Shopping trip

After a few hours of walking, they arrived in Iliados. It was the middle of the night and streetlamps with orange stones in them were lighting up the city.

There were not many people outside. Only a few drunks were on their way home from the tavern or vendors selling midnight snacks at the night market.

The public carriages continued to run, but instead of one every ten minutes, they ran one every thirty minutes. That was because almost nobody took them in the middle of the night.

Finn and his friends boarded one of these carriages and drove down the street to the Royal Emporium. The ride was silent since all of them were pretty tired.

Upon arriving, they entered an inn and rented five rooms, where they logged off.

Leaving the game, Finn awoke inside his gaming capsule, which had opened after he had exited the game.

He stood up and left his gaming capsule, and went downstairs to join his parents for an early dinner.

There was a time difference between the real world and Second Life, so he awoke in his capsule in the evening.

"Oh my! Finn, you finally came down. I know I said it was okay for you to play that game, but still missing lunch is a little…"

Helen looked at Finn with a slightly worried expression.

"I ate lunch in the game, mom, and the capsule provided everything my body required to stay healthy. Also, I'm here for dinner, right?"

Finn smiled at Helen and she nodded in response.

"That's true. Come and sit down."

His mother already agreed not to bother him when he was playing, but Finn had been eating with his parents ever since he was born, so it was something new for her that she had to get used to.

Finn sat down and looked at the dinner.

It was spaghetti carbonara, such a simple dish, yet it smelled heavenly.

His mother gave him almost three times the normal portion. Finn did tell her that he had eaten in the game, but just to be sure, she planned to feed him extra every time he ate in real life.

He didn't complain since the gaming capsule ensured that he would stay fit and not get fat. Also, the spaghetti were so delicious that he would ask for more anyway.

Suddenly his dad raised his head from the phone screen, where he was reading something, and looked at Finn.

"Second Life is all I'm hearing about these days. That's the game you are playing right?"

"*Munch* Mmm, mnnnn!"

Finn tried to talk, but his mouth was full, so only an incoherent sound came out.

"Finn! Don't talk with your mouth full!"

His mother glared at him and looked like she would slap him the next time he tried to talk like that.

"*Gulp* Sorry mom…"

After gulping down his food, Finn apologized to Helen and then looked at Josh.

"Yeah, dad, I play Second Life. It's a lot of fun! Maybe you can try it too!"

He was planning to introduce the game to his parents once he got stronger, since he wanted them to be able to at least protect themselves.

Finn also planned to help them level up, but if they started playing sooner, he wouldn't complain.

"Hmmm… Maybe I'll try it out then. It sounds like a lot of fun. I heard that there are different races, and the elves are all beautiful."

Finn's father, Josh, was a programmer who enjoyed playing computer games.

When he heard about Second Life, he thought it would be a lot of fun to try, but he didn't have much free time because he had a job.

"Huh? Yeah, there are, although elves are a little-"

Before Finn could finish his sentence, his mother jumped into the conversation.

"Darling? Are you saying that you want to play that game just so you can cheat on me with some in-game characters?"

Helen glared at Josh with a frown.

"N- No! I would never do that! I mean, they might be beautiful, but I'm sure they would be ugly compared to you!"

Josh immediately realized that he made a mistake by talking about elves in front of his wife, but it was already too late.

"Tonight, you are sleeping on the couch, and if you are planning on playing that game, you will buy me a capsule too so I can play with you. You don't mind your wife playing with you, right?"

With her arms crossed, Helen scolded her husband, who just nodded like a little kid.

"Of course not… I can't wait for us to play together…"

Josh was never planning on cheating on his wife. He only wanted to try living in a fantasy world like the games he grew up with, but now he would have to sleep on the couch just because he said something unnecessary.

"Also, Finn."

This time Finn's mom, Helen, turned to look at Finn, so he straightened up his posture and quickly gulped his food down.

She was normally kind and gentle, but when angry, she became more akin to a demon.

"Yes, ma'am- I mean yes, mom!"

"I don't care if you find a partner for yourself within that game, but at the very least introduce us to her... or him, I won't judge."

"I'm not gay mom! Also, I might have found someone already…"

'No, you haven't. Stop lying to yourself.'

