The portal at his virtual door led to many places, but Zen ignored everything for now. His mind was dead set on only one place - the store!
With 11,300 credits, he had to be the wealthiest student in the academy. Even rank #1 was only awarded 10,000 credits, assuming they did not receive any transfers or sponsored credits from the Godfather.
It took a little while for the store to load in, but Zen did a double-take when it finally did. Was this really suitable for teenagers who weren’t of legal ages yet? He could understand the Godfather theme with the whole dim lights and soft mature jazz music in the background. But did it really have to be a bar? What about his cool futuristic game cyberpunk type of store where robots and flying drones rule? What about cute virtual pets and animal NPCs that give the player some emotional relief from the hellish outside world? Wasn’t this what VR was all about?
Instead, the store turned out to be a very classic bar
Was rum and coke usually this strong? As a chef, Zen tasted some of this previously before he died. However, he didn’t remember getting knocked out after one small shot glass. How much rum did Vera add to that?No time for questions, Zen looked around at this strange place he was thrown to. After getting kicked around to different places within the last week from the void to earth, from the soul world to reality, from reality to virtual reality, Zen no longer questioned where he was.“This looks familiar,” he mused. It looked very similar to the jungle that they were thrown into on the first death game where four hundred died.Actually, on closer look, this was the same jungle! The shots at the bar really were game highlight clips! Zen marvelled at the creativity of the game designer and how realistic this memory playback was. As the person this game highlight clip belonged to, Zen knew what was coming up. The loud thunderclap sound in th
Zen felt horrible. Vera wasn’t joking about the hangover as he felt worse today despite sleeping like a log. His newly made friends were also looking at him with concern.Sasha slurped her third pudding custard, and Liu Feng was helping to wash the plate after finishing his char siu buns. He decided to leave the rest as a snack later, and Zen was grateful that someone else was helping him with the party preparation.The Death princess was sitting beside Sasha and drinking some herbal tea when she commented on what everyone else didn’t want to bring up.“What happened? You look terrible. Couldn’t sleep?”Although Sasha was still eating her pudding, and Liu Feng was washing the steamer basket, they pricked their ears to listen to Zen’s reply.The young chef yawned and groaned. “Not really, I don’t think sleep was the issue. I just have a horrible hangover. Thanks to your credit transfer, I was able to g
Sasha almost couldn’t keep up with the influx when the lunch hour rolled by. The poor Russian sniper didn’t know what to do and was often getting into Zen’s way around the kitchen. Naturally, Zen sent her out to deliver lunch to the guild while he served the lunch crowd who accepted his friend requests. Sasha didn’t leave immediately until Zen reassured her that he would see them in two hours.“You better come! I will find you if you are late and you will cook me Borscht!”Zen waved his spatula with a laugh and kept up with the orders. He was slightly worried about having Sasha carry all those bento boxes, but the sniper girl was stronger than she looked. She lifted the twelve bento boxes with ease and hurried out of the kitchen, evading the hungry crowd.There were also several invigilators among those who accepted Zen’s friend request and placed their food orders. Their presence in the kitchen was the only reason why S
“Sorry! I’m late!” Zen huffed when he arrived at the guild’s meeting. Akiko and Liu Feng were sipping tea, and Sasha shot him a glare. With two highly dangerous people sitting near her, she couldn’t leave the room to find Zen as what she wanted. Thankfully, nothing happened while he was in the kitchen.It was almost time for tea by the time Zen arrived. Everyone else gathered in Akiko’s room was wondering who the important advisor was. The guild leader and vice guild leader refused to reveal his name or ranking. They simply told them that he was the best when it came to games and strategy. They wouldn’t be able to do without him, and the meeting was stalled.Zen walked into the room to a very tense atmosphere in the air. Was lunch not good? Why did the guild members look so stiff? He checked the time. After taking a wrong turn in the upper ranked building, Zen was now ten minutes late. Thankfully, he had Akiko’s contact a
Continuing with the round of introductions, Zen got to know four more members. He counted twelve guild members, just right to launch a three-pronged attack on Carnage.“I was ranked #60. My mafia name is Gambler. Anything imbued with my luck becomes a weapon. I use mostly coins and playing cards.”The Gambler was a very sick looking teen who looked like he sold his soul instead of his luck for power. He would be clumsier than usual on some days, and Zen knew the reason behind it now. Yesterday, Zen caught him loitering outside the kitchen. The Gambler left eventually without saying anything, but his actions were highly suspicious. Yet, who would have anticipated their meeting in such an alliance?According to the memory cocktail, the Gambler didn’t do too much during the battle royale. He was mostly an observer and didn’t do much during the hunt. Sure, occasionally he would use the luck from dead people to trigger some in-game catastrophe
With the ball in his court, Zen decided to lay down some ground rules. The guild master and vice guild master would back his decisions as an advisor, giving him the confidence he needed to take the bull by its horns.“Here are two ways to win the Egg Hunt event,” Zen announced in a clear voice. He straightened his back and looked everyone in the eye. There was no sign of hesitance, and even Liu Feng was pleasantly surprised by his new confidence.“The details are not out, but I have reasons to believe that we’re dealing with a boss creature in the event. Our aim is to suffer zero casualties and collect information about Guild Carnage. Hence, Guild Survivors will adopt a “No Offense” strategy throughout the event.”His declaration left the new members speechless, but his friends were already expecting such a solution. Zen was way too soft-hearted for a mafia. He was the only one who didn’t take a single life in the
Barely! Zen didn’t know what Yelena and Bolt were thinking when he burst into the kitchen, panting. They agreed to meet at six, and thanks to the guild meeting, Zen was delayed. He had fifteen seconds to spare by the time he arrived. Nervously, he looked at the invigilators and only relaxed when Bolt gave him a thumbs up, flashing him a grin.Yelena huffed when Zen sagged in relief, trudging to the counter. No matter how Yelena looked at this candidate, he smelled like a civilian. Why was he selected as one of the true Godfather heirs? Unlike the other chosen candidates, Zen didn’t show any signs of blood awakening.Bolt knew what his young partner was thinking and grinned. Zen was truly a mystery. How did anyone grow up in a mafia family without knowing anything about the underworld? Moreover, he wasn’t part of any illegal experimentation or trained in any form of combat. What did his family think of his existence?“I want meatball
Yelena took a little longer to get online and log into her VR account. During that time, Bolt accepted Zen’s invitation and was waiting in his VR room.“The information cards for all the candidates are here,” Bolt passed a virtual notebook to Zen, who quickly compared his gathered data.There was some missing information from Bolt’s list, but Zen was thrilled to know more about the candidates he had no access to.“Is this allowed?” he asked cautiously. “Isn’t this considered cheating?”Bolt raised a brow. “Are there rules saying that a candidate cannot ask an invigilator for information?”Zen shook his head. The school rules didn’t mention anything about working with invigilators. It only said that invigilators shouldn’t be harmed. Was this a loophole? If anyone else knew about this, there would be a riot!Yelena was angry. It was evident from how she gave Bo