Isla exclaimed with a shocked tone as she stared at Arthur with wide eyes.
“Shush!” Arthur quickly put his hand on his mouth, signaling for her to lower her voice. His eyes wandered to the people around him and quickly noticed them watching the interaction with curious looks.
They noticed how Isla had stopped in front of his table and that naturally raised their curiosity.
‘Goddamit, why the hell is this girl here?’ He cursed inwardly. Of all the people he expected to stumble upon now, Isla was the last person. She was also perhaps the last person he wished to meet after what happened yesterday. ‘So she was on this island too? Great! Perfect!
I’m very lucky, aren’t I? Like what are the chances of this happening?’
Arthur felt like fate was mocking him with how things had turned out.
“…” Isla blinked a few times before she nodded her head. Then, walked past him and sat on the table right behind him with her back facing his back. The students were naturally confused for a few seconds.
“Why did she stop near his table?”
“Maybe he said something weird to her? The bastard!”
“Well, she seemed to have moved on. What a weirdo.”
Hearing the mocking tone of the students, Arthur sighed as he picked up his cup of coffee and drank from it. ‘Sigh, patience, Arthur. I need to be patient.’
“I didn’t expect us to meet again this soon,” Isla said in a quiet tone as she pretended as if she was reading the menu.
“Me neither,” Arthur replied.
“Actually, I had a hunch that you might be here too. You didn’t look older or younger than me.”
“People told me I look younger than my age.” Arthur continued eating as if nothing happened. At this point, he gave up trying to escape or pretend Isla wasn’t there.
“They don’t have a keen eye.”
“Pfft, a weird way to compliment yourself, but sure.” Arthur laughed slightly. Then, the two went silent for a while as if they didn’t know what to say. Eventually, Isla opened her mouth again.
“So, can I know your name now or are you going to run away again?”
“… I didn’t run away, Miss. That’s called a tactical retreat. It’s an essential part of all confrontations.” Arthur clicked his tongue.
“A tactical retreat requires a threat in the first place. Was I a threat to you?”
Arthur: “…”
The boy opened his mouth before closing it again as if he didn’t know what to say. Then, he sighed and replied. “Well, you weren’t a threat. More like an annoying intruder if I have to be frank.”
“Oh, an annoying intruder?”
“Yeah, no offense to you. But, you and your small group seem like too much trouble for my taste. I don’t mess with that.”
Arthur was being completely honest. The moment he came across the masked player and the rest of the group, his senses went off. They seemed like the exact type of people that would bring him trouble. They didn’t necessarily seem like bad people, but they had that ‘Main character’ aura that he could recognize easily.
‘Especially this girl. She stands out like a sore thumb. No, more like a beacon of light in the darkness.’ He thought to himself.
“That is the very first time someone told me that,” Isla replied with an impressed look on her face.
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“You’re the one who asked.” Arthur shrugged. “Anyway, I’m Arthur. Nice to meet you.”
“Isla. Nice to meet you too.” She replied.
“I hope this will be the last time we interact, Isla.” He said as he finally finished his food and lifted his hand to call for the waitress.
However, Isla spoke at that moment. “Can I ask one last question?”
“What?” Arthur replied as he got ready to leave. However, her next words made him completely freeze for a split second.
“Are you hiding that you’re rank 1 because you don’t want the attention that comes with it?”
Arthur’s expression went completely blank. Meanwhile, Isla casually sipped her coffee.
“What are you talking about?” Arthur sat down again. ‘Shit, she caught on?’
“It’s very obvious if you ask me. I have seen how you fight and I know that you’re stronger than me. So, naturally, that makes you Rank 1. Unless I made a mistake somewhere.” She replied.
“Wha-” Arthur was about to continue pretending that he didn’t know what she was saying. But, then, something clicked in his head when he heard her words. His face frowned visibly before he turned to look at Isla for the first time. The girl also looked at him silently.
“You’re… You’re Darkmoon?” He asked.
“Nice to meet you again.” She replied.
“…” Arthur pursed his lips as he continued looking at her before he slowly turned around and sat again. “Well… That makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? You’re the strongest player I met so far.”
“Same here.” She replied.
“… Wow, just wow.” Arthur laughed as he rubbed his face. “Yeah, this is some kind of joke for sure. I’m being pranked right now.”
“I’m sorry for discovering your little secret, Mr. Rank 1.”
“Sigh, are you going to reveal that piece of info?” He asked. At this point, Arthur realized that he had already been caught from the start and he had no chance of actually changing her mind. Isla seemed like an extremely clever individual and changing her mind was almost impossible.
“Hmm, no, I won’t do that. I have no interest in spreading other people’s matters.” She replied. “I just found myself curious when I realized that you might be the Rank 1. But, how did you do that?”
“… I don’t know really. I’m just playing and having fun. I don’t know why I’m Rank 1. Honestly, it’s all too weird to me too.” He replied.
Arthur genuinely didn’t know how he ended up in the position he was in at that moment. He thought he was going to simply enjoy playing the game casually yet somehow, he ended up being the best player in the world amongst hundreds of millions of other players. It felt unreal even after he came to accept it.
‘Some people definitely deserve it more than I do. But, good luck to them taking it from me. I’m not handing it over.’ He thought to himself.
“Interesting,” Isla muttered as she looked at the cup in front of her, deep in thought. “What is your goal in DO?”
“Goal?”
“Do you wish to achieve something? Perhaps something great.”
Her question was rather odd and the tone in which she asked was also odd. But, Arthur didn’t think much about it as he didn’t understand her at all.
“No, not really. I’m just trying to have fun and change my life for the better. If I can do that, then I’m satisfied.” He replied.
For a moment, Arthur smiled peacefully. His dream for the future was very straightforward and even simplistic. Yet, it didn’t change at all. Even now when he could easily aim for something ‘great’, he still didn’t wish to change himself.
‘My wish will never change and I don’t want it to change either.’ He mused.
Those words made Isla stop for a moment from sipping her coffee as she closed her eyes. Then, she said. “Can I call you ‘Arthur, if you don’t mind?”
“… Hm? Yeah, I don’t mind.”
“Well, Arthur, I’m going to request something from you. Meet me tonight at 7:00 PM at the entrance of the village.” She said as she stood up. “I think it might interest you.”