2 The Balltrosse Twins

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"Speech"

'Thoughts'

{Game Characters}

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At the moment, both Kaito and Reiss could be seen in their own respective games as they were going through Central Yharnam and defeating enemies that they had come across. Kaito was much further in the game than Reiss, for obvious reasons, and Aruto was the same.

Compared to the original game, the stamina was more realistic now as it didn't regenerate nearly as fast. They would actually have to stop for a few minutes depending on how much stamina they had, so the progress in the game was much slower compared to the normal game.

Kaito was the person who was the furthest in the game out of the three of them, and he was satisfied with his current stats. He knew that the bosses were going to be more difficult since they will have far greater intelligence than normal along with movement, so he wanted to level up a bit before proceeding.

Aruto was the same in regards to Kaito. He would kill more and more enemies to get as many Blood Echoes as he could so they could level up and buy the necessary things, such as blood vials and more. Speaking of which though.

Aruto wasn't in the store at the moment as he had actually gone out to go buy some ingredients. While Kaito and Aruto could eat the items provided by the supreme deity that the shop sold, they couldn't just keep eating the same things over and over again for the rest of their lives. They needed variety.

Aside from that though, Reiss had been progressing relatively well as he had chosen to use the Saw Cleaver, which Kaito had also chosen. Aruto went for the Hunter Axe. Reiss had experienced quite a lot of pain, and he now understood why the brothers wanted him to heed the warnings. He literally felt the immense pain of having a large axe embedded into his shoulders and also being stabbed through the stomach.

Reiss had quickly ended up paying the other five platinum coins to allow him five more hours, which he was going to use all of. He couldn't stop playing, he was seriously addicted to the game. Despite the pain, he was so curious about the story of the game and everything else about it that he wanted to continue no matter what.

With some help from Kaito, he had learned some basic things. Such as how the Blood Echoes are used to level and increase your strength, along with different types of combos you could do with your chosen weapons. He also helped him in figuring out the use of the firearm. The one he chose was the Hunter Pistol, which Kaito suggested to be the best one to choose for a beginner like him.

Aruto had gone for the Blunderbuss while Kaito had also chosen the Hunter Pistol. Aruto was obviously experienced and knew what to do to utilise the Blunderbuss to its full capability, especially with the amount of freedom they now had in the game. Kaito was more comfortable using the Hunter Pistol.

As the two of them were going through the game, two individuals were currently walking through the streets. They both appeared to be in their sixteen or seventeens, one being a boy and the other a girl. They both had a pair of sea-blue eyes.

The boy had neck-length silver hair along with fair skin and a lean build, his eyes being sharper compared to the girl's. The girl had long silver hair that was tied into two pigtails using black ribbons, having also fair skin and a slight rounder face than the boy.

Both of them were wearing similar clothing, a fancy attire that was blue in coloration with white outlines. The boy had long sleek pants and black boots while the girl had an altered version, with the pants being turned into a short skirt and having on fancy black shoes similar to wedding shoes.

These two were Leon and Luna Balltrosse, a pair of win siblings. As can be seen from their attire, they were from quite a wealthy family. Their family was known mainly for their use in ice and water magic spells, they were some of the creators of the most powerful spells within that elemental category

From what could be seen of the two, they were seemingly looking for something or someone.

"Luna, are you sure Reiss came this way?"

"Yes! The civilians I asked said they saw him enter a strange metallic shop a few hours ago." Leon just gave his sister a confused look before shrugging as he followed after his rather energetic sister, who was now skipping ahead.

It didn't take long before they spotted a building made entirely out of metal, it was a strange sight. It definitely stuck out compared to any other building in the area. They walked curiously up to it and saw a lit-up plaque saying the words 'Boundless'.

"Boundless? As in something with no limits?" Leon muttered in confusion as he saw the name. Just by the name alone, they couldn't quite understand just what kind of shop this was. Though, Luna seemed to run up towards the door before pushing it open. "L-Luna!"

"Excuse us!"

Leon just sighed before following after his sister, making sure to gently close the door behind them after they entered. When they did, they marveled at the pristine and unique interior. Even major nobles wouldn't have such luxurious-looking furniture.

Their eyes soon caught onto two individuals that were seemingly sitting down in lean-back comfy leather chairs completely motionless. They looked at them in confusion when they saw the strange devices attached over their heads. One, in particular, they could identify from their clothing alone. The other wore clothing they had never seen before.

"Look, there's Reiss! He's sitting right there!"

"So he is..."

As Kaito was playing, he suddenly saw a notification popup in the corner of his screen. Upon seeing it, he quickly deactivated the headset, pausing the game as he took the VR headset off. He then calmly got up from his seat before turning towards the door.

