It was early November, and the strong wind stirred the trees, causing leaves from branches to fall and sway. During the rainy season, the city of Quezon was flooded with heavy rain, making the temperature drop. Because of the cold weather and intense rain, schools were out for the safety of students.

A heavy downpour descended onto the streets, its waters rushing forth like a surging river, with its currents flowing forth like a whirlwind. The rainfall was like a broken dam, flooding the streets and pedestrians while creating pools of water on the cracked pavements.

The tar-black sky followed by raindrops made it hard to see the glimmering stars.

Inside a small café, many people could be seen drinking warm coffee to withstand the frigid temperature. The pattering sound of raindrops was soothing and created a serene atmosphere, leaving the customers satisfied as they enjoyed their warm drinks.

A young woman stood behind a counter, listening to the sound of people as they chattered. Her gaze shifted to look at the time on her phone, and with a sigh, she took off her apron and made her way to the staff room. She changed out of her uniform and was now packing up her things when one of her colleagues came in.

"Maria? You're leaving already?" A man with purple-dyed hair asked. "Isn't it a bit too early?"

"My shift already ended and you know who's in charge for tonight," replied Maria tiredly.

The man with dyed hair groaned and leaned his back against the wall. He was the youngest worker among the other baristas and was currently assigned to the night shift.

"It's a Friday night though!" He exclaimed. "Tonight's the final screening of the new horror movie and if I miss it, I won't be able to watch it tomorrow!"

The young man, Reyo, had only started working this year. He was planning to quit once he graduated from university and earned enough money to rent an apartment for himself.

Maria picked up her bag and asked, "Couldn't you just use a legal streaming site to watch the movie?"

"I already brought tickets," Reyo said before whispering. "Isn't there a way for me to leave without the boss noticing?"

"You know you can't do that even if you wanted to," Maria told him. "Even if you did, you'll get your salary cut. Trust me, I experienced it beforehand."

"Ohhh, were you a troublemaker? Did you also try skipping work back in your youthful years?" Reyo inquired with a mischievous smile.

"Everyone had at least tried escaping work once." She retorted with a glare, obviously annoyed by his comment about her 'youthful' years like she was someone who already reached her mid-60s.

Just as he was about to speak again, Maria raised a hand to stop him. She didn't have time to listen to Reyo's complaints and needed to focus on buying gifts for her relatives.

Christmas was one month away and she had only brought two gifts for her two younger siblings. She wanted to prepare in advance so that she had time on her hands for the following week.

Once Maria had sorted out her things, she turned to leave when Reyo stopped her. He pulled out a note from his apron's pocket and told her, "I've been meaning to give this to you the whole day, but the café was so busy that I could only give it to you now."

Maria looked closely at the small piece of paper and saw there were numbers written on it. A dull expression quickly formed on her face.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested—"

"It's not from me!" Reyo immediately interrupted, looking both embarrassed and appalled.

"Then...?"

"One of the customers gave it to me this afternoon. He told me to give it to the 'cute barista behind the counter.'" Reyo nearly gagged after he uttered those last words.

"..."

Reyo shoved the paper at her and grumbled, still red after she assumed it was from him. Maria looked down at the piece of paper before ripping it apart and tossing it in a trash bin.

"Isn't that a bit too harsh?"

"You know me enough to know I'm not interested in dating anyone."

"But tearing it up and throwing it? I suddenly felt a prick in my heart seeing that," Reyo said with a dramatic expression, holding his chest as if expressing his pain.

Maria just chuckled and said her goodbyes. She walked out of the staff room and left through the front door, opening her umbrella and lifting it to shield herself from the pouring rain.

The street was a blend of raindrops and bright, colorful lights, giving the atmosphere of the city both a melancholic and festive feeling. Stores were selling various ornaments and toys, the brilliant lights of 2D light decorations cast a cheerful glow over Quezon City, and the sound of children singing echoed throughout the city.

As Maria walked through the busy streets of Quezon, her phone suddenly rang. She stopped in front of a less crowded shop that had an open eave overhanging from it. Stepping under the roof's eave, Maria took a moment to answer the call.

"Hello?"

She was then greeted by a loud, cheerful voice from the end of her phone. "Ate!"

It was her younger brother.

"Ervin? What is it?"

How long has it been since she was able to receive a call from her family? It might've been a week or two. Even so, Maria smiled upon hearing her brother's voice.

"Mom asked how you were doing," Ervin said. "You better get ready! In two weeks we're going to visit you!"

"Two weeks? Then do you want me to download some Christmas movies?" She asked.

"Yeah! Horror Christmas movies!"

Maria remembered how much her siblings loved Christmas movies, especially horror ones.

