Party Quest with two minutes left. HellWitch leveled up to 15. Lazarus leveled up to 11. Kitty leveled up to 8 and I to 7 and a half bar. We immediately lined up to enter the dungeon again. To our surprise, HellWitch stood in line for the Party Quest again. Thinking that maybe she did not know about the level limitation, I decided to tell her.

"HellWitch, you are 15. This Party Quest is not going to help you further. Daily quest and grinding are the way to go if you seek to level further."

HellWitch stared at me.

"You know a lot for a level 5," she said while narrowing her eyes at me. "Speak, are you an experienced player from your past life?"

I grinned. Finally, someone who knew my worth.

"Yeah. I was level fifty-two."

HellWitch, "I was fifty-three before I died. So we were peers."

Fifty-three. Those who were separated by one to two levels were able to chat with each other in a peer chat. It was especially useful to get people to join raids. I rarely used peer chat because I was in a strong guild. They promised to take me once I finished the second job advancement.

My 2D screen popped up again.

"HellWitch has sent you a friend request. Do you accept or not?"

I clicked accept.

"You are now friends with HellWitch."

"So if you know that this party quest is useless for you, why are you still joining?" I asked, a little confused.

"My brother is still level 11," HellWitch answered with a shrug. "In five or so party quests he will reach 15 then we can start doing things together."

I threw a glance at Lazarus. He seemed to be a shy child. He had not said a word at all. It turned out that they were siblings.

I had online friends and guildmates in Afterlife Dream who I was relatively close to. I wonder if any of them were currently playing the game with me under different IDs. If that were so, then I should find them. I knew all the good players. Gaming with experienced players was the best. But then I realized something. Kitty died before me, so she started the game earlier than me. The same could be said about HellWitch and Lazarus. None of my online friends and guildmates skipped a day to come online. That meant that I was the first of us to die, if not the only one. My spirit plummeted from disappointment. I shook my head in disbelief. Did I seriously hope for them to die as well? I was a horrible person.

"Hey," HellWitch called, and I snapped from my daydreams. "It is difficult to find good players. What about I carry you two through the party quest until Laz reaches 15?"

That was the most generous offer that someone at my level could get.

"Oh yes!" I quickly agreed.

Kitty tilted her head and stared at me in confusion. I was too lazy to explain.

Five party quests later, Lazarus was finally level 15. Kitty went up to 13 and I was still at 12. All four of us were beyond exhausted. Above us, the sky was slowly getting dark.

The Party Quest NPC announced with a cheerful voice, "Thank you everyone for your hard work. Dai City Party Quest will be open again at nine tomorrow. Please rest well for the night."

HellWitch turned to me and asked, "Antares, Kitty, have you two decided where to spend the night at?"

I shook my head. It was my first night in Afterlife Dream ever, so I had not made any plans for lodging. Next to me, Kitty said, "We can sleep in any NPC house. We just need to pay rent for every night."

That was new for me. I never imagined sleeping overnight at an NPC house. In fact, I never imagined sleeping in any MMORPG. Yay for the new experience!

HellWitch shook her head.

"That works in Daisyville but not here. Do you see all the players here? All of them are looking for places to stay. By now all the available houses and apartments have been rented out."

Kitty exclaimed, "Ehhhhh....??? Then where are we going to stay???"

HellWitch smiled.

"Every morning at ten, all NPC houses and apartments are reset. The players who click fastest get the lodging for a night. The others have to sleep under the stars."

"..."

Kitty looked miserable. I was speechless. Just how many people get to sleep outside every night?

"No worries," HellWitch said. "After you unlock home at level 15, you can sleep in your own house at any map."

I breathed out of relief. Thank God.

HellWitch cleared her throat.

"So the reason I asked is this. Laz and I both waited on different NPCs this morning and we ended up with two apartments. If you guys want, you can stay with us. Are you guys interested?"

"Of course!" Kitty and I shouted in unison.

"Unfortunately there is no such thing as handing over keys to the apartments. To enter we need to click on the NPC. So Kitty can sleep with me, and Antares can go with Laz."