It's a brand new day, Poupee had left the manor for her flight the night before and only the members of JLNC and some servants are left in the manor.
"I think it's around here," Key said as they walked in the hallways
Key led them to a large room, one comparable to their gaming area in the base, only that instead of having all the computers in the middle of the room, the PCs were arranged with the table against the wall. Their eyes first landed on the PCs lined up on one side of the room with spaces large enough to twirl while seated on the gaming chair.
"This is our gaming area." She said as they entered the room and opened the lights
"Wow…" Quant exclaimed while looking at the action figures displayed on the shelves and the posters plastered on the wall
As they look around the room, they saw the three couches that were placed in what seems like a small living room by the doorway with a small fridge. There's a 50-inch Smart TV across the three couches while several gaming consoles are noticeably lined up on the shelf under the TV, there are also stacks of videogames and CDs on the glass shelf next to the TV. Key reached for a remote control placed on a holder by the wall and turned on the LED lights that illuminated every corner of the room.
It was obvious that someone fond of playing games had turned this into their man cave but not only that, the equipment was state of the art and must've cost an arm and a leg each.
"Why do you have seven computers, Key?" Dewy asked after realizing that there are seven working computers in the room
"James learned that the Chinese word for seven sounds like gone," Key replied while looking for the outlet to plug in the computer
Bright, Dewy, El, Opal, Alexei, Rio, and Rasheed only looked at her as she pressed her hand on the wall to look for the covered outlet. They heard her reply but they didn't understand how that is the answer to the question of why there are seven computers in the room.
"There," Key said after finding and putting the plug in the socket
"Then Drystan learned that it sounded like the mandarin for 'to deceive'." She added and stood up
"And…?" Opal didn't understand why they would choose seven for those reasons
"I was sent here to be homeschooled because I would deceive my guards with Kit and would disappear after class to hang out in internet cafes," Key replied while rummaging through the shelves for an extra connector for the camera of one of the computers
"So, you're the reason why they chose seven?" El asked while suppressing an amused smile
"More or less," Key shrugged her shoulder and replaced the broken connector with the one she found
"Oh, I guess it's still working," Key said while fixing the connectors camera in one of the computers
"It's Drystan's streaming camera so it's been unused for a long while," Key explained after setting up the camera to point at her
"He used to use an AI character in his streams so I don't think anyone would recognize the background, but if someone does, I can say that it's just a coincidence," she added then booted up the computer
"Do you guys want to use the computers?" Key asked before sitting in one of the gaming chairs
"Drystan is…?" Quant asked, already forgetting that Key had mentioned his name while pointing to a thirteen-year-old boy in the picture and that the name was mentioned as someone whom Key and Fox grew up with repeatedly
"Drystan Cuinneagan, my cousin," Key answered and smiled at them
"Won't he mind?" Rio asked while looking around
"I don't think so, like Poupee, I bet he'd be more than delighted to know that the equipment isn't left to gather dust," Key said and looked at the computers
Everything is well-kept even though Drystan, Keychantel, and James who spent the majority of their childhood until they finished high school never came back to that house. All three had taken their own paths and are currently making their own name without the 'Desmond' mark, it was as if they were never related in the first place.
"Alright, you guys can play but remember not to reveal our location." Dewy reminded them as they sat on the gaming chairs
They booted up the computers, and despite not being used for years, the computers booted up quickly and didn't show any signs of malfunctioning. The smooth internet connection made it easier for them to log in to their respective gaming accounts.
"It's lower than the unit of our computers back at the base but it's performing almost the same," Opal commented and glanced at Key
"A maintenance team comes to check these once every month then there's an inventory going every week to make sure all is kept well," Key mentioned as she logged into her account
Because they are currently on their vacation, their airtime was cut down to 20 hours, which meant for a month, they only have to stream for 45 minutes to one hour a day and then they'll still finish it with ten more days free.
"Hello, everyone," Key greeted her viewers with a smile as soon as she started streaming
[SunnyDay: She's back!]
[PinkySweet: I heard you went on a vacation with your family?]
[Rasheed'slegalwifey: I thought you were dead too bad.]
[Opalcutie: She's back too bad.]
"I know I haven't been streaming for a while, I went to handle some personal matters and now, I'm back." She said with a smile
[Alexeiismine: You should've stayed away.]
[BrighTerry: Get lost!]
[Rasheedismyhubby: We're happier without you!]
[Rasheed4Lyfe: Ah the bitch is back. Bleeh!]
"Well, I have a contract to uphold, you know? I really have to come back to play." She jested despite the harsh welcome she received from her teammates' fan girls who seem to dislike her
[Game4Lyfe: Welcome back, Kashmiri]
[Pixelboyz: Back already? You should've enjoyed your vacation more.]
"Well, we'll be training for the upcoming Qualifiers soon as well so I can't suddenly stop then go back at the game immediately, I need to keep myself conditioned to play," Key said with a sweet smile in a reply to the pop-up comments
[WhiteGhost: You're dedicated huh? Why were you suddenly MIA then???]
[DrivenRaven: Do you still find playing enjoyable?]
"Yes, I still find playing enjoyable. That said, I wanted to play with them for a while more so I had to settle some personal matters, it wasn't anything troubling anyway." Key replied
[Rasheedismyhubby: Personal matters??? You mean plastic surgery.]
[El4Me: Are you with my baby El?]
[Pl4yw1me: and the delusional girl fans are back at it again.]
"Well, I had to fix some problems but it's not plastic surgery, and yes, I am with the other JLNC members." Key chuckled while speaking but her movement remained concise in taking out the opposing shinigami
[Ellover: Where are you? That looks different, but it's the same as my baby El's background.]
[Daze@school: Did you guys renovate your base?]
"So, you're also being asked if our base was renovated, huh?" Alexei asked after sliding to look over at the pop-up comments on her screen
"Don't rank if you're going AFK," Nicholas remarked and Alexei shook his head
"Sorry, Captain!" he apologizes while chuckling and returns to play
[NoFilter: Did you guys change your arrangement?]
"No, we're just training somewhere else," Key replied, not giving away their location
She's currently playing as Evocatrice, she played in a pattern of stunning her opponent before sending a Cyclops for the half-blooded shinigami or a Reaper to deal with the full-blooded ones.
[ForeverEl: Your gameplay is too easy to read.]
[PleasantDraven: Aren't you tired of that pattern???]
"Oh, you've noticed?" Key chuckled with her eyes narrowing from her smile, hiding the playful glint reflected in her eyes
"But, I can't use the strategies I'll use in competitions while streaming, can I?" Key asked playfully
[Misterchief: That's reasonable.]
[Pl4yw1me: It's like waiting for an ambush in the Arena if you showed your strategies now.]
[Ruggedman: Don't mind those mindless fans who don't really understand the world of gaming.]
[StarScreen: Why aren't you ranking as well?]
"Oh, I am on a ranking game, just not with them," Key replied and smiled
"You're in a ranking game?" Alexei turned to look at her and Key chuckled
"Why do you look so surprised?" Key turned to look at him and Alexei shook his head
On his screen, some viewers are asking him why he's paying attention to Key instead of the game. Alexei chuckled and smiled before fixing the headset so he can hear the game better.
"Key and I are both off-laners for JLNC, I wanna beat her fair and square." Alexei grinned while the other members merely shook their heads at his answer
"You never won against Key," Quant said
"Don't taunt him, Quant, he might suddenly invite her to play solo," El said with a small smile
"I might take on the challenge later," Key replied with a small smile as her eyes remained on the screen, not even sparing a glance even as she spoke