Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

"I'm sorry, Evan." Klaus said with sincere sadness in his voice, and his mask fell to the floor at the same time. "I shouldn't have left you in that final. It was a terrible mistake."

For a few moments, Evan was very surprised. He thought he hated Klaus for what he did to the team and for never bothering to get in touch with any of them, but the moment he felt the tight hug from his former companion, he knew that the story he thought he knew was not so simple. That tight hug was not from some idiot who had abandoned them for pure pleasure or something, but rather the arm of a person who missed them and was sad for what they had done.

So instead of squirming, showing off his current life, or debauching Klaus as he had planned, Evan just smiled sadly and shook his head, returning the hug.

"It's over now, Klaus. It's okay, we don't have to go back to the past." Evan said.

When the hug was over, Klaus looked down and then into Evan's eyes with a little guilt. He hadn't expected to ever see his old teammates again, but here was one of them, right in front of him.

"I... I don't even know what to say to you."

"I'll be honest with you, Klaus. Part of me is still very angry about what you did that day, but there is another part of me that wants to forgive you. But first I need to know: why did you leave us that day?

Klaus wiggled his eyebrows. "Didn't the managers and coaches tell you?"

Evan denied with his head, which made Klaus take a deep breath of disappointment. All this time he had thought that his teammates knew what had happened to his family, because even though he hadn't had time to tell everyone when he had rushed to the hospital to see how his family was doing, he had told the managers. Still, Klaus couldn't blame them after all this time, so he wasn't even angry to find out.

So Klaus used the few minutes he had left before the tournament began to tell Evan Elliott about the car accident that had involved his whole family, and also about the health of his older brother, who had been in a deep coma since the day of the accident, with no prognosis for recovery.

Evan listened carefully to Klaus' story and could feel the pain and suffering he had gone through. He quickly realized that the full story wasn't even close to what he had imagined, and that it certainly wasn't fair to judge Klaus without knowing what he had been through. After Klaus finished, Evan put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry for what you've been through, Klaus. I didn't know about your family's accident and now it makes more sense to me. I can't imagine how hard it was for you at the time, but I still can't understand why you retired. Even though the managers were angry, you were still probably the best Myth2 player in the world, and if they didn't want you on the team anymore, they probably would have traded you to another team. Did they threaten you or anything?"

"No, retiring was my choice. You may remember that my brother used to visit the office where we trained and was always in the audience cheering me on. Even before I entered the competitive scene, he was the one who supported me the most, even when my father fought with me for spending too much time playing. He was my main pillar, and when I saw him fast asleep in that hospital bed, I felt I couldn't go on. I was just a kid, and I couldn't handle the disappointment.

"Come to think of it, I understand a little bit about that. Rhyzer was always there for you, and he was the one who helped Peter try to cope with his quirks.

Klaus seemed relieved to hear those words from Evan, because for a long time he had blamed himself for not being strong enough at that time, and that guilt came largely from seeing his family's financial suffering. When he finally received understanding and forgiveness from one of his colleagues, Klaus thanked him.

"Thank you, Evan. I never really wanted to leave you guys on that stage, but I had to be there for my family. It was the right thing to do, and although I consider it a mistake, I know I would do it again if I had to."

Evan nodded in agreement, then smiled.

"Well, there's no point in dwelling on heartbreak, is there? Now that we're clear, we're both here to participate in this tournament, and I'll tell you one thing: I'm not going to lose."

Klaus smiled when he heard Evan's confidence. Although he was a very competitive guy who didn't like to lose, he knew that it wouldn't be easy to beat his former teammate, even though Rise Online was a completely different game from what they used to play together.

That being the case, Klaus replied with a smile on his face:

"I bet it will be an interesting competition, but I have never heard of you, and since you found me, you must have heard of me. Surely I am stronger."

The Psyker's confidence made a vein in Evan jump with irritation. "What did you say? Say it again, I want to see you say it again!" He said, giving Klaus a simple tie around his neck and pulling his neck down.

Evan used to do this all the time when they were younger, mostly because Klaus was so short and Evan was always tall, except that their avatars in Rise Online no longer had such a big height difference.

"HAHAHAHA! This doesn't even hurt anymore!" Klaus said to his friend.

After that, they greeted each other and said goodbye, promising to meet again at the tournament. Seeing Evan leave the training room, Klaus smiled with a mixture of sadness and happiness.

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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