《I Live To Play VR-MMORPG》


 Chapter 1

    My life was a disaster.


    During my primary school days, instead of properly study, I went to bother other kids, bullying them for my own selfish reason.


    But it''s not my fault...


    It''s him.


    All because he has everything and I don''t.


    Money, Parents, Friends.


    I have none of them.


    I got jealous of their perfect life so I tried to make their life worse but in truth, I just make things much worse for myself.


    Their suffering only amounted to me pushing them and me taking their pocket money.


    The bully didn''t last long as I was caught by the teacher and was scolded heavily. It even got my father involved with the matter.


    I didn''t learn my lesson and even started to ditch school to go to the Internet Cafe to play games.


    A year passed, I failed to advance to the fifth grade and ended up staying back for another year.


    At this moment, the people I bullied were a grade higher than me.


    Seeing them living their life better than mine, made me more frustrated. The way they looked at me¡­ It made me uncomfortable. I was as though being viewed as trash.


    Because I occasionally ditch school and not studying, I stayed back another year in fourth grade.


    The gaps became bigger as time passed.


    For some reason, out of nowhere, I have the urge to study properly. Probably because I kept seeing them smiling happily while I was having a pathetic look.


    Yes, I started to study but that doesn''t mean I stopped playing games. It has been a while that I''ve played the game and it has become an addiction for me.


    At least I stopped ditching school for now.


    With average effort, I graduate primary school with a simple passing grade, with nothing good to mention about.


    After I have graduated from primary school, I no longer cared about what others think about me.


    That was because my father suddenly, out of nowhere passed away. His death was caused by lung cancer.


    The jealous was immediately replaced with worries as without father providing money, I can''t do anything at all.


    I can''t even buy my own food.


    What''s more, not only he passed his soul to heaven, he also passed all of his debt to his sons.


    Sons, I didn''t mention but I have a big brother or should I say a stranger that I barely talked with.


    With how shameless I am, I pleaded my big brother to pay all of the debt and even asked him to pay for my high school fees.


    Not surprisingly, he didn''t help me, not after what I have done as his little brother.


    He used to dote on me but now he didn''t even hesitate to leave me in the road and die.


    Without much expectation from him, he left the house after paying the debt that he was supposed to pay.


    He then cut all of his connections with me after settling the debt that he was responsible for.


    When he did that I was so angry with him.


    He could have paid off all of the debt, yet he didn''t. He deliberately split the debt in half and paid only what he was responsible for.


    Due to that, I hated him. I loathed him.


    You may have realized it by now.


    I was an asshole, I could only blame others for my uselessness.


    With my ''decent'' effort, I found a ''decent'' job, which was being a cashier of a convenience store.


    Well, not just a cashier but also janitor and re-stocker all at once.


    Fitting myself into society, I then slowly realized how useless I am.


    Sadly, the realization came too late.


    Now I know earning money to survive in society was not easy at all.


    The money father and my big brother got to pay my school fees, they''re all from their hard work.


    Me as a freeloader, I didn''t even fulfill my task properly.


    Time passed quickly and I was already 22 years old. At this time, the debt was finally paid and I could finally save money for my own needs without worry.


    I decided to live my life as an average person with an average life. This is what I deserve after all with my lower than average effort.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    There''s one thing that didn''t change though after all those years and that is playing games.


    When I''m not working, I would spend my time at the usual internet cafe.


    No matter what, I still couldn''t stop playing games.


    One night, I thought to myself.


    ''How are games made?''


    I had been playing games for a long time and yet I didn''t know where they came from.


    For the first time in my life, I made a decision for myself without being influenced by others. It''s my own decision.


    ''I want to know.''


    Using my savings I finally bought my own computer and cooped myself inside my apartment.


    With the help of the internet, I could easily find people sharing information on the process of making games such as tutorials, guidelines, and articles.


    Most of my time was spent on tutorial video and I learned most of the basics stuff that I need to know to make games.


    After a year of self-studying, with the knowledge I obtained, I started to develop my own games.


    Making games take more effort and time than you think, especially for a beginner developer such as me.


    It takes a total of ten years for me to complete a single game.


    Throughout that time, by uploading the game on a website where Indie-game developers gathered.


    I gained over one million of supporter and among the millions, there''s quite a lot of them willing to donate.


    I could even use that money to live comfortably without working as a cashier anymore.


    Anyway, with the feedback from my supporter, I constantly grow as a developer, whether it was suggestion or critique, they''re all useful to me.


    Finally, the game was officially released and it started to make money too not counting the donation of my supporter I made one million rupiahs (roughly 70 USD from what I remember according to the conversion of 2000s) in a month.


    It was three times better than being a cashier.


    More than that, it was fun to make games! I enjoyed it a lot!


    Time went by, I made more than ten games and a huge opportunity came to me.


    A superpower company called Nero-X from Singapore invited me over to join their company as a game developer.


    Without hesitation, I agreed mainly because I felt I could grow even more.


    To be able to join a huge company meant that I could also improve myself.


    From there, my quality of life got better and better.


    I climbed up from a mere cashier to one of the game developers of a huge company.


    My monthly salary when I was a cashier, it was just a mere 30 USD but as a game developer, my monthly salary was 12000 USD.


    Being able to make that much money, for me, it''s unimaginable, me, who failed at life.


    Though from this point in my life, I barely cared about money anymore.


    It was ironic, previously I needed them so bad but I didn''t have them.


    Now, that I have them, I realized it was just something that I needed to survive.


    At this time where I didn''t care about money anymore, I truly realized that my passion was making games.


    With me being too ambitious, I set a goal to accomplish in my life. I swore to myself that I would make VR-MMORPG, a revolutionary virtual reality game that could change how people view the world.


    What I''m trying to create was not an ordinary virtual reality game, what I wanted to create was the VR-MMORPG that people dream of, similar to Sword Art Online, the NerveGear.


    I wanted to create something of that caliber, to be able to dwell in another world and experience a second-life in another world.


    With how fast technology was improving each year, I believed we could do it.


    With such crazy imagination in my mind, the idea was then suggested to the CEO of Nero-X, hoping that he would consider my idea.


    As expected, I ended up getting laughed at.


    For the first time, the money in my bank account finally had some use.


    I resigned from Nero-X and started my own company to pursue my goal, the only purpose of the company was to bring the technology of virtual reality to the next level.


    Over the years, our research finally showed some results but the company went bankrupt before the final product was created.


    I dumb and naive.


    I know how to make games and that''s all I know.


    I had no experience in managing a company and by the time I realized it, my company went bankrupt and the project was taken over by someone else.


    No matter what I do, I can only agree.


    Feeling devastated, I could only leave the research of VR-MMORPG to Microsoft Corporation.


    Many years have passed and I''m 78 years old already.


    For the last few decades, I''ve been occasionally studying and improving my knowledge.


    Though it wasn''t put into use, learning still sparked the passion that has been etched inside of me.


    Sitting in the living room, I turned on my television to see the news channel that I viewed every morning.


    "Good morning! Today we have something huge to announce, huge news from Microsoft Corporation! And guess what?! It is related to Virtual Reality!"


    "That''s correct! The dreams of teenagers and adults finally came true. They have successfully created a real VR-MMORPG!"


    Hearing the word ''VR-MMORPG'' I tensed up.


    The word itself jolted me into excitement.


    Why wasn''t I told by Microsoft that the product was completed?


    Dropping my useless thoughts, I immediately ordered one for myself.


    I was very excited! Extremely excited!


    Ring*


    Finally, the drone arrived with my package.


    I quickly brought it in, unpackaged the box, and plugged in the device.


    Following the instruction, I started the device by saying ''Start''.


    The next thing that happened made me threw the helmet on the floor with anger.


    [User age is above than recommended]


    [Only users of 18-30 years old can use the helmet]


    [Please contact Microsoft for further information]


    As I expected, there''s still something wrong with the game.


    I instantly contacted someone I knew at Microsoft.


    I needed some explanation from them.


    "No need to say anything. I know what you want to say."


    Before I could open my mouth, a friend of mine apologized first.


    "I''m sorry."


    "I cannot make an exception for you to play. It''s not that I don''t want to but I can''t. It''s for your sake. F-Reality Type-23 hasn''t been perfected yet."


    "For normal, healthy youngsters, it ''probably'' won''t cause any harmful damage but if underage kids or the elderly try to use F-Reality, it might cause unexpected problems."


    "The worst case, you could go insane."


    "What?! How could you release such an unfinished product?"


    "It''s the CEO''s decision, we couldn''t stop it. You already know the new CEO, he only cares about money. That''s the reason we put the age requirement on the game. I''m sorry but we can''t risk you going insane because of our product. It will cause an uproar, you understand right?"


    ''Shit!''


    I knew it. Even though I was no longer involved in the project, I still visited them how they have progressed.


    The last time I checked their product, it was far from perfect.


    I already knew the answer but I can''t help asking them this question.


    "How much time do you need roughly to perfect F-Reality?"


    "Probably twenty years more."


    Hearing the answer I finally lost hope. I''m almost at my end, maybe in the next five years, I could''ve died already.


    Due to how I spent my youth life, playing games every day, no exercise, eating unhealthy food. Now that I have reached old age, many diseases were developed.


    If not the fact that the medical field has improved a lot along with technology field, I would''ve died already.


    While I was depressed and frustrated with myself, a pain suddenly gushed through my chest.


    I couldn''t breathe no matter how hard I tried.


    As I was too agitated and excited that I forgot to take my medicine with me into my bedroom.


    I left it downstairs in the living room where I used to watch TV.


    My house was too big and there was no one around to help me.


    I was helpless.


    Slowly, my sight went dark, I was lying on the floor hopelessly grasping my chest tightly because of the overwhelming pain.


    I died of a heart attack


    At least that''s what I thought...


    ''Where am I?''

 Chapter 2

    Huh?


    I''m alive?


    The pain in my chest disappeared and I was suddenly moved into a room?


    "Where the heck am I?"


    Looking at my surroundings, it doesn''t look like a hospital at all.


    In fact, it didn''t even look like a proper place for a human to live in.


    Rotten wall, dusty ceiling.


    But why does this room look very familiar?


    That cupboard, the stickers on it. That backpack.


    Wait...


    Isn''t this my old bedroom?


    Is this flashback of my life in heaven?


    ''This is my hand?''


    It was very tiny.


    Bam*


    "Oi, how long are you going to sleep? Eat your damn breakfast and go to school."


    A fierce-looking teenager barge into the room, dragging me out of the bed.


    ''Big brother?''


    What the hell is this!


    Why I''m a child again?!


    Why is my big brother here?


    Did I actually return to my past?


    I have long forgotten everything about my past, I didn''t want to remember about it because back then I was a very pathetic person.


    Could be considered as the most pathetic person in the world.


    It was the worst of the worst.


    Thankfully, researching and making games made me forget about everything.


    But now that I''m here again, I start to remember my dark past again.


    My poor family and my horrible old self.


    I remembered how much I disappointed them back then.


    Seeing my blank expression, Mervin was confused.


    ''Hm? He didn''t struggle?''


    ''Usually, he would always start his grumbling like Ahhh, I don''t want to go to school or I want to sleep ten minutes more.''


    While Mervin was dragging me, my mind was somewhere else, thinking of my current situation.


    ''How did I ended up here?''


    Finally arrived at the table, Mervin lifted me and put me on the chair.


    He then sat across me and started gulping down the food he prepared.


    "Oi, eat, stop your daydreaming."


    "After you ate, change into your school uniform or else you''re going to be late."


    Without complaining, I started to eat the ''food'' as Mervin told me to.


    Plain rice and dried anchovies.


    The horrible taste of the food... makes me want to puke.


    I''m really holding it back right now.


    Looks like, I''m really back again.


    While eating, I unconsciously stare at Mervin.


    Seeing me being weird, Mervin spoke with a mouthful. "What''s wrong?"


    Gulped*


    Realizing that I was staring at him awkwardly I immediately looked away.


    Mervin then resumes eating his food. As always, he finished his food as fast as he could so he could go to work.


    Right now judging by his look, I''ve returned to around 2000s.


    "This is your allowance, don''t f*cking buy snacks."


    I nodded my head quietly.


    "...Then I''m off to work, study properly you hear me!?."


    Bam*


    Mervin went off, leaving me alone.


    Right, my brother used to work at such a young age.


    Meanwhile, I was slacking and even causing trouble for them.


    Looking at Mervin who is running frantically to his workplace, I should be ashamed of myself.


    He was only 13 years old yet he was already providing for the family.


    Though I''m not sure. From what I remembered, Father always opposed the idea of me going to school but Mervin wanted to at least give me an opportunity.


    Because of me, he didn''t get to study, pursuing a proper education. He sacrificed himself to give me the opportunity to study.


    He works very hard to help pay the school fees for me, though father still helped to pay the majority of the fees, it was still admirable for thirteen years old earning money.


    This shows how much he sacrifices for me and yet I was displeased that he didn''t pay father''s debt.


    The more I thought about my dark past, the more I hate myself.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Looking at the clock on the wall, I realized there''s not much time left.


    I quickly finish all of the food and wear my school uniform.


    Gah.


    This uniform is small.


    This body is small too.


    It felt weird.


    Dropping useless thoughts, I quickly grabbed my schoolbag and run out of the house.


    After locking the door, I stood on the place for a few seconds, thinking where should is the school.


    Which way is the school?


    It''s been too long already, I barely remember it.


    I decided to leave it to my instinct.


    Right, it is.


    Slowly, the familiarity hit me and I finally recognize a few places.


    I went in the correct direction.


    After climbing the hill, I arrived at the school.


    Arriving at the school gates, it feel nostalgic.


    ''I''m back to school again.''


    Honestly, my memory for school, none of them is something nice to remember.


    I sleep when throughout the class and when it''s break time I bully people.


    For the most time, that''s the only thing I did during my primary school years.


    I definitely didn''t want to repeat those stupid actions again.


    At this moment, I already accepted that I''m back in the past.


    Whether it was a dream or not, I don''t care, it felt very realistic to me.


    The only thing matter right now was that I was given a second chance to redeem myself.


    ''I will not disappoint them this time.''


    -----


    As it was a long time already I have forgotten where is my classroom.


    To find my own classroom I need to ask a teacher.


    That looks that she gave me, she seems to know me.


