Sora checked his balance.
[Gold Balance: 133,677,330,230 gold]
[Total Item Stacks: 2103]
"I'm absurdly rich... Do I even need more gold?" He frowned, still unconvinced by Kim's insistence on stacking items before the update.
Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought. "I don't care about all that. My focus is on the school and my own growth. I'll deal with the update when the ti cos."
Seated across from Salim, he continued, "It's great that you three joined Kara and in teaching the students. You're making things much easier for us. Thank you."
Salim waved a hand dismissively. "I should be the one thanking you. Ever since the three of you and Kara joined my kingdom, my power has skyrocketed, and my people's living conditions have improved dramatically. You really should visit soti! There's so much to see!"
Emily chuckled. "Your innate ability is so weird. Growing stronger through your kingdom's developnt? That's definitely not sothing I expected."
They continued chatting until Kara arrived to join them.
---------------------------------------
Ti passed in the blink of an eye.
As the final minutes before the update ticked down, Sora sat comfortably on a large sofa, Kara beside him. Across from them, his parents sat in armchairs.
Hiyoko and Netsu, in a miniature form, slept in Kara and Sora's laps. A relaxed silence filled the room, a contrast to the tension in the world outside.
His parents, once ordinary civilians, were now both level 180. Lacking both innate and supre skills, by normal standards, they should have been far from exceptional.
'Boosting their levels was easy, but making them solidify their foundations, train their bodies and minds was much harder...'
Thanks to the training Kara and he provided, they now stood among the elite of the elite.
Sora exhaled, shaking his head slightly.
'To think they willingly spent years inside Kara's [Ti Space]. Their only weakness now is their lack of combat experience... I'll need to help them fix that after the update.' He thought.
"Kara, once more, thank you very much for your gift... You've given our old couple a second youth..." His mother said.
"It's nothing, really... We're all a family." Kara's cheeks reddened at the repeated bows from Marie. Marie's smile widened at her daughter-in-law's humility.
"With this miraculous [Life Force Conversion], we can stay young and healthy forever..." Henri sighed, watching his reflection on a mirror he materialized with the [Water Elent]. "I don't think I'll get used to this look any ti soon."
While others aged naturally within her domain if they didn't have excessive life force, his parents had not. On the contrary, their aging had reversed, and they barely looked over 30. Having spent a lot of ti together the last three days, silence soon replaced the laughs and discussions.
The four of them simply waited. The world outside was restless, players across the planet preparing for whatever changes the update would bring, or running to safety, behind city walls.
A sound soon echoed in all players minds.
[The update will begin in 5 minutes.]
Sora's gaze flicked to the floating notification.
'Here we go.'
Having an idea, he whispered to Kara, "I'll be right back."
Curious about the events outside his house, Sora used [Astral Form] and left his body to observe his school.
'With [Astral Form], even those with peak ntal power can't detect . I really love this form.'
Sora's [Astral Form] floated effortlessly above the [Sky Academy], his vision unhindered by physical constraints. He could see everything within the vast school, his awareness expanding across the school grounds.
His first stop was the [Alpha Division], the elite warriors of the academy. Despite the late hour, none of them were sleeping.
Clusters of players of all sizes gathered in discussions, their voices filled with anticipation. So debated theories about the update, others planned their next moves, while a few simply waited in silence.
'Is that…?'
Noticing a familiar figure, Sora drifted closer.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Asami sat alone, separated from the others. A bottle in hand, she drank slowly, her gaze distant. In front of her, a thick book lay open.
'What is she reading?' Curious, Sora moved in even closer, using a skill to get a look at the book's cover. When he saw the title, he froze.
'[My Crush Was Married, So I Made Him a Widow?]'
'What the hell?'
For a mont, Sora just hovered there, staring at the book.
"Should I be concerned…?"
Sora moved to other places, sotis averting his gaze from the more private monts. So people were showering, and other couples relieving their stress in ways he had no interest in seeing.
He quickly phased through the walls, heading toward the student dormitories. The younger students were even more restless than the Alpha Division.
Many were glued to floating status screens, watching the countdown to the update with anxious expressions. Others fidgeted with their weapons, double-checking their gear as if it would sohow make a difference. A few were rapidly sending ssages, trying to stay connected with their friends or families.
