=== Chapter 12 „Hero”

 

Quite some time has passed after Wolf left the game and I too lost the will to play that game. Obviously if he didn’t quit I probably would be still playing Unwritten till today even, but now that I look back I think I made a good decision. Playing anymore would be pure depression.

 

This is because when I met with Lunar from the chat I at least realised that I was I lacked. Some dreams might not be possible, but without dreams at all, the person loses their own identity. That is why even if you end up disfiguring yourself, spoiling you surface, your core will remain.

 

[Could you tell me son what is the meaning this?]

 

I was in a situation that wasn’t very pleasant. My mother has discovered what I was doing online. All this happened because someone was trying to contact me in real life, ringing directly at my door. Of course I wasn’t able to answer because I was outside at the time, but that doesn’t matter now.

 

The person who wanted to meet me knew me as a girl, and so when she was talking with that person…they probably said everything that they knew about me, things that I would not want to share with others. However they might have not knew who I was in real life, which means that my mother probably wanted me to explain some things to her.

 

[This is a screenshot from an online game. I’m sure you noticed that.]

 

[I’m not talking about what’s on the screenshot, but rather how possibly it got here in the first place?

Did you tell someone where you lived or something? You shouldn’t talk to strangers online you know?]

 

[If that’s all, then you shouldn’t have a problem if I have actual friends right?]

 

My mother was a little bit frustrated that I said those words, even though I was speaking the truth. Since I became a neet, I never talked with real friends, just some random people I met online. Finding someone that actually cared about me was a miracle for me. However, I don’t think my mother would understand.

 

[Well that’s all you are going to say? I thought you already know what I was getting to.

How about you tell me about it? I won’t force you to say anything, it’s up to you.]

 

[Thanks mom, but I would rather say nothing at all if that is possible.]

 

[Fine, let me ask you. You played a female character right? Not only that, but a lot more, your friend told me.

You used a voice changer or something to sound more female as well—you must have had due the way she spoke to me.

She was really convinced that you were a girl. Thus I have to ask you, why did you pretend to be a girl online?]

 

I didn’t pretend—that’s who I am in reality. I also never told everyone I was pretending anything. I don’t know why anyone would get that idea from inside of the game, but for my mother it was all different. I felt that in this situation I was unable to explain everything to my mother, so I remained silent.

 

[So you don’t know really? I don’t know what to do then. Perhaps you need to go to a psychiatrist after all.

I mean you have been doing nothing but playing this game for a long time, even if we can get you a job.

Is that how you want to spend the rest of your life? You need to think of your future, find a girlfriend or something.]

 

I had a boyfriend mom, but he no longer plays the game.

 

[Pretending to be a girl shows that you don’t really know what to do with yourself.

I could imagine that a boy like you would rather be with a girl, not be a girl himself.

I’m sorry, but if you don’t speak up I’m going to have to talk with your father about it too.]

 

[Right… I don’t think that matters.]

 

I was exhausted and tired from all those people telling me who I was and who I should be, that today I didn’t care what would happen to me. My mind was disconnected from the body I hated. I couldn’t react, because chemically, my brain was telling to surrender—there is nothing worth fighting for.

 

[Look… I want to know only because I want to help you okay? I don’t want you to force to do anything,

but not giving me an answer will only make it worse. In fact, I was thinking if I should not talk with your friend instead.

You can invite her again right? I wouldn’t mind talking with her, since you don’t say anything. Are you okay with that?]

 

I’m not okay with that, I’m definitely against that. But at the same time, I don’t want them to know either. It’s not that I want to lie—it’s only that I want them to accept who I am. People like me have no choice but to be silent. That’s because if we speak up, our entire world will fall apart, we can’t afford for our relationships to be destroyed.

 

[Say… maybe you were just thinking by pretending to be a girl, you would get closer to a girl online?

I can think of a lot of ideas, but if you keep not speaking like that, I can’t just keep guessing.]

