6 Chapter 6 - Behind the Digital World 

Boo-ba stepped out of the portal with a beaming smile and even a silent chuckle. He strutted, his chest held high as if the world was watching him. His luck had been extraordinary; he had managed to form a contract with a spirit of Epic grade!

"Common, Rare, Elite, and Epic," he declared proudly, "I got a grade way above what the average person can get in one attempt!"

Boo-ba roughly came out about thirty minutes after entering the spirit world, and at that time, he also turned around to look for Broken's whereabouts. Checking his friend lists, Boo-ba discovered that Broken had hidden all information about himself, including where he was and what level he had, only that he was online.

"I think my friend is the shy type, hahaha. He's lucky to have a friend like me who is very friendly and kind."

A hint of a smile crossed his face as he said confidently, "I think he's still in the spirit world. I'd better wait a while to share this happy news with him." Even though he was eager to show off what he had gotten to everyone, he wanted to make sure he could share his success with his best friend first.

On Boo-ba's left shoulder perched a creature – a monster-like pterodactyl – which was exactly the spirit beast he had contracted with – a baby wyvern with blue scaly skin. However, the size of the wyvern was still comparable to that of a hen. It seemed Boo-ba would need to wait a while until he could ride it and soar through the clouds.

"Ha ha ha ha," Boo-ba strutted among the other players, attempting to show off his wyvern, but no one seemed to take notice.

He burst out laughing, then cleared his throat and declared, "This is Epic grade!"

But his enthusiasm was met with a disinterested, "Yep, nobody cares."

Boo-ba waited outside the Temple of Blessing, watching intently and relentlessly at the temple door, waiting for Broken to appear. His chest was still pounding from the euphoria of his great success, but after three hours of waiting, Broken had yet to arrive, causing Boo-ba to stand up and start looking worried.

"Did something happen to him?" he tried to ask some of the players who were in that place.

"You think your friend is someone important? Do you think I care?" they replied harshly.

"Tsk!" Boo-ba clicked his tongue in disapproval. "These amateur players really don't know how to be polite."

Several hours later, Boo-ba was still patiently waiting when the thing he had been expecting finally arrived. "Broken!" he shouted, trying to attract the attention of his comrades who had come out of the Temple of Blessing.

"But! What the heck happened to him?!"

Boo-ba saw Broken emerge from the temple completely naked and stood in shock.

"Is he insane? Did he not get the contract, and that's why he's so depressed?!"

"Broken!" Boo-ba chased after him, but Broken quickly vanished into the depths of the forest.

"Man, what a shame for my friend!" Boo-ba exclaimed, unable to believe what he had just seen. "It must be so hard for him to come back and fail this miserably after all those failures he's had."

Boo-ba paused to ponder, then resolutely decided, "I guess I need to do something to lift his spirits."

***

An unexpected hissing noise filled the air, and an open-top capsule suddenly moved forward with its lid open. Inside was a 19-year-old man with blond hair and piercing blue eyes.

Leon Chambers was in a state of panic, his face pale and drawn. He had been sitting in the capsule device for four hours, the longest he had ever spent playing the virtual game since he first got the capsule.

He rose swiftly from his seated position and stepped out of the capsule. Standing at a tall stature of 1.79 meters (5.88 feet), he had a slender frame yet it was clear that his muscles were well-developed from all the hard work he had done so far.

He was in his own room, where a bed, a table, and some chairs were the only furnishings - a stark contrast to the immersive experience he had just left.

The rusty door at the far end of the room creaked open, and in walked a fifteen-year-old girl. She was around 1.65 meters (5.41 feet) tall, with shoulder-length blonde hair, a slender face, fair skin, and mesmerizing emerald green eyes. Her name was Lily and she was Leon's younger sister.

"Leon," she said, her voice laced with anxiety, "I've been trying to wake you up…."

"It's okay, Lily," Leon said hurriedly, grabbing his bag from his desk. "Something's happened inside the game, and I can only get out of it at this point. So I'm leaving right away."

Without hesitation, he ran out of the room and out of the small house on the outskirts of town where he, Lily, and his uncle lived. Leon quickly hopped on his bicycle and began pedaling away.

