9 Chapter 8: Epilogue of Introduction

As the years passed by, Josua gained more and more experience. His mentality had completely adapted to the new reality as a whole, allowing him to battle, even in his flesh body, without much fear. His level also had been raised with the passing time. Just about a year before 238, he was already at level 75, the level he held on most of his classes (aside from Hunter and Fighter) back in the previous reality.

Also, he's recognized as part of the third generations of ARKS operatives, given his ability to do class change, having more stable photons and overall better photon potential than the second gens. His notoriety in the field, thanks to his extremely iconic look also caused him to get into Luther's radar. Thankfully, Luther was clueless as to his true identity.

In the years since he, Maria and Xiao had saved Sarah, the little girl had grew up under their care. With the combination of Maria's tutelage in combat and techniques from her experience, common sense and intuition from Josua's nurture, and Xiao's bank of knowledge and social interaction, Sarah was a few steps ahead of what she had been in the previous reality.

Where Sarah would live depends on who's lesson she was attending at the time. For example, if it was Maria, then she'd go wherever Maria went, be it Naverius, Lilipa, Amduskia or any other places. If it was Josua, then she'd live with him in his Personal Quarters (PQ). On some cases, he'd even bring her with him back to his place on Earth to help teach her with social relations.

He'd call some of his friends to help teach her some common sense that was acceptable on both Earth and ARKS (they don't know about the ARKS part, so Josua moderated for that after they spent time with her). As for the excuse he used on who she was, he said that she was the daughter of someone he knew, and that that person asked him to help look after her. As for Xiao... He'd spend time with her in Josua's PQ as well, or any other place that's not monitored by Luther, really.

Meanwhile, you ask, what about his life on Earth? Of course, having Sarah living with him when it's time for his lesson gave his life some more color. He lived alone, so it was interesting for those who knew him to see him handling (and raising) a little girl. He had handled little girls before in his previous reality, having several nieces from his elder siblings and sometimes keeping them company, and not to mention he has a little sister to boot. However, compared to the experience in the latter, he was better with the former, at least, in handling them.

.....

Back in his PQ, Josua mused for a while on how to proceed with his financials on Earth. Xiao was also there as well.

For his income (since he decided to at least avoid some suspicions), he worked with Xiao to create something like a spatial bag.

"This should be enough to function as a real-life inventory." He said to himself.

On the outside, the bag would have a typical bag appearance (and it can be any type of bag), but the inside was pretty much like another dimension, which functions as storage. Using an app on the phone (or a holographic display on the bag, which requires the user's biometrics to keep it secure), people can choose which item they'd want to take out before they open the bag and they could take out the item.

"Sigh... This will get those people's attention, but no choice. Need to get some money, at least." He determined after considering the risks.

Using his wealth, he made a two-man company (for the time being), and with his connections, he made a deal with a manufacturer to help produce the bags (at least the base bags, before the implementation of the spatial storage). He hired a secretary, Maria Scheer (introduced by a friend of his after he asked for help to find a secretary), being the second 'man' of the two-man company.

After producing around 5000 bags as the first production batch, he went to Xiao and had him help in installing the spatial storage to the bag. And as an added security function after further discussion with Xiao, the bag would be able to hide its spatial storage capability and only show the "normal" insides of the bag, which would look like a normal bag, should anyone other than the owner of the bag tried to look (and rummage) into the bag (which also applies to X-Rays and any other form of scanners available at the time).

Also, any weapons or the such can't be stored in the bag, unless the owner was confirmed to still be in active duty of the military, law enforcement, or have the appropriate permits to possess them. This helped in preventing terrorist from using it for their acts of terror. And to differ between civilian and military versions more, he limited the civilian version's max capacity to 50 items, while the military version's max capacity was 100 items.

"With this, it should be more secure." Josua nodded after he discussed with Xiao on the addition of the new security feature to the existing one.

.....

At the time when he finished the product, it was the year AD 2020. And compared to his previous reality, COVID-19 didn't occur in this reality. Hence, he was able to go to CES 2020.

