"Mr. Shan, we've been wondering for a while now. Would it be alright if we asked you something?" Brown, the brown-haired young man, inquired.
"Sure," Shan shrugged.
"Why are you interested in Vinzent? Could you tell us a bit about it?"
"Yeah, Vinzent was amazing today!"
"Did you know Vinzent was this skilled from the start?"
"Are you going to recruit Vinzent into our guild in the future?"
"Of course, absolutely," Shan replied confidently. He was very pleased to see the young Wishers enthusiastically admiring Vinzent's performance.
"Mr. Shan, aren't you worried at all?" Grey, gray-haired young man, asked.
"Worried about what?" Shan raised an eyebrow.
"Have you ever heard of the curse of the LeFolyn family, Mr. Shan?"
Shan fell silent, he was familiar with the game's storyline, but he wondered if Vinzent's story in the game would be the same as the one in this beta test.
"Why? Tell me about it," Shan pretended not to know, and the young Wishers eagerly took turns narrating the story.
"We need to start with Mirael, the god of wish," Grey, who seemed to be the most knowledgeable among them, began to explain.
"In Azlia, there is a belief that if anyone suffers injustice and possesses a strong desire, when Mirael sees a heart filled with power, he will bestow compassion. The person chosen by Mirael receives the miracle stone, which allows them to wish for anything, but there must be an equal exchange, and certain conditions cannot be granted. In general, if anyone receives the miracle stone, their life will change completely."
Shan started to doze off as he listened. This was the basic storyline of the game, and he had heard it countless times before.
"Indeed," the young Wisher continued.
"Most Azlians worship and revere God Mirael, praying for his mercy at least once in their lifetimes. He represents the beacon of hope for us all. Only a select few are granted this opportunity."
"Yes, I used to worship God Mirael too, but nothing ever happened," Pearl said sadly.
"So, what about Vinzent's story?" Shan was bored of hearing about Mirael, as it held no interest for him whatsoever.
"Well, the LeFolyn family was once a very wealthy UR Wisher family," Grey continued.
"The LeFolyn family once ruled a vast kingdom bordering between the Deadlands and the Daylands. However, that kingdom has now fallen under the dominion of the Deadlands."
"Yes, the LeFolyn family were once warriors who protected the people of that region. However, they were selfish and merciless. The LeFolyn would never work for free; there was always a substantial price to pay. Some of the populace perceived the LeFolyn as exploiting them, treating them unequally, extorting money from them, and abandoning the poor who couldn't afford to hire them."
"The curse of the Lefolyn began when the people united out of resentment against this family. One of them received mercy from God Mirael and obtained the miracle stone. This person then wished for the House of LeFolyn to collapse, in exchange for their own lives."
"And God Mirael granted their wish…" Shan continued, even though he had heard Vinzent's story before, he never got tired of hearing about his Waifu.
The story the young Wishers were telling was quite close to the one in the game that Shan knew.
"Yes, that wish is the source of the LeFolyn family's curse: 'Every night of the crimson moon, a monstrous creature from the shadows will emerge to slaughter the LeFolyn bloodline until no heirs remain.' You see, Vinzent is the last surviving member of the family."
"The creature is called 'Delar,' a fearsome and incredibly wicked demon. That's why no one wants to associate with Vinzent, not even the sponsors."
"Yes, I've heard that too. Before the crimson moon, the Wisher Association exiles Vinzent from the city, sending him to confront the demon Delar alone, preventing harm to the populace and damage to the city."
"It seems like Vinzent always manages to survive, even though I've heard he gets injured sometimes."
"Vinzent fights the demon Delar quite often, so he must know how to handle it, but it is still a fearsome devil for us."
Shan sighed as he listened to Vinzent's story. That's how people in this world perceived him, after all. Since Shan had played Vinzent's storyline before, he knew more than that.
