Last Shelter Online

Everything turned dark. Hiro was sure that his eyes were open, but he couldn't see anything apart from pitch-black darkness.

This was the first time he experienced getting kicked out of the game for sudden urgent maintenance. The presence of an unexpected error was mentioned, but he personally didn't know what the error was.

Hiro took the VR equipment off his head and stared at the ceiling of his room with an empty gaze.

The image of Liberty looking at him like they were strangers hurt him. He felt as if his chest had shrunk, making it difficult for his heart to beat normally.

Liberty's words kept echoing in his ears, repeating on and on like a broken record.

'What just happened?'

The username WynterRain that disappeared as suddenly as it appeared,

And Liberty's hurtful words and expressions,

Hiro couldn't comprehend what just happened on that day.

He checked the time on his android bracelet. If he calculated right, he should have at least eight hours to stay in the CBT version as what popped up in the system when he logged in.

However, when he checked LSO's icon on his android bracelet, the app's color had become dark gray.

No matter how many times he tried to open it, the app couldn't be accessed.

A dead end. He didn't know what to do but wait.

Hiro let his skinscreen stay active and began doing minor activities to buy time. He took a bath, brushed his teeth, washed his face, cooked, and even ate despite not having any appetite.

And yet, after so long, no changes appeared on the app.

"Come on! What happened to you!?"

Hiro checked LSO's official website to find out about what actually happened in the CBT version, but it was futile. Only disappointment awaited him.

No information regarding the game's CBT version itself was available, much less information regarding what happened to it.

Frustrated, he once again lied down on the cold floor. He couldn't care less about the winter cold, his skin was numb this time.

One hour.

Two hours.

Hiro continued to stare at the screen on his skin while restlessly biting his thumb. He had never waited this long before.

'What happened to Liberty and the others? Were they also forcefully kicked out of the game?'

Who knows what he was fearing. He didn't even know why he couldn't stop thinking about what happened to these other people.

Even though he had never been this way.

"Hasshh!"

Hiro ruffled his hair and stood back up.

Staying in his room waiting would only drive him crazy faster. After taking a deep breath, he decided to step out and get some fresh air on the balcony. The sun had risen in Tokyo, and people were already going out of their houses to start their day.

Hiro silently looked at the people walking on the sidewalk from his balcony on the fifth floor.

'They look so small from here, like dwarves,' he thought, trying to amuse himself.

Looking around, he spotted the apartment owner lady walking her son to the front of the alley. Judging from the boy's attire, he seemed to be on his way to school.

Seeing the mother wave her hand with a sunny smile on her face made him feel lonely.

'How lucky.'

He had never received such parental warmth.

Hiro turned his body and leaned on the metal handle of the balcony. He raised his head to look up at the sky only for the winter breeze to blow his neck, instantly causing him to shiver.

He then raised his left hand still with his skinscreen displayed and looked at it in the same position.

"Open file [1000]," he instructed his android bracelet.

Ding!

He forgot to close the file the last time he opened it, so the file was actually still open. Following his order, it displayed the last page he was reading.

A smile formed on Hiro's face when a photo of a beautiful girl popped up on his screen.

"Libe."

The blonde girl had eyes as beautiful as the ocean. The features on her face were the exact same as the in-game avatar Hiro knew, just without the furry ears and tail. Even so, the absence of the fluffy features didn't diminish her charm one bit.

Who knows who took the photo and when, but the girl was definitely not ready to have her photo taken as she had a surprised expression on her face and her lips were slightly open.

'She's as adorable as ever.'

And under the photo was information that had been bothering him since the beginning.

[Name: Liberty Johnson]

[Sex: Female]

[Age: 17]

[Source: Johnson Hope Hospital, Washington D.C.]

"You're really younger than me, huh."

Hiro chuckled at the same thing, but his tone was bitter this time.

He had just turned 18 last month.

'At least I didn't do it with an underaged kid, tsk tsk tsk.' He turned his standing position again.

He couldn't take his eyes off the beautiful girl on the screen.

The girl was truly too beautiful for him to take his eyes off. Hiro just didn't understand what actually happened.

The information about the [source] and Liberty's identity made him uneasy. Why did Anonymous get the data from a hospital? Hiro had looked up the hospital name on the internet and found it, but of course, the list of patients there was confidential.

Hiro guessed that Anonymous got the information by hacking the patient data in that hospital, so he tried hacking into it himself. And he succeeded. However, he didn't find Liberty's name in the stored data.

Perhaps the girl was no longer in need of treatment or moved to another hospital.

His frustration was starting to get to him. Hiro wanted to directly ask Liberty, but his plan couldn't be executed as the girl was still sound asleep.

"Damn it! Why is everything related to America? What is happening there?"

He felt that his life was getting more connected to that major country. As if the matter with Yuujin that still remained a mystery was not enough, there was also Liberty's matter.

It was as if the major country was constantly trying to call him there.

But what could he do? Afterall, He had no money.

The only thing he could do now was explore America through the game server, so he decided to play on the North America server in hopes of meeting Liberty and unveiling the mystery of his brother's death.

In the future, when he finally accumulated enough money, he would definitely come to the country himself.

Riiing!

As Hiro was thinking about the matter with America, his android bracelet rang.

[Incoming call: Aunt Yuma]

"Hello?"

"Hiro, so how was it? What was in the package? Was it inheritance money? Why didn't you say anything about it? Don't tell me you spent everything on your own. Share some to your one and only aunt, will you?"