Matthew was sitting at home watching the news on the TV. He lost all his drive to dive into dungeons after all that happened. The anchors of the show were discussing the hell gate event.
By law, gate jammers were installed in all heavily density buildings, like hospitals, shopping malls, schools… The population was trained to evacuate to one of those places if a rogue gate appeared anywhere in the city. Also, Seers were hired by the government to predict the appearance of gates around the country. The last line of defense, was an army unit stationed in every city with more than 10.000 people to react to any eventuality.
This time, the jammer was useless, the Seers didn't see and the army was too late to react. The gate opened, dragged to top floors of the hospital and shut. If The Laufgraan family didn't have contact with a Warlock, the only class that could open gates to the hells, all of the ones abducted would be dead.
The government was still investigating how it all happened and no official statement was issued. Laufgraan and other adventurer schools and some profile guilds were also aiding on the investigations. But the event was being classified as an anomaly for the time being.
That didn't make Matthew feel any more safe. As he heard the sound of the front door opening, he grabbed his gun and positioned himself taking cover in a corner and ready to shoot whoever came in.
"I'm home!"
Matthew sighed and relaxed. How long did he sleep that night? E barely closed his eyes in the last few days. If he wasn't constantly numbing his mind with TV or internet videos, all the memories what the horrors he saw came rushing in.
He hurried sat back on the couch so that his sister didn't see that he almost shot her.
Sarah came in the room leaving her school bag on the table and sitting beside hiim.
"Can I change the channel?" She asked without greeting him.
"Sure, I'm not paying attention anyway…"
Sarah changed the channel to a live streaming service and put on a live stream of a virtual idol named Sora. Even though the stream name said karaoke, the idol was singing beautifully like she was on a concert.
After the song, and while the idol was talking to the viewers, Sarah asked Matthew:
"Aren't you going back to the dungeons?"
Matthew kept quiet. He didn't know how to answer.
"It's ok if you want to stop. I can't even imagine what you went through. If you want to stop, no one will hold that against you. You already fought more than most people ever will."
Matthew still didn't answer.
"Do you know why I want to be an idol?" Sarah asked and then continued after Matthew shook his head. "Remember when mom had that cancer 5 years ago? I was so scared back then that she would die. I cried every day. I couldn't get out of bed. But then I met her." Sarah pointed at the smiling vtuber. "She was so cheerful and so kind. Watching her having fun playing games and singing so beautifully made me feel much better. I started to watch her all the time. It gave me strength to get out of bed and face my fears. I got enough strength to stand with mother. Thank god mom got rid of it safely. But I would regret for the rest of my life if I just had shut myself in my room and mom died."
Matthew held her hand.
"After following Sora, I saw how many people were also in the same situation. Scared, lost, alone… They all got together to listen to her and she gave them hope. I then started to watch other vtubers and then flesh idols. That' why I decided to become one too. To dance and to sing. To make people few normal for a few hours. To make them forget their worries. To give them strength to carry on. That's what I want to do too."
"It's a nice dream…" Matthew said with a sad smile. "Mine was just a fantasy. I just wanted to be right. I just wanted to prove that I had the right idea about the system and be the strongest. But I guess the system saw that and that's why it gave me such a broken unique skill."
"Unique skill?"
Matthew explained his unique skill and how his original build was now impossible.
"Gacha? That sounds so fun!" Sarah genuinely smiled. "I wonder which class you'll get next?! You said that the Ranger skill made animals stronger? Then, if we get a cat, can you make it like one of those cute winged cats that you showed me another day?"
"A tressym? I think? I don't know." Matthew was smiling at his sister's enthusiasm. Then he thought to himself that Sarah already had all the qualities of an idol.
"After I saw that the hospital was swallowed by a hell gate, I ran there." She said now taking a more serious tone. "I saw so many people hurt. So many people crying and scared. But I had faith that you would come back." She ended looking at his eyes.
"Why?"
"Because you threw yourself into a dungeon of your own will. You chose to go into those dangerous places. And you promised me you'd be back. I believe you, Matt."
Matthew's eyes got filled with tears.
"And seeing how really dangerous our world can be. I too won't stay still. I'll get the skill the system gave me and I will use it to protect others."
"What? What about being an idol?" Matthew got confused.
"I'll still be an idol. You said yourself that there is a class called Dancer. Or was it singer? I'll become an adventurer that will heal people with my singing and my dancing."
Matthew laughed.
"I'm not joking! You jerk!"
Matthew stopped laughing: "You are serious?"
"Yes I am!. So I'll need your help! I need you to become strong enough to help me! And I need you to help me with my build, since I don't know anything about the system…"
"Well… If you want to heal people by singing… You need to be a Healer and a Bard… To become a Bard… You need 10 levels in Warrior, Mage, Healer and Scout… It will take a long time."
"It's ok! You'll help me! I'll be the first Adventurer Idol!"
Matthew laughed and rested his head on her shoulder closing his eyes. "Ok, sis. I'll help you. When you turn 18 I'll take you to a dungeon to level up."
While listening to the idol Sora's singing and resting his head against his sister, Matthew fell into a deep sleep. He had a good dream. The first one since he came back.