"Okay, tell Mom I'm doing fine. The weather is cold, but I can manage."

"Will Ate Amelie be there?"

"Yeah! Will she?" This time, the voice came from her youngest brother, Dylan.

She could even hear the sound of groaning and pushing between her two brothers over the phone.

"Haha, of course. She's always here."

They sure like her.

"Anyway, I might cook or order takeout, so tell Mom that she doesn't have to bring any food," Maria told Ervin as she looked at the dark sky.

The festive and rainy night was an enchanting affair, it brought out a calming ambiance to the streets. Screeching tires and mechanical engines resonated with the roads, indicating the busy nature of this month. The call between the three siblings lasted for 17 minutes before Ervin had to hang up.

Maria was able to keep in touch with her family even after moving to a different city. She had been living in Quezon City for only three years, but it felt like a decade since she moved.

After graduating, she decided to leave her home to live independently in Quezon City. She went out of her way to buy a house in a spacious neighborhood and applied for a job as a high school teacher.

Maria earned a living by teaching high school students biology. Her status in her department was quite average, but she was well-known and liked among her students.

It was still unclear to her why she decided to become a teacher. She originally wanted to be a doctor, but an unknown feeling occupied her when she was finally deciding what career to choose. Being a doctor, she felt that it wasn't a job suitable for her.

There was a bit of conflict when Maria started picking out her choices. She didn't know why she ended up with her third option of being a teacher. Although looking back at it, teaching students about the beauty of life somewhat gave Maria a pleasant feeling. It wasn't what she originally wanted to go for, but she had no regrets.

With her excellent and hardworking performance, Maria was able to catch the school administrator's attention and was recommended to transfer to the senior high building to teach senior students. It was a good offer that anyone would be tempted with, let alone a great opportunity to increase her salary.

Though, for some unknown reason, she had to decline the offer. Soon after, she resigned from her job and left the school to work at a small café.

Her family and relatives often visited her during their free time during the holidays. Most of her relatives still couldn't accept the fact that Maria had refused the offer and nagged her about making the right decision. It was the only reason why Maria really didn't enjoy family events.

This Christmas wouldn't be any different.

Maria arrived home at around 7 P.M. and was tired. She took off her coat and wet shoes, throwing them aside to lie down on the couch.

One of her close friends, Layla, came walking out of the bathroom and saw Maria lying down on the couch with her stomach facing down.

"Your home," Layla said, her ash-brown hair tied in a bun. "Amelie texted me and said she was on her way. I heated some water so you should take a bath now."

Maria nodded lightly with her eyes half-closed. She wasn't surprised to see Layla inside since she gave spare keys to some of her close friends in case they wanted to hang around her house.

The house she owned was a two-story traditional Filipino house that had three guest rooms and one master bedroom. Her father had brought her the house when she turned 24. Her house was quite big with many rooms, leading to her friends taking some residency.

"Kuya Nick had some things to do with Zack, so he won't be home for a while," Layla informed her. "He doesn't want me to be alone in our apartment, so he wanted to ask if I could stay here for tonight."

Maria yawned and nodded. She looked up at the girl with droopy eyes and asked, "Do you need anything else?"

Layla tilted her head and after exchanging a few more words with Maria, she turned to enter one of the guest rooms. Maria lay silently on the couch before sitting up, then she stood up and began heading her way to the kitchen. The stove had a pot filled with boiling water, steam rising out of the lid.

What made going home the best for Maria was taking a long, warm bath.

☆ ★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★

After turning the faucet off, Maria soon came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her figure, the tip of her bangs dripping with water. She had already prepared a set of clothes to change from and quickly wore them, feeling the warmth return to her body.

She opened the curtains to her room to view the night sky, seeing how the rain had calmed down and the stars twinkling amidst the darkness.

Maria stared at the scenery for a while when her phone suddenly rang with notifications. She went over and scrolled down lines of messages that came from her relatives in a family group chat. A frown appeared on her face the moment she read them.

[Tita Althea: When will you find a husband Maria? You're already 27!]

[Tito Paulo: Isn't she still young? Wouldn't it be better if she's 30 or 40 to consider marriage?]

[Leslie: Tito, Ate is too pretty to stay single. I heard from her brothers that she's popular among her customers.]

[Caitlyn: Eh? Ate is still single? I thought Kuya Zack was her boyfriend?]

[Vincent: They're just friends, and isn't it better for her to stay single? Why waste time finding a man when she's already doing well these days?]

[Lola Rosie: Little M, when can you bring over a husband? I want to have more grandchildren before I leave this world.]

More and more messages rang out from her smartphone. Her relatives had great interest when it came to discussing things such as education and marriage, often giving out advice to everyone in the family including Maria.

