Chapter 158 - Leaving The Paradise Behind.
The floor, where the spectators' area was bustling with people, more and more Players were coming from the corridors, whom Isaac had never seen before, but he knew that at this rate, the place would be too crowded to move properly.
Tristan and Tiffany also saw the problem and decided to start another match.
''Wraith, it was nice to meet you,'' Tiffany said and offered her soft hand for a handshake.
Isaac nodded and shook her hand, and watched as she walked away.
He sighed and stood up; he decided to leave this majestic place, which will definitely stay in his memories as another place where he can visit every now and then.
He glanced at the Ranking Boards, and decided to come back later to try to improve his Ranking spot and hopefully continue his winning streak.
''You leaving?'' Tristan asked after seeing Isaac gazing at the exit multiple times.
Isaac nodded and decided to ask, ''When are the Rankings finalized?'' He wanted to know how long it was before the event was over.
''1 month.'' Tristan said simply with a slight smile.
Isaac nodded and offered a handshake, ''This was fun.''
''Glad you enjoyed it,'' Tristan said and shook his hand.
Before leaving, Isaac took another glance at the different Players and NPCs; he also saw a few suspicious individuals who were wearing masks, obviously trying to hide their faces for whatever reason.
''White and Black,'' Isaac murmured, and his blue outfit started changing; the jacket became the color of pure white with pants and boots that were in the color of black.
He covered his features with the hood and swiftly dodged the crowd of people in front of him, and started making his way over to the exit.
His figure didn't attract any attention; some were still searching for figures with a blue outfit and completely missed Isaac when he walked right past them.
After he reached the exit, he opened the door without looking back and entered another room, where a massive staircase was leading to the surface.
He sighed and stretched his limbs before starting his journey to the surface.
Back in the spectators' area.
Only moments after Isaac left.
A figure with black-colored appeared with a mask that covered most of his face, except his eyes, appeared in the spectators' area. His bright blue eyes could be seen underneath the mask and a string of his hair, which was in the color of black.
His outfit consisted of a black robe and brown-colored pants, which wasn't leather but instead something else that looked very durable.
On his back, some kind of weapon was strapped. It was fully covered in a dark cloak, with a tip of blade creeping from there.
The weapon looked both deadly and frightening.
He scanned the area like a hawk, and it only took him a split second to find Tiffany, who was currently talking with a group of Players who wanted to be in the next match.
With calm steps, he started walking towards Tiffany, and once his nametag was seen by other Players, their faces turned into admiration, and some were even worship.
[King Klaus]
He is King Klaus, one of the most powerful Players in the game and, unknowingly, Isaac's rival!
...
Half an hour later and thousands of steps later.
Isaac slowly moved his leg up the last step, and once he reached the top of the staircase, he started breathing roughly with an exhausted face.
''T-T-They really need to build an elevator.'' He wiped the sweat from his forehead and moved the bangs out of the way, so he could see where the exit was.
The place where he was surprised him. He was in the middle of a spacious cave, with a corridor made of rocks not far from him. At the end of the corridor, a flash of light was seen, and it instantly told Isaac that there was the exit.
''Is it possible to enter Paradise from here?'' Isaac looked down the stairs and wondered why no one used this route.
He shrugged and was sure that he would find the reason fairly soon. With heavy steps, he started walking, and there wasn't anything special in the cave.
Walls and ceiling made of rocks, without any source of light, except the one that is coming from the exit.
Even though he was exhausted, he still touched the rock wall to feel the texture because he has been fascinated by every tiny detail about the game. He is amazed at how realistic it is and wants to know does it really feel like in real life.
''It indeed does...'' Ever since he received Mythical VR Helmet, he feels like everything feels more realistic than before, but he has a hunch that it isn't the only reason.
Sense Enchantment also lets him feel the pressure of the touch, which probably is another reason, but Isaac isn't too certain about that.
He felt the rock being very gritty, almost like sand, with some of the rock pieces on the wall having more sharper texture. He trailed his fingertip on the rock wall and felt everything clearly.
One thing he also liked about White Online was the air!
It is much clearer than in real life, where most air is polluted, but that isn't a big problem in Winterland as in other Continents.
But still, especially in forests like the Forest of Unknown, he could clearly smell nature and feel the fresh air assaulting his senses, making him feel very relaxed and pleasant.
The more time he spends in White Online, the more he wants to spend his time here, but he doesn't want to become lazy in real life and start ignoring his own health.
''It would be so good if White Online was connected with the real world... Heh...'' He chuckled and shook those thoughts out of his mind, ''Again, these thoughts... It is too good to be true and it is simply... Impossible.''
With these thoughts, he left the cave behind him and entered a mountainside with a path that was leading straight down.
Isaac widened his eyes in shock and looked around him. He was standing in the middle of a massive mountain, which was easily over 5km in height!
Looking back, he saw the cave, and now he understood why no one used this route.
It is simply too difficult to get in here!
Walking up here alone will take an hour, and who knows how far it is from the entrance of the Forest!
Isaac looked down and shook his head, ''I will definitely not walk that.'' The path was quite rough and very tough to walk in, and it was around 3 kilometers in length, and even after that, he has to navigate through the forest and somehow not die.
He took Teleportation Pearl from his Inventory and, with wry smile, said his words, ''Home.''