Starting from Zero Volume 4 Chapter 28

Book 4, Chapter 28

Another Me?

            I woke up early enough. According to plan, I need to pick up Merciless before we head to Hawk and the others.

            "Oh, you're already here? Am I late?"
　　
　　    "Nope. I came too early."
　　
　　    "Follow me." 　　
　　  

             I grabbed Merciless's arm and teleported to the station in G.o.ddess City. This is where we'll meet up.

            No one's here. Yup, this is too early. We found a corner around the street where we can see the station and sat down. I watched the pa.s.sers-by in boredom, while Merciless plays with that black kitten.
　　
　　    "Hey Merciless. We look like some beggars. Someone's not going to throw coins at us right?"
　　
　　    Merciless looked at me, then turned to his cat again. "Definitely not you. Not sure about myself though."
　　
　　    "What do you mean?" 　　
　　   

            "Duh, that robe on you is obviously something expensive. No one is wearing anything better as far as I can see. They must be blind if anyone thinks you're poor."
　　
　　    "Hey! The Wizard over there!" A female voice called out.

            I looked around, the only one that qualifies as a "wizard" is me.

           "Are you calling me?" I looked at the woman who just approached me. Something caught my mind. She's familiar, as if we see each other everyday. But...I can't remember who she is.
　　
　　    I can see the same doubt on her expression too.

           "We met before?"
　　
　　    She's accompanied by a male Warrior, who looked between us for several rounds. Merciless is attracted too and began to check our faces.
　　
　　    The woman finally spoke.

           "Are you--"

            But she stopped, not sure what to say.
　　
　　    The male Warrior stared at us for a full minute, rubbed his eyes, then stared again. He spoke to Merciless instead. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
　　
　　    Merciless nodded. "I think I agree." 　　
　　  

            The woman fished out a mirror somewhere behind her back and looked at it, then at me, the mirror, repeat. She then turned the mirror towards me.

            I observed myself in the mirror and--
　　
　　    "You, huh? Wait, I'm--nonono, you're--" I stuttered without making out any full sentence.

            I turned to Merciless: "5 minutes!" 　　
　　   

            "What's going on?"

            I didn't reply. I just quickly logged off.
　　
　　    And I saw the woman did the same. 　　
　　  

            I didn't leave my Iron Unit, I used the built-in telephone and gave my father a call. I also dragged my mother into the conversation.

            "What's up son? It's still early."
　　
　　    "I have a question, and I want a clear answer for it." 　　
　　  

            "Something went wrong?" Mother seems worried.
　　
 　　
　　    I considered for a while. How do I put this, to express my doubt without sounding too harsh?

           "Are you sure I'm the only child in the family?"
　　
　　    Mother paused. "What's going on dear? That's out of the blue."
　　
　　    "Just tell me. Am I the only child? Do I have any twin brothers or sisters or something?"
　　
　　    Father chuckled. "You lost your mind son? Why, you want a little brother now?"
　　
　　    My mother seems annoyed. "You don't believe your own mother huh boy? Do you think I can't even remember how many kids I have?"
　　
　　    "No no no no that's not what I meant! "

            Apologize first. Getting mother angry means she'll take me back to the company and give me punishment, which means, asking me to manage business.

            "I met some problem and I'm just making sure. Well, not going to disturb your work. Bye!"

            I quickly cut the comm. Any more and I'm going to get myself a serious mouthful.
　　
　　    I went back into the game to see the female Warrior just logging back too. We stared in silence again. When we noticed we're already walking in circles, inspecting each other.

            I finally decided to starting talking first.

           "I'm Ziri, and you're...?"
　　
　　    Yup, she's surprised by my name.

           "I'm Zirai! Divine Demon race."
　　
　　    We looks like a pair!(*)

            "Same here. I have double cla.s.ses."
　　
　　    "Me too. That's quite a coincidence. And I believe we did the same thing when offline?"
　　
　　    I nod.

            "So we got the same answer?"
　　
　　    "I don't have a twin!" We spoke and laughed at the same time.
　　
　　    Then my appearance issue hit me, so I quickly asked: "Are you female?" 　　
　　   

           She(he?) just gave me a weird look. "I may not be a star but I'm confident in my looks. Can a man have such a bright face like me?"
　　
　　    "So, you're a woman?"
　　
　　    "Of course!" 　　
　　  

             I chuckled. "You're wrong then. I'm a man with that bright face you mentioned."
　　
　　    "What??" That shocked her for good. "You're not messing with me right?"
　　
　　    "Do I look like that type?" 　　
　　   

            "Wait wait wait, you're serious?" She got closer. "You didn't use your true appearance for your character?"
　　
　　    "Yeah. I made it 10% more masculine. I tried to make those body curves and lines straight."
　　
　　    Zirai snickered. "Ah I did the same! I wanted to look cooler so I attract less stalkers. I wonder if we look the same in real life."

            She took out her mirror again and began to compare us. "Almost the same person! Funny. Never thought I'd run into something like this in my life."
　　
　　    "Where do you live?" 　　
　　  