Right now, he was standing in front of the whole audience, which was filled with tech enthusiasts, other manufacturers, and journalists. Most of them didn't even know what he was doing there, but they know of his reputation previously as a talented professional gamer.

"Josua? Why is he here?"

"Isn't he a pro gamer? Why would he be in a show like this?"

"He's probably selling some tech merch."

"Please. You wish it would be that simple."

Make no mistake, he's super nervous about this. But it was almost time to start, and he could only swallow it down the hatch.

"Hush! It's about to begin!"

The lights then went towards him, signalling that it was time for the show to start. He took a deep breath and put on a confident face, straightening his back and cracked his knuckles.

"Greetings to all of you. I thank you all for coming to this small occasion of mine." Josua said.

"Right now, I bet you're all wondering: Why am I here? A pro gamer, standing on this podium for consumer electronics?"

"Well... Let's just get to the meat of it, really."

"I'm not good with this kind of thing, make no mistake. But I do have something that may, no, will, revolutionize on how we carry thing."

He then gestured to one of the models to bring the bag along with her. The audience was baffled at the sight of it.

"A bag, really?" One journalist said.

"We came all this way for a bag? And you call THAT revolutionary?" A company rep sneered.

Obviously, some were already showing dissatisfaction with what they're seeing.

"Now, now. You'd think this bag is just a bag. You're right... And wrong." He smirked.

"If this was just a bag, I'd go to a fashion show. Why bother here?" He said as he wandered around the stage for a bit, before going back to the side of the model.

"Now, dear. Please open the bag and show them the insides." He said to the model.

The girl opened the bag and showed the innards, which was also visible to the audience from the cameras showing the insides by zooming in.

"You thought his was a joke, right? Well then, let me show you something interesting." He grinned as he opened the bag's app on his phone.

After signing into the app, he chose a 17" laptop that was inside the spatial storage in the bag. He then authenticated his biometrics by the bag's holographic display, and put his hands into the bag. To make it more interesting, he put his hands ALL THE WAY into the bag, which was enough to baffle the audience once more. The bag for the presentation, mind you, was a small handbag.

Before the audience could digest what they had just seen, he pulled out the large laptop from the bag, seemingly out of nowhere. The whole audience went into an uproar.

"What is this?! A magic show?!"

"Is this a joke?"

Josua was grinning so much that some of the audience felt like they were just being fooled upon. He calmed himself down before he clapped his hands to silence the audience.

"You think this is a magic trick. I won't blame you."

"However... I'll invite one of you to the stage. I've prepared a bag, and a phone for you to try it yourself." He said as he looked around, before he decided on one person.

"Mr. Austin Evans, would you please come to the stage, and try this interesting thing yourself?" He smirked as he invited the man in question.

Austin, who was among the audience, was surprised to be chosen for the occasion. He looked to Ken on his side, and the man simply gave him a thumbs up with a grin. Austin only sighed, before he left his seat and went up the stage.

"Mind you all, while I am a fan of Mr. Austin Evans here, he's not, in any way, paid by me or whatsoever to participate in this demonstration." He clarified with conviction in his voice.

Of course, some of those in the audience still have doubts. There was no way to confirm the veracity of his words after all.

"Now, Mr. Evans. If you would." He gestured as a crew went up to the man and gave him a fresh bag and phone to try it himself. Of course, inside the bag's spatial storage, it already had another large laptop inside of it.

Austin opened the app on the phone. He signed into the app after making an account, and picked the only item inside the storage: the large laptop. After registering his biometrics to the bag, he then opened the bag (which was also a small handbag, by the way).

He could only see black from the supposed innards of the bag, and when he plunged his hand into the bag, it felt like it could even swallow him whole. But before that feeling overwhelmed him, his hand picked up the laptop and pulled it out of the small bag. The audience was astonished once more of the sight.

"As you can see, this is no magic trick." Josua smirked at the audience.

