"Hahaha, I'm RICH", Ray laughed out loud like a maniac. Some passersby even looked at him as if seeing a mentally disabled person. However, that did not last long as Ray controlled his nerves and regained his composure. After all, he had an image to take care of as a VIP member of "Golden Pagoda Auction House". After regaining his composure, Ray walked towards the square of the city and logged out.
As he logged out, his consciousness turned blurry and everything around him eventually turned black, then after some time, the capsule opened up and Ray walked into his room with a smile on his face. He then walked to his computer and opened the web to check the conversion rate of gold coins to U.S dollars. He noticed that the conversion rate was the same for 1 gold coin equals 1000 U.S dollars.
Ray was ecstatic as he saw this and instantly calculated the amount, the amount that came up was baffling. It was a total of around 7 million U.S dollars. His breathing became hurried and his blood bubbled with excitement. That was because, an important goal of his life was completed, now his mother could sit at home and enjoy life without having to worry about a single cent. Ray walked out of his room while humming a tone. As he reached downstairs, he saw his sister sitting at a table doing school work. Ray sighed, after all, his sister always worked her best as she wanted to help the family as well as she grew up. Ray walked over to her and patted her head. As he patted her head, she immediately turned around and hugged him. Ray sat down and chatted with her while helping her complete school work. After everything was done, Ray got up and said, "Hey, Laura, why don't you get dressed up, we will be having dinner at a restaurant today".
"Really?", Ray's sister asked in a slightly curious voice. After all, they did not go out much for dinner and such things as they barely had enough to pay bills and rent.
Then Ray replied, "Yeah! Really, now get ready, I will also get mom".
"Okay", Laura replied happily and walked towards her room to get ready.
After his sister left for her room, Ray then searched for his mother and noticed her sitting at the kitchen counter with a lot of envelopes laid out in front of her with "PAST DUE" written on them in bold red characters. His mother had her hands covering her face while her shoulders hunched down due to various responsibilities on her shoulders. Seeing his mother like that, Ray could not help but clench his fists and grit his teeth. He really could not bear it any longer. Therefore, he moved forward and said, "Mom! You don't need to take any more tension regarding these bills, and also please do not go to work from tomorrow".
Hearing this, Ray's mother lifted her head and looked at him, while she asked, "Son if I leave my job and don't take any tension regarding bills, then who will pay for these bills".
Hearing his mother's words, Ray said, "From now on, you do not have to worry about these things anymore, I will handle all of these things and pay for them just like I cleared them last time as well. Moreover, I have become a strong system user, therefore, there are many ways to earn money and I even earned a lot by doing some quests. Hence, don't worry about such matters mom". As Ray was saying all that, his body trembled as he saw that tears were streaking down her face and she started sobbing. Ray really could not bear it and hugged her while he also confronted her. They stayed like that for a total of 5 minutes, then Ray told her about going out to eat, so she turned and left to change and get ready. After his mother left, Ray could not help but sigh. After all, they were largely in debt, and even after paying a huge sum last time he logged out, it did not even put a dent in the total debt. Therefore, Ray made sure to check the bills and total amount of debt and pay all of the dues in one scoop.
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Sometime later, Ray along with his mother and sister were walking in direction of a restaurant. As they walked towards the restaurant, the family of three conversed with each other and joked lightly. They were having a good time as a family. After reaching the restaurant, the family of three ordered their respective meals while they chatted along with each other.
As they chatted, their food arrived and they started eating the food. While they were eating their food, Ray looked over at the news being displayed on a big television in the middle of the hall. There, a news anchor was sitting while holding a paper reading out important news snippets. Then, the anchor received a call, and instantly, a headline was displayed while the anchor said, "Breaking news!!! The World Federation along with System Users Association has announced that with the consent of the leading powerhouses and countries, all academies around the globe will adapt to a military system while the students will be allowed a chance to enter the ranks of the army according to their performance and corresponding power level during their stay in school. Moreover, we were informed that all the elite system users from around the globe would be transferred to the "Academy For System Users" in the United States, where they will receive world-class education and training in aspects of controlling, empowering, and leveling their system, while the test for joining the "Academy For System Users" will be moved by a week and will be happening the day after tomorrow. Lastly, we were told that all of this was being done to stabilize and build an environment under protection of system users while the young generation becomes the pillar of our future".
Then, the news stopped and the anchor repeated all of it again and again while Ray sighed and said to Aurora. "It's happening, we don't have much time, I guess I will have to work harder and get stronger fast enough"
To this Aurora replied, "don't worry too much and just get most you could of this time, until that moment we have a couple of years more. And I believe that a couple of years is enough for you to be strong enough".
Ray sighed while he thought, "I just hope you are right and I will be able to bear for what has to come next".
After that, Ray and his family had their dinner and left the restaurant. Although the test for joining the Academy for System Users was near, Ray did not feel much pressured as he was confident in his abilities. However, now Ray is left with a heavy burden on his heart. A burden that no matter how hard he tried would not go away until he was sure of being strong enough to withstand what had to come in a few years.
As Ray's heart was burdened, his expression also changed slightly and his aura also became depressed and this did not leave the observant eyes of Ray's mother.