CH 20- Termination

Upon opening his eyes Glacé saw the familiar ceiling of his room and abruptly sat up and scanned the room. Bai sat by his side with red eyes "You're awake! Mole came to wake me up last night and when I came down I found you collapsed on the floor with these two by your side".

Bai gestured with his hands and Glacé followed his movement with his eyes and spotted the elf and dwarf lying on the bare ground with nothing but their ratty clothes and a blanket covering them. Glacé felt his eye twitch as he stared at the haphazardly cared-for people unconscious on the ground and held his forehead for a moment. "How long was I out?".

Bai scratched his head "it's the following morning now".

'Shit the official release is today!'. Glacé hurriedly opened his player interface to check the time.

'Phew only 4:30 am'

Glacé then turned his eyes back to the two on the ground and went to check their conditions. Both were almost fully healed from all their terrible injuries so Glacé figured they should awake soon. Glacé pulled out the slave contracts of the two, one given by the salesman and the other he used magic to swindle away. He then burned both contracts completely to ashes with his magic and nodded in satisfaction.

Then he spoke softly next to the two, "you're both free now". Glacé gave a sad smile as he thought of all the others he had to leave behind last night and slowly got up off the ground. 'This quest will be a lot harder than I imagined, I also need to find a way to make more money'.

Glacé sat still for a while and brainstormed what he should do next.

"Where am I?". Glacé heard a soft yet flustered voice and turned his head to the elf. The young elf met Glacés eyes and his widened in shock, then he kneeled on the ground. "Great unicorn! it must be you who saved my life, yes?? How are the others who were with me?".

Glacé heard the elf's words and showed him a bitter smile "I don't know". Glacé lowered his head and spoke softly "I don't have the ability to help so many yet, I'm too weak. I only brought you and that dwarf back last night since you both were wandering on the border of life and death".

"Ah…. Is that so?". Tears started to swell in the elf's eyes and he showed a crying smile "thank you for saving me, I really appreciate it".

Glacé stared at his crying face and felt guilty so he said nothing in response. This stalemate lasted until they heard a cursing voice.

"Fuck those human bastards! The next time I see a human I'll just take them down with my best blade! I'll kill them all!". The dwarf had woken up, his eyes red and full of hate and rage, he looked around; saw the elf, and looked around more before he spotted Glacé. He jumped up and pointed at him "you bastard! Are you the filthy human who wishes to own my great self? I won't go down without a fight, come at me!".

Glacé stared speechlessly at the uncouth dwarf and was about to speak when the dwarf started to charge toward him. "Stop it!" The little elf screeched at the dwarf and stood before him. "Stay out of this pipsqueak! I'm gonna kill all humans starting with this one". The dwarf pointed his chunky, filthy finger at Glacé as he spoke harshly.

"You stupid dwarf look closely! That's not a human at all! He saved us both, you're disrespecting the holy one". The dwarf slightly paused at the elf's words and looked back at Glacé with a scrutinizing gaze. Glacé sighed and held his head in irritation and just shapeshifter before the two. The elf bowed again in response and the dwarf was stunned stupid.

Watching the dwarf's twisted and ever-changing expression Glacé couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed for him. After a couple of minutes, the dwarf's eyes started to twinkle with light and he kneeled down to the ground like the elf and thanked Glacé.

The dwarf raised his head "Forgive me for my brashness, I've never seen a unicorn and am not as magical as this elf so I couldn't tell you apart from humans".

"It's fine, I understand you've probably been through a lot. You both can rest here for a while and I'll escort you home after a few days".

Glacé noticed the expressions on the two turn strained; he narrowed his eyes "what's wrong?".

The elf lowered his head and spoke very softly "I don't know about him but my village was completely taken captive, there probably isn't anyone left in my home".

Glacés eyes widened then he heard the dwarf speak "it's the same for me as well". He didn't know what to say to them and stroked his chin thoughtfully. 'Should I take them to the World Tree's village? The dwarf probably wouldn't be accepted though… ugh let's ask these two first'.

