Chapter 351 The Price of Fame

The party walked back to the shore of the island. There the lonely Leviathan was at sea waiting for the return of its Captain. The rest of the ships that Dave had captured from the Pirates were already on their way back to the Dead Realm.

Dave was still wondering how the ships would get through the teleportation gate at the bottom of the sea. Though the vessels belonged to undead pirates, they hadn’t been ghost ships.

Still Gafgar assured him that the Undead had their way.

"So, another lengthy ride back home?" Lone asked. Sailing toward treasure island had been nice and all and looking forward to the treasure had helped immensely. But going back home from a trip was always the least preferable part of any journey.

"Nah, there’s no need for that. Gafgar, I entrust the Leviathan to you. Bring her back safely to the Dead Realm and I will call upon you if the need arises. The rest of us will teleport back." Dave said.

"As you command, Captain." Gafgar took the row-boat, and the rest of the undead crew and they rowed toward the Leviathan.

"Aren’t you worried they might get attacked?" Ralph asked. The sea was treacherous, filled with monsters and losing the Leviathan would be a heavy blow to Dave.

"Don’t worry. If anything wants a piece of the Leviathan they’ll have to deal with the Kraken."

There was nothing in the sea stronger than the Kraken, or so Dave thought. At least with that card in play, no player, monster or anything they encountered as they journeyed to the Treasure Island would stand in their way for the foreseeable future.

"What now, bruh?" Ralph asked.

"Well, I just noticed that it’s pretty late at night, actually. We’ve been partying for the better part of the day. I think we should take a rest." Dave suggested.

"What about the Clash of Gods?" Flanker asked, "I don’t really care about it because I have no legacy, but you, Mercy, Tess, Lone and Blaster all have legacies. You should probably wait the event out." Flanker reminded.

"Nah, I think it’s better if we take a rest, eight hours of sleep IRL is the same as 24H in-game, so everyone should rest well and prepare for the event. Also, don’t forget to set up your alarms," Dave replied.

"Didn’t you want to grind a bit to level 450?" Ralph asked.

"Yeah, I do. But unless Alfred literally drops another End Boss right in front of my, there’s no way I’ll be to level five times. The EXP required is staggering even with the Bead; I expect it will take me at least three days of constant grinding in High Level areas to reach that goal. So, it’s not worth trying it. I’m better off grabbing some sleep." Dave answered while stretching his arms.

The gaming capsule could do wonders for human physiology, but mental fatigue would still transfer over from IRL to In-Game. Dave was noticing that he was getting tired.

"Alright guys, I’ll leave first. Dave, mind sending me today’s footage?" Perfect Shot asked.

"Yeah, I’ll do after I leave the capsule," Dave nodded.

"You should probably cut the whole part about the Kraken, you may not want others knowing about your pet Kraken," Fortress said. However, his expression told another story. It was obvious that he wanted to appear in Skelly’s adventures. Especially after his magnificent performance while calling the Sea God into action.

Dave caught on to fortress’s barely sullied expression. "Don’t worry Fortress, I won’t deprive you of your moment. That was yours, and I don’t mind people knowing I have a Kraken. I mean seriously like what can they do about it," Dave gave him his evil draugr smile.

Tess came over to Fortress and patted him on the shoulder, "Hun, you’re gonna be a star! The whole world will see it!"

"Thanks, Honey-Bunny," Fortress said and turned to gaze in Tess’s eyes. The atmosphere around these two turned pink in a blink of an eye. The reaction to this was mixed, Dave and the others laughed whereas Flanker gagged at the sight while murmuring "Seriously Stan".

"Alright, time for me to hit the hay. See you guys later," Ralph said. He tore a teleportation scroll and logged out moments later.

The rest of the party followed suit until only Dave and Lone were left on the island.

"Aren’t you going?" Dave asked happy for her company.

"I wanted to stay with you a bit longer," Lone answered sheepishly. The two of them stared at each other and sat on the beach holding hands.

It was a bizarre sight, as if someone had created a painting using two different styles. A bearded Draugr was holding hands with a beautiful Elfess on the sandy beach of the Island of Death. The setting sun seemingly wished to accentuate the couple shining over them providing an overall exotic vibe for any onlooker.

A person’s appearance contributes greatly to their likability. In the upper class society most youngsters looked quite happy and beautiful but anyone who was part of this knew better than to trust anything at face value. The ability to see past fake personas and into what was really inside a person was a much needed skill and luckily Zoe Silvana had honed hers quite a lot. When they first met in game, Lone’s quirkiness had made her quite interested in the famous Draugr. Which lead to them going on their first adventure. However, her interest in the person behind the Draugr had quickly grown. Eventually leading to them having met in real life. Despite his, at the time horrid appearance that would have driven anyone away, the real person underneath had turned out to be a rare noble soul. Not the purest in the world, but not the worst. A man that she could rely on, a person that she could trust and would give her all to. Perhaps, deep down, this is what had attracted her to him the most.

