VIPs

"Destroy the CTO!" Zuriel declares right in front of me and Nisha.

"What?" I ask. "What for?"

"Because they have changed the landscape of the Ring. Before, it was all about strength and wit in order to proceed to the next Ring. Now, it's all about money! I don't like that idea."

"If I remember, you can't even beat that Collector earlier. How do you expect to bring this whole organization down that has, I guess, thousands of Ringers?"

"Oh, we'll find out when we're strong enough."

"That's not reassuring."

"Hey, do you wonder why nobody has found the Divine Trinity Frames yet? It's because nobody is strong enough to clear the Third Ring. Most of the Ringers either die or stop in the Fourth Ring. The generations of Ringers recently have been weak because they're mostly buying themselves in. We must put an end to it if you guys want to get to the Edge."

"You're suggesting that we should make a lot of enemies?"

"In other words? Yes. The more enemies we have, the better. We'll take EXP, gold, and equipment wherever and whenever we can."

"But my daughter, she's—"

"And that's another thing. I wanna train her."

"Train her?"

"Yeah. We're both grimoire users. I can train her well so she can protect herself while we're on the journey."

We look at each other for a moment and then I turn my gaze at Nisha. She nods, agreeing with what he said.

"Okay," I say. "That makes sense even for a little. Do you still have 'objectives' to tell us about?"

He narrows his eyes as he looks up. "I guess that's it for now. We'll improvise according to our needs based on the circumstances. Alright. Let's go!" He waves at us to follow him.

"To where?"

"To my house, of course."

"House?"

"The leader of an island has to have a house or two, right?"

I call Helena to come with us and although it is hard for her, she says goodbye to her friends. I carry her in my arms.

"Can I play with them again, Papa?" she asks, looking sad.

I'm afraid she might not see them again since we're going to travel a lot. It's upsetting me from the inside out because I too, wanted to have a lot of friends back in my world but can't. I know how hard it was to be alone. Now, I'm doing it to my daughter. But we have to keep moving. I'm sorry, Helena. I have to lie.

"Yes," I say to her. "you can play with them next time."

"Yay!" she smiles as her face is near mine.

Although that smile of hers is adorable, I somehow find it hard to appreciate. For that honest smile is brought up by the lie I consciously spoke.

Soon, we arrive at the "house" Zuriel was talking about. It's a whole building! The lobby is full of people dressed up for the occasion—clearly not a cramped residential building. The furniture and walls are decorated gold, the floors are made out of fine marble—something that I've only seen in pictures. It was hard to get them on my planet.

The people are greeting Zuriel constantly as we walk behind him. He's in his "proper" look that he put on when he delivered that speech. Most of them are thanking him because they now have the freedom to spend their time having fun. There are those who were poor before but are crazy rich now. And lastly, bitter people who were once corrupt and rich begging and cursing at him. They can't touch him and with his magic, he kicks them out of the building.

Four of us are inside this special elevator made out of gold. There are labels on the buttons that say what can be found on what floor. There is a casino, bowling alley, bar club, and other adult venues that I don't want Helena to come across. However, there are child-friendly floors like a bounce house. A concept that has long been abandoned in my world because children can just simply plug into a game that has it. Even parks are simulated in the government's virtual world.

"You guys can go ahead and get to Room 002," says Zuriel. "Make yourself at home there while I'm gonna go and have fun. You guys can have your little adventures too. We'll meet up again in a year."

"A year?!" I exclaim. "We can't be wasting time."

"It's fine," he whispers. "I made this city an EXP and gold farm for our party." Then he says normally, "I will be in this building for the whole time. Just don't go too far so you can get your share."

"Wait, is this even allowed?" I whisper in concern. "You're just exploiting these people."

"It doesn't matter. What matters is our goal. And besides, think of it as our reward for freeing them. They had it worse when the All-Seer was around, you know."

*Ding*

The elevator stops and the golden door opens. A lot of people are waiting for him. Most of them are businessmen and attractive ladies.

"Have fun, you guys," he says. "You can call the staff if you need anything. They will do what they can, excellently. And have a lot of fun, Helena." She pats her head. "There are fun places around here. Until next time."

After nodding at us, he walks out of the elevator and dives into the sea of attention and spotlight. The elevator closes and it's the three of us here.

"Do you want to swim in a pool, Helena?" I ask.

"Uh-huh!" she nods very enthusiastically.

"Okay, let's go there and have fun. But first, we'll check out our room."

I hear a growling stomach.

"Papa, I'm hungry."

"Oh, right. We'll eat too."

We walk out of the elevator and a guy in a suit was waiting for us. He has a neutral look on his face while his chin is up.

"May I show you to your room, Miss Nisha, Miss Helena, and Mister Cancer?"

How did he know our names? Maybe it's just normal for the staff to know for them to be hospitable.

"Yes, please," I nod.

He bows, saying, "Please, follow me."

We walk after him and then Nisha whispers to me, "How did he know our names?"

"I don't know but I guess it's nothing out of the ordinary. We have close ties with Zuriel, after all, so we're treated like VIPs."

"Okay," she says, less worried.

A minute later, we arrived at the door of our room—002.

"Enjoy your stay," says the guy, opening the door for us.

We enter and I'm awed by how huge and lavish this room is. Gold is everywhere, warm-colored lights shine from the chandelier and bulbs above, and a king-sized bed enough for the three of us. The furniture as well, are very luxurious. This is like a dream, what the heck?

Helena climbs down from my arms and runs to the bed. "It's so soft!" She climbs then jumps up and down on it. "Papa, Nisha, look at me!"

I smile a bit to give her the attention she wants but instantly revert to a face of astonishment.

"Please ring this bell if you need anything and we'll tend to you in an instant," the guy says before bowing, leaving, and closing the door.

There's food on the table for four next to the window pane. There is a pink cake, a pitcher with juice, roasted meat, and a bell. That must be the bell the guy said we'll ring if we need something.

"Cake!" Helena screams, climbing down from the bed. "I want some!"

"Okay," says Nisha. "I'll get you a slice."

She scours the shelves on the walls to find the utensils while I walk closer to the window pane. The view is spectacular. It's like the Rave Kingdom but dimmer.

We eat at the table and the food is so delicious! I personally don't like cakes that much because they're too sweet but this cake is just right. Maybe I just ate the wrong cakes in the real world. I never knew cakes can be delicious like this.

"Let's go to the pool," I say.

"Let's go!" Helena yells while her mouth is full.

On the bed, I craft a new type of bullet that I just learned. It's a very effective bullet against an agile opponent. I figure out I'll need it soon.

Nisha and Helena are trying clothes from the closet. This is the first time Nisha is comfortable without clothes while I'm around.