Chương 37: Findings

It took us forty minutes to walk from that alleyway to my home. Cerise asked why we weren't taking the bus. I answered, we were young and walking was healthy. Those forty minutes were enough for me to explain what had happened inside the rift, from the moment I met Pyiari for the first time to the moment everyone left, leaving me behind. I showed her the skillcard I got as proof that I wasn't lying, though I think it wasn't needed.

I did not tell her about Skillmerge, that was not something I could yet trust her with. The door closed with a clack, and we were back in my small apartment. I had expected my things to be scrambled, cause she had searched the house and just like in movies hadn't bothered to put anything back in place. But it was not, everything was in the same place it had been, though I was pretty sure the amount of noodles in the bowl had decreased.

"So, was the secret of closing the rift as interesting as you thought it would be?" Cher—I mean, Cerise didn't answer me immediately; she was digesting everything. When the silence didn't break for a whole minute, I started doubting myself. Was this a trap, should I really not have trusted her. My worries were in vain. Cerise sat on my bed—without my permission—and finally spoke.

"Interesting, I couldn't have guessed it. What do you think started the quest?"

"My guess is, me offering Pyiari what she wanted was the reason."

"I thought the same, but what about before that. Even in your first encounter she had behaved differently."

"Here, my guess is as good as yours." I sat on my computer chair and turned the PC on with my toe.

"Are you sure you followed the script word by word, without going off-script?"

"Yeah, I have tried my best to remember every word. I was in pain, and half-unconscious at that time, but I am pretty sure I followed the script."

"Then what brought the change? Was it something you were carrying? Something you did?" The only difference I had from the others was me having a Diamond-rank card. Was that really the reason?

"Nope, I was carrying nothing. I was injured and there have been plenty of people like that, so I don't think that was the reason." She stood up and walked to my backpack, pulling out my makeshift fanny pack. She took out a bottle of golden hearth nectar from it. I had brought about a dozen different medicines. I wanted to bring more, but didn't have anything to carry them in.

"Is this from the pharmacy you spoke of?" I nodded.

"You know we don't find stuff like this even in gold-rank rifts."

"Yeah, I tried finding some low-quality ones so I could sell them, but there weren't any."

"Looks like they were a really advanced civilization. Do you mind if I take one? I know a guy who might be able to replicate it."

"What will I get?"

"Fifty copies." She replied without a thinking.

"Don't try to scam me. You will obviously try to commercialize it. What will be my cut?" I wasn't a moron for giving her the most powerful healing potion in existence for just fifty copies of it. Rich people will go crazy for this, I was not going to give away my golden ticket.

"Where did that dumb Clark from earlier go," she said, putting a hand on the chair's headrest.

"2%."

"10" I countered. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"5."

"7""Deal." She extended a hand, but I had already forgotten how to do those. I nodded to show my agreement. I did feel that I could have gotten more.

"Rude," she scoffed.

"So, what's this about j. m. k67?"

"Let me just show you." The PC was on, I went to the browser, the riftstories tab with jmk67's story was already open. It loaded and showed 'Not Found'.

"What?" I frowned.

"Where did it go?" I refreshed it again. Same result. I went to the search bar and searched for 'Superpower: A Gift or a Curse.' Same result. I searched for j. m. k67.

'No User Found'.

"Did he delete it?" I exclaimed.

"Try Wayback Machine." I did as she said. Copied the URL, which said 'No User Found'. Searched for Wayback Machine on the internet. Clicked the first link. The site opened. I pasted the link and selected one week ago, clicked enter. It loaded and loaded, finally the result was up. It was the same 'No Result Found.

"It was there, you have to believe me." I pleaded.

"I believe you." She snatched the keyboard from my hand. The tabs on the monitor screen moved with great speed, several tabs at once. Several searches. Some computer shenanigans that I couldn't understand. Whatever it was, no human could type that fast, and my computer shouldn't work that fast. I looked at her hands; they were resting on the keyboard, not moving. I looked at her face. Her eyes were rolled back, only the whites visible. She was using some kind of skill.

She had already shown me three skills which were at least silver or above. That was the difference between rich and poor. Just the daughter of a mid-sized guild had so much, while there were millions who couldn't even get one silver card. Her blue irises came back. She looked at me who was staring at her.

"It's not there," she said. She turned to look back at the computer screen. There was something there which I couldn't understand. Catching my confusion, she spoke.

"There's nothing in the Riftstories server log. Nothing which says an account named j. m. k67 has been deleted. Nor do I see any signs of tampering with Wayback Machine. I checked further, but found nothing. Whoever it was, was really thorough in clearing their tracks." Her brows furrowed when she said that.

"You still believe me?"

"Of course, there's no reason for you to make up such an absurd lie." I slumped back into the chair.

"Our only lead on the rift-closing quests is gone. What now?"

"We go and close more rifts," she said without hesitation.

"Do you remember any other stories he wrote?"

"He wrote several, but I only read two."

"Whyyy?"

"Not my fault, I was his first and only viewer, and even I discovered him last week."

"Fine, what rift was it?"

"The Land of Nothing."

"Why that? That's a silver-rank rift, with nothing, literally nothing except colossal monsters. Only parties can hunt there, and the Brown Leather Guild has an unsaid monopoly over it. They even charge a fee just for you to enter, then take a cut from whatever monsters you hunt. Why did you read the story on that when there were so many more?"

"It sounded interesting," I grumbled.

"Fine, so what's the quest name?"

"Kieran's Journey."

"Journey to the West?"

"No, no. It was clearly different. The similarities ended with the word journey and the various monsters he had to fight on it."

"He doesn't get a monkey partner?"

"I wouldn't call humans monkeys." She took a deep breath, then slowly let it out.

"Okay, tell me the story as clearly as you can." I began and told her every detail I could remember. We shared the noodles that were left. An hour went by just like that.

"This is gonna be difficult, and we don't even know how to trigger that quest," she said.

"And we are gonna need a party. Two people won't do."

"I can get one," She suggested.

"And we will have to get Tina out of there to reach the minimum requirement of four."

"Who is Tina?"

"SalamanderEater, the rifttuber you messaged. And you also need to get your silver skill registered. Coppers aren't allowed in silver-rank rifts."

"But what do I say? I can't tell them I got it in Life's Last Hope."

"Tell them you bought it." She said that as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"You really think I can afford it?"

"Say someone gifted it to you."

"I don't have friends." Her frustration shaowed on her face.

"Okay, say I gave it to you."

"And when they ask how did you meet Cerise Truman, and why did she give you a silver-rank card?"

"Say you met her while jogging, we fell in love and I offered you the card when I proposed to you." It sounded more jest than a suggestion.

"Like anyone's gonna believe that." I scoffed. She looked at me like she wanted to strangle me, maybe that was a real suggestion.

"Fine, I will go with you. Be ready tomorrow." She stomped out of the room before I could say anything else. I wanted to ask her what time. My phone buzzed a minute later. I picked it up to check. A message from an unknown user. The profile picture was of a girl in a white crop top and black pants, a sports cap and sunglasses, blowing a bubblegum bubble. The photo was from a low angle. Her left hand showed a middle finger to the camera while her right one tucked a strand of hair. It was Cerise.

The message read: [It's Cerise. Meet me at the Walker Tower at 10. Don't be late.] I replied with a salute emoji, then typed another message. [Were you tracking my phone? Was that how you found me earlier?] I got a side-eye emoji as a reply. I saved her contact as Cherry.