After Skylar confirmed the validity of the message and realized the monkey territory was not categorized as a black zone, he stood to his feet and turned to the golden monkey, who had been watching his weird gestures and actions. Then he began.

  “Apologies, there is something urgent I need to do. I may be gone for a long time… relax if you can’t find me; I am still here... I will be back as soon as I can. Also, help me inform the older gray monkey.”

  As he concluded without waiting for a reply, he turned around and straightaway climbed up the tree behind him in no time and reached the top. Then, reaching a wooden house situated on the tree that its large branches fanned out radially as they support the house floor base—he entered the house which was probably his current living base.

  …

  Inside the fairly large wooden house whose walls were painted white throughout—keeping a cozy atmosphere and is coolly illuminated by yellow lamps placed on its walls at strategic spots—Skylar stood in one of its rooms, which was at least seven times bigger in height and area than his room in the real world—one of several rooms in the large wooden house, with no doors except for the front door he had entered through. And at one side in the room, was a wooden bed with a rubber-like mattress on top, probably made from wood extracts.

  “Should I wash first? Nah, I don’t have the time.” He muttered, talking to himself as he rested his hand on a large wooden chest—the only object in the room except for the many colorful creeping flower plants beautifying it and his bed.

  Let’s return… let’s go see what’s going on in Brave…

  Shortly after, he proceeded to lie on the bed facing the carved roof and gestured in the air, though he didn’t have to.

  Click

  Click

  As the second click rang in his mind, Skylar felt his awareness suddenly unhook from its anchor which is his flesh. Unable to resist a dragging force, he felt what is left of himself descended through a tunnel of bright light until he was caught and hooked back to what people call Grumpy.

  [“Welcome back.”] A robotic voice echoed, jolting Grumpy awake.

  "Uh.." Grunting, Grumpy opened his dark brown eyes, which glued to the screen of the sim-pod’s lid underbelly he could easily see through the mysterious liquid that buried him.

  Hmm I feel as usual, nothing has really changed.

  Ignoring the greeting message, Grumpy looked around briefly.

  Where is the sea of stars? Wasn’t I supposed to see it again? Maybe it’s a one-time thing. For how long have I even been gone? he wondered, tapping the exit menu on the screen. Then, with a gentle upward push on the screen—the underside of the lid of the pod—it slid open, revealing his austere and stark room, which was poorly lit, and was quiet as ever.

  Then, from within the futuristic sim-pod, he emerged, his naked figure on display as he climbed out of it without getting wet even a bit by the strange liquid inside, which also did not drop or spill.

  The lights… He squinted.

  “Let’s put on something first before we see what’s up,” he muttered.

  Then his naked figure managed his way in the darkness, getting dressed. Soon, he left the room painted white, and after some time the illumination of the room became a lot brighter as the wall lamps came on, enlivening the view of Grumpy’s familiar room, which was the same as he had left it.

  Then after a while, Grumpy—dressed in a casual sweatshirt and shorts—returned to the room, holding in his hands a large bag of snacks and a small tray that supported a cup and a large bottle of milk.

  My baby, it’s been a long time… He smiled at a white desk that held a white computer system. Then, moving closer to it, he placed the snack bag and tray in his hand on it at one side. Drawing out the swivel chair tucked in it, he sat on it, after which he made the chair wheel closer to the desk and then he leaned out.

  Then, pulling a switch fixed to the desk and pressing a couple buttons on the switch box at one side, his computer screen lit up, and after a while it displayed the home window, which included the date and time.

  “Fuck! I have been gone for five months!” he yelled, eyes glued to the date on the screen. “How is that possible?”

  He proceeded; he pressed some keys.

  “Wait, it should be more than that. I spent like a year in that lair… It’s that serpent’s fault…” he reasoned. Then he pressed a final key before leaning back in the chair.

  A lot should have happened in Brave. He smiled faintly, tearing the bag of snacks. Afterwards, he grabbed the white mouse close to the front edge of the desk with his free hand, the other holding the bag of cookies, and he started navigating his computer screen.

  *Click*

  He typed, pressed a final key, and then the system filled the screen with text.

  The forum is kind of lively, lots of posts…

  Dragging the mouse, he clicked on the screen bottom-right-corner, scrolling down the page.

  *Click*

  What a kind lady… giving her research to the public free of charge. I don’t have megalophobia though… Grumpy thought, taking a sip of milk from the bottle. Then without reading the screen, he clicked, switching the page.

  Curious, Grumpy clicked on the [*File.pic] under Dreamer, prompting the screen that revealed the picture of a boy that has his manhood that was far bigger than average revealed.