This was a special feature added to the accounts of both Aruto and Kaito, this was to inform them whenever a customer entered the shop. The only time it wouldn't notify them was when one of them was already on watch, one could be playing while the other kept an eye on the shop.

"Greetings, welcome to Boundless. My name is Kaito Koji, a pleasure to meet you two." Kaito introduced himself. Kaito could see that the two were probably twins considering their similarities, and they were also appearing to be his age. As Kaito introduced himself, the twins were a bit taken back by the young male.

Seeing his smile, Luna couldn't help but feel her face heat up a bit while Leon was pretty surprised. In their academy, there were many people who would be considered attractive, but Kaito was another case entirely. He far outclassed anyone they had ever met before in the looks department.

"H-Hello! My name is Luna Balltrosse. " Luna got control of her face as she decided to ask about Reiss. She then gestured to her brother. "This here is my brother Leon."

"Greetings." Leon nodded politely as he gave a small bow. However, Leon soon widened his eyes to their max when he looked at Kaito. It was well known by a number of people that Leon was more sensitive to sensing magic compared to others. When he looked at Kaito... 'What is this magic power?! It's greater than even father and grandfather!'

They were also a bit surprised to see that he didn't at all react when they introduced themselves as a part of the Balltrosse family, it was as if he didn't know about them. Though, they could see that he looked to be a foreigner, so that was probably why. However, that didn't really matter to them, they weren't ones who demanded to be addressed with titles.

"Can you tell us what Reiss is doing over there?" Luna decided to ask curiously as she was oblivious to her brother's thoughts. Leon shook his head and turned to look towards where Reiss was, to which he looked up at the TV screen to see a cloaked man, whose appearance they couldn't see well due to the clothing, was slashing away at a number of rather unnerving humanoids.

"He's playing a video game."

"Video..."

"Game?" Leon finished with an expression just as puzzled as his sister was as they looked at Kaito in complete puzzlement. Kaito just gave a small chuckle, he was obviously expecting this question. Just as he was about to answer, a low growl was heard. "Luna..."

Leon deadpanned as he turned his expression towards his sister, who blushed crimson as she held her stomach. Her face became even redder when they both looked at her, it was obvious that the growl had come from her stomach.

"Perhaps I can explain it to you while you eat something, come with me." Kaito motioned for them to follow. Luna seemed more than happy to as she quickly followed after him, Leon soon following as well as Kaito lead them over to the bar area. "Take a seat. Since you're first-time customers, you both can order two things for free today."

They took a seat as told and looked up at the menu, it wasn't a large menu but the items were interesting. They were confused about why a certain item was only allowed for those over eighteen, but they didn't mind as they looked at the others.

The only things they actually recognised from the board were the main food items, being the sandwiches and the chicken wings. The other things, which seemed to be more like drinks were unknown to them.

The prices were also rather surprising. While it wasn't much in their eyes, they knew that it was still very expensive for other people who weren't as wealthy as they were. They didn't know why the price was so high, but they were certainly curious.

As they read over the things, they widened their eyes when they saw that the items had effects listed and written on the board next to each of them. Reading the effects, they couldn't help but fall into absolute disbelief.

"K-Kaito, are these effects real...?!"

"Why don't you try and find out?" Kaito smirked as he saw their gobsmacked expressions. He knew that just saying something wasn't going to get them to believe him, the only thing that will is a first-hand experience. "So, what would you both like to order?"

Luna and Leon just stared at Kaito for a second in shock as they just shook their heads to snap out of it. The prices were pretty steep, but if the effects were actually true then the price was nothing! An item like a simple set of sandwiches here would go for more than a thousand platinum, yet it was being sold for two...

"W-Well, I guess I'll try the Milkshake... chocolate." Luna voiced as she looked at the options. She didn't know what Vanilla was, she did obviously know what Strawberry was, but she did really like chocolate. Her favorite food was chocolate cake after all. "And I'll have some sandwiches as well."

"What fillings would you like?"

"Oh, uh..." She looked to see that there was a list of different fillings. "Just ham and cheese I guess."

"Would you like the bread toasted?"

"Sure I guess?"

"Very well." Kaito nodded as he then turned his attention to Leon. "What would you like to order then, Leon? Anything catches your fancy?"

"I suppose I'll go with the Milkshake, a vanilla one." Leon was curious about this Vanilla flavour, he had already tasted a lot of chocolate things before, so he was curious to see what this Vanilla was. "I'll have some regular Chicken Wings as well."

"Okay. It won't be too long." Kaito smiled. It was true, the equipment here provided by the god allowed for much faster and perfect cooking, and the knowledge transferred about cooking to both Aruto and Kaito's minds just made it that much easier. Just as Kaito was about to get started, they all heard a groan.