However, Maria didn't need any advice from her family or cousins or uncles or aunts. She was perfectly fine being single as long as she was able to live a peaceful and stable life.

She was a single barista in her family along with her other older and uninterested cousins. At least they understood and could relate to her.

"What's so special about starting a family anyway?" Maria mumbled as she muted her phone. "I'll be better off adopting a dog than having my own kids."

Maria looked at the clock hanging above the door frame and sighed. It was now 8 P.M. and she still had work tomorrow.

But... since my shift starts in the afternoon, Me and Millie could meet up with the guys to hang out at the mall tomorrow.

With that thought in mind, Maria continued to browse through her phone when she heard the door open from downstairs. Maria immediately left her room and began walking down to see Amelie sitting on the couch, her hair all messy. She looked exhausted, her bags all scattered on the floor.

"You're home," Amelie said, taking off her jacket. "How was work? Did anything happen?"

"Nothing much, just the usual," Maria answered while picking up her bags.

"Where's Layla?"

"She's in the second guestroom."

Amelie Reyes or Millie as Maria likes to call her, is her childhood friend whom she knew since she was seven. Her mother happened to know Amelie's mother who was a famous doctor in Quezon City.

The two often went to each other's houses due to business-related affairs their mothers were working on, because of this, they were quite familiar with one another. And soon, the two became close friends that would immediately help the other when needed.

From elementary to adulthood, Amelie stayed by her side and never left. She's been a good friend to her ever since Maria could remember, and for that, she was grateful.

"By the way, I brought some groceries," Amelie said and pointed at three grocery bags.

"You didn't have to."

"It's thanks for helping me take care of those kids," Amelie mentioned with a thumbs up.

There were times when Maria wondered how she got so lucky with her.

Maria walked up to the three bags of groceries placed on her dining table which was filled with numerous food products.

There were three bags, two boxes, and one crate full of bottled carbonated drinks. The bags consisted of canned goods, processed meat, packs of biscuits, powdered milk, canned fruits, and more.

She took each product out of the plastic bags and boxes while Amelie changed her clothes.

There were some packaged fruits and vegetables as well as frozen tofu. The sodas and energy drinks were separated from a plastic crate. There were also cleaning products and laundry detergents included in a small brown bag.

Maria was baffled by the amount of items her friend had brought.

Isn't this too much?

Maria looked at the receipt to see how much the entire groceries cost and her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

The expense was thrice as much compared to how much Maria usually spent! This was nothing to Amelie or her family, yet she couldn't help but look at the receipt with blank eyes. She already felt her eyes sting seeing the numbers on the receipt.

Christmas gifts were already going to empty her wallet, but groceries? Her friend spent more than 8,000Php on groceries! If it would be like this then wasn't takeout much better?

Maria heard the bathroom door creak open and Amelie stepped out with fresh new clothes. She looked at the scattered items and knew what her friend was thinking.

"It's a lot, I know." She smiled awkwardly. "Your family and relatives are visiting in two weeks, right? Not to mention Zack and the others will be coming by as well."

"How do you know my family is visiting in two weeks?" Maria asked with a raised brow.

"Mason texted me yesterday."

Amelie's relationship with her family was quite good. Her family favored her and wouldn't hesitate to help her when she needed it. However, it was a bit unsettling at times for Maria.

"I'll be cooking a large buffet for everyone," Amelie gestured with her hands and smiled.

Maria opened one of the cupboards and quietly placed some of the canned goods in. The cupboards were half-empty with only instant noodles occupying the lower shelf.

"I'll pay you back after this," Maria said as she began sorting out the groceries.

Amelie waved her hands to assure her it was fine, but Maria wasn't convinced. Just recalling the total amount of money spent made Maria's heart ache just seeing the numbers.

How can someone be so careless with money?

After putting in all of the groceries, the only items left were toiletries and medicines that Amelie additionally brought in case someone got sick. The three empty fabric bags could be reused and Maria folded them silently.

"There's been news spreading about dead bodies being found in secluded areas lately," Amelie suddenly mentioned. "Did you get home safely?"

"Do I look injured to you?"

Amelie smiled and asked, "Is it bad showing my concern?"

Maria stared blankly at her and sighed, continuing to fold the bags, "No, I took a jeep on the way home."

"That's good, I'm staying in tonight since Mom is away on a business trip. She won't be back after a week."

Maria nodded lightly and stared at the counter. She felt a bit conflicted, always glancing up at Amelie who was busy switching channels on the TV.

Seeing how Amelie was nice to her, even if she responded sarcastically or aloof, there was never a trace of anger or exasperation on her face despite it.

Was her tolerance towards her attitude just high? Maria didn't know. Instead, she was a bit impressed.

