The situation turned out far better than Marcus had feared.

Anya gave him a quiet, melancholy look before moving to stand beside him without complaint. Marcus introduced her to everyone, and she greeted them warmly before taking a seat next to Lily and Willow. Before long, the three girls were chatting comfortably together.

It helped that Anya, Lily, and Willow had all attended the same college. Even if they hadn’t been close before, they’d heard enough about one another to find common ground quickly.

Still, Marcus knew Anya too well.

Behind her gentle smile and calm expression, he could see the loneliness she was trying to hide. There was sadness in her eyes, buried deep beneath her graceful composure, and seeing it made something twist painfully in his chest. He wanted to say something to her, anything at all, but every word felt wrong before it even reached his mouth.

Chloe, meanwhile, was acting far colder.

She barely joined the conversation, sitting off to the side with her usual sharp edge. Every now and then, when she thought nobody was paying attention, she shot Marcus a murderous glare that practically screamed how furious she still was.

What surprised him was that she hadn’t exploded yet.

No insults. No calling him a playboy in front of everyone. No scene.

For Chloe, that level of restraint was practically unnatural.

"What a beautiful eagle."

Anya’s attention was suddenly drawn to the Seven-Colored Divine Eagle circling lazily beside Marcus. Her eyes brightened immediately, genuine wonder replacing some of the sadness on her face.

"Marcus, is it yours?"

"Yeah," he answered with a nod.

Before he could explain further, Amber jumped in excitedly.

"Anya, that’s a Seven-Colored Divine Eagle! A real divine beast! Big bro got it in the Mystic Turtle’s Tomb!"

Amber had always adored anything Marcus liked. If someone mattered to him, she naturally treated them warmly too. And with how close Marcus and Anya seemed, Amber had already started thinking of her as another older sister.

Besides, Anya made it easy.

Even with her elegant appearance and noble background, she never carried herself with the arrogance most rich girls had. She was gentle, approachable, and easy to talk to.

Amber turned eagerly toward Marcus again.

"So, big bro, hurry up and tell us how you tamed it!"

Marcus almost sighed in relief. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

’Perfect timing.’

He needed a change of subject badly.

"Alright," he said, stroking the eagle’s feathers as he began recounting everything that had happened inside the Mystic Turtle’s Tomb.

He talked about the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave, the Seven-Colored Divine Eagle, and the Elemental Trial. Then came the Mountain Forest Court on the fourth level, filled with ancient beasts and priceless herbs, before finally reaching the unbelievable experience he’d had at Harmony Peak.

The girls listened with complete attention.

Even Chloe gradually forgot she was angry. Her eyes stayed fixed on him, stunned by the things he described.

"Bro, does Harmony Peak really look like a place immortals would live in?" Amber asked eagerly.

The others looked just as curious, though a little skeptical. Dominion having a hidden map like that sounded almost impossible.

Marcus grinned.

"See for yourselves."

He pulled up the recording he’d taken at Harmony Peak.

Considering Dominion was entirely managed by the Skynet AI, with maps and monsters generated automatically, Marcus doubted even Dragonfly Corp knew a place like this existed.

Honestly, he felt a little proud of himself.

Footage like this alone could probably sell for a fortune online.

"Amazing..."

The girls stared at the recording in complete fascination.

Harmony Peak looked less like part of a game and more like a hidden world from ancient legends. Endless mountains wrapped in clouds, immortal cranes flying through mist, disciples gliding across the sky on drifting clouds... it felt like someone had taken every myth about immortals and cultivation and brought it to life.

"Look at them flying!"

"They’re literally riding clouds!"

"It really looks like immortals live there..."

The courtyard quickly became lively again, filled with excited voices and laughter.

Marcus leaned back smugly.

"So," he said casually, "which beautiful lady wants to ride the clouds with me tomorrow and experience what it feels like to be an immortal?"

Every girl immediately turned to stare at him.

"Marcus, you learned cloud-riding?" Jade asked, eyes shining with admiration.

Marcus coughed awkwardly.