  “So wild!!!” He spilled the contents of his mouth. “That chap is crazy…” Shaking his head, he resumed his scrolling soon after.

  *Click*

  "Hmm? This guy… is he talking about me? Nah, it can’t be possible. I should be the only human on that island… but why did this crazy bastard tag me… maybe he just did it at random…” Concluding, he clicked [*File.vid] on the screen.

  Then he focused on the display, watching the footage of a person fighting a tiger as huge as a twenty-storey building effortlessly.

  “Wow!! Three hits!” he exclaimed, his eyes widening in disbelief. It’s two hits; the last one doesn’t count… but how can someone knock out a tiger that big in two hits? He stretched his arms, yawning lightly.

  People have really gone far, and I am really trashy; can’t even beat an ugly common monkey… he concluded. Then, returning his focus to the screen, he clicked the mouse.

  *Click*

  What gift box are they talking about, and what’s the Mandela Event? Will I also get a gift box? Wondering in his mind, he typed on the screen before clicking the pointer device.

  *Click*

  “What! How can his reply be this fast, and who is this Dadfav guy, calling me an idiot?” Grumpy frowned, after which he adjusted his posture on his swivel chair.

  He typed, then clicked.

  He leaned back in the swivel chair, waiting while munching cookies until his screen displayed a new text moments later.

  "Wow! The bastard replied so fast!…" He leaned out of the chair, focusing his eyes on the screen.

  “This bastard is crazy!” Grumpy chuckled, stifling a smile of amusement. "Let’s see if what he sent is useful."

  Dragging the bag of cookies closer, he picked one from it, put it in his mouth, and as he started munching on it, he clicked [*File.doc] on the screen.

  Click

  “Is this person another bitch that knows me? And what’s with all this rubbish she wrote? Who will enter the simulation just to chill and relax unless they are idiots?” he muttered, one hand supporting his chin. Maybe there are a lot of people like that… but why won’t people want to explore the world if there is nothing stopping them… he concluded. Then he moved his hand propping his chin back to the computer mouse and clicked its button.

  “Who is the bitch calling idiot this time? Does he just call anyone idiot?” Grumpy clicked.

  So some set of people basically experienced an event most people are saying never happened… Grumpy rationalized. “No matter how I look at it, this event could not have happened. I was online all the time, and I was never thrown out; the sleeper people must be really sleeping or the simulation did something to their heads.” He concluded, after which he took a sip of milk from the bottle and click the screen.

  *Click*

  “This one is an idiot too… who will have the time to do that on a large scale…” Grumpy muttered. They might have really experienced what many others did not, or the sim-pod is responsible; it fried their brains.

  Clicking, he scrolled.

  He clicked on [*File.pic]. The screen displayed an unusually high-quality image of a middle-aged woman from her waist up—flanked by a handsome young man and a beautiful young woman who both snuggled her and kissed her cheeks.

  “Fuck!” Grumpy exclaimed. “The couple is a boy and a girl. How can a man give birth? Wait… the treemother is even a super beautiful woman, just like an edited AI image…”

  “Let’s see their video,” he muttered. Then he clicked [*File.vid], and a short video of a violent, cross-species mating session played—the couple in the earlier picture at the mercy of the middle-aged woman tree tentacles—totally fascinating him.

  So she did the deed with her tentacles… look at the two, especially the guy… they are clearly enjoying it… maybe they both instigated it… They are even singing and shedding tears of joy like it’s a dream come true… People sure have weird kinks… good for them…

  Clicking the mouse, the video minimized, and he scrolled again.

  “Wow!" Grumpy exclaimed, having clicked on the attached picture file that displayed the image of a young man in white—smiling faintly. "This guy is very handsome… why is he even raping women…”

  He scrolled again.

  He typed, searching [Alliance of forty nations] after which he skimmed through the long article the screen displayed.

  “So alliance of forty is the governments coming together… they plan to turn Brave into another peaceful world like ours… but is it really achievable? The developers clearly don’t want peace judging by what I’ve read so far…”

  …

  About an hour later, he switched off his screen and reclined, stretching his upper body muscles.

  “What are the news even about? Serial killers, mass rape, missing people, even human sacrifice… they are even enslaving the natives…” Stretching, he yawned, then stood to his feet. “That world is quite brutal, just like an apocalyptic world. But it is also very beautiful… well, its only for brave people like me.”

  I should return after some sleep; the cooldown is a day. I still have a lot of time left… Grumpy concluded. Then, having moved close to his bed about a meter beside the desk, he slumped onto it with his back and drifted into autopilot contemplation, hoping to fall asleep.