Are you mad?

"From the moment I heard about Dynasties Online, I was able to perceive."

"Everything James was setting out to achieve."

"A new marketplace forcing businesses to complete."

"While giving everyone else something to eat."

"An imagination that was so bright."

"Led to many not seeing the light."

"But to those us select few."

"Who could see what that man viewed."

"We invested without hesitation."

"So our businesses did not face decapitation."

Okura Noboru an old veteran businessman who respects James Larant.

….

"Eh. Is there a problem with that?"

Reginald said nonchalantly, unaware of the fear that most people would have when being hunted by an empire when he heard Carter's surprised cry.

"Are you mad?"

Carter said, his eyes going wide. His loud shout scared a few birds, making them vacate the trees they had nested in as the trees rimmed the path around the lake.

"Why are you copying the Friend System? You didn't get tormented by him for bad gaming, did you? As far as I am concerned, I am quite sane."

Reginald said, reaching out to touch Carter's forehead jokingly, knowing that his friend was not the type of person to exploit games, especially if what the users whom the friend system had punished said was true.

'Which mad person does not think themselves sane!'

Carter thought before continuing to lecture Reginald out of concern. One could only be and do so many mad things before they caught up to you.

"You do realise that most empires have at least 1 grandmaster, right? And those are only the ones we know about! Who knows how many hidden monsters serve the various powerful noble houses! The emperor likely has 2 or 3 grandmasters under his direct command!"

"You can only die if they send one after you, even if you are lucky and have a master-level fighter under your command, which is possible considering that your house comes from a military background. They can only lay down and die if they are faced by the current greatest existences in the world of Dynasties Online!"

"You really think they would send one of those after me? You do realise I'm only a lowly ex-marquis whose ancestor defeated an allied army of 100,000 with 50,000 men…."

"The emperor and the empire should be more concerned about their tenuous internal situation rather than hunt down the exiled son of a former noble.

Reginald said, his abilities far exceeding what many people thought possible for someone who had only played the game for 6 hours or so.

"A MONSTER! IM FRIENDS WITH A MONSTER WITH NO SELF-AWARENESS!"

"A LOWLY EX MARQUIS YOU SAY! DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW POWERFUL A MARQUIS IS?"

"DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE WOULD KILL TO HAVE SUCH A BACKGROUND!"

Carter shouted before calming himself down and shaking his head slightly in disbelief.

"What the fuck was your first Dynasty History Event even like? Did you visit hell or something? Did you really defeat an allied army of 100,000 with 50,000 as a first Dynasty History Event?"

"Uh-huh."

Reginald grunted and nodded his head slightly, indicating that Carter's assumptions were correct, not telling his friend that he already had a grandmaster who was fanatically loyal to him, giving him a sense of security in going against any sent by his future enemies.

"You don't even realise how amazing your achievements are. You are almost guaranteed to have a grandmaster come after you."

Carter said, still in disbelief at what his friend had told him, wanting to work with Reginald more than before as he really did seem to be somewhat talented in military affairs.

"Who said I don't have a way to combat grandmasters?"

Reginald said, smiling slightly, waiting for his friend's reaction.

"Ha ha ha ha! That's a good one! Wait, you're being serious?"

Carter started laughing but seeing that his friend's face turned serious, he stopped the thought about it for a few seconds coming to the conclusion that while it was very dangerous to be enemies with an empire, the system would give you lucrative rewards to ensure you at least had some kind of fighting chance. It was fair; after all, if one takes a great risk, the system will give him a great reward.

Ironically, Reginald's decision to make Leon into a Grandmaster would drastically increase his chances of survival in his next Dynasty History Event and the game as a whole.

"I only just barely passed my first Dynasty History Event. Running a business really is not as simple as most people believe."

"Yet here you are, passing yours with flying colours!"

Carter said quietly to himself, both admiration and jealousy mixed in with his tone, but Reginald was close enough to hear it. Who did not want to have pulled off such an achievement?

After that, they talked about the game more and the painful calibration, Reginald telling Carter what he saw on the forums, both men deciding that avoiding being a 'bad gamer' or annoying the friend system was to become one of their top priorities, not wanting to suffer its wrath.

Soon they had returned into view of their accommodation block; multicoloured light could be seen flashing in one of the kitchen windows as one of the many parties so common at university took place. Other windows also had lights on, but both of the night-walking men ignored these pleasurable pastimes, instead heading to their rooms, aware that they did not have much time to complete their Dynasty History Quests before the game started.