She was not as simple as she had made herself out to be. And this, Dave knew.

The two of them sat on the beach enjoying each other’s company in silence. There was no need to talk. After what felt like a small eternity yet also far too soon, did they once more have to seperate. Lone’s phone rang. It was her father calling her to bed.

The two parted on the island bidding each other goodbye and promised to meet again first thing tomorrow.

The moment Dave logged out from his capsule; his stomach welcomed him with a thunderous growl.

He hadn’t eaten anything the whole day, except some crackers and a lot of booze. Dave reached for his phone and looked up the closest restaurant that would deliver food.

As he waited for the food to arrive, Dave started to upload the contents of today’s adventure to CCN, while he himself went to take a quick shower.

The feeling of warm water on his skin felt so good, that he didn’t even realize that he had taken a bit too long in the shower. The first thing he heard as he got out was the sound of impatient knocking on his door.

Dave hurried towards the door, his body steaming from the shower he had just taken, only wearing a towel.

Dave opened the door. An angry-looking young girl wearing a uniform was waiting on the other side. She looked impatient. Dave’s shower must have wasted a lot of her time. Time she could have spent making another delivery. The girl wore black jeans with a yellow polo shirt. Her eyes were a mix of hazel and light blue. On her head was a red cap showing the restaurant’s logo. Her golden hair was tied in a ponytail sticking out of the opening on the back of the cap.

When she saw Dave’s current attire, she yelped.

"Ah shit. Sorry I was just in the shower and didn’t hear the bell."

The girl handed Dave a bag while sneaking a few looks. She was embarrassed, Dave was embarrassed, but he tried to play it cool.

His wallet was on a drawer next to the door, he opened it and finding nothing but a hundred-dollar bill Dave handed it to the girl. "Keep the change."

In his mind, it was an apology for making her see something ’unsightly’ as well as for holding her up.

The girl took the money without saying another word and started walking away. She was used to this kind of stuff, a lot of her clients would throw obscene amounts of money at her and let her keep the change.

People in this neighbourhood, especially those living in this kind of buildings were known to do that to pretty girls like her. To her, Dave seemed to be just another guy who wanted to get into her pants. She wasn’t gonna allow him, but at the same time, she wouldn’t completely deny him, at least leaving him with the impression that it could happen if they were to meet again. She had played this game many times. And every time she always came on top, no pun intended.

The way she swayed as she walked away gave Dave a few ’bad thoughts’, and he almost slapped himself thinking ’Bad Dave! You have a girlfriend now, the days of staring down a girl’s plushies are gone!’

Just as the girl was about to call for the elevator, and Dave about to close the door, she stopped. Her eyes widened, and she snapped her head back around to stare at Dave.

"WAIT!!! I know you! You, you are Skeletal?!"

"Ah, shit."

"So it IS you. You look exactly like the guy in the news!" The girl said enthusiastically as she quickly walked back toward the apartment.

"Um, what news?" Dave asked confused.

The girl fully disregarded Dave’s current attire and drew her phone from her side pocket. She unlocked it and typed in a few words.

Smiling, the girl turned the phone toward Dave and compared it, "Yep definitely not an impostor!?"

Dave was staring at a photo of himself with Zoe, Sam and the Webbs at the company door.

"Ah, so that’s how it happened. You are correct, that is me." Dave said with a rueful smile.

’I can’t believe my luck!’ The girl thought to herself, her eyes beaming, a smile creeping up on her face. ’This was definitely worth the wait.’

Dave was very familiar with this smile...it looked like a certain Draugr whenever he had evil thoughts.

"Hey, my name is Yennefer, mmm, I’ll finish my shift soon. Wanna go out for a drink?" The girl suggested. Her voice taking on a seductive tone.

Dave smiled at the girl, "It’s a pleasure to meet you, Yennefer, but I’m sorry, I’m already taken. I’ll have to excuse myself I need to take a rest now."

The girl’s smile faded, understandably Mr.Skeletal would have a girlfriend. However, her lips perked up even more as she said, "It’s alright. Here’s my phone number, if you ever need another ’snack’ just hit me up."

The girl pulled out a wallet, she had a few of the restaurant’s business cards lined up on one side, but she pulled one from the other side of the wallet. There was a number written in red on the back of the card.

"See you later Skeletal. Make sure to order more often in the future!" She winked before turning toward the elevator. The swaying of her hips this time was more...vicious, to say the least. A heavy blow to Dave’s young heart.

Dave shook his head and shut the door.

’So, this is the price of fame. Getting a girl’s numbers without even asking for it. Who would have thought that I would ever be one of those. But I guess I can see now why people get addicted to this.’ Dave laughed to himself and threw the card into the trash bin.

He took the food and munched on it. After finishing and washing up, Dave set the alarm in time for the upcoming fight and went to sleep. Tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough.