I hesitated for a second, not knowing what to reply with, on the off-chance that she was tying up loose ends and tried to con me into being one of her hoes, it'll complicate things a lot, considering that I'm still stuck with Hailie and I am absolutely NOT going to have sex with a man after uh… Ahem, well, unless her new brothel's going to be a lesbian one then I think I'm going to ditch this IOU.

The hideout was still alive with chatter, dice rolling at the far tables, a couple of rogues bickering over who stole whose dagger, the bartender drying mugs like he didn't have a care in the world, and that Pearl guy was still beside me, nursing his drink like an aristocrat who could wait centuries if he had to.

Nobody was watching. So I lowered my fingers to type something in response.

CJS69Real: Yes, why?

I got an answer immediately, like Ann had been waiting on the edge of her seat, she sent me a voice call request, because we're friends in the game, we can talk from afar like this.

"Finally." Her voice was steady, but softer than I remembered, a little too loud, as if she were leaning right against my ear through the headset.

I leaned back against the bar, trying to play it cool with my legs crossed on the stool, mug in one hand, both spread across the bar with my sword resting right under my hips.

"I was just thinking about you," I said.

Ann laughed, not quite happy, not quite bitter.

"Same, girl. I was just thinking about us… About him, too."

"..."

Him, indeed, our old friend.

Silence stretched between us, the kind that drags you back into old memories you'd rather not dig up. My chest tightened, I wanted to say something, but my mouth was dry. I would rather bury these memories as deep as humanly possible, maybe our ways of coping was just different, because Ann had, on seperate occasions, brought him up.

So I just cut through with a distraction of a question.

"Who is Tanya?"

No hesitation, Ann answered bluntly.

"I don't know."

… My heart dropped a little, thinking… That was it? How unimaginable, it's that short and simple?

"Uh okay…" I fake coughed, "When did you guys meet?"

"As far as I remember, she's always been around. I met her back during Early Access, so she's top 50 like you and me."

Ann added.

"We did a dungeon together, and she was already using a male avatar then. When the official version launched, we just… kept contact, she hangs out at my cabin sometimes. She doesn't talk much about herself, not the personal kind, but I knew her phone number and real name, that's why told you to call her to investigate for yourself."

"She told me she picked my name off a list," I muttered, "Did you know she's been using my username?"

"Yeah." Ann's voice dipped into a sigh. "She told me the same thing. Said she was scrolling the top ranks, DarkHeavens at one, SeeOh at two… so naturally, CJS69 at three, and that's all."

I leaned forward, dropping down my mug to start fidgeting around the handle of my sword.

"You've never pressed her harder?"

"I have," Ann said flatly. "She dodges, Tanya is just slippery like that. I don't know who she is, Cory, neither do you. I assumed."

The words sat heavy between us. For the first time since logging in, I felt like my heartbeat was synced with the background music, loud and uneven.

Then Ann said it, the words I'd been dreading for weeks.

"Anyways, you knew why I called you, right? You have debts to pay."

My throat clenched, I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to sound casual.

"Look, uh… I'm… playing with that Hailie girl right now, babysitting a healer until she grows her feather, you know how that is, the community always need more punching bag… And uh, we're holed up in New Destiny's hideout, can't really help you at the moment… Maybe later tonight, okay? And, again, I already told you, I'm not going to be your prostitute, I'm fine in the PC version because of anonymity, but not VR, dude…"

Ann didn't respond right away. I could hear her breathing, could picture her tilting her head the way she always did when she smelled bullshit.

"New Destiny? The guild?" she asked finally.

"Yeah, I met them during phase three of the raid… Eolga, or Olga, you know her, right? Bastard this bastard that? vouched for me. Never knew she was associated with New Destiny though, if I remember correctly she was more intuned with the Omnitetris guild."

Another pause from Ann, which kinda put me on the edge of my seat, then, calmly she spoke:

"Be careful."

"Why?" I frowned all confused.

That's when she dropped the bomb.

"Do you remember the owner of the largest guild, Destiny, in the PC version? Yeah, the guy that's voted as #9 top all-time player, nicknamed The Roots of Bloodshed?"

"Uh huh… I do?" I nodded, even though she couldn't see me, that man was a legend, half-god, half-demon, full maniac.

"He migrated to VR like the rest of us, but he didn't spend time in the Early Access"

Ann continued.

"And he didn't stick around during the full release, either. He said he didn't want the responsibility no more, quit everything… Probably off fishing somewhere in real life."

"He's an old head, if I remember correctly." I pondered.

Ann continued:

"With the leader of their guild retiring, the remnants of Destiny merged with Omnitetris—the number two PC guild. They put a new flag over it and called it New Destiny. Two of the largest guild now under a new leaders, which means…?"

"Problems." I answered, "Internal ones, which is, worse than any external thing."

Ann must've nodded, because she didn't answer me.

"I wouldn't stick around too long anyways, Olga promised to share some loot from the raid, so I'm trying to see where this goes."

"Sure…" Her voice was sharper now, laced with something protective, something wary. "I know you won't, but, just don't get too comfortable, a lot of new players are rising up to the star spot."

"Will do, Ann Murphay."

Then, we just kinda chuckled in silence.

I let the silence drag just long enough for it to sting, then smirked and let my voice tilt into a half-joke, half-test.

"By the way, how come you know so much? It's like you've got eyes and ears everywhere, lol." I added, "Like when you ran that massive underground prostitution ring back on the PC version, yeah?"

Static hummed in my ear.

Ann didn't laugh, she didn't answer.

The call hung there, heavy as stone, until I finally realized… She wasn't going to.

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