by E A Hooper
Everyone said their goodbyes, knowing they’d speak again soon enough, and then Xan and Quinn left.
“I guess I’m going too,” Jim said. “I’m riding to the hyperloop right now to head to Toronto, but I’d like to video chat Jeanie on the way. I just can’t wait to talk to her face to face.”
“I don’t blame you,” Vincent replied. “Tell her I said hi when you see her.”
“Hang on,” Jim said, looking closer at the screen. “You’re riding somewhere too, aren’t you? That must be why the news is freaking out that you aren’t answering your door.”
“Yeah, I’ve been holding off on visiting her for too long.”
“Oh,” Jim said, nodding his head sadly. “Well, don’t stay out too late. The world is waiting to hear from you, buddy. You don’t want the conspiracy theories to run too wild, do you?”
Vincent smiled. “The world can wait a few hours. This is a lot more important.”
The old friends said goodbye and ended the voice call. Vincent decided to ignore the flood of information from the internet and simply stare out the window at the world he’d been missing.
No monsters. No dungeons. No crazy adventures awaiting me. I’m just an old man in a somewhat boring world. Vincent chuckled at the thought. After all my adventures and struggles, being an old man with a normal life actually sounds kind of nice.
The rest of the ride to the graveyard was quiet, and he found himself alone as he walked through the aisles of tombstones until he found Monika’s. Every previous time he’d visited, it’d been a struggle to say anything. Normally, he’d choke on his own words and tears, stand there a few minutes in silence, then finally leave. That time, he sat down in the grass beside her grave and smiled as if he could still feel her warmth.
“Honey, you wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had!” he told her. “Jim dragged me into playing this new game, World-Tree Online. It was the craziest experience of my life, but I ended up making all sorts of new friends. You really would’ve loved it, dear—every minute of it. I guess I should tell you the whole story. I have the time, after all.”
The old man paused to think. “It was such a long adventure. Oh, where do I even begin?”
Author’s Note
Thanks for finishing the World-Tree Trilogy. It’s been a heck of a journey, and I’ve really appreciated all the feedback and support along the way. I hope you’ll think about leaving a review on Amazon before you head off on a new literary journey. Reviews are one of the best ways to show your support for self-published authors like myself. Regardless of whether you leave a review or not, I really hope you enjoyed the trilogy. It was a blast to write, and you can expect more litrpg/gamelit novels from me in the future.
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