Yay, more chaps!
The first Bonus chap of the week.
This is related to Golden Tickets goals.
There are 2 chapters to be released on that and one more on the Power Stones goals.
Let's keep aiming higher!
PS: Also, it's chapter 100(99) yay!
No Power Stones?
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"It's just you and now..." Dale mumbled as he stared at the book
But as he noticed the book's thickness, he let out a sigh of helplessness.
'Looks like this will be the end of my day...'
'Not as bad as I expected, as it's better than staying in bed doing nothing.'
'Once again, I'm thankful for Yumi and my body's natural regeneration, and all the consumable items I used.'
'Let's see... Written by... I can't read this signature... It's not even translated?'
'Well, who cares? It's not really that significant.'
'10 chapters and... 420 pages... Welp, this will take a little while.'
(N1)
"Looks like even in a fantasy world, I still need to study if I want to amount to anything."
'What a grim reality...'
With a helpless smile, Dale cleared his mind and focused on his book, flipping its cover and reading its first page...
...
/Later.../
Ti passed as Dale read his book…
The Afternoon passed, marking the completion of the first full day of Azimuth's release in the outside world.
With each hour that passed, videos, gaplay, and streams of people playing the ga flooded the web like waves in a high tide.
The marketing of the ga also continued to increase, and the stories of the adventures to be found within started to spread to all.
Many started to hop into the ga for reasons, wealth, fa, fun, and more, while others were satisfied simply watching as they ate sothing for lunch or were incapable of playing the ga due to a variety of reasons…
And so simply decided to stick with their own gas, not everyone is a fan of MMORPGs, and such was how life went.
Each had their own preferences and tastes, even if they were bad overall.
But one thing was in the head of many:
That this ga was really sothing else.
Compared to the others of its kind available, it surpassed them in every single way, so far, the reviews have been extrely positive, apart from the people that got either unlucky or were simply trolls.
Or those that went with the HardCore option...
For a ga that excelled in every way, from the ga interface to the chanics, choosing to be a HardCore player was the sa as throwing it all away to stay with a standard simulation ga...
It was safe to say most weren't having fun.
But apart from those people, every ti soone talked about the ga, it was mostly praise.
Not only the ga, but the new generation of Virtual Reality pods was starting to get famous as its specs and features were released into the market with a full analysis of it.
It truly seed that the promotional material about Azimuth being the start of a 'new era' were actually correct…
…
/In the real world…/
/Shua.../
"No no... It's nothing serious... Yes, everyone is okay..."
In a simply decorated white Office on the 18th floor of a high-rise building, a middle-aged woman was currently talking with soone on her Cellphone as she stared at the rain through a window leading outside.
"Huh? Can you repeat that?... You too dear? How odd." She asked the person on the other side of the line
"Yes, it seems today is going to be a bad day." Replied a man on the other side
"I was called off work earlier today due to a major gas leak while your work building had its light cut out due to a rat, and almost at the sa ti at that…"
"I don't think the day can get any worse." The man joked on the other side of the phone
The woman let out a sigh, it seed this was one of those bad days, but still, she maintained her calm despite the blackout.
"Hopefully not, although they did say it was going to rain today…"
"What about the kids? Did Eddy return from school already?"
"Yes he did, quite fast in fact, barely hit 1 Pm and he was ho already."
"He was all sweaty, must've co back running from his school to play his ga… At these tis he can be quite determined..."
"Sigh… What about Dale? Is he still playing?"
"Not even a single step out of that room of his…"
"Really now, he's been there for almost a full day… Rember to have him out of that damn machine to eat and walk around a bit."
"I'll try, but I doubt he'll listen to , his personality took a change ever since his school ended and University started."
"He started to hit the gym and play gas madly, so much so he even started to make more money than ... I think he's going through his rebellious phase…"
"You know how it is, we also grew up with those things, and it was just like that on our ti… Albeit now, they are fairly more impressive and amazing…"
"Well, if we look at it from another perspective, he's a well-behaved young man, a polar opposite to you when you were younger." He joked slightly as he rembered the past
"What?" She asked annoyed
"Oh co on, don't tell you forgot? During high school weren't you quite the troublemaker? Causing minor infractions and all of that?"
"During one of those 'anger episodes' you even broke my finger, wasn't that the entire reason we started dating in the first place…"
"..."
She remained silent.
"Ahh… Brings back mories… I can still hear your mom screaming at you when my parents went to visit you… What did she say again?..."
"..."
She chuckled a little, those were so good mories.
"Thankfully, it seems Dale took after more, although I'm concerned about Eddy… He took a lot from your side of things… Especially your mom…"
"Stop it... Sigh, when you talk about those tis it makes my head spin…"
"My mother always scolded for causing trouble and I was so happy I didn't have to go through the sa she had…"
'Only after having my own son did I understand why she was always annoyed when I caused trouble.'
"But that doesn't an I'm in favor of having Dale spend his entire ti inside that machine like a pickle in a jar, I was quite happy that he was spending a lot of ti working out and studying..."
"Yet sotis, I actually wanted him to cause so trouble, he does absolutely nothing. No late parties, he doesn't drink, he doesn't drive, he doesn't even have a girlfriend, nothing at all."
"And his friends are also like him... A bunch of weird kids."
Although, different from him, they do drive, drink, and have girlfriends, but I never heard of them causing trouble at all...
"I can understand you... If he goes like this he'll never find a girlfriend like his brother..."