Vinzent had never been involved in the terrible things the Lefolyn family had done to people in the past. In fact, those events had happened before Vinzent was even born. Vinzent's mother was just a concubine, which is why she had survived. She wasn't a true member of the Lefolyn family, after all. It was only later that she realized she was pregnant with an heir to the Lefolyn bloodline. Fearful of the curse and hoping that her son would survive, she turned to the SR Wisher family, who were seeking fame and recognition. They agreed to protect her son, Vinzent, from the Delar, but the mother and son would have to serve them as servants, almost like slaves.
Vinzent's childhood was full of hardship. Everyone detested him for being from a cursed family. No one pitied Vinzent for his misfortune, as everyone thought it was deserved for what his family had done to others in the past. Even though Vinzent was not the one who committed those atrocities, he had to bear the consequences of his ancestors' actions.
His mother was the only one in the world who showed him love. She was the only light in his life. However, Vinzent's mother passed away from illness due to overwork. It was on that day that Vinzent's Wisher powers awakened, allowing him to protect himself from the Delar without relying on anyone else anymore.
But that became the biggest regret of his life. Vinzent couldn't help but blame himself. He thought that his mother had suffered so much and died because he wasn't strong enough. If his powers had awakened sooner, maybe his mother would still be with him. She wouldn't have had to live such a hard life, and she would have been happier.
Shan was furious with Vinzent's storyline designers. Why did they have to force such heartbreaking drama onto this poor shota boy? Why did Vinzent have to carry such a depressing story? If anyone was to blame, it had to be the game company.
Shan could sense that the young Wishers were worried about his desire to recruit Vinzent into the guild. They were concerned about dealing with the Delar but didn't dare to speak to Shan directly. However, Shan was a whale, so he wasn't worried.
Shan knew all the monsters in this game very well, including the demon Delar. He remembered how to deal with each of them. With a well-constructed team, everything would be fine. Vinzent had survived on his own, indicating he knew how to dodge as well. However, But the Delar was an annoying demon because it was immortal. No matter how much damage you did to it with your skills, it would only be stunned for a moment and then come back to life. Delar would only disintegrate and return to darkness when the crimson moon passed.
"Alright, let's drop the stressful talk," Shan decided to change the subject to lighten the mood.
"Let's celebrate our victory today! Cheers~" He grabbed the brightly colored drink in front of him and gulped it down in celebration.
"W-wait a minute, Mr. Shan! Don't!"
The Wisher boys were all shocked as they couldn't stop their sponsor in time.
"That's a Wisher drink!"
"If an ordinary person drinks it, they'll get ten times more drunk than usual!"
The young Wishers knew it was too late because Shan had downed the whole glass in one go, and in no time, his eyes were glazed over with drunkenness.
At first, Shan was still clear-headed, but then he suddenly drank something unknown. Even though it tasted good, after a while he started to feel like the world was spinning, as if he were trapped in a confusing dream.
The symptoms of being drunk on Wisher Drink are different for everyone. The young Wishers were biting their nails in panic, not knowing what state their favorite whale sponsor would end up in and how they would handle it.
"Where's Vinz? Where did he go? I miss Vinz~" As soon as he got drunk, Shan asked about Vinzent.
"Mr. Vinzent hasn't arrived yet," Red answered.
"Mr. Shan, let us take you to your room to rest," Blue suggested.
The young Wishers were worried about their sponsor. They knew they owed their current success to him. If they let their intoxicated sponsor cause trouble, it would not be good. To avoid any problems, taking Shan back to his room quickly was the best option.
"Hmm... so cute... shota and shota, so many shota, shota everywhere. So happy,"
Shan murmured, allowing the young Wishers to support him without resistance.
The young Wishers, who were being called "shota," didn't know what the word meant.
When the young Wishers helped each other carry Shan to the sponsor's private room, they breathed a sigh of relief. They thought they should let the sponsor rest inside the room. As for the party, they would have to go and help out there.
Unexpectedly,
"Oh... the short uniform!" Shan stumbled towards the blue uniform hanging in front of the closet. The young wishers' eyes widened in surprise, as it was the uniform Shan had specially ordered for Vinzent in the future.