            "New Nanjing. You?"
　　
　　    "Same. I study in the Neo-Dragon Academy."
　　
　　    "You don't say? I read in the Zenith Faculty."
　　
　　    "Zenith? That's close."

            Zenith Faculty is just behind Neo-Dragon. There's only a wall separating the two places.
　　
　　    "I'm free tomorrow!" 　　
　　   

            "I'm free everyday!"

            We both smile again. This is fascinating, the girl in front of me is just like myself. We look alike, we think alike...You know the feeling when there's someone who can totally understand your own thoughts.

            Communication without having to speak...wonderful!
　　
　　    "Let me trying something out." I got a wicked idea.
　　
　　    "You want me to trick people?"

            Bingo. We're in tune!
　　
　　    "My friends. They're arriving soon."

            I told Zirai about the characteristics of Hawk and others.

            Shortly, Hawk, Elfy and the rest of the group appeared, and I can see Rose too. She's been away for quite a while. I dragged Merciless and the male Warrior somewhere to hide, while Zirai simply went to greet them like I would.
　　
　　    "Hey dear! Miss me?" Rose leaned into Zirai's chest. Even Rose didn't notice! This is just why we both went to confirm with our families if we have a long-lost twin.
　　
　　    Hawk patted on Zirai's shoulder. "Good morning mate."

           That's not surprising. This muscular big bro carries the least awareness among us all. Well maybe not, cause there's Big Pot.
　　
　　    Big Pot joined them. "Yo Ziri! That monster hunting was awesome! I'm looking forward to today's work!"
　　
　　    Violet looked at Zirai and tilted her head. But she didn't catch anything.

            "Where's your armor Ziri? And your robe?"
　　
　　    Zirai is quick enough. "I changed so no one would recognize me here."

           Flawless.
　　
　　    "What happened to your voice?" Elfy noticed something amiss. "It's...sharper? You sound more like a woman now."
　　
　　    "Pff ha hahaha!" Zirai looked towards my location. "Come out already, I can't hold it! Ah hahaha! Oh wow this is so much fun!"
　　
　　    Everyone froze. Except Rose, who immediately jumped away from Zirai's hug.

           "Huh, what is--" Rose looked between us for a while and finally came over me. "Ziri?"

           I nod to her.
　　
　　    She held my arm. "Who is that?"
　　
　　    I didn't answer. "How do you make sure this is the real me?" 　　
　　  

            She raised her head. "I don't. But I can feel it. So who is that? I won't notice at all if you didn't show up."
　　
　　    "She's Zirai. My twin sister." I dragged Zirai to stand beside me.
　　
　　    "I knew it. You two look no different." Hawk is as careless as ever.
　　
　　    Big Pot scratched his head. "I thought you learned how to use those shadow clone skills. Totally the same one if you ask me."
　　
　　    Everyone nodded and commented about how we look so alike, except Rose. She knows our family and she's definitely aware that I don't have any sister. But she only observed the scene without pointing it out.
　　
　　    However Zirai failed to hold it back again. "Hey you all believed that?"
　　
　　    "Believe what?"
　　
　　    Rose stepped out: "Ziri is the only child. There's no sister or brother. Otherwise Dragon Fa woooo--"

           I held her mouth.  I don't think it's a good idea to let the others know about my ident.i.ty. They'll just think someone in the company gifted all my resources for free.
　　
　　    "Alright alright, can you introduce her to us? And that two new faces over there?" Hawk opened the topic.
　　
　　    "This is Merciless, I met him in a quest yesterday, a high level a.s.sa.s.sin. We don't have any a.s.sa.s.sin in our team so I invited him. This pretty lady here is Zirai, we just met. Trust me, I know nothing else. The gentlemen is together with Zirai, I don't know him yet."
　　
　　    "Let me introduce myself!" Zirai sure feels like a boy and I like that. "Good day. I'm [Zirai], Divine Demon, duo cla.s.s, Dragoon and Sealmaster. Pleasure to meet you. Ziri told me all about you so you don't have to introduce back. This is a friend I just met today, name is [Pa.s.serby], I think his cla.s.s is called Chaos Rider or something. And ugh! I forgot why I came today because of all the fuss!"
　　
　　    "What are you doing?" We looked at her curiously.
　　
　　    "I want to steal the city defense cannon of G.o.ddess City!"

            Say whaaaat?!
　　
　　    "You mean, that energy crystal cannon on the city wall?" Hawk pointed towards one of the giant weapons located on the battlement.
　　
　　    "You're serious?" I also looked at the cannon in shock. "We don't know if we can move it at all. Even if we can...how? That thing looks like at least a dozen tons, and it's set high up on the platform."
　　
　　    "It's not safe here, let's talk about it outside." 　　
　　   

            Zirai led us into a forest far from the city.

            "I'll call my companion now. Don't get scared!" She waved her hand. "Come, Skyfire!"

            With a strong air current, a red dragon similar to Lucky descended from the sky. Apart from the bright red color, it's also a bit bigger than Lucky.

            "How does he look?" Zirai touched the large dragon's nose and waved her other hand. "Come, Big Bill, Little Bill!"

