Chapter 6

"Violence has overtaken GS city and all spawning cities country wide, first responders call lines are swamped with calls from Origanals and pranking Players alike. The President who is also a player has given the Police the authority to use lethal force with the players and to give the maximum punishment for those who disrupt the peace. The influx of players has affected the financial market as we are seeing banks close due to shootings from attempted robberies. Gun laws are being tightened for players and loosened for Originals in a bid to call them out to protect themselves.

"In other news, the Serlant Border has announced that their expedition has borne fruit as we have now come in contact with another established country, the authorities have yet to disclose our relationship with them but our sources say that the military is on full alert as a war could happen between us at any time"

'That's it!'

Vincent thought to himself! Perhaps the reason there was only Serlant country was because the developers were waiting for players to come into the game. After which the war would provide the excitement new players sought so desperately. Better still, it would discourage adrenaline junkies from disturbing the peace within the country's borders and instead direct their energy to fighting the war with the military.

Suddenly, his phone rang, surprising him. He picked it up to see the call was from Leslie, the girl he met in the apartment building when he just came out of it.

"Hey noob" her voice came through as soon as he answered the call.

"So guess what? I did get a good job as an Intelligence Agent here in the National Intelligence Agency thanks to that letter"

Vincent remained silent while she went on to ramble about tests she had to take and the part-time training program they had arranged for her over the next six months.

"Hello, hello, are you there?" She finally noticed his silence.

"Just keep talking, the radio was getting boring anyways" Vincent shrugged even though she couldn't see him.

"Heh, you don't seem to understand how powerful I am now. Anyways, I didn't call you to brag. Did you hear about the new country from the radio?"

"What about it?" He asked.

"Okay so, that war is very likely to happen annnnd there's benefits to gain from it" Leslie continued excitedly.

"Why are you telling me this?" Vincent frowned and asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I work in National Intelligence Agency dumbass, it's as intense as it is in real life, I need a backer from the Army so go join the Army and rank up quickly with this war" Leslie replied in a scolding tone.

Vincent did not outrightly reject her. Ever since he heard about the chaos in the game from Clara Hall and Eddard, he had been thinking of a good way to get some authority for himself. Being wealthy was good and all but he needed connections to keep that wealth or powerful people would quickly swallow him up. He wanted to be like those big companies in the real world, the CHAOS Company for example. They had a hand in literally everything even the real world's black markets. But he had to start from somewhere.

"So what's your job exactly?" He asked her again, he wanted to know if she could provide him any help or was just shooting her horn.

"Umm, I'm a Junior Agent but but… I have an investigation I just started, I can't tell you the details on the phone but if I handle this right, I'm expecting to be assigned to a Special Task-foce. The real reason I need a supporter is . . . It will be dangerous to investigate" Leslie finally opened up to him.

Vincent's mind immediately drifted to movie plots. Perhaps she was investigating one of her own or someone from the government? Since she worked in the National Intelligence Agency, it had to be a really big case for her to be handling it. He was more concerned about the person who gave her the case though. Couldn't that person be her backing? Anyways none of that was his business.

"Okay we'll see, I'll call you later" he said quickly and ended the call even as she called for him to wait.

Staring out the window, he could see cops everywhere. So far they had passed three check points, each one questioning the ownership of the car and for Vincent's Citizen ID. He understood, one of the best ways to get money in games like these was to steal cars. Vincent smiled thinking of one game where everyone did that.

They soon arrived at the hospital. Vincent was surprised to see that it was a private hospital.

"Why was she brought here?" He asked the driver.

"All hospitals are swamped, this was the only one that would take her." The driver replied, glancing at Vincent for a moment wondering why this player would come with him.

"I'm Drunk. Yes, Drunk is my name" he introduced himself.

As expected Vincent was stunned by the name but he did not comment.

"Let's find your daughter," Vincent nodded. He could see the chaos in Drunk's eyes. Although he was collected and in control of his expressions, his concern for his daughter formed a frown on his face that covered his impassiveness.

Drunk nodded and walked ahead of Vincent to the nurse station.

"Ariella Drunk" he gave his daughters name to the nurse when asked.

