Nobody who saw the Seer smile ever lived to talk about it. Yet, as unbelievable as it was, Liu Feng was seated beside Sasha with a very contented look as Zen took his order. The sniper almost fainted when Zen didn’t immediately do as told. Instead, he demanded something in exchange.
“My character profile card? Sure. I have nothing to hide so you can see it first.”
===
Name: Liu Feng (Wind) “Seer”
Age: 18
Abilities: Bone Crushing
Credits: 9,200
Items: NA
Rank: 9
===
Zen raised a brow. “Bone crushing? What kind of skill is that?”
Then, he paled. The title of “Seer” and rank 9 belonged to one of the three monsters in the academy that Sasha told him to be wary of before they came to the kitchen. Why was one of the three terrors acting like a coy kitten, sipping on oolong tea before him?
Liu Feng was surprised to know that someone in this academy didn&
“An omerta is a verbal promise similar to the “Oath” ability of a Godfather. However, it usually takes three people or more to make an omerta valid. Assuming that you and the Seer are the parties involved in the vow, I’m going to be the observer of this vow. The vow can only be rendered invalid in one of two ways. The first is if there is a mutual agreement to nullify it, and the second is to kill the observers before taking actions. You usually make a vow and state a sacrifice if you break the vow.”Liu Feng was more interested in Zen now. The child grew up as the third young master of the Taro family. Why did he not know about the omerta? The Taro family must be hiding a lot of secrets. In that case, they must have really sent Zen to this school, hoping for his death.“I’ll start. Liu Feng, second heir to the Lau Triad Family, vow to take Zen Taro under my protection from this moment forth. If the omerta is broken, I will cut
After a quick shower, Zen crashed onto his bed. He was exhausted after a long day, and the adrenaline was finally wearing out. Several years ago, Zen wanted to open his own restaurant. To think that his dream would finally be fulfilled in the least likely places! He fed a total of fifty people because, after a while, the word got around and even the invigilators wanted in even though they did not have character profile cards to show. Instead, they traded a meal for some of their interesting stories or tips for better survival odds. Zen had never felt more grateful for his civilian upbringing.“Let’s see, I have 600 credits to spend. I don’t want to waste it all on any character profiles. Besides, my big brother and big sister should know most things about the other participants even if I don’t. I need to review my game highlight clip before anyone else’s!”Logging into the system, Zen entered the home lobby of the VR game. It was hig
How did he get into this situation? For the first time in his life as an unwanted young master and a civilian, Zen was rubbing shoulders with many famous and important people.Death Princess Akiko was seated in his room with his newly made big brother and sister. The room was far too small to accommodate all four people, so the boys decided to take the floor while the ladies sat on the bed.The Death Princess looked nothing like what Zen imagined her to be. Compared to his big sister, she looked like a very demure and fragile doll. Sasha had a fierce look in her cold blue eyes, and it wasn’t difficult to believe she was a killer. However, the Death Princess, who had a higher body count under her name, didn’t look like she belonged to the underworld.Zen stared at the Death princess for a very long time, and Akiko did the same. Akiko Kanzaki… the name was very much Japanese like his. However, Zen had mixed blood in him, giving him a lighter hai
Zen took a deep breath and closed his eyes.“The Godfather is my idol! The Godfather is my dream! The Godfather is my only sponsor, and I don’t need any training equipment! I am Zen from no particular family. My hobbies include cooking and gaming. To the families from the Round Table who sent my sponsorship contracts, I hereby reject your offers.”As soon as Zen said that, he heard the sound of a new notification.[The Godfather is very pleased with your bold declaration of war against the Round Table! You have been awarded 1,000 credits.][You have received a unique title “Enemy of The Round Table”. You can check it out in the Character Profile tab.]===Name: ZenTitle: Enemy of The Round TableAge: 15Abilities: Gaming & CookingCredits: 1,700Items: NARank: 100===Zen wanted to cry. The title really was there! What’s more, he wasn’t ab
When Zen went through the virtual binding contract that Liu Feng discussed with Akiko, he didn’t know what to think. After slaving his whole life trying to pay bills, Zen didn’t believe that anyone would value him this much.===Job ContractProposed by: AkikoWitness: Liu FengJob Title: External AdvisorDuties:Game strategy planning for new dungeon floorsEvent strategy for primary party membersCooking meals for primary party membersPayment:20% of regular dungeon dropsThird pick for boss dungeon dropsFirst pick for event dropsBenefits:Guild protectionParty protectionAlliance and Non-aggression pactResource sharing with primary party members===Zen read through the job contract generated by the system and tilted his head to one side.“Primary party? Guild?”Sasha grinned and po
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
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