They turned towards the computers to see that Reiss had just taken his headset off and stretched his actual arms as he released a satisfied sigh. He had a big smile on his face as he stood up from his seat. Kaito smiled as he could tell that Reiss's six hours were up.

"Oh, man... that was fun!" Reiss grinned as he looked around before noticing Kaito over at the bar area. He smiled before walking over while waving. "Kaito, that was so much fun! I honestly wish I could play for more than six hours, but rules are rules I guess."

Kaito chuckled. "Glad you had fun."

"Oh, Luna and Leon! Surprised to see you two here." Reiss was pleasantly surprised to see the twins sitting down at the bar in front of Kaito as he also then came over and took a seat beside them. "When did you two arrive?"

"Just a few moments ago! We're getting something to eat." Luna was the one that responded as Reiss nodded his head in understanding. Leon then seemed to blink as he narrowed his eyes at Reiss. "Reiss, has your magic capacity increased? It feels stronger than normal... did you do a ritual or use an artifact?"

"I did actually increased my magic capacity." Reiss grinned as he then gestured towards the computer he was just using, Kaito's game still on pause. "It was all thanks to that video game I was playing. It was really fun as well!"

"A video game? That again, huh?" Leon muttered. Reiss was never one to lie unless there was a good reason to. Leon looked at the machines with peaked curiosity. "You're saying this video game is the reason you managed to increase your capacity?"

"Yep! It was truly a miracle I found this place."

"That sounds crazy though..." Even Luna seemed to be in disbelief as she heard this.

"Well, why don't you order something and explain while I'm preparing it." Kaito suggested as he gestured towards the menu above the bar. Kaito looked at it with curiosity. "Since you're also a first-timer, then you can also have two items for free today. What would you like?"

"Hmm... I'll go with hot Chicken Wings." Reiss responded as Kaito nodded his head. "What's with the age-restricted item?"

"Oh, that's because its an alcohol. The one beneath is pretty much the same thing, though cheaper due to not having any expensive alcohol in it."

"Oh, then give me some of that... Mimosa?" Kaito just nodded his head with a smile in understanding. Kaito was curious to find out how the alcoholic drink tasted, and since he was a few years older than eighteen, he was more than allowed to have a drink. "Wh-What? Are these effects real...?"

"Yeah, though experiencing it is believing."

"You know, even if you just told me they were real, I would believe. How couldn't I after experiencing the Virtual Dive." Reiss chuckled as he held his head with his right hand, an amused smirk on his face all the while. Kaito just smirked before getting to work.

"Reiss... about this video game thing?"

"Oh, right! Let me explain! You see..."

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"I'm back!"

"Oh, Aruto! Welcome back!" Kaito greeted his brother who had just walked through the door. Kaito had already turned off his game after playing for a bit more. He walked on over towards his brother and took hold of half of the bags that he was holding.

"Oh, new customers?" Aruto smiled as he looked towards the computers. He saw both the Balltrosse twins playing the game with their VR headsets on. Reiss was behind them talking through the mics to give them a few pointers.

"Yep, they came in an hour or so after you left. They're the Balltrosse twins, they're friends with Reiss due to both being from noble families apparently." Kaito explained as Aruto nodded his head in understanding. "They're getting pretty used to the game. They're quick learners."

"I see."

Both the brothers went to the bar and placed all the bags behind it before walking calmly over towards the computers next to Reiss. Luna was playing rather aggressively as she was rushing in and slashing away with her weapon, though she was definitely reckless as she had already died more than five times in the first thirty minutes, though she was getting better.

Leon was much more careful compared to her and attacked and retreated constantly, not going on the very aggressive approach. Though, he did go aggressive whenever he needed to replenish his health. Leon had probably only died around two times so far and was a bit ahead of Luna due to not having needed to respawn back at the lamps so many times.

"Oh, Aruto! You're back!" Reiss grinned slightly as the brothers came over. Aruto gave him a polite nod as they all turned their attention to both the TV screens above the computers that the twins were sitting at. "Both of them are really getting the hang of it. Though, Luna could at least be more careful..."

They could only chuckle at Reiss's words, while she was more than free to play however she liked, it wouldn't hurt to at least show some more concern for one's own self. True, she knew that she couldn't truly die, but it was still real enough that it would feel like she truly died.

In the minds of the twins, they were both shocked when first getting into the game. Reiss had paid for them since they didn't bring along any coins with them, they didn't think they would have had a reason to. The game felt very real, so real to the extent that they thought they were truly teleported into a new world.

Just like how Reiss viewed it, the story behind the game was truly unique compared to anything they had ever heard before. All the novels they had read all followed a similar plotline, yet this one drifted away from that a lot. The story was far more unique compared to any novel.

It was truly now they were also drawn in by the game.

Just like Reiss was.

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