 

It’s a pity that offline I’m the complete opposite of my persona online—that offline I have to wear a mask.

 

[If that is the case, maybe you could tell me about that person… about the person you dated online?]

 

Did she also tell my mom about that? I’m not sure what did the girl said to her, but the person I dated was…

 

[You mean Wolf? He no longer plays the game, I quit a while after.]

 

He was a good boy to me. He gave me a role I wanted and was kind enough to help me every time. Without him I would have never met Pina and Hina, my first real female friends. Thank you friends, even if you wanted to give me courage to the end, and one of you visited my house, I think that…

 

[So you had a girlfriend right? That’s great! Was this the same girl that…]

 

[No mom… Wolf was a guy.]

 

To my mom’s surprise, I spoke up. If Hina did not visit my house, I would have lost all hope. But just thinking about her… and Wolf reignited my will to speak. I don’t care what happens anyway, so if anything, I don’t want to feel regrets from not doing anything. This was my resolution.

 

[Wait son… are you gay? That’s why you did pretend to be a girl?]

 

[I did not pretend to be a girl… I was just myself. To tell you the truth, you asked about something one time.

Do you want to be born again, I didn’t answer that question because I was afraid what would you say.

But now, I think I would be disappointing Hina if I did that, I would be disappointing Wolf too.

The answer is “I would have rather be born again as a girl than to live like this”.]

 

And then my mother almost fainted. Some small talks continued after that, but she did not accept that I indentify myself as a girl. I also never planned to have her understand, I don’t know if I would be ever able to convince her at all. What she thinks however is not important for me, I rather be my own person than the son my mom thinks I am.

 

It is hard to explain others, how I want to wake up one day as a girl, but at the same time I know that won’t change anything. What I really want is to have one more chance at life, to be truly reborn as a girl. But that is completely impossible. However, there are still ways to cope with that problem, one being an online game, the other being a sex change operation.

 

Would I be able to brave it and have myself reborn? Would I be satisfied with that result at all? I’m not sure if that is the right way, but it’s better than not doing anything. Even if it’s not the perfect solution, it’s still a solution that is the best out of my options. I don’t know what the future holds, if my mother will accept me, if I would be able to accept myself, but if I don’t create a future for myself, no one else will.

 

===

 

I was tired, sitting in the desk in my classroom. I was waiting for a friend to come from her club activities. She was always really serious about them, but then again I was serious about my club as well. To say the truth, we couldn’t really compare in reality. She was on a completely different level than me.

 

I was really tired from all this effort put into running. I was a member of the track team in our school, although I was considered as a reverse member only. Other girls, despite not putting the same effort as I did, were better than me. That’s why I was always frustrated when I had to hear that their time improved, while mine didn’t.

 

I was also tired from the school work, which was just as mundane as it was pointless. Giving my average marks, I wasn’t going to be anyone special when I would graduate the school. Even teachers did not give me any motivation to improve my test scores—they said that the results were all up to me.

 

[Hey Tania, I have finished counting the votes, here are the results.]

 

Though my real name is Tatiana, I told everyone to me to call me Tania, just like almost everyone online call me. My online name is similar too, it’s Titania. I thought that connecting the two worlds with the same name would help me get friends, but they didn’t want to hear about my character or the game. My nickname however stuck, but there is a different reason for that.

 

[Hey Machi, let’s take a look at them, shall we?]

 

My friend Machi, who was my only actual friend, was also a showing prodigy. She was the best in school, in grades at least. We were friends since ever, so that wasn’t strange for me, but strange for everyone else. People were just jealous of me to having a friend who could help them with any academicals problems, I guess.

 

[So it seems that most of people want to make a cafe after all. I wonder what do you think about it Tania?

Perhaps I would be asking you too early, but if you were so kind to think about being a waitress there, I would be glad.]