Before they parted ways, the two friends exchanged their in-game information so they could friend each other later and headed to their rooms to get back into the game.

Reginald locked the door to his room, his ever-suspicious mind wondering if Carter would only use him or be a loyal friend, but quickly focused on the game and his next Dynasty History Event, putting on his VR headset with less fear than before he entered back into the virtual world.

Coming into his modern-looking lobby, he found a notification waiting for him to look at before returning to play Dynasties Online.

[Player Cycloth has sent you a friend request.]

Underneath it was two buttons, one saying accept and the other reject. Knowing that this was Carter, Reginald quickly accepted the friend request soon after a message appeared from his friend.

[Why did you have to have such a long name? Do you know how long it took to get it right? I nearly smashed something in anger trying to find you!]

Carter complained to him, not being too surprised anymore at his friend's more eccentric antics.

[….]

Reginald only sent over a few dots and a shaking shoulders emoji in reply showing his non-caring position on the subject before messaging his friend.

[We should probably get our Dynasty History Events done, or all our efforts will go to waste! Also, I won't reply while in an event as ill need to focus all my attention on it. Good luck.]

Reginald replied before entering the game, and a familiar notification appeared before him once he had entered the game returning to the cloudy heaven where he had created his character.

[Your second Dynasty History Event, 'The Fall of House Aurellion, has been created. Would you like to enter it? Yes/No.]

Pressing the yes button, the clouds began swirling around him, creating a cacoon-like structure and transporting him to his event.

…..

Birds sang sweet songs in the wooded area around a lake, rays of sunlight reflect off the clear blue water while a 30-year-old man sat calmly at the end of an old, slightly rotted wooden pier. Behind him, a small cottage built in the woods loomed a large 10-ft high wooden wall surrounding the house to protect it from predators which roam freely around the forest.

A slight breeze flowed through the lake, faintly blowing the man's long brown locks of hair dressed in a pure white silk robe which rippled in the wind, his hands subconsciously moving suddenly to catch a fish which bit the end of the cast-out fishing line which was calmly rolled back to reveal a large rainbow coloured fish flapping slightly in the air.

The man's eyes never moved from the plethora of screens in front of him while his hands removed the fish from the line and threw it into a basket next to him, the unfortunate aquatic creature destined to become the nonchalant man's next meal.

The screens showed dynasty history, even changing from one to another, but one of the screens stayed on one particular event, the genius or madness of the player catching the usually emotionless man's interest.

'Oh, Impressive. So, there is at least one person who treats it more like a second world than a game exploiting international politics of the game world to win his event despite being the underdog.'

On the top of this screen, which showed highlights from Reginald's Dynasty History event as Lucius, were the names of the two players who participated in the event Percée De Martelage and Raising Pelican of Loyalty.

"Friend System, keep me posted on that Pelican player's progress. He has an interesting way of doing things."

"Yes, father."

The friend system said, appearing on command in a flash to his master, mentor and friends' call. Unlike most others, the 30-year-old man did not even flinch when the DO administrator appeared, having, at his own request, a large part to play in the various beta tests that the game had gone through, and so was used to it appearing and disappearing suddenly.

"Don't call me father. That name should be reserved for Leopold; he's the one who created you, after all."

James Larant, the 30-year-old man fishing, said while continuing to watch the various screens in front of him.

"Leopald may have created me, and ill be forever grateful to my creator, but you are the one that raised and taught me to develop my own consciousness, so you are more of a father figure to me than he is. There's also gramps he helped too."

The friend system said, referring to James' old butler who looked after and was his guardian for the 3 years following his parent's death. After the young scion came of age, the old man continued to serve as his advisor and father figure.

"How did Gramps help? If he raised you, shouldn't you be far more polite?

James quipped back, scolding the friend system again for being so insulting to players and his relaxed attitude to things which was so similar to James' own.

"Didn't he raise you too? Look how you turned out. You don't even attend the parties and socials put on by other people in business, offending many of them."

"Not to mention the foul language that comes out of your mouth. Where did it grow the trash?"

The friend system said, joking with James as it often did. Unfortunately, this time, James held a trump card to ensure the little maverick of a systems obedience.

