With a firm hold on the horse's bridle, Val began their journey into the dark and ominous forest, Valenius perched precariously on the horse's back. Val guided them through the other end of the forest, revealing a village ahead where scattered houses stood tall with their white-painted walls and black slate windows. The silence of the night was only broken by the soft, rhythmic chirping of crickets. The village seemed almost shrouded in darkness, with only a faint glimmer of sunlight touching its buildings. The village exuded a lukewarm atmosphere, with its empty streets and complete absence of any sound, as if it had been abandoned long ago.

With a questioning look, Valenius observed Val and then directed his gaze towards the deserted village, his thoughts consumed by curiosity about the eerie absence of life. Why is there nobody present? Then he questioned why Val mentioned he had been rescued by people in the first letter he discovered. Where were those people, and why does Val feel safer here than what Salintus proposed?

So many questions clouded Valenius's mind. His thoughts were burdened with heaviness, causing a throbbing pain in his head. Exhaustion settled in, causing his eyelids to grow heavy as he drifted off to sleep on the horse's back.

Valenius opened his eyes and investigated his surroundings—the rough texture of the stone walls and the bitter touch of the stone floor beneath him. The cold floor was concrete, a dull grey surface with nothing more than a bed, a desk, a fireplace in the middle of the room, and a shelf scattered with books. Just a few candles lit the room, and it was pitch black outside.

Val entered the room, and Valenius just stared at Val. Val gauged the puzzled look on Valenius's face and asked, “I gather, by the way you are looking at me, that you have a few questions you want to ask, so ask away?”

Valenius nodded and then asked, “Is this your home? I thought we were going somewhere safer, as you did mention, you wanted to go somewhere safer than Slaintus's suggestion.”

Val stared at Valenius with a stern expression as he responded, “Yes, I don’t trust many people, especially in this world. How do you know what he told you was for your safety and your best interest? I learned over time I must trust my opinion over everyone else's, and I don’t trust Salintus. So, therefore, we are here. It's one of the few homes that I've set up in this world as a safe room. I've scattered places like this throughout the world, so I will always have supplies nearby if needed, and I don’t need to worry about intruders here.”

Valenius asked, “How do you have so many places, and what stops people from coming here?”

Val smirked while looking outside the door and responded, “It's because these are abandoned towns that no one wishes to come near. There are a lot of dangers around these parts, and I've set loads of traps. Most people know I've claimed these towns, so they wouldn't dare enter.”

There was a pause in the air as Valenius and Val just stared at each other.

Val sighed, lowered his head, and returned his gaze to Valenius, saying, “Let me explain. I assume you have been asked for information about our world, haven’t you?”

Valenius nodded, and Val continued while looking around the cold room, “I'm like you. Like us, we are different, and we'll always be different in this world. Everyone who knows we're not from this world will always look at us differently, and we can't really trust anyone's attention here, even if they seem like best friends or look after us. We are like aliens or something like that to them. So, being in this town alone makes me feel safer because it's just me. I don't have to worry about anyone having suspicions about me, stabbing me in the back because they are scared of me, or wondering about my true intentions. At least here, I'm alone. In my own thoughts, I feel safe. I feel safe because of that, so I can completely relax.”

Val then asked, “Why are people here so curious about us? Ever since I arrived, there have always been a lot of people wanting to know more about why I came here and what I know. Why is that?”

Val responded, “It's because they're very scared. Many people who came here are dangerous and have done terrible things to others in this world. They are afraid of what we can do. They've heard stories that we can destroy a planet with a weapon, and that terrifies them. Even though they possess powerful abilities like magic and deadly monsters like dragons that can kill hundreds with one breath of fire, they lack the knowledge that we have on Earth, such as nuclear gas that could cause widespread destruction. They're scared that we will use that knowledge against them in this world. That's why they want to know why. They want to understand why we're here and gather as much information as possible in the hope of gaining that knowledge or determining if we are preparing those dangerous weapons ourselves.”

Valenius looked around the room as icy cold formed from his breath and then asked Val, “How long have you been here?”

Val paused, stared at Valenius somberly, and then gazed at the floor as he spoke, “Well, I don't know how long I have been here. It's been a very long time since I stopped counting. I don't really remember much; my memory of my real home is so vague that I barely remember what my family used to look like.”

Val's eyes started to water up as he thought hard, “I always wondered if I had forgotten something really important on Earth—like, did I have a child? Was I husband to a beautiful wife, and if I was, was I a good husband? These thoughts have broken me in the past and still do, as I can’t remember, and I had no control over getting back home when I wanted. Everything I loved and had was gone while I was trapped in this stupid game as time passed on.”

“That's why I kept writing letters, so I could always look back at them and try to remember what I had forgotten. But those letters had the opposite effect. When I read them, I would see what I wrote, and when I tried to remind myself of those memories, they never came back. It killed me to realise how much I had forgotten and missed, so I stopped writing those letters and left them behind somewhere.”

Valenius's face mirrored the same sombre expression as Val's, looking down with a lowered head.

Valenius thought about his parents, wondering if he would ever see them again and fearing the same fate as Val. All he wanted was a few hours to be distracted from his own thoughts, from his mundane life, and not to be taken away completely.

Val then asked, “When's the last time you've been to your hometown?”

Val returned his gaze to Valenius, saying, “I dunno. The last time I've been there was quite some time ago, a few years, I believe. I don't go there much. I don't want to be there. I stopped caring about returning home once my parents died. Unfortunately, I had no control; the game chooses when I go to Earth and when I return here. It's pretty cruel. It brought me back when my parents were dead, and it kept bringing me back when the world had changed so much that it actually scared me. I couldn't adjust to the changes on Earth, like people on their phones, cars everywhere, how people made money, how they ate and lived. It all felt foreign to me as it was a completely different time when I was living there before I first entered the game. Going back and forth from the game world to Earth caused me to break down for a short while, and it made my eye go hazy. Then I took back control and started to learn everything I could about the game world and the new Earth so I could be less scared and more prepared. Anyway, I will answer more of your questions another time as I have so much to show and explain before I allow you to travel on your own, so I will leave it there now. I must get something to eat, and I will be back in a while.”

With that, Valenius watched Val exit the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts in the cold, dark room.