"That's right... Vinz wearing this... must be really great..." Shan spoke incoherently, and many of the Wishers couldn't understand what he was saying.
"Vinz wearing it…how it will be..." Shan grabbed the uniform and thought. Then, he waved his hand to call over the young Wishers who were standing there in confusion.
"Hey, come help me dress!"
"Huh?" The young Wishers blinked in surprise.
"I'll try on this outfit, okay? I want to see if it makes my legs look nice."
"Uh…" Blue said in confusion, "But that's Vinzent's uniform, isn't it?"
"Well, I just want to try it on first, okay? I'm excited to see how Vinzent will look in it. Come on, hurry up!"
The young Wishers looked at each other, unsure of what to do. But they didn't dare disobey their important sponsor, so they helped Shan put on the uniform.
Vinzent and Shan's builds were quite similar. They were both about the same height, with Vinzent perhaps a little taller. As a result, Shan fit into Vinzent's uniform perfectly.
Shan was usually dressed casually, his wardrobe consisting of long pants, a shirt, and leather shoes, like a chic tycoon style. But now, he was wearing a blue uniform with shorts, complete with a matching feathered beret hat.
It was... just too adorable.
"Wow..." The young wishers watched with sparkling eyes.
They had never expected that their whale sponsor, Shan, who loved to throw money around as if he had an unlimited pocket, would look so much younger in this outfit. Shan transformed into an adorable, youthful boy, making anyone who saw him feel loved and adored.
The young Wishers all couldn't help but feel that their sponsor had become even huggable.
"Our sponsor is so cute."
"Mr. Shan has nicer legs than us."
"Yeah, is Mr. Shan really M+?"
"That's so weird. Mr. Shan isn't really M-, huh?"
"If Mr. Shan is this cute, he should be M- like us, right?"
All the young Wishers that Shan recruited are M-gender. Even though they know their favorite sponsor was M+ gender, they never thought Shan was actually M+. In fact, they felt Shan was the same gender as them. Furthermore, when Shan wore this uniform, they couldn't help but think of Shan as a friend of the same gender.
"Hmm... I've no idea how it looks on Vinz," Shan said as he bent down to look at his own outfit, realizing he probably couldn't see it clearly. He waved his hand to call a young Wisher to help.
"Here, take a picture of me and then edit Vinz's face onto it," Shan suggested.
"Huh?!" The young Wisher looked flustered.
"Quick!" Shan urged.
"Uh..." They were at a loss again.
White, who was more tech-savvy than anyone else, picked up a digital tablet and took a picture of Shan with trembling hands. He was terrified that if Shan found out he had been photographed, he would be reprimanded. But...Shan himself had told him to do it.
"Let's me see. How is it? This is my picture, not Vinz's!" Shan poked his head out and complained.
"Please calm down, Mr. Shan. I'm not done yet," White cried out in a high-pitched voice. He quickly pulled up a picture of Vinzent from the Wisher Association's website, which was just a formal headshot, and placed it over Shan's face in his uniform, not even blending it in slightly.
"Wowww..." Shan's eyes widened as soon as he saw it.
"Vinz, honey, you're so beautiful! I love you so much! Mwah~"
Shan was so infatuated that he was almost about to kiss the digital tablet.
"Um..." the young Wishers were speechless.
The photo he was complimenting were... his own photo, right?
Oh no, their sponsor was really drunk.
"Mr. Shan is really drunk. What should we do?" the young Wishers discussed anxiously, while White quickly deleted Shan's picture from the digital tablet, afraid that he would be reprimanded later.
However, they were so engrossed in their conversation that they forgot to keep an eye on Shan. When they realized it, Shan had already walked out of the room. Such a restless sponsor when he got drunk.
"Wait a minute, Mr. Shan!!!"
The young Wishers ran after him with wide eyes, but when they finally found him again, they could only gape.