He hated disappointing people, but there was no helping it.

"Not exactly. Real cloud-riding has ridiculously high requirements. Even the disciples at Harmony Peak mostly rely on special magic treasures called Harmony Clouds to fly around. According to the Shadow Panther, only the sect elders and top masters can actually fly using their own power."

In other words, Marcus definitely could not.

If players ever wanted true flight inside Dominion, the requirements would probably be absurdly difficult. More likely, they’d need special mounts or flying artifacts instead.

"Then do you have one of those Harmony Clouds?" Lily asked immediately.

Marcus smiled proudly and pulled a high-grade Harmony Cloud from his inventory.

The cloud floated quietly in the air, glowing faintly. It could carry up to three people and remain airborne for an entire hour.

The girls instantly became even more excited.

Unfortunately, it was already getting late. Everyone needed rest, and Anya and Chloe were preparing to log out soon anyway.

"Marcus, Chloe and I are heading off for tonight," Anya said after the recording ended. "We’ll try the Harmony Cloud tomorrow."

"Alright," Marcus replied with a nod.

Anya logged out directly in the courtyard. Chloe, however, stayed behind.

She calmly wished the others goodnight before turning and walking toward the main hall.

At the same time, Marcus received a private message.

"Playboy. Get over here."

Marcus sighed internally. Of course it wouldn’t end that easily.

"Chloe wants to talk to me about something," he told the others before following after her. The moment they stepped into the living room, Chloe spun around sharply.

"Marcus, you playboy!"

There it was. The real Chloe had finally returned.

She stood directly in front of him, glaring fiercely. Her beautiful face was only inches away, her expression filled with fury she’d been suppressing all night.

Honestly, Marcus was impressed she’d lasted this long.

Normally Chloe never cared about embarrassing him publicly. Holding back in front of everyone must have taken enormous effort.

But strangely enough, Marcus found himself unable to focus on her anger at all.

Standing this close to her after so long, seeing her flawless features, her sharp eyes, her proud figure, even catching the faint scent of her perfume... all the tension in his chest slowly melted away.

He realized then just how much he’d missed this. Missed her.

"Marcus, are you even listening to me?" Chloe snapped, stomping her foot when he continued staring at her silently.

"Yeah," he answered softly.

Then, before he could stop himself, he added, "It’s been a long time since we were alone together like this."

The words caught Chloe completely off guard. And before she could react, Marcus instinctively reached out and took her hand. Her fingers were soft and cool in his palm.

Chloe froze.

Any other man would’ve been kicked across the room already, but when she realized it was Marcus, her body locked up for a split second in pure panic instead.

By the time she recovered, she quickly yanked her hand back and retreated a step.

"Marcus," she said sharply, trying to regain control of herself, "do you actually love Anya or not?"

Marcus blinked.

"Do you have feelings for her?" Chloe pressed.

’Love. Feelings.’

The question hit Marcus harder than expected because it was the same question he’d been asking himself for years.

Instead of answering, he looked straight at Chloe and asked quietly, "Then tell me something first. Does Anya love me?"

Back during freshman year, his feelings for Anya had been overwhelming. His first real love. He’d thought about her constantly. Then she never answered his confession letter.

That silence had crushed him.

Even now, Marcus still believed Anya had never truly liked him. At best, he figured she saw him as someone mildly memorable from college, nothing more.

A bitter feeling rose in his chest. Anya had never once actually told him she liked him.

But the moment he said that, Chloe exploded.

"Marcus, you shameless idiot! I knew it! You never understood her at all!"

Her anger flared instantly.

"Anya loves you so much it hurts to watch! She thinks about you constantly, and she actually believed you loved her too!"

The more Chloe spoke, the angrier she became.

"If you didn’t love her, then why stay close to her? Why make her cry? Why write all those stupid love letters if you were just going to move on so quickly?"

Marcus stared at her in disbelief.

"Move on?" he shot back, emotions he’d buried for years suddenly erupting. "She rejected me!"

"No, she didn’t!"

