There's still 2 more chapters for today!
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/2 hours after Dale came back from his adventure…/
Somewhere in Japan, back in the real world, on the topmost floor inside a Large Manor located within a massive private property surrounding a small mountain…
A man sat in his favorite chair inside his extravagant Office, smoking a thick cigar as he overlooked the mountain outside of his window under the dim noise of an early 2000s song.
He was old, definitely over 80 years old, but his gaze was sharp.
Behind him was his Office table and on top of it was a strange device, a computer.
This computer however had no screen, instead, it projected images into the air like a hologram.
These images were none other than Rodi's stream… The one he had just finished watching.
Could this old man be related to him? Or was he interested in the hot news of the gaming world?
That wouldn't be surprising, video games had long taken over the entertainment industry thanks to full dive technology, and for the past few decades, nothing has ever reached close to even touching its feet.
"Hm…"
The old man puffed out a thick mist from his mouth, his expression was gloomy.
/Ding!/
He moved his hand and pressed on his table, and a few seconds after, the bell to his room sounded…
"Come in." He said in his elderly voice
/Creak…/
A middle-aged man with part of his hair gray entered the room, bowing in the process.
He had clear Asian features, probably a native.
He didn't say anything, instead, waiting for his orders.
"Any replies in regards to my inquiry?" The old man asked
"Unfortunately no, they've been postponing any meeting under the excuse of being busy."
"Hm…"
The man puffed out more gray mist…
"So be it, I'll give them as much time as they want, as long as they answer me when they're done."
He turned his gaze to the video, towards Dale… Not him in fact, but to the sword in his hands.
"It's too soon for such a thing to happen, it'll destabilize our predictions."
"I want to see how they'll fix it."
The butler nodded, saying:
"I'll notify them as soon as possible and come back immediately after they reply."
"Hm… Good work."
The butler bowed and closed the door, leaving the room.
"..."
The old man continued to smoke, thinking deeply.
/Buzz/
[Incoming Call, Priority Level… 7] Said a Mechanical voice from somewhere in the ceiling
"7? Who is it?..."
[Sender… Little Brat]
"Hehe… It's that kid…"
'He rarely calls me, his father did an awfully good job of making him afraid of me.'
'I don't blame him, I should've put more sense into that stubborn boy...'
'But if he is coming to me… I wonder what's giving him such motivation.'
"Put him on the line."
[Connecting…]
"..."
"..."
/Silence…/
Time passed, but no one said anything.
The old man shook his head in disappointment before he said:
"If you don't say anything I'll end it here, I'm busy."
"N… No, please… Mr. Roger…" Replied the Brat
"Sigh…"
'He doesn't even have the balls to call me Grandfather anymore… They are indeed cuter when they're kids.'
"You rarely call… Did something happen?"
"It-It's not like that I…"
The old man seemed even more disappointed as he heard his desperation.
"Just tell me what you want."
'Although I already have an idea of what it is… Be direct.'
"I… Recently my Guild suffered considerable losses and…"
"You want support to recover?"
"Y-Yes… It doesn't need to be that big I just…"
The old man let out a small sigh, he took out his glasses and closed his eyes.
'If he only treated me more like family and not like his Boss I would've gladly helped him fix his mistakes…'
'But for now, he needs to learn more about managing... I wouldn't be good for his future if his little school project ended in failure.'
"What have I told you in regards to this matter? I'll be waiting for it."
'Someone who'll one day support his father needs to learn how to do such things the official way...'
"Un-Understood."
[Call ended]
"... Sigh…"
'I should've been there more during his growth, his father is committing the same mistakes I did to him when I was younger.'
'Why the need to be so overly formal when I literally wiped his ass when he was...'
[Incoming Call, Priority Level… 7]
"Another one? What a busy day…"
[Sender… Little Sun]
"Oh!"
His mood suddenly brightened up.
'It's her.'
"Accept."
[Connecting…]
Suddenly, a large image of a girl took over the space on top of the table.
It was the face of a smiling girl with blond hair and dark eyes.
"Grandpa! How are you doing in Japan?" She asked with a big smile
"Good night sweetie, it's been a while since we last met." He said with a smile as well, the first of today
"Sorry for not being able to call sooner! You know, I've been waiting for this game's launch!"