            Boom! Two giants taller than the city wall appeared near us.
　　
　　    "t.i.tan!" We stepped back. She got a lot of interesting members!
　　
　　    Zirai seems satisfied with our expressions. "Now how's this? Big Bill and Little Bill can help us carry the cannon. I just need some helpers to take care of the NPC guards. These two are big but they're not good at fighting. We can't defeat too many enemies. And Skyfire is not enough to fend off hundreds of guards. This is why I came for help. What do you say? I'll pay for the extra hand!"
　　
　　    Hawk and I exchanged a glance.

           I spoke: "Our team has set up a goal to go to j.a.pan and cause some troubles there. We'll help you get that cannon if you agree to join our mission." 　　
　　    Zirai seems embarra.s.sed. "Not 'that cannon'. I need THOSE cannons!"
　　
　　    "Huh? All of them?" Gold Coin looked towards the city wall and shook her head. "Oh dear. Now here's someone even greedier than me."
　　
　　    "No, not like that." Zirai explained. "I'm helping our country. I'm going to carry these weapons to the Nation War border and use them as the last defense line. Or what other reason do you think I have? For fun?"
　　
　　    "We're in the same team then! Hahaha! Let's do this!" Everyone laughed.
　　
　　    I stopped them. "Not yet, we have problems. We can walk into the city alright, but how do we get out?" I looked among them. "You can summon your t.i.tans inside the city, how can we get them out after that? Are they able to climb over the wall with the cannon? The main gate is no-go. It's like a doghole for these big guys, and there's no way for the cannon to get through. Putting your hands on the cannon means to start a city siege war. We will be facing more than city guards. G.o.ddess City is a major system city, it can sp.a.w.n 100 thousand regular army units during a war, you sure our small team can handle that?"
　　
　　    They fell silent. 　　
　　   

            I continued: "Now suppose we can get out of the city. There are five energy crystal cannons on the walls of G.o.ddess City. So, we carry one, the one in the opposite direction can't see us, but the rest three will have no trouble blowing us up. If my guess is right, those cannons are not designed for individual player targets at all. One hit and we're done. Death may not be a problem but it will destroy the cannon we're carrying. What do we do then? Go back and get another?"
　　
　　    "Ouch." Zirai slumped down. "I thought this would be easy...now you broke all hope."
　　
　　    "Not really."

            They stared at me again.

           "How much weight can your Skyfire carry?"
　　
　　    "Not sure but must be a lot." Zirai is uncertain what I'm planning. "How does that help?"
　　
　　    "Lucky!" I summoned my No.1 a.s.sistant. "Say, if they work together, can they carry the cannon into the air?"
　　
　　    Zirai didn't answer. But Hawk shoot his head.

           "Not likely. Even if they can it will be too slow." 　　
　　   

           "Phiona! Loong'er!" I summoned everyone who can fly. "What about now?"
　　
　　    Zirai recovered her smile. "Yes, yes! We can do it! Two dragons? Oh my. I wonder which one is stronger, Lucky or my Skyfire."
　　
　　    "Forget it. Skyfire will definitely lose unless it reaches level 1000." That I'm confident.
　　
　　    "Why's that?" She's not convinced.
　　
　　    I opened Lucky's status and showed her. "As dragon king, he does double damage to any dragon-type monsters. Phiona can give him a free revival once per day. Can Skyfire kill him twice?"
　　
　　    "Is that dragon king's crown in the inventory?" Zirai swallowed. "I want one for my Skyfire..."
　　
　　    "It's a crown, not a cheap hairpin. It will make no sense if everyone has one."
　　
　　    "So when do we start?" Hawk asked."It will really help us if we can put those cannons into the war zone."
　　
　　    "How about this evening?" Zirai suggested.
　　
　　    "Let's do it in the day." Gold Coin proposed with a professional att.i.tude. "This is a game, those NPCs can stay fully awake even in the night. But we can't. And the view is better during the day so we can give it our best. There'll be complications in the evening. You're carrying a big object, we'll need someone to give orders within sight. And NPC's visual field stays the same during night hours, if I remember correctly."
　　
　　    "Good point. I agree with Coin." I gave my stand. "Let's prepare, we do it in the afternoon." 　　
　　  

            "Okay!"

            "Let's see what we'll need." I drew a picture in my mind. "Potions and consumables. A lot of them. Be sure to stock up. Some ropes. Long ones."
　　
　　    "What's that for?" Big Pot asked.
　　
　　    Violet knocked his head. "To bind up those cannons! Do you think we can carry them just with dragon or bird claws??"
　　
　　    "Oh! Right." 　　
　　   

            "Ok now, go get the items now." I dismissed them.
　　
　　    Zirai stayed and looked at me. "You are not going?"
　　
　　    "Me? I'll stay in the back and give orders. Oww don't hit me! Hey!"
　　
　　  

(*) It's too hard to turn their names into English while keeping the meaning behind them, so I didn't.

    Ziri: the purple sun.  Ziyue: the purple moon. I altered the latter. Directly calling them purple sun or moon doesn't feel right.