Chapter Hundred and nineteen

Artha did note few NPCs who were worthy of noticing. He wanted to talk with them, build rapport and all that. He did nothing though. Till the siblings recieved their VR headgear, there was no guarantee on when they will be able to spend time like this, together. Have to cherish it.

The day ended. Those who had rooms in the inn, slept in the inn. Those who had sleeping bags, found some places in the park and slept. Shockingly, there were few daring people who hadn't bought or rented sleeping bags and they just lied down under some tree before logging out. These Daredevils were ready to face new day with a debuff. Lucky for Sam and Danny, Artha had extra sleeping bags. No need to rent or buy them.

Artha was still trying to explain that having a shop or selling items in the game was feasible. This time he had readymade example. The sleeping bags. If you didn't have coins to purchase it from the NPCs or other players, you could just rent them.

And who would rent them? Those with lots of brawn and back up. Guilds. They could be penny pinchers too when it comes to game coins. Every single bronze coin counted. They always held few surplus items that could be rented out when not used by their guild members. They logged off soon. Artha just gave five stars to his own village. He had a bad hunch that other players would vote for the village with successfully conquered dungeon.

Atharva logged off completely and removed his VR head gear. These gears were truly basic ones. With just few days of usage, they were becoming warm by the time he removed them. Should he invest in VR pods then? Nah! Too costly. All the credits in his bank account had fixed destinations and none went to the stop labelled fun or VR pods.

As he was awake, he got ready to have a fast and furious hot bath. He didn't forget to call his parents to enjoy the limited time adventure of showering with hot water. Though the door he could hear his mother nagging at father to have a hot bath and his father just chuckling in reply. Don't know why. Don't want to know either.

Unlike his twin brothers, his parents were not shocked at vending machine dispensing food. Why? How? All sorts were question marks were rotating around Atharva's head. Even Sama joined them soon as she didn't wait for breakfast in the hotel. It was bad enough that an extra person had stayed a night there. Sama was not surprised at dispensed food. Well, she had travelled all around with the owners and must have seen many things. Things that can't be shared with the family. Still...the question remained- why were her parents not surprised.

All are heartily and Sama started regaling them with the adventure last night. She even got few extra audience, from other customers in the bed and breakfast. A hot girl talking about games. The attractive force was very very high.

Another walk around some parks. Not many shops had opened to do window shopping. Atharva finally gathered enough courage to send money to his mother's account.

As soon as Singhvi saw the message prompt from bank, she thought it was a scam. She was rearing to bash the scammer who was aiming at poor instead of leeching off from rich.

"Mom, it's from me," Atharva confessed. If not, Mrs Murphy would have escalated the matter to the end.

"Why did you send this much money?"

"Well, I'm flush with some money and thought to share with you all."

Mr Murphy just had to put his nose into the matter. "What happened my dear?"

"You son just sent a million credits to my account." Singhvi said clenching her teeth.

Mr Murphy morphed into an enraged Boss in an instant. " Reverse it now!" Her ordered Atharva.

"But...."

"Now, I said."

As it was less than ten minutes after he had sent money, Atharva cancelled to transfer and paid hefty fees to the bank as compensation.

"Look punk, I don't care how you made that money as long it's legal and ethical. What I care is that you shall not spend a single credit from it either on me or your mother. Got it?"

"But I wanted to share some money with you guys. So that you can buy a place where you don't have to do repairs everyweek or one without a damp walls every rainy season."

"We have our reasons. Our accounts will have only money that we earn ourselves. Our names will be only on those things which we pay ourselves. Got it?"

"Sama! Please explain it to them that they don't have to suffer so much. We all are earning enough that they can relax a bit."

"You are on your own ,kid!" Sama left him adrift. "I got similar class when I tried to send money to them. Now it's your turn."

His own sister had sabotaged him. He fiercely whisperes, "You could have let me know."

The answer which came back, in whisper, was conversation stopper. "Oh yeah! And you would have accepted it. Right?"

Certainly not. Few times one has to learn by experience because learning by listening to others won't cut it.

"Can I buy a house in my name and ask you to move there? You can do that, right?" Atharva asked. Majority of his childhood had been spent with his parents ensuring the kids were warm and dry while they sudfer d from cold and cough. He didn't want them to suffer anymore.

Before they could answer, Atharva started rambling about his dreams and wishes. He had turned greedy and mean.

" I know I am not supposed to think like this but I sincerely wish that all family stays together with me. It's wrong to expect everyone else's life to run around me as a centre. First considering my job and my place, then planning for others accordingly. But I can't stop it." He started brawling his eyes out.

He was not strong. He was pampered at home, like a baby. The last few years had pushed him to the limit. It also made him more hungry for his family. A good child would just wish for his parents, his family to be happy. He was not that good. He wanted them happy. But at the same time he wanted them to be with him. Hold him, pamper him, indulge him.

And this was what the twins saw when they reached the park, with their tummies turned round with all the food they had stuffed in.