    Alright, I''ll ask her.


    I walked to her while sobbing.


    ''That problem child that I was told about is walking toward me.''


    "What''s wrong?"


    "T-teacher, there''s a rat in my classroom."


    ''Eek! A rat?!''


    Gulped*


    "Really? There''s nothing to be scared of. Let''s go."


    ...


    ...


    "Where is the rat!?"


    "Hehe, it ran off, I think. Thank you anyway."


    Phew*


    Fortunately, the teacher was glad to hear that the rat was gone, she didn''t'' ask any more questions and quickly left.


    There''s only one empty desk available, I guess that''s mine.


    Walking over to my seat, a boy suddenly spoke to me as I was about to put down my bag.


    "Andy, what''s wrong? Why are you with a teacher?"


    ''Who is he again?''


    I tried my best to remember but no matter what I can''t recognize him.


    Though I''ve forgotten about him since he talked to me, means he''s my friend.


    "Nothing special. She just told me a few things."


    Usually, I would be sleeping by now and didn''t notice anything around me.


    But since it''s the current me, I noticed that the kids, today, they were awfully quiet.


    Is there something that''s about to happen which I didn''t know about?


    "Um, why are the other kids so quiet? There''s still time before the class starts right?"


    "Oh, they''re just probably anxious about the upcoming test,"


    The boy replied calmly as though he has finished studying but in fact, he just didn''t care.


    Test?!? What test?!?


    "Um, what test? Is it history? or civics?"


    "Worse than that, it''s math!"


    Even though he said it in a terrified tone, he was probably the only person that could smile while mentioning math.


    On the other hand, I was quite relieved when it''s a math test.


    Thank god, if it''s math I can still do it. Primary-school math wasn''t that hard.


    ...


    Well, back then it was hard but since I''m adult already they should be easy right?


    Fortunately, it wasn''t theory-based subjects, if so I''m doomed. There''s no way I could answer something that I''ve never studied before.


    "The teacher is coming!"


    A kid warned everyone as he caught a glimpse of the teacher''s face in the hallway. He then rushed back to his seat.


    "Stand up!"


    The class representative commanded the whole class.


    Afterward, the teacher then walked in, after putting his stuff on the table we bowed.


    "Good morning, teacher!"


    Everyone said in unison.


    "Keep all of your belongings except for pencil and eraser. The rest keep of them, inside your bag, and put at the front."


    "You! Switch seat with him!"


    The teacher pointed at me, wanted me to switch the boy that sits in front.


    "You too! switch seat with her!"


    The teacher started to arranging our seat so that we couldn''t cheat.


    He separated the children according to their grades, the incapable one at the front so he could prevent them from cheating, and the capable one at the back since they will do it on their own.


    Of course, this doesn''t mean he treated everyone inequally. If they''re discovered that they''re cheating, they''ll still be punished.


    After all, he''s the ''Devil''.


    Everyone has to follow his rules.


    No talking, no cheating.


    This teacher... even though it has been years.


    I can still remember him quite well.


    ''Same as usual, Mr.Ridwan that I used to know.''


    He was the strictest teacher that I ever met, but he''s not a bad teacher, it''s just that don''t be cheeky or naughty in front of him. He can''t stand annoying kids.


    If you comply with his rules and listen to him, he is actually quite kind.


    After finishing arranging the seat, he handed out the test paper and I started to answer them.


    As I expected, the questions are quite easy.


    [Write one million and twenty-five thousand in digits]


    [Order the following fraction from biggest to smallest]


    [Round 415,67 to the nearest whole number]


    If I can''t do these questions, I''ll be ashamed as an adult.


    I finished answering all of the questions in less than ten minutes.


    After I finished, All I did was staring at Mr.Ridwan until the test was over.


    An hour passed and all of the children have handed in the paper including me.


    We continued another hour''s lesson in math.


    After another hour passed the math class ended, Mr.Ridwan left the classroom.


    The next class was literature.


    We were taught by another teacher, Miss Fitri the teacher that guided me to this classroom.


    She was a very kind woman, though I misused her kindness and sleep during her class back then.


    Another hour passed peacefully, it finally breaks time.


    "Hey, Andy wants to bully people?"


    The boy that talked to me when I first arrived, approached me and the first thing he asked was bullying people.


    Hearing what he said, I finally remember who this boy was.


    He''s definitely Micheal, my partner-in-crime.


    Yup.


    His bad behavior was because of me and it''s probably my responsibility too, to fix him.


    "Um, we should go to the canteen and eat."


    I dragged him to the canteen without asking him, but Micheal wasn''t opposed to it either.


    We eat together at the canteen. Since I''ve already eaten in the morning, to avoid awkwardness, I bought soy milk which cost 500 rupiahs.


    It''s delicious and healthy. Most importantly, it''s not a snack.


    My brother wouldn''t scold me for buying that.


    Well, not that he will know.


    The break time ends and we have to quickly return to the class.


    Because the next class is history class which was taught by Mr.Ridwan.


    Since it was his class, we can''t be late or else we''ll be punished.


    If it was another teacher''s class, most of the children wouldn''t mind at all being late for a few minutes and take their time to enjoy the scenery of the hallway.


    After all, it''s not their fault. The break time given by the school to the kids was too short.


    More importantly, most teachers knew what''s going on for the kids because their break time is the same as children''s break time so they won''t blame the kids.


    Anyway, you can see the one from our class stopped chit-chatting and quickly ran upstairs.


    We also ran to the classroom as quickly as possible.


    After the next few hours, the school is over, I bid my farewell to Micheal and gone home early.


    Micheal was disappointed to see me leaving early. The main reason he was disappointed was that it was the first time I left early than him.


    It''s not like me at all to go home early. I usually wait with him until his mother comes and fetched him home.


    Tomorrow I''ll accompany you, right now, I just can''t. I still have to sort my mind out.


    There''s too much thing going on in my head.


    "Bye!"


    "Un, Bye!"


    -----


    Back in my bedroom, I was laying down on the floor.


    Looking at the dusty ceiling, I thought to myself.


    ''Now that I''m back, what is the most important thing I have to do right now?''


    Sigh*


    Sitting up straight, I shook my head as I look at my surroundings.


    Everything is worn-out. The furniture, my bed, the desk.


    ''I need money again.''


    I realized it as soon as I arrived but I didn''t want to acknowledge it.


    Though money can''t buy happiness, it can still at least allows you to live comfortably.


    ''Anyway, I need to get more money but how do I do that?''


    Develop games? but I don''t have a computer with me. I can go to an internet cafe and borrow their computer but I don''t want Mervin to misunderstand my intention.


    I can''t just tell him I''m going to make money by making games can I?


    He will smash my face on the wall.


    So, how do I help them? Should I visit my father''s workplace?


    He should be working as a mechanic at that store.


    If I''m not wrong, at this time he''s about to give up on being a mechanic.


    That''s when the debt came.


    I don''t know the story of how but he will borrow a huge sum of money from a loan shark.


    That money will then be invested to build an internet cafe.


    But then a year or so, before he could pay the debt back, he passed away from lung cancer.


    Though he has passed away, the loanshark still wanted the money back. Since we''re the only ones related to him, they come for us every day asking for money.


    For now, the money for the debt wasn''t that important. I can solve that if time was given.


    What''s more important was lung cancer.


    Tomorrow I''ll go find a job.

 Chapter 3

    Inside of a car workshop, where Andy''s father, Lee Kang, is working.


    "Oi, Old Lee. You should take a rest. I''ll finish that for you."


    "Thanks."


    Both of us then switch our place with each other. Thanks to him, I can take a break.


    As soon as I sat down I lit up my cigarette.


    I wonder how is Andy doing in school?


    Judging from the time right now (1 P.M), his school must be almost finished already.


    "Hey, Did you know? Recently computer games have been quite trending. Especially for the youngsters."


    Computer games... Of course, I know it.


    Andy has been playing it and nothing good came from playing it.


    He even dares to ditches school to play computer games.


    "...Yeah, I know."


    Puff*


    But was it the games that caused him to become like this?


    Maybe, It''s me.


    I have no right to scold him, do I?


    "Bro, do you want to stop working in this filthy place?"


    His friend suddenly asked him a nonsense question.


    "Hm? You want to quit this job?"


    "You don''t want to?"


    To be honest, the pay is quite nice, the boss is also generous.


    I don''t think it''s a good idea to quit this job.


    "I have a friend of mine that can fund money, we can open an internet cafe ourselves and leave this filthy place."


    Internet cafe, a place to play games?


    "Can that place really earn us money?"


    "Think about it... all we need to invest was the computers, mouses, keyboards, speakers. A friend of mine can supply it with a decent price since we ordered them in a batch."


    Computers? Mouses? I don''t know what are those.


    "We also need the Internet, allowing them to play games. If we have no internet they can only play offline games."


    I didn''t understand a single word came out from his mouth.


    Since when he knew so much about a computer?


    "Um, what''s a keyboard? What is the internet? What is offline?''"


    "...Nevermind, there''s no need for you to know all this stuff. Either way, after we invest in those gadgets, we can easily charge people 5000 Rupiah for every hour they want to play."


    "Isn''t that magnificent? It''s much better than being a mechanic right?"


    5000? Now I know where Andy spends the money to.


    "But, how much do we need to pay for the weird gadgets?"


    "Don''t worry about those I''ll handle it, so you want to join me or not?"


    It sounds suspicious.


    Not entirely believing his friend, Lee can only reply "I''ll think about it."


    It''s 6 P.M already and the workshop is closing.


    Today the business went quite well. The boss gave us extra money before we went home.


    I rode my old motorcycle home with a confused expression throughout the ride.


    I was still thinking about the offer.


    ''Leave the workshop and run a business myself. Can I do that?''Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Right, the Chinese new year is coming.


    I guess I''ll use this money to buy some food.


    -----


    Arriving home the first thing I did was put the groceries in the fridge.


    I bought a package of eggs that could last a few months, a sack of rice, a few cabbages, and a whole chicken.


    After putting the things I''ve bought, I then went to fried myself an egg and started to eat.


    By drizzling the rice with sweet soy sauce and put some anchovies on the top with an egg on the side.


    That is my dinner.


    ''Hm, his room still lights up?''


    I noticed that Andy''s room was still on. Usually, at this time, he would go to sleep already.


    Walking slowly toward Andy''s room, I found my son was...


    My eyes almost bulged out, Andy was holding a book!! Is he studying?!


    While I was peeking at Andy through the small crevices of the door.


    Fortunately, Andy didn''t notice it at all as he was immersing himself in the textbook while at the same time writing at an incredible speed which made me very surprised.


    I wonder what he''s writing?


    Nevermind, there''s no point for me to know it.


    I have never go to school before, even though I saw it, I won''t even understand anything.


    I guess it''s a good thing if he''s studying.


    Should I ask him to sleep right now? It''s late already.


    -----


    [Andy''s POV]


    What the heck...


    I know that I sleep in the class but this is something that I never imagined.


    I didn''t know that I didn''t write a single thing in my notebook!


    They''re completely empty!


    I thought it''s only history''s notebook that''s empty.


    But it turned out every notebook of every single subject was blank.


    Currently, I''m filling my notebooks with important notes from the first topic to the current topic I''ve studied.


    I need to fill them up as fast as possible.


    At the same time, since I need to read them before I write them in the book. This can counts as me studying.


    Another reason that I need to fill my notebooks was that I knew what will happen later on, at the end of the semester.


    The school will be implementing a new rule, which is ''End of the year, Notebook Inspection.''


    The inspection will heavily affect student marks accordingly to the subject.


    If the students properly take notes of everything the teacher said then it''s good. Otherwise, they will have to stay for another year.


    There were some cases where they did take notes but lost their notebooks. They thought that nothing serious will happen so they grab a new book and continue to take the note of what was left.


    In this case, There''s nothing to be said, he/she still need to be punished but not too severely since there are still notes.


    In the worst case, Few of them are like Andy, who has a blank notebook.


    Nothing was noted from the first till the last.


    Immediately these types of students stayed back and didn''t advance.


    Three topics finished, three more to go.


    I didn''t feel bored at all, writing all of the theories in the book.


    I''ve experienced something worse than this.


    During the time where I research about VR-MMORPG. It required me to understand how the brain works, not just the parts but everything.


    The research was very tiring and time-consuming, each day I need to consult a professional doctor to obtain deeper knowledge from them and it''s obviously not easy since the brain was the most complex organ of the human body.


    In the end, not only I have to study the brain, but the whole human anatomy to fully understand everything.


    Even so, for VR-MMORPG I was willing to do it.


    Yet in the end, before I could finish my research the company went bankrupt.


    Remembering the past again, made me wanted to hit myself.


    Slap*


    Get it together.


    Now that you''re back you can fix your mistakes.


    Right now, I should focus on this.


    There''s no use dwelling on past.


    Before this, Andy only plans to study for only a few hours and then go to bed without worrying about his family.


    But time passed quicker than he thought, it was already very late but he hasn''t noticed it since there are no windows showing that outside has become dark.


    -----


    [Lee''s POV]


    What is he doing?


    For the first time, Lee saw Andy making such weird expression and then suddenly out of nowhere slapped himself.


    What in the world?!


    Should I stop him and ask him to rest?


    What should I do?


    Time passed slowly, I can only continue to watch Andy with the bowl of rice on my hand the entire time.


    I was too shocked to eat at this point.


    ...


    ...


    Mervin finally returned from his work and the first thing he saw when he returned home was that his father creepily peeked into his bedroom. (Andy and Mervin share their bedroom.)


    "Dad, what are you doing?"


    Lee signaled Mervin to be quiet and then waved his hand, asking Mervin to come over.


    "Shhh..."


    ''What did Andy do this time?''


    Following his father''s instructions, Mervin walked over but not intending to be secretly at all.


    When he finally gets a good view of Andy, Mervin was just as shocked as when Lee saw it.


    But unlike Lee, Mervin can''t keep quiet.


    "What the f*ck are you doing?"


    Seeing how Mervin was agitated, Lee quickly pretended he didn''t see anything, ran to the living room, and resume to eat normally.


    As for Mervin, he still was dumbfounded to see Andy was actually holding pencil and is using the study desk.


    "Ah, Big Brother. You''re back!"


    ''Wait a minute... Mervin is back? What time is it!''


