“No, you can’t wear that frog shirt on the Worlds stage!” Anna pouted at me.

  The clothes store was empty and quiet, having just opened at seven in the morning. I had half an hour spared for last minute shopping with Anna, who insisted that someone had to validate my wardrobe before I flew to Sweden, and that someone should preferably be her. I agreed. New clothes wouldn't hurt. The frog shirt was nice, but I wouldn’t want to be seen only wearing that.

  “You should try something that’s not black for once,” Anna said, picking up a white woolen sweater. “Try that for a start.”

  There’s no way that looks good, I thought. But Anna looked determined, so I put it over my T-shirt and looked at myself in the mirror.

  Honestly, it wasn’t bad. Everything else was black in my outfit, which made the white stand out. But still, there was a problem.

  “This doesn’t fit me,” I said, taking it off. “It’s not bad, but it doesn’t feel right. I look off with that.”

  Anna nodded, thoughtful. “You’re right. It looks nice, but it doesn’t fit your personality. Maybe we should try jackets?”

  I was surprised to see her agreeing as we moved to a different aisle. She made me try a denim jacket, which had the same problem, until we tried a black denim version, which definitely worked. With the jacket, I could wear a shirt with a colorful print, which worked for a completed outfit.

  “I could make a patch for the back!” Anna said. “Maybe a big white dagger? Like the one I had for your banner?”

  “I’d love that,” I said. “I don’t think we have time, though.”

  She pouted at the clock, and we tried more outfits. Flannels definitely didn’t work, and neither did the long-sleeve shirts. I couldn’t imagine myself meeting Veyra with any of these outfits. Everything looked decent, sure, but I just didn’t look comfortable wearing them. I wondered if the store had anything similar to an in-game cloak.

  That was when I spotted something. A black and white hoodie, surprise surprise, the print on which immediately put a grin on my face. Anna gave me a disapproving look, but I ignored her, putting it on. I studied myself in the mirror.

  The front print had a cat face with cute whiskers, and the hood had fluffy cat ears. The sleeves covered my hands, slightly oversized for a comfortable fit.

  “A cat hoodie?” Anna asked. “Seriously?”

  “I don’t know about you,” I said, “but I think this is just about perfect.”

  Anna studied me with her arms crossed. “Well… It helps make you look less gloomy? I don’t think it’s fit for a world championship stage, though…”

  “I’m wearing this one.”

  My sister looked indecisive, but she couldn’t argue against my grin. I bought the hoodie as well as the black denim jacket with some T-shirts.

  “Sorry,” I said to Anna as we exited the store, back into the mall. “I don’t think this is what you had in mind.”

  She walked to my side and slightly behind with nervous steps. Ever since I’d gotten some popularity, she tended to act like that. Hopefully the novelty would wear off soon. I wasn’t that famous, really.

  “You’ll do well at Worlds, right?” Anna asked.

  “That’s the plan.”

  “Your cat hoodie will look great if you win,” Anna said. “And it will look embarrassing if you lose.”

  I grinned. “Sounds about right. Thanks for supporting me.”

  From there, we moved back home, where my parents were moving about in a rush, triple checking their luggage, making their beds, while yelling at each other across different rooms. Somehow, my mom was even more panicked about the flight than I was, even though they’d only be spectating.

  “Aiden? Did you learn the Swedish expressions I sent you?” mom asked. “I sent you a text.”

  “Ninety percent of Swedes speak English, mom,” I said. “But yes, I did check out your text.”

  “Learn them,” mom insisted. “You’ll need them.”

  The hurried rush continued as mom also began triple checking Anna’s luggage. I sighed. Why was traveling always like this?

  Luckily, I was an adult now, and my parents would be flying on a different plane. I didn’t need to watch their hassle if I didn’t want to. So I grabbed my luggage and sneaked out, calling a cab to the airport.

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  At least they’re supportive… I thought and left on my own.

  ***

  As it turned out, I should have probably traveled with my family.

  I found myself in a huge airport hall, bustling with people from all over the world, and I had absolutely no idea where the fuck I was supposed to go for my flight. I’d need to go through security check-ups, right? Where were those? Did I still have to wait?

  It didn’t help that a few people were glancing in my direction, whispering amongst each other. I heard more than one instance of, “That’s him, right? Assassin A?” A few phones pointed in my direction as well, probably recording this.

  Fantastic…

  Thankfully, not everyone was a fanboy. Only Wonderwind players recognized me. The businessmen and non-gamers treated me like any other dumb teen at an airport. Not to mention, I was still in New York. I’d be more popular here than elsewhere in the world.

  I looked around for someone that looked like staff, who I could ask for directions, when a small commotion caught my attention. Crowds dispersed as a familiar man in a red flannel walked through.

  Henrift still drew much more attention than me. The passersby who’d been recording me turned to him. Someone yelled, “Oh, shit, raid boss!”

  Henrift didn’t even glance in their direction. He was walking toward me, though. I stepped out of the way.

