Chptr 23 Blood

The next morning, Ajy and the CEO of the company arrived at the cemetery to witness the funeral of the mother of Mr. Smith's son.

Then after the funeral, the CEO handed them cash and left. Ajy stayed until it was only him and the children of the deceased left, "Are you guys planning to live here?"

They didn't answer as they were still grieving, cannot fully accept the fact that their mom died. "I know how painful it is to lose someone you love. You know, a half and a year ago, I lost my son. I thought that was the end for me. I became depressed and lost my way. Not until this game was introduced to me. It became another world for me to supress my sorrow. It gave me a new life, a new beginning and now, it can pave a better future for me to make a name for myself and never to be looked down again, to always be remembered and never be forgotten. And I'm willing to share those sorrows of yours by inviting you to play the VR game W. A. R. with me to forge a better future for all of us."

Instantly, Mr. Smith's son woke up from his lost state upon hearing the name of the VR game. He looked at Ajy then at the tomb of her mother. Tears rolled down his face, "I played the same game too so I can earn money for my mom to live. Now, I don't know if I can still continue playing."

"If you don't know, then look behind you, " Ajy said mysteriously as he gave him a piece of paper in which his phone number was written. He then slowly walked away.

Mr. Smith's son was bewildered by what he meant. He looked behind him and all he saw was his sister looking at their mother's tomb while silently crying. He then hugged her and clenched his fists. He looked at the back of Ajy who was leaving, and whispered "Thank you sir! I can't stop playing for my sister's sake."

In the afternoon, someone knocked on Ajy's office, "Come in."

It was Ran - Mr. Smith's son, "Sorry to disturb you sir but do you have a minute? "

"Sit and talk, " Ajy commanded while still busy looking at some paperwork not even glancing at Ran.

"Sir, about what you said in the morning, thank you for helping me get a grip of myself!" Ran stood up and bowed to him solemnly.

"It's good that you came back to your senses and bowing is unnecessary," Ajy replied with a smile. "So, anything else?"

"You might not know sir but I'm a lone gamer in W. A. R. so I came to ask how I can be of help to you in creating a better future through this game?" Ran seriously asked with politeness.

"First, I need to know your IGN," Ajy inquired.

"Blood sir, " Ran replied.

"Hmmm. Second, join my guild Forgotten and third, we'll talk in game. Now, if you could excuse me?" Ajy said with authority.

"My apology sir. I'll meet you in the game, " Ran excused himself and moved out.

"Blood huh? Interesting! He will be the core of our guild if he will be given time to be trained properly." Ajy smiled widely. He was thoroughly surprised and at the same fortunate.

After work, he directly went home and was curious why his apartment was filled with laughter. Upon entering, there he saw Alodia merrily conversing with the others, "What is wrong with the weather that it was able to send you here?"

"Well, first of all, thank the weather for it allowed me to stay here from now on." Alodia seriously stated.

"You don't have space in here," Ajy said with one eye raised.

"I know, that is why I created a space for myself. From now on, I will sleep on your bed and you will sleep on the couch," Alodia smiled wickedly.

"Ok! Then I'd better call the police to report you as a trespasser." Ajy forked out his phone and Alodia tried to steal it from him but failed.

"Before you call the police, why don't we talk things through? Why don't we both sleep on your bed? Sounds great right?" Alodia teased as she slowly headed to his room.

"Ahem!" Erka coughed fakely.

"I told you a lot of times that I wouldn't sleep with a flat woman like you, " Ajy tilted his head and smiled at her mockingly.

"Since that's the case then I will sleep with Ruby and you will sleep with ate Erka since she has bigger boobs," Alodia winked at him. Erka blushed while Auntie Lave spitted out her coffee.

"That is not the proper way to act as a lady!" Auntie Lave reprimanded her.

"Auntie, I'm just teasing him. Besides, I only say these things when there's two of us or you guys around. Anyway, I'll be your neighbor from now on," Alodia laughed as she went out. But before she closed the door, "And I will be dining here in every meal."

Just like that and Alodia became their neighbor and really dined with them that evening. And it will stay like that in the future.

Logging back into the game, the first thing that Ajy did was to accept Blood into the guild. Next, he messaged Wild Flavor to stop the hunt for Blood. Lastly, he transferred five thousand golds to Drizzle Sizzle and ordered her to make a worldwide announcement: Recruiting an Elite tanker and above, no level requirement. Meet me at Blue Flame Empire, Red Flag Town, town hall in an hour.

A world announcement costs a thousand golds. Unknown wanted it to be announced five times to get the attention of lone gamers who were having a hard time playing on their own.

After the announcement, various players were immediately interested, even those who weren't Knights tried their luck. Being able to make a worldwide announcement, players would think that such a player was wealthy especially since it was announced five times. The majority of players were still using bronze and silver when transacting since gold wasn't easy to earn.

"Such a rich player! I wonder why he/she needed a Knight?"

"Even if I'm not a Knight, I will try my luck and join this rich player."

"It's time for me - a Knight to earn!"

"Hail all the Knights!"

"What rubbish! You want us to travel from here to there? That is such a waste of gold!"

"No sane player would use all their resources to join you just to fail at the end!"

Various comments sprout at the world chat. Some were happy that they were at the same vicinity while others cursed since they don't have enough gold to teleport from their place to the Blue Empire. As for the second rate to major guilds, they weren't a bit interested. Only a few third rate guilds wanted to put on resources to their core Knights to join the recruitment.

In one of the 150 level dungeons of the Azure Empire, a group of twenty led by a lady paladin was busy clearing mobs inside when they saw the worldwide announcement.

"Concentrate! Attack all mobs. Avoid friendly fire, " the lady Paladin commanded.

"This is rubbish! We've been doing this for the nth time and we still haven't completed it. Besides, the pay is low!" A knight purposely let the mobs kill him that disrupted the flow of their attacks.

"What he said was true, let's just try our luck elsewhere," an assassin agreed.

And just like that, one after another, the players on that team let themselves be killed and quit the dungeon. Only the paladin remained with a dejected expression. "I really miss the old days where I was still in the spotlight. "