The Strength to Live II

---Chapter 19: The Strength to Live II

“It looks like everyone’s here…” Quartz, with Yui by his side, glanced around at their usual companions.

“Hey you two.” Striker did his best to smile.

“Have a seat.” Mint motioned towards their usual seats.

It was the next day, December 26th, and the group had met up at their usual garden spot. Quartz and Yui both took their seats and promptly began the discussion.

“So, Rokugo, about yesterday…” Quartz broached the topic.

“I was able to confirm it.” Rokugo spoke solemnly.

Yesterday, after Quartz and Yui had their heart-to-heart discussion, they’d decided they should share the full details of Yui’s situation with the others. It was a surprising tale that was hard to believe, but their three friends knew at this point that there must be truth to it. At that time Rokugo, the oldest of the group in real life and also a teacher with various connections in the academic world, had volunteered to look into information on ‘Yui Kawakami’, based on what he could learn from Yui.

This was the first time Yui was able to genuinely entrust someone with confirming the state of her real life self. Rokugo glanced her way, in order to confirm if it was okay to continue.

“I… I’m ready. Please, share what you’ve learned.” Yui bowed her head, her voice shaking ever so slightly.

“Very well…” Rokugo took a deep breath. “To begin, I want to make one thing clear: Yui Kawakami is still alive.”

Everyone’s eyes widened. Following that, various expressions of relief came to their faces. After all, the number one fear regarding this whole situation would be learning that Yui’s real life body had passed away. Knowing that her body still had life was a huge weight off of everyone’s shoulders, especially Yui’s.

“Thank goodness…” Striker muttered. He wasn’t used to situations like this, so he couldn’t help but speak up and express what he felt.

“That’s great to hear.” Mint sighed in relief. “But there’s more to it, isn’t there?”

“Of course.” Rokugo nodded, adjusting his glasses as he began to explain. “I shall start from the beginning. An old professor I’d studied under happened to be teaching at the university Yui told me she’d attended.”

The group nodded along, prepared to hear out Rokugo’s story.

“Despite it being Christmas, I contacted him to see if he knew anything about Yui Kawakami. And as it turns out, he did.” Rokugo glanced towards Yui, who was watching him in anticipation. “He told me he’d heard about a student at the university who’d been hospitalized during summer break. That student is Yui Kawakami.”

“So, I’m in the hospital…” Yui whispered.

“Yes.” Rokugo nodded. “After a little more research, I discovered the hospital Yui was staying at. I’d decided to take a chance and see if I could go visit her.”

“Wait, so you actually went and saw her?!” Quartz blurted out, surprised.

“Actually, I was turned away. It seems only family was permitted to visit her.” Rokugo shook his head. “However, by chance… I was overheard by her parents, who were passing by.”

---

“Excuse me, did you say you were hoping to see Yui Kawakami?” asked the woman who was passing by.

“Ah, yes I did.” he bowed. “Would you happen to be Ms. Kawakami’s parents?”

“Yes, we are.” the man beside the woman spoke up. “And who might you be?”

“Excuse me.” he bowed once more. “I’m Tetsuya Nitta. I’m a teacher acquainted with one of your daughter’s instructors from the university. I was here for my own reasons, when I’d remembered her hospitalization and thought I would check on her, if possible.”

It was a fairly flimsy lie, but one rooted in enough truth to not sound too outlandish.

“I don’t see how it has anything to do with you.” the father eyed Tetsuya suspiciously.

“Now dear, he’s just a concerned teacher.” the mother stood up for him, before bowing. “Thank you for thinking of her. We were just on our way to visit her now. The hospital only limits visits to family at the moment, so I’m afraid we can’t take you to see her.”

“Don’t worry, I understand.” Tetsuya smiled. “Before I take my leave, if you’d be so kind, could you tell me how her condition is?”

---

“What did she say…?” Yui asked.

“Well… It seems during the entirety of your hospitalization, you’ve been comatose.” Rokugo answered.

“I see…” Yui looked down.

“Comatose, huh…” Quartz grimaced.

A moment of silence lingered amongst the group. Soon, Mint broke the silence by asking what everyone else was thinking.

“So, then… Where does that leave us now? What should we be doing next?” she asked.

Another moment passed before someone answered her.

“The Mermaid’s Tear…” Quartz spoke up.

“What about it?” asked Striker.

“I’m certain… If I can find that item, I can wake up in the real world again.” Yui answered.

“How can you be so sure of that, though?” Mint asked. “I mean, even logistically, how would that work…?”

“I don’t know, but…” Yui clenched her fist.

“I will admit: that is one mystery we still have yet to solve.” Rokugo spoke up. “Considering the fact that the quest for that item likely appeared at the moment Yui became trapped within this game world, it’s difficult to believe it’s unrelated.”

“Yeah… Plus, given what we know, it can’t be any ordinary item.” Quartz agreed. “I feel like once we figure out the truth about it, we’ll be one step closer to getting Yui out of this situation.”

In a sense, it was a farfetched theory, but the group had no other options to consider. Regardless, as the situation stood, they knew two things: Yui’s mind has spent the last several months existing within the game world of Myth of Genesis Online. Meanwhile, Yui’s body had remained comatose in the hospital during that same period of time.

Cyber Moon’s full-dive technology was well-regarded by the public. Despite the fact that it was a device that links one’s consciousness to a digital avatar in a game world, there’d been very little reports of issues with the hardware. Most issues peopled tended to hear about were things related to headaches and migraines as a result of extended use. Nothing as serious as someone going comatose.

“Hm?” Quartz glanced to the side.

At that moment, he’d received a message, so he glanced at the notification in the corner of his vision.

“It looks like we might have a lead after all…” Quartz spoke.

“Hm? What do you mean?” Mint asked.

“Yesterday, Yui and I also contacted one other person to share her story with…” Quartz rose from his seat. “The moderator, Chronos.”

“Whoa, seriously?” Striker asked.

“I see… So you were tackling the issue from both angles the whole time.” Rokugo smiled.

Quartz nodded with a smile of his own, before displaying his message window to the group.

The screen read: “Thanks to your information, I’ve managed to discover something important regarding the truth of the Mermaid’s Tear and its quest. Please meet me at the central lake on Crescent Island as soon as possible. –Chronos”

“Whoa…” Striker muttered in awe as he read the message.

“I suppose you two better get moving, then.” encouraged Rokugo.

“Yeah.” Quartz nodded, and then…

Quartz held out his hand toward Rokugo.

“Rokugo, thank you for everything you’ve helped us out with. There’s no doubt we wouldn’t have been able to get this far without you.”

“Goodness…” Rokugo, somewhat taken aback, took Quartz’s hand and the two exchanged a firm handshake. “I did what I could. But don’t underestimate what you’ve done for Yui as well, Quartz.”

“Right.” Quartz nodded.

“Really, Rokugo… Thank you for going so far to look into my situation.” Yui bowed.

“It was no problem at all, Yui. We’re friends, after all.” Rokugo smiled.

“Yeah… You’re right.” Yui pumped her fist. “We’re all friends!”

With that, the whole group raised their fists into the air. Quartz, Striker, Mint, Rokugo, and of course, Yui. The party had come a long way in just a few months, and their bond had grown a tremendous amount in that time. What started as a simple hunt for a rare item had morphed into a situation surpassing any expectation.

“Alright, Yui. Let’s go!” Quartz turned to leave the garden.

“Right!” Yui nodded enthusiastically, following right behind. “Let’s go-go!”

[To be continued…]