As Abel munched on a chicken thigh, he remembered something he wanted to ask and turn to Melissa
"Melly, did that old slimy bastard say anything today?"
The 'old slimy bastard' Abel just mentioned was the manager of Epicurean World Market, at least the manager of their small branch on Luminara. It's the name of the place where they all worked before Abel decided to quite in order to pursue a new career.
"Nah, he didn't dare to. Although the fresh meats section has been hectic since you've left, they can manage in the end. I also heard a few supervisors from the hotels came to complain about the quality of the meat they received being worse than the past. That just goes to show how much work you were doing over there.. you were basically carrying that entire department, I'm glad you left that exploitative place"
Melly's voice was filled with righteous schadenfreude towards the end. She had been absolutely livid with the amount of work Abel did every day, but he didn't mind since he could get a little extra pay at the end of the month.
"I don't think sleazy Samson would dare voice his displeasure after that beating you gave him last time, it's like he transforms into a little mouse when you pass by" Frankie added happily after taking a sip of his soup.
"If I had left him to you back then, right now he'd be dead, you'd be in prison while Melissa would be heart broken, it was better for everyone for me to step in. Besides, I had the perfect opportunity and a solid alibi. Hahaha"
"Hahahahaha"
Abel couldn't help but chuckle at the end and Frankie joined him in his laughter too. It was a couple of years ago, before Grandma Meng passed away and Abel started working after finishing high school, since he couldn't afford the tuition for university and neither did he have the grades for a scholarship. It hadn't even been a month since Abel's first day at work and slimy Samson, as he was called by the workers behind his back, decided to grope the girls resting in the employee's lounge, Melly being one of his victims. Abel was going there to see if Melly wanted to join him for lunch since he knew there was a big shipment coming in and Frankie would be busy, when he stumbled upon the sight of Melly fiercely shouting at the old slime ball while the latter had that disgusting grin plastered on his face. The hot-blooded young Abel wanted to break the slime ball's 3 legs then and there as he overheard his sisters scolding words from the outside but he held himself back. He knew better than to beat up the sleaze ball during work and in the middle of the day no less. He hung back and waited till the other girls calmed Melissa down and then walked in a minute later.
All through out lunch he could tell Melissa was still simmering in rage but he acted as though he didn't have a clue. Later that evening, Abel was hanging back to finish some extra trimming on some aged meat he had hung up earlier. The manager had made an under the table deal with Abel, if hung up the slaughtered meat, cured it and then trimmed it then he'd get paid a little extra "overtime". The carcass of freshly slaughtered red meat may be hung to allow for a natural enzymatic process to tenderize the meat and the aging would help improve flavor and texture. This entire process would vary depending on several factors, including the type of meat, the specific cut and the desired end result. It would usually take a minimum of a few days and up to three weeks to really enhance the flavor and tenderness of the meat.
Of course, the better aged the meat was, the higher the price it would be sold to the chefs at the various hotel restaurants throughout the Emerald Iles and they in turn would be able to produce more affluent and luxurious dishes on their menu's. Abel had agreed to take care of this process once or twice a month while sleazy Samson would put it into the system as meat sold "normally" and sell it more expensively off the books, the difference would be split between them in a 7:3 ratio where Abel would get the lesser amount. On this day, Abel "clocked out" of work as usual but hung back to take care of the meat and when sleazy Samson came at the end of the night to take the cured meat to the buyer, Abel gave him a good beating.
Although he didn't draw any blood from the pig-like man, he had dislocated his shoulder and warned him to keep his hands to himself, otherwise he would chop off his third leg, cure it and stuff it down his throat. The sleaze bag was infuriated and threatened to call the local sentinel's and have him thrown in jail but Abel calmly explained how he couldn't possibly be charged since he was "off" work and had a solid alibi of going fishing with Frankie after work. Frankie would back him up even if Melissa wasn't involved, he had that much faith in his best friend. Sleazy Samson started to wheeze and sweat like an actual pig when he realized the young man before him wasn't joking and could possibly get away with it. After all, the greedy manager often turned off the surveillance camera's so there wouldn't be any evidence of his own misdeeds.
In the end, Abel calmly pointed to the cured meat and told the sleazy bag that he expected his cut to be ready in the morning and then made his way back home. Once he got back he retold the story to Frankie who was absolutely livid, something that was rarely seen. Of course, Frankie quickly spilled the beans to Melissa who, while feeling inwardly gratified, still scolded Abel for the risks he took. In the end, her scolding attracted Grandma Meng's attention who had actually praised Abel for not only sticking up for his sister, but more importantly he did it smartly and didn't go too far. First of all, he covered his tracks then got his pound of flesh and finally cut off any chance of any type of revenge coming back to bite any of them in the ass.