 

As usual, she was very formal in her speech. But I also didn’t like this fake face at all. Even she was my best friend—I think she only did that from pity—I had no real friends besides her.

 

[You really think I could do it? Well I always thought of myself to be build for running,

but running from table to table is a new to me. I mean, I’m joking of course, but it’s going to be a normal cafe right?]

 

[That is not yet decided, but I’m sure you will be okay with anything right?]

 

You won’t let down the team right? She was probably thinking something like that. If that’s the case I will not have any other choice but to accept whatever job would be assigned for me, and when I say job I mean an embarrassing punishment. With my genetics, no matter how fast I run I won’t be able to escape this fate, it seems.

 

[So even a maid cafe is in the thinking right? I won’t wear anything that other girls won’t.]

 

[No no, we are not going to force you to wearing strange, no one will. I will be sure to stop the bullies so don’t worry.]

 

The bulling she mentioned came from the fact that my boobs are gigantic compared to the other girls. Maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit but the reason the nickname Tania actually stuck, as in short for Titania, was because of my tits. I don’t hate them, I actually like them, but because of them I tripped a lot during running, people said.

 

That being said, I was basically labeled as a clumsily girl, that despite trying hard, always falls on her boobs. I would have been really mad if I didn’t choose that nickname for myself, but now I was indifferent, all because of the friends who I played the game with, Wolf, WRose, Darku, and several others.

 

They showed me that despite what others think, despite what I predict is on their minds, I should still try. Without trying and giving up, I would be admitting to the image they placed onto me. I can’t lose, I have to brave and tough, as the girl with big boobs that can’t do anything but run poorly... or something like that.

 

[I’m not afraid of bullies, just that you probably need to order a special size for me.

I would be frank—I do expect them to bully me anyway, despite anything you do.]

 

[In that case, you want me to cancel the cafe? You know you have to participate somewhere,

and this is not a sports festival. I’m sorry for you having to make a choice like this,

but we all did agree on this, thus I think you should at least trust in me, okay?]

 

The more she talked the less I liked her face, and especially her uniform, which was a different colour due to her grades. In general I maybe not good with people because I’m straightforward, but I don’t think a lot, I rather act first. Thus if I wanted to escape this situation I would need to present her some other idea for the school festival.

 

[Let’s say we make another vote, but we add more categories. Wasn’t the only options cafe and the ghost room?

Those are pretty basic things, no wonder that people didn’t think much about it, they simply didn’t care.]

 

[I can understand that logic. Most of the students were not interested to giving out their opinions.

Say, we can’t put anything that is related to sports, but maybe you have an idea for our class Tania?]

 

[Sure, let’s go with video games. I’m sure people are going to watch…]

 

[Video games… ahaha that’s funny! I mean I don’t know personally anyone who plays video games here but…

I don’t think even the teachers would allow for something like that. You know how strict are the rules right?]

 

I already knew she would be laughing off the idea, but I was serious, I gave out a suggestion that I was good at. If there is anything I was ever good at, it would be video games. However, that skill doesn’t matter in this world, it is not easily monetized and quite hard to even justify as a talent. That’s what everyone has been telling me.

 

However, I have met people in the virtual world that said otherwise. Skill in video games is clearly something that not everyone can do—it is not any less different from a competitive point of view. Sure, even if video games became a sport at some point, the public opinion didn’t change. Even now I have trouble explaining that to Machi or to my boyfriend.

 

[I knew you would probably say something like that, but I was rather serious, you know?

Do you want to have fun at a school festival? Video games are fun so I think it fits.

I also think we can make it more interesting if we have players try to beat a very hard game or arrange a tournament.]

 

[All of this is fine to do when you are with your boyfriend, but this is school, so I’m sorry.

We have to play by the rules here, we can’t simply ignore them. I know you would rather…]

 

[This is school so we have to abide the rules? Are those rules good if they don’t encourage us to act on our own?