Austin could only guffaw at the sight in front of him. That really just happened, and he himself had experienced it. It was no magic trick!

"This is our company's, my EvoTec's first, and latest product: DiS-B! The Dimensional Storage Bag!" Josua exclaimed with pride.

"As it says on the name, you can practically store anything in the bag without fear of it getting stolen or whatnot! Food or drinks will also stay fresh inside the storage, even if you leave it there forever!" He further said, hyping up the audience.

Other companies' reps were already eyeing on it like wolves, while journalists and tech enthusiasts were already on their laptops, typing away on the latest revolution in the whole industry.

"If you want to ask when and where you can buy it, here's my answer: Today! You can buy it today at our booth, or on your preferred online retailers! As for the price, for you all who came here to this presentation... It's only a mere USD 399! But after today, it'll be USD 499, and you can only get it online!" He said with a smile.

"Also, this is the civilian version. For our military and law enforcement members, we have another version for you as well! You can contact us for further details if you're interested!" He continued.

"Mr. Austin Evans, I gift this bag and phone for you. Thank you for participating in this demonstration of mine." He smiled as he shook hands with the tech Youtuber.

"That's all! Thank you for coming here today!" He bowed and left the stage.

The whole audience was no longer restricted in their excitement and the hall went into a full frenzy after witnessing the revolution in front of them.

Meanwhile, in the backstage, he gave the bag and phone that was first used to the model who held the bag. He, of course, wiped the account in the app with his admin credentials so that it'll be usable by a new person.

.....

The entire consumer market was taken by storm with the new product. DiS-B was an instant success. On CES alone, he sold at least 1000 units. He technically only brought 100, but due to the demand, he had to ship the rest of the purchases over from his country to the US.

After Josua came back to his company's office, which was on the 30th Floor of the NEO SOHO building, his secretary was in full work mode. Seeing her boss coming back, the lass went up to him and looked like she had just won the Superbowl.

"Boss! BOSS! Our company's product is a TOTAL HIT! We got offers from the military of countries all over the globe, and our initial 4000 civilian stock is already sold out on Amazon!" She exclaimed with fervor, shaking Josua despite him being larger than her.

"Calm down girl. It's all to be expected. For now, tell the manufacturer to start cranking out more bags. We'll try to supply the civilian stock first, with the target of 10000 a month." He chuckled at the sight of her being this happy.

"Also, if you know some people, we need to hire at least eight more people to keep things from piling up on you. As long as they're honest, responsible and loyal, I'm fine with whoever you bring." He patted her shoulder.

"Yessir!" She was brimming with smiles, from ear to ear.

.....

Meanwhile...

Of course, this new invention attracted the attention of the major parties on Earth, notably ESC-A and Earth Guide. The two knew that this item was not only revolutionary, but also far beyond what humanity at the time was capable off.

They had no luck in finding the person that was of interest four years ago. Hence, everything just moved along prior to this bombshell.

In the ESC-A HQ on the Moon...

Mother wasn't actively watching CES. In fact, it was only brought up to her by one of the higher-ups of ESC-A that answers to her directly.

"Go and recruit this person." Mother said, from her throne on the Moon, after she watched the CES stream.

It should be known at this point that the core facilities of ESC-A on the Moon has been properly built, and at that time, Mother would spend equal amount of time there and inside her core space. Also, ESC-A were already infiltrating across the globe. At that point, they, by proximity, had control over at least 40% within various governments and businesses across the globe.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, under the City of Sins.

Adam had just watched the year's CES stream. He often monitored on how humanity advanced in various aspects, and it includes technology, since it's the most visible aspect of advancement of a civilization. For example: when TVs were initially introduced, they were box-shaped, and used rotating disks and lenses to operate. But by the year 2020, around 80+ years since the first known TV was invented, TVs were not only large, but also thin, almost bezel-less ( in fact, some are bezel-less), and used OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) as the standard. The leap is almost insane if you think about it!

"We must have this person join our cause!" Adam said as he stood from his seat, while his subordinate nodded and went off.

