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
After listening to Gabrielle’s story about her encounter with the stalker, Zen realised how Mai was growling. Her wolf instincts were boiling with uncontrollable rage, even in her human hybrid form, when she recalled her daughter’s distress.Holding onto her mother’s hand, Gabrielle did her best to calm her mother down while the adventurers thought about her story. Zen found it strange that the silver walker did not attack this stalker who had been bothering them in their territory. He was not the only one who found the situation odd. Although many things in Gabrielle’s story match what Han informed them, they wonder why the mother and daughter did not seek any help from Han or live with Laura instead.According to the teenager, she saw a glimpse of a very hairy creature with thick fur-like hair covering the entirety of its arm, chest and even face. However, it was very late, and the curtain was in the way when she saw the stalker. Gabrielle could o
Knocking on the door politely, Sasha waited for Zen to catch up to them. Apparently, the Seer had also sensed something off about the “safe zone”. The constant feeling of being watched made her unable to relax. There was nothing safe about this place.After a while, a beautiful teenager with curly matt gold locks opened the door. She bore no resemblance to Han. However, seeing a lady with wolf ears appear from behind her was more shocking. The lady with wolf ears shared the same forest-green eyes as the teenage girl. Zen knew at once they were mother and daughter.“Hello, who are you?” asked the timid girl.Smiling, Zen applied his priestly etiquette so as not to alarm the peaceful duo.“I’m Zen, a priest in an adventuring party. We were attacked by a large pack of wolves after sundown and managed to shake them off when we ran in this direction. By any chance, would you be kind enough to let us wait the night out?”N
Mentally exhausted and depressed, Damian fell silent after the first hour. His knowledge of jokes was severely lacking. No matter what he did, the cyborg could not meet his party members’ standards. It was too difficult to be a clown.“It’s in the delivery,” Zen chuckled, patting Damian on the back. “Sometimes people find others funny when they aren’t intentionally trying to be. Just be yourself.”The solid advice lifted Damian’s mood a little, and the two nerds chatted, exchanging what they knew to update the gamer guide while travelling to Red Hood’s house.Before they knew it, it was dark. The forest was full of shadows, and everyone remained on their guard as the sound of howling wolves came from every direction. Zen stood in the middle of the party formation, as Akiko suggested, while Sasha took to the skies to scout. However, the dense canopy of leaves made it difficult to spot any wolves until they wer
Coming from different directions, the party finally gathered at Han’s hut. Akiko and Liu Feng had already scouted the forest with the hunter’s help and memorised the paths to Red Hood’s house and the herbalist grandmother’s house. With all six members of the vanguard party present, even Han could not hold back his surprise at the party’s diversity.“Is this Red Hood’s uncle?” Zen asked when he arrived. Thanks to the squad’s merciless travel speed, he had to push his limits and gained two additional speed points.Studying the shortest kid in the lot who looked like he would not hurt a fly, Han wondered what he was doing in a party full of fierce fighters and psychopaths. The kid did not seem to wield any weapons and was dressed in a robe that resembled the clergyman. Could he be their healer?Introducing themselves briefly, Han confirmed that none of this party’s members were sane, not even the most innocent-l
Travelling with Damian and Oritha at a more comfortable pace, Zen read the constant updates from Akiko. Han, the hunter, is quite an interesting character. If Zen had been there, he would have asked much more about the Silver Walkers. Yet, the information they uncovered was enough for Zen to understand the hidden pieces of this strange stage. The story writers were introducing players to new elements in preparation for future stages. Nothing was ever as it seemed. Even the Shady Merchant was no longer a reliable guide as he started to fade into a side character instead of a main pillar of the questing system.Targets and objectives were now self-defined, something Zen had never really experienced as a gamer. The idea was unique and mimicked the many roads a person could take in life. Perhaps this was part of the Godfather’s intentions. When a person was given free will, what would they choose to do with it? If everyone in the world were given all the paint they could poss
The middle-aged bachelor wasn’t the most domestic person. He was the polar opposite of what Zen was when he was still a civilian, not that Liu Feng or Akiko knew. However, the one thing they did know about this peculiar NPC was his vivid backstory and tendency to talk about many other things non-quest related.From his rambles, dad jokes, and cackles, they learned that the hunter had previously lived with Red Hood’s grandmother in the middle of the forest. She was his mother, and he had a brother who was Red Hood’s father. The mother was someone completely different from what they thought she was.“They call themselves the Silver Walkers,” Han grumbled. “Pretty little things when they are human but only on a full moon’s night. During the day, they are actual animals. When the moon rises, they regain part of their sanity but not completely.”After sharing the new information with Zen, Akiko wondered what he had to say abo
The night in the game on this stage lasted shorter than other stages. However, the mind reacted weirdly to seeing daylight, and Akiko began to lose track of time in reality. Her circadian rhythm told her she had been awake for almost a week now in the game when it had only been a few hours in reality. Glancing over to Liu Feng, who lived in a perpetual world of darkness, he did not seem to have any issues adapting to the different flows of time.“Is it day now?” the Seer asked his new companion after sensing lesser night hounds in the area.Akiko nodded. “Sasha delivered the letter. The main quest giver has changed. I think they will start completing the new main quest. Have you explored this forest to confirm the myth?”Shaking his head and flipping his long hair over his shoulder, Liu Feng wondered if he should braid his hair to make movement easier. Although he appreciated his long locks, a testament to his loyalty, the Seer found it i
Even with the howling of night hounds surrounding them, neither of the assassins broke a sweat. If Zen were around to see their unspoken teamwork, he would be utterly floored since he was incredibly amazed by the strange communication they used when defeating the orc general.Generally, assassins worked alone for missions. It was more effective to send a single assassin with the right skills for the mission. Sending more than one assassin would only increase the risk of an operation complication and alert people of multiple presences. Additionally, most families treated assassins as disposable tools. If an assassin failed a mission, they were ordered to take their lives or killed on the spot by the watcher of the famiglia if they attempted to run. Hence, raised weapons like the Death Princess seldom worked with others. If not for joining the academy and meeting Zen, she would likely forge ahead on a path alone to complete her mission.However, she was not the only kingmake
“Now?” Sasha’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “But it’s dark out!”Hooting with laughter, Oritha shrugged. “You have wings. As long as your legs don’t touch the ground and the wolves don’t grow twenty meters tall, you’ll reach the village safely. Besides, you fly faster than Zen runs. You could probably deliver it by daybreak.”Looking at Oritha with disbelief, Sasha narrowed her eyes.“When have you been good at English?”Glancing back from the oven, Zen noticed Damian slowly trying to duck under the table when Oritha grabbed him by the back of his shirt. Knowing them, it was likely Damian’s idea. Oritha was a quick learner whenever it came to non-academic studies.“I repeated what he said,” she dragged the flailing cyborg back up the table with a wide grin. “Maybe you should go now. We have round two of dinner to start.”…Maybe all the A