Adventure World Online (AWO)

Beep Beep

"Huh, Killer?"

The young man glanced down at the incoming call notification on the screen of his wristwatch, frowning slightly in surprise.

"Killer, that twin who's obsessed with fighting, huh."

Draco furrowed his brows in thought when Siegfried mentioned Killer's name.

"That guy's with Destiny. Why would he be calling you?"

Even Oliang was puzzled. There really should not be any business between either of those twins and Siegfried.

"Maybe it's a misdial."

Lidded Wet Trash Can suggested.

"Just answer it already. It's been ringing for ages. If it's a mistake, you'll know soon enough."

Peach Blossom grumbled, still focused on threading beads for a bracelet. Siegfried shot his little sister a glare, then tapped the button to answer the call.

"Hello, Killer. What can I do for you?"

"LORD SIEGFRIEEEED!"

The screeching voice on the other end of the line blared loud enough to make everyone around Siegfried jump.

"K... Kitsune? You scared the hell out of me. Why are you using Killer's phone?"

Siegfried's confusion deepened. Why was Kitsune with Killer and why was he calling him using the assassin's phone? Where was Chang Long—his master?

"There's no time to explain. You have to come help Master right now—hurry!"

Kitsune cut straight to the point, his tone frantic. The young elf's eyes went wide at the implication that something had happened to Chang Long.

"What happened, Kitsune? What's wrong with Chang Long? Where is she now!"

Siegfried fired off a rapid string of questions, dread rising in his chest. Normally, Chang Long was strong—formidable, even. No one could harm her easily. But this time, something was different. Kitsune's panicked tone made that much clear—Chang Long was in real danger.

"I'll explain everything once you get here. Please, come as fast as you can. If not, Master is done for. I'll be waiting for you at the entrance to Dark Forest. Lord Siegfried, her life is in your hands now!"

The call cut out the moment Kitsune finished speaking. The elf shot to his feet, clearly alarmed. Everyone nearby wanted to know what had happened to Chang Long—especially Peach Blossom, who froze mid-thread, the beaded bracelet snapping in her hands as she gasped.

"I have to go—fast. I don't know all the details yet, but I can't wait around."

Siegfried turned to his friends. They had been taking a meal break at the Europa Island harbor after sailing back from Aseana Island, preparing to return to Heaven City.

"From here to Ameris Island still takes a long time. Even if you rush, it's going to take at least a week. Will that even be fast enough?"

Oliang voiced his concern. Siegfried bit his lip, worry etched deep into his face. What would happen to Chang Long if he did not make it in time?

"I'll lend you Firetail."

Draco's words snapped everyone to attention. He rose to his feet and stepped into an open space, preparing to unseal his pet.

"Riding Firetail will get you there way faster. He flies fast and extremely agile. I'll feed him first, then you take him. Once you get there, let him rest and eat his fill. Then just send him back to me."

Draco spoke with quiet resolve, pulling out a can of turkey pet food to offer to Firetail.

"But are you sure that's safe? On the way back, Firetail might just run off, you know."

Wet Trash Can asked worriedly. After all, when a pet's loyalty is below 60%, if it was left too far from its master for too long, there was a high chance it would flee and never return.

"Don't worry. Firetail's loyalty is already well over sixty percent. He'll definitely come back to me,"

Draco replied while gently stroking his beloved dragon's head.

"Alright then. I guess I'll have to borrow your strength, Firetail,"

Siegfried turned and spoke solemnly to the evolved third-form fire dragon. He let out a mighty roar in response and stepped forward, positioning himself for the elf to mount.

"Please save Lord Chang, big brother,"

Peach Blossom called out as Siegfried climbed onto Firetail's back. The elf gave her a firm nod before ordering the dragon to take off. In a flash, Firetail launched into the sky, soaring through the air to the shock of the players nearby.

.....

In a narrow, pitch-black room, the only light came from the flickering flame of a single candle. At first, Chang Long thought she was trapped in some kind of post-death holding chamber—until a horrifying stranger appeared. Only then did she begin to suspect something was off. It spoke the same eerie line it had said to Killer, and the system informed her that she had received a quest. But that was not the end of it. The system announced that she had received a quest. The voice did not end with just that, however, it continued with a question:

"Player Chang Long, please select a player to complete this quest with."

