[Hunter X Hunter] You Have Been Disconnected from the Server (Feitan BG)

Phinks: How about we split up for now and meet in Masadora in a week? Feitan: OK. Phinks: Let's make it a contest. Whoever kills the most players wins. A week later, Phinks waited in Masadora, but Feitan never showed up. Another week passed. Phinks's Free Pocket was nearly full, yet Feitan still hadn't appeared. The following week, Phinks met up with Shalnark and the others. Seeing how miserable Shalnark looked, he suddenly began to worry about Feitan, who hadn't shown his face in ages. He patiently endured the final seven days, then Phinks couldn't hold back any longer and used “Contact.” Phinks: Hey, you're still alive, right? After a long while, the other person finally answered with a barely audible “Mm.” Phinks: What have you been doing? Where are you now? There was another long silence from Feitan's end, so long that Phinks was about to use “Magnetism” when he finally said, “Uh... I've taken a liking to a woman.” A huge shock!!! The bloodthirsty interrogator had taken a liking to a woman?! Phinks and Shalnark exchanged a look. Since there was no such thing as account theft or duplicate names in this game, Phinks wondered if the person talking to him could really be Feitan of the Phantom Troupe. “Bring her here, bring her here!” Phinks egged him on. After an even longer silence, Feitan said, “Um... she, she is...” The spiders pricked up their ears. “...An NPC.” Phinks and Shalnark's expressions were just like the cover (Huh, wait, something's not right!!!) People stay where they are and keep going around in circles because they have too many memories etched into their hearts. Those who can move beyond their memories are heroes. The idea for this story came from the game The Nine Scrolls. What sets this game apart most from other online games is that players can raise their friendship level with NPCs. Someone once joked in a discussion thread on XQ, “If you max out your friendship with an NPC, can you marry them?” That got me thinking: with so many players in GI unable to get “Leave” and living in the game long-term, are they really all bachelors? <hr> * A novella, not abandoned and not paywalled. * Feitan may seem out of character, but I don't regret writing this story. <hr> Theme: