Sleeping Player (Project Chrysalis Book 3) by John Gold (novel24 TXT) 📕

the age of twelve, without the ability to level-up. As a reward, he got the ability to amplify his body as well as eleven streams of consciousness. He uses the latter in real life.”

“How? How did he get there?”

“He was sacrificed for someone to get the god class. After that, he picked up a demon visage and those streams of consciousness. Mom, he made two kinds of activated weapons and senses the keeper! The keeper, mom! The keeper has his eye on him! And I’m not even going to go into the scalable items he made. Now, he can even use a unique space teleport spell to hide in the astral.”

“What about Isaac? Your new chosen one?”

Fiji rolled her eyes. That had been a constant topic over the previous three years, as if there was nothing else to talk about.

“He’s never made a claim on me—he doesn’t care whose armor he is, just so long as it’s fun. He doesn’t like talking, so he just watches and once in a while expresses interest. While we were walking through the astral, he asked me so many questions, I thought his brain was going to explode. He’s fascinated by Sagie, who he is, what he’s done, the way he thinks, his clothes. I feel like I’m wearing a monomaniac who’s fixed on Sagie. Oh, and he’s afraid of asking questions himself, so I have to ask them all. Mom, why do I get all the crazies?”

Her mom laughed until she cried.

“Because there aren’t any normal people capable of being an equal partner for you. You’ll always find people with a better chance at success when you look around at your equals, plus… Well, you know very well. You’re just going to have to deal with that ability for now.”

Fiji lazily stirred her soup made with natural ingredients. It was a luxury, but this was a celebration.

“Mom, Sagie scares me. He feels more than he should, and the future is becoming too uncertain.”

“Hang in there a little while longer. Sagie will get you to Tanatos.”

***

Gwen Padmont picked the swordsman class, looking to test her skill in close combat. Her fiery personality was an excellent fit for a meaner style with plenty of dirty tricks to fall back on. And that was how Femida the marauder appeared in the world. Robbery and assault were how she had her fun, followed by an invitation to the guild of killers and her arrest for multiple crimes.

That was Femida, Bloody Sagie’s helper and the star of Valhalla. But right now, she was sitting in her room in the creativity building, unsure of what to do. She didn’t care about the reaction of the other prisoners or the threats they might level at her. But Hisan… She wasn’t sure what he would think or do. She’d been lying to him the whole time, after all.

Gwen didn’t twitch when there was a knock at her door. She wasn’t ready to look Hisan in the eye. All she felt was shame for deceiving him, for all the tender words, all the attention he’d showered on her…attention she didn’t deserve.

He appeared in the middle of the room in a column of light, defying the prison’s antiportal field.

“Hisan, I wanted to tell you so long ago. I…”

“Silly… Do you really think I didn’t know? I love you, Femida! You’re my quiet, gentle angel, my tender flower in this hell. My sweet, my happiness, my joy. You’re charming, honest, kind, open, strong, and so attractive.” Hisan got down on one knee next to the bed Gwen was sitting on. “You’re the person, you’re the girl I fell in love with. And I don’t care that you don’t know that Sagie. I love your heartfelt warmth, the way you want to help lost souls, your open heart, how you love your work. I love you, Femida, and I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”

Gwen buried herself in the chest of the diamond in the rough that always knew everything. He knew her secrets, her feelings, and everything she tried to hide. He knew Gwen and who she was. He knew the truth, and he loved her just the way she was. He accepted her, warts and all, wanting her exactly like that.

Tears of joy, relief, and happiness poured from her eyes as he stroked her head and whispered sweet nothings in her ear. He was practically woven from threads of tenderness, shedding a warm calm over her. Gwen had found the happiness she’d dreamed of those five long years.

Hisan Redish, senior prison supervisor at Alcatraz, had known Figiraldina Elmaro, the real Femida, since she was in diapers. He was a good friend of her father, Thor Elmaro, representative of the department that developed strategic plans for the colonies in states neighboring Lunar. In fact, Hisan worked for that same department on a freelance basis.

But nothing that happened in this room had anything to do with his job.

***

A tropical storm thunders its way over the clinic, scattering refreshing rain over the islands. Like tears of nature, each drop trickles off the green leaves of the trees. Clover’s archipelago is bathed in the light of the setting sun, appearing from afar as a mountain of glistening treasure in the middle of the ocean. The islands breathe with life, their leafy green rippling in the warm wind.

With my advanced perception, I see the world in new colors. The water is alive, and I can even see where the air is flowing. Light and dark have become more defined and palpable. After leaving the astral, especially, I can see new facets of the world that I didn’t notice before.

The protective bubble enclosing the island lets me in, identifying me by the clothes I’m wearing. Femida already logged out of the game after taking her armor off. Isaac said he’s going to sleep