"They don't know what to do. Not surprising."
Fortunately, the staff they hired to maintain order did their job well. Whenever soone panicked or tried to leave the academy, an instructor stepped in.
Satisfied, Sora left the [Sky Academy], phasing through its protective barriers.
'Salim said he would use a [Village Creation Token] North of our academy. Let's see what he's up to.'
As Sora drifted to the North, he expected to find Salim alone, maybe with a handful of trusted followers preparing for the update.
Instead, he saw millions of people.
A vast plain stretched before him, illuminated by magical torches and massive floating screens. In the center stood a grand podium, and on it, Salim overlooked these people.
Sora's [Astral Form] froze in place.
'What the hell is this?'
He soon got closer to the crowd, and observed Salim's actions for a while. Ti slipped away but Sora wasn't paying attention to the minutes passing until a notification flashed before him.
[System Announcent: The update will begin in 10 seconds.]
Sora barely glanced at it and thought, 'It shouldn't matter if I'm in my body or not. The system will just log everyone out for the update anyway.'
Dismissing the ssage with a thought, he continued watching the people below, waiting for the mont the world changed.
Then, it happened. Everyone froze. An absolute stop.
Players mid-conversation froze mid-word, their lips parted but making no sound. Even objects, falling stones, half-turned pages, steam released from a cup, were locked in ti.
In Sora's eyes, the entire world turned grey. He looked around in shock.
'Sothing's wrong.' He thought.
Moving his illusory hands, he thought, 'Why am I still moving? Is this a glitch?'
His mind raced. The update should have treated everyone the sa. It should have been a clean transition, like the previous ti. Yet, here he was, floating in a frozen world he didn't understand.
For the first ti in a long while, a strange feeling crawled up inside of him. A sense of unease and fear.
'What… the hell is happening?'He thought. He quickly started looking for a solution, 'Maybe if I return to my body, this will fix itself.'
It was the only logical conclusion. Whatever was happening, he wasn't supposed to be outside of his body during the update. If he could just return, things would reset—he'd wake up alongside everyone else when the new version of the world was released.
Without wasting another second, Sora rushed back toward [Sky Academy], his ethereal form phasing through structures at a lightning speed. He didn't even stop to glance at the frozen players, the students, or the instructors. His only focus was reaching ho.
The academy was silent, the usual sound of activity replaced by a disturbing silence. Even the air felt different, as if the world itself was holding its breath. Sora's unease grew as he got closer to his body.
He reached his house in monts.
His parents sat in their armchairs, their expressions calm but lifeless. Kara was beside them, her hand resting gently on Hiyoko's head. The familiars, Hiyoko and Netsu, were curled up on their respective laps, their tiny forms completely static.
'My body is frozen as well...' Sora noticed, his gaze shifting to his physical form slumped on the sofa. His chest wasn't rising or falling, his eyes closed as if in a deep sleep.
He moved closer, attempting to rge back into his body. But the mont he tried, an invisible force pushed him away. Sora frowned, his astral form recoiling slightly.
'Why is there a barrier around my body?!'
He reached out again, this ti more cautiously, and felt the resistance. A thin barrier was surrounding his physical form. Despite looking thin, it was extrely sturdy.
Sora turned to his parents, approaching their frozen bodies. The sa barrier surrounded them, glowing when he got closer.
'It seems all bodies are protected during the update. Even mine...'
He eventually understood.
'I can't return...'
Panic sprouted, but Sora forced it down, his mind racing. 'This isn't supposed to happen. The system should have logged out like everyone else. Why am I the only one still conscious? Why am I stuck like this?'
He clenched his fists, frustration and fear building up. 'Damn it... Why couldn't I stay in place for once? And why is there such a glitch in this damn world? Can't they just log out?'
For a mont, he just hovered there, staring at his frozen body. The barrier around it shone faintly whenever he got closer, a cruel reminder of his helplessness. He was trapped, caught between worlds, unable to return to his physical form or interact with the frozen one.
'What do I do now?' he thought, his mind looking for answers. 'If I can't return to my body, what will happen when the world will finish updating? Will I just... disappear? Or will I be stuck in my [Astral Form] forever?'
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