(Next quest will begin in: 20 mins.)
...
It had been a few minutes since the second quest ended, and contrary to their worry, no one had come barging through the door to enter.
Well, not like Kara and Veronica knew that since they were no longer in the store but in the storage room where Jared had sent them.
The only thing they could hear was the sound of the light bulb flickering and the water dripping from the broken pipe.
Perhaps it was because the walls were so thick, but they could barely hear anything going on at the main store.
Kara wasn't too worried; if something were to happen, she was sure the system would alert her, and she'd run to his rescue in no time.
Veronica, on the other hand—
"So, like, I don't mean to be rude or anything. Girl, please raise your hand a bit; I can't see anything from up here."
She was standing on a stool, trying to see if she could find any bullets on the top shelf while Kara stood at the entrance, using her ability to manipulate flames that danced at the tip of her palm.
"What are you even looking for up there? You've been searching for nothing since we got in this scrapped hellhole. It's not there; let's leave," Kara shrugged.
"That's totally easy for you to say. I don't have any way to fight; since there's a gun already, I just need to find a few bullets, and I'll be good to go."
Kara couldn't help but roll her eyes, looking away while Veronica was still trying to search the top shelves for any bullets she could find.
Silence took over for a while—and then Kara asked a question.
"How do you know who my Darling is?"
"I'm sorry?"
"The first day you met him, you called him by his name. He also mentioned never seeing you before. So how did you know who he was and where to find him?"
Silence carried on once again.
"Any chance you're willing to believe I only guessed?" Veronica tried to play it off.
But seeing as Kara didn't say anything right after, she knew it had gone past making it a joke.
Honestly, she had been trying to avoid answering that question, at least since the very moment she ran into Jayhan.
Slowly turning around, Veronica sat down on the stool and then began to play with her hair.
"Babydoll94," she let out.
This caused Kara to tilt her head to the side in confusion.
"What is that?"
"Babydoll94, that was the username I used whenever I wanted to watch Jayhan stream. I know you're, like, wondering ho—"
"You're her?—the stalker?" Kara called out, her eyes now sparkling with what seemed to be growing rage.
Just hearing the name made her remember what happened back when Jayhan was still a famous streamer.
Back then, he used the name Diablo and would usually cover his face with a mask before streaming. Because of this, many people began to sometimes donate to see his face, often making far-off speculations on what he could look like.
The ladies loved him.
Their love became a bit too much when someone started a cult made for Diablo the streamer. And one of those girls present in the cult was a girl named Babydoll94, the only person who was able to identify Jayhan's identity and began stalking him for months.
Kara clenched her fist.
"...the world is coming to an end, and you're still trying to make life difficult for him... I ought to kill you right now."
Immediately, Veronica raised both her hands to the sky, hinting at the fact she was no threat.
"I know you're mad and all. I don't blame ya, for real. But listen, he was so dreamy back then... still is. I was so young too; I couldn't help myself. I just wanted to know what he does when he's off stream—and then it turned into—"
"—stalking him?"
"Yes, that." Veronica made an awkward grin. "Look, I'm totally sorry about the whole thing. Cross my heart. But—I don't want to leave yet; have you seen his body? Ahh~ makes me want to know what he looks like when he's naked. OMG! Girl, you are lucky as fuck."
Kara glared.
'Is this girl okay in the head? I just threatened to kill her, and this is the best she can come up with? I could kill the bitch and be done with it; she is the reason my darling became scared of the outside world. But if I kill her—'
{Jayhan's heart is racing.}
{Panic level has increased.}
Kara's eyes widened.
She wasted no time. Closing her fist to put out the flames, she ran toward the store, moving so fast it felt like her body was one with the hall.
As she arrived at the store, she immediately made her way to where Jayhan was supposed to be.
Just as she made a turn—
Gbam!
She slammed into someone.
Jayhan himself.
"Babe—" Kara blurted out, almost shocked to see him.
She was sure the system had warned her about something; she just didn't pay attention to the details.
"Are you alright? Where is the other girl, Veronica?" Jayhan said as he turned around and walked back to where he had just left.
"She's in the storage room. Is something wrong? You are sweating a lot," Kara followed behind him.
"Yeah, because I have a million thoughts running in my mind right now. We need to leave this store. We have 17 minutes before the next quest begins. We don't have time to waste."
Jayhan suddenly stopped in front of the grocery bag they had filled up.
Normally, Kara would ask Jayhan to explain. But when he was at this level of seriousness, there was no way to ask him questions that would obviously make him mad.
"Okay, I'll get Veronica and let her know," Kara walked away.
"Good."
Jayhan placed his hand on the box.
"Inventory."