After a dinner with the whole family and Matilda, Jesse left the dining hall and looked at his broken phone with a frown.
The screen was cracked and unresponsive at times.
“Wait a moment!” Matilda left the dining hall in a hurry and followed after him, looking like she wanted to have a talk.
“Yes?” Jesse slowed his walking speed so that Matilda could catch up to him without having to run with her old bones.
“You seem to be impatient to return.” Matilda chuckled after catching up. “I heard from my son that you have spent a lot of time recently on Martial Online.”
“Yeah, I am sorry.” Jesse replied, slightly embarrassed.
“It’s alright.” Matilda chuckled. “That Reality Market has spiraled the world into chaos. The school dropout rate is at an all-time high, and many companies are having more and more available jobs with every passing day.”
“That bad, huh?” Jesse asked.
“You haven’t been checking the news?” Matilda asked curiously.
“No, I am not that interested in the usual politics and weather.” Jesse replied, as those were the only things he remembered from the usual news.
“Things have changed because of Martial Online.” Matilda said, and then she caught a glimpse of the broken phone. “Oh my, what happened?”
“I…” Jesse sheepishly scratched his head. “I dropped it on the bathroom floor. Y’know, the ones that are always slippery and tough as hell. The screen cracked immediately.”
“I’ll tell my son to get you a new one right away.” Matilda said.
“Ah, I’m not sure if I need one, to be honest.” Jesse said as he rarely used phones anymore.
“It wouldn’t hurt to have one.” Matilda said, without accepting a rejection.
“I guess so…” Jesse said, pocketing the broken phone.
“I wanted to talk to you about someone.” Matilda suddenly said and glanced sideways at her new grandson.
“Hmm?” Jesse listened.
“I met a certain girl; she was silver-haired and very beautiful.” Matilda looked at his reflection and saw the brief shock in his eyes. “She said she came to see you in your old apartment and said she is your friend.”
“Oh…” Jesse shook his head and said. “Not a friend of mine.”
“I thought so.” Matilda coughed lightly and continued. “I thought she seemed suspicious. I don’t think she is a good girl. Something in her eyes felt off…”
“She is my old psychiatrist.” Jesse revealed. “It’s in the past anyway. You told her I had moved away?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Mm.”
“You deserve much better.” Matilda laughed softly and pinched her grandson’s cheek. “Don’t get tempted by pretty girls. They might not have your best intentions at heart.”
“Got it, thanks.” Jesse smiled and saw that they had arrived at the elevator.
He pressed the button and waited for the doors to open.
“Be careful out there.” Matilda hugged him, then whispered into his ear. “Even though it’s a video game, I have heard some disturbing things happening in Martial Online.”
“I’ll be careful.” Jesse accepted the hug and then entered the elevator.
As the elevator doors slowly closed, he saw his grandmother waving her hand until the doors shut.
‘Disturbing things…’ Jesse thought and remembered Warhaven.
He wasn’t as innocent as he seemed anymore.
After reaching the fourth floor, Jesse left the elevator and returned to his room.
The VR headset was already waiting for him in bed, right on top of one of the pillows.
Before going there, he walked over to his PC and went straight to ForeverTube.
The ForeverTube showed many interviews with popular Martial Online streamers.
Most of them had become celebrities with millions of followers.
They were en route to surpassing even the movie and pop stars that had been the center of the public’s attention for centuries.
However, it was the age of video games, and in the center were the public faces of Martial Online, who already had millions of viewers on every stream.
With each stream, they make millions of crowns in revenue and continue to captivate audiences worldwide.
‘Mm…’ Jesse leaned against his hand as he looked at the smiling streamers.
He thought they wore facades.
That’s all they were now.
Public figures were afraid to lose their following, so they had their own fake personalities.
‘I once wanted to become one of them.’ Jesse thought. ‘Even before Martial Online, VR Tubers and streamers were popular, but now it’s vastly different as they would be even recognized in the streets.’
Jesse looked at the top left corner, and there was a button for “Upload Video.”
‘Maybe… Should I?’ Jesse bit his lip and laughed wryly. ‘Who would watch me anyway?’
The most famous streamers and Tubers were all beautiful and handsome, with cult followings.
It was common knowledge that it was easier for people with good looks to become popular.
Therefore, Jesse doubted anyone would be interested in watching him.
‘What video would I even make?’ Jesse leaned on the chair. ‘Swordsmanship tutorial video? I don’t think I am capable of teaching anyone.
‘A battle video?
‘Perhaps meditation? Nah, that is boring as hell, even if most aren’t aware that such a thing exists.
‘Hmm, maybe I should research what the most popular videos are these days.’
Jesse thought and then stood up before stretching his limbs.
‘However, that has to wait for tonight. I promised to return in thirty minutes, and I have a few minutes left!’
He then walked over to the bed, put the headset over his head, and entered Martial Online.
…
In a pink-colored room with decor specially created for female gamers, a beautiful blond-haired woman sat in front of a makeup desk.
Behind her, a glass-wearing woman carefully adjusted her hair style, occasionally adding makeup.
“Watch it!” The blond-haired woman shouted with a venomous tone and pointed her finger at the frightened woman. “If you pluck even one of my hairs, I will make sure that your whole family becomes homeless!”
“I-I am sorry, miss!” The glasses-wearing woman apologized in a hurry and began fixing the hair with greater care.
The blond-haired woman looked at her beautiful reflection in the mirror and smirked.
Even with the smirk, she looked very beautiful, like she had been touched by the goddess of beauty herself.
She then pulled out a phone and saw thousands of messages, most from her male fans and a few from her female fans.
She ignored them all and checked a specific group belonging to ForeverStream’s most popular streamers.
All 100 top streamers had access to that group chat.
She checked the first few messages that popped out.
[89John: I saw yesterday some random dude walking in the forest, floating camera at his side and he was going to my own streamer spot, which I had planned beforehand for my own stream]
[Beehave: Hoh? What happened?]
[89John: I, of course, killed him and then checked who the hell was he. He was only some streamer with three viewers, all probably his family members!]
[Beehave: Then what?] 𝑶𝗏xt.𝒸𝔬
[89John: I, of course, got him banned! He had video of me killing him on his streamer’s page; I can’t let that surface LOL]
[Beehave: Haha]
The blond-haired woman smirked and began typing a message.
[PinkDragon: Hello boys~ What have I missed?]
[89John: Hey pinkie~]
ForeverStream was popular for its ranking system, where all streamers were ranked by their popularity.
All the top 100 streamers in this group had made a pact that if anyone was about to pass them in ranks, they would sabotage them and ensure that they remained on top.
If anyone wanted to reach the highly respected top 100 streamers, they would have to cross that overwhelmingly tall wall, which was by no means easy.
After all, their only goal was to maintain their dominant position in the streaming industry.