Finally, after a long night of playing games, Olivier closed his PC. He could still feel the adrenaline flowing through his body.
The match had not been close by. His team had stomped the other team quite nicely. But that was not why Olivier was shaking.
"Ah, I missed this feeling. It truly is different when you play with a good player. The rush of power it gives you is so different."
It was time to sleep. Olivier knew that if he did not go to sleep now, then he would not be able to wake up on time tomorrow. Missing school was not a part of his plans.
But the excitement he was feeling could not be contained by his body's-tired nature. The additional excitement did not even allow Olivier to fall asleep.
He twisted and turned in his bed before throwing the covers off his body.'
'Ugh, I need a distraction. I do not think I will be able to fall asleep like this.'
The large mansion that was Olivier's home now was largely unexplored by him. Particle because he had no interest in it and partly because he was too busy throughout his day.
But tonight, Olivier wanted to have a walk around the house. His feet carried him through the floor and into a different hallway.
"What are you doing here? Your room is on a different floor and it is 02:00 AM. Go to sleep if you want to wake up on time tomorrow."
Olivier's heart skipped a beat. Natasha's voice cut through the silence of the night like a blade.
"Y-You scared me. I thought someone snuck up behind me to kill me. Can you make some kind of noise next time to swing by or something? It will be better for my heart."
Olivier placed a hand on his heart to calm himself down.
Natasha's unimpressed face said everything about her thoughts. She was not happy to see Olivier up and about.
"Kid, go and drink a glass of milk if you cannot fall asleep. It was creepy to see you standing in the middle of this hallway and staring at the wall with a blank expression."
Natasha pointed out before taking a few steps back. She was looking at Olivier with eyes full of suspicion even as she left the hallway.
Olivier looked at the hallway he had been staring blankly as well.
It did not strike him at first why he had zoned out when he looked at it. But then memories assaulted his mind. Memories of a happy couple standing in this very hallway and planning a future.
Olivier did not have a lot of memories of his parents, but even he remembered that this hallway had been important to them,
"It has been years since I last remembered them. How funny it is that I cannot remember what they look like but I can picture their posture in this hallway."
Olivier had not meant to say those words aloud but they hung heavy in the air now. All the excitement he had felt because of the match bleed out of his system.
The next time Olivier rested his head on a pillow, he was out for the count.
.......
Despite a lot happening the previous day, Olivier was somehow able to wake up on time and go to school.
If you asked Olivier what happened during school hours or even club hours, he would not be able to tell you. What he did know was that he was somehow sitting in front of the PC once again.
What Olivier did know was that he was being bombarded with over 100 new messages. And what was more? Most of them were from unknown people who 'happened' to come across Olivier's play and now wanted to befriend him.
Thankfully, this game had a private chat which allowed one to separate the messages based on one's friend list. If not for this feature, Olivier would have never seen Terry's message.
[Controller, once you enter the game, head over to the guild hall. Boss Xiao wants to talk with you.]
The message had been sent recently so the chances of Terry still being online were high. So, Olivier quickly turned his avatar around and decided to head toward the location given to him.
For some reason, the subsidiary guild of Champions called 'Adversary' looked busy. People were heading in and out of the way with quick footsteps.
[Terry, are you sure you want me to come to the guild hall? It does not seem possible right now.]
Olivier quickly typed and hid in a nearby ally. He had a feeling these people were related to his inbox filled with messages.
Terry did not even take two minutes before he replied to Olivier.
[You are here already? Wait, do not come to the guild hall. There are a lot of people asking about you because of the match yesterday. Aqua live-streamed it. Stay where you are. I will come to you.]
Olivier knew things would end up being this way. His bad feeling was beginning to make sense now.
He quickly enabled his location and waited for Terry to arrive. Since it seemed like it would take Terry some time to come back, Olivier decided to go and get some water to drink. His eyelids were beginning to fall by now.
By the time Olivier made his way back to PC, both Terry and Boss Xiao were standing nearby.
[...power off. He is not responding. Olivier, if you are back, then let us know.]
[I am back. Did something happen while I was away? You told me that you wanted to talk to me and explain this situation to me?]
Terry's avatar jumped on the screen. From what Olivier could gather, it was an unconscious action on the berserker's part. Terry was even ashamed once he realized what he was doing.
[Finally, you are back. By the way, ignore all these people and do not answer them if they ask you any questions. We have filed a complaint with the game management and they
Will take care of the trespassers.]
Boss Xiao quickly summarized the situation for Olivier. In the end, the old man felt a little guilty for having dragged a kid into this mess.
[By the way, why are you still guildless? Do you not want to reap the benefit of the guild war? You will be missing out on a lot of loot.]
Boss Xiao was surprised to notice that Olivier had not joined the guild yet. He had handed in the ticket for joining almost two days ago.
[The benefit of joining your guild is not looking too beneficial right now. Especially not if I must deal with all this regularly. :)]
Olivier's words were triggering but somehow true at the same time. Boss Xiao had no words to refute him.
[It is not always like this. Most of the time, our guild is a quiet and warm place. If you do not believe me, then come with me and see for yourself. You can see for yourself after temporarily joining us.]
Olivier was surprised at this offer. Big guilds hardly let anyone join. So, for a guild like 'Adversary,' a direct sub-branch of Champions to allow Olivier to join was a big deal.
[B-Boss Xiao, are you sure? I am not questioning your authority, but this is a bold move. The older players in the guild will not like this favoritism being shown.]
Terry had a point in saying this. Even Olivier could see that the thing he was being offered by the Adversary guild leader was absurd.
[Terry, there are times when one needs to take extreme measures to gain big things. We cannot afford to lose our guild ranking in the current season since we are close to the qualifiers right now. We need more resources.]
That somehow made sense but Olivier was still not willing to trust the boss.
Ultimately, Boss Xiao ended up sending Olivier an invite to try and gain his favor. That solidified things for Olivier.
[Oh god. The elders are going to cause a problem for us all. I do not envy you, Boss Xiao. just know that you brought this upon yourself.]
Terry was making a big deal out of this 'elders' thing. Boss Xiao knew what the elders could do and what pisses them off would cost the guild.
But more than that, Boss Xiao knew he needed to follow orders. Big Boss had not outright said it to him last night, but Boss Xiao had gotten the message.
Allen had seen something in this kid. And that meant something. It was not often that Allen was interested in someone.
The pro player had even offered to participate in this raid free of cost before he had been dragged away by his coach.
[Oh, if you do not have a problem with having me in your guild temporarily, then I will accept your offer. But the second it gets bothersome; I will leave your guild.]
Terry watched this all happen with a helpless look on his face. For the first time in his life, he was watching a big guild try and please a solo no-named player.