How do we discover our talent if everyone is ordered to do the same? Even if you were good at something,

if it’s not school related, you will be asked to drop it. That’s what their faces say Machi, drop running and drop dead.

You are not build for it, you are just someone that fills up the slot. I just can’t believe that a school festival to host our talents would…]

 

I was overly furious there and couldn’t control temper. Not only Roberto can’t understand my effort, but also my classmates tell me to give up. “You are probably more suited for a maid than for an athlete.” “We can’t do that because the school is gonna be mad.” I’m hella mad right now, so buzz off.

 

[Listen Tania, you don’t need to cry now I understand. I might ask what teachers think about it...]

 

[Don’t even bother! Jeez...]

 

In my anger, with a loud screech, I pushed my desk away with all my strength. It almost toppled over. Acting like a child in front of a friend, I was a little embarrassed, but also glad since far worse ideas were nested in mind at the time, like hitting, kicking or even throwing it. If people ever wonder why I always try to stay cheerful online, this is one of the reasons.

 

[There there... do you want a hug?]

 

[Don’t touch me! I’m ok...]

 

In any case, I eventually calmed down and started crying, still sitting on my chair. Perhaps I needed to cry every once in a while. I apologized to Machi and was forced into accepting her plan. As for the track club I did not give up yet. Perhaps one day people would recognize me as their teammate, not a girl who they keep as their eye candy.

 

As for everything else, I continued my normal life as the school’s busty girl, but I also had one more conviction. I have decided that I would become a pro gamer. Even if that’s a very dubious future, I believe that someday it will pay off. That belief comes from my heroes, friends I used to play a video game with. If not for them, I would have never believed in myself.

 

===

 

[This should be the restaurant.]

 

I was waiting outside of a restaurant for my ex to arrive. After I finally replied to her, she asked me to meet her here at a certain day. That day is day, although she is nowhere in sight. It’s a bit worrying, now that I think about it. I even came thirty minutes before and now it feels like an hour has passed.

 

Many things has happened before I made this decision however, many things I had to rethink. For example, I thought that running away from the past was the right choice, but I was wrong. Right now I’m facing the past once again, to finally come at peace with it. That is, if she even…

 

[Oh, it’s the telephone?]

 

I answered my phone—it was from my ex. Instantly picking it up, I was eagerly awaiting for her words.

 

[Hello Darku, do you still remember about our date today? I’m just checking honey.]

 

[Yes I’m at the restaurant, where are you? I can pick you up if you want.]

 

[That won’t be necessary, since I have to cancel today’s date. I’m really sorry.]

 

[Okay, no problem. Just tell me if you want to talk later.]

 

In fact, maybe that was for the better. I wasn’t sure I was ready to see her after all these years of VR. So many different memories in my head, I wasn’t sure what I would say to her really. I also never actually physically saw her. I wonder if my image of her would have been correct or…

 

[That is not necessary. I won’t need to talk with you anymore.]

 

[What’s that pumpkin?]

 

I asked for a confirmation.

 

[This means that I only wanted to say that it’s over with us. You know, even if we did spend all this time,

we never formally broke up. How does it feel Darku? To be neglected this much? Are you sad or happy?

Perhaps both? I feel great myself, knowing that after all this years you would still be the same old stubborn man.]

 

[Wait, stubborn? I don’t really get what you are trying to say here. I had no agenda doing this, I only did what you asked.]

 

[Okay, whatever you say pumpkin. Did you also do whatever I said all those years? Was that fun for you?

When I said things like”let’s meet in rl” you were like okay sure, but then nothing happened. I don’t blame you,

I can only blame the past you. Now that I have learned that, I knew I can have a better man that you.]

 

That is quite a turmoil I got into. Surely it wasn’t just me that said “Let’s meet in rl”. Unfortunately, I can’t just tell her that now—she would just get more furious. What I can do however is to talk to her about something else.

 

[I agree, my past was dubious and even I don’t think I did all the things right. But that’s not important now.