    "It''s ten P.M already?!?"


    Andy turned his head over to see the clock and was surprised to see the current time.


    Seeing that Andy was just as shock as him, Mervin can''t muster any of his anger.


    "Um, it''s late already, go to sleep, you have school tomorrow."


    Andy quickly tidies up all of the books and put them in his backpack.


    While Andy was doing all that Mervin has long left the room.


    Mervin didn''t make a fuss of it and directly went to eat but he is still curious as it was a rare occasion.


    "How long? Did he study?"


    "...About the time when I returned. So at least two hours"


    Lee answered expressionlessly but was very happy inside.


    On the other hand, Mervin was counting something in his hand.


    ''This means there''s a possibility that the moment he came home he was studying too. his school finished at 1 P.M, he should be arriving home at 2 P.M at most. So, he could be studying for...''


    ''One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight!''


    Eight hours!


    Nope, there''s no way he would study the moment he arrived home. What could possibly happen to him to make him study?


    I would be grateful if he stops ditching his school and stop playing games.


    ...


    I''ll leave work early tomorrow and check him out.


    We''ll see if he is just pretending to study.


    After eating his dinner, he then immediately went to bed, sleeping together with Andy.


    At the same time, Lee was sleeping on the sofa outside, in the living room.


    Both of them were smiling happily in their sleep.

 Chapter 4

    The next morning.


    As usual, I was dragged out of the bed but this time brother wasn''t as cruel as before.


    I''m still not used to wake up this early in the morning.


    I''ve been sleeping leisurely for the past decades. (Andy''s leisurely is from 1 AM to 1 PM)


    Sitting on the table, I noticed that Mervin was staring at me.


    With the opportunity given, since he did saw me studying last night. I think I could convince him so that he won''t get worried anymore.


    "Brother, I''ll study hard from now on."


    "Good."


    A short reply was given even though I mustered myself to say something embarrassing for over seventy years old to say.


    I then tried to read his mind, but nope, nevermind, I can''t see through anything.


    Despite that, I lived longer than my father and should have vast experience.


    In my past life, I never properly socialize with other people. I died being single and alone in my house.


    Maybe I''m a loner without me realizing it?


    I mean, I do prefer being alone.


    From what I can see, Mervin''s expression is giving a terrifying vibe as though he wants to devour me.


    ''I''m going to see if you really going to study properly today!''


    More importantly, He''s eating faster than his usual speed.


    In just a minute, Mervin finished his breakfast.


    "This is your allowance."


    Putting the money on the table Mervin went to work.


    I wonder what Mervin does?


    Anyway, I finished my breakfast, wear my uniform, pack up my things, and run my way to school.


    Not long later, I arrived at school and arrived in my classroom.


    The first thing I should''ve done is probably apologize to every person I have bullied.


    Especially toward Kervin.


    I need to befriend him so that he could help me with studying.


    Not right now, since primary school studies, I think I could manage to understand everything without extra tuition or help.


    But once I reach High-school, things might not be the same anymore.


    I never went to high-school so I planned to at least get into high-school in this life.


    In other words, befriending him to get a study partner is a good idea.


    I was sitting in my desk, waiting for an opportunity to approach Kervin but no matter what I can''t find the opportunity to do so.


    Seeing me staring at Kervin, Micheal gave me an anxious stare, thinking that I was planning to ''attack''.


    "Um, Andy? Do you want to bully Kervin? I don''t think it''s a good idea, the girls are around him, we shouldn''t attack yet."


    Micheal timidly advised me as he didn''t want his friend to experience hellish pain for nothing.


    "No, I''m not attacking."


    Realizing that Andy will not ''attack'' he was then relieved.


    Ding-Dong*


    The bell rang, signifying that the class will start soon, and the teacher is on their way now.


    Most of the children went back to their seat but there''s one annoying child that went outside as though he''s a watchman, waiting at the corridor of the class only until he caught a glimpse of the teacher''s face, he quickly went back in and return to his seat.


    Yeah, I''m used to be one of them.


    Now that I looked at it, it looked very stupid to do such a thing.


    The class starts normally.


    It was quite boring because I have already studied the topic on my own.


    The teacher repeats everything on the textbook anyway. So there''s no different than reading the textbook on your own.


    Even so, I didn''t sleep. I was diligently writing the simplified version of what the teacher said.


    Seeing how unusual of me, writing in the notebook, the teacher was unpleased. She thought that I was doodling in my notebook.


    ''This kid, I need to teach him a lesson or else he will not understand.''


    The teacher called up my name and asked me to explain what she explained.


    "Andy, please come here and bring your notebook too."


    "Can you please explain, how can you find the main idea of a paragraph?"


    ''Hmph if he really takes notes, he should be able to get it by simply read his notebook. I did allow him to bring his notebook.''


    She was planning to embarrass me in front of the class but I''m not letting her do so.


    Without a problem, I answered her questions perfectly without even looking at the notes in my hand.


    For that, she even praised me unconsciously even though she supposed to scold me.


    Not willing to give up, she grabbed my notebook and opened it, only to find out that it was full of notes of what she has said.


    "Miss Fitri, Can I return to my seat now?"


    "Uh. Of course, you can return to your seat."Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    The class continues normally as though nothing happened but I could see that it affected her.


    She was frantically trying to finish the topic quickly and leave the classroom before the class ends.


    In the end, the bell rang and she left as fast as she could.


    ------


    [Teacher''s Office]


    Inside of the teacher''s office, a teacher wore an interesting expression while holding a paper.


    His colleague, The PE teacher, Imam, he saw and got curious.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "Is it another ridiculous answer? Let me see it."


    "N-No that''s not it."


    The colleague went slide over to his colleague''s side. It turned out that someone scored a perfect score.


    "Wow! Someone scored a perfect score on your test. Now, that''s rare!"


    "There''s no need to get so shocked over a perfect score!"


    Imam said that but then when he saw the name of the student on the left corner. His jaw was dropped to the floor, leaving a dumbfounded face.


    "W-what Andy?!? It''s not Kervin who scored the perfect score? Is there other Andy that I don''t know of?"


    "Unfortunately, no. There''s only one Andy in 4-B. Now, do you understand why I''m shocked?"


    "How could that be?! He''s the usual Andy that gives ridiculous creative answer right? How did he score a hundred? Are you sure he didn''t cheat?!"


    "Do you think he could cheat on my watch?"


    "Y-you''re right."


    His friend here, Ridwan, was nicknamed ''Devil'' by the students due to his strict teaching method and scary face.


    No one would dare to cheat with him around because everyone that tried to cheat didn''t end up with a light punishment.


    "Moreover, it''s a math test! Simply knowing the answer still won''t do, you have to show the steps."


    "Even though he got the answer correct but the steps he used don''t make sense, I wouldn''t mark it as correct."


    "Argh! I can''t stand it anymore! I''ll just call him over and ask him."


    Mr.Ridwan immediately stood up from his seat and headed over to the announcement office to make an announcement.


    -----


    Now it''s a good time to approach him.


    He''s now alone.


    "Hey, Andy! Want to bully the ''lioness'' again!"


    Lioness? Somehow, that sounds familiar.


    If Andy asked who is Lioness right now. The boy standing in front of him would look at him weirdly.


    The nickname ''Lioness'' was made by Andy for a girl which used to be his mortal enemy.


    "N-no, I''m good. I have something to do. you should go and eat your lunch. I''ll head over there later on."


    Andy urged Micheal to go and eat first.


    Micheal agreed with a sad expression on his face. He then went to the canteen to eat his lunch without waiting for Andy


    "O-okay... I''ll go first then. I''ll see you later."


    Right... now that we''re alone, I should properly apologize to him.


    Andy was about to approach Kervin but was stopped by the announcement.


    "Andy Lee. Please come to the teacher''s office."


    "I repeat- Class 4-B, Andy Lee. Please come to the teacher''s office and find Mr. Ridwan."


    ...What the?


    Out of nowhere an announcement was made, calling Andy to head over to the teacher''s office.


    When Andy left the classroom, Kervin''s loosened up, he was relieved that he was saved by the announcement.


    ''Serves you right... you should get into trouble more!''


    -----


    [Teacher''s office]


    "Good Morning Mr. Ridwan."


    "Good Morning. Sit down."


    Mr. Ridwan offered me his seat and ordered me to sit down however with his stern expression any kids will still be scared.


    Thankfully I''m not a kid, or else I wouldn''t dare to sit down.


    "Say... How much do you think you scored on your math test?"


    How much I scored on the test...


    Should I say a hundred confidently or be humble and pretend that I don''t know.


    Hmm...


    Saying I don''t know will create more suspicion, I guess I''ll just be honest with him.


    "I believe that I answered everything correctly in the test. Was there a mistake that I didn''t notice of? If so, I apologize for that, I''ll do better in the next test."


    The lengthy and polite answer I gave made Mr.Ridwan frowns.


    ''What''s with his lengthy answer? Since when did he become this polite?''


    "Ehem, Don''t worry about your test. There''s no mistake at all and you have done very well on the test. I called you here to confirm something."


    "Can you explain what you did here?"


    The question Mr. Ridwan asked was to confirm that Andy really does everything on his own and he understands what he wrote in the test paper.


    When he heard the confident answer from Andy, he was then sure that Andy did the test on his own.


    Mr.Ridwan quickly dismissed Andy and allow him to enjoy his break time.


    As soon as Andy left, Mr.Ridwan sighed.


    Calling over a student to just dismiss him instantly was not his style.


    ''I''ll reward him something good in the next class when I hand out the results.''


    -----


    "Phew, he didn''t suspect a thing about my handwriting."


    Andy was relieved that Mr.Ridwan didn''t notice the change in his handwriting.


    He couldn''t just say that he changed his handwriting a few days ago. That wouldn''t make sense.


    Anyway, it''s good that he didn''t notice it.


    I have to go and eat before the break-time ends.


    After I was released by Mr.Ridwan, I quickly went to the canteen to accompany Micheal.


    As soon as I arrived at the canteen, Micheal waved his hand to call me over.


    He even reserved a seat for me.


    "I heard that you''re called by Mr.Ridwan. What did he do to you?"


    "Hm... it''s nothing. He just wanted to ask me a few questions."


    "Really? The devil didn''t do anything? That''s weird..."


    "By the way just now what you did is cool! Miss Fitri probably didn''t expect you to answer her question. Even other students didn''t expect you to answer them."


    Hmm, it seems it did cause some impact just like what I wanted.


    As usual, Micheal caught on quick. He noticed that Miss Fitri was shocked. Other children wouldn''t be able to notice the changes in adult expression and make information out of it.


    He''s indeed a bright child but I don''t know why would he follow me.


    While I was sipping on the soy milk that I bought, Micheal stared at me too.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "Um, the bell rang already. Do you want to ditch the class?"


    Oh, I didn''t hear it.


    I was thinking about what should I do with Kervin. Whether I should give up on him or not.


    There''s no way for both of us to be friendly with each other anymore.


    I mean, he''s not the only one that could become my study partner.


    Micheal is a possible study partner and the best choice too.


    After all if not because of me, I think he could at least get the top ten.


    I need to change his bad habits which are caused by me.


    As for now, just in case, I should also find another study partner that could help me study.


    Wait...


    The bell rang already?!!?


    After this was math! Meaning it was Mr.Ridwan''s class!


    "No. We''re not ditching class. quick! We need to return to the class."


    I don''t mind getting punish by Mr.Ridwan, it was something that usually happened to me already but I will feel guilty if Micheal gets punished because of me.


    He stayed behind waiting for me to in the canteen despite knowing it''s Mr.Ridwan''s class.


    We ran as fast as we could but unfortunately, Mr.Ridwan was already inside. We could hear everyone inside was greeting him.


    Not wasting any time to worsen the situation, We greet Mr.Ridwan at the door.


    "Good Morning, Mr.Ridwan!"


    Both of us greeted in unison. We then stood there waiting for our punishment but unexpectedly, he said.


    "Hurry and return to your seat."


    Micheal didn''t look surprised at all as he calmly returns to his seat but as for other students as well as me, everyone was shocked that we could return to our seat without any punishment.


    Kervin was extremely disappointed that his mortal enemy wasn''t get punished.


    ''Is Mr.Ridwan in a good mood?''


    The reason Mr.Ridwan didn''t punish Andy was that he knew he took away some of Andy''s break time but mainly was because Andy has done perfectly well in his test which made him happy for him.


    So for once, he won''t say anything about Andy being late.


    "I have marked your test. For the one that thinks that he has done poorly in the test, please be prepared."


    "I''ll start from the highest marks to the lowest."


    Kervin has already stood up from his seat before he heard his name get called out but upon hearing the name he was shocked.


    "100 out of 100. Andy"


    The whole class went frenzied when they heard Andy was the highest.


    "Andy got a perfect mark?!"


    "Did he cheat?!"


    "A hundred in math are you serious? And its Andy?!"


    Bam*


    Hearing the loud commotion, Mr.Ridwan slammed the table, silencing the students from being noisy.


    ''Well, this is a normal reaction. I''m glad I wasn''t the one that was shocked.''


    Mr.Ridwan understand them, he was also very shocked that Andy got a perfect score.


    Kervin sheepishly went back to his seat. He was relieved that everyone was so shocked that they didn''t notice him.


    ''How did this happen?!''


    ''Andy got a hundred in math?! He didn''t even listen to the class! He sleep the entire time!''


    While Kervin was dumbstruck, contemplating how Andy suddenly became smarter, Mr.Ridwan for the first time, praised Andy.


    "Good Job. As usual, I prepared a ''gift'' for the one who score poorly and as well gift for the one good in their test."


    Yeah... the type of gift varies depending on the score.


    Mr.Ridwan gave me a toy car for scoring the highest.


    It was his idea to reward those that do well in the test but as for the one that fails miserably in the test, he will also punish them thoroughly similar to a carrot and stick approach.


    Seeing Andy receiving a toy car, Kervin gritted his teeth with anger.


    ''It''s supposed to be my toy car!''


    Kervin did ask Mr.Ridwan to specifically to reward a toy car last test, but now it ended up in Andy''s hand.


    "Next, Kervin 96 out of 100."


    "Good Job, just a slight mistake on number four, next time be more careful."


