The bomb that was dropped on the eccentric man was enough to make him halt his eating. As he took the information in from Shou, his pupils dilated from shock. His expression made it seem like he just received overbearing news.
"You mean to tell me, that kid, which is presumably the strongest underground fighter in this city, is actually a blind kid? Are you messing with me right now?" The eccentric man calmly asked. He didn't want to alert everyone in the restaurant since that piece of news was something to be awed about.
"That or my eyes were playing tricks on me." Shou continued. "I couldn't see it quite clearly but I'm pretty sure that his eyes were covered in the duration of the fight. He wears a mask, you know, and that mask covers his whole face. Even his eyes are covered. But then again, he's probably just putting a handicap for himself... but wouldn't that be interesting if that kid really is blind? I mean, he's technically blind in his fights."
"You're right. Whether he's blind or not doesn't matter. He clearly has talent. I'm surprised that you managed to recruit someone so promising. Now we've reached the quota of a million people, right?"
"And that... is something worth celebrating about." Shou pointed out as he grinned from ear to ear. He carefully picked up sushi from the counter and showed it in front of the eccentric man. "Cheers, boss."
The eccentric man smiled. 'Finally, after months and months of waiting, we finally have our final recruit.' He said to himself.
"Cheers to the success of Lucid Dream Server." He returned to Shou as they 'clinked' their sushi together. After that celebratory ritual, the eccentric man stood up, raised his chopsticks with the sushi once again, and repeated what he just said.
Since everyone was caught by surprise, there was a pause of silence before everyone raised their chopsticks as well. "Cheers!" They all shouted.
And just like that, the tense atmosphere inside the restaurant became warm as the employees all enjoyed their time together. After months of recruitment, they finally found the leisure to eat together and celebrate together.
Besides, their boss was the one paying for the bill. So it wouldn't hurt if they ate a little bit more.
.....
"Is brother really blind?" Yui asked as she and her dad prepared the table for dinner.
"What are you talking about?" Rin almost shouted but he managed to keep his calmness and instead, hissed at Yui.
"Because, he always dodge my nerf gun, and sometimes, he forgets to use his click-clack cane and just passes through everywhere without bumping anything." Yui continued.
"If you were deaf and you managed to lip-read, does that mean you're not deaf?" Rin simply responded.
Yui fell silent as she set the plates on the table. She knew that her dad was right but deep inside, she was hoping that her brother was not blind. Right now, she was still holding back in playing with her brother but deep inside, all she wanted was to spend time with him and play just like they used to when they were kids. But now that her brother is blind, she had to hold back on being overly playful since she might accidentally hurt her big brother.
The only reason why she always greets her brother with a nerf gun was because her brother was the one who initiated it.
After a few months of being blind, for some reason, Yuuta suddenly picked a nerf gun and handed another nerf gun to Yui. Before Yui could react, she received a barrage of nerf darts on her face. Some of them missed, of course, since Yuuta was still not used to his newfound skill of echolocation and seeing through his senses.
But little by little, Yuuta managed to adapt, and with the help of some 'therapeutic practices', he managed to hone his newfound skills to superhuman levels, granting him an artificial eye through his hearing and senses.
Also, it was obvious for Yuuta that his sister really wanted to spend time with him but she was holding back due to his literal handicap. That's why, when he found the chance, he decided to take the initiative and shoot nerf guns with his sister.
"Your brother is slowly adjusting to his new state in life. Let's just watch over him for now, and then, hopefully, you'll be able to go downtown and spend some time window shopping, just like how it was every day after school." Rin continued, patting his daughter on the head. "Now, let's get this table ready, and also, can you turn off the TV?"
"Yes, dad."
Yui obediently grabbed the remote and was about to turn off the TV when the channel they were watching suddenly switched advertisements.
But instead of an actual advertisement, it was actually an announcement broadcasted worldwide.
'Lucid Dream, dreams where you can do anything and be anyone! It's a dream come true for most people who wants to experience life in the realm of fantasy. Now, it's all within your grasp! In this day of age wherein the gaming era is constantly changing, a breakthrough has finally appeared!'
Yui's curiosity was immediately piqued as she looked out towards her dad. "Dad, take a look at this."
'With the help of Alexei Ivanov, one of the top neurologists of the world, and the Lucid Dream Corporation, they've managed to access the hippocampus to such an extent that they could finally force it to lucid dream! And what's more! Silverwing, the up-and-coming team of game developers, has been developing a game called Lucid Dream Server. THE VERY FIRST LUCID DREAM VRMMORPG OF ALL TIME! And as such, VR Headgears for this game will be released to the public soon at a price of 100,000 yen. Pre-order is now up! Hurry be—'
Click!
The announcement wasn't even halfway finished when Rin clicked on the remote and clasped his hand. Something in him was urging him to turn the television back on but he knew that once he did that, he will one hundred percent go with his impulsive decision.
As for Yui, she was speechless. She knew that whatever it was that was being released, it was something that would allow her brother to see. Somehow, the first thought that occurred to her after seeing the product was her brother... and the thought that she'll be able to play video games with him again, just like they did before, made her excited to her very core
"If I were to get a... no, Yuuta won't like it." Rin contemplated on himself, not noticing that Yui already stood up and entered her room.
A few seconds later, Yui returned to the living room, carrying what looked like a passbook in her hands. "These are all my savings, dad. I think it amounts to a hundred thousand yen." She continued.
"Wha- how?" Rin asked, unsure how his daughter managed to save up a huge sum of money.
"I haven't been spending my monthly allowance for almost four years now. I never really needed to buy anything for myself."
Rin reached out his hand and eagerly flipped through the pages of his daughter's passbook. It was quite unbelievable that his daughter managed to save up a staggering amount of a hundred and sixty thousand yen. "You... are you sure about this?"
"You can at least buy one of those, right?" Yui asked.
"Yeah, but why? I mean, with this, I can buy at least two of those headgears. Are you really sure about this?"
Yui nodded.
There was a pause before Rin heaved a sigh. After that, his expression lightened as he returned the passbook to his daughter. "Keep it, two hundred thousand yen is not a big amount. Let your dad buy it for you."
"But!" Yui retorted. "I want to help big brother too."
"In-game purchases. There are probably in-game purchases in the game. Just make sure not to spend all your money there." Rin chuckled. "And before you buy something in-game, make sure I know of it first. I was a gamer before, you know. I can totally see whether a deal in-game is a scam or not."
Creak!
The door to the bathroom slowly opened and out came Yuuta, who was still wearing a towel around his waist. Although he overheard everything that his dad and his sister were talking about, he decided to stay oblivious of the matter.
"Dad, Yui, what are you talking about?" Yuuta asked,
"Oh, we're talking about a game that's going to get released soon." Rin light-heartedly said. "And I was planning to buy two VR Headgears for you two."
"Dad, you do know I can't play games, right?" Yuuta reminded his dad as he pointed at his eyes.
"Yeah, but this game's different." Rin smiled.
A smile almost formed on Yuuta's lips. He finally found the right time to disclose something. "Oh, did you mean the new game that's released, called the Lucid Dream Server?"
"Yes, that," Rin answered, the fact that his son knew something that was just announced a minute ago totally flew off his mind.
"If that's the case, then you don't have to buy me a headgear, dad. I already have one." Yuuta nonchalantly announced.