Returning from Prison

It was nighttime, inside a small house in a crowded, run-down neighborhood.

Aaron placed his bag on the floor after pressing the light switch. His eyes were filled with tears as he looked around. He had left this room behind for over ten years, and was now in a completely unkempt state!

Cobwebs and thick dust plates were everywhere. Dead animal carcasses in the hubs of the room. And black mold covered even the bed.

Aaron let out a long breath. He could only swallow his misery.

The most famous player in the entire world, adored by millions, now languishing in his shabby little room in deplorable conditions. No one would have ever guessed it!

Ten years ago, Aaron was a swordsman cultivation legend in an MMORPG game called 'Martial Earth Online'. He was dubbed as Unmatched Sword Master due to his unbelievable swordplay skills. During his time playing the online cultivation game, Aaron never suffered a single defeat!

Very quickly, his name skyrocketed. Almost the entire world knew of him. As well as his swordplay skills and cultivation level, Aaron became even more unrivaled. After three years of playing 'Martial Earth Online', Aaron topped all the fighters. Nobody could beat him!

However, this was not good for him. The company that owned 'Martial Earth Online', Martial Online Company, suffered huge losses as most of its players stopped playing their online game, all because Aaron was unbeatable!

Every cultivator's dream was to reach the highest peak in sword arts and cultivation, but with Aaron's existence, they dashed their hopes to nothing.

The Martial Online Company had tried to block Aaron's account secretly, but some of Aaron's friends had helped him a lot with complicated codes so that the blocking attempt could be thwarted.

But the world's largest company like Martial Online Company couldn't give up. Unable to use the stealth route, they started using the open way. Aaron was being sued for something he'd never even done!

Since Martial Online Company was an enormous company with a lot of money and influence over the world, Aaron was helpless. He was found guilty despite being completely innocent.

They sentenced Aaron to fifteen years in prison, as well as giving back all the money he had earned from playing 'Martial Earth Online'.

Giving back all the money was no small feat.

Although Aaron didn't use most of the money he earned from playing 'Martial Earth Online', he used a small portion for global humanitarian causes. He had a lot of money even though it was only a small portion.

Aaron had to pay 700,000,000 Credits. It was a lot, and even ten years later, when Aaron got out of prison due to remission, he still had to repay the debt as soon as possible.

"What should I do now?" The light of his life had vanished and he was desperate.

Aaron took a deep breath. He glanced at the apple-cutting knife lying on the floor of his room. The knife had rusted but was still sharp enough to be able to slice through human skin...

'Knock! Knock! Knock!'

Aaron's reverie was broken when his ears caught the sound of knocking. He slowly walked towards the door of his room and looked out through the small round glass that was there.

It could be seen that a charming young woman was standing in front of his bedroom door in formal attire. Aaron's face immediately paled. He thought that she was a messenger of the Martial Online Company who had come to collect his debt!

"Is anyone inside?" The girl asked in a slightly loud voice.

Aaron adjusted his breathing. Only when his mind calmed down did he reply, "My life will end in a moment. Leave me alone!"

There was silence for a moment before finally the girl's voice was heard again, "I didn't come with bad intentions. Let me in, and we can talk well."

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Aaron replied.

"Something important, related to your debts," said the mysterious girl. "I can't reveal it here, so let me come in first."

About his debts? A little apprehensive, Aaron opened the door but hold the girl back from entering his room.

"What's wrong with my debts?" Aaron asked immediately.

"Can I come in?" The girl asked back in a flat tone.

"My room is dirty." Aaron smiled bitterly. He thought that the girl should have been able to figure out that after not coming home for over ten years, his room was not in a state to receive guests.

"Not a problem." Having finished saying that, the girl stormed in. Aaron couldn't hold her back anymore.

By raising a pair of eyebrows that were beautifully arched like an archery bow, the girl had shown her surprise at the condition of Aaron's room, but she did not comment at all.

"I am Leen from Martial Online Company. I've been privy to all of your problems regarding those debts. Under these circumstances, you should be miserable."

Aaron could only smile bitterly without replying to anything. The words of the girl named Leen were the absolute truth...

"Are you here to collect a debt?" Aaron asked again.

"No, I'm not. I'm here to make an offer." From inside her bag, Leen took out a helmet that was familiar to Aaron's eyes. "Ten years ago, you ruined our company. We lost 'Martial Earth Online'. But three years ago, we created a replacement, which is much bigger and more amazing, that is 'Martial Universe Online'.

"Even so, there was a system flaw in the game that our programmers could not fix. It was the increase in the number of Goblins and Orcs beyond what the players could handle. Many complaints have come to us, and we must take immediate action if we do not want to go bankrupt again.

"Since the system can not fix the flaw, we must eliminate manually the Goblins and Orcs. We have seen your reputation as a skilled swordsman. You were once dubbed as Unmatched Swords Master. So we want you to help us reduce the number of Goblins and Orcs. One Goblin or Orc will be worth one Credit for you."

Aaron knitted his eyebrows. If the offer was like that, then to pay off the entire debt, he would need to kill 700,000,000 Goblins or Orcs!

"I don't want to raise the sword for your company anymore. Ten years behind the prison is enough for me. I don't want to get into any more trouble."

That refusal had naturally shocked Leen! However, the girl remained calm.

"Fine. If you don't want to, you must pay your entire debt to the Martial Online Company within seven days."

"Seven days? Seriously! You intend to frame me?" Aaron's face shows his disbelief.

"To be more precise, you don't have many options right now." Leen smiled cruelly while glancing at the rusty apple-cutting knife on the floor of Aaron's room. "But you don't have to make a decision right now. I will leave this helmet for you, and you agree to the offer if you activate it. Also, I will leave some food money for you to use for at least the next seven days."

Leen placed the virtual reality helmet as well as a large envelope of money on the very dusty table. After that, she walked towards the door but stopped before actually going out.

"Oh, yes. It looks like you'll be so exhausted that you won't be able to think straight if you clean this room alone. I'll send some guy to help you."

Aaron was silent as he stared at Leen's back getting away from him. Only then, did he take a long breath.