Hey guys, this is a chunky one.
It covers today's and yesterday's chapters, merged into one.
I edited this in a bit of a rush since I'm going to Uni now, so any mistakes or inconsistencies with the story, make sure to point them out.
Bye!
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/A few hours ago in reality…/
Somewhere overseas on the topmost floor inside a Large Manor located within a massive private property surrounding a small mountain…
Roger sat in his favorite chair inside his comfy and extravagant Office, smoking yet another thick cigar as he read a lengthy report on a tablet under the dim noise of an early 2000s song.
"Just a few more days it seems…"
'The first screening will happen, and most of those that will leave their marks in the future will appear.'
/Poof…/
He puffed some smoke into the air, and all of it was immediately sucked away by a smart fan in the ceiling controlled by AI.
"Hm…"
He swiped the tablet down, reading the next few lines of words, it was something completely unrelated to the matter he had just read, but still deserving of his attention.
"Heh."
Roger chuckled.
"I never doubted his management abilities, it runs in the family… He managed to turn the situation around, albeit this only puts him in a competitive position once more."
'His father wasn't like this at the start, he was really rough, but I turned him into the man he is today.'
'But… I may have done it a tad too well… And now his son avoids me…'
He shook his head.
"A week ago he had completely lost his foothold in that region… But he has completely recovered, like he said before, he just needed some help."
Tapping on the table, he pondered.
'If only he focused more on the bigger picture instead of trying to do things his own way…'
"But I can't blame the kid for trying to get into politics... Given his situation, it's the right thing to do..."
'If this was a normal situation then his actions would be the correct one to take.'
'Making his own group loyal to him from the ground up, and eventually rise with his own confidants…'
'But there isn't enough time for that.'
Roger took a look outside, gazing at the mountains.
"I did not make this company with the intent of having it last."
"I only want to protect my family."
'Now my responsibilities cause me insomnia at night.'
/Silence.../
"My grandson is almost perfect in all areas, but he lacks self-confidence when dealing with the person most important to his goals… His own family."
'And his arrogance in thinking he can make everything reality is…'
"Sigh."
'I shouldn't discourage him, but right now, he should've been focusing his time on self-improvement with all of the assets I prepared for him over my life…'
Roger grabbed his cigar and squished it in anger.
"But why is everyone in my damn family so good at everything else but that?!"
'Can't they just stop and… I'm losing my composure here.'
Roger threw his cigar to the sky in a very reckless manner, but a ray of blue light caught it in a similar way a UFO would kidnap a cow…
"Well… Albeit they aren't following my wishes to a T, my complaints have not fallen on deaf ears, they are indeed slowly improving over time."
'Especially that little girl…'
Roger stopped thinking over this matter, focusing his attention on his tablet as he read through the many reports within it...
Time passed, and half an hour passed.
[Incoming Call, Priority Level… 7]
"What? I thought I had muted this..."
"Who is it this time?"
[Sender… Little Sun]
"Ah..."
"So I speak of her, and the little devil appears…"
His mood brightened up, but it then went back to normal.
He already kind of expected what she wanted to say.
"Accept."
[Connecting…]
Like before, the large image of a girl took over the space on top of the table.
It was the face of a smiling girl with tied blond hair and dark eyes, she seemed tired as she breathed repeatedly, sweat falling from her forehead.
It was possible to see something akin to a bow and quiver on her back, but the zoom on her face was too much to distinguish anything else.
"Grandpa! Is everything all right over there?" She asked with a big smile
However, she was so clearly tired that even the way she spoke seemed slow.
It was a rare look of this always overly excited girl that always spoke twice as fast as anyone else.
"Surprisingly, everything is flowing smoothly, hopefully, it's the same for you."
'I can see she is putting in some effort... Great.'
'She rarely focuses on anything for lengthy periods of time, but somehow, she kept training in virtual reality and leveling her character for the past few weeks in-game.'
'It certainly annoys me… The fact her motivation is all thanks to a… Guy.'
'Well, it isn't his fault, if I want to blame someone, then I need to shift my attention to those streamers that made all of his actions 10 times more flashy than they actually were.'
'Little sun would always be swept by the waves of "trend".''
