Chapter XXI - Unbearable Wait

Marcus was blown away, he couldn't believe that he had made close to $10,000USD streaming for one night. It was insane!

He explained to his father that he was playing the game live in front of people who either liked or disliked him and gave him money regardless as they wanted Nobody to read their comments, we've all been there…

He said after he died in the game, he went and quickly wrote up a free tips and tricks guide and told everyone watching about it and that he followed his father's advice 'if you're gonna do something, do it right' and offered a paid version with better information. Apparently everyone wanted it…

"I didn't know I swear!" Marcus pleaded. "I'm not in trouble am I?"

"No, I'll sort things out with the bank and advise that it's a new product & services contractor and that this account will constantly see streams of revenue like this. What are you up to with all this money son?" Stephen replied.

"Stuff for the game dad, but you should definitely use as much as you need to save the family." Marcus said.

"Save the family? Son that's your money, don't doubt your father, I didn't get where I am today by being a pushover. The only reason what you saw happened was because I was blindsided by my closest friend, no one could have prepared for that. Don't worry about the company. You're onto something big, you wouldn't have made all this money if you weren't. Just keep doing what you're doing, I'll take care of everything. I'll see you at home." Stephen lectured him before disconnecting the line.

Marcus dropped the phone on his bed as he heaved a heavy sigh and plopped back down into his pillow staring up at the ceiling.

His mind was racing through all the goals he needed to achieve in this next week.

He needed to hit level 20 and unlock the Tier 1 class. Complete the secret quest in the capital city near Vhul to get the special guild token, and then it was time to create a new kind of guild that would benefit it's players rather than the other way around.

Increasing your class tier meant you would become incrementally stronger. Tier 0 could take on 10 basic adventurers, but a Tier 1 class could take on 100. Tier 2 wouldn't be unlocked until level 100 anyways and that wouldn't even be possible until after the first patch, which was about a month and a half away. Not that anyone actually reached level 99 before the first patch dropped but Marcus had to stop his mind from wandering deeper into the rabbit hole as he drifted off back to sleep.

<16 hours remain…>

Marcus woke up a few hours later around a quarter to noon feeling refreshed. This was the opposite of what he had originally planned as he was prepared to be groggy and sluggish after diving for extensive times and taking short power naps before diving back in. He went online and checked how Volume 1 was doing… the stats alone was blowing him away

The free volume had over 300 million downloads and the comments were astronomical. From people claiming doubt and skepticism to others hailing Nobody as a gaming genius and the savior of noobs. The debates were heated as the two sides fought for supremacy.

Volume 1 was much more tame and while it had a lot of views, the downloads was so much less. There were tons of comments regarding Nobody as a cheapskate and a con artist but the people that did purchase it would be thanking him profusely.

Marcus closed out of the browser and freshened up in the bathroom and threw on some loungewear before heading down to the first floor and to the kitchen.

"Good afternoon young master" Jeeves greeted him "Would you care for some lunch?" Marcus nodded as he noticed his mom and aunt out sitting on patio furniture in the courtyard adjacent the kitchen. His nephews chasing each other laughing as the adults observed and conversed with one another.

Jeeves placed his hand across his chest and proceeded to bow as he went to preparing Marcus a meal. Marcus took a seat at the island and stared off into oblivion. This was something Marcus had become accustomed to in his past life.

His love for comics as a child grew into an obsession that evolved as he grew up, getting into anime and manga in his teens and evolving into the many genres of novels, historically accurate dramas, spirited away to another world, OP main characters with broken systems… He loved and read them all.

It was at times like these where he cursed his eidetic memory as he wouldn't be able to relive those memories when they came back around for him. At least he had his memories right..? Right?

He wanted to assume that his knowledge of his past life wouldn't remain the same, I mean it never does, he thought to himself, he already changed the outcome as two achievements in The World from his memories.

"Here you are young master." Jeeves said snapping Marcus out of his deep thought as he placed the plate of breakfast in front of him.

"Thank you for the meal Jeeves" Marcus said as he began eating. He had a genius thought as he took a bite of the perfectly fluffy eggs and reached into his pocket and pulled out his device and logged into his CryoCorp account and began sending friend requests to all of the past friends he had made. He needed to get them on his side sooner rather than later, and he wanted to help them trounce the oppressive rankers from the past.

***

He lounged around the manor all day sending friend requests to everyone he knew and attaching a free copy of the first Volume, he played with his two younger cousins and socialized with his mom and aunt.

Later that evening he was losing his mind as no one had responded to him and he was eagerly awaiting his chance to log back in. He went to bed early as he still could not do anything but wait and it was excruciatingly unbearable.

<13 hours remain…>