    Kervin received a bag of snacks. He definitely was dissatisfied with the reward he received. However, he didn''t show it in his face.


    ''Next time, I swear I''ll beat you!''

 Chapter 5

    School ended smoothly. This time I stayed behind for a while until Micheal went home.


    While waiting for his mother, we were chatting with each other as we''re playing with the toy car I recently received.


    "Just now, everyone was shocked that you score perfectly in math! Did you actually start studying!"


    "Um yeah! I felt that I need to stop messing around."


    "I see... that explained how you could answer Miss Fitri."


    Vroom. Vroom.


    Micheal added the sound effect, he was really enjoying it.


    Seeing him having fun with a toy car is nice. This proves that he''s still a kid.


    "Micheal I have something to say."


    "Let''s stop bullying. You should also stop."


    Because I said it out of nowhere, Micheal stopped his vrooming.


    "Also, no more internet cafe and you should attend your tuition as well."


    Not understanding my intention, Micheal returned with a question.


    "Why?"


    Micheal replied to me in a robotic manner. He looked very unhappy. Did I make a mistake?


    "Nevermind. I''ll just listen to you."


    "I''ll stop bullying and attend my tuition."


    Anyway, I manage said it, this should stop him from running away from his tuition just to accompany me to play computer games at an internet cafe.


    Again, it''s my fault that he became like this, I need to be responsible for my actions.


    "Andy... Are we not friends anymore?"


    He looked at me with teary eyes and it surprised me. The everyday-cheerful Micheal was about to cry.


    "I feel like you are avoiding me."


    Only after hearing what Micheal was trying to say, I finally understood why he became sad.


    Ah... these few days, for him I''ve changed a lot.


    "O-of course, we''re still friends. Obviously not in this lifetime will I avoid you. You''re my best friend!"


    I quickly tried to clear up this weird situation by reassuring him that we''re still best friends.


    "It''s just that, I don''t want you to worry your family as I did. So, instead of bullying others together, we will be studying together from now on!"


    "If you want, I could also teach you! I''m pretty smart if I try hard. I even score perfectly in the math test."


    "Later on, not just the math test, in the upcoming final exams of the end of the semester. I will also score everything perfectly."


    I boasted how brilliant I am to Micheal. With this, if his mother allows me to teach Micheal, then I''ll teach him with my best effort, not only about school but also proper ethics.


    That is if... his mother agrees which I doubt will happen.


    "Un! I will tell my mother!"


    Micheal nodded his head fervently, with a big smile on his face, I finally feel assured.


    A few minutes later, his mother arrived, she came to fetch him home.


    While doing so she gave a look of contempt as though she was saying ''Disgusting''.


    That is new... I never notice that before.


    Well, I didn''t care too much about it.


    Maybe, she loathed me because I''m the one who influenced Micheal to have bad behavior.


    "Bye!"


    "See you tomorrow!"


    Now that I''m the only one left in the school, I should head back home.


    -----


    "I''m back."


    For some reason, I uttered those words.


    Yesterday I did it too when I got home.


    I did it without noticing.


    It seems like, despite the fact that I''m over seventy, there''s a part of me that remains the same.


    The previous Andy felt lonely.


    Is this what it''s like to have a multi-personality disorder?


    Hm...


    Maybe that''s why I remember many things even though I should''ve forgotten them.


    "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and get in."


    Hearing the familiar voice, I was petrified for a second.


    Huh? Why is Mervin home at this time?


    Shouldn''t he be working at this moment?


    I walked in only to see there''s another person other than Mervin.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Not only Mervin was home, Father was home too.


    Did both of them take a day off?


    "Uh, yeah."


    I quickly took off my shoes and drop my bag on the sofa where my father was sitting.


    It was another habit of previous Andy.


    Well, after realizing I need the bag, I ran back to fetch it and went back to my room.


    Why did I get flustered?


    This definitely is not me because it''s not like me at all to be flustered.


    Seeing them being home, there''s some sort of warmth.


    Argh, let''s stop dawdling and do my homework.


    After that, I''ll continue what I left yesterday. I still haven''t noted everything.


    The next few hours were spent on doing homework, studying, and filling up my notebook.


    My homework was done.


    As for my notes, they''re almost done too.


    I can now take it slow.


    "The dinner''s is ready!"


    Ah, It''s 5 P.M already.


    Mervin has finally finished cooking tonight''s dinner.


    I then quickly put down my pencil and headed outside.


    It''s been a while I smell the fragrant aroma.


    I don''t know what''s the occasion but today it''s a feast.


    On the table, I can see fried chicken, vegetables, and eggs being served.


    It''s a feast! Was today dad''s or brother''s birthday?


    I don''t think so...


    Hm, their birthday suddenly popped out in my mind but somehow I can''t remember my own birthday.


    Truthfully, It''s not exactly Mervin''s idea to cook these, it was Lee''s idea.


    To Lee, today was a special occasion, His son, Andy finally becomes a little bit sensible and obedient. More importantly, he''s diligently studying. Of course, he wanted to celebrate it.


    Closing the television and stopped watching his favorite channel.


    Rarely, Lee sat at the table and eat together with his family.


    Usually, he would bring his food to the sofa and eat it there while watching television but since everyone gathered today he didn''t want to ruin this special occasion.


    Three of us ate quietly but happily.


    Our family barely talked with each other, but that doesn''t mean that we''re not that close. (That''s an excuse...)


    It just that we didn''t use mouth to communicate especially while we''re eating.


    Eating while talking is rude, which is why we don''t usually talk while eating. We give each other food, fetching a chicken a drop it at their plate. That is how we show our warmth.


    After dinner, I took a bath and then sat down on the sofa with my father for a little while. I accompanied him watching TV, even Mervin joined.


    After it''s 8 P.M, I was told to go to sleep as there will be school tomorrow.


    Without arguing, I went to and take a bath, change into my pajamas and slept.


    Today was a great day...


    I wonder how tomorrow will turn out.


    -----


    The next morning arrived, I was dragged by Mervin to the table again.


    I guess being dragged every morning wasn''t that bad.


    I didn''t need to walk and I will magically arrive at the table.


    As usual, after breakfast, my brother left to work and I go to school by myself.


    The school day starts again.


    Arriving at school, without hesitation, I approached Kervin even though he''s being surrounded by the girls.


    I have made up my mind! I won''t hesitate anymore!


    "I deeply apologized for everything that I''ve done to you."


    I bowed deeply at Kervin and apologized.


    Afterward, I returned to my seat as though nothing happened.


    This was something I should''ve done earlier but for some reason...


    There''s a part of me that told myself, ''Why did I apologize?''


    It seems that the young me wasn''t willing to forgive Kervin yet.


    But why?


    I didn''t think too much about it as the class was about to start soon.


    The girls started gossiping with each other about my sudden weird action.


    "What made Andy apologize?"


    "Creepy."


    Ding-Dong*


    The class started.


    It was Mr.Ridwan''s class, as expected of him, his class wasn''t that boring.


    Despite knowing everything already, he always has something new to tell the students.


    The lecture he gave not entirely based on textbooks which are impressive.


    I start to like him a lot, as a student.


    The next class was the most boring of all, it''s English, taught by a peculiar looking teacher named, Mr.Robin.


    I called him peculiar because his face looked very similar to western people, especially toward Mr.Bean. Despite that, he''s born and raised in Indonesia.


    Looking back, if it was for the previous Andy.  The most interesting class would be the English Class as learning English allows me to communicate with other people in the games that I played.


    At that time, the English subject easily became the only subject that I''m interested in and best at.


    Now, I''m learning it again, it became the most boring class.


    I mean, right now we''re talking about toys, fruits, and vegetable names in English.


    Sigh*


    "Andy, you look bored. How about answering question number five for me?"


    Mr.Robin speaks with English slowly and carefully hoping that I could understand him. He even used hand gestures to help me.


    Question number five...


    [Fill in the blank with is/are/am]


    [Carl ____ reading storybooks.]


    See this kind of question... What''s the fun?!


    While I was complaining of how easy the subject was, Mr.Robin was expecting me to answer him.


    ''...As if he could understand what I''m saying. What am I thinking?''


    As Mr.Robin wanted to speak again but this time in Bahasa Indonesia, before he could, I already answered his question.


    "Carl is reading storybooks."


    ''Eh? He understood what I said?''


    "Can you explain why did you answer ''is'' instead of ''are'' or ''am''?"


    I''ll just explain it in the simplest term to not create any suspicion.


    "Carl is a boy, which means that the ''subject'' in this sentence is a ''He'', so the proper ''To Be'', that needs to be used in this sentence is obviously an ''is''."


    ''What?!!?''


    ''He answered my question again! This time in his own sentence and everything was in English!''


    Mr.Robin, he didn''t know that I''m the worst child in the class. He never paid attention to those anyway.


    Which made him not suspecting anything I''ve said. He simply gave me a compliment and moved on to his class.


    "Excellent Job!"


    "You''re quite fluent, but there''s a weird accent to it. You should fix that if you wanted to sound more British-like."


    It''s a Singaporean accent.


    ...


    ...


    Only at this moment, I realized I screwed up.


    I just spoke a full English sentence without thinking.


    I bet that even the smartest kid, Kervin, didn''t understand fully what I''m saying. Only Mr.Robin could understand.


    ''What''s with him!?''


    ''Why did he suddenly became this good in English?''


    ''I should be able to understand him but he spoke too fast.''


    ''Is this why he apologized just now?''


    ''Was it to declare that he would take the number one spot from me?''


    Kervin misunderstood Andy''s good intentions and create a bigger hatred between him and Kervin.


    Out of all possible directions, he misunderstood it that way.


    Right now, Kervin wished that he could also meddle into their conversation.


    But he can''t. He admits his loss for this time only.


    The class soon ended, it was finally break-time.


    When the class ended many approached Andy in excitement.


    The reason was that they were very impressed by Andy''s proficiency in English.


    They have been wanting to approach but were afraid due to Andy''s previous image as a bully.


    Now, the kids can''t hold back anymore.


    He always correctly answer the teacher''s questions and today he could even answer Mr.Robin''s question!


    "Andy! Where did you study English, I want to study under your teacher. Maybe my English could be as good as yours."


    "Yeah, tell us! Also, your maths tuition, Who''s teaching you? I need to meet the teacher, to be able to turn you into this good, he should be able to teach me too."


    "What do you mean by that? Andy was very smart. It just that he didn''t want to show it to others."


    Uh... This is awkward...


    What should I reply to them?


    There''s no teacher and I don''t go to tuition because I would rather use that money to buy food than wasting it.


    They looked very excited and I can''t satisfy them with simply ''I study them myself.'' can I?


    Oh! I know! That should work!


    "My big brother! He taught me everything."


    "You have a brother?! Can you teach ask him to teach us too?"


    "Yeah, We''ll pay for the tuition fees."


    Now that they said that, I can reply to this.


    "My brother is busy so it''ll be hard to teach you guys. The only time he''s available was at night."


    Kids can''t stay up late, so they won''t be able to attend his night tuition. Well, that is if it exists in the first place. Anyway, this final answer will settle everything for me.


    "Aw... What a shame..."


    "How lucky to have a smart brother."


    "Yeah, it''s so nice. I don''t have a brother or sister, I''m the oldest one."


    "Um, we should go and eat. The time is quite short."


    Each of them was disappointed to hear what I said, the group dispersed and they finally went to the canteen to eat.


    With this, I''m finally freed from them and was able to see a smirk on Micheal''s face.


    "Woah, you became popular!"


    "Stop joking. They''re just curious about why I could speak English."


    "Hahaha, Andy is shy!"

 Chapter 6

    While we''re chatting as we walk to the canteen.


    We encountered something that we shouldn''t have seen at school.


    Everybody that saw it avoid taking the stairs and decided to turn back. It''s a group of delinquent girls.


    As for me, I''m not afraid at all.


    Currently, the group of girls is surrounding one girl.


    "Andy, look. It''s them. We should stop them from bullying her."


    Micheal softly whispered but he was already tucking in his sleeves and get ready to fight the girls.


    It''s the lioness girls group, my mortal enemy.


    "Hey, orphan girl! don''t you dare approach Kervin again."


    "Look at yourself, how dare you talk to him."


    "I bet your dad, didn''t even teach you that if you touch a man hand for a minute you''ll get pregnant."


    "Oh wait you don''t have a dad."


    Now I finally remembered why I hate Kervin and the lioness group again.


    That girl... the one being surrounded.


    She was the girl that kept following Kervin from behind.


    If I''m not wrong, her name was Yulia, yeah this one I can remember quite well. Even without the previous Andy''s help.


    How can I forget about her?


    I''ll talk about her later. Right now I should stop them as fast as I could.


    "Let''s go! Before they started to hurt her."


    In Micheal''s perspective, bullying people means attacking people. So attacking the lioness group is the same as bullying.


    Right... previously I''m a hero that wants to save the damsel in distress.


    Because of the rumors that are spreading, and the stress that I have accumulated.


    It made me not think rationally anymore.


    Then I finally bully people for real like taking others'' pocket money.


    Even so, I''m still considered as a lower-level bully compares to these girls.


    This is not bullying anymore, this is violence. Mine is just... um, stealing.


    "Hey stop it!"


    I pushed them away from Yulia, with my giant body I easily overshadowed them.


    "Leave her alone!"


    Micheal and I glared at them fiercely, one of them accidentally squeaked out with fear.


    "Hah, look your boyfriend came."


    "Just stay with him and stop bothering Kervin."


    With me around, the girls quickly left as they can''t do anything.


    "You''re okay?"


    Yulia nodded her head.


    "You''re as reckless as ever. Why did you approach Kervin even though you knew that this will happen?"


    I spoke to her strictly as though I''m an adult who''s lecturing their children.


    Last time, I didn''t speak to her like this as the previous Andy was too flustered to talk to her normally. The main reason was that it was a girl.


    But since it was now me, I will make sure to lecture her properly.


    "You won''t understand."


    Yulia replied coldly. As she replied she went and pick up the notebook that was stepped by the lioness group. It was destroyed very badly.


    Even though she didn''t answer me, more or less, I knew the answer by looking at her.


    "What question you want to ask? Maybe I know the answer?"


    "You could?"


    Yeah, she didn''t approach Kervin because she has a crush on him or anything,


    It''s because she wanted to ask questions regarding some subjects since Kervin is smartest child in the class.


