Chapter 15

. . .

Ren couldnt react for a moment. He forgot that the outside world could still call you even if youre inside COVENANT.

Rens heart thumped widely as he stared at the name that was flas.h.i.+ng on his screen.

Once upon a time, he and Leonel were the best of friends together with Saya and Mike. The four of them were inseparable during their high school years, and they even promised to go to the same university together.

Ren even liked Saya in the past but gave way to Mike since hed rather keep their friends.h.i.+p than lose it on a girl with who he knew he wouldnt end up in the end.

Sayas parents owned a chain of restaurants, and they were actually wealthy, while Mikes family owned a real estate company. So Sayas parents preferred Mike over Ren. The only reason why they were in Zone C in the first place was because of their parents business.

It was not like Ren wanted to compete in the first place. There was nothing to compete with. Ren couldnt bring her to those Michelin awarded restaurants that she frequented and buy her pieces of jewelry and makeup which she loved to do.

But Mike could.

Ren gave way to their love while maintaining their friends.h.i.+p, and it worked out in the end.

It was Leonel who supported him through those heartbreak days, and it was thanks to him that Ren managed to get over from Sayas charms.

Even when in college, Leonel didnt stop communicating and going out with him even though Leonel was admitted to Zephyr Academy because he didnt make the entrance exam cut off in Fate.

It was a thirty minutes train ride from his school to Rens, and Leonel always made time to meet and catch up with everyone.

While in comparison, Saya and Mike, who were at the same school as Ren, started to distance themselves from him. Their reason was that they were in different departments, and it was hard to match their schedules.

But in truth, Ren knew it was because Saya and Mike were embarra.s.sed about him since he had nothing in his name. It was okay in high school because they were the only few rich students, and they could do whatever they wanted.

It was a different matter in college, and in Fate Academy, where most students belonged to the rich and powerful, everything changed. And when the nickname Ren the Rat circulated on campus, Saya and Mike stayed away from him completely.

Ren understood, and he didnt feel bad about it since Saya and Mike needed to stick to their fellow rich cliques because of connections and benefits. After all, they needed to think of their future, and sticking with the rich and powerful was a sure way to success.

Contrary to everyones beliefs. The rich didnt hate the poor.

No.

They simply didnt care.

Ren thought that it was better for them to hate him than be invincible in their eyes. At least they felt something towards him and knew that he was still human in their eyes.

Since he had nothing to offer, everyone treated him like he wasnt there. No one wanted to do anything with him.

He was that one guy at the side that could disappear, and no one would care.

When Rens father died, it was Leonel who stayed by his side. Ren even forgot how many times Leonel helped him both financially and emotionally, even though he wasnt that well off either.

However, when Ren entered the game, he became even busier, and he forgot about Leonel and the others.

How long had it been?

Ten years? More than ten years?

Ren pressed , and his surrounding froze. Since there was time deference in-game and the outside, if someone was calling from the real world, time in COVENANT froze for that player.

However, a call would only go thru in the game once youre alone. If youre not alone, a notification would still pop saying of an incoming call and that you could only answer once youre alone.

This was because youd be temporarily logged out from the game as you received the call.

Hey, Ren! Remember that VR game we talked about?! Its opening is today! We have been dupe! You have to go to the nearest caf and rent a pod now!

Ren swallowed the lump in his throat. He opened his mouth, but no words left his lips.

He had forgotten Leonels deep and slow voice that it felt foreign to him now.

Ren?! Are you listening? Leonel said, huffing as he did. He was running to the nearest caf at his place to log in to the game while the others were still unaware and blissfully sleeping.

Y-yeah. Ren could only manage that much without his voice breaking.

Ren was always a cold and detached person, so Leonel didnt find anything wrong with his voice.

Do you have access to a caf right now? You have to go there before others got wind of the information, and they jammed every caf.

Ren remembered that Leonel had asked him the same question in the past, but he just brushed him off and ended the call saying that he was sleepy and needed to find a part-time job tomorrow.

Ren was actually annoyed in the past when Leonel called because he had disturbed his sleep.

Im going to finally become a Dwarf and experience being small for once! Leonel continued talking on the other side while panting to catch his breath.

