"Hmm~ Hmm~."

Nikolai was in an excellent mood after logging out of the game COVENANT.

It would be his first time in a group and tempting a dungeon!

So exciting!

He went out of the pod, wore his big round glasses, and went out of his room to get a bottle of cold water to quench his dried throat.

On the way to their mansion's kitchen, Nikolai yawned and stretched his arms. His feeble arms and legs were getting mushy for staying in the pod too much.

"You're finally out of your pod."

"Yikes!" Nikolai yelped before he cleared his throat and arranged his glass on the bridge of his nose.

He then addressed the older lady in his mid-twenties. She was sitting casually on the bar with a glass of wine swirling in one hand while her other hand held a phone in her ear. Her light blue curls were down on her shoulders. Black stocking framed two long shapely legs under a knee-length skirt. Blues eyes languid, pouty red lips seductive, and D cup breasts almost slipping from her neutral-colored suit.

She was beautiful and appeared like an older, kind lady who had everything in the palm of her hands.

"Hello, sister. You're home early." Nikolai greeted before going to the fridge and chugged a bottle of water in a hurry. Ren said to meet at Rocky Hills tomorrow, game time, which meant around an hour or so in real-time.

Sumeri raised her perfectly shaped brows. "It's already past two. I thought that we were going to have lunch together? I went home because you're not answering your phone. I thought something had happened to you."

Nikolai choked, and water slipped from his nose. "That late already?"

He looked at the clock hanging on the wall and faced his sister with a guilt-stricken expression. "Sorry. I didn't notice. I forgot to set my pod's timer."

He was so engrossed in grinding and exploring that he wasted so much time in Maze Forest, totally forgetting about their lunch.

"Never mind that. I bought you take-outs since you stood me up in the restaurant."

"Sorry." Nikolai wanted to prostrate before his sister but decided against it when he realized he was hungry. He needed to eat, take a bath and log into the game ASAP!

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He still needed to prepare before their dungeon raid later.

Ren gave him a list of items to buy in the town, and he couldn't afford a single minute wasted in the real world.

Nikolai hopped on the table and gobbled all the food his sister had brought him.

"Calm down, or you'll choke." Sumeri reprimanded, but it all went on deaf ears.

As Nikolai concentrated on his food, Sumeri took the time to study her little brother.

Nikolai was only fourteen years old. Too young to be alone in this big mansion. His skinny limbs were a concern of hers, as well as his mental and physical health.

Good thing that COVENANT came at the right time. It helped him cope.

But she still had to work on Nikolai's physical health. He couldn't just stay in his pod the whole day and play the game.

Sumeri promised that they would talk about that. For now, she got back to her phone.

"Sorry, dear. My brother had finally graced me with his presence. What were we talking about?"

"It's about the game COVENANT. Don't tell me you still haven't played it? You were a pro player of Clash of Guilds back in your days," said a girl on the other end of the phone.

Sumeri rubbed her temple.

Why?

Her eyes then briefly looked at the young boy sitting opposite her, whose excitement could be felt even miles away. This was the first time that she saw her little brother so excited and smiling again after their parents died.

It was thanks to COVENANT.

Sumeri went to her feet and stayed in the living room.

"You know why. I had to take care of the company and Nikolai. I don't have time to be playing a game." Sumeri looked at the garden over the floor-to-ceiling window. The sadness in her eyes was reflected on the glass, and she blinked them away.

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"And besides, I'm too old to be playing a game. My gaming days were over once I finished college. It's all in the past." Sumeri joked and chuckled with no joy.

"It will just take you an hour. It's precisely why COVENANTs game time defers from the real world by a huge margin. It's to accommodate everyone. Working class, the old, the young, the undergrads and grads. Anyone can join. It operated in your sleep."

Sumeri shook her head with a bitter smile on her face. "I don't know, Silvia. You know me. I'm an addict to games. Once I start, it's hard to stop. It's better that I don't play. Least I want the company and Nikolai neglected."

Silvia sighed on the other side of the phone. "You sure? And here I thought I could convince you to play as a Dwarf Defender."

Sumeri nearly choked with her chuckle. ". . . A Dwarf . . . Defender . . . ?"

"It's the only race that had a tank class. At least at this current time. We badly needed a tank, you see. We're going to attempt a dungeon!"

Even from the other side, Sumeri felt Silvia's excitement. It was apparent from her sharp tone and fast-paced talk. There was a bitter pang in her heart. A jealousy and eagerness that she had a hard time controlling that made her want to play the game.

The urge to explore, defeat enemies, hunt for treasures and beasts, participate in guild wars, grind and strategized to reach the top was all the things she missed so much.

She and Silvia were once in the same school when she took her six-month master's a year ago. She was ahead of her for six years, but the moment they met through common acquaintances, they clicked right away.

COVENANT was their favorite topic in the past, even before the game could be launched. And Sumeri told Silvia that she was once a pro gamer.

Sumeri licked her lips and giggled. "Ara-ara~ why are you so into this game? Did I influence you that much, and now you wanted to be a pro gamer as well?"

There was a slight pause before Silvia answered, "Of course not. I just wanted the thrill and challenge. It's just another world waiting to be explored and conquered!"

Sumeri stifled a laugh. Leave it to Silvia to make everything a challenge.

"You said your brother is playing, right? Don't you want to bond with him in the game?" Silvia enticed by using Nikolai as her leverage.

Sumeri rolled her eyes. Silvia knew her soft spot with Nikolai.

"I'll think about it. But not today. I have many works to do that I won't be logging into that game anytime soon."

Silvia sighed. "We badly needed the Tank within an hour. Do you happen to know anyone who might be playing that class from your list of pro friends in the past?"

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Sumeri thought for a moment, but only the image of her ex-boyfriend appeared in her mind. She shook it away and took a deep breath.

"I'll search through my contacts and let you know who I find."

"Great! That's already a huge help. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

After they ended the call, Sumeri leaned on the glass with a blank look in her eyes, recalling the memory of her past self who didn't have any worries while playing games the whole day.

It felt like a distant memory.

It was not her life now.

Now. She had a lot of responsibilities.

Saving her parent's company from the aggressive shareholders who wanted to take over after her parents died and ensuring that Nikolai would inherit that company was at the top of her list.

She had no time to play games.

A/N

Dear readers, you hate me that much enough to kill me with 1000 chapters mass release? You want me to die of exhaustion?

But thanks to MiguelWN for gifting this story Gachapon! I never expected to received one in the rest of my life! Thank you very much

And since i'm a man of my words.

15k Gift = 3

Another 100 GT was added today WOW! That's another 2 .

A total of 5 all in all.

The latest_epi_sodes are on_the . website.

Time to grind.

PS. I'll push 2 or 3 BONUS today and the rest by tom.

CHEERS!