By pure coincidence, or not, both Earth Guide and ESC-A decided to approach the inventor of the revolutionary product, without knowing that said person was the very one that they failed to find four years ago.

Following the CES 2020 fiasco, Josua was approached by both ESC-A and Earth Guide. And after discussing with Xiao and Maria back in his PQ, the trio agreed on him joining Mother's Corps. The reason being that he would serve as a double agent of sorts, feeding them non-critical information while keeping them from being suspicious of him.

Also, he asked Xiao to help him mask his information, and of another person of his choosing later on, by creating a dummy data for him and said other person. This was to fool other members from Mother's Corps, since they'd be gathering data earnestly, unlike him.

Also, by the time the date reached the point where initially came from the previous reality, AD 2020/8/5 (August 5th, 2020), he had upgraded his computer both on Earth and in his PQ aboard the ARKS Ship to better specs than in his previous reality. The following were the parts in question:

- Ryzen 9 3900X for the CPU,

- Noctua NH-D15 for the CPU Cooler,

- ROG Crosshair VIII X570 for the Motherboard,

- G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32GB DDR4-3600MHz for the RAM(s),

- GTX 1660Ti for the graphics card (he found out about the RTX 30 series that would be announced in the next month, which saved him from buying the RTX 20 series card and instead made him wait for the RTX 30 series),

- Seasonic Prime 1000 Titanium for the PSU,

- Cooler Master Cosmos C700P for the PC Case (yes, it's a Full Tower),

- Corsair Force MP600 1TB for OS storage (it's redundant with the advent of ESC-A OS, but oh well, it's a habit),

- Samsung 860 Evo 4TB SSD for gaming storage.

And yes, Steam, Origin, etc., those platforms still exist. Though it did take them a year to adapt to the new Aethernet into their existing service, replacing the old Internet entirely. Windows 10 at this point was completely superseded by ESC-A OS, and only some would still have it (including him).

Other MMOs from various companies, such as FFXIV, Guild Wars 2, WoW, and ESO, also had resumed their services around a year and a half after they began upgrading their infrastructure to support Aethernet as well, though they lost a significant amount of their player base to PSO2 that was launched at the same time as ESC-A OS did four years prior.

He also bought the Note20 Ultra to replace his old Note 4 (apparently, the him of this reality bought it to replace the Note 3, like the one from the previous reality), and an additional phone, the ROG Phone 3.

.....

Just a couple of years prior to AP 238...

Sarah spent some time in Josua's PQ. At this point, it was her second home. It's been several years since she was saved from Luther's clutches. Having been trained (and raised) by Maria, Josua and Xiao, she was no longer the weak child that she was before. She was on the computer that Josua decided to build especially for her.

Compared to Josua that still felt awkward when he used ARKS' virtual computer, she was able to adapt to both Earth-based computers and ARKS-based ones.

She was a bit more open socially compared to both when she was first saved and the previous reality. As to her sense of direction, which was infamously known to be poor in the previous reality, it barely improved, if any. The only saving grace was that she'd at least know which way was south, north, east and west. She still sucked at recalling where the direction of her destination was supposed to be though.

Where she would sleep in his PQ, you ask? He bought another bed for her, and it was placed to the left of the music box in the bedroom.

At this time, Josua had just came back from another sabotage operation with Maria. When she was still a bit younger, every time both him and Maria came back, she'd jumped and hugged Josua, with a silly smile on her face, while pouting towards Maria. But nowadays, she was a bit more reserved, though still she'd welcome him with the silly smile (while sarcastically welcoming back Maria).

"Welcome back, Josua-nii." She smiled.

"I'm back." He replied, patting her head with a smile.

"Hey, I'm also here, you know?" Maria rolled her eyes.

"Oh. Yeah, I know." Sarah said, sneering at the lady before she went to prepare some food.

