Chương 63: New Day, New Mission

[One unread message.] Soon, it wasn't just one message. That number kept on increasing. [Two unread messages] [Three unread messages.] [Four unread messages.] [Five unread messages.] Was it Cayman? Or was it someone else trying to mess with us? Perhaps Devon? I opened my system window to determine the source of the incessant messages. And sure enough, it was the former. [Meet me at the portal room in 2 weeks.] [We are going on another mission.] [Use these 2 weeks to get supplies and pack.] [This expedition is gonna be a long one.] [And DON'T BE LATE.] Well, he was bound to send a message similar to the last one soon, since he was on the brink of harbouring a grudge with the likes of Ben Oxley, Maya De Souza, and most importantly, that scrawny, long-haired Devon.

"We have two weeks," Theo said when he saw the messages.

"My heart is racing already. I can't be bothered to wait two weeks, especially now that we have no school."

"Can anything make time go faster?" Ben pleaded.

"Let's all buy a house so that we can live together," Maya added.

"Then we don't have to worry about our parents scolding us for every little mishap that happens." I smiled, knowing that these comments were extremely outlandish and unrealistic. However, since I didn't want to slander anybody, I just kept my mouth shut. We were about to enter an era of boredom, where every minute, we would be thinking about the mission ahead.

Two weeks later. [Meet me at the portal room at 7 PM tonight.] Once I saw that message, I jumped up from my bed and instantly gathered all of my stuff. My bedroom was a mess; all of the supplies I bought for the mission took up all of the space, leaving nowhere for me to sit on my desk and almost no space where the carpet was exposed. I didn't have a phone, but I did have friends, and we spent most of our days hanging out and socialising. I can't believe I just said that.

And during the times when I wasn't with my friends, I was playing around with my system, digging deep into my Night Hoppers knowledge and trying out different functions that were mentioned in the novel. Sure enough, everything mentioned in the novel existed right in front of me. One of the functions that was mentioned was the 'shop', where Hoppers can buy items from the system using mana crystals.

Some items cost basic mana crystals, others cost advanced ones, and there were even some that cost a truckload of legendary mana crystals. The cheapest item in the shop was unrefined skill orbs which cost just one basic mana crystal. Despite this, since I was fairly thrifty, I didn't buy any. At around 6: 50 PM, I stuffed all of the items I bought into my inventory, rushed down the stairs, exited the house through the front door and ran across the road to where the portal room was. I hastily descended the ladder.

Clack, clack, clack. Clack, clack, clack. And when I reached the portal room, Cayman, Ellie and Devon were already there. A stern look played on Cayman's face, but Ellie gave me a sweet smile, beaming and not saying anything. I thought my face was going to contort since she was actually displaying some sort of emotion for once. What about Devon? Well, the fact that he was here and about to embark on a mission with Cayman was enough to piss him off.

"We've been waiting for two whole weeks! Please just start the mission!" I averted my gaze from Cayman once those words were said. The people who had just entered the portal room were none other than Theo, Ben, Maya and Daniel. Unsurprisingly, the one who let their words slip was Ben.

"Do you know how painful those two weeks were? You could've told us a week in advance at most! I couldn't stop thinking about the mission during those two weeks, and it felt as though time slowed down to the point where it froze!"

"Ben! Do you ever know when to shut up?" Theo bellowed. Ben, who was adept at making noise and causing trouble, zipped his mouth shut. Fearing that if we said more words, then Cayman would snap, the silence among the portal room prevailed. And surprisingly, it was Cayman who broke the silence.

"Is everyone done talking?" he asked.

"If so, then I have some important things to share with you guys." He got nods of approval from everyone in the room, including Devon.

"OK. I called you all here because I feel like it's time to go on a group trip together. It's nothing special, since you'll just be completing missions and defeating mana beasts like usual. However, this mission should teach you all how to effectively work as a team." Silence. Not even Maya and Ben had any remarks about working with Devon. Deducing that silence meant that there weren't any questions so far, Cayman continued.

"The planet that I have chosen for this mission is the most popular planet right now for Hopper missions. The fact that it's unclaimed means that many Hoppers have failed to claim it, and there have been even more failed missions on that planet compared to the one I sent Robert to for his solo mission." All eyes turned to me once Cayman said that. My face was drenched in rosy-red paint; I felt abashed. It must've been because I told the whole group that I killed people on that planet to claim it, I thought.

However, to save me from any further embarrassment and humiliation, Cayman continued.

"The main reason why I chose this planet is because there is something on that planet that I need. Something that is vital for creating the regression skill."

"Something that is in the Infinite Regression Formula," Ben blurted out, speaking out of line.

"Just shut up!" Once Theo berated Ben, causing his shoulders to slump, there was silence once more, as if everyone waited for Cayman to continue speaking.

"I've been on that planet before, so I know what the missions are. Ellie knows as well, although it might be hard to get any information from her. However, we're not gonna tell you what the missions are, otherwise you guys won't learn from this mission. We're here for support, and support only. Don't go asking us what the missions are."

"Understood," Theo, Maya and Daniel said in unison.