"Did you manage to deal with those annoying investors?" She asked with a concerned look
"Of course I did, what do you take me for?"
"It did take me a few days of continuous meetings, but they finally shut up today, so pardon me as I'm a little tired to play…"
"No! You should rest as much as you can!"
"You are at that age after all." She said with confidence
"..."
'She says it in such a sweet and innocent way, but it bothers me so much…'
'I wouldn't have liked to age if I could, little one.'
"Cough… Anyway… Are you training?"
"Hehehe…"
She started to smile cheekily.
"Out with it brat, I don't have all day."
"~Fi-ne~"
"Guess who passed the 6th floor?"
Roger's expression did not change as he said:
"... Your brother again?"
"Ha?! How rude! It was this me! Why would I call you to say that brother has passed the 6th floor again?!"
"Impossible." Roger said as he shook his head
'It has only been a few weeks, even if she didn't log into Azimuth at all and only stayed in the High Distortion Pod, she would've barely had 2 months of training in total.'
He scrolled through his tablet, soon finding what he was looking for, a small report on none other than his 'little sun' the girl that was talking to him right now.
'Part of the promise was for her to also reach Level 30, but that requires quite some time in-game even if she had the help of others, something I'm sure she had, but I had no part in that, hence it's all part of her own efforts.'
'I wouldn't help them grow like that, it would be an artificial growth that lacked quality.'
'I need them to achieve higher levels on their own, even more for her that choose to be a Normal Player, her path will be full of difficulties later on, so she needs to cover those holes as they are still small.'
'So how did she…'
"Why would it be impossible?!" She exclaimed as she puffed her cheeks in annoyance
Roger tapped on his table, looking at her with the same look a strict parent would give his son after he received an F on a test.
"Let's see..."
"Last week, when the game had just opened its servers, you told me you had barely completed the 4th floor…"
"And now, you tell me that not only you raised that limit by 2 floors, but you also reached Level 30?"
He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, gazing directly at the girl.
"Would that mean you slacked off last time? Or did you do something outside of our promise?"
"Eh…"
Her eyes started darting around the place as she sought an answer.
Roger wanted to sigh, such a pure girl, she grew well…
But he still needed to beat her father for not teaching her how to take care of herself properly.
Albeit, Roger was looking down on his Grandaughter too much, she may be a sweet girl, but that is only with him, someone she sees dearly.
If he were to know just how she acts when she meets someone new, he may have reconsidered his assessment of her…
Albeit, he would still accuse her of cheating.
"I… A little bit of both?" She said cutely, but it wasn't falling
"..."
Roger blinked slowly… Deciding to end this matter for today...
"Call me again when you finish it…"
/Thud!/
But the girl was unwilling to let this matter end here.
"Wait! It's been too long already!"
"Greater and greater things are happening there, and the longer I take, the more left behind I'll get!"
"Not only accounting for the time it takes to amass Reputation, but also the competition for the new Fields that just opened!"
Roger was a bit taken aback…
"You sure made your research on this…"
'She's more interested in this than I was led to believe…'
'I was already planning on sending a team there for the sake of keeping track of things.'
'As she said, the recent events, the new fields, all of this has led to Resko's value shooting up.'
'If you take into account its rate of development, that secluded Village no one cares about starts to become quite the behemoth.'
'Currently, everyone's focus is obviously in the Capital and its surrounding areas as that is where the center of the Continent is, and in consequence, where everything will end up converging towards.'
'No one can claim that are as theirs... But the same can't be said for the rest.'
'Even so, the battle for control over the other Major areas, such as the main cities of the North, West, and East are still in its infant stages…'
'But everyone with a decent network to dig up some of the buried past may start to visualize what is hidden beneath the sands of the South.'
'Together with its recent changes plus the "Main character" Resko's development has no signs of stopping, it promises great things for those that can keep up with it.'
'And I have no intentions of missing it.'
"Grandpa?"
"Let me think."
"Okay…" She said meekly like a child that had done something bad
"..."
'As I speak, there is already a team of elites under my direct command getting ready to migrate there.'
'It was a bit costly to set them up for this operation, but they need all of the preparation they can get if they wise to thrive there.'
'Resko's current state is unsuitable for new players.'
