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
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