Along the years, Josua had purchased more appliances, like an oven, dishwasher, and a kitchen stove. They were placed next to the fridge, which was on the opposite side where it used to be, (used to be near the dinner table). It wasn't exactly ideal to keep going to Franca's Cafe for a meal, even though it was delicious without a doubt. He wanted to teach Sarah to not make the same mistake as he did, which was complete dependency on external services.

When Sarah was still a kid, Josua was the one that often cooked. Because she wanted to learn, he taught her some skills, and after also learning from his friends that came over whenever she was on his Earth home, she was good enough to cook some decent meal.

"Dinner's gonna be some curry with rice." Sarah said as she checked the pot on the stove, which was filled with curry that had cuts of meat and vegetables in it.

"Nice." Josua smirked.

"Hoho, so now the little snot-nosed brat can cook. Let's see how bad it is." Maria teased, folding her arms.

"Shaddap, or you ain't gonna get dinner, stupid Maria!" Sarah stomped her feet, pouting at Maria.

Xiao then came in while this was all happening.

"Hey, what's for dinner?" the blue-haired boy asked.

"Curry with rice. I'm cooking. And don't say anything, stupid Xiao." She glared at him, before turning away from him.

"What did I do...?" He was baffled.

Josua sighed, while Maria was laughing out loud. The three sat down on their seats as Sarah carried their plates one by one to the table. Xiao doesn't need to eat per say, but it was a novel experience for the young boy.

.....

Just a few months before AP 238/2/20...

Afin was standing in front of the ARKS administration building. He was preparing himself to join ARKS, in order to search for his sister that went missing 10 years ago. His hands were still shaking. This was a big step in his life. This was the only way for him to find his sister.

He took a deep breath, and slightly smack his own face to calm his nerves down. As he walked into the place, it was filled with various hopefuls that wanted to join ARKS.

It should be noted that those that wanted to join ARKS must pass certain tests, and even before that, their photon aptitude would be tested. If it passed a certain threshold, they could join the military and become a field operative. But, if was below said threshold, but above the minimum requirement, they could become a support operator, a researcher, or auxiliaries like pilots and the such. And at least, 75% of the time, they get rejected due to lacking photon aptitude. 15% of the time, they'd be the behind-the-scenes crew. The remaining 10% would go and become field operatives, deployed to various discovered planets for various missions.

While he was waiting for his turn, having registered online to take the aptitude test and exams, he saw someone came into the building. It needn't to be said that people would come and go from the building.

"Hmm? Who's that guy?" He thought.

What was weird was, the person in question simply came over to the desk at the front, and showed some sort of badge. The receptionist then checked the database, from the looks of it, and was shocked to see the results. She then bowed slightly and gestured politely for that person to go inside.

"Wha- He just went in, like that?" He raised his brows in surprise.

He pondered and then came to the conclusion that that person was probably some big shot or something. With that in mind, he calmed down and continued waiting. Soon enough, he was notified to come inside.

Following the photon aptitude test, which he passed, he was then given a selection of classes based on his aptitude results.

"Hmm... Hngg.... I'll go with Ranger, I guess..." He decided after pondering for a while.

He wasn't exactly the best in close-combat, and he wasn't fond of the idea of facing Falspawns head-on. Though he had no idea what they actually look like, he felt that it might be a bad idea to just fight them melee without having any mental preparations.

With that done, he then went to the exam hall, which was several walks away from the aptitude test site in the administration building. As he got to his seat, he finally noticed that he was seating to that person who just went inside before. It was Josua (not that he know who he was).

"Yo, mate! You here to join ARKS?" Afin greeted him.

"Ah, yeah. Took a while, but finally got around to do this." Josua replied.

"Seems like we'll be seeing a lot for the next three months. Be countin' on ya, mate!" Afin offered his hand.

"Sure." Josua smiled, and shook Afin's hand.

And thus, the two began their journey together as ARKS newbies. Both would participate in the basic training that ARKS provided to their new recruits. Basic knowledge on Falspawns, how to use weapons, Photon Arts etc., and various miscellaneous things related to their duties as an ARKS operative.

Three months later...