Lily, coming from a wealthy family, had no real concept of what five thousand dollars a month ant. Kira and Little Chili, however, were visibly surprised.
Little Chili laughed softly. "Brother Don, when you were a departnt manager, your guaranteed monthly salary was only three thousand. Looks like I made the right call quitting when I did."
Vera straightened her expression and said with complete seriousness, "But let be clear from the start. I don’t care if you’re dating, flirting, or teasing each other inside the studio, that’s your business. What I care about is that it never interferes with leveling targets. Miss those targets for two consecutive months and don’t expect to be gentle. Especially that newbie with the crossbow. I don’t want to see anyone drifting through the day doing nothing."
Lily protested imdiately. "Sis, I was not slacking off! Ask Don, my damage output is solid, and I can land weakness shots too!"
Without hesitation, Don twisted the knife. "Your weakness shots are all because I pointed out where to aim."
"Waaah! You bullied too! Fine, I’ve decided."
"Decided what?"
"I’ve decided to stay here and never leave!"
Don and Vera wiped their foreheads in unison. "You win."
Don had barely opened the villa door before his nose caught the aroma. The table was covered in classic Liverpool ho cooking, braised pork with preserved mustard greens, four-happiness atballs, garlic shredded tripe, braised vegetables. Abundant, warm, and genuinely delicious. And seated in front of all of it, staring at the dishes in a private trance, was a little girl.
She wasn’t particularly tall, roughly the sa height as Vera. Her outfit was charming in a cosplay sort of way, dark purple shirt, white vest, fitted white suit trousers. Two carrot-shaped braids hung on either side of her face, her skin was fair, and her large bright eyes made her look almost like a miniature copy of Vera.
Don turned to Vera with genuine surprise. "You never ntioned having a younger sister."
"She’s not biological. But she might as well be. I found her in London."
The little girl was still in her trance, paying no attention to any of them.
Vera tapped the table gently. "Quinn. These older brothers and sisters are family from now on."
The girl finally snapped out of it, blinking her large watery eyes at Vera. After a contemplative pause, she said sothing that made the entire room go montarily silent. "Sister, there’s no cotton candy for sale downstairs."
Vera patted her head with visible affection. "Her na is Quinn. In-ga ID is Under the Hibiscus. Level 27. Class: Dancer."
Don stared. "She’s the highest-ranking Dancer in the Arican region right now?"
Quinn’s expression shifted into sothing unexpectedly sharp. "Please. I’m already Level 28. Twenty-seven is ancient history."
Don decided imdiately that he enjoyed sparring with this child. "If you’re not happy about it, co online and I’ll put you in your place."
Quinn tilted her head. "Then I’ll have my sister co after you. Aren’t you just that Level 31 little Rogue? My sister is a Level 33 War Spirit."
The three won burst into laughter. Don stared at the ceiling. His attempt at teasing had spectacularly backfired. Tragic.
Dinner was served, and Vera imdiately started using her chopsticks to put food on everyone’s plates without ceremony. "Eat up. We’re all family here, no need to stand on formality. Treat this place like ho."
Smiles appeared around the table. The others weren’t really focusing on the food, they were responding to the feeling of the room, the ease of it. Vera hadn’t changed much from a few years ago. More mature, more beautiful, but fundantally the sa person Don had known. Though where others saw warmth and ease, he also saw sothing else, she was carrying sothing heavier than before, so weight she kept carefully out of the light.
Like Tian Ge, Vera never discussed business during als. It was only afterward, while assigning rooms, that she laid out the studio’s most important principle almost as an afterthought. Equipnt obtained through collective effort would be distributed by need, with surplus sold. Fifty percent of the proceeds went to mbers, the other fifty into the guild fund. Individual loot and gold required a 20 percent tithe, paid to her weekly. No one objected.
She also assigned roles. Don was nad deputy manager of Extraordinary, responsible for leveling coordination and dungeon planning. Little Chili was nad deputy manager of the Dwarf Team, overseeing consumables, gathered materials, and equipnt crafting.
Don asked about the studio’s total mbership. Vera told him around 300 players, relatively small, but the average level was high, and most of them were skilled Dwarf crafters and gatherers. They were the core that Mick had built and maintained over years, even after stepping back from gaming professionally. When the ti ca, Mick had passed the most capable among them to Vera.