Vincent's lips twitched and he shifted on his feet subconsciously. Even the NPC nurse paused for a moment and glanced at Vincent as if he had an answer to the weird name.

"Just check please" Vincent smiled at her. She seemed to trust his words better and responded.

"Nurse C, please take them to patient 48" the nurse suddenly called at another who just entered the station to pick up a deck of papers.

"Please go with her, she'll take you to your daughter" the nurse at the station said to them but her gaze was mostly on Vincent.

Drunk didn't seem to care, he turned around and followed the nurse who was waiting for them.

"Hi, my name is Cynthia. I'm an EMT nurse. Patient 48, Ariella is your daughter?" The nurse introduced herself to Drunk and asked.

"She is, is she okay?" Drunk asked, his anxiety finally revealing itself.

"Yes yes, Ariella is alright. The bullet went through so she only needed some stitches. She will make a full recover" the nurse reassured Drunk. She started walking but then she noticed Vincent staring at her.

Vincent was shocked by the nurse's enthusiasm but it wasn't just that. He was feeling something else. . . Something that made him look away as soon as she noticed his gaze.

"Your son?" Nurse Cynthia asked Drunk.

"No, he's a friend," Drunk replied. A teasing smile made its way to his lips. It was the first time Vincent saw him smile. But knowing that the older man had seen through him, he felt more awkward.

Cynthia led them to a room with four beds in it. On each bed were patients in pain and all of them were Originals with gunshot wounds.

Vincent's expression turned grave. Whatever feeling of irritation he had about the incident of an NPC stealing from a player was now gone. It was a freaking dog eat dog world and the NPCs just had their lives shaken and messed up all of a sudden by players appearing out of nowhere.

He stood by the door and watched Drunk talk with his daughter. The young girl seemed about his age and despite her injury she was sitting beside another bed and talking with a woman on it. Drunk said something to her and pointed at him, he waved in response when she looked but she waved for him to come over.

Skeptical, Vincent approached her and she revealed a bright smile at him.

"You seem to have a full pocket" she started, earning a glare from her father.

"What? You need a stable job, you don't want to get shot too and end up here, do you?" Ariella asked her father with a fierce glare.

"I'll leave you to it" Vincent smiled kindly before leaving. He decided to return to the car and wait for Drunk. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long.

"Hey, old man. What would it cost for you to work for me?" He asked. As soon as the man got into the driver's seat.

Drunk was stunned for a moment. "$50,000" he replied.

For a moment Vincent thought he could see a smile emerge on Drunk's lips.

"I'll give you some keys when we get back. Maybe I should buy a house" he whispered the last part to himself.

He was about to say something when his expression changed.

"Hey, umm please wait for me in front of my apartment building" he hurriedly said to Drunk before disappearing.

Drunk didn't seem startled by his disappearance and neither did Jim or Gavin.

Vincent opened his eyes and got out of the gaming pod to see his mother standing with her arms folded above him.

"What did I tell you about your bag?" She asked with a stern gaze. Vincent opened his lips but he couldn't find words to reply to her. He knew how much his mother hated untidiness.

"What game were you playing?" Her expression softened.

As soon as she asked, Vincent's eyes widened and he exclaimed.

"Mom, we are rich!"

Candace stared down at her son wondering if he had gone crazy.

"I'll wait for Petra to deal with this" she shook her head and made to leave.

"I was playing Life Online." He exclaimed behind her.

"The game on TV? How did you subscribe to it?" She turned around sharply with wide eyes full of shock and terror.

"No, no, no, Vincent please tell me you didn't use my credit card. We need the money for Petra's medicines" her voice became shaky as she searched her trouser pocket for her phone.

Vincent immediately pulled his phone from the desk close to him and logged into the game website. He saw that the currency exchange rate was 1:3 and knew it would increase in the future but his mother would pass out if he did nothing so he gritted his teeth and exchanged a million in game dollars.

For a moment Candace felt her mind go blank when she saw her empty account balance but in the next instant a huge credit alert came in. Squinting, she looked up at Vincent who was staring at her nervously.

"Tell me everything," she asked sternly.