New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 929 Calling In Korea

Back in Montreal, a few hours passed, setting well into the night, before the journalist, whose name was Bernard Collins, finally had all the answers he wanted. Alex and Kary led him to the elevator, where they bid him farewell before sending him back down.

Once the doors had closed, Alex sighed tiredly.

"Urgh… Interviews are so tedious… I don't know how you do this and act like you enjoy it…" he complained, looking over at Kary.

"Oh, but I'm not acting. I enjoy interviews. It allows me to share my story with more people, and maybe reach the ears of more people who are hesitating with their dreams. Maybe my words will give them the push they need."

Alex frowned.

"That interview had nothing to do with dreams or reaching out to people, though…"

Kary giggled.

"I meant, in general, you dummy. Of course, some interviews are more tedious than others; this is a perfect example. All that this journalist cared about was how you saved the two hostages and what motivation you had behind it."

Alex scoffed.

"Yeah, and I had to lie about it… There was no way I could tell him I did it only to get in the good graces of another awakened, hoping she would join us in the future. That would have sounded so shallow…"

Kary hugged him from behind as he walked away from the elevator.

"Don't worry, darling. I know you aren't shallow. Sometimes, the end justifies the means. I'm sure you would have helped regardless of Elise's request if you had been present when it happened. That's just who you are," she declared, comforting him.

Of course, she was right.

There was no way Alex would have walked past a situation without at least seeing if he could help. And in this case, he knew he could.

The question was, would he have jumped in so fast if he hadn't known the context? And if David hadn't shown up, how would he have dealt with the gang members?

Knowing how his latest altercations with bad people had gone, Alex was almost sure he would have passed for the bad guy if he had dealt with the criminals himself. But he brushed away those thoughts from his mind.

"What time is it, nine? Do you think we can call Athena? What time would it be in South Korea?"

Kary touched her chin for a moment, thinking.

"If I remember correctly, South Korea is thirteen hours ahead of us. So I believe it would be alright to call her at this hour. Keep in mind we don't have a translator function on the neuro-phones, though. This isn't inside New Eden. I don't know how much English she knows…"

Alex frowned.

"Don't the new neuro-phones have a translator function? I thought this technology was from the phones," Alex said, confused.

"It's not as good. The one they used inside New Eden had the computing power of their entire servers behind it, making it a real-time translation. The neuro-phones don't have that kind of processing power behind them," Kary explained.

"God dammit…" Alex cursed.

"Then I guess we can only hope her English is good enough for us to understand each other because I don't speak Korean. Do you?"

Kary shook her head.

"I wish. I've always wanted to visit Korea. But learning Korean isn't as easy as it sounds. So I hope you're right and she's fluent. Because if not, we are better off texting each other," she replied, giggling.

At least, in text messaging, the translator function could easily take the time needed to swap the message from one language to another. But it was a tedious process.

If they wanted to set everything in motion quickly, it was better to talk than to text.

Since neuro-phones no longer had screens, whoever wrote to Athena would have to repeat every message to the other before replying, wasting a lot of time.

At least, setting the phone on speaker was still an option, allowing many people to talk together simultaneously. Users could even join a conference call with as many users as they wished.

"You should be the one calling her. I'm sure she would find it weird if I were the one calling," Alex said, looking at Kary.

"Hmm. You're right. She would at least feel more comfortable if I were the one initiating the conversation. If you called her out of the blue, she would worry, I'm sure."

Kary pulled her earpiece out, setting it on speaker mode, and called Athena through her friends' list option, which was one of the few things still available from New Eden's servers.

The phone rang a few times before the ring stopped, and a female voice responded.

"Yeoboseyo?"

"Hi, Athena. It's Phoenix. I know I'm asking a lot already, but do you speak English? We need to talk, and texting is too complicated for the conversation we need to have…" Kary said, hoping she was being understood.

"Phoenix? I'm sorry, I answered in Korean reflexively. Yes, I speak English. Although you might have to repeat certain words for me, as I am not fluent…" Athena replied, her accent heavy, and her words measured.

Alex smiled wide. This was already a minor victory.

"Can I get Astaroth on the line with us? This is a conversation he needs to be part of," Kary asked.

"Yes. Not a problem."

Giving a thumb up to Alex, Kary set the earpiece back into her ear, going back to normal mode, and added Alex to the call. There was only one ring this time, as Alex was already waiting to answer.

"Hi, Athena. How are you?" Alex asked, acting casual.

"I am good. You?" Athena replied, her tone still neutral.

"I have a question for you. I'm sure you are busy with many things, but I have a favour to ask, and you are the only one I could ask."

There was a pause as Athena replayed the phrase in her head, trying to understand all the words.

"A favour?" she asked, unsure about the word.

"Yes, a favour. A request, if you prefer that word."

"Request. Yes, I know request. What is it?" she answered, sounding more confident.

"Phoenix and I are visiting Korea soon, and we wondered if you could be our guide. We have something to do on Jeju Island, and we need a local to guide us to where we need to go. Of course, we are ready to pay you, if you need us to," Alex explained, leaving out the details for now.

"You need a guide to Jeju Island?" Athena asked, confused.

There were many tour guides that would do a much better job than her if they just wanted a tour. Why did they call her for this?

She already had so much on her plate. She entertained the idea of hanging up already.

And with the pause she took, Kary could tell as much.

"Athena, given how you told me things were going on your end the last time we texted, I know this is asking a lot. But we need a special type of guide—one like you—one like us, actually, if you understand my meaning…" she said, trying to be subtle.

Athena's curiosity was piqued.

"One like us? What do you mean? A woman?"

Kary giggled at her misunderstanding.

"No, not a woman. We need someone who has awakened, someone with abilities from inside New Eden, someone who won't be in danger if we come across things that aren't normal."

Athena was now really interested.

"What kind of not-normal things?" she asked, her voice shaking in excitement a bit.

"Things that you would only normally see inside the game. I'm sure you are aware that some things are changing. There is an incident we have to look into as soon as possible, and we need someone to guide us there who can handle things of the supernatural type—someone like us," Kary repeated.

Athena took a moment to think their offer over.

As she glanced over the bags she was packing, her mind went to her current situation. Given what she had told her mother the night before, she had been getting ready to leave her parents' house.

If they were coming over to Korea, this was maybe a good chance for her to hitch a ride back with them, at least until she was able to get on her own feet.

"Can I ask for something else than money in exchange?" she asked.

Alex replied faster than Kary had time to ask what exactly.

"Sure. Anything you want. As long as I can give it to you, I will."

Kary glared at him.

She cut the sound on her phone, talking directly to Alex.

"Don't go promising things we can't promise. She's our friend, remember? Don't disappoint her, or I'll tear you a new one," she threatened.

Alex gulped.

"As long as it's reasonable, of course," he added, for Athena.

Athena hadn't heard their exchange, so she was unaware of the threat Alex had just received.

"I want to leave Korea. If you can get me out of here, that is all I would ask."

Alex smiled wide.

They could easily arrange this, which made Kary sigh in relief.

"Of course! Whatever you need. Helping a friend in need is being a friend indeed!" Alex exclaimed with a wide grin.

"What?" Athena asked, confused.

"Nothing! I'll make the arrangements. Don't worry about a thing."

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