    "This one. Explain it to me."


    Yulia handed me the ripped paper. It was dirty but I can still read the content.


    It was math.


    Indeed, the recent topic explained by Mr.Ridwan, is a bit rushed, can''t help it since they need to rush due to too many holidays and the final exam is also coming.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Without a problem, I explained everything to her but she kept coming with more questions.


    For some reason, it even turned into another subject, it''s not about math anymore.


    Only after the bell ring, did she stop, if not I think this could continue until nighttime.


    "Thanks for answering my questions and sorry for taking your break time."


    "No problem I have eaten my breakfast so I''m fine. Micheal, you''re fine too right?"


    "Um, yes. of course."


    Micheal was forced to answer yes because of me.


    ''I haven''t eaten since morning...''


    I''m sorry Micheal I''ll compensate you next time.


    "I see. Next time, can you stay back? I have a few more questions left."


    Yulia shamelessly asked me to stayed back, this shows how diligent she was in studying.


    "Sure. I have nothing to do anyway. Moreover, I''m learning too as I answer your questions."


    While both of us are chatting, Micheal who was standing on the side intervened.


    "Just so you know, after the break time, It''s Mr.Ridwan''s class."


    ...


    Instantly, we stopped talking and went back to our class. as quickly as possible to avoid being late.


    Yulia sat in her own seat and was very quiet as usual. She only speaks when she needs to.


    Now let''s talk about her.


    From what previous Andy remembers, she was constantly bullied by the lioness group just because he''s approaching Kervin. Not only that, but the reason she was bullied was in fact because of Kervin.


    Kervin was annoyed by Yulia''s questions so he decided to ask the girls to keep her away from him.


    However, Yulia didn''t know that. In Yulia''s eyes, the lioness group was a group of girls that''s jealous of her and they''re the villainesses.


    But actually it was Kervin who is the mastermind, who is behind the suffering of Yulia. Kervin was pretending to be a nice guy and answer some of Yulia''s questions from time to time but for each question he answered, he will ask his lackey to bully her.


    That''s how disgusting Kervin was, which is the primary reason why I hate him.


    Yulia could ask the teachers for help but she felt bad taking away the teacher''s break time. After all, the teacher works harder than the students. They talk in front of the class, explaining to others while she was only sitting and listening.


    Sigh*


    She''s such a good girl.


    Other than that, from what I know, regarding how the lioness group mocks her about her father.


    Her father did pass away but she still has her mother, so she''s not an orphan.


    Her life could be considered as bad as mine. She has a poor family and also has single parent raising her.


    With that, she definitely cannot afford to go for tuition.


    Since she cannot bother her mother to help her study due to how tired she was, she can only ask someone else and that someone else was either Kervin and sometimes she will ask the teacher but only if the teacher has the time.


    The reason I remembered her past perfectly was not without a reason.


    I always used her as a comparison to myself too when I finally realized how pathetic I am.


    I was amazed at her and frustrated at myself. Her starting point was about the same as me, yet she was successful and I was not.


    While I was working as a cashier, I heard the news of her on television, one of the richest woman in the world that own a huge company.


    Her appearance in television woken me up which motivates me to make the first decision of my life.


    She could be said as a savior of mine as she was the reason I became successful in my past life.


    "Andy."


    "Andy, pssh~"


    Micheal tapped my table while whispering to me something.


    "Look in front of you!"


    In front of me.


    Ah... A giant figure was standing in front of me and I didn''t notice him.


    "Good Morning, Mr.Ridwan."


    "Uh, I was thinking about something."


    "Good Morning my ass. Stand in the hallway!"


    ...


    Only after the class was about to end, I was called by Mr.Ridwan again.


    "Try and answer these questions, I believe you could hear my voice while standing in the hallway."


    Yes, I could but who would listen to your voice while standing in the hallway?


    [What are natural resources?]


    "Natural resources are resources that could be obtained from nature and they''re used or seen in our daily life."


    ...


    ...


    After answering a few more of his questions the class ended, Mr.Ridwan was satisfied with my answer so he didn''t punish me any further.


    On the other hand, if I couldn''t answer, I think I wouldn''t be able to attend the next class.


    The next class is the art class. Hearing the word ''art'', it reminded me of the time when I first learned drawing as an Indie developer.


    As an indie developer that has no money, I can''t hire an artist to draw for me.


    I can only either use other people''s works that I attained rightfully or I draw them myself.


    I feel like I could enjoy the art class despite it''s a primary class subject.


    It''s because I still have more to learn when it comes to drawing.


    Though I could draw, I would say my drawings are only mediocre.


    "Kids, bring out your drawing book. Feel free to draw anything you can think of."


    "Anyone forgot to bring their drawing book, go and purchase them right now."


    "I will mark your drawing and it will be your test score."


    Miss Fitri announced to the students.


    After she finished her announcement, she brings out her laptop and does her work without checking on the students.


    Some students ran out to buy their drawing book, or so what it seems to be.


    Some of them are gathering together and draw in a group.


    Since she said that it will be marked, she expected that the students were aware that it''s important. So, she just focuses on doing her work while letting the children run free in the class.


    "What will you draw?"


    Micheal asked me as he was holding his drawing book.


    She didn''t give us any theme to draw on so what should I draw?


    "I''m not sure."


    "How about the toy car you received from Mr.Ridwan? Did you brought it?"


    "Yeah, it''s in my bag."


    I brought out the car from my bag and put it on the table.


    Afterward, we used it as a reference, transferring what we see into the paper.


    Both of us started drawing.


    An hour passed and I finally finished my drawing. There''s still one more hour left.


    I closed my drawing book and submit it to the teacher.


    There''s nothing more to add to my drawing, so it''s fine to submit it early. I''ve done my best to make it as realistic as possible.


    Let''s see how is Micheal doing.


    I went over to Micheal''s side, looking at his drawing I accidentally laughed out loud.


    "What?"


    "N-nothing."


    I guess this is how normal children draw a toy car by seeing it directly. His drawing is disastrous.


    He wanted to keep it 3D but they''re not in line what so ever.


    Micheal should have done better if he did it in 2D.


    "Why are you laughing... is it that bad?"


    "Hahaha, I''m sorry but yours is too funny."


    Puffing out his cheeks, Micheal throws a tantrum and submit it to Miss Fitri. It was too tiring, he doesn''t want to do it anymore.


    "Let''s go and see other people drawing!"


    Micheal basically wanted to make fun of other drawings too but because of how honest he is, he ended up complimenting others.


    "Your drawing is pretty!"


    "Yours is pretty too!"


    "The flowers look beautiful!"


    "Is this your family?"


    "Wow!"


    ...


    ...


    Ding-Dong*


    "Submit your drawing book now, it''s time to go home."


    At the end of the class, Micheal cried at his desk as he finished looking at everyone drawing. He realized that his drawing was the ugliest.


    Sniff*


    "I hate drawing!"


    "There, There, don''t cry anymore."


    "Yes, um, have you ask your mother?"


    With changing the topic, In just a second, he became cheerful again. I didn''t think that it will work so well.


    "Yeah, my beloved mother agreed to it! Since I told her that I hate going to tuition, she allows me to let you teach me."


    "More importantly, she will also pay you if I''m doing well in my study!"


    "I can''t wait to visit your house..."


    "We can start studying today! Yay!"

 Chapter 7

    Without any delay, we ran our way toward my house.


    Arriving at my house, I quickly went to the living room, expecting someone to be there but unfortunately, there''s no one.


    How can I expect them to stay back again? They can''t take two days off in a row.


    "Woah! I''m inside Andy''s house!"


    Micheal was very excited as it was his first time coming to my house.


    The young side of me won''t allow Micheal to come to his house because he didn''t want Micheal to see the state of his house.


    He was embarrassed to let Micheal see how poor he is but I guess now he should realize it by now that Micheal won''t judge anything.


    He won''t mind such small things.


    With him adventuring around even though the house is small, I went and poured a glass of water for him and myself.


    We decided to study on the sofa, it''s much better than sitting on the floor which I usually did.


    I started teaching well the basics but since Micheal did actually listen to the teacher''s lecture, it made things much easier.


    All I need is to re-explain the things that he didn''t understand.


    After studying for two hours, we rested for a bit while talking about the things that we''ve done in the past.


    I reminded him of the things that he shouldn''t do and corrected some that he misunderstood.


    At least, I engraved something meaningful in his mind, separating the good and the bad, or else he will just follow everything I did mindlessly.


    His mindset is simple, if I do it then he will do it too.


    After teaching him ''things''. His mother came and fetch him, without any choice Micheal can only go home with his mother.


    Now I''m alone in the house and have nothing to do. This is a great opportunity to find a job. I was supposed to do it yesterday but didn''t have the chance to.


    Looking at the clock, it''s almost 3 P.M. Father will come arrived home at 6 P.M, I still have three hours left.


    I ran down the hill without any hesitation.


    I know where to search for a part-time job. A job that''s suitable for me.


    The place I''ll be going to was the convenience store.


    This is the place where I''m working at previously when I screwed up my life.


    Arriving in front of the convenience store, at the cashier counter there''s an old man, sleeping while snoring loudly.


    This is the reason he wanted someone to work for him, he''s too lazy to work by himself.


    I tapped on the table lightly, instantly waking up the sleeping old man from his nap.


    "Huh?!?"


    The old man''s half-awake expression was quite amusing as always.


    "What? Hmm, you want to buy something?"


    "No."


    "..."


    "Then, why you''re here?"


    "I''m looking for a job."


    "A job? I''m not hiring!"


    ...


    What? He''s not hiring?


    Did he not thought of hiring? or Is he really not hiring?


    "Are you sure?"


    Hearing my question again, the old man frowned for a minute.


    ''Wait... if I hire this kid, there''s no need for me to watch the cashier anymore. I can also go and play games at my internet cafe.''


    ''Right!!! Why didn''t I think of it sooner? It''s a good idea to hire someone!''


    "Hmm, on second thought. I can hire you, but the salary is not high, you sure you want to work for me?"


    "Yeah, I don''t mind at all."


    Money is important but working here is much more important.


    Not only will I get good treatment from this old man, but I can use the cashier computer for free!


    It''s not good enough to play games but they''re good enough for me to do something.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    I can also optimize the computer with my skill so it can do things the way I wanted it to be.


    Of course, I''ll only use it for good use and only when I''m not working.


    "You''re quite tall for a kid aren''t you but you still need a stool."


    The old man brought me a wooden stool for me to stand. With it, I could properly reach the things at the counter, and talk to the customer, face to face without them looking under the counter.


    "I''ll teach you how things work first and you can start working without my supervision."


    Afterward, he taught me how to scan items and put money on the register.


    Though there are a few important things such as what to do if I''m unable to scan the items with the barcode scanner, how to remove the item that I scanned extra and many others mistake that I could''ve done.


    Well, it''s fine since I know what to do in those situations but he''s as careless as usual, trusting unknown kid without thinking too much.


    "You''re a quick learner Eh~, You must have play computer before."


    "Yeah, I''ve played one or two before."


    "You know Cyber Cafe?"


    "Yeah, I used to play there."


    "Oh! Good, next time when you play at there search for me, there''s no need for you to pay. After all, I''m the owner."


    "Really!? Thanks!"


    Not that I will go, either but thanks for it Old Man.


    "Don''t have too much hope, If there''s a seat available I''ll let you play if there''s not you''ll have to wait."


    "Un."


    "You watch the store okay? 6 P.M I''ll return to close the shop."


    I nodded my head and the old man left with his motorcycle, heading toward his internet cafe.


    -----


    [Lee''s POV]


    "Yesterday, you suddenly take a day off and today you look very happy."


    "What happened to you these few days?"


    Hearing his question I coughed lightly, telling him will be the same as bragging how good my son was but there''s nothing wrong being proud of my own son right?


    "You know, My son starts to study. He used to play around at the school but now he''s diligently studying."


    "That''s all? I thought you won TOTO or something." (Note: TOTO is a gambling game, where you buy 4-digit number. It''s quite famous in SEA.)


    What do you mean that''s all... he didn''t just study on a whim. He''s studying for a whole day, that''s not a normal kid would do in this era.


    ''Thankfully he didn''t win TOTO or he''ll be sure not to follow me. With this, I still have a chance to convince him to follows me.''


    "By the way, have you think about the offer I said?"


    Oh, his offer, I almost forgot about it.


    I was thinking of Andy the entire time that I forgot about his offer.


    Now that he''s diligently studying, there''s no need for me to try to earn more money right?


    Before, I was worried that he''ll fail and was forced to stay back one extra year or maybe more.


    But since that possibility was gone, the saving in my bank should be used to make them as happy as possible, including Mervin.


    He''s the most hardworking son. Two times more hardworking than Andy.


    I''ve never got to thank him properly as his father.


    With this, I could use the money to put proper food on the table.


    Maybe I should buy a computer for them? They could share the computer, though I doubt Mervin will be using it though...


    Ah... I was thinking of something else again.


    I should just reject him directly.


    "I don''t think it''s a good idea so I''ll probably just stay here."


    Yeah, this is probably for the best.


    ''What? Lee is rejecting it? I thought he used to always complain about getting more money. With this opportunity I offered, he shouldn''t have rejected it.''


    ''Did he actually win TOTO and hides it from me?''


    "Hey, I don''t know what you''re thinking but this is a good opportunity to earn big money. We''re talking about millions of rupiah in a month!"


    "We''re borrowing money from someone right? It''s not like everything we earned is all ours."


    ''Since when, Lee was this smart?''


    ''Shit... I thought he''s easy to be fooled, I already told them that I want to loan that money. I can''t take that back if I did they''ll force me to pay more money.''


    ''I need to think, how can I pull him in?''


    "Hey what about this? You''ll take 60% of the earning and I''ll take only 40%, not a bad deal right? Since you''re a hardworking person, this is a must that I need to give."


    I don''t know if he realized it, but right now he looks desperate as he tries to convince me.


    This makes things more suspicious.


    "We should go back to work. I don''t want the boss to see us slacking."


    I left before he could say anything else, leaving him speechless and despaired.


    ''I''m doomed.''


    Time passed quickly and the workshop finally closed.


    I received a bonus of today''s hard work from the boss and went home.


