Ah! He forgot—it was her first time hearing him talk. Had he mentioned neural thought projection to her before? Kai couldn't remember. His mom would probably have the same reaction when she hears him. It had become second nature to him, so he didn't even think of it as a feature.
"Yes, the game is entirely played in our minds, so I'm not really speaking—just thinking aloud. It's called Neural Thought Projection," Kai explained.
However, she didn't hear a single word. Instead, she squealed in joy, nearly deafening him. Kai quickly lowered the volume.
At last, she exclaimed, "Why didn't you tell me this earlier? I would have bought the game on release!"
"It slipped my mind.. Anyway, as I told you, when you open the interface map, it should show your coordinates. Tell me yours," Kai said.
But she wasn't having it. "Wait a second! Wait a second! First of all, call me by my name."
Kai sighed but complied—it was easier than arguing. "Mimi."
"Ah! It's so cute when you say it!"
"Did you just call yourself cute? What arrogance.." Kai remarked.
"I did not! You're twisting my words!"
After teasing her for a while, Kai finally received her coordinates and realized she was.. quite far. Not impossibly far, but it would still take at least five or six in-game days to reach her on foot. He figured he could first head to the town in the west and then travel toward her from there. She was more to the northwest, rather than directly west, where he was originally going.
Once he confirmed where his mother would spawn, he could plan a better travel route. But reaching a larger settlement remained his priority—both for the escape mission's ending and to see if he could get a horse or some other mount.
Could he fight the NPC if another Exodian attacked his mother's or Mimi's starting village? There were many other possible reasons for their destruction, though, and he couldn't afford to waste too much time wandering aimlessly. He needed to reach a place with dungeons to level up and farm equipment. The Nexus Kin forums were already discussing various settlements and dungeons, with players struggling to conquer them.
Mimi's starting village was still covered by fog on his map. However, from the maps circulating on the Nexus Kin forums, Kai had estimated how far her village was and where other towns and Stonebinder cities were located. Even some Exodian cities seemed to have fixed positions or followed predictable floating paths.
As he continued west, he came across two more villages, both similar in size to the one he had just left. Fortunately, both were afflicted with the zombie illness. While resting, he checked the information on the disease and found that it was a fairly common quest. Yet, no one had cleared the third objective—finding the source of the infection.
The monsters Kai encountered on the way were finally ones he was familiar with from his past timeline—goblins, slimes, wolves, and other common fantasy creatures. Ever since he had crossed that huge creek with the bridge, he hadn't seen any strange alien monsters. It was as if the world on either side of the creek belonged to two entirely different realms.
After three days of hunting monsters and traveling through grass fields and forests, Kai finally reached the small Nexus Kin town of Somnium. Though called a town, it was more like a large village. He wasn't there yet, but it had unlocked on his map, and the golden marker for the Escape Mission indicated it as a valid escape point.
However, it was already 5:26 AM. He needed to sleep—school awaited him in the morning. As usual, Kai shot an arrow onto a tree branch, used his skill, and logged off from both the game and Landing Planet VR, preparing to rest.
Morning arrived.
Kai got up, had breakfast, and left home—not before reminding his mother to accept the delivery of her VR headgear and the game today.
In the hoover, Mimi chattered endlessly about her experiences in the game—how much fun she had and how her NPC family treated her. Even though Kai had told her to focus on leveling, she was more interested in exploring and socializing. Kai let her do her own thing. If everyone played like him, there wouldn't be much variation in the game. Players like her were just as necessary as players like him.
They took their seats at the back of the classroom, the classes began one after another. Kai half-mindedly stared at the board, his thoughts preoccupied with his future plans in the game.
Then, suddenly he noticed a gaze on him.
Across the classroom, the same girl from yesterday—Sora—was looking at him.
However, the moment their eyes met, she held his gaze for a second before quickly looking away, pretending to focus on the lesson.
What was with her?
Did he do something to her in the past that he had forgotten? It was possible—his memory of this class wasn't as clear as other, more important events in his life.
When class ended, Kai received a key from Lancasterlaw. The clubroom had been assigned yesterday, but he was only now getting access to it.
He had discussed the club with Mimi, and she had enthusiastically agreed to join. She even claimed she could bring in another member—probably Lizzy. But both had extra classes, so Kai walked to the clubroom alone. He had already mentioned in the banner for potential members to come there if they were interested.
Still, when he arrived, the hallway was empty. He unlocked the room, and entered inside.
The room itself was mostly bare, save for a bookshelf in the corner and a table in the middle, surrounded by eight chairs. Unlike the real gaming club, his club had no gaming equipment. Lancasterlaw had told him that they would have to manage everything themselves—only a valuable contribution would earn them any funding from the student council.
Kai put his bag down and walked to the window, watching the students playing sports on the field below. He had to wait here for an hour anyway—he might as well use the time to edit his videos and gather information from the forums.
However, just as he sat down, a knock came from the open door.
Standing there was the same girl as before—Sora.