Finn revealed to his mom as he thought of Sophie, but Loki quickly reminded him of the cruel reality, and Loki also couldn't believe that he was so blatantly lying.

'Shut up! Even if she is not interested in me yet, I'm interested in her. That means we technically have 50% of a relationship.'

Loki was speechless at Finn's dumb reasoning, so much so that he didn't even bother to comment anymore.

"Really?!"

"For real?!"

Both of his parents were excited to hear that their loner son had finally found someone he loved.

Finn quickly explained that their relationship was in the "starting stages" so far, so he would come introduce her once they started dating.

Helen was satisfied to hear that, since she didn't care if he was dating or not. Just the fact that he was finally interested in a girl was enough for her.

Finn's parents wanted him to describe her, but he kept saying that nothing was set in stone, so he dodged the topic.

They soon finished the dinner, and Finn went to help wash the dishes.

"Finn, are you free tomorrow?"

Helen inquired while drying a plate.

"Uhm… Sure!"

He was planning to play more and level up, but he would never choose the game over his parents.

Now that he had them back in his life, he planned to spend time with them whenever they needed him for something.

"It's nothing complicated. I was just wondering if you would accompany me to the store tomorrow."

"…Yeah, sure."

He took a few seconds to agree because he would normally run out of stamina when he went shopping with his mom, but now that he had a new body, he probably didn't need to worry about that.

"Great! Then I will wake you up in the morning."

---

The next morning, Finn's fight with Raul was getting more and more popular and Finn even gained a new nickname "Lunar Reaper."

But he was still clueless about all of this.

Currently, he was on his way to a department store with his mom.

When they arrived, his mother parked the car and they both went grocery shopping. Since his mom loved cooking, she bought a lot of fresh things and Finn had to carry everything.

'If I didn't get the body upgrade, I would have already collapsed under all this weight.'

Finn thought as he carried the four shopping bags full of things that kept getting heavier by the minute.

After another hour of walking around and filling up another two shopping bags, his mom was finally satisfied.

"That should be everything! We can go back now."

She was happy that Finn was now able to help her. Normally, she would fill one bag, go put it in the car, and then come back for more.

"Finally…"

Meanwhile, Finn didn't know what his mom had bought, but the weight was starting to tire even his new body. Then again, lifting heavy stuff was different from walking around the store with it.

After putting all the bags into the car, Finn walked to the passenger side, but then he heard muffled screams coming from one of the alleys they parked next to.

"...mmm... ...lp..."

Those screams were really quiet, but with the body upgrade he got, he also received better senses, so his sense of hearing could now pick this up.

He looked in that direction with his eyebrows furrowed, and his mother immediately noticed her son's irregularity.

"What's wrong Finn?"

Finn eased his eyebrows and looked at his mom with a gentle smile.

"Stay here, mom, I think I saw one of my friends over there, so I will just go say hi and come back."

"Oh… okay, don't take too long then."

His mom nodded and got into the car to wait for him.

He ran to the alley, and when he entered, he saw broken bottles and trash everywhere.

Going deeper, he saw three men forcing themselves on a girl.

"Mmm!"

She tried to scream, but a piece of cloth was choking her mouth, so all she could do was thrash around while sobbing.

'It's none of your business. You don't know her, and she doesn't know you.'

Loki heartlessly reminded Finn when he saw him clench his fists, planning to jump in and help.

He was correct. Objectively speaking, Finn wasn't some hero of justice and he didn't know the person being assaulted so he was free to walk away.

'I know that. I do… But it would leave a bad taste in my mouth. I would feel like a piece of shit for not helping her.'

Finn clenched his teeth and nodded at Loki's remark.

'Well, go for it then. You have the ability to help that girl, so do what you want, but keep in mind that this girl may not have even been alive in your previous life, so helping her may also change the future.'

'…That's a risk I'm willing to take.'

Crack

Finn stepped forward, shattering a broken bottle under his feet and alerting the group of three guys that were trying to get the girl's clothes off.

He looked at them as if they were nothing more than the trash around them and opened his mouth.

"Hey you fuckers. Why don't you play with me too?"