"I've been playing it the entire day since launch..."
"In fact! Have you heard of what happened?... Of course, you did!"
The girl talked so much so fast it seemed she was on 2x speed.
"Of course I know, it has caused me quite a fair bit of trouble with other investors…"
"Why though?"
"The investors want it to last long so they can keep raking in profits, and when such things meant for the future appear much earlier than expected, it can cause them to go berserk."
"Inconsistency is like a curse for them."
"It must be a bother." The girl replied
"Nothing I'm not used to handling…"
'It has always been like this since I took after my father and learned what is happening behind the scenes...'
The old man then assumed a more serious persona.
"Then, no need to beat around the bush, what brought you to this old man?"
"Hehe… It seems I can't really evade your eyes…"
"Humph, you called me just after your brother, do you think I wouldn't notice?"
The girl smiled.
"Grandpa! Since you… You know… Work for the Company I was thinking of…"
"No, I can't give you a Legendary Item you spoiled brat." The old man said with a firm tone
"No! I don't want that!"
She became a bit embarrassed as she said meekly:
"I… I decided to switch my starting point."
The old man's expression suddenly changed.
"Do you want to start again?"
"No!... I simply want to move to another place fast..."
"But why? I told you that place was the best one to start at. Literally, everything you need is there, and I doubt you aren't having fun."
"I know! It's just that… I've grown very interested in a certain place…"
The old man knew where this was going…
"Are you going to follow your brother and go there as well?"
"Pretty please?" She said cutely
The old man frowned.
"Look, why don't you do like your old man said and enjoy the game and Level up?"
"Yes yes… I heard that story many times… That Azimuth was special and that it's going to be big and that I should Level up and get stronger quickly…"
"But it's just a game, Grandpa! You've always been so… So Hardcore in regards to it."
The old man started to get upset.
"You already went against my suggestion of starting as a Hardcore character, choosing to become a Standard player, and now you want to go somewhere like Resko for what?"
"Curiosity?" He said with sharp eyes
"Is it… That bad?" The girl asked confused and wronged
"..."
The old man was visibly upset, his mouth trembled with the desire to say something when suddenly, an idea popped up in his head.
"Alright, I can help you."
"REALLY?! Thanks, grandpa!"
"There isn't a way for you to move quickly from the Central part of the Continent to the Southern part, nor is there a way for me to maintain your current character ID and have you spawn there, let's just be clear." He said as he got up from his chair
"But I can have a few people escort you quickly through the path, I'll send you a prediction of how long it'll take to reach Resko and you can make your preparations based on that."
"YAY!"
"But… I have 2 conditions." He said with a smile
This made the girl deflate a little.
"First, you must reach Level 30, with that level, you'll have no problem surviving there."
"I can do that, I'm already Level 15 anyway…"
'Although I wanted to get there as soon as possible…'
"..."
'Just 15?... She's fooling around like always.'
The old man then continued:
"Second, you must reach the 6th floor of the Trial tower before that."
This made the girl almost fall from her chair.
"The 6th?! I barely arrived at the 4th last time!"
"Humph, if you can't do it there is no help from me."
"And how about this, I'll give you a good item if you do reach the 7th Level."
"..."
The girl thought for a while before she raised her head and looked at her grandfather, saying:
"Alright! I'll do it!"
"Don't forget your promise!"
[Call ended]
"Child..."
The old man collapsed on his chair, his expression even more gloomy than before.
"One is too obedient and the other is like air, too unpredictable."
'But at least… Despite it all, I managed to have her do what I wished.'
He looked outside and thought:
'My granddaughter, she needs to use her potential, she's holding herself up too much simply because she wants to have fun all the time, she doesn't really want to work hard at all…'
'But she needs to… Before she won't be able to do anymore.'
"But my granddaughter… My little sun... You're far from right…"
He got up from his chair and went towards the door.
And as the lights automatically went off, and the curtains closed, he said one last time:
"Who told you this was a game?"
/Creak…/
He closed the door behind him, and his Office went into complete Darkness.
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Notes