"Kitsune,"

Chang Long answered.

"No player named Kitsune found in the system. Please choose another."

"Flatear,"

She tried again, refusing to give up.

"No player named Flatear found in the system. Please choose another."

.

She went on to name every pet and spirit under her possession, but none could be selected to complete the quest with her. Eventually, Chang Long sat down and clutched her head in frustration. There were only two options in this quest: surrender to death—or choose someone to complete the quest with her. But dying in this game was not just a simple end. It promised a terrifyingly amazing horror show—something worse than watching American Chainsaw. Before the system would even let her die, she would probably pass out several times from sheer agony. That was because the pain levels in this game were virtually identical to real-life pain.

Still, picking someone to complete the quest with her was not easy either. It was emotionally overwhelming and incredibly embarrassing. Apart from a few deeply bonded pets, there was only one person she could bring herself to consider. She let out a long sigh, her pale cheeks beginning to flush as an image of that person floated into her mind.

"Player Chang Long, please select a player to complete this quest with."

"S... Siegfried,"

she whispered, voice barely audible—like a mosquito's hum.

"Player Chang Long has selected Siegfried as the co-participant in the quest. Confirm?"

"Confirm."

Chang Long answered with a breathless gulp.

"Player Chang Long now has forty-five days from the moment the selected player accepts the quest. If Siegfried fails to complete the quest within this period, the quest will be deemed a failure. Player Chang Long will then undergo funeral rites conducted by the tomb's clergy."

As soon as the system finished its announcement, the skeletal figure grinned and waved at her—leaving Chang Long utterly speechless.

The Dark Elves' cemetery had long been a forbidden place, closed to all outsiders—except the lifeless bodies of the dead and the morticians who conducted their final rites. The grounds were carefully guarded to keep intruders out, unless they had come to seek communion with ancestral spirits by ascending the ceremonial altar above the underground crypts.

But with time, the once-glorious Dark Elf civilization fell into decline and eventually vanished for over a century. The elegant cultural sites had crumbled into dilapidated ruins, with barely a trace of their former beauty. Worse still, the morticians who once served the dead never truly left. They had sacrificed themselves to guard it for intruders.

Even upon death, they bound themselves to the crypt with ancient curse, hiding it from outsiders. As the years passed, no one ever dared set foot there again. The forest's dense wilderness and the vicious beasts that roamed it made access nearly impossible. And even if someone were to reach it, the bone-chilling atmosphere of the place would repel all but the most determined intruders. Anyone lacking courage, curiosity, or the stomach for darkness and the stench of death, would never set foot here.

But the curse could still be undone—if there was someone who truly and unwaveringly loved the afflicted. If that person could make it all the way to the Curse Reversal Vault on the lowest level of the crypt and retrieve the artifact stored there to help the cursed one, then both of them would be able to escape safely together. But if they failed, they would both be dragged—still alive—into the funeral rites. Their screams of agony would echo through the crypt as their stomachs were sliced open and their organs pulled out, before their bodies were wrapped in white linen, mummified, and stuffed upright into earthen burial pits alongside the rest of the corpses.

"Wait a minute. If that's how it works, then why does the system make me designate a specific person for the quest? Why can't it be anyone who manages to get to the vault and help me?"

Chang Long questioned one of the ancient morticians who had given her the quest.

"Down there lies many things that would make even the bravest tremble. It takes time, physical strength, and a truly resolute spirit. If it were just anyone, as you said, at some point they would simply abandon you—because you don't mean enough to them to make risking their life worthwhile,"

the ancient corpse replied, Chang Long nodded slightly, starting to understand. This quest could forge deeper bonds of love and loyalty—or it could drive people apart forever.

"So, all I can do now is wait, huh."

She sighed and stared off into the darkness. Siegfried—the man she had chosen to complete the quest with. At first, she had picked him thinking it might lead to some cheesy horror-romance scenario, but after hearing the mortician's explanation, she realized this quest had nothing to do with fleshly entanglements.

.....

Meanwhile, the man who had been summoned to take on the shared quest—even with his urgent pace—felt like he was moving far slower than his heart wanted. Riding a dragon made him the center of attention. Very few players used dragons as mounts—they were notoriously difficult to hunt, harder to tame, and almost impossible to train. Unless a dragon was hatched directly from an egg, getting it to obey and fly with a rider like Firetail did, was nearly unthinkable.