You said in your letter that you really did miss me, that you really changed and you want to meet me again.

Thus I am, not in the flesh, but other than that, you can talk to me. You wanted to, right honey?]

 

[Tsk… I don’t like this attitude of yours pumpkin.  There might be something you don’t understand here,

my intentions. I only wanted to lure you, to make you believe that I actually wanted you back.

But in reality, I only wanted to be even, I have no desire of returning or remembering you.]

 

[However honey, I think you do. You are still between accepting and throwing your past away.]

 

I said with conviction. I have been through this already, but clearly she didn’t. If I have learned anything from the days I played Unwritten it was that friends are something important. You just don’t throw them away when you get bored with them. We both made that mistake, but I can help her understand that.

 

[Listen, even if those would be the last words you will be willing to accept from me, then so be it.

You are a very direct and uncompromising person, but even you can change. Because I knew you well,

and because I have changed. What you need to do is to accept who you were by looking at your past.

This means improving from understanding your mistakes... no past experiences. Even if it would be painful, I will always believe in you.]

 

[Right… let me think.]

 

There was a long pause after she said those words. Her voice was concerned, so I guess she was rethinking things.

 

[Okay, pumpkin, I won’t ask you for anything more now. You clearly know me better, therefore I will consider this.]

 

She said with a sarcastically, as if she wanted completely ignore what I just said.

 

[But if what you say is true, then you are wrong, I don’t deserve a better man. I’m just a horrible person.]

 

[No that’s!]

 

And she ended the call right there. I can only ponder what she was thinking at that point of time. I’m sure that I have done everything I could and I don’t feel terrible because of it. Though...I do feel sorry for her.

 

Not everyone is going to have friends who care for them, not everyone will know what flaws they have. But even if you don’t, you should listen, even to strangers. Maybe they won’t say things that are always important, but at least by listening to them you will know where you are standing. Having a ground really helps.

 

Obviously by ground I also mean the past. The gravity that pulls you back might be something scary, but you can also use it to pull yourself forwards. It’s a wonderful thing I learned thanks for my friends. I hope that one day we will meet again, Gee, Xyl, Wolf, and others… without them there is no reason for me to play.

 

===

 

[Hi, I’m not going to preach you about anything, so let’s just talk like normal okay son?]

 

The son of the legendary developer known by the name Ryszard G. that person was no other than me. I was sitting on my usual chair at work when my dad suddenly wanted to talk about something important. It was the case from a few days ago. Somehow he learned that I contacted three people related to Wolf.

 

[You are going to preach me in the end. If you know what I did I’m going to listen and that’s all.]

 

[You are making this hard again on yourself.]

 

[No I’m making it easy for you.]

 

This conversation had no point, but somehow my dad wanted it. I hated my dad the most, he was the worst. Not only he had everything anyone would have ever wanted, but he was also my dad. Being the son of a legendary developer, I had a lineage to live up to, thus my life was only revolving around him but not me.

 

For example, when I wanted to talk with someone at school, people started asking me questions about my dad. When I wanted to find work after university, everyone said that my name was vaguely familiar. On top of that, because I couldn’t find a job by myself, my father suggested that I could join his new project.

 

As much as I wanted to sabotage it, I was unsuccessful. Despite my predictions, the game’s popularity rose. Even if I forced that stupid monthly model in—which had no purpose—players would still be willing to pay that fee. All in all, I think this is my punishment for being born in this world. All I ever want is to take my revenge.

 

[So, let’s make this quick then, you used your privilege as the GM of Lunar and talked with a few players.

That’s fine but you also leaked that information which is not okay. I do believe someone would have figured it out eventually,

but that does discredit the vision we agreed upon. You know we monitor what players do very closely, that’s why…]

 

[You needed me to look out for them?  I’m sorry. I’m just an economist, not a Moon goddess.