"They say that this planet gets harder to claim as time goes on, and unfortunately, although I might be a walking Hopper dictionary to you all, I don't know the reason for this. Therefore, we must go as soon as possible and claim the planet as soon as possible."

"Yes!" Ben whispered to himself, clenching his fist. Theo and Maya heard his cheer clearly.

"Devon!" Cayman called out.

"Get the portal ready." Devon's face scrunched up in anger at Cayman's simple command. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"You don't have to tell me," he said impertinently, "I'm the only one who can do this perfectly and efficiently. Just remember, I'm doing this against my will. If you ever dare to challenge me, I'm going back to Planet Zero."

"You're not a slave and I'm not your master. However, I can make you a slave if you want. So shut up and don't express your displeasure like that." Devon chided Cayman's vulgar remark. On the surface, it looked like this would never end, that this visceral hatred between two Hoppers from Planet Zero was irreparable.

"Looks like Devon is holding us up more than Ben is," Maya whispered to Theo.

"It irks me how Devon is so incompetent, even more than Ben."

"That I can't deny," Theo replied frankly.

"He's being a bit of a nuisance, like always."

"That conspicuous son of a bitch," Ben whispered, joining the conversation.

"He needs to learn how to socialise with others."

"I actually agree with Ben for once." After a while, Devon complied with Cayman's absolute orders and got the portal ready for our expedition. The only thing left for us to do was douse ourselves in that purple substance called 'mana' and we would be on our way.

"All right," Cayman said, looking visually tired.

"Let's go in. One by one." Soon, he jumped into the portal, disappearing into the abyss. Devon, who was the closest after him, also plunged into the cloud of mana, never to be seen again until we arrived at our destination. He was followed by Theo, then Ben, then Maya, and then Daniel, none of whom, including Ben, had any complaints. Finally, it was just me and Ellie left in the portal room.

My social awkwardness had caught up to me, and for about five seconds, I didn't know how to respond; I just gazed at Ellie's smiling but inscrutable face, seemingly immersed in the beauty that surrounded her like a soft cloud. Only the quiet kids remained; the two that were always reluctant to speak, preferably using other methods to communicate instead. I was about to signal to Ellie that she could go first, but then, as if reading my mind perfectly like a stalker, she gestured for me to go to the portal first.

Visually flustered, I stepped into the portal with a face as red as advanced mana crystals. I could hear Ellie's footsteps as she stepped into the portal, and soon, we were transported far, far away from Planet 500. No. Planet Earth. We were being transported to a planet far away from Planet Earth. After a while of gazing at the vast universe of purple in front of me, I could finally see signs of a portal room appearing in my vision.

Trying to squint and make out the features of this portal room was futile; every portal room, no matter which planet you were on, was identical. Then I could hear conversations from my friends.

"What do you think this planet is going to be like?"

"I don't know."

"I hope it's some sort of paradise. I hope it's a place where I can relax after I claim it."

"That does sound good."

"Do you want to ask Cayman what the planet is like?"

"Then that'll just be spoilers." Once the portal room was completely clear, and the mana cloud had completely dissipated, I cautiously stepped out of the portal, my feet touching the cold stone floor of the portal room. My friends were still deep in conversation when I stepped out.

"Don't get injured on this planet," Maya said, obviously directing her comment at Ben.

"I don't know what we'll do if we're a man down from the outset." Ben, who appeared to have been sulking, sighed and let his arms fall to his sides.

"Is everyone here?" Cayman asked, doing an informal head count.

"If everyone is here, we can start."

"Yes, we are all here," Theo replied resolutely and boldly.

"Good. Let's start. Are there any questions before I start talking?" A pervasive awkward silence followed.

"OK. I'm starting. This planet is harder in terms of levels compared to the planets you claimed on your solo missions, and planets will get harder from now on now that you've levelled up. If I am not wrong, I presume the boss is at the legendary level. So work as a team, don't run off and get lost and try to defeat the boss without my help. I'll tell Ellie and Devon not to help you guys either until it's time to defeat the boss." Ben and Maya sighed, expressing their frustration. Daniel frowned lightly.

"When everybody is ready, we can climb up the ladder." We nodded in unison. No other words were shared; with an eerie silence and a palpable sense of tension permeating the portal room, Cayman reached the ladder and began climbing it. Ellie and Devon followed suit, indicating that we should do the same. Clack, clack, clack. Clack, clack, clack. Our treacherous climb had begun.

"Can you see anything up there?" Maya asked. She was one of the last ones to start climbing the ladder.

"I'm getting impatient."

"All I see is Devon's arse," Ben, who was near the front, replied hurriedly, trying to satisfy Maya's growing demands.

"Oh shut up!" Devon shouted.

"Why would you look at that anyways?"

"They say 'don't look down'," Ben replied squarely.

"I'm just following that statement and looking up instead."

"My bottom is not something for you to study!" Devon cried, trying to refute Ben's statement.

"Plus, surely that's not all that you can see!"

"It is." Devon sighed, ready to release his grip from the ladder and cover his face with his hands.

