Matthew woke up with a ray of sunlight on his face that pierced the living room window. He slept on the couch and found himself covered by a blanket. He looked at his phone, it was already 8AM. How long did he sleep? He must've been really tired.
A notification on his phone from the night before was flashing on the top. It was Vanessa. It read:
"Hey kid. How are you? Do you want to have lunch tomorrow? I want to ask you a favor. Hello? Matthew?" The last message was a pouting emoji.
Matthew quickly wrote back apologizing and saying he was asleep, but he would love to have lunch together.
The response came quickly asking him to join her and Katia for lunch at Eric's house.
Matthew smiled. Vanessa probably wanted him to babysit again.
At Eric's house, Matthew was received by Katia with a huge smile and a hug. Vanessa was in the kitchen cooking some pasta and just screamed for him to make himself comfortable. He soon indulged Katia and played some games with her while Vanessa cooked.
The food was very good, much better than Matthew expected her to cook. Although Vanessa was a beautiful woman, she dressed too manly and didn't look like the kind to do house chores. But Matthew was glad he was proven otherwise twice now.
After eating, Vanessa asked Katia to go play alone while she talked to Matthew. As soon as the girl turned on the TV, Vanessa asked him:
"So, what level are you now kid?"
"Five." He said while checking his screen.
"Five?! Already? Kid, you're overworking!"
"I guess fighting in hell gave me a lot of XP."
"Fighting in hell?" Vanessa asked with a somber tone.
"Yeah, it was…" Matthew didn't have the chance to finish his sentence. Vanessa grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and got really close to him.
"You were in Saint Helen Hospital that day?" She asked menacingly.
"Yes… I was visiting Faralynn… The girl who got hurt in the dungeon the other day."
"And you haven't said a word about it to me? You almost died and didn't say a word?!" Vanessa clearly got madder.
"I…" Matthew tried to come up with an excuse, but chose to tell the truth. "I wasn't well…"
Vanessa, let him go and asked worried. "How so?"
"I couldn't forget what happened in there. It really shook me…" He answered hiding his face.
Vanessa held his hand. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah." He said with a smile. "My sister helped me a lot… You know that idols are terrifying? I need to get stronger."
Vanessa looked at him puzzled and just laughed.
"But you wanted to ask me something." Matthew changed the subject.
"Oh yeah! I just got to level 7. And was thinking of turning into a full time adventurer."
"Why? I thought you only wanted a few extra bucks?"
"Well…" Vanessa laughed awkwardly. "I got fired…"
"Fired? Why?"
"I… might've punched a customer… I punched a customer."
Matthew just looked at her, not surprised at all.
"Anyway! I'm going full time and will make my own party. I was wondering if you'd like to join."
Partying with Vanessa? She was really reliable and quickly became a friend. Not to mention that partying with her might lead to something romantic. There was no way Matthew would say no. It was a dream come true.
"Yeah! I'd love that!" He said unable to hold his enthusiasm.
"Great! Are you well to go to a dungeon tomorrow? I want you to meet the other members."
"I'm not hurt…" Matthew said still a bit reluctant to go back into a dungeon, but he quickly took courage if it meant to go in with her. "I'm good. I'll be there."
Vanessa sent him the details of the dungeon they were going to raid. They talked a bit more after that. Vanessa was specially interest in his relationship with Faralynn. But she avoided bringing back any memories of hell from him.
"You'll love the guys. They are all good people." Vanessa said saying goodbye when Matthew decided to leave.
On the bus ride home. He got cold feet. He wasn't sure if he was ready. Even though he steeled himself to go through with the party, part of him was still scared of something similar to what happened in hell happening again.