Forbidden Link

20. Holding Back

Alex, Marvin and Bianca left one of the ten E classes out of hundreds of other exactly the same. The three of them walked side by side accompanied by the NPCs who were in front or behind them. All the creatures in the corridor -both humans and creatures created by the system- walked towards the same direction which was the door at the end of the corridor.

This time Bianca walked more excitedly than the other two. The girl's expression changed a hundred and eighty degrees compared to before Alex planned the strategy. Passionate passion made Bianca run faster and leave her two comrades behind.

Marvin turned to Alex when he saw Bianca walking in front of him. Originally Marvin wanted to ask Alex to walk faster, but he waited for the right time to speak. Several times Marvin had opened his mouth and closed it again just because the person next to him seemed to be in another world.

Alex's gaze was directed at the corridor floor while still walking slowly. His right hand was clenched into a fist and pressed against his chin. His right elbow rests on the left wrist which is on the right chest. Alex didn't seem to care about the glances from Marvin and Bianca who were no longer beside him.

After seeing that Alex couldn't be bothered at all, Marvin chose to speed up his pace to keep pace with Bianca who was already ten meters ahead of him and leave Alex walking alone behind. While Marvin and Bianca chatted to each other, Alex chatted to himself. Sometimes his mouth opened and there was a faint sound like someone casting a spell.

Even though he had hypothesized that the NPCs who shouted at Bianca might respond according to the behavior of the surrounding players, Alex still felt uneasy. When Alex presented his hypothesis to Marvin and Bianca in class earlier, they both agreed immediately. No rebuttal at all. And it was precisely the obedience of his two comrades that made Alex uneasy. No long discussions left Alex feeling less sure of himself

During his time in the forbidden link world, Alex had lost a figure who used to be beside him. Where he lived, he would always argue with his mother. At work, he will get criticism from superiors and co-workers. And when she's with her three friends, Leona will try to divert the conversation if Alex has started thinking too much. All the opposing reactions from the people around him had made Alex think more about proving that what he said wasn't wrong.

This time Alex was not moved to prove anything to Marvin and Bianca. After saying that “"NPCs might respond to people's behavior." both Marvin and Bianca seemed excited and supported Alex's words one hundred percent. As if Alex's words were validated information.

Communication that is too smooth actually makes Alex uncomfortable. His mind seemed to be forced to believe and not allowed to look for other possibilities. But his intuition was trying to keep him thinking. The two halves of Alex's inner self contradicted each other as long as he walked alone. Finally Alex stopped his inner debate as Bianca walked up to him and took his hand.

"Hey, Bean."

Bianca had just turned towards the door at the end of the corridor grabbing Alex's wrist and her movements suddenly stopped. Apart from the fact that the person he was pulling did not move at all, he also heard his name being called.

"Let's go faster, Al. You'll be left behind later," said Bianca, looking at Alex's face with concern.

“Are you really scared when someone yells at you?”

Bianca licked her lower lip, then nodded. His expression turned back to one of fear. Just like the first time Bianca told what the NPCs had done to her.

"What do you usually do when you're scared?"

“I… usually I hug my dog. But I can't bring him here."

In a split second Alex questioned in his mind what would happen if a living being other than humans presses the forbidden link. But Alex tried to return to the question he had asked Bianca.

"I will keep you company. So when you enter the room, you can get close to me.”

Bianca's smile somehow made Alex calmer than before. When Bianca pulled Alex's hand back, Alex followed the girl in front of her. While looking at the face of Bianca who had returned to the story, several questions crossed Alex's mind.

Why am I so worried about this girl I just met?

Is it because she's almost the same age as Kaira when she went to school here so I feel Bianca is similar to Kaira?

Impossible. They are both very different. Kaira will never show an expression as free as Bianca.

Alex shook his head to stop his mind from questioning things he didn't think were important. But he couldn't think of anything else either. Apart from telling Bianca to stay calm, Alex only has one backup plan. Before he could think of another plan, Alex couldn't think optimally anymore after Bianca had distracted Alex's mind by telling him to walk faster.

A door at the end of the hall that Bianca said was already visible. One by one the NPCs who have arrived at the door will perform the exact same ritual: opening the door, entering, and closing the door from the next room. One NPC with another NPC is about one minute so the door will open every one minute. Even though there was no watch or timer, Alex estimated the time between NPCs from counting his waist pulse.

“They will take turns entering on the count of ninety. If we assume that the pulse of a walking person is about ninety beats per minute…”

Marvin turned around when he was at the end of the hall. The first thing that immediately caught the attention of the middle-aged man was Alex's right hand which was holding his left waist. Even though he was used to Alex's voice muttering to himself while thinking, Marvin was still confused by the thought that Alex could ignore his surroundings. Including calls that are ignored even though they have been spoken many times.

"Alex?" For the third time Marvin called Alex's name. Then Marvin continued after Alex came to his senses “Are we going to try to keep them from going in there now?”

"Oh yes. We'll try to hold the door open."

Alex and Marvin looked at each other. After they nodded to each other, the two men immediately put their bodies in front of the door but in opposite directions. One of the male NPCs approached Alex and Marvin. Of course not to communicate. The NPC had a set task to open the door that was being blocked.

Due to his larger body, Marvin was assigned to hold the door with his back. While Alex covered the doorknob with his body pointing towards the door. Alex could feel the hand trying to reach the doorknob so persistently. The NPC's hand entered the gap between Alex's crossed arms. The more Alex covered the doorknob with his hands and body, the more energy the NPC expended against Alex's defense.

"Argh… it turns out that the NPC's power can be this strong," said Alex while holding back the hands of the NPCs that kept attacking Alex's hands.

Somehow, the NPC's hand was able to hold the doorknob and made Alex use his body to push the NPC in another direction. The NPC fell to the floor and almost made Alex fall too if not restrained by Marvin.

Before he could return to his alert position, Alex was surprised by the figure of an NPC who had suddenly disappeared. There is no longer the body of a man who fell on the floor. Alex's face looked confused but it didn't last long. A few seconds later there was already a female NPC trying to do the same thing as the NPC that disappeared earlier. This time Alex and Marvin let the NPC open the door and enter the next room.

“It turns out that they easily disappeared. Even though his physique is almost the same as an ordinary human. Huh."

Alex looked annoyed when he saw his hands showing several red lines extending over his fairly white skin. And when Alex pressed his arm at a certain point, a red liquid came out of a long line that was the result of the claws of the NPC's nails.

"Shall we just go in now?" Marvin asked, looking back and forth between Alex and Bianca.

"Yes. Please prepare your mind to be calm according to our discussion in class earlier.”

With confident faces, Marvin and Bianca nodded to Alex. Then Marvin slowly pushed the doorknob downwards like the previous NPCs had done. And a room equal to the tenth grade E appeared in front of them. It's just that at that time there were dozens of people looking at Alex, Marvin and Bianca. The people who normally only passed the three of them expressionlessly, were now showing a cynical and disdainful look.