    While riding my motorcycle, on the road, I suddenly thought of my kids again.


    Maybe I should stop at a convenience store and buy something for them.


    On the way, I encountered many small convenience stores but all of them closed already.


    I was disappointed but coincidentally as I wanted to go up the hill and return empty-handed, there''s one that''s still open.


    I parked my motorcycle outside the store. As I walked in I was greeted by the cashier.


    "Welcome!"


    I didn''t look at the cashier but weird...


    Since when there''s someone that greets the customer when they walked in?


    Weirder is that his voice sounds familiar.


    I continue to walk, looking for an item that both of them might like.


    Do they prefer snacks? or sweets?


    There''s so many to choose, I don''t know which one should I choose.


    Maybe I can ask the cashier, he should know the kids'' preferences.


    "Um, Do you know what kids like to eat?"


    "I''m looking for something for my children."


    While talking to the cashier, I wasn''t looking at him, I''m looking at the sweets selection near the counter.


    "I recommend Beng-Beng, it''s popular among the kids, it''s a sweet chocolate wafer bar."


    "There''s also a savory snack called Chuba, it''s also popular among kids."


    "I see. I see. I''ll get both, give me two of them each."


    The cashier jumps off from the stool, went to fetch the items and returned to the counter.


    Buzz*


    Buzz*


    The sounds from the barcode scanner were heard yet, I was still thinking whether should I get these weird-looking sweets or not.


    Only until the cashier spoke again, I turn and look at him.


    "It''s 5000 Rupiah."


    "Oh, yes. I''m sorry. Here you... go? Andy?!?"


    "Haha, you finally realized it was me."


    I was really impressed by how Father managed to not look at the cashier, from the beginning until he pays the item.


    It''s fine that my father finds out that I''m working here. I can''t hide it for too long anyway. He''ll discover it sooner or later.


    With this, there''s no need for me to explain it to him.


    "Why are you here?"


    "From today onwards after school, I''ll be working here."


    "I''ll be helping out from today."


    Lee was speechless, he didn''t know what to do.


    ''Should I scold him for staying late outside or praise him for trying to help the family.''


    In the end, he didn''t say either of them but instead, he replied,


    "Don''t work too hard, I''ll wait for you at home."


    "Un, I''m just waiting for the owner to come and then I''ll go back home."


    Lee left without saying anything more while holding a bag of snacks he bought.


    Shortly after Lee left, the old man finally returned.


    "I''m so sorry kid, the game was too intense that I forgot about the time."


    "Hmph, here is your pay and this is the compensation for me being late."


    The old man handed me a total of 10000 Rupiah.


    I received the first money I earned myself in this life.


    It wasn''t much but I''m proud of it or should I say my young-self was proud of myself.


    "If you''re free tomorrow, you should come. I''ll gladly hire you again."


    "I will if I have the time!"


    With the money on my hand, I gladly returned home with a proud smile on my face.

 Chapter 8

    While Andy is asleep in his bedroom, Lee told everything to Mervin.


    "Mervin, your little brother..."


    "Hm? What? Did he does something weird?"


    "He''s working at a convenience store."


    "Andy? That''s good then."


    "Should I stop him? It can disturb his study. I mean, he''s been very weird too, the sudden changes and things."


    Mervin stopped for a second, thinking of how to answer his father.


    "True, but Andy changing his behavior and attitude is good right? You should let him do it. With that, he''ll know how hard it is for us. It allows him to mature like me."


    "Haha, which matured person will call themself matured.


    "Aren''t I mature?"


    "Yes. Yes. You are and it''s a bad thing. I''m sorry."


    ...


    ...


    The atmosphere got awkward between both of them.


    Lee breaks it by mentioning and talk about Andy again.


    "Anyway, you are harsh toward him aren''t you?"


    "Me? Harsh? You''re the one that''s too forgiving, not that it''s a bad thing but you''re spoiling him."


    At that time when I found out he ditches school.


    At that time when I found him playing games in an internet cafe.


    And that time he throws unreasonable fits


    A lot of things that he has done which hurt both of our feelings.


    Mervin wanted to say something about Andy''s past but stopped himself to do so.


    Thinking of Andy right now, he decided to drop down the past.


    Sigh*


    "Nevermind, I''ll try to be nicer to him."


    "Thank you, Mervin."


    "Oh yes, do you like snacks? I bought a few of them. They''re on the closet."


    "Dad... why did you buy snacks for? They are unhealthy and it''s wasting money too. Next time, don''t buy them anymore."


    "Really? I thought that you guys will like it."


    "Where is the snack? I want to see them."


    "...There."


    Lee pointed to the closet that he kept the snack, unlike what he expected, Mervin didn''t just see them.


    He opened the bag of Chuba and drop all of them on top of his rice.


    When food is delicious, Mervin eats them slowly. At least that''s what Lee discovered as his father.


    ''He likes it.''


    "I guess... you can buy them for Andy. I don''t want them."


    Pffft.


    "What! I really don''t like it."


    "Ah~ Look at the time, the match is starting. I''ll go and watch my television."


    -----


    The next morning arrived.


    "Wake up."


    Mervin gently tapped at me instead of dragging me outside.


    ''What happened?''


    After I opened my eyes, he was standing outside of the door, waiting for me to get out of my bed.


    "Hurry up! Breakfast is ready."


    I nodded my head while being confused about why he didn''t drag me.


    I wanted to tell Mervin to drag me but will he do it if I asked him.


    Imagine if I really asked him.


    "Brother you can drag me to the table. I''m totally fine with it."


    I pictured it in my head and found myself disgusted with the scene.


    I sounded like a masochist asking to get beaten.


    Nevermind, I''ll just walk there myself.


    As usual, after Mervin finished his breakfast before I did and went to work after leaving money on the table.


    Today is Saturday, because of that instead of wearing the usual school uniform, I wore my PE uniform school.


    There''s no studying at school on Saturday.


    Today is the day, the students are doing sports and other non-sports activities at the school.


    In other words, it''s club activities for the entire school day.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    I''m using this opportunity to exercise my body.


    In my past life, the only time I exercise was during my primary school days.


    The healthy exercise got lesser when I started to ditch school for playing games in the internet cafe.


    Things got worse when I was developing games, I was cooping inside my room with zero exercises and eating unhealthy food every day.


    If not for my strong body, I wouldn''t have survived long under that life-style.


    Only when I''m working for Nero-X, I ate somewhat healthy and nutritious food since I could afford them but I still didn''t exercise.


    As time passed, I regretted it.


    Only when I reach a certain age, I realized how important was it to exercise. That time when I wanted to exercise, it was too late already, back pains, neck pains and other diseases came without me knowing.


    Even though at that time, there were many great inventions from the medical field, they''re only capable of preventing and alleviating some of the diseases, not able to cure them entirely.


    Since this body is young and healthy, we''ll do as much exercise as we could to prevent diseases from appearing in this body.


    Arriving at the school, all of the students from 1st grade to 6th grade have already gathered at the field, lining up themselves accordingly.


    Seeing that, they''re already lining up, I quickly found my classmates and lines up with them too.


    The students from first grade to sixth grade are lining up in the field to do rhythmic aerobics together.


    But there''s a twist in the aerobics.


    They''re made for kids.


    It makes sense since this is a primary school.


    Right now that I experience it again, even hearing the music made me cringe.


    There are kids that hide inside their classrooms because they don''t want to do aerobics.


    I could follow them but it''s not worth the risk because there are times the teacher checks each of the classrooms and if they''re discovered they''ll be punished severely.


    I just need to hold on for the next thirty minutes.


    I mean, most of the teachers are doing it too despite being an adult.


    They look ridiculous when they do the movements but even so no one dare to laugh.


    ...


    ...


    Finally... it''s over.


    After the aerobics is over, the teacher dismissed us and we''re free to do anything in the school as long as it''s clubs-related activities.


    "Andy! Here!"


    As soon as the aerobics is over, Micheal immediately went to reserve a badminton field.


    There are many students playing badminton but there are only three fields available.


    Knowing that, of course, if we want to play, we need to secure a spot before others could.


    "Coming..."


    Micheal brought two rackets as usual. He knew that I don''t have a racket so he borrowed me his in order to play.


    "Thank you."


    "Let''s start!"


    An hour passed as we played together, I could continue on but Micheal was...


    "We should rest."


    "I''m good!"


    What do you mean I''m good, which part of you is good?


    Micheal insisted despite his clothes was drenched with his own sweats.


    He can''t even hold his racket properly anymore.


    "The others wanted to play too, we should let them."


    "Hm. Okay then."


    Carrying almost-dead Micheal with my shoulder, we head to our classroom to rest.


    Inside the classroom, Yulia was there. She was studying even on Saturday.


    I guess she didn''t join any clubs.


    Hearing that someone walked into the class, She looked at us for a second.


    Seeing me, she immediately walked over while grabbing her a book on her hand.


    "This. Explain why."


    Without calling my name or anything, she pointed toward a question that she''s unsure of.


    Of course, I still answered her question, explaining everything to her.


    Questions after question she finally was satisfied. She finally ran out of questions to ask.


    "Thanks."


    "No problem. Like I said, your questions helped me too."


    I shrugged and smiled at her. She responded with another small nod.


    While she was asking, Micheal was there listening too. Not only I benefitted and Micheal was too.


    In the midst of the silence, Yulia suddenly asked.


    "Andy, why did you suddenly change?"


    Ah. She notices it.


    Yulia is a smart girl, It''ll be hard to trick her.


    I thought only the people who knew me before would''ve noticed it.


    The previous Andy must have talked with Yulia a few times before. Since this happens, this means, I did leave a slight impression.


    I wonder if you''re happy about that, young me.


    "Haha, Did I? Maybe it''s just your imagination."


    "You sounded like an adult making excuses."


    I bitterly laughed when she said that.


    "Am I?"


    Grumble*


    Micheal''s stomach called out, saving me from this awkward situation.


    "Um, let''s go to the canteen and eat? I''m starving."


    "You want to come with us?"


    I invited Yulia out of consideration but as I expected, she rejected it.


    "No thanks. I''ll just eat here, it''s much quiet here."


    "Then, We''ll just buy the food and eat it here."


    Micheal suddenly suggested to Yulia, with this she couldn''t reject eating with us.


    "Suit yourself. Either way, I''ll be here. If you guys didn''t come I''ll eat by myself."


    "Then, we''ll go and come back as fast as we could."


    Micheal ran out of the class energetically. He was supposed to be tired a few seconds ago.


    "We''ll be back."


    I said in a firm tone, reassuring her that we''ll return to the classroom.


    In just five minutes, after we left, both of us came back with foods on our hands.


    Despite having breakfast already, I''m quite hungry due to playing badminton just now.


    So, instead of just soy milk, I bought an extra nasi lemak to fill my stomach. but with the money which I received from Old Man.


    Grabbing our own chair over to Yulia''s desk, we sat and ate together.


    "Let''s eat!"


    "Woah, your food is homemade! I want to try it! Can we trade?"


    While eating, the most cheerful among the three of us were surprisingly Yulia.


    I didn''t know she could smile like that.


    It''s all thanks to cheerful Micheal, if I''m the only one with her or there''s only me, she won''t be smiling like this.


    I''m not a talkative and social person.


    After we''ve finish eating, we just sat and talk about our hobbies and our goal, what do we want to be in the future.


    As kids, there''s nothing else to talk about other than that.


    My hobby was, of course, playing games. Yulia didn''t seem surprised by hearing my answer.


    As for Micheal, his answer was very him, he likes everything as long as it''s with friends. For example, right now.


    Lastly, Yulia''s hobby. She hesitates to say it at first but eventually, she told us that she like studying.


    I don''t think that''s her real hobby but It''s not like we can force her to say it.


    Ding-Dong*


    The bell ring, it''s finally for us to go home.


    Yulia was fetched by her mother, Micheal went to my house with me to study together.


    The same as yesterday, I taught him for a few hours and then rest until her mother came to fetch him.


    Since today, we returned home early at 10 A.M and even after teaching Micheal it''s still 1 P.M.


    Today I could work for 5 hours at the old man''s convenience store but I''ll need to take a bath and change into my normal clothes.


    It was necessary because I was drenched my sweats, the smells my body gives out is unpleasant.


    The old man will chase me away if I went with that condition.


    I will scare his customers away.


    Damn, it felt refreshing to take a bath in the afternoon.


    Taking bath more than three times a day is luxury.


    Twice a day can be considered luxury too. After all, Father and Mervin only took a bath once a day to save money.


    Only me who took bath twice a day.


    -----


    [Old Man''s Convenience Store]


    Snore*


    Again he''s sleeping.


    "Wake up, Old Man."


    I gently knocked on his head to wake him up.


    Yawn*


    "You''re here!"


    "Since you''re here means that you want to work right? Watch the store for me. As usual at 6 P.M, I''ll return."


    "Here''s the key."


    The old man left as soon as possible after handing me the key for his cash register.


    -----


    [Lee''s POV]


    Weird... He didn''t come to work.


    Did he really quit?


    The boss asked me about his whereabouts but honestly, I have no clue.


    He did say we wanted to quit but he didn''t tell me that he would quit today.


    Today I have to work harder than ever since there''s only one person, the only time I could take a break was when there''s no customer.


    -----


    [Andy''s POV]


    "Thank you! Please come again!"


    I greeted the customer that''s gradually leaving the store.


    A few moments later after the customer left. The next customer came in panicking, because of that I didn''t manage to greet him properly.


    "Anyone here?"


    The man came in while panting. As he look around and found out there''s only Andy he was disappointed.


    "Argh, there''s only a kid but you look quite strong. Come and help out! there''s a fire!"

 Chapter 9

    Fire?


    I''ve never heard or seen that a fire accident happened around here before.


    Either way, that man was trying his best gathering help from anyone, he''s still going to the next place asking for help.


    I should at least go and see the situation. To see if there''s anything that can I help with.


    When I finally got outside there''s no fire nearby but I could see smokes rising, covering the sky. It came from the direction of our house.


    I have a bad feeling about this.


    Someone must have called the firefighter already right?


    I ran up the hill, I was about two hundred meters away from my house. It took me a minute and a half to reach there.


    While running toward the direction of fire, I was getting more anxious as I got closer.


    It was getting more obvious that it was coming from our house.


    Finally, I can see the fire.