Dealing with someone like me for a decade must've been exhausting...

Thinking up to here, Maria stopped her gloomy thoughts and continued to fold.

Once she was done cleaning up the kitchen, Maria felt her phone vibrate from her pocket and pulled it out. She noticed a message that came from an online gaming chat app and saw a familiar name on top of her screen.

【Queen_Cassi: Hey, I just got back from work. Are you free?】

Maria felt the corner of her lips twitch and quickly left the room, leaving only Amelie alone to watch the news. She walked upstairs and entered her bedroom, turning on the lights before sitting down on her chair.

【Yeah.】

【Do you want to play Cyber Combat or Arcadia?】

【Queen_Cassi: I still have some things left to do in Arcadia. My house is still unfinished in the city of Shi and I'm worried there will be griefers.】

The person she was currently chatting with was her online friend, Queen_Cassi, or Cassi for short. She met the random user way back in seventh grade, the time when Maria first started playing video games.

There was a popular battle royale game that everyone seemed to be playing back then, and Maria didn't want to be left out so she downloaded it on her computer and met this person.

【Are you planning to wipe the remaining griefers in that city?】

【Queen_Cassi: Yeah, it shouldn't be too hard. My level is pretty high and I have enough information about the griefers that were reported on the forum page.】

【Seriously? Shouldn't you leave it to Chaos Studios to deal with this issue?】

【Queen_Cassi: Come on, it'll be fun! We can go loot their corpses and base once we kill them. Plus, it'll improve our reputation in the game if we deal with them ourselves.】

Maria started going through her desk while turning on her computer. She kept chatting with the user while waiting for her monitor to open.

Judging by this person's name, Maria guessed she was a girl. But the way she communicated through the chat box reminded her a lot of Nick, so she couldn't help but assume she was a guy using a girl's name at first.

Although, despite knowing and interacting with each other for nearly a decade, the two women didn't know much about each other.

Queen_Cassi never shared her real name, age, hobbies, or appearance. The same goes for Maria who disclosed as much info about herself as possible.

Sharing personal information never really crossed their minds. It was only when something personal happened to them that they could truly open up about their feelings.

They were practically just two strangers who enjoyed playing games together and comforting one another. It was a bit of a strange relationship, but they were good friends nonetheless.

【Queen_Cassi: By the way, how was work? Found any guys that caught your eye?】

【No, not really.】

【Queen_Cassi: Seriously? Even after all these years, you're still single?】

【Look who's talking. Aren't we in the same boat here?】

【What about you? Are there any guys courting you?】

【Queen_Cassi: Of course, it's me after all. ( ˘ ͜ʖ ˘)】

【Queen_Cassi: Though my parents wouldn't stop nagging me about finding a husband.】

Like Maria, Cassi was also in the same situation as her. She was also a single gamer who had no intentions of dating or marrying anyone. Her parents nagged and lectured her often, but she never cared. She was more laid back compared to Maria who was always hot-headed when this topic was discussed.

Her monitor screen lit up and she readied the platform she was going to use to communicate with her friend. It didn't matter to Maria if she didn't know anything about her friend.

As long as they continued to talk and play together, it was enough for Maria.

Time went by in a flash and the streets grew dark, most of the lights were already out, and the sound of nothing but the howling wind made Maria shudder.

Maria looked up at her clock.

〚11:57 P.M.〛

It was already close to midnight after Maria had finished playing. Maria sat on her bed with empty eyes. Her mouth twisted when she remembered the last message Cassi had sent her.

【Queen_Cassi: See you tomorrow. Don't die in the storm next time.】

"Don't die my ass!" Maria grumbled through gritted teeth.

Leaving me to die in the storm five times in a row? Does she think she can handle 10 duos all by herself? Does she forget that she never carries heals?!

Even though Maria enjoyed Cassi's company, she still couldn't get used to how annoying she could be at times. If it wasn't for the fact that she was good at shooting games, Maria would've just left her to die if she was downed.

Tomorrow... I won't revive her... serves her right for leaving me all the time.

Maria slowly closed her eyes while embracing her pillow, listening to the sound of crickets as she felt her body begin to relax. After a minute of silence, Maria soon fell asleep, only her soft breathing and the chirping of crickets sounded in her room.

As she slept soundly in her dark room, something began glowing within the darkness. Pixels began taking shape around her, flickering with a glow as words started to transcribe into it. Bit by bit, messages were formed.

Ping.

『The Main Game will Begin in 48 Hours.』

Ping.

『Identifying Players in All Countries and Regions...』

Ping.

『8 Billion Players Currently Logged In...』

Ping.

『748,578 Players Currently Identified.』

Ping!

『You Are One of the Identified Players!』