(A Few Hours Later)
Back in the real world, all of the IVR pods opened up at the same time as satisfied yawns and grunts were let out all around the room.
And soon, all of them got out at the same time with Satoshi Nakagawa in the lead and by the time all of the students got out, Nakagawa was standing in front of the board presenting some stuff as the whole class looked at the board with curiosity.
"Okay class, to those who don't have IVR pods at home, expect your IVR pods to arrive in a few hours, you may be free to play the MMO version at any time you want and you can even use a different account, but be sure to not destroy the reputation of Hope Academy once the MMO version expands further into a wider audience who can play it," said Nakagawa as the whole class nodded.
"Well that's it, you kids can go back to your classroom to get your bags and go home, have fun! See you tomorrow!" said Nakagawa as the whole class said their goodbyes to him and got out of the room while talking to each other along the way as the hallway was filled with the sound of chatters.
"So, when do you guys plan to play the MMO? I could make us a group chat for us four" said Zoran.
"Well we are probably going to be sent to different places just like New World but maybe it has a different system, but we should hurriedly group together if we do get sent to different places," I said as we discussed our plans for the game.
"Okay, let's just play it at the same time later when we are about to go to sleep so we can play the whole night and get a refreshing sleep at the same time," said Zoran.
"Oh yeah, the time you spent inside the IVR pod is also the time you spent sleeping right? Then can I just spend the whole night in the pod and feel like I spent 8 hours of sleep?" asked Sora with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Of course, that's the magic of the IVR pod!" said Zoran with a wide grin while patting Sora's back.
"Huh, the Hunter Agency is really smart, they allowed us to have a fun game to play to ease the minds of the students and also allow us to have good sleep at the same time," said Jong-ga by the side with a sparkle in his eyes.
"There you go again with your conspiracy theories," said Zoran while rolling his eyes.
"Well it isn't really a conspiracy, he's just complimenting the Hunter Agency," I said while we got out of the building and into the open field of grass and continued to walk on the road towards our building.
After a few minutes, we arrived inside the classroom along with the others to grab our stuff and before we knew it, we arrived in front of the gate preparing to head home.
"Well goodbye guys, we start at 9 pm, right? So we can head out at 5 all refresh?" asked Zoran as he was the one most excited for the game.
"Yep, what about the group chat?" asked Jong-ga.
"Oh wait, let me make it real quick," said Zoran while taking out his phone and soon, we all saw that we were inside the group chat of four.
"Well that's it, see you later!" I said as we all waved goodbye to each other and headed our own separate ways under the rays of orange-yellow lights from the setting sun in the distance.
And after a quick walk, I entered a dark alley and in an instant, I appeared inside a random tree and phase through it with another one of my vast collection of gifts.
And the moment I got out, I saw that I was beside Shiro's middle school which is on the prestigious side and we could afford it so my parents enrolled us in the same middle school.
While I hid in the shadows waiting for Shiro, I took out my phone to message him to see if his classes were already over and it seems like it is.
"Just head out, I'm already there waiting by the tree across the entrance to the school premise" I messaged Shiro and waited for his arrival and after a few minutes, his silhouette was seen across the road from me.
"Nii-chan!" shouted Shiro as he found me leaning on the tree in the distance.
"Shiro!" I said as I look left and right to see no car near us and hurriedly cross the road and took him into a tight hug.
"You okay?" I asked while ruffling his hair.
"Mmm!" said Shiro with a smile.
"Well let's go home already," I said while taking my arms away from the tight hug to let Shiro be free from my loveable grasp.
"Let's go!" said Shiro as we started to walk home together while I asked questions about how his day has been.
"Ehhh! You guys get to have a new game! And playing is now part of your school!" said Shiro with shocked eyes as he looks at me with envy.
"Oh don't be so jealous, you're school will probably get the new curriculum later" I said with a smile while playing with his cheeks and turned his frown upside down and it successfully made him feel better.
"You promise?" asked Shiro with puppy dog eyes.
"Yes, I promise," I said with a smile as he took me into a tight hug.
"If you say so!" said Shiro as he let go of the hug and we continued our walk back home.
(A Few Minutes Later)
"We're back home!" we both shouted as we arrive in front of the door to our house while I opened it with one hand.
"Oh, it seems like mama and papa are late," I said with a wry smile as the whole house was dark with no lights turned on.
We soon entered the house while leaving our shoes on the shoe rack and instinctively walk towards the kitchen with me turning on the lights along the way to make the house more lively.
"Aww, there's no chips left," said Shiro as he looks at the snack stash with nothing left.
"Well, you want me to cook you some quick snack?" I asked Shiro as he rapidly turned around with sparkling eyes.
"Yes please!" said Sbiro as I chuckled and opened the fridge to see some eggs, butter, and there is some flour left.
"You want pancakes or waffles?" I asked Shiro.
"Hmm, pancakes!" said Shiro.
"Fine, but you do know you could make on all by yourself by just throwing the ingredients to the food maker," I said while pointing at the machine beside us that shows a vast variety of food along with the ingredients needed.
"But it doesn't taste as good compared to yours and mama!" said Shiro.
"Okay okay, you got me there," I said with a smile and took out the ingredients to make a quick plate of pancakes for the both of us.
"Well go back to your room for now and change your clothes, I'll call you back when it's done," I said to Shiro who nodded and quickly left the kitchen to head upstairs.
While he went back to his room to change his clothes, I went to make some pancakes by cracking some eggs open, tossing them onto a bowl along with flour and the usual stuff and in less than 10 minutes, my masterful pancake-making skill allowed me to finish the dish and I also toss in some berries for some nutrition for Shiro.
"SHIRO! It's done!" I shouted while going to the living room to put down the two plates of pancakes for the both of us to enjoy.
Soon, rapid footsteps were heard along with Shiro hurriedly going down the stairs with a giddy smile.
And just like that, light covered his whole body as he leaps forwards and floated through the air to land on the couch with a single kick off the ground.
With joy coursing through his body, he looks at the plate of pancakes with a drool because Aki's pancakes in his opinion were magnificent.
He then hurriedly grab the plate and drag it towards him but notice the lack of syrup.
"Where's the syrup?" asked Shiro.
"Wait a minute," I said and head back to the kitchen to grab a certain syrup brand from the fridge with a grin.
"Here it is," I said and went back to the living room to give Shiro the syrup.
"Huh? What brand is this?" asked Shiro as he looks at this unfamiliar brand of syrup.
"It's from a company called Blessed Foods," I said and plop down on the couch beside him as he did a taste test and his eyes sparkled in response.
"It's so good!" said Shiro as he poured more directly on his mouth and savored the taste.
"Hey, stop that Shiro," I said and took the syrup away from his hand and poured some on his plate along with mine, and put it far away from him.
"Sorry! But the syrup just tastes so good!" said Shiro.
"Yeah, I found it a few days ago when I needed to buy groceries," I said while he took a bite from his pancakes and enjoyed the taste.
"Mmm! Your pancakes taste so good!" said Shiro as he happily ate the pancake with me following him in response while taking a quick glance at the syrup with a smirk as this is just another step to make my plans successful.
AN: This is 1635 words, you're welcome.
This chapter is kinda stupid if you think about it, this syrup was use as a plot point to delude into a much bigger subject, that's kinda funny really, like a bottle of syrup of all things, but Aki's cake kinda thick though *bites lips*
The Sword of Damocles hangs above each and everyone one of you with its ever present threat of despair, so send me some power stones with your power of friendship and save the thousands perhaps even millions to come who will read this masterpiece immortalized in the tunnels of time.
(April 18, 2022 – 145th day of writing)