  His head panned to me, surprised. He walked up to me. “You lost?”

  “Uh, a little bit.”

  He nodded. “Follow me. We’ve got priority boarding.”

  I moved deeper into the airport with him. He didn’t need to check schedules or directions; he confidently walked straight to where he needed to go, though the walk was long enough for the silence to quickly become awkward.

  “Bold move, signing for the three versus three tourney,” Henrift said. “You’re really fighting that as a duo?”

  “Meh, we just picked what looked like the easiest one,” I said. “Three versus three seemed unpopular. We’ll win that.”

  “You should check again,” Henrift said with a smirk. “Plenty of teams joined last second, including me and a few friends. We can have a real match now that your build was fixed. Assuming we don’t get knocked out by Annath.”

  “Wait,” I said, blinking. “She’s joining?”

  I pulled out my phone to check the tournament. The group brackets hadn’t been formed yet, but the player lists and teams of each competition were now finalized. Yesterday, when we signed up, the three versus three event had been fairly calm, with the best team including three Eon Covenant members from the top fifty.

  Now, the listings looked entirely different. Syntrix had entered with SoulShadow and two more high level players, WrightKnight and Blast. Luxueux with Neige and his best members. NomNom Catones with Firtan, MissKitty, and ErrinLol, all top one hundred players. Henrift with friends outside his guild, Serasinner and TeemoMain.

  And then there was Annath and the Celestial Order, fighting with DJmikolele and Prancer2.

  “The prize pool might increase with so many players joining,” Henrift said. “Three versus three will be a popular one this year.”

  Oh fuck, was all I could think. This was suddenly far from easy. Veyra and I had discussed plans on how to defeat Eon Covenant’s team. Their roster didn’t seem too difficult, so we picked three versus three over other options. But now all this? Annath as well?

  And we were fighting as a duo against teams of three. Maybe we should have recruited a third player…

  On the plus side… if we somehow managed to win, the three versus three paid the most out of the side-events. The prize for the winning team was three hundred thousand dollars, and a hundred thousand for second place.

  I considered sending Veyra a message about the news, but thinking about her immediately brought back the emotions from yesterday, with everything she’d said.

  “I’ll try my best. So please don’t break my heart.”

  I still couldn’t figure out what she could possibly mean by saying men didn’t want to date a “girl like her.” I didn’t want to date an amazing time mage? The hottest woman in all of Wonderwind?

  The security checkups and waiting passed in a flash. I boarded the plane for the long flight, where I should have probably been thinking of strategies against all of our opponents, yet Worlds itself was barely in my mind. All I could think about was the hug Veyra had given me.

  When we met, I could give her a real hug.

  ***

  “How are you feeling?” Aree asked in the airport’s waiting area, filled with seats and bustling traffic.

  Sick to my stomach, Veyra thought, sitting on her wheelchair. She wondered if she should ask for the bucket. She could have puked right now if she tried.

  Instead, she made do with a deep nauseous breath and said, “Only a little bad.”

  “Nervous?”

  “No, I’m just trying not to puke,” Veyra said. “Let me focus for a moment.”

  She closed her eyes and focused, as best she could, on not dying. Exiting her apartment was never easy. The outside world just made her nauseous, and puking in public was much worse than just collapsing on her toilet bowl at home.

  Closing her eyes didn’t help either, as her head began spinning. Instead, she stared at the airport traffic with her eyes focused on a random point at the wall. With her new glasses, she could actually read flight departure times on the board.

  Her heartbeat rose as she recalled what she’d said yesterday.

  I hugged him on my mom’s old couch! she thought. In virtual reality, sure, but she’d still tackled him like some little girl, and without thinking, she’d run her mouth.

  “Don’t break my heart…” What did I even mean!? Why did I say that?

  “Aree?” Veyra asked.

  “Yes?”

  “Are you sure the glasses look good on me?”

  Aree smiled. “You look great. Just a little nervous.”

  “Should I add more make-up?”

  “Your freckles also look great,” Aree said. “There’s no need to cover them. I’ll make your hair before the event as well.”

  Veyra tried not to pout. “I can’t tell if you’re lying to make me feel good.”

  “You are beautiful, Veyra,” Aree said. “That’s my opinion. And if you’re troubled by what Aiden will think, you won’t have to worry.”

  “I won’t?”

  “No,” Aree said, and she flexed her bicep, grinning. “Because you have me. If he dumps you, I’ll make sure he won’t leave without my fist on his face.”

  Veyra snorted. “That’s not very reassuring, Aree.”

  Her assistant merely chuckled. “It will go well. I know it will.”

  Her eyes were sincere, as if she knew for certain that what she said was correct, with no room for argument. Veyra breathed in and nodded.

  Before that, Veyra had her flight to survive. They passed security checks and her wheelchair was lifted to the plane, where she hugged her puke bucket for take-off, coughing out stomach acids until she fell asleep and woke up in Sweden.

  20 chapters ahead on !