Today, three people were inside the club room instead of two. Sora was busy on her holo, Kai was editing his latest video with earbuds in, and Zayden was just sitting between them, looking around. Occasionally, he glanced at Sora.
After about ten minutes of this, Sora looked up, took out a holopad, and placed it in the middle of the table. Activating, it displayed a holographic map that covered the entire table. Kai stopped his editing and looked up—he had given her the task of putting together a map using information available on forums and video channels. It wasn't as detailed as a professionally made one, but it showed all the necessary details with minimal effort. It was good enough for them, considering they couldn't afford expensive mapping software like big gaming studios.
Kai gestured for Zayden to close the windows, and he hurriedly got up to do it. Once the room was dark enough, the map became much clearer. Kai studied it as four markers appeared at different locations—Kai, Mimi, his mom (called Prince—he hadn't told anyone other than Mimi who she really was), and Sora herself.
Kai was somewhere in the middle, with Mimi nearby and Prince a little farther away. Sora, however, was on the opposite side of Somnium, near a large Stonebinder city.
Sora began, "I thought about what you said regarding my better chances of getting missions in the city, but right now, I also want to level up as much as possible. Being part of random five- or ten-member parties every time is slowing me down, so I've decided to travel to Somnium. It's not close, but it's not that far either. Thanks to your tip on getting a ride, I've already arranged one. Mine's a Pathwinder, though—not a normal horse. Based on my calculations, I should be there in four to five in-game days."
Kai nodded and typed on his holo:
'It's ultimately your decision, but I'll always welcome a reliable teammate—especially since, after today, we'll be diving into dungeons, and I want to go for the harder ones with better rewards. A Pathwinder is faster than a normal horse. You should buy Nyeseeds if you can find them—feeding them to your mount gives a 20% speed boost for six hours.'
Sora nodded. "I saw them in shops. I'll buy a few before leaving."
Then, looking toward Zayden, who had been quietly listening, Kai wrote:
'Sora, you know Zayden, right? He's our classmate. He'll be starting today, too.'
They greeted each other, and Sora asked, "What path is he going to play?"
Kai replied:
'Anything between Nexus Kin or Stonebinder would work since he wants to play with us. I don't think meeting Exodians will be possible anytime soon.'
Zayden, curious, asked, "There are different storylines in this? Nyxfall usually only had one storyline, right?"
Sora replied, "Yes, it's different this time. Though there's no mention of the old characters yet. Have you played the older games?"
"Just the fourth and fifth ones," Zayden said shyly.
An athletic, well-built guy with stylish red-dyed hair and a handsome, square-shaped face looking shy like a fangirl meeting her idol was not something Kai had expected to see today. He tried his best to ignore it.
Sora continued, "All the maps suggest there are only five major Stonebinder cities. Anyone who chooses that path spawns in one of them. Meanwhile, Nexus Kin villages are numerous and scattered across the land, separated by vast forests and monster-filled areas. Each Stonebinder city has over 50 million people living in it—on paper, at least. Compared to that, Exodian cities barely reach half a million to two or three million, and that's for the biggest ones. We know where all five Stonebinder cities are, and from there to Somnium, there's a common trade route connecting them all."
Kai smiled and wrote:
'That's quite impressive, Sora. I wanted to gather this info too, but I kept delaying it for one reason or another. I can't thank you enough for doing such a great job. Now we have a model of the map, we just need to keep updating it with more areas unlocked by many players online.'
Sora looked slightly surprised before a small hint of a smile appeared on her otherwise neutral face. "It's fine. I know you're already quite busy. I have experience doing this kind of thing, so just let me know whenever you need similar information."
Kai nodded in appreciation. She had made his job much easier—actually, it was better than what he could have done. Kai had no knowledge of map-making; he probably would have just stacked images on top of each other to form a messy map.
"Then I'll go with the Stonebinder path and travel near you guys," Zayden said, a bit nervously. "Sora can guide me if I get stuck, I guess."
Kai gave him a fed-up look. Even Sora should have figured out what was going on here.
They talked some more about the travel route and other details before the hour ended. Kai successfully finished editing his video and uploaded it to his channel. The highlight of this one was the horse taming skill. His name was already well-known on forums, and even his Nyxfall videos were getting more views than his older videos.
The game had been both a source of suffering and success for him. It had earned him a lot of fame and money, leaving Kai with mixed feelings about it. But he wouldn't shy away from using his knowledge to maximize his earnings—his long-term goal was to open a gaming studio. Sponsorships would come after their team achieved something big, but for now, the team had to rely on their own funds to reach a higher standard, both in-game and offline.
Kai finally returned home and had lunch with his mother, who was watching his Nyxfall videos. He hadn't told her to, so either she was genuinely getting interested in the game, or she just wanted to hear him talk more.