Lily chased Leon towards the door and noticed him looking really rushed to leave for his workplace.

"It's unusual for Leon to spend this much time in the game," she muttered under her breath. "He's only devoted an hour each day since he got the capsule a year ago. It appears he likes the game, and is he now bored with his routine, so he's spending more time in the game?"

Lily thought of a way to cheer him up, "Maybe I'll make him a special meal. That'll surely lift his spirits!" she said.

***

Leon hastily parked his bicycle and sprinted to the convenience store located on the outskirts of town, not far from his home. Inside, a 23-year-old man with a plump physique and rosy cheeks was stomping out with a scowl on his face. He was Bob, Leon's manager.

Bob opened the convenience store door as soon as he noticed Leon walking in, his face drenched in sweat and pale as a ghost.

"You stupid asshole," he spat, "do you think this place belongs to your dead father? Do you think you can do whatever you want here? You're just a poor person trying to make a living, so it's only fitting that you work with more discipline!" Bob's verbal barrage was unrelenting.

"I have something urgent to take care of." Leon apologized, trying to explain the situation to Bob. He knew that Bob expected punctuality from his employees, but Leon had always been reliable, arriving early and staying late, so he was hoping for some leniency.

"I'm sorry, Bob," he continued.

"Who do you think I am, Leon, stupid asshole? You are worthless to this place. Therefore, you must leave here without your salary due to the fact that you have broken company rules. Now, get away from me; I don't want to see your disgusting face!" Bob concluded his words with a repulsive tone.

"Come on, Bob, I've only done this once."

However, Bob had already gone back inside, and the door in front of Leon was immediately closed.

Leon clicked his tongue in frustration as he kicked a small rock in front of him while walking away in annoyance. "At least give me my salary for this month, you asshole Bob!"

As Leon was walking away from the convenience store, he heard the door open behind him again.

"Just look at that useless man," Bob said. "Are you sure he is your boyfriend, Linda?"

Leon recognized Bob's voice and the name of the woman he was referring to. He and Linda had a special bond from their time working in the store together.

Leon turned his head and saw the figure of Linda standing beside Bob, an incredibly gorgeous girl who stood at an impressive 1.7 meters (5.6 feet) tall. Her body was incredibly sexy with light brown hair, full breasts, wide hips, and a complexion as white as snow. Her beauty was undeniable and it was love at first sight for anyone who laid eyes on her.

"Linda?" Leon muttered under his breath.

"Boyfriend?" Linda said with a shocked expression on her face. "Bob, are you kidding me? I just used him to be a delivery boy…. He is useless, poor and of no worth to me, he is trash.

Leon's face contorted with rage as Linda uttered her words. "Are you seriously telling me this?" he asked, disbelief lacing his voice.

For all intents and purposes, they were a couple, at least that's what Linda had always proclaimed to the others. Despite the fact that they had never done anything like an ordinary couple would, they hadn't even shared a single kiss. He shook his head in disbelief and voiced his thoughts in a hushed tone, "Linda, can you at least show me respect as a friend? Can you take back what you said?"

Linda flashed a faint smile and replied, "You don't have a job now, Leon. You're no longer of use to me, so you should just rot in the trash where you belong."

Bob stepped up beside Linda and draped his arm around her waist. He sneered at Leon, "Now get out of here, dog!"

Leon stared at the two of them as they turned and headed back into the store, the glass doors closing behind them with a finality that seemed to echo in Leon's head. He was left standing outside, still seething with anger.

Leon clicked his tongue, holding in the anger that was bubbling up in his heart. "The asshole Bob, and now Linda!" he exclaimed. "Fuck them all," he muttered under his breath; the night had been an emotional rollercoaster for him. After all the blessings he had received from the Goddess of Sloth, he seemed to be paying them back with more misery in his life.

He then went to the parking lot of the convenience store and sat down. From a distance, he heard a loud voice coming from the large television inside the store, and he recognized it as a news story about Immortal Legacy.

"Something big is going to happen…" came a faint voice from the television.

"Hmm…" he thought, feeling certain that it had something to do with him. He walked closer to find out what the media was reporting so much about.