Leon stepped out of his capsule device after an intense dungeon exploration session. The daylight indicated it was late in the afternoon, and Lily should be home from school by now. He left his room and spotted his sister sitting in the living room, on the floor, leaning against the sofa with her laptop, looking busy with something.
She glanced up and smiled. “Hi, brother…”
Leon approached and settled down next to her. “What are you up to, sis?”
Lily beamed and showed him what she was studying. “I’m doing some research about the history of Immortal Legacy.”
“Research? Sounds like the kind of thing Freya usually does.”
“I’ve gotten really interested in learning about Immortal Legacy. We’ve been learning a lot about the game at school, and one of the most fascinating parts is its long history. I find it really intriguing.”
Leon sighed tiredly and leaned against his sister.
“You know you’re heavy, right?” Lily complained, pushing him away.
Leon didn’t respond, remaining silent, appearing as though his soul had detached from his body.
The recent dungeon exploration had ended well-no one died, and there were no major losses. Yet, despite their significant victory, Leon was left with numerous questions. Why did the scenario have to unfold like that? Why did it feel like they were a bunch of amateur players making unplanned attacks?
Leon couldn’t shake off the nagging doubts. The battle had been chaotic, their moves lacking coordination, and their strategies seemed haphazard at best. This wasn’t what he expected from a team supposedly composed of top-tier players.
Moreover, with someone as impulsive as Skywarden making decisions during the battle, Leon doubted they could secure any major victories in the future. It was reckless, and even Elincia failed to demonstrate effective leadership despite her abilities.
“Tell me… why do you look so exhausted?” Lily asked, closing her laptop. She shifted to face her brother directly.
“Tell me… why do you seem so frustrated?” she repeated giggling.
Leon slowly began recounting his experience in the game, about the invitation to the dungeon exploration. Surprisingly, Lily found it easy to connect with the topic this time. “That must have been exciting, going with the top players,” she commented.
Leon continued, describing how they fought exceptionally well until a foolish decision was made. He shared his frustration with Elincia, who, despite being the guild master, didn’t seem capable of managing her members effectively.
“Well… The Ass Guild is a top guild; there must be a reason behind that, right?” Lily responded.
“There are only two people I see as smart and influential in that guild so far-Maylock, the strategist, and Goldrich, who’s brilliant at calculations,” Leon replied.
“Do you think those two intelligent people would choose someone to lead them at random?” Lily prompted further.
Leon tried to process her statement, wondering why Maylock and Goldrich had chosen Elincia as their guild master. Luckily, he remembered Goldrich had once explained this. Goldrich had said that Elincia’s ability to be both firm and gentle in the right situations made her perfect for leading their rebellious and hard-to-manage members. He shared this insight with Lily. “But she didn’t seem to discipline Skywarden, and I feel their decisions were truly fatal. The team could have been wiped out, and the dungeon exploration would have failed,” he explained.
“But the dungeon exploration didn’t fail, did it?” Lily pointed out.
“Yes, that’s because…” Leon trailed off mid-sentence. “Wait… did Elincia do this on purpose to make me reveal my full power? But for what reason? To uncover my secret?” He pondered this, lost in thought.
“I actually have another thought…” Lily replied.
“What is that?”
“You mentioned that someone named Skywarden is the one most against you, right?” “Yes.”
“He doesn’t accept you because he thinks you’re inexperienced and at a low level with just level 50 equipment?”
“Yes,”
“And even after you got a Legendary-grade weapon, he still looked down on you.” “Uh-huh…”
“What if Elincia did this on purpose to show that you can achieve great things among the members of the Ass Guild? When Skywarden nearly faced a major defeat, you became the key to their victory,” she suggested with a giggle.
Leon furrowed his brow and took a deep breath. “You always seem to find the positive side of any situation, huh, Lil?”
Lily giggled at his words. “But if her real goal was to make you more accepted within the team, doesn’t it make sense that she brought Skywarden along instead of Kingsley?”
“Not really…” Leon replied. “Kingsley teams up with Melliandra; if she invited them, there would be no support in the team.”
The conversation continued, revolving around analyzing why Elincia made such a decision and whether she was truly incapable of leading or if it was all intentional.
“And…” Leon continued, “I feel more and more uncomfortable as more people recognize me in the game,” he said.
“What?” Lily responded, furrowing her brow.
“I don’t know… having a face that looks the same in the game as in real life makes it hard to hide your identity,” he explained.
“They can cover their face with a mask, right?” Lily replied.
Actually, Leon had heard Charmelyn call his name, Leon. He wasn’t sure if he misheard, but it didn’t seem like it. It happened during a very intense moment in the battle, so he hadn’t confirmed it. However, since he was becoming more well-known, it wasn’t surprising if someone recognized him in both the game and real life.
But… Could that mean Charmelyn is someone he knows in real life? Because Leon didn’t consider himself famous in the real world. Except maybe among his college friends and perhaps a few old schoolmates who still remembered him. Other than that, he wasn’t important enough for someone to remember him so easily.
“Yes…” Leon continued. “I’m thinking about starting to wear a mask from now on,” he said with a sigh. “Honestly, being recognized by many people isn’t something I find appealing.”
“But, you could become famous and star in commercials, right? That would make you famous and wealthier, Leon…” she added.
Leon pondered her words-fame and wealth. Did he really want that?
His thoughts drifted to what he truly desired most in the world, and Lily’s face appeared in his mind. They had grown up together without parents, though he had some faint memories of them from when he was a little kid. Those memories struggled to stay alive in his mind because it had been so long, and he had been so young at the time.
What he truly wanted, something that could never happen was to see his parents again. Their bodies had never been found, had they? Maybe they weren’t even dead yet.
A surge of emotion welled up in his chest as he thought about it. He trembled and tried to conceal the tears brimming in his eyes.
“I’m going for a run,” he said abruptly, standing up and heading to his room.
As he made his way to his room, Leon’s phone rang-a message had come in. And it was from
Laura?
Leon paused, staring at the name, hesitating to open it. What could she want? freewebnoveℓ.com
He finally opened the message and read it. She wrote.
“Leon… sorry… I just learned how to bake, and I want someone to try it. But since I don’t have many friends here yet, would you be willing to taste it and give me some feedback?”
Then, there was a second message.
“Leon… I just want to give you the cake. It won’t take long. Please let me know where I can
meet you for a moment to hand it over.”
And then the third message.
“Please let me know if you have time… I’m not too busy, so… I can meet you anytime…”