Ren blinked.

Leonel was over six feet in height. He was stall and lanky and bad at sports. Many people teased him because of it, saying that his height was useless if he was so clumsy and couldnt use it to his advantage.

In peoples eyes, if youre tall, then you have to be good in sports, or your height is useless.

This made Leonel feel conscious about his height. And the only reason why he entered the game was that he wanted to become smaller.

Leonel was also playing as a Dwarf Defender in his past life. But since he wasnt playing seriously like the rest, he was easily overtaken. He didnt know any strategy, and his equipment was always inferior. Besides that, he was always dying. Hence his ATP was still in the two digits even in the mid part of the game.

No one would party with him, and no one wanted to take him into their guilds. Pressed with the only option of playing solo, his quests were limited, he couldnt enter dungeons or fight bosses, and his ATP suffered tremendously.

Leonel often asked for Rens help in the past since he had so much information about the game.

However, Ren was busy working for a guild and juggling his part-time to actually bother about Leonel. He even blocked him in the past.

And he lost all communication with him.

Ren sighed and shook his head, a bitter smile on his face.

He lent a hand to those people who only used him and didnt help the only person who stayed true to him and helped him during his difficult times.

He was such an a.s.shole.

Ren, Im already here at a caf and going to enter a pod. Where are you right now?

Ren thought for a moment. Leonel was still in Zone C, and he didnt know that he had just bought a pod. It would be troublesome if he asked about the pod and reported it to his parents.

Ren decided to hide things for now.

But of course, he wouldnt tell Leonel about him being revived into the past.

Ren answered without blinking, Im changing right now. Im already here at Zone A, and itll probably take me at least fifteen minutes to reach the nearest caf.

Thats great! Ill wait for you in the newbie village!

Ren sighed.

Leonel didnt even know that players were distributed across hundreds of newbie villages.

All these newbie villages provided the same quests and Hidden Bosses at the start of the game. Even Pii could be acquired at some other newbie village if someone else acquired first blood with the Midnight Phantom.

There was Midnight Phantom as well on the other Newbie forest. It was the first Newbie Hidden Boss.

It was to make sure that everyone was given the same chance at the start of the game.

And after that, everything would start from there.

However, once the [Mysterious Creature] was caught or gone, it wouldnt appear anymore across the hundreds of newbie villages.

Pii was a unique pet. A one of a kind. And only a single player could have a chance of acquiring him.

The same with World/Epic Quest, which could only be triggered one time.

It was a race on who could find them first.

Leo, Ren called.

Yeah?

Ren pressed his lips tight before he said, Nothing. Meet you at the village.

Leonel stifled a laugh. Weirdo. Ill call Saya and Mike too so the four of us can play together!

The call ended, and time resumed in the game. The call didnt even last ten minutes, but time in-game had already moved to an hour.

Ren just stared at his screen for a while.

Saya and Mike . . .

Ren was in a daze. He wasnt even sure if he wanted to meet those two.

Saya became a Sprite White Mage to support Mike, who was a Human Swordsman. Both of them were mediocre players who wanted to enter the top guilds.

Saya even approached Ren and asked for his help in the past. And since Ren still had lingering feelings for her, he offered to help them acquire rare equipment and items, which was against his contract.

And when he was found out and was kicked out of the guild because of it, Saya and Mike pretended that they didnt know him once more.

No guild was willing to take him in for months because of his tainted record of giving out information.

Feeling lost and dejected and without a job, Ren was tempted to end his life.

But it was Leonel who helped him again with just an envelope of cash in his mailbox.

And because Rens record was tainted with the history of giving out information. It was the reason why a top guild that he managed to enter later on and climbed to a higher position in the Information Gathering Department feared that he would sell the World Quest data he acquired to the other guilds and thus a.s.sa.s.sinated him.

Rens eyes burned ablaze.

Ren acknowledged hard work and perseverance the most. However, he was well aware that others simply climbed the ladder of success by just using their resources and connections.

But if Leonel wanted to be a Dwarf Defender, then Ren promised to make him the strongest Tank cla.s.s in the entire COVENANT, and every top guild would prostrate before his feet.

Thats a promise.