While the others went to settle into their rooms, Don pulled Vera aside. "If you’re short on funds, I can put in sothing. I don’t have much liquid, about 100,000 dollars, but it’s yours if you need it."
Vera waved a hand. "Don, I appreciate that. But I genuinely don’t need it. My older sister sends a monthly sum. And don’t take what I said earlier too seriously, siblings talk." She paused, then added, "Your monthly salary is ten thousand. Higher than the others, because you’ll carry more responsibility."
Don smiled wryly. "Why does the brother-sister framing still feel so strange when you’re three months younger than ?"
"Because your awareness needs developnt. Now go level up."
The room was fully equipped, a proper bed, bedside table, large wardrobe, and most importantly, a high-specification desktop computer. Vera had even placed an expensive backup device next to it, just in case. Don plugged in the second-generation light-sensing glasses, powered up the machine, and went online.
A flash of silver light materialized him in Yiersa Village. Several players stood waiting. Two system notifications arrived imdiately.
Player Extraordinary has sent you a friend request.
Player Under the Hibiscus has sent you a friend request.
Don confird both. A voice ssage ca through: "Kid. Co to Fies Village. I’ll help you level up."
Don typed back, "You disrespectful little brat, I’m challenging you to a duel."
"Then hurry. Fewer people during altis. At least you won’t lose too much face."
"..."
A team invitation arrived imdiately, and Don was pulled in. He noticed a sowhat familiar ID: Extraordinary Butler. Before he could speak, a deep voice ca through the team channel. "Little Don. Do you still recognize your uncle?"
Don nodded reflexively even though nobody could see him. That voice. It was Mick’s old team leader, the forr head of the most capable production team in Beyond the Heavens. Don had raided the old man’s blue potion supply more tis than he could count.
"Uncle Butler. Are you still alive and well?"
"Little bastard! You’re asking for a beating! Is your chrysanthemum itchy again?"
"Uncle. It’s been a long ti."
"Four years! You’ve been gone for four years! You’re even more heartless than Gale, and he only disappeared for three!"
"Uncle, don’t be angry. I’m back now."
"Good. Co here quickly and let see if your legs have grown out yet."
"...Which ones?"
Vera’s voice cut in flatly. "You two are shaless, one old, one young. The whole team is full of won. Can you tone it down."
Butler chuckled. "Since the boss has spoken, I suppose we’ll tone it down. Shall I ask about those legs another ti?"
"Quite impressive."
Kira and Lily teleported in shortly afterward. Little Chili sent Don a private ssage. "Brother Don, I still have a large stockpile of wolf pelts in my backpack and warehouse. What should I do with them?"
Don smiled. "I’ll talk to Butler about it. I’m guessing he ans we pass the hides to Sister Diana, people from Beyond the Heavens always kept their word."
"Hey, Don. I don’t know why, but I feel like I’m still in our old group sohow."
"Of course. This used to be my ho." He patted his chest, even though no one could see it.
Fies Village was similar in structure to Ghost Wolf Village, except that the surrounding monsters were higher level, low-Level 40 Scythe Demons. Like Orcs, this species counted as one of the more powerful mid-ga monster families in Realms Online, and even the low-level variants were genuinely dangerous. Vera had clearly chosen this location deliberately to stay under the radar. Very few leveling groups would willingly co here.
Don found Butler in the village, greeted him with a hug, exchanged a few words, and then went straight to the point about Little Chili’s wolf pelt supply. The old man’s answer was imdiate. "Is that even a question? Give the leather to them, obviously."
Little Chili brightened. "Then I’ll go now."
Butler nodded approvingly. "This young lady is reliable. She can be trusted with real responsibility."
"Of course," Don said. "Her dexterity coefficient is already at 50 percent."
Butler went quiet for a mont. "...Fifty percent? I’m only at 41."
Don seized the opportunity with practiced shalessness. "Uncle, you’re remarkable. An elder making the journey of thousands of miles to Liverpool, treating the cause of the people of Liverpool as his own, devoting himself to the virtual gaming industry of his motherland at the age of forty, what kind of spirit is this? This is pure, unwavering devotion."
"Get lost! Stinky kid, you’re even more insufferable than Gale! Stop speechifying and go fight monsters! Uncle needs the ore that drops from Scythe Demons!"
Don looked at the high-ranking Scythe Demons lurking just beyond the village gate and tentatively asked, "Uncle, you’re not joking, are you?"
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