Firetail was a rare breed of dragon, and there was only one player in the entire game who owned one: Draco of the Pendragon Guild. So when other players saw someone else riding Firetail, not Draco himself, they were thoroughly stunned. But when the young man dismounted, their doubts faded—because the rider was none other than Siegfried, the leader of Pendragon and Draco's closest friend.

The rumor that Siegfried of Pendragon was riding an evolved fire dragon toward Ameris Island spread like wildfire, causing a stir among countless players. It was common knowledge that just days earlier, a large group of players had chartered ships from the Maritime Association and headed to Ameris Island as well. Though no one knew Siegfried's true objective, many speculated he had to be going to that new city currently under construction.

"What--Siegfried is riding a fire dragon straight to Ameris Island?"

The young woman nearly forgot to maintain her usual composure. Finally, she had received news of the man she had been searching for all this time.

"I spent so long looking with no sign of him, and now suddenly—boom—he's making headlines. But why is he traveling on a dragon and drawing all that attention, unless..."

As the thought took hold, the young woman's cheeks flushed a rosy red. It had to be just as she imagined. Surely her feelings had finally reached him. Siegfried had to have realized she was searching for him, yet had no way to contact him directly—so he had taken to the skies on a dragon, making himself as visible as possible so news of him would reach her with ease.

Yes, that had to be it! She needed to head to the port immediately and hitch a ride with one of the player groups bound for Ameris Island. With her title as the number one beauty, there was no way anyone would refuse to let her tag along. And the rumors said Siegfried had stopped to rest somewhere near the harbor city. If she hurried, she might just catch him there.

"Unseal, Whitehorn!"

she called out, summoning her faithful pet—a magnificent, pure white unicorn with an elegant frame and haughty eyes that mirrored her own. As she mounted its back, Whitehorn took off at an impressive speed, so fast that nearby players could only see a streak of light dart past them.

A journey that would have taken an ordinary player two full days on foot took Whitehorn just six hours. She sat poised atop the unicorn as it trotted through the city streets, scanning her surroundings for a fire dragon and the young man she had been longing to see again.

"There. Stop, Whitehorn. I'm going to ask someone here first!"

she commanded. Whitehorn lowered itself so she could dismount, then waited calmly as its master stepped into a small inn—a place players had reported through the public communication channel as a spot where Siegfried had briefly stayed.

"Excuse me, has anyone here seen Siegfried—the leader of the Pendragon Guild?"Her voice rang out sweet and clear, catching the attention of everyone in the inn.When the crowd saw that the voice belonged to her—the undisputed number one beauty—chaos erupted. The inn nearly exploded from the commotion. She was on the verge of snapping. Everyone kept trying to flirt with her—but not a single one answered her question.

"Excuse me. Is no one listening to me? I'm looking for Siegfried of the Pendragon Guild. Can anyone give me an answer?"

She forced herself to remain calm, flashing a dazzling smile as she asked again.

"Oh, if it's him. He left earlier this morning,"

a male player replied casually—only to be elbowed hard in the ribs for his troubles.

"Huh! He left. But they said he was stopping here today in public communication channel."

Narada frowned, her tone laced with irritation.

"That was yesterday's update. He rushed out early this morning,"

the same male player explained. Narada's expression darkened. Then, she spun on her heel and swept out of the inn, her cloak flaring behind her. The stunned male players who had been lining up to hit on her were left speechless. Then, slowly, all heads turned to glare murderously at the one guy who had dared answer her question.

"It's your fault. You just had to open your mouth. Now she's gone."

"Huh, me?"

The poor player caught a whiff of danger and began edging toward the exit.

"Yeah, you. You ruined our chance to win her over. Get ready to pay for that!"

The beauty's fanboys—denied their moment—chased the unfortunate blabbermouth around the inn, ready to pummel the regret right out of him. Meanwhile, outside, Narada was already back on Whitehorn's back, racing toward the port at Tartarus City.

"Siegfried, don't go too far just yet. Do you know how long I've waited to see you again? Please let us meet. Let it you remember me, even just a little."

she whispered in her heart, wishing to see him there. Even though she knew her hope was faint—painfully so—she still clung to it.