She then told all three of them why sleazy Samson ended up that way, being a local to the area she knew basically everyone on Luminara. Apparently, he had taken a loan and opened up a shop when he was young but due to Global Harvest Group setting up their Epicurean World Market shops on the Emerald Isles, his little business couldn't survive and eventually, he was forced to apply for bankruptcy. The bank in turn took the collateral which was none other than his fathers house that had been in the family for generations and to make matters worse, he ended up having to work for his competitor. After a few years of frugal living and constant saving, Samson was able to buy back his house at a premium from the new owner but ever since his business fell and he was forced to work for his most hated enemy, his character turned twisted and the optimistic man had permanently changed. Perhaps the only good thing was that Samson had turned quite cowardly after losing everything so badly, so his biggest misdeeds would be a grope here and there or profiting off a bit of cured meat or "lost and damaged goods". Grandma Meng had warned all three of them back then, "Be careful and wary, when fighting against monsters, that you yourself don't turn into a monster" she had looked especially long at Abel.
Abel snapped out of his reverie but he couldn't help but miss the old woman, he looked around and realized Frankie and Melissa were having similar thoughts so he tried to change the topic quickly.
"I might be a little late tomorrow morning, if there's anything good in the traps, so I'll have to trouble you with the technician Frankie"
"Sure, don't worry about it. Did you register an account already? Have you gotten your subscription sorted out?" Frankie couldn't help but ask as this involved his little brothers' future. If he really could make it big then it would be an absolute life changer.
"I took care of the registration and subscription when I went to Forgeburg city last week to take a look at the pod. I've also been closely following all the news in regards to Faeron for the past month. I've studied every review, looked at every analysis and even read the forums related to it since its release. Are you guys sure you don't want to join me? We could probably live comfortably for another year before money gets real tight you know" Abel couldn't help but ask again, he really wanted Frankie and Melly to join him in an adventure, but he knew their response even before he asked
"We're sure Abe. If you do make it big then maybe we'll change our minds, but until then just enjoy your hard-earned chance and don't worry about us." Melissa answered before Frankie could open his mouth. She knew Abel spent a majority of the credits he'd saved in the past 2 years on this pod, its transportation and the subscription and registration for Faeron.
The NeuroNex system had been released for more than a year and affected nearly every industry worldwide from shopping and entertainment to finance and public services. Even education was starting to implement Virtual Reality into their classrooms. Regardless, the most affected was definitely the gaming industry and Faeron was the first open world game designed and created by Doctor Orion Matrix himself. There had been more than a few games released by major gaming companies but they were all rigid and unlike what the trailer to Faeron showed. The first batch of players also released glowing reviews and praises to the design, openness and freedom within this world. While the NeuroNex system ensured full immersion to a virtual reality, the configuration and freedom to what one could do within a "world" was still restricted. Faeron seemed to be a real and complete world with the liberty to do anything and everything one thought of. Of course, there were still some restrictions to prevent abuse but that was expected, if a woman were to be sexually assaulted in-game without repercussions then hardly anyone but twisted perverts would want to play. But other than extreme cases like that, it was pretty much an open world.
If you just wanted to casually play around and see a complete fairyland world then that was fine. If you wanted to try dishes and luxuries only imagined in fantasy then that was also fine. If you wished to fight with a sword and spear, wield magic and fly then you can also do that. Even if you didn't want a "profession" and just fought with whatever skills you knew in the real world then that was also fine. It truly lived up to the slogan at the end of the trailer, "Dive into dreams, Forge your reality."
The most important part was that you could even earn real coalition credits from in game items or tools. It was stated that there would even be an exchange platform for real currency with virtual gold in the future and that it would be regulated by NeuroNex in cooperation with the PNC. Although it would follow the ratio of supply and demand but it still guaranteed not to fluctuate beyond 10% per day and if any case of market manipulation was picked up by the system moderators then they'd be tried in court as well.
Abel didn't care much when the NeuroNex first came out, sure it was revolutionary and a groundbreaking piece of technology but when he used the damn thing to watch a movie with Frankie and Melly at the newly opened Virtual Lounge, it would suck the credits straight out of his account. If he forgot himself and used it just a bit regularly then he'd be absolutely broke before he realized what on Earth even happened.
But his mindset completely changed with the trailer for Faeron, it was like a summoning, beckoning him to a brighter future and he couldn't resist nor did he want to resist. He scrunched up and saved every milli credit he could scrounge up and kept hunting for a used pod online until he finally found his chance with his current purchase.
He was quite pleased with himself as he managed to purchase the old pod and have it delivered to Luminara for only 1000 credits. A brand-new pod would range from about 1800-2500 credits depending on its manufacturer, features, set-up and transportation costs. He heard about some exclusive brands that sold for much more than that but he couldn't even afford an average new pod, much less an exclusive type that was more luxurious. Where as the registration to the NeuroNex cloud server had an annual cost of 100 credits which wasn't so bad. Finally, the subscription cost for a Faeron account was another 150 credits per annum. With the addition of 150 credits he'd have to cough up tomorrow for the new sockets and the 75 credits he'd have to pay the technician, Abel realized he was really running low on funds now and might need to spend much more time in-game then he had originally planned.