After Gear and the Templar had passed Kaizen, he quickly followed them to where Mirthor and the others were. He was in the mood to see if the Gorgon's petrification had really been reversed. As he got closer, however, he heard Mirthor laughing loudly and knew immediately that everything was fine.
Kaizen smiled and went back to where the remains of the Gorgon were. Knowing that the first thing Gear and the other members of the group would do is question him about his level, his abilities and so on, he decided that there was no reason to stay there anymore. So he entered one of the corridors of the crypt and started to follow the way to the entrance, closely accompanied by Hellround.
However, he soon found a safe room in the middle of the way, with chests and drawings on the walls, just like the one he had found when he was with Gnorlin. This being the case, he knew this was a good place to log out, after all, he was still some distance from the entrance to the crypt.
As he removed the NeuroGear from his head on the bed in the hotel room, he looked up at the ceiling with a smile on his face.
"That was fucking fun." He said, his face showing his desire to continue playing Rise Online, only he had other things to do.
Klaus got out of bed and saw that the sun's rays were already present in the room, entering through the bleached curtains that covered the window.
"Time passed more quickly today than I expected. I guess I got out at the right time."
As Klaus opened the curtains, he was bathed in the strong light of the first rays of the morning sun. Since Woodbury was not a city with as many tall buildings as New York City, the sunrise panorama was unlike anything he had ever personally seen. In a way, it made him feel motivated and a little happy.
Klaus had to catch the first train to New York, which didn't arrive at Woodbury Station until 7 a.m., and it was 6:30 at the latest, so he still had some time.
So Klaus took a shower to wash off the sweat, packed the few things he had brought with him and left the hotel. Instead of going straight to the train station, he stopped at a 24-hour electronics store called BestSell and asked the clerk to show him the cell phone that had the ability to create holograms, like the one Ashley Cox had. After experiencing Dagger Fight on such a device, Klaus decided it was time to retire his old smartphone, which he had had since high school.
After buying his new phone, Klaus went to the train station.
While waiting for the train, he used his old phone to send a message to Chun Park, letting her know that he was coming home. She didn't answer right away because it was too early, but he knew that she was waiting for him.
Klaus was tired but happy. Also, as luck would have it, most of the applicants and those accepted for the special program had gone to the selection process or returned to their cities the day before, so the station was quite empty.
He got on the train and began to relax because he was going home. He knew he had finally gotten what he wanted, and now he could prepare for the next challenge.
*
Three days later, Klaus returned to Woodbury.
The morning was not as sunny as the day he came home, and he was also a little tired because he had a lot of things to take care of, like documentation, suitcase, etc. But he was still very excited.
This time, the train from New York to Woodbury was not as empty as the other times, and a large part of the people who were there were those who had been accepted for the special program. The atmosphere in the cars was surprisingly light, people were smiling, and since only the best of the best made it through the selection process, no one wanted to cause unnecessary trouble like in high school, at least that was Klaus' first impression. Of course, there were people with more serious looks and threatening postures and auras, but no one would even think of going near them.
Klaus sat still in his own seat, wishing he could find the emerald-eyed girl he had met on his last trip to Woodbury. This time, however, he didn't see her anywhere on the train, which was a shame.
When the train arrived at the station, all the inductees were surprised by a fleet of buses rented by Hónghé Holdings itself to take them to the NIST compound in order and safety.
Once again, Klaus could not help but be impressed by the organization and infrastructure of NIST as the buses pulled into the Academy grounds, and he understood why this was such a respected institute within the government. When he and the others arrived at the front desk, Klaus was given an access card to the men's dormitory A-3 and a sheet with a long schedule for the day, but according to the instructor, it was just the basics of what everyone could choose to do during this first day.
The schedule called for several lectures explaining how everything would work in this special program, not to mention meals and tours of the facility.
He was also warned by the instructor that as soon as he entered the room, he would receive an email with all the basic explanations that he needed to know. Therefore, the only advantage of attending the lectures was that he could learn a little more about everything that would be explained and he would also have the opportunity to get answers to his doubts.
Klaus wasn't the type to hate listening to explanations, because it was by listening that one learned the most, but he decided to go straight to his room to watch the video of the explanations and put his things away so that if there was something he didn't understand, he could go and watch one of the lectures.
According to the floor plan in the middle of the main building, dormitory A-3 was a little far away from the other two men's dormitories. This did not bother Klaus, and after memorizing the way, he went there. As soon as he arrived, he found a small four-story dormitory building that was so far away that it was almost in the middle of a forest.
He approached the entrance, placed his key card against the detector next to the door, and heard a beep and then a voice.
"Beep. Access approved. Welcome Klaus Park."
Klaus saw the modern door open and arched his eyebrows. Not being used to luxury, he could only express admiration, especially when he looked inside and saw the inner lobby of the dormitory.
The place was so beautiful and clean, with modern design furniture, a fancy surround sound system and lighting, that Klaus was actually embarrassed to enter the place, and afraid too, because he didn't want to break anything too expensive.
Klaus then went straight to the room he was assigned, which according to the key card was room 25.
...
Edited by: DrHitsuji
If you want to see original illustrations of Rise Online characters, consider helping me on pa treon: /NandoFalske
More character images in:
https://discord.gg/bpqq9u4gS8
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