Speaking about the Moon, when is your trip? Are you planning taking the whole family this time?]

 

Apart from being a developer, my father also had a lot of money, enough to fly himself to the orbit. Our family had history in NASA, but he was a commercial client and paid out of his own pocket. It really frustrates me that something as economically impossible for young people nowadays, was possible for someone who started programming video games on a teletype terminal.

 

[I’m fine with Earth for now, but let’s get back to the ground. If anything will be leaked,

I will have to do something, and the only evidence is on you. I pray that will not happen,

but I also want you to know that. You understand that right? I might help you find another job.]

 

[I rather decline that offer, you can’t really do that for me all the time can you?]

 

I said with a doubt in my eyes. I really didn’t know the extent of this guy’s abilities.

 

[I can’t, but I can offer you an advice. It’s what I have been doing all the time but I didn’t really reach you did I?]

 

That is correct, you can keep trying and see if anything changes, but I doubt that anything will.

 

[I’m happy with what I can do without you, thus there is no logical reason to continue this.]

 

[Let me say this, if there was a mathematical way to reach happiness, any and every equation should be able to reach that point.]

 

[Yea but then again… maybe we are lacking in VR? People would be really happy if they could completely escape,

leave the real world entirely. What technology still needs to do is actually transfer consciousness to the VR world.]

 

[Luckily, humans haven't reached that point of advancement, despite all this ever advancing new technology.]

 

This kind of conversations we had from time to time. Today my father was fired up it seems.

 

[Are you going to deliver us that dream too, legendary developer father?]

 

[Incorrect, I had a clear reason to why I created video games in the past, which the same reason even today.

I always want to create something memorable, at least for myself if not for others. I knew the limitations,

and worked with them. That’s what I don’t want to focus on the technology, but what people do with technology.]

 

Which is create their own worlds and escape to them? If that is fine with you, then be it so. You are not only the worst kind of a dad, but also my worst nemesis. It was you who made everyone dance in the circle, it was you who created their narrative to give them false hope. Dreams, fiction and lies, it is because of you I grew to hate them.

 

[You can only do what is within your power. I don’t want to tell people what to believe or not, I want to teach them.

I know you are like that too, I have read your messages as Lunar. I do support that idea— I want to believe in you.

But at the same time, it has to be something that you do without me. Just like you say, I can’t do everything for you.]

 

As mad as I was, I had to accept father’s words. He was right, if anyone had to do something it was me.

 

===

 

I was searching for a lost lamb, the player Wolf, and his whereabouts. I had the address and everything but…

 

[Can you tell me how did he look?]

 

When I arrived at the location the owner of the apartment asked me that question. We could only pinpoint Wolf’s location to a building, after that it was foot work for me. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any more details so I had to improvise about his appearance.

 

[He was male, probably in his twenties, and probably had dark hair and a small beard.

I can also tell when he was logged in, what equipment he used and I have his voice here.]

 

After I showed the older man a few gizmos he asked me further.

 

[So are you sure he lived alone? I have a book of all the tenants, but I can’t be sure if he wasn’t living with someone.]

 

[That wouldn’t be the case. Naturally I can tell how much energy he would have used if he played for this long.

Subtract that from the total and we should be getting something. You have the electricity bills too right?]

 

[That would be a bother, but they are somewhere.]

 

Right, I could only connect things I knew about Wolf from the way his character looked and acted. For example I went to nearby convenience store and asked if they had a client who would buy cigarettes.

 

[We had a lot of clients, yes, but no one wearing black clothes, at least not someone who would visit often.]

 

I also checked for his motorbike, but the old owner said.

 

[If there was someone who used a bike lived here, it was probably a very quiet one, I didn’t hear anything.]

 

We went through everyone living here and asked questions, but I learned nothing. And so, without any other clues I was before the only door we haven’t checked yet.

 

[Normally this apartment would have been taken, but I didn’t have a client in years now.

