Reborned Top Gamer: Spell-Swordman Rule the World

35 Celebrations

Immediately after Plato handed Walt the cards, they were all transported out of the forest and placed on a path leading up to Shewhart town where three people were waiting for them.

“Well done champions!” one of the people said to them. He was a short plump man with a head as bald as an egg and a close-cropped beard. He introduced himself as the mayor of Shewhart’s town and congratulated the Green Light team on their victory. He also turned to Plato and complimented him on his efforts. The two people with him offered Walt and his teammates a medal, then led them all towards the town where a feast was apparently awaiting them.

“Are you kidding? All that work for a medal?” Miranda said, crossing her arms defiantly. The mayor laughed heartily then told them that the medal is only for bragging rights and their reward will be awarded to them in front of everyone in the town. They all walked somberly, still upset about Hogan’s loss, especially Michael who said they were friends in real life and had started playing together.

True to his word, there was a grand feast and celebration of going to the town. Some of the teams who had not been killed but only had their cards taken were present, as well as regular players and system prompt villagers. The scene was very boisterous and exciting but neither the Green Light team nor Plato could share in the delight.

The moment finally came and the mayor called the winning team up on a makeshift stage where he presented them with a sack of jewels which was their reward for winning the competition. Their experience points, magic points, and levels were also sufficiently increased and they now had worldwide recognition as a great team in the game. Although they were glad, their moods were dampened by the fact that they were not all there.

Walt and the others sat at a table, listening to people gush over them and ask how they made all their moves. He glanced to the side and saw Plato sitting in a corner, looking dejected. The guilt he felt was immeasurable, he knew how badly the loss of one team member affected him, he could only imagine how Plato must have felt.

“Hey,” Walt said as he sauntered over to Plato’s side. The mad warrior looked up and forced a smile to his face before pushing himself off his feet. He was a head taller than Walt and his muscles were bulging.

“Man of the hour,” Plato said and chuckled “how does it feel?” he asked. Walt looked over to the rest of his teammates and the crowd around them, then he shrugged and turned his attention back to Plato.

“It’s okay…but it’s kind of bleak without everyone here, you know?”

“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean,”

“Here,” Walt said, he was holding out the medal that the mayor had given him, along with the bag of jewels. Plato frowned, confused.

“What? What’s that for?” he asked and Walt gave him a dazzling grin.

“Can’t you guess?” Walt asked, the grin gone from his face “You lost all your teammates because you were helping us fight. If Felix was not there, there’s a chance the Diamond team would be the champion team right now. Even still, you could have let Felix finish us off then claimed our cards for yourself but you didn’t. You’re a good person and you deserve this,”

“I can’t…I-”

“Will,” Ailsa interrupted him. She and the rest of the Green Light team were standing behind Walt. She walked up to Plato and placed her hand on his arm “you saved us all. Without your help, who knows what might have happened? To us, you’re the true champion of today,” she said. Plato looked at her with admiration, then close his eyes and smiled.

“Thank you,” he said than accepted the gifts from Walt “I’m glad I met you all and I hope we can work again together in the future. I should be heading back to Land of Origin now to get my teammates. Goodbye Walt, Ailsa and everyone else,”

“Bye,” they chorused and waved back at him as he made his way out of Shewhart town. They all sighed after he was out of sight, feeling a little better.

“Yeah, okay…so I know he helped us and we did a good thing blah blah. But are we seriously not going to get anything for all that work?”  Miranda complained when they were all back at their table, sipping on the fruit wine and chewing on meat.

“Don’t worry,” Walt said and placed his knapsack on the table “we still have this, remember?” they all peered inside and saw the tiny emeralds that had covered the Watermark dragon they had fought before entering the competition.

“Besides, I think we should have a proper celebration as a reward,” Ailsa added and the others looked at her quizzically. She giggled and told them she thinks they should have an offline party to celebrate. That way, they could know each other in real life as well as they do in the game.

“I think it’s a great idea!” Jenny said excitedly then turned to face Michael “do you think you can get Hogan to come?”

“Well, I’ve never known Hogan to miss a party,” Michael said and laughed for the first time since they left the forest. The rest of them joined in and they all exchanged contact information, after which they went offline to deliberate time and location for the party.

They all lived in the same city and knew a lot of the same places. Ailsa was the one who made contact with everyone and gathered their opinions on where to meet and what to do. At the end of it all, they all agreed to meet in a new bar called Quizzes. It was at a convenient distance to where each of them lived and was the complete opposite of their game world, they would find no cosplayers or crazy alchemists at Quizzes.

In her excitement, Ailsa forced Walt to leave home early, so they were the first people to arrive at the bar. It was a well-structured building with a simple abstract design. The name was spelled out at the top with boxy letters and the logo showed two puzzle pieces that did not fit. Walt looked around and was satisfied with the surrounding environment, then he was pulled into the bar by Ailsa.

“What do you think everyone will look like?” Ailsa asked excitedly once they had settled into a booth. She ordered a diet cola and he ordered a beer. When he asked why she did not want alcohol, she said she did not want to drink until everyone else had arrived.

“I don’t know…but I can bet that Michael is probably some smart-ass college kid or something,” he said and Ailsa laughed then looked up and saw a tall dark-haired lady dressed in a skirt and blouse, looking around at the entrance of the bar. Ailsa stood up and waved at her. The lady walked over to them and smiled.

“Jenny?” Ailsa asked and the lady nodded, then they hugged each other. Jenny was a high school teacher. She and Ailsa talked so well that Walt suddenly remembered that in his previous life, after her accidental death, he had seen a picture of Jenny while looking through Ailsa’s phone. Fate had a funny way of making things happen.

Miranda was the next person to arrive. She was wearing a crop top and a varsity jacket with a pair of jeans. She was as sassy and bubbly in person as she was in the game. It turned out that she was in her final year in college, much to Walt’s surprise. She revealed that she skipped school for a while when she was working for Minan Club and went back to it after she left.

“Seriously? You have little respect for a college girl,” Hogan’s voice rang out to them. Miranda gasped and turned to face him, then threw her arms around him, much to everyone’s surprise. He and Michael arrived together.

“You two are like the total opposite,” Jenny said and giggled, right after they had all settled down and were drinking and chatting. She was right. Hogan was a fitness instructor, he was tall and muscular and wore jeans and a tank top that showed off his muscles while Michael was an average height clerk who wore glasses, seemed shy and quiet, and was dressed in simple slacks and shirt.

“Well, you have blonde hair in the game,” Hogan teased and they all laughed.

“I’m so sorry you were killed,” Miranda suddenly said and they all went silent but Hogan laughed and waved his hand in the air.

“We won, didn’t we? I watched how you tricked that bastard and got revenge for me. I’m not sad that I was killed, I’m happy it was not in vain,” he said and slammed his bottle of beer on the table “now, enough with the somber looks, we’re here to celebrate!”

They all managed to shake out of the sad mood and chatted happily, exchanging information and making memories. Scott did not show up, Ailsa called him but his line did not go through. They ruled it off and assumed he was probably busy. Walt felt an odd sense of unease but that did not stop him from having a good time with his lover and his new friends.