Inside a building, the receptionist saw a boy in a black suit adjusting his glasses as he entered through the front door with a light brown briefcase filled with blue sheets of paper and a tablet displaying a gaming news website. He said, "Has the shadow really returned?"
"I could notify him, Albert, Tatsuo is here," said the young woman. Albert could see and feel her nervousness as she faced him. She looked directly into his light green eyes that reflected her face and became paralyzed, completely hypnotized.
"Forget it, he has no reason to refuse my visit anyway," the young man said, looking at the paralyzed girl. He took a piece of paper from his pocket that read "do a better job next time." After placing the paper on the counter, he headed towards the stairs, passing by Dalia, who was with two drunk young men passed out on the couch, while she sat in an armchair looking at her phone on a page for teams needing new recruits.
"Incompetents, do a better job," Tatsuo said, seeing the two young men passed out on the couch, ignoring Dalia and walking past the three of them. He went to the elevator on the second floor. Upon entering, a digital screen connected, and a robotic voice said, "What floor would you like to go to?"
"Top floor," Tatsuo said.
"OK, please wait, and we will soon be on the chosen floor," the robotic voice said.
Five minutes later, Tatsuo exited the elevator, walking toward the only room. Passing through a long corridor, he opened the door and saw a middle-aged man with his back turned, facing a large glass wall. Behind him, on the table, were twelve scattered sheets of paper. He was focused, looking at a sheet in his hand that caught his attention with the name "Queen of the Snow Crown" and contained information about a yet-unnamed player's character.
"This time, the whole team or just those two still plan to stay?" Tatsuo asked.
"Tatsuo, you know I have almost no power here," Albert said.
Tatsuo took off his glasses, removing a case from his pocket, and took out a yellow cloth to clean the lenses while speaking, "I'm not talking about that team... not anymore, nor that matter."
Albert turned to Tatsuo, looking at the tablet in his hand. He placed the paper he was holding on the table and with a smile said, "So he returned."
"Yes, but that was over a month ago, the time it took to confirm it wasn't someone impersonating him," Tatsuo said.
Albert sighed, rubbing his forehead: "So, where was the shadow's origin?"
"In a popular cybercafe known for numerous proportional challenges against professional players. Incidentally, while he was a professional player, he was one of the most called upon to challenge customers," Tatsuo replied.
Albert, looking at Tatsuo and reading the papers in his hand, said, "Tatsuo, can you tell me Dmitry's relationship with the cybercafe owner?"
Albert leaned forward, placing both arms on the table, looking directly into Tatsuo's eyes, who threw the briefcase with the papers onto Albert's desk, saying, "No relationship, because since we found out, Dmitry visited the cybercafe only three more times, all because of his brother, who indeed has a close friendship with a woman named Andreza."
"So it's worse than I imagined. It will be impossible to bring him back to my team," Albert said in a disheartened tone.
"What do you mean, sir? I think we have a good chance to bring back the team you speak of," Tatsuo said, frowning.
"Tatsuo, I think you forget who we're talking about," Albert said, massaging his forehead, opening his suit, and letting out a long sigh, "Do you remember the sponsor we lost when we ended in a certain way?"
"Are you telling me Dmitry..." Tatsuo said, incredulous.
Albert opened one of his desk drawers, taking out a briefcase with Dmitry's name on it. Inside, he took out a newspaper clipping where Dmitry appeared, smearing the face of one of the most important advertisers of the time, which had facilitated Seraphins' rise to the top.
"What do you mean? He dared to ruin an opportunity that would have put us in the spotlight even before the Empire game explosion," Tatsuo said with a trembling voice, his hands shaking, holding one another, trying to maintain his composure in front of his boss, who seemed completely indifferent to the situation. Before asking, he heard the response:
"No, I don't care. Besides, it was more than 7 years ago, Dmitry was still a teenager, and the reason for the punch also led to the advertiser's bankruptcy, and how can I say... without sounding strange... that advertiser had peculiar tastes for his age."
"Sir...?" Tatsuo asked, looking strangely at Albert.
"Yes, I know. It would have been worse if we hadn't intervened, after all, that guy had asked Dmitry's sister to cut his hair," Albert said.
A few seconds passed, maintaining a strange silence. Albert grabbed the folder full of papers, starting to flip through them in the silence between the two.
"So there were more than twenty victims? He was really trying to teach them a lesson. Do you know the reason?" Albert asked, changing the subject.
"Unfortunately not, but if I can go talk to some of our players who were there when it happened..." Tatsuo replied, scratching his head.
"So one of our people was there. But before going after him, answer me: did he face Dmitry?" Albert asked, clasping his hands and placing his elbows on the table.
Tatsuo spoke, placing his hand on his chin, looking up, "He not only fought but was humiliated."
Before Tatsuo could continue speaking, Albert stood up, placing his hands on the table: "You don't need to continue. Now I understand why he doesn't hide."
"Tiran... is he really training...?" Tatsuo asked.
Albert walked beside Tatsuo, speaking with a strange smile of happiness on his face: "This is a message from him, saying he won't return to this gaming field. Now we just have to wait for him at Altair."
Tatsuo understood, sitting in the middle of the room while Albert left.
"Soon, soon the esports world will be covered by an enormous shadow. Better get back to training the remnants myself," Albert said, looking out the window and letting out a sigh.
A few hours later, inside the game, Dmitry stood among several dead trees with completely gray foliage almost falling to the ground. Dmitry saw a person with black hair and red eyes, dressed in a black suit with black dress pants, without any dirt, even after emerging from the ground. After coming out, he completely bowed to Dmitry and said, "My lord, the place is clean. There is no sign of other races within a mile."
"Trins, get up," Dmitry said.
A young girl with black hair and eyes, wearing a simple black dress with red lines around the waist, awoke. Without saying a word, she clasped her hands together, pulling a spear from within one and handing it to Dmitry.
"Don't have that sleepy look, we have a castle to conquer," Luke said, patting her head.
Dmitry spoke as he walked toward a castle hidden among several dead trees. From a distance, Dmitry saw two bodies that were twice his size, made entirely of stone, with a strange gray coloration and scratch-like markings that looked like veins. These were two golems.