This is only one that would be free during the time you specified. Shall we go in?]

 

During our elimination process, we came finally narrowed it down to one.  Every other apartment had either tenants, who confirmed to not be playing the game, or people who were too old to be Wolf. This might be my last chance.

 

[Okay, let’s go it.]

 

The room was empty, just as I predicted. If Wolf was here, he would have left some clues, I thought.

 

[Excuse me. I don’t clean here so it might be dusty.]

 

[I don’t mind, I’m going just going to search for clues now so please don’t enter until I’m done.]

 

[Very well, just lock the place when you’re done. I will be waiting downstairs.]

 

And so, I took out my little detective’s kit that I bought from not a very professional shop. My targets were the power sockets, the handles and the toilet. If I read this manual right, I should be able to tell if the prints are the same age as the rest. The process took some time but in the end…

 

I was really confused to what I found. Naturally, we knew that someone logged in from this certain room—all the other apartments have been denied due the process of elimination. Additionally, because the power consumption for this particular room was zero, as the old man managed to decipher, that meant…

 

[He must have used an external source of power. But do to that he would have carried the device here,

place it, and leave it running. However, all this dust tells me that not a single piece of furniture was moved into here.

Furthermore, that only man said he didn’t clean here so we can assume that this place wasn’t cleaned by Wolf either.]

 

From my calculations, Wolf last logged here seven days ago, there was no way this much dust would gather in such a short time. Additionally, I checked the sockets for fingerprints, and there was none. He needed at least to plug in something, the VR device and a computer. This was all too strange for me, I couldn’t find anything that made sense. I tried to also find anything other usual, but again no finger prints or any indication that someone was here.

 

[Hey, I have a question.]

 

After going back the owner, I wanted to clarify again if that old man, or anyone at all, did not clean that room in the past seven days. His answer was…

 

[No, I said that I didn’t clean there for ages.

I’m pretty sure no one even opened the door,

I’m the only one with the key. Sorry minster.]

 

With that being said, maybe we were being mistaken—maybe we did get the wrong address. Our program only tells the IP, which can be changed or even proxied. However that’s also unlikely. To play this gave you need a good internet connection—you would have problems with lag if you used WiFI or Proxy.

 

[Well then, thank you for your help old man. I think we will try again to see if we can confirm that we made no mistakes.]

 

[Sure thing buddy, visit anytime. It always makes me happy that youth is so passionate about their jobs.]

 

But this is not my job old man… anyway on my way out…

 

[This is… when did this tree appeared?]

 

[Someone left it here a week or two ago so I didn’t touch it. I checked online, it is a Paulownia.]

 

A potted tree like that does seem a little out of place, but that also reminds me of something. During the blackout, Wolf had a plan to plant trees, both in the game and in the real world. Knowing so, I wonder if this could be a clue to whenever Wolf was actually here or not.

 

[Okay thank you, I got what I needed.]

 

[See you later!]

 

The old man waved as I was already outside the gate. Whenever I would meet Wolf again was not important. I just wanted to know if he actually existed. Following his logic, it would be possible to say he was a “Ghost” himself. But that would be going too far—I couldn’t just assume something as wild as that. But in any case, Wolf was now gone.

 

After my investigation, I was asked to give up on the search by my father. Additionally, there were no more clues to follow, so I had no other choice but to stop by my own violation as well. He also told that I should not purist Wolf further. The reason for that was that Wolf was somewhat of a legend of Unwritten, a Hero who saved the world and vanished.

 

Wolf’s real nature will always be a mystery. Was he a real person? Perhaps he was a “Ghost AI” just like me?

Was he really a Hero that people needed, despite not doing what a Hero supposed to, which is slaying the Dragon completely?

Whoever he was, today’s youth doesn’t need heroes like him, they need to become like the heroes themselves.

I also believe that after all my work I was not the villain of his story. The true villain was the silence that was left behind.

                                                                                                                          

=== The end.