"I got the carefree attitude and language from my parents before being raised in my later years by Julius, so, of course, my character would be different from yours…."

"And to think I was just about to give you your anime back…. What episode of One Piece were you on? 100 something, right? You need to catch up, as there are hundreds more just waiting to be watched."

"Such a shame that you won't be watching any more of it anytime soon…."

"Master is the best man in the whole world with a heart of gold. Can I have it back now, please?"

The system said in a submissive tone giving puppy eyes to James, the large black orbs reflecting the sunlight slightly, who ignored them and continued to watch the screens.

"Don't bother giving me puppy eyes. I only have one question for you! Will you be nice to the players and not insult them every few minutes?"

James asked the Friend System even without looking at the DO administrator. He was familiar enough with him to predict and know what actions he was likely to take.

"Of course, this administrator will be the most polite and helpful gaming guide in existence."

"Can I have my anime back now, pretty please?"

"…."

Instead of replying to the sycophantic friend system, James quietly brought up another console and pressed a few buttons as the Friend System smiled and jumped around like a kid who had just got some candy when it got the notification that it could watch its beloved anime.

"Oh, I almost forgot you only have the next 100 episodes. If you are good and behave, you can have more in a week or so or when you finally get through them."

Hearing that his slave-driving master still held its leash, the Friend System growled in anger like a dog before getting serious when he heard James speak again. Usually, this eccentric businessman was more of a man of action than words, quietly working on things behind the scenes before revealing them.

"How many of the smart fish took the bait?"

James asked, putting another bit of bait on his rod and casting it out into the lake. This little virtual world was his personal lobby, similar to the ones all players had and could customise to their own wants and desires, only much bigger. The eccentric man regularly came here to relax and think deeply without much interruption.

"As you expected, your two old friends from university joined the game as soon as they could. Apart from them, only the businessmen who enjoy playing VRMMORPGs as a hobby joined or the more eccentric ones who are intrigued by what you are trying to do."

"What about those old monsters?"

"While they are suspicious, none have made any moves yet. Though one has joined the game and has been passing his Dynasty History events with flying colours, he has already gone through 2 of them, even managing to become a landed noble 1 rank higher than is normally permitted."

The friend system reported the terrifying ability of that old geezer, surprising him and even sending a chill down the DO administrator's spine that he had not felt since he had annoyed his master or the eccentric man's butler.

"Okura Noboru?"

James asked, his sharp, questioning, cold gaze freezing the friend system, who replied nervously. A deep fear of his master had long been ingrained in every small script of the continuous AIs code.

"Y-y-y-yes, h-h-h-how did y-y-y-you know?"

"Okura Noboru san, huh, he as quick to move as ever…. Of all the old monsters who had survived in the harsh world of business, he is the only one who may be able to see what I am trying to do. It's a shame that while his influence is vast and his opinion respected, the other bigwigs don't have the imagination that he does to see the almost endless potential that is hidden deep in Dynasties Online, so there shouldn't be any big waves yet."

James said, his tone relaxing and becoming much calmer. Even a hint of admiration for the old Japanese-descended man could be heard in his voice, whose family had moved to Great Britain nearly 60 years ago.

"Of them, all, he was the only one who ever took me seriously seems his instincts will lead to him having a large advantage over his competitors."

James commented as an old wizened butler appeared in a flash of bright yellow light, his coarse voice sweeping through James' lobby.

"Young master, it's time to take a break also, there is a mountain of paperwork for you back in your office."

"Just five more minutes, gramps. Can't you just sign those annoying papers?"

James said, lazily hating hard work the most.

"I am not a major shareholder or CEO of the company. As such, it is not my place to take care of such things."

"Didn't you take care of this sort of boring stuff during your guardianship of me?"

"That was only when absolutely required and before you entered your majority. Obviously, you should manage what is rightfully yours now that you are of age."

"Looks like playtime is over, Friend system. I've never been able to beat Julius. Make sure to go easy on those in hell, okay? While we can't be sued, it's not good to have a reputation for breaking people's minds even if they are fucking hackers who tried to take my money."

James said in a relaxed manner glancing at the friend system, which looked like it had just lost one of its favourite toys, before evilly smiling.

"If you don't, then your anim….

"I got it! I got it! I'll go easy on them."

The friend system pouted as James raised his hand behind him bidding his farewell before disappearing in a flash of light and leaving the virtual world.