"She never replied to my letter!" Marcus snapped. "I handed it to her personally. What was I supposed to think? If that wasn’t rejection, then what was it?"

His voice grew harsher as years of frustration finally spilled out.

"You say I moved on too fast, but what was I supposed to do? Wait forever hoping she’d suddenly change her mind one day? Pretend I didn’t get rejected?"

His chest tightened painfully.

"You think I haven’t been confused all this time? You think I haven’t wondered what Anya feels every time she looks at me like that? I want to get close to her, but every time I try, I remember what happened before."

Marcus laughed bitterly.

"The one whose life got messed up was me."

Chloe’s expression changed as she listened. Then suddenly, furious beyond words, she raised her hand and swung at him.

Marcus didn’t dodge. But just before the slap landed, Chloe stopped herself. Her trembling hand hovered in the air for a moment before curling into a fist instead.

"Why are you like this..." she whispered as tears suddenly filled her eyes. A second later, she started hitting his chest weakly with her fists instead.

"Marcus... why did things turn out like this?"

Her voice cracked completely.

"Did Anya ever tell you she rejected you? Did she ever once say she didn’t like you?"

Marcus froze. No, she never had. But back then, her silence had felt like an answer all by itself.

Before he could speak, Chloe finally revealed the truth.

"When Anya received your letter, she was so happy she couldn’t even sleep," Chloe said through tears. "But she’s shy. Ridiculously shy. She kept overthinking how to answer you and what to say."

"By the end of freshman year, she’d finally made up her mind. She wanted to be with you no matter what her family thought."

Marcus felt his heartbeat stop.

"But right after that, her grandfather became critically ill. We had to leave school immediately and return home. Everything happened too suddenly. We couldn’t contact you properly, and we couldn’t explain anything."

Chloe looked up at him with red, tear-filled eyes.

"And by the time we came back the next semester... you were already dating Serena."

Marcus stood completely frozen.

"Anya never rejected you," Chloe said softly, heartbreak written all over her face. "We were gone for three months, Marcus. Just three months. But when we came back, you already belonged to someone else."

Her voice trembled painfully.

"How were we supposed to believe your feelings were real after that? Anya cried for so long because of you. She thought your love for her disappeared in less than three months."

A misunderstanding, the entire thing had been a misunderstanding. Marcus’s mind went blank.

Suddenly everything made sense; why Chloe hated him so much, and why Anya once said he’d broken her heart.

Why she always looked at him with sadness hidden behind her smile. He had misunderstood everything from the very beginning.

And the cruelest part?

The reason he moved on so quickly was because he’d loved Anya too much. Because waiting for an answer had hurt more than he could endure.

"Her grandfather died," Chloe whispered. "And while she was grieving, she found out you were with Serena. Do you have any idea how devastated she was?"

So that was why Anya and Chloe disappeared so suddenly during freshman year. Why they returned late afterward.

Every word Chloe spoke crashed into Marcus like a hammer. Regret flooded through him so violently it almost became unbearable.

He had hurt Serena. And he had hurt the first girl he ever truly loved.

"Chloe... I..."

For once in his life, Marcus couldn’t find the right words. After a long silence, he lowered his head slightly.

"I was wrong."

The moment he said it, he logged out immediately. He had to see Anya now. Not tomorrow, not later.

Right now.

Back in the real world, Marcus rushed downstairs. Lily and the others had already logged out and were sitting together in the living room chatting.

"Lily, I need to head out for a bit."

He barely waited for a response before grabbing his jacket and hurrying outside. It was nearly one in the morning.. The streets were mostly empty, lit only by scattered streetlights and glowing neon signs. Not a single taxi was in sight.

But Marcus’s chest felt like it was on fire.

He couldn’t wait. He couldn’t sit still another second knowing the truth.

"Human Rock."

The moment the words left his mouth, inner energy surged violently through his body in response to his emotions.

Marcus bent his knees slightly, then launched upward. He landed directly on a rooftop. Without slowing down, he sprinted across the sleeping city toward Anya’s home.