The stone in my hands pulsed with neon color, heated up, and after a little thought, exploded with light. It was all the more pleasant to find myself in near darkness. The stark contrast of ‘day and night’ made me dizzy. I tilted my head up, towards the black sky, studded with constellations and the colored silhouettes of the closest planets.

I took a few deep breaths to suppress the nausea, and was able to take a couple of steps and look around.

There was a forest, a mixture of jungle and taiga. Yes, the developers rarely cared about the natural combination of the real world, in Virtul they did whatever they wanted.

I remember once stumbling upon a grove of flowering cactuses in a swamp. So the unusual forest, teeming with fireflies, fluttering hummingbirds, and rat-raccoons, didn’t surprise me. The pine needles on the trees and under my feet shimmered with a bluish-green inner light, which created an incredible atmosphere of tranquility. And you could not tell that you were in one of the most dangerous places in the game. Few people in their right mind would venture into the Uncharted Lands without the latest upgraded equipment and advanced skills.

But I did.

I opened my inventory and pulled out the mob invisibility potion I’d been saving for this occasion. It tasted even nastier than it looked. No wonder why nobody ever used it.

The point of Krile was highlighted in dark green on the map. My husband was just a short walk away, so I didn’t even summon Aris and decided to walk, especially since it was a sin not to admire the beauty around me.

A barely visible path, hidden by fern and moss, led me to a clearing where tents and sleeping bags were nestled around a fire. I found my favorite NPC almost immediately, he was writing down in a notebook.

I nodded to a couple of acquaintances; they weren’t surprised to see me here, since I often visited my husband in his wanderings. Sometimes my soul was so unbearable that only Krile could get me out of my depressive thoughts and feelings.

I came up behind him and put my hands on his shoulders.

“I’ve missed you.”

Krile stopped writing, put his pen and notebook in his bag, and then turned to me with the most charming smile.

“And I’ve been waiting for you to show up.” He pulled me to him, cradling me gently in his arms.

“I stretched out my displeasure of not seeing you for as long as possible.”

He just smiled sadly at my remark, sensing my mood. Got to his feet and gave me his hand. I followed him without question.

We walked in silence for five minutes, Krile squinting at me occasionally but didn’t start a conversation, while I was deep in my emotions.

Every time this NPC was around, my heart beat faster. I knew it was the height of insanity to love the soulless System, but what could I do? No other living person evoked as many feelings and desires in me as this silent, unrealistic guy holding my hand right now. I was bathed in these sensations of tenderness and belonging, enjoyed his glances and deliberate gestures, his words and the sound of his voice.

The forest suddenly ended abruptly, and we found ourselves on the edge of the wild grasslands.

“I like it.”

I breathed in the cool night air and sat down on the ground.

“Yeah, it’s just grass and stars and you and me.” Krile dropped down very close to me.

He put his arm around my waist, pulling me even closer. His arms were warm, so peaceful, and my thoughts dissolved by his touch. For the first time all day, I could truly smile and shake off my frozen expression of indifference.

My hand reached for his face, my fingers running down his forehead, brushing away his bangs. I caught his every look, every glimpse of his emotions. I stared into his clear blue eyes for a long time, the stars and my reflection gleaming in them. I studied his features over and over again, the scar above his eyebrow, the dimple on his left cheek, the mole above his lip. I had created this mole myself, in a sense, I had designed Krile myself, I had prescribed how he was supposed to be. The System then added certain qualities and shortcomings, thereby making him even better, more perfect for me.

My gaze touched his lips, and, anticipating my request, my husband moved forward himself, covering my mouth with his, entwining our tongues. And I trusted his movements, his tenderness and assertiveness at the same time. Krile was the first and only one I kissed, but his kisses were so right for me that I didn’t want anyone else around me.

Only when my heart pounded in my chest with a thudding sound in my ears and my lips were painfully swollen did he pull back. I clutched his dark-blond hair so hard with my palm that if he were alive, the pain for him would be unavoidable. On the verge of shame and pleasure, escaping his piercing gaze, I ducked into his chest. His shirt smelled of herbs and honey.

“I love you, Krile.”

“I know,” he sighed.

I had no hope of a reciprocal confession. The System could not feel, could not tell a lie, it only performed operations written in advance or just made up on the basis of available data.

In a couple of long silent minutes, my husband’s question brought me back to reality.

“You already know, don’t you?”

I didn’t need to inquire about what he meant. He was aware of it himself, because the System had seen every move I made today. He only asked to keep the conversation going.

“Yes.”

I let a single tear accumulate on my lower eyelid and drip down my cheek. Then I straightened up, wiped the wetness from my eyes, and looked at my husband with cold reasonableness.

“Let’s not talk about it. Just be with me tonight.”

He nodded, and leaned back against the fallen tree, letting me comfortably lay my head on his chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my cheek against the rough fabric of his shirt, feeling the warmth of his body.

We had been sitting next to each other for so long. All night long. I watched the horizon slowly brighten and listened to the steady beat of the unliving heart.

Only when it was quite dawn and the sun appeared from behind the clouds did Krile say, “I have to go now.”

I stood up slowly, shaking off my clothes and tidying my hair. The blue-eyed hottie came up to me one last time and gave me a fleeting kiss goodbye. He caught my gaze and said softly, “The colors of the skies we both looked at together, the smells of the road we walked hand in hand – don’t forget them. Please remember it.”

I could not help but smirk bitterly. This was the System’s way of saying goodbye to me.

“Okay. I will remember.”

As long as I’m alive...

Krile ran his thumb across my cheek, bent down to touch my forehead with his lips almost intangibly.

“You need to get some sleep. Don’t torture yourself and go to bed,” he said, and then turned swiftly and walked away.

I shouted at him as he was about to enter the shade of the trees.

“Krile!”

He turned around.

“Take care of Di,” I whispered. My throat was tight with tears, and I couldn’t make a loud sound.

But he heard me, nodded, and disappeared into the shadows of the forest.

I was alone in the middle of the field, stunned by the silence and confusion. A single thought ran rampant in my mind: my husband, my child, my six-year-old girl who was still a baby but already so smart, my family, my friends, my loved ones – all would be gone in a few days.

My head was surprisingly clear, my panic had receded, and I had finally made a decision for myself.

I summoned the mail panel, admired a couple of heartbeats at the shimmering Syracillus, and then sent the crystal back to the head of the guild.

You were right, Grida. ‘Never fall in love, never love anyone’ this was the ground rule, an unspoken law in Virtul. Many before me had broken it. And I had.

And the punishment was too heavy. It was weighing on my shoulders, squeezing my heart, chilling my blood and stealing my very will to live.

Soon my loved ones, the ones I wanted to be better for, the memories of whom gave me happiness, would disappear.

My heart skipped a couple of beats before finally coming to terms with the choice of my mind.

And I’m not going to watch them die.

I won’t watch them perish.

I will leave before them.