Rise of the Gamer [Hiatus]

Chapter 9

~~ 2 Months Later ~~

Mornings were my favorite time of the day in this new life. Not because I was a morning person or that I liked to see the sun rise or anything like that. Oh no, mornings were my favorite because every now and then I would wake up to a morning such as this one.

|[ You have slept in a bed for 11 hours. All HP and CP restored. ]|

|[ Your mind has further developed. Your intelligence increases by 1. ]|

|[ Your body has become more resilient. Your vitality increases by 1. ]|

|[ Your muscles have grown stronger. Your strength increases by 1. ]|

|[ Your bones have further developed. Your agility increases by 1. ]|

'Ahh finally, it's been so long since I last got one of these', I thought to myself as I yawned and stretched my limbs, arching my back while looking around the room. Noticing something out of the ordinary, my mind quickly regained full consciousness and began processing the situation before me.

'Hmm, that's strange. I usually wake up in the playroom. Why am I still in Tou-san and Kaa-san's bedroom? And there's no one here as well. Where's Ojii-san, my two Obaa-sans, Rumi or Kiyoko?'

Deciding that I first needed to exit my rocking cradle, I started climbing the vertical bars, pushing against opposing bars with my feet in order to get the needed traction to pull myself up towards the horizontal bar on top. Grabbing the horizontal bar, I then slowly lifted myself over the edge, and clung on to the vertical bars as I felt my body slowly descend as I slid downwards along the vertical bars. Letting go of the bars for the final drop of a few inches, I landed safely on my feet.

'Alright, time to discover what's going on. Should I investigate the situation in a quiet, stealthy manner or just start running around and speaking baby talk in my loudest voice to get someone's attention? Hmm. I think the quiet route seems to be the wiser choice. Discretion is the better part of valor after all.'

Sneaking towards the bedroom sliding door, I placed my ear towards the paper in between the wooden squares that made up this sliding door. Not hearing anything, I decided that the coast was clear and slid open the door. Looking left and right, I saw that there was no one in the hallway on either side. After closing the sliding door as quietly as I could manage, I then proceeded down the hallway towards the direction of the playroom.

'Did they forget about me? No, Kiyoko wouldn't forget about me. Did they go somewhere without me? Maybe. Did something happen that required their full attention? Possibly. Oh well, no use speculating, onwards!'

Walking on the balls of my feet in order to minimize the sounds of my footsteps, I carefully walked across the wooden floorboards, avoiding the ones that I knew would creak loudly if stepped on. Slowly and steadily I moved towards a junction in the hallway, the left turn would take me towards the playroom while the right led towards the kitchen and dining area.

Peeking my head around the left corner then looking down the right hallway, I saw that once again, both hallways were empty. And there weren't any sounds either. No laughter from Kiyoko, no voices talking, no sounds of cutlery against plates, nothing. It was as if the house was devoid of any living thing, people or otherwise.