    It was indeed our house that was on fire.


    The group of people was helping out putting out the fire, grabbing a bucket of water to prevent the fire from spreading.


    Either way, there''s no hope for our house. After all, the house was fragile, to begin with already.


    It''s an old house made out of wood.


    Five minutes later when the firefighter arrived, the fire was immediately put out completely.


    Afterward, they asked if the people around if they know the cause of the fire.


    "This is the guy that starts the fire."


    A group of people caught the arsonist red-handed.


    They then explained what happened.


    It turned out that, they coincidentally saw a suspicious-looking man looming around, walking back and forth. Since he doesn''t look familiar at all, they became alert with that man.


    It turned out they are right, that guy was up to something no good.


    He was spreading gasoline around someone''s house!


    Though he was caught, it was too late.


    A small fire from his pocket lighter was faster than them, it ignited the gasoline and immediately creates huge fire.


    But more importantly for what reason, that guy tried to burn down our house?


    This never happened before in my past life.


    Did my action cause this?


    I''ve never offended someone before, at least not a grown adult.


    Wait... that guy looks familiar.


    I know him in my past life!


    He''s one of the loan sharks!


    In my past life, he''s the one that came here and asks for money. If we can''t give them, he would rummage the house.


    That''s when Mervin cut his connection with me after he paid the debt, he''s gone.


    As far as I know, Father hasn''t quit his job yet. This means he shouldn''t have borrowed money from them.


    Then why would the loan sharks do this?


    "We''ll hand that guy to the police along with the one who witnesses his crime."


    "Lastly, do you guys know the people that live in this house? There''s no human body found inside. So I assume they''re out of the house."


    "it''s Lee and his kids."


    Hearing that the fireman asking for the victim, I went over.


    "I''m the son of the victim."


    ''This boy?''


    Somehow, the fireman looked confused.


    ''Is he not sad or anything that his house got burned down?''


    "Do you know your father''s phone number?"


    "My father doesn''t have a phone with him. He''s currently working at a car workshop."


    "Ah, this will be troublesome. I''ll leave everything to the police."


    Waiting for the police to arrive, the firemen could finally leave as they have finished their job.


    Later I was interrogated along with the people that witnessed the crime happen.


    I told them everything I know, including where Lee is working so that they could also interrogate him to get more information.


    Without any choice, I went back to the convenience store to work as no one is watching the store right now.


    ...


    ...


    Sigh*


    That sudden incident definitely caught me off guard.


    I didn''t know that my actions would result in this...


    I really need to solve the money problem that we have right now but unfortunately, I can''t do much with my current situation.


    ...


    ...


    It was almost 6 P.M already, the old man should be back soon.


    I wonder how will father and Mervin react when he heard our house was burnt down.


    They must be devastated when they heard it.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    -----


    [Lee''s POV]


    "Hello, we''re looking for Lee Kang."


    Out of nowhere, three policemen walked in and said that they''re looking for me.


    "I''m Lee. Is there anything wrong?"


    "Are you the father of Andy Lee?"


    "Yes, I am."


    "I''m sorry to say this but your house was burnt down."


    "Any idea who''s this guy?"


    The police show me a photo of a man.


    The man is definitely someone I know. In fact, it''s not just any man. It was his friend, Fadhul!


    I can''t believe what I just heard just now, so I asked the policeman to repeat what he said.


    "I''m sorry but what did you say just now?"


    "I understand that you''re shocked. Like I said, your house was burnt down by this man."


    "Do you know why he did this?"


    "I''m not sure why."


    "The guy on the photo. H-his name is Fadhul, we worked together at this place."\


    As I''m being interrogated by the police, my boss got nervous and asked me what happened.


    When he heard that Fadhul was the one that burned down his house, he was also shocked.


    "I see. I know I''ve asked but any Idea of why he did this to you?"


    "That... I really don''t know sir."


    "I understand, again I''m sorry what happened to you."


    The policeman bowed and left.


    I knelt on the floor helplessly, don''t know what should I say to Andy and Mervin.


    We lost our house.


    My mind was blank, I can''t think of anything.


    Why did Fadhul do that? Was it because I rejected his offer? Was that it?


    Just because I rejected his offer?


    "Hey, here is some water. Calm yourself down first."


    "After that, you should go and fetch your kids. They must be scared right now."


    "Thanks."


    The boss offered gave me a glass of water and left me alone to calm myself.


    -----


    [Andy''s POV]


    "I''m sorry. The game was on stalemate so it took a while before we could end."


    The old man finally returned but it was at 7 P.M, he returned much later than before.


    I nodded my head and handed him the key, without replying to anything to him.


    "What''s wrong with you today? Are you that tired?"


    "If so, you should go back and take a rest, this is your pay for today."


    Go back huh... there''s no place to go back.


    "Old man, this building, by any chance do you live here?"


    "No, why?"


    "So upstairs, they''re vacant?"


    "Pretty much yeah, Why though?"


    If we don''t find a place to sleep, we''ll have to sleep outside.


    It''ll be tough even though we''re used to living in poverty.


    At the same time, I can''t shamefully ask for Old Man''s help either.


    "If I want to rent upstairs, how much will it be per month?"


    "Rent? Just so you know, I''ve never cleaned the second floor. It''s quite dirty and dusty."


    Seeing that I didn''t respond, he lifted one of his fingers.


    "Hundred thousand rupiah per month, electricity and water bill, you''ll have to pay for yourself."


    "Furniture not included."


    "I see, I''ll think about it first."


    "Oi kid, did you run away from your home or something. If you did I''m not renting it to you."


    ''I don''t think he has the money too. One hundred thousand rupiahs wasn''t a small amount of money.''


    "No, just now while you''re gone. There''s a fire accident that occurred to our house."


    "Our house was burnt down and we''ll need a place to stay."


    Hearing the sudden news, Old Man was shocked.


    "What?! Today? Just now? When?!"


    "Yes, just a few hours ago. Everything was gone."


    Literally everything...


    I should probably go back, Father should be waiting there already.


    "I see. That''s indeed a huge problem."


    "It''s better than sleeping outside, so why don''t you tell your family to sleep in here instead."


    "I''ll leave the key of the store to you."


    The Old Man left the key at the table and left without saying any word.


    I thanked the old man afterward, took the keys with me then hurriedly ran toward my house.


    Upon reaching my destination.


    Father who saw me, embraced me first before I could say anything.


    Maybe he thought that I would cry.


    "I''ll find a place to sleep. It''s okay."


    Father comforted me and I just nodded my head.


    I wanted to ask many things, for example, the man that burned our house or the reason but seeing Father right now, I probably shouldn''t.


    Father was much more hurt than me as he was crying. He''s probably worried about us.


    The last time I saw him cry was when Mother left him for another man.


    If not because of that incident Father will not drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes.


    For the next few minutes, we sat on the side of the road while waiting for Mervin.


    Seeing that Father has calmed down, it''s my turn to speak.


    "Dad, if you want, we can sleep at the convenience store I worked at."


    "I asked for help from the owner. He gave me the key."


    Father stared me blankly for a few seconds, thinking of something.


    ''What kind of father am I? My sons are more capable than me.''


    "Yeah. We''ll do that."


    A while later, Mervin finally arrived.


    He was shocked when he sees that our house was burnt down but for a 13 years old boy, he could be described as calm.


    "What happened?"


    Father explained what he knows to Mervin. Listening to his explanation I also got a new explanation.


    Father was more forward to Mervin so everything he knew he told Mervin, including the offer Fadhul made.


    It turned out our luck is bad to encounter such a person in our life.


    "Have you guys try to search whether there''s anything that can be retrieved?"


    Mervin was about to go inside to search but was stopped by Lee.


    "It''s too dark right now. Nobody will touch it anyway. If you want we''ll try to search, tomorrow morning."


    "Andy found us a place to stay, it''s a convenience store down the hill that I mentioned to you yesterday. We should stay there for tonight."


    Mervin can''t help but comply with Father''s suggestion. We then went down the hill heading to the convenience store.


    Arriving inside, I turned on the light and the fans.


    Lee sat on a chair and try his best to sleep as Tomorrow there are many things he needs to do.


    As for Mervin, he slept at the corner on the floor.


    While they''re trying to sleep, I didn''t.


    I can''t be idle anymore.


    Time to use the knowledge I obtained.


    This wasn''t the best computer, but it''s the only computer available that I could use right now.


    I will make a game using this computer.


    I need money!


    The first thing I need to think of would be what games should I make?


    It needs to be simple and fun.


    The games that I could think of which, fulfilling the requirement would be clicker-games.


    The first clicker-game was created in 2013 named "Cookie Clicker", a game where the player clicks at the giant cookie available on the screen and each click earns you a cookie.


    After you earn a certain amount of cookie, you could use them to upgrade the building, which allows you to obtain a cookie without clicking it or you can upgrade the cursor which increases the number of cookies you earned with each click.


    The game was easy to create but yet they''re fun and addicting.


    To create a game I need a platform for it. The platform I chose for making the game would be Adobe Flash.


    It was the platform that I was familiar with and I used to learn to make games using this.


    Though later on, after using it for a year I switched to Unity as it was more efficient using Unity.


    Then why not use Unity?


    Unfortunately, Unity wasn''t released yet. There''s still a few months before Unity was launched by Apple. Inc.


    I could just make my own game developing platform but it''ll take a long time. Even with my game-making experience.


    Only after Adobe Flash was installed, I started working on the game.


    The plan for the game which I''ll be creating is simple.


    The scenario of the game is simple, a powerful hero called "Hero", which will also be the name of the game, was summoned to save the world.


    The hero will fight against strong demons alongside other characters which I will implement as an upgrade.


    The player will be playing as the hero, where clicking will make the hero attack the demon.


    Killing demons will earn you gold coins and those gold coins could be used to call upon other characters to fight alongside the hero.


    The characters will attack, in other words dealing damage per second to the demons without the player clicking.


    In every multiple of ten areas, they will encounter a powerful demon, which has the chance to drop a chest containing an artifact that could increase the power of the hero and other characters.


    To prevent the hero from farming the powerful demon, I also need to implement a feature where each powerful demon can only drop one chest.


    Of course, to make things more interesting, as they advance further, the player will find it harder to kill the demons even with the artifacts.


    So the player needs restarts everything or else he won''t make any progress.


    The requirement of restarting was simple too, the player needs to unlock the tenth character and unlock his third ability which upon learned it will restart everything.


    The warning menu will be implemented in case the player accidentally learns it.


    Another scenario will be implemented where the hero miraculously still has the artifacts with him even though time was restarted from the beginning but on the other hand, he needs to defeat the demons all over again to save the world.


    Anyway... that''s the plan.


    Many different things other than coding, need to be done before I can create the game.


    I first have to draw sprites for my games.


    With my years of experience, in just a short time I created fifty different demons'' sprites and ten characters'' sprites and the hero''s sprites along with their animations too.


    Next was the map, menu, and every small detail that''s needed to be put to make the games look smoother.


    After I finished drawing the sprites and animation, I can finally start coding and create the game.


    By the time it''s morning, I pretty much finished the game.


    Phew*


    It would have taken longer if I don''t have vast experience as there will a lot of testing needed before I release the game.


    With my skill in coding, I''m confident that there will be no bug at all.


    All I need to do now was to find a place to upload the game.

 Chapter 10

    I have finally uploaded the games on Newgrounds, a website where people could upload their work for free and also earn money from the advertisements revenue.


    Other than Newgrounds, I''ve also uploaded it on other websites where free games were played.


    The problem was that to get the money I''ll need a bank account or I can''t receive the money from their side.


    I can''t use Father''s bank account, he''ll freak out when he sees the number of money that flowed in.


    The only trustable and dependable adult which I know..


    I can''t think of another person other than the Old Man.


    Old Man is a dense and simple-minded person. He would question where I get the money and if I explained it to him but he won''t ask any further.


    He''s the type that only asks what but not why, especially if it''s something too complex.


    If I could use his bank account, I could ask him to buy furniture for us without father suspecting anything.


    Yawn*


    As expected, this undeveloped body of mine can''t go on without sleeping a day.


    Currently, I could barely keep my eyes open, my body keeps telling me to rest but I was forcing it to be awake.


    The result of doing that was obvious, I can no longer move my body properly as it tries to shut down whenever I let my guard down.


    I wanted to sleep but I can''t sleep yet, I still need to tell the Old Man something before I could rest.


    At this moment, since the morning has arrived. Lee naturally woke up.


    Just with a slight morning sun rays hit his eyelids, he''ll wake up instantly. It was his habit that allowed him to wake up on time and goes to work every day without the help of a clock alarm.


    Yawn*


    The moment he opens his eyes, he saw Andy was sitting in front of a computer, bobbing his head up and down, trying to not sleep.


    "Andy, Did you not sleep the entire night?"


    Seeing my weird behavior, Lee could easily guess that I didn''t sleep at all but somehow Lee''s complexion was worse than mine.


    Of course, I didn''t notice it as I was fighting with my brain that tries to shut down desperately.


    "Huh? Oh? Um... Ah... I can''t sleep, so I ugh... thought I... why not just play games."


    I could barely talk properly, with my current condition, my brain was half-awake.


    Thankfully, I could still answer the question.


    I didn''t tell him the truth because If I told him that I made a game while they''re sleeping, Father will not believe me.


    I can''t tell him the truth yet, I would tell him when I am older or else it wouldn''t be convincing.


    Lee didn''t'' blame Andy as he also can''t sleep last night. He was too stressed, resulting in himself struggling just to sleep.


    He was constantly thinking about what should he do, what could he do.


    He realized this place is not feasible for staying too long. He needs to find a real place to stay!


    He has been thinking for the whole night. There''s not much choice he can choose.


    He definitely can''t rebuild the house as it takes a lot of money and time.


    He could only sell the land and use the money to rent a place to stay.


    Thankfully, his important things such as his IC, ATM card, Bank Account card, passport, and money, were inside of his wallet.


    If not, many troublesome things would need to be done before he could get his land certificate to sell the plot of land that he owned.


    So today, he needs to quickly find a place to stay, and the next day he''ll need to buy everything necessary which was lost from the accident.


    For example, Andy''s school uniforms and other uniforms that fall under the category of clothes and other things that he needs to buy would be daily necessities such as soaps, toothbrushes, and so on.