'It's hard to acquire resources such as consumable items, much less Classes, and Skills.'
'And albeit items can be acquired as per normal, due to the level restrictions, most of the drops end up as useless scrap.'
'So they need to have a solid foundation first by getting all of these… Only like that will they truly rise by using Resko's infrastructure.'
'But that takes time.'
'And… I imagine it wouldn't cost much for her to just tag along… At least not much at the very least.'
'If this is what it takes for her to focus more on herself and train then so be it, I'm willing to have her get what she wishes.'
'Her brother is already there, if they can help each other, even better.'
'It also makes it that much simpler to monitor and predict their actions.'
'However, my worries are in regards to the simple rule of not putting too many eggs in one basket…'
'She, her brother, and me… Any of those alone would've been fine, perhaps even two would be tolerable…'
'But all three? This is making the job that much simpler for our enemies.'
'Especially now that I've…'
Roger had an idea, so he smiled.
"Little girl… I imagine you also received that event notification didn't you?"
"Yeah? What about it?"
"I already have the escort team ready, but it was part of the schedule for them to participate in this event as the last milestone before setting the foot on the road…"
"So, here is my proposal."
"If you can legitimately complete the 6th floor, even if on the lowest difficulty, and then participate in this event, I'll let you tag along with them."
"It'll be a long yet direct line to the South, and it wouldn't be good if you were to drag them down."
"Really?!"
"I don't lie."
"Thank you gramdapa!"
Bur Roger smiled a bit evilly.
"Now now… Don't thank me yet."
"Even your elder brother who spends his entire time training and playing the game only passed the 6th floor some time ago, so what makes you, someone who only started taking things a bit more seriously do?"
The girl's mood dropped as she looked at Roger with a small frown.
"That isn't exactly cheering me, gramps…"
"Take it as you wish…"
"For now… Let me rest a bit, my head needs some time to cool off."
"Alright… Make sure to get them ready!"
She gave Roger a funny face as she turned around to wave.
"Byee!"
[Call ended]
/Creak…/
"Sigh… Roger... What have you put yourself into..."
[Beep...]
[Sir, I have detected that your stress level has gone beyond your average scores] Said a mechanical voice from above
"Hm?... Is it like that? I have indeed overworked my old bones a little."
/Clang.../
The ceiling parted open, revealing a tube-like structure that descended all the way to his table.
[Here, have your favorite juice to calm you down, I shall also prepare you a bath and your favorite playlist from the early 2000s]
/Bzzz.../
/Cling.../
/Flow.../
The tube made several smooth noises before carefully dropping a clear glass bottle and filling it up with Orange juice.
To finish it off, it carefully dropped 2 perfectly round and clear ice balls.
"I… Thank you Tri."
[My pleasure is to serve]
/Gulp.../
"..."
Roger got up from his seat, taking a sip of his juice as he stared into the horizon.
"It tastes the same... Even after 40 years..."
He thought about himself, and then his family.
'It's not as bad… She's at least trying now.'
"My family is on the right track… For now."
He then remembered the annoying people he had to deal with for the past few days…
'The investors only care about their profits, so even if I am to reduce my own earnings, to keep the status quo, a few sacrifices aren't really that much.'
'My position as CEO is mostly... A facade... A reward for my accomplishments of the past, albeit that is...'
'Golden days that serve no more purpose now apart from entertaining few old men...'
"I miss them... The people that didn't make it here, to see the result of their efforts."
'However, now that I've taken a position, I must be ready for any backlash, and that requires funds.'
'These damned people, they hold so much power here, but that is only valid when there are rules to back it up…'
'I wonder what will happen when all of that falls?'
Roger got up from his chair and he gulped his juice in one go, he was done with work for today.
It was time to enjoy a relaxing bath.
"Money is a resource, a means to an end…"
He looked to the side, seeing a very old photo of an old teen with two parents, smiling as he held onto a strange-looking helmet.
"The start of my adventure... And also where it will end."
/Spark…/
A strong spark of fire lit up above his palm before vanishing in the blink of an eye.
"Indeed… Born in the wrong era… But I have not given up yet."
'Just so I can see this new future with those I care about.'
'Even if the world has already pushed us aside.'
Roger closed the door to his office.
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Notes