Afterlife Dream

Maybe because I had been sick my whole life, I was more or less a coward. I had never tried to do anything remotely dangerous in my life, and I always put my safety above any worldly pleasure. This trait was even reflected in the games that I played. I disliked the notion of death. Although I knew that my character would be revived again and again in the event of death, I simply hated to die. In the original Afterlife Dream, I had only died while bossing. And that was only when I felt especially brave and challenged bosses that were way too difficult for me.

In this version of Afterlife Dream, I had never died before. I was a heal freak. Other healers might wait until their HP went down to 20% before they healed. Enter me, who healed up as soon as my HP went down to, say, 97%.

That being said, I never once thought to venture the high-level areas based on the same principle. I just did not want to die. It turned out that dying in this version of Afterlife Dream was indeed as horrible as it could be.

I landed in absolute darkness, and a mechanical voice that I had not heard since my beginner days spoke up again.

"Player, you have died. You will be resurrected in a safe area. Please take care in your journey."

The darkness dispersed and I dropped on my knees in the safe map of Frozen Tundra Land. Note that the ground was made of solid ice. I immediately cried from pain when my knees bumped with the cold, icy surface.

A lot of dings came from my user interface screen.

"Antares?"

"Are you alright?"

"Can you come to the map?"

It was Aurendiria. I rubbed at my temple. That was one embarrassing display, I thought. I put my finger on the screen and started typing.

"Yeah, I can. Wait a second."

Before I pressed enter, another person entered the party. The name BlackPuma was shoved between Aurendiria's and mine. I gulped again. BlackPuma, level 141. The highest level player in Afterlife Dream. The only player who had unlocked the benefits of fourth job advancement to date.

My throat went dry.

BlackPuma typed something into the party chat, and it turned out to be "Baby, I am coming to fetch you. Let's go back to town together."

Baby.

I pressed my lips together. Aurendiria and BlackPuma were lovers? As if to answer the question I had not even asked, Aurendiria typed, "Thank you, my love (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡."

I waited at the portal for them to arrive. They went through the portal hand-in-hand.

Aurendiria looked even more beautiful with blushing cheeks. She looked at BlackPuma adoringly. Adopting couple looks, BlackPuma was also dressed in silver gears from helmet to boots, and he was holding a Dark Moon Spear. When married couples stood close to each other, a throbbing pink heart animation was shown along with a flower shower.

I was never a marriage person. I never even had a single girlfriend. And yet when I saw Aurendiria standing next to BlackPuma, looking like she was floating in the sea of love, I could not help but feel jealous. Again. I wanted to be the man who had one arm around Aurendiria and kissed her cheek lovingly.

I snapped from my daydreams when BlackPuma approached me. What the hell was I thinking? I should get over it! Why was I being lovesick when I should have been focusing on the most important job interview in my life? Or virtual life? I smoothed down my robe and rubbed my sweaty hands off at the same time before offering a trembling hand in BlackPuma's direction.

"Ni-nice to meet you, Sir."

Aurendiria and BlackPuma both blinked at me for a few seconds before they burst into laughter.

"Hmphahahaha, did HellWitch tell you that you should call me 'Sir'? I have to say that this is a new approach."

Aurendiria leaned her head against BlackPuma's shoulder and said, "Antares, my hubby is not that scary. He is just coincidentally the oldest player in here."

BlackPuma frowned.

"Why oldest? You make me sound like a grandpa!"

Aurendiria rolled with her eyes.

"I mean, the strongest. Okay?"

BlackPuma flashed her a brilliant smile, then he turned to me.

"HellWitch vouched for you. She said that you were an experienced player before your untimely death. What level were you again?"

"Oh, I was fifty-two."

"Hmm, just finished second job advancement? Were you also a Healer in your past life?"

"Yes, I was."

"That's good. Gameplay and skills are not that much different from what you played when you were alive. I believe you will catch on real quick. Do you want to join the guild?"

"I... Of course!"

BlackPuma smiled again at my enthusiasm.

"We do not accept members lower than 50. But we are severely lacking Healers so I offer to help you level up. How about that?"

That was more than what I could ask for. Of course I said yes. Now, I did not know whether it was his oppressively strong aura or the fact that I had both Aurendiria and him guarding in front of me and also at my back, but I managed to smoothly reach BlackPuma's training map. That was good because I did not want to die again. In fact, I was more than willing to stick to the corner and leech experience until I became level 100 before I did my second job advancement.

You wouldn't believe me if I told you that I leeched the hell out of BlackPuma. I did not know how many % experience he gained in the one hour he killed the skeleton monsters, but by the time we were done I was level 55 and Aurendiria was level 92. I was so happy that I could cry. I kept saying thank you and thank you.

"You are welcome," BlackPuma said. "I suggest you reset your skills now and then join the level 50 raid next week? Only one more person from the guild who has not gotten his Fire Golem Helmet yet."

Uh oh.

"I... don't have the skill reset scroll yet."

"Oh? Then start doing the Love Dungeon daily from now on."

I cleared my throat.

"I uh am not married."