"Well since that's the case, I know an elf village I can take you to. However I don't know if any dwarven villages nearby, do you have somewhere in mind you can go to?".

The dwarf's eyes glowed "I do know of a hidden village not too far away, I'm sure they'd be thrilled to see you. You make for the perfect object of inspiration, they'd welcome us very much and would probably try to forge various equipment and things for you!".

The dwarf's occupation disease kicked in and his mind was already filled with all the things he wanted to make based on Glacé, who shuddered as he heard the words. Seeing the dwarf's fanatical eyes he felt maybe it was best not to let other dwarves see his original form.

"Alright, I've healed you both back to almost full health, take a good rest here for a couple of days and then we'll start our trek once preparations have been made". Glacé left the villa and went to the market and saw stall owners already out and setting up their wares even though it was only five AM.

'There are already so many NPCs in this world I wonder what it would look like once a billion or so players join?'. Glacé felt a bit anxious as he thought about it. 'Hmm? Is that what I think it is?' Further down the bazaar, Glacé saw a person with a name floating above their head.

'ScorchedGlory?… well it's a unique name I suppose, but the game hasn't opened yet. It's either a developer or one of the virtual pod winners'. Glacé watched him thoughtfully, he had his name hidden so this player wouldn't be able to see that he was a player right away so he walked towards him with confidence. 'A… knight? Wait he's wearing a cross on his uniform. A Templar?'. Glacé felt anything related to humans probably wasn't good for him to dabble with, even the church. He silently watched the player's actions for a bit then left seeing nothing interesting.

The templar knight who had been blindly looking around previously turned his head and watched Glacés retreating back; his golden eyes showing a thoughtful expression.

Glacé decided it might be best to start his broadcast now and finish early. These past few days he just had them blindly watch him practicing magic for the whole eight hours. 'Whenever I get the chance to exit the game I should see how much I've made these two weeks'.

To be honest aside from when he first turns his stream on and off Glacé doesn't directly speak to his viewers. He honestly felt a bit shy seeing the absurd amount of viewers he obtained during this time. His agent has even been sending him cooperation requests from other streamers, platforms, and brands that are even hoping to use him for endorsement.

Kelly doesn't care for such things, he knows he has enough money for now and directly told his agent not to tell him anything and just reject all offers. As he won't cooperate with a single person. Glacé raised his head and looked at the dark sky 'thinking of… what are the conditions to get to save and leave the game?'.

It's been two weeks and Glacé has gotten himself to level 20 and unlocked some small achievements here and there but still hasn't been given the option to sign out. 'Although I don't really want to leave I want to see if I can change my hours or even stop streaming. I don't want everyone knowing my moves once other people start to play'.

Glacé was conflicted and went to a nearby cafe and decided to look through his personal information. One of the neat things about the game is aside from the 'Social' tab the 'player information' tab can show all the player's actual real-life information. And Glacé can request it to pull up his current bank balance from his communication device.

"Do you wish to check your balance?"

Glacé heard the system speak and replied curtly "yes".

Glacés eyes widened "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight..." Glacé mumbled and counted it again "Holy shit… eight zeros. Billion…. I'm a billionaire!!!!". Glacé started screeching incoherently 'I actually have over two billion star coins in just two weeks!'. Glacé felt as though he was floating on the clouds. 'If I recall correctly the termination fee for my contract was 40 million?'. Glacés eyes bloomed into a vibrant smile and he opened his "Social" tab and selected his agent's contact information.

"Good morning, I'd like to trouble you to help me send in my termination of contract to the boss. Take the 40 million in liquidation fees for breaking the contract directly from my linked bank account. I'd like to stop streaming for now. Since Lichen releases today it shouldn't be a big loss as many other people will start streaming it. I'll trouble you to relay my intentions to the boss".

Glacé hit the send button and breathed a sigh of relief. 'Now it's just me and the game' Glacé showed a satisfied smile and left the cafe' and made his way back to the villa.