196 Walking to the University

Alex logged out from the game at around half past 9 in the morning. Any longer and he would be very late for school.

"Oh no," he said as he hurriedly ran out of the room to go have his lunch before leaving for his classes. He didn't know how long exactly it would take him to reach his university, so he had to hurry up today.

He reached the kitchen and found Hannah halfway through finishing her meal.

"What took you so long? Were you asleep till now?" she asked.

"Uh no. I had a promotion exam in the game and was late because of it," he said.

"Oh, promotion exam? From what to what?" she asked.

"Uh, from an outer sect disciple to a Core Disciple one," he said.

"You passed it?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Congrats. Now get plate yourself the dishes and hurry up," Hannah said as she continued her food. Alex put some food for himself and ate it as fast as he could. Hannah however still had a quarter of the food left.

"Why are you eating so slowly, sister?" he asked.

"Why should I eat fast? It's not like I have school or anything," she said.

"Huh?" Alex was surprised. "Your school days are over?" he asked.

"Nah. It's only from Tuesday to Friday. I have Saturday to Monday free," she said.

"Oh," Alex said in understanding and ate his food. Slowly he started getting anxious about how to go to the university now that he was alone. 'I don't even know the way. Do I have to use my phone?' he wondered.

'Sigh, whatever. I will just use the phone map.' He quickly finished the meal and wore a fresh pair of clothes for his university class. He put his new laptop into his backpack and opened up the map app on his phone and walked out.

He took an extra key of the apartment and put it in his bag. "I'm leaving," he said and walked out of the house. He got on the elevator and went all the way down. He then looked at his phone for which direction to leave in.

'Left from here,' he thought as he looked at the map.

He had just walked out of the building when he saw someone in front of him. There were 2 people there, but his eyes only saw a single person. It took him a second more to notice the other one.

"Emily? Sarah?" he was surprised.

"Good morning Alex," Sarah said with a smile.

"Go— Good Morning," Emily said in a shy voice with a blush on her face.

Alex reciprocated their greetings asked them what they were doing in front of the building he lived in.

"Oh, I was just on my way to take Emily here to school, but then your cousin messaged me asking if I would mind showing you the way if I had classes today, which I don't," Sarah said.

Alex waited for her to continue and she did.

"So, when I heard that, I instead decided to just let Emily go to the university with you. She needs company, and you need a guide. You two are perfect for each other," Sarah said with a smug smile. There seemed to be another meaning hidden behind her words.

Emily nudged her in the side with her elbow as she got even more embarrassed.

Sarah just laughed it off and said, "Alright, I'll leave you guys to it now, or you will be late. See you tomorrow. Have fun, Emily." Sarah returned back towards her home after waving them off.

Alex was a little stunned at what had just happened, but he still managed to gather his wits and ask Emily, "Shall we go now? Or else we will be late, I think."

Emily checked the time and meekly said, "We- We will still have over 10 minutes remaining on our time even if we walked right now. Either way, w-we should move."

They started walking to the university. Alex was quite unsure of what to do, so he tried to start a talk a few times, but each time Emily would stop the conversation with a simple answer and not keep the conversation flowing.

At first, Alex thought she was doing that on purpose, but then he saw her beet-red face and realized she was just as, if not more, nervous and anxious at being around him than him being around her.

The path to the university was quite convoluted with a lot of twists and turns.

"I would've probably been fine with the map, but I don't think I could've made it here this fast if not for you," Alex said out loud.

"Yo-You think so?" Emily asked.

"Yes, really. Thank you," Alex said.

Emily just smiled a little.

They finally reached university, and it took them about 20+ minutes of walking. "Although walking is fine and healthy, a vehicle would be much better," Alex said.

"Oh, w-why don't I ask Sarah to give you a ride on the days she does have classes?" Emily said.

"Will you? That will be helpful. I will start learning how to drive together with my sister as well," Alex said.

"I- Should I learn it as well?" she seemed to be considering the prospects. "Although, I'm not as rich as Sarah so I don't know if I can even buy a car. Not sure if my parents will get me on either," she said.

"You should be able to earn a few bucks from the game, right? Especially now that you are in the True Realm," Alex asked.

Emily hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should say it or not, but in the end, she did. "I am actually no longer in the True Realm," she said.

Alex was a little surprised to hear that. At first, he wondered why she would lie about the realm yesterday, but when he thought more about it, he was shocked.

"Wait, did you already reach Saint realm?" he asked with wide eyes.