Joe’s Visit, The Vanishing Maws

After Evan sorted out his mood, he once more focused his attention back on his computer screen. Here, he searched the map and came up with a plan for his training. The geographic details weren’t as he’d expect on his screen, as it showed a sight not found in his typical knowledge of Earth.

Here, the world itself was segregated by a few superpowers who controlled all its resources. Those from the Western Hemisphere were under one banner being the Dawn Star Empire and the Lunar Moon Nation. Next, were the three major players which occupied the east: the Asian Empire, Arabian Utopia, and Uganda Nation.

The south was ruled by a force that had little to do with the outside—the Artic Society, known for its hazardous temperatures and harsh standard of living.

Evan was naturally from the Dawn Star Empire, the very nation located north above the Lunar Moon Nation; both nations had a history of conflict and quite a few wars in the more distant years. However, most of this had faded with time as their battles were hindered due to the mountains.

This place was called the Sky Ridge Mountain, a dangerous mountain range with a history of more than a few hundreds of thousands of years. It was a dangerous mountain with occasional sightings of odd animals and beasts, and as such, it was marked as a danger zone for all locals in the two nations.

Oddly, there was even a massive gorge hidden at the mountain’s depths, separating both the north and south from each other, hindering the commute between nations.

Despite the dangers, people from both near and distant nations would often visit on tour, treating its dangerous hiking requirements as a sort of test to prove one’s worth. Of course, neither of the nation’s official bodies had anything to say about this; they let it slide as with other things within human society.

As Evan’s eyes browsed over the mountain range. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the fissure at the center, thinking. The Vanishing Maws … if I recall correctly, then in the past, the government from both nations had sent many to explore its domain, but no one has ever returned. Hence, this was the reason for its odd name and the title that made it one of the most dangerous places in the world. Eventually, they no longer cared about it, but that was until the arrival of the First Calamity. What they didn’t realize is that this little region is no different from a time bomb.

With such thoughts in mind, Evan’s finger rested atop the direct center of the gorge as he looked at it with recollective eyes and spoke, “The truth is that this was only one of the many Fragmented Rifts, set to erupt during the start of the apocalypse, and the appearance of the First Dimension Calamity. Once it happened, many lost their lives because of the hordes of zombies that came out. They formed a death zone that remained untainted even to the end of my life. I truly did wonder how powerful of a monster lived inside of its domain, and now it seems I might have a chance to find out.”

Evan clearly recalled the scene of countless monsters spewing out as they attacked both the Dawn Star Empire and the Lunar Moon Nation. It was a truly dreadful sight as even with the powerful modern weapons, they were incapable of dealing with the enemies. The entire Sky Ridge Mountain and its immediate cities became a no trespassing zone, acting as the leading and most dangerous part of both nations.

“I guess there is no point thinking over it now. All things will come to pass. It will take me two days to get to the mountain range using the E-Train. I’ll then have to spend around the same time to find the fissure. From then on, I’ll only need to hurry through the Rift Quest to awaken so that I can make it back in time for college. Only there will I be able to meet Layal officially and commence my true plans.”

Evan sighed and focused no longer wandering off into his memories.

“Oh, speaking of college, I should take this chance to register before I forget. It’s a good thing I got bailed out at this exact time. Joe must have worked hard,” Evan said as he reached for his bank card, titled in his name.

Carefully inspecting it, one would notice that though it looked like a debit and credit card. There were circuit-like lines etched on its surface, each glowing in a neon light along with a fingerprint sensor.

As Evan finished placing his finger on it, the card flashed before a stream of text appeared on his digital watch.

╔═════════════════════════════════════╗

Dawn Star Credit Points – 35000

╚═════════════════════════════════════╝

Evan frowned as he spoke, “That darn woman. The total left by my parents was no less than three hundred and fifty thousand credits. Now, it’s only enough to pay for the fees with little remaining. Tsk, such a cruel woman. She should be lucky, for right now, there are far more important things to worry about at this time.”

Evan no longer wasted a second. He logged into the college website and quickly sorted out his arrangement. After getting the confirmation details, he closed the laptop and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. But sadly, as he opened his fridge, all he saw was spoiled food.

“Oh yeah, I had forgotten. There shouldn’t be any food left,” Evan said awkwardly. He then looked at his watch and saw that the time was nearing 9:00 a.m.

“I guess I’ll be eating out today,” Evan said with a smile as he prepared to clean himself up to head onto the road, but as he moved, he heard a knock at the door.

Evan frowned upon hearing the two knocking sounds as he didn’t think he’d be disturbed twice in the morning. He spoke, “Who is it this time?”

While Evan pondered, he walked over and looked through the door viewer, but his expression turned better as he saw the person outside. Though also a bit confused, he muttered, “Joe … Why is he here? Did he come here last time?” He questioned inwardly, but soon Joe’s voice sounded from behind the door, “Hey, Evan! It’s full daylight. You better not still be sleeping. Haha. I heard you got drunk last night!”

Evan inwardly scoffed as he heard these words. ‘This guy, he still tries to cover it up even now. Fine, I’ll play along with you for now. It’s only, I can’t recall this happening in my—’

As Evan pondered, Joe disrupted him once again, tapping the door even louder while shouting.

“Evan! What’s wrong? You’re not dead, are you? I’m coming in if you don’t answer!”

Tsk, I’ll have to think about it some other time, Evan thought as he quickly turned the knob and opened the entrance.

Joe was about to ram the door. He took a posture that seemed no different from a linebacker about to tackle. Yet, as the door opened and he saw Evan, an embarrassed look came over his face.

One would think he would feel a little shame, but as he was a youth with “big guts,” he quickly recovered as he spoke with a hearty laugh, “Haha, Evan, it looks like you’re okay, and to think I was worried about you for a second.”

While speaking, the slightly worried look in his eyes soon turned to one of relief. Evan, whose senses were a bit sharper due to his experiences, naturally saw it, but he didn’t bother to address it as he spoke with a smile.

“Hmm, you … you are that Joe Goldsmith, am I right? The one I saw yesterday. How did you know where I live?” Evan questioned with a curious tone as he pretended to be intrigued.

Joe was a bit surprised by Evan’s change in manner but answered with a thought-out reply, “That’s right. As for how I know where you live, my friend, I can only say you are a lucky guy. A friend of mine just so happened to pick you up last night. I heard you were dead drunk … I was passing by and came to check out your situation. Are you okay? Have you eaten anything?”

Evan’s eyes flashed at these words. He replied, “No, not yet, you know I was just about to head out and get something.”

Joe’s eyes lit up as he heard this. He said with a laugh, “Oh! Well, that’s great. My sister and I were about to treat ourselves in a good place. Kind of like a way to celebrate us entering college. How about joining us?”

Evan was originally calm, but his eyes soon after changed to shock. As it was only now, he recalled something.

Wait a minute, I just remembered, Joe did visit my apartment, but I don’t recall him bringing his sister … what’s going on here?

“Evan! Are you okay, man? You’re spacing out!” Joe asked in a concerned tone as he clapped his hands in front of Evan’s face.

As the clap woke him from his thoughts, Evan was a bit embarrassed, but he pushed it down and replied while scratching the back of his head, “Whoops, my hunger has really gotten to me. Sure, I’d like to join you guys.”

Seeing everything okay with Evan, Joe slapped his shoulder and turned around. He went down the stairway as he shouted, “Come! Let’s go!”

Seeing this, Evan chuckled. He gathered a few things and locked the apartment door before heading downstairs. His eyes flickered in a thoughtful light as he muttered, “I’m not yet certain, but I doubt this is a fabled butterfly effect. If it is so, I’ll have to see where it goes.”