"Why does everything have to involve me?" he cried. Despite being as subtle as possible, Ben could still hear Devon pleading. He chuckled.

"I hope it's paradise," Maya said for the second time.

"I hope it's a place where we can all relax and potentially mine mana crystals."

"Don't look down guys," Cayman said once we were near the top.

"It's an 85-foot drop. It might scare you, especially if you're scared of heights."

"Oh shit, I think I might've looked down by accident. Now I'm scared."

"Can you just shut the hell up?" Theo bellowed upon hearing Ben's cheerful, flippant remark.

"Can we climb the rest of the ladder in silence? This little brat is annoying to the point where I want to tear out all my hair and feed it to him."

"Mate, we used to bully the school together! Why are you suddenly like this now? Also, I'm not eating all of your hair, Theo. I would rather eat grass." Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack! Finally, after painstakingly climbing up the ladder and listening to Ben's lightly impudent remarks, we reached the surface. And it was not what we were expecting it to be.

"Sand?" Ben was at it again, opening his mouth and speaking everything that was in his brain.

"Are we in a desert?"

"A desert?" Maya called from below. She had not finished climbing the ladder yet.

"Crap, does that mean it's really hot up there?"

"Possibly," Ben replied. All of a sudden, despite having not even reached the surface yet, Maya seemed poised to rip out all of her hair and tear it to shreds. Because of her experiences in a hot and humid jungle during her solo mission, hearing that this planet was hot was doing her a disservice. When she was about five rungs away from reaching the surface, she began to tousle her hair wildly to the point where her crown actually fell from her head, seeming poised to reach the ground and create a discordant noise.

Maya reacted belatedly, but Daniel, who had been alert since he reached the portal room on Planet Earth, swiftly caught it and placed it on his head.

"Be careful," he said once they were both on the surface. Honestly, despite Daniel being slightly flustered to be wearing his sister's ornament, the crown suited him, his appearance befitting that of a king. Maya, who was a significant number of inches shorter than Daniel, began jumping to try and reach the crown on Daniel's head, but it was all futile; after all, this was all a trifling matter.

"Give it back," Theo said firmly.

"You're holding us up." Daniel frowned and returned the crown to Maya, which she hurriedly placed back on her head.

"Take a look around," Cayman said once all the pointless matters were out of the way.

"This is our surroundings for however long we're on this planet." Maya's jaw dropped. But not because she was in the paradise she dreamed of. Oh, no, it was far from that. Very far from that.

"What the hell?" Ben asked the question inside Maya's mind. And he was right to ask that, since there was literally nothing around us. The piece of land that we stood on was sandy and small; it was roughly a circle about fifty feet in diameter, with a lone bush and a palm tree on one end. Apart from that, the blue water that made up the sea stretched for ages. And ages. And ages.

"We're on a desert island basically," Theo said simply, summarising this situation to perfection.

"Great. And we have no way to get off this island." Maya, who was undoubtedly the most disappointed person in the group, walked to the area where the bush and the palm tree were. Then, she plopped herself on the warm sand, curled up into a ball and let her head fall freely in between her knees, prompting the glistening crown on her head to drop lifelessly onto the equally golden sand. Ellie and I just watched as she sulked, not getting her desired outcome.

"This feels very underwhelming," Ben said.

"I can see why there are so many failed missions."

"Don't say it," Theo snapped, being extremely frank.

"If that's what you're thinking of, do not say it by any means. Don't try to ruin the mood even more."

"Come on, you criticise pretty much everything I say!"

"Because you're always saying stuff that offends others or is no help at all! Just keep those things inside your head and zip your mouth shut." Silence followed.

"So we're stuck on a desert island," Daniel muttered, breaking the silence.

"This all feels very sad, right? Do the other Hoppers die from this overwhelming sense of sadness?"

"Shut your mouth, Daniel!" Theo barked, sensing that Daniel had taken on his sister's fervent comments.

"Actually, he does have a good point," Cayman said, acknowledging Daniel's sentiment and contemplating the situation.

"That's one of the reasons why others have failed their missions here. Although it looks sunny and it's a nice day and the water is clear, there's still a looming sense of sadness obtained just from being on this island. It's sad. Very sad."

"What are we going to do about it?" Devon asked, ignoring the grudge he had harboured against Cayman.

"We can't just stay stuck on this island forever."

"Let the system window pop up with the mission first, and then we'll talk tactics. I just need to confirm whether the missions have changed." That was when I saw a system message in front of me. You have a new mission! Mission 1/3: escape the island"Yep, it's the same." Upon seeing the system window with the mission, Maya jolted up and dashed towards us, picking up her crown from the sand, placing it on the top of her head and brushing away some wild strands of hair from her face. Cayman was ready to talk tactics.

"OK. Now that the mission has appeared and I've confirmed what I needed to, here's the plan for us to get off this island." Suspense boiled after Cayman paused. There were no questions. Soon, once Cayman sensed that we were all as obedient as domestic dogs, he continued, and what he said was a dagger ready to pierce our hearts.

"We're going to build a boat."