"Anyway, can you co pick up?" The woman asked as she looked out the window outside
"? But you're the one with the car…"
"Uh! I forgot…"
"So… Co pick up, I think it has started raining, and looking outside, I don't think it'll be a good idea to go to the station, I'll get my suit drenched." The man said on the other side of the phone
"I'll be there in half an hour then…" She replied as she started packing her things
…
The two gave each other goodbye after a bit more small talk and they went on their ways…
She looked everywhere one more ti, but it was a bit hard due to the darkness.
"Keys, docunts, papers... My cellphone... Where's my cellphone? Shit!... Oh, it's here... Phew." She said as she checked her handbag
Dale's mother got inside the car and left her work…
...
/Outside.../
"..."
/Buzz.../
A man grabbed a small walkie-talkie, bringing it to his face.
"Bri 2 reporting. Over."
/Buzz.../
"We can hear you loud and clear. Over."
"Reporting, M-Oga has moved from Position W-1, likely heading to position W-2. Over."
"Copy that Bri 2, stand by for further instructions."
/Shuaaa/
But little did she know that in an apartnt complex right on the other side of the road, a man clad in casual clothes and a pair of sunglasses watched her every move while the rain continued to fall.
It was hard to notice, but his sunglasses allowed him to zoom in and out like a pair of binoculars, multiple lines of information passed through them quickly, making it very hard to discern what was going on...
Yet for the man, those lines of information made it all that easier to understand.
"..."
The man stood there, hiding in the shadows as he saw the rain pour down…
…
/Around half an hour later…/
"It's getting cold..."
"They said a cold front was coming, guess this is it."
Inside a small bar, a dark-haired man and a blond woman, a couple most likely, were currently discussing the forecast while drinking coffee…
They seed just like any ordinary couple...
Until a car left the garage of a skyscraper.
When that happened, their expressions sharpened.
"Bri 7 reporting. Over." The man said in a low tone
The mont he saw the car, his expression changed, but only for a single mont as his calm smile returned to his face.
"Report. Over."
"... M-Beta and M-Oga have left W-2. Over."
He then turned to the blond girl in front of him and asked with a smile:
"Would you like so sugar?"
She smiled and replied:
"Thank you, but this is already enough for , you know it isn't good for my diet."
"Copy that Bri 7, stand by for further instructions..."
But before the person on the other could finish his line, a girl interrupted him:
"... And that Bri 7-2 is getting fat! Over!"
"..."
"..."
The blond girl's expression started to turn red, seemingly pissed, and despite having a smile on her face, her forehead was tense...
'That little bitch...' She thought as she tapped on the table
"..."
The man on the other hand was tense, he knew that if he were to do sothing out of line, the one who would suffer her wrath would be him.
'Of everything, she could've said... I'm not paid enough for this...'
'I want to smoke... Ah... This place forbids it... Shit.'
Despite it all, they still kept their professionalism and facade...
The man and the woman smiled at each other, 'enjoying' their coffee under the faint rain from the outside.
One angry, and one tired.
…
/Another half an hour later…/
Dale's parents finally arrived at their ho, and without complications, they got inside and parked their car, ready to take a rest after a 'hard' day of work…
Honestly, they barely worked.
...
"..."
At the sa ti, sowhere not so far, a woman pressed her hand against her ear, listening to sothing…
After she listened to whatever she was being told, she turned her face to the sole man in the room, an old but strong grandpa, and said:
"... Sir, we have gathered them as requested."
"Has sothing happened on the way?" He asked seriously
"Yes, it wasn't completely smooth."
"Bri 3, 4, 4-2, 6, 6-2, and 9 have t with varies degrees of resistance."
"Bri 4,4-2 and 9 have successfully warded off the trouble, while Bri 6 sustained severe injuries and Bri 6-2 suffered mild ones, but no casualties."
"What about Bri 3?" The old man asked deeply
"... We have lost contact with Bri 3."
"..."
/CRUSH!/
The old man frowned, and from his previously composed personality, he completely crushed the tal can in his hand into a small ball of iron.
But after a few seconds like this, he cald down and said:
"Make sure to track them down, even if just a finger, we'll recover their bodies."
'I'll tear them apart... But later, now, I need to focus on the present...'
'In any case, the operation was a major success...'
'Since they are all now safe in the sa place.'
"Send in Strike Force Bullet, and have them clear out all third parties in a 5 km radius of our current location, regardless of who it is, but remind them to enforce caution."
"We wouldn't want to clash with local and governntal forces that are rely watching these events unfold, there's no point in creating tension over nothing."
"Yes sir!"
The woman turned her face to the side, relaying orders to multiple people at the sa ti far away, while the old man remained calm. Breathing in and out slowly…
Before he could think of a plan, he first had to make sure there would be no interference from the outside.
He looked towards the window of his room, staring at the rain as it fell on it.
"Looks like I was faster this ti."
'Did they underestimate how many resources I would be willing to pour into this?'
'Or did they simply undervalue this situation?'
'Perhaps both... Or perhaps... They have sothing on their sleeves?'
"..."
'Show what you are hiding.' He thought as his eyes lit up in blue light
…
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Notes
N1
With an average of 200 words per minute, a person can read a 200 pages book (55 thousand words) in about 4.5 hours.
Let's double this to 400 pages, so it becos 9 hours.
Let's say Dale can easily read 4 tis faster than that, to about 1000 words per minute due to his Stats.
Then, let's slow this speed down a notch since he has to concentrate greatly.
So in the end, it's just 3 tis faster.
It would still take 2 hours to read the whole book, and he would likely read it several tis.
Not to say the other books...
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