Chapter 3 - It Is Time

Chapter 3 – It is time

"How is the result of the entrance exam?" Mom asked.

Berry stopped for a moment but continued making drinks for mom. He did not reply to her and focused on his task.

Seeing no reply from Berry, mom asked again, "How is it?"

'Should I tell her? If she knew about it, she will want me to enroll but our family situations right now is a bit…' thought Berry. He had given up but if his mom knew about it, she would want him to enroll.

'Lying? Saying I fail them all?' Berry frowned. He did not want to lie to his family.

"Berry?" Mom called breaking his thought. Berry looked at his mom and he took a deep breath. He was thinking either to tell her the truth or lied about it.

"I…" Berry hesitated but he steeled his heart and replied, "I passed ten of them. Three from prestigious universities but only one offered the course that I applied," Berry decided to tell the truth. Lying would make things complicated.

"Really!" Mom was in joy. She knew Berry worked hard all this time and he took many entrance exams. Passing ten of them was a huge achievement. She was happy for Berry.

"But I decide to give up," Berry added. He did not want to delay telling his family about this. It was better to hammer them with everything he had in one go.

Mom's face changed. "Why?" Mom asked but she came to a realization in a second and spoke, "Is it because of the family debt? You don't need to worry about it, we will do our best to support your studies."

Berry pursed his mouth and then, he smiled. Berry continued with the drinks and spoke, "It's fine mom. I can take the exam again when our family is stable. For now, I plan to work and save money. In a year or two, I will take the exam again when I have saved enough money."

Berry did not plan this but he needed to convince his mom about his decision. If he said he would give up without any plan, his mom would blame herself for what had happened.

Berry knew his mom would want him to further his studies and giving up completely would break her heart. With his brother's condition like that, Berry did not want to add more.

"But-" Mom seemed to disagree with Berry's decision but he cut her word off.

"I will be late than my peers but it is better late than never. For now, our family needs to focus on sister Belinda and brother Bendy. You don't need to worry about me, mom. I know what I am doing," Berry smiled.

"…" mom was silent was a few seconds before she said, "I am sorry, Berry," with tears gleaming in her eyes.

Berry smiled, "It's okay, mom. I understand." Berry hugged his mom to calm her.

While this was happening, Belinda was in the living room spectating this scene. She bit her lips in frustration because Belinda knew, her mistake at work was the main cause of the family's financial problem.

Belinda left the living room to her room.

"So, are you going to look for a job now?" Mom asked after she had calmed.

"A big company is recruiting and they accept high school graduates. I don't know if I will get the job but I want to try," Berry replied. After that, they talked for a bit more and mom went back to her room to rest. Berry's mom would go back to the hospital again that night.

Berry's dad had been staying at the hospital since the accident. Berry had not seen him for a while since the accident.

Before Berry went to his part-time job, he studied a bit about the Thunder Tiger Company. The interviewer might ask questions about the company and he did not want to fail with that easy question.

In the afternoon, Berry went to work and at night, he came home. His mom and Belinda had gone to the hospital and would stay overnight again. As usual, his mom had cooked some food for him.

Berry prepared for the interview for a bit before he went to sleep.

Winter 27th, Month 3, the Year 2300.

As usual, Berry woke up early but he did not practice his martial arts. He needed to take the train early because the Thunder Tiger company was located in the neighboring city.

Berry lived at Green Leaf City located south of Leefee state. Leefee state was one of the fifteen states in Glint Country. The Thunder Tiger Company was located at Blue Leaf City which was west of Green Leaf City.

It would take an hour for Berry to travel to Blue Leaf City by train. Also, Blue Leaf City was four times bigger than Green Leaf City and thus, the traffic in the city would be worse than the Green Leaf City.

Due to that, Berry needed to travel earlier in the day or he would get stuck in the traffic. No matter the city, it would be the rush hour in the morning. The earlier people got out, the faster they would arrive at their location.

Berry took the bus to the train station at six in the morning and arrived at the station half an hour later. After that, he bought the ticket and fifteen minutes later, the train arrived.

While waiting for the train, there were already many people at the station. Luckily, it was during the school break. When the school had started, the train station would be packed with students.

Berry took the train and an hour later, he arrived at Blue Leaf City. When he got out of the station, he was shocked to see that the traffic was congested.

"Bus or taxi?" Berry was conflicted. He decided to take the bus because no matter the taxi or the bus, he would still be stuck in the traffic.

As he was stuck in the traffic, Berry arrived at the Thunder Tiger Company an hour and a half later, a bit after 9 am.

Berry got off the bus and he met with a tall building with a massive Thunder Tiger logo in front of the building. Not only that, there were big screens around the building advertising the company's products, players, and many more.

Berry walked towards the building and as he got closer to the building, he saw a lot of people camping in front of the building with banners around them.

Many of the banners had the words 'I LOVE YOU, XXXX'.

"…" Berry was speechless. He knew that they were fans but he found their actions stupid. "Why waste time waiting in the cold like this?" Berry mumbled. It was winter and although the temperature had slowly gone up since it would be spring soon, it was still cold.

"This feels like an entertainment company," Berry added. He once passed through an entertainment agency in Green Leaf City and he saw the same situation happened.

"Well~ the players are celebrities. Many of the players act in dramas and movies too while still being a player. So, technically, this treatment from their fans is understandable though I also find them stupid for doing this," suddenly, a voice came from behind Berry.

Berry was surprised and he looked behind him and saw a man around the same height as him but he looked more handsome and older than Berry. From Berry's observation, the man was in his early 20s. The man also wore a fleece vest with the company's logo at the right chest of the vest.

'An employee? No, he looks fashionable and somehow has this celebrity aura… A player. Maybe a popular one?' thought Berry. Since he was not into gaming, he was oblivious to the popular gamers in the industry.

"Hello," Berry greeted the man. Since he had no idea of the man's identity, it was better to be respectful.

"I don't think I ever see you in the company… Ah~ today is the open interview!" the man clapped his hand. "Joining the team? A player?" the man asked while smiling.

"Urm… no. I am not a player. I am here to interview for the Junior Assistant position," Berry replied with a respectful tone.

"Ah…" the man sounded a bit disappointed but he smiled again. "Good luck. If you get the job, it will be nice if you are assigned to my team. You look like a nice guy," the man smiled.

"Thank you," Berry smiled.

"Hmm…" the man nodded happily and then silence enveloped them. The situation became awkward.

'Is he waiting for something?' thought Berry while still maintaining his smile.

'He doesn't know me? Not a fan?' thought the man.

"Well then, good luck again," the man broke the silence and left Berry. He walked past the fans and suddenly, all of them screamed passionately as they saw him.

"RUDY!!!"

"KYA!!! RUDY, I LOVE YOU!!!"

"YOU ARE SO HANDSOME!!!"

The fan got crazy and they started to run after the man, Rudy. At the same time, the guards from the building rushed out and blocked the fans. Rudy got out of the mob safely into the building. While entering the building, he looked super happy and satisfied while the guards looked annoyed and tired.

"…" Berry was speechless. "Why is a celebrity going through the front gate?" Berry was confused but he had an idea what had happened.

Berry shook his head and went to the front door. He told the guard that he came for the open interview and got in safely. Berry got to the interview's venue and there were already many people there. Most of them were gamers who wanted to join the team.

Berry got to the area where it was for the Junior Assistant job and there were also many people there. From their faces, Berry could guess that they were around his age. Some of them might be a year or two older but many were around his age.

Berry submitted his resume and waited for his turn to come.