    "You should just rest here and wait for me. Your father will find a place for us to stay in."


    Hearing that Father wanted to leave, I stopped him and told him there''s no need to find a place.


    "About the place for us to stay. I have a suggestion. It''s on the second floor of this store."


    "I see. I''ll wait for the owner to come and I''ll discuss with him then."


    Later on, after waiting for a while the old man arrived.


    "Good morning."Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Seeing our face, the old man twitched his eyes.


    "Did you guys sleep at all?"


    Realizing that he shouldn''t have said that, the old man approached Lee to shake his hand.


    "You must be the kid''s father. Nice to meet you!"


    "Y-yeah. Nice to meet you too"


    Both of the adults greeted each other. Lee didn''t respond in a high-spirited manner but the Old Man didn''t blame him as he knew Lee is tired.


    "By the way, Is the second floor is for rent? How much would it be for a month? If it''s possible can we discuss it?"


    "I see, Andy has told you."


    "Honestly, seeing your condition. I don''t think I have the heart to make money from you guys."


    "If you guys want you can stay on the second floor for free. Honestly, I won''t even use it if not you guys asked for it."


    "I won''t charge any money but you''ll have to pay for the electricity and water bill by yourself. More importantly, you''ll have to clean and furnish the whole floor by yourself. The third floor is yours too if you guys want them. I have no use for it either."


    Old Man, I''m indebted to you again in this life.


    "No, just one floor is fine, We''ll clean them on our own and buy our own needs."


    "Right now I''ll go and buy cleaning tools and other things that we need. I''ll be going now."


    Lee left the convenience store, in order to buy stuff that he needed.


    As Father finally left, this is a good opportunity to talk to the Old Man.


    "Old Man, can you tell me your account number. I need it."


    "For what?"


    "I need to send money to your account. I''m making money on the internet but I can''t tell my father."


    "You? Why not?"


    "You see, I was-"


    "Don''t. Nevermind that I asked."


    Old Man used his hand and covered my mouth, stopping me from continuing to explain the reason. The moment he heard the ''you see'', he felt a chill on his back so he stopped me from speaking anymore.


    "Don''t mind what I just asked, I''ll just give you my account number. The money, what will you do with them?"


    "To buy furniture, but don''t tell my father that it was from me. Just say that you want to help us okay?"


    "You sure that, the money will be enough to buy furniture?"


    "I''m sure."


    Pfft. It worked.


    Starting with "You see~" was something that the Old Man hate.


    He immediately stopped me from continuing, he''s still the same as usual.


    ...


    ...


    Andy has reached his limit. He went to sleep after he sends Old Man''s account number to the websites that he uploaded the games at.


    [Old Man''s POV]


    Sigh*


    I guess he used this computer to do whatever thing he needs to do.


    I wanted to carry Andy to another place but noticed a boy was standing behind me.


    Both of them look very similar, Giant stature, ferocious look, tough-looking kid.


    This must be his big brother.


    "Hellow~ you must be his big brother?"


    "Yeah."


    "Then I''ll leave your brother to you. You''ll take care of him, is that fine with you?"


    Mervin nodded but then asked a question.


    "What did Andy said about keeping the secret from his father. He''s earning money to buy furniture?"


    ...


    Shoot!


    This kid overheard the conversation.


    "Uh..."


    I struggled to reply to him but then realized that Andy only stated that he can''t tell Lee but not Mervin.


    The pressure instantly vanished as I begin to tell him everything I knew.


    "What did he do on the internet?"


    "That... I have yet found out but I should be able to know it once I open the computer."


    "Go and search what he did, now!"


    Scary~~


    I was intended to do it anyway... no need to glare at me like that.


    This big brother of his, why is he so different from Andy in terms of personality.


    Andy is a kind and polite boy while this boy is scary and fierce.


    I went and do what I was told.


    Since the CPU was already on, I only turned on the monitor.


    The first thing I saw was a webpage called Newgrounds, I looked around the page and found out it was a place to play games.


    So this is the rumored, website games.


    This piqued my interest as I only played Warcraft III and Counter-Strike at my internet cafe.


    I have never played other games because they don''t look very fun.


    Maybe I could give this a try.


    Let''s try to look at the most popular games.


    At this moment, I have already forgotten about my primary objective.


    The number one ranked game looks very interesting, it was called Hero.


    I clicked on it and wait for it to load.


    With my slow internet connection, it took a while before it finally finishes the loading.


    Upon the game finished its loading.


    It started its storytelling.


    [The world was in chaos...]


    [Dark creatures called demons suddenly appeared from portals]


    [As they stepped into the world, they started slaughtering every human they meet]


    [Mankind tried to fight back but the demons were too strong]


    [Years passed and they''re on the verge of extinction]


    [Only a few survived in this disastrous world]


    [One day, Inside of a holy temple]


    [A holy maiden was performing forbidden summoning magic which she acquired from a labyrinth]


    [The holy maiden need to sacrifice her body in this summoning but if it''s to save the world she would do it]


    [The summoning was succeeded, a powerful-looking youth was summoned but the maiden was gone]


    [Before she perished she left a letter]


    [You are Hero!]


    [Hero that will save the world from demons!]


    [Go forth my Hero!]


    Wow!


    Was every website game this badass-looking?


    Even though things are in 2D they''re decent and the art style is something he has never seen before.


    More than that, the story was interesting too!


    If every website game was as badass as this game, I should probably try more website games from now on.


    After the storytelling was finally over, it''s time to play the game.


    I hope that the art style was as good as the gameplay.


    I mean, this was the most popular game so it shouldn''t be that bad.


    [Click at the demon to attack]


    ...


    [Use your skill, Berserk Mode to deal 200% damage every click for ten seconds]


    ...


    [Hire Raymond, The Warrior]


    ...


    [You encountered a powerful demon! Slay him to get an artifact!]


    ...


    This is just me clicking and upgrading things repeatedly right?


    It supposed to be boring.


    But why?


    I can''t stop playing this game at all! It''s too addicting!


    I need to hire a stronger character! Just 1 million gold more and I''ll have an easy time beating the next boss demon.


    Argh, why I can''t still beat the boss?


    Do I really need to restart everything?


    I finally unlocked the last character but yet no matter what I still can''t win against area 100th area''s boss! Are you kidding me?


    Then I''ll just redo! humph!


    You''ll see how easy I pass the first area with my artifacts!


    It''s fine to redo because I can also earn more artifacts!


    With more artifacts means that my characters grow stronger!


    Right... Just a little bit I can beat the 100th area boss.


    A little bit more...


    While Old Man was playing Hero, Mervin was patiently watching at the back.


    At first, he thought that he was being to rude to the owner and wanted to apologize. He was thinking numerous ways to apologize to the Old Man and finally prepared himself.


    When time passed, Mervin was getting pissed, he changed his mind.


    That Old Man was playing games the thing he hated the most.


    "Oi, Old Man, I thought I told you to search for what my brother did, and not play games right?"


    "Ugh... just a little bit more."


    "..."


    Seeing the sharp glare, it made Old Man immediately stopped what he doing.


    "Alright, Alright, I''ll try and check something."


    [Welcome, LEE123]


    [Notifications (999!)]


    Whoa, this must be Andy''s account but why there are so many notifications.


    [XXX left a comment "Wow, this game is addictive!!"]


    [XXX left a comment "I can''t stop playing! HELP!"]


    Wait, what?


    I felt that it''s definitely not a coincidence. To confirm my suspicion, I checked the game I played just now.


    Just in case...


    [By LEE123]

 Chapter 11

    [Mervin''s POV]


    "Your brother, He made a game."


    "I see. That''s normal then because he used to play games very often."


    "Indeed, he''s still too young, there''s still more space for him to improve."


    Both of them nodded their heads.


    One idiotic adult and one clueless boy, even though they found out Andy made a game.


    In the Old Man''s mind.


    ''Later when he woke up, I''ll teach him how to make this game more interesting.''


    Meanwhile, in Mervin''s mind.


    ''Though I don''t want him to play games, doing what he enjoys to do should a priority. As his brother, I should support him. ''


    After the Mervin received his answer, he left Old Man alone to play his games.


    As for Old Man, he resumed playing Hero, returning to his own world, playing Hero on the computer.


    "By the way, Old Man, where''s my father?"


    It''s impossible for Father to go back to work and this situation.


    Could he be searching at that place by himself?


    "I''m not sure, he said he went to buy stuff. Now that you ask, indeed it took him too long."


    Hearing what the Old Man said, Mervin got a gist where Lee could be.


    He must have gone there, I should go and check him.


    Arriving at his old house, he found Lee was rummaging the piles of scraps. His instinct is spot on.


    "I''ll help out."


    When Lee saw me, he shook his head.


    "No need to search anymore. Most of them can''t be reused. I''m not rummaging the scraps but I''m cleaning this place."


    "We should clean these up so I could sell this plot of land for money."


    Father has decided to sell this place since he''s in need of money as soon as possible.


    "Un."


    I immediately went to help out, cleaning the area by picking up the trash and threw them in the bin.


    -----


    [Andy''s POV]


    Ha...


    I took a nice nap.


    Now that I have slept, I''m not as tired as before.


    "Oh, you''re awake!"


    The Old Man''s eyes brighten up when he see that I was finally awake.


    Andy who forgot what happened earlier wanted to re-explain everything to Old Man.


    When I tried to explain to him from the beginning again, Old Man interrupted me before I could say anything.


    "You should''ve told me that you make games!"


    Huh?


    Did I forget to hide all the files?


    "What are you talking about?"


    "I already found out. You left your account login when you fell asleep, there''s no need to be shy."


    "But really, I have to admit it, your game is quite addictive but you''re still an amateur. You need to add more characters and more artifacts into the game."


    "There''s only ten characters and only over twenty artifacts that existed in the game."


    While Old Man was excitedly talking about Hero I was devastated to hear that he found out.


    I carelessly fall asleep and left the account there.


    Since he found out already, there''s nothing that could be done.


    "Yeah, I''ll add more things when I have time. More importantly, Have you entered your account number?"


    "You did it already. You don''t remember?"


    "Let me see."


    I opened up my profile and there are over 999 notifications, the game I made must have entered the top ten games already.


    I didn''t go and read the notifications as it was not important. I directly went to see my income money.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Opening the income section, there are over three hundred US dollars in my balance and it''s still increasing.


    This is just for Newgrounds.


    I unhesitantly withdraw the money and send them to the Old Man account.


    "I''ve sent the money to your account, you should withdraw the money out."


    "How much you earned?"


    "About four million rupiahs."


    "Really?!? I didn''t know making games would be this profitable..."


    It does earn you tons of money but that''s if people kept playing your game everyday.


    "Alright, I''ll go to the bank to withdraw the money then."


    As the Old Man left, I''m finally alone in the store.


    The next thing I did was check my e-mail, sign in to my account, and check the inbox.


    There are already over twenty unread letters.


    On the description of the game, I did mention that I need cooperation from someone to promote the game.


    I didn''t expect that it''ll be this less, I was expecting more than twenty letters.


    Anyway, I started checking the letter one by one.


    Thinking that I''m an amateur, most of the people that tried to contact me, wanted to scam me or trying to get me to sign an unreasonable contract.


    Out of all the twenty-three letters, only one was really trying to cooperate with me. He started off with a simple introduction and went straight to the point.


    [My name is Daniel James, I''m just a guy that has money but don''t know where to spend it]


    [If you want, I can invest my money on you. You can use the money to host a website or do whatever you want. In return, I want 51% of you to earn from the game]


    This guy seems naive and inexperienced. I can definitely use him.


    My plan is not really hiring someone to promote the game.


    I don''t really care about that as at this age, there''s no need promotion to make games famous.


    Moreover, this is temporarily made to get me enough money to buy necessities.


    Once I received what I need I don''t even plan to continually develop the game anymore.


    I''ll just sell the game to someone else or let someone else manage it.


    Do whatever they want I don''t care.


    [This is LEE123, I have read your letter and it sounds very suspicious to me]


    [You said you wanted to invest money in this game, just how much money you''re willing to invest for 51% of the profit?]


    While waiting for him to reply, I went to create more sprites for the new characters and other features that I need to add.


    Ding*


    He replied faster than I thought.


    This time he skipped the formalities and got into the point.


    [It depends, I''m currently playing your game and I''ve entered 140th area. I supposed you know what this means as the developer]


    [It need more contents, I''m waiting for your update and I''ll decide how much money I''ll invest]


    [However, I can say that the money I''m willing to invest will be no less than a ten thousand dollars]


    Interesting reply...


    [I have to say... you misunderstood what I''m trying to tell you in the last reply]


    [I''m not asking you to judge the worth of this game. I''m asking how much you''re willing to invest]


    [I can assume that you''ll be investing ten thousand dollars, is that correct?]


    As soon the letter was sent, in just ten seconds he made another reply.


    [Forty thousand US dollars, in cash, and we''ll sign a life-time contract.]


    Forty thousand huh? Not a bad deal for the first game I''ve made.


    Though I know my game worth more than that, there''s no harm letting him earn the extra cash.


    In the future, I won''t care about money anyway.


    [Deal, meet me in Indonesia, Tanjung Balai Karimun. Notify me through this e-mail if you have arrived]


    -----


    [Australia, Melbourne]


    On the other side, in front of the computer "Daniel James" was frowning when he received LEE123''s reply.


    Though he''s happy that he sealed the deal, where the heck is Tanjung Balai Karimun and out of all, it''s Indonesia?


    "Indonesia... Tanjung Balai Karimun..."


    Checking on the internet, he can''t find the exact location. Only by using the atlas map, he can find the so-called place that he supposed to go.


    That''s is a small island... and it''s far from my place too.


    Since that place obviously didn''t have an airport, I''ll need to go to the nearest airport available and then travel by ferry.


    The closest place that has an airport was Singapore.


    A total of eight-hour flight...


    I guess I''m traveling again.


    -----


    [Andy''s POV]


    Ding*


    [I''ll be there in a day or so]


    That''s the only words he replied.


    I don''t know where he''s from but I could look into it myself.


    Even though my specialization is not in the cybersecurity field.


    This year, the 2000s, with my current knowledge, I''m confident that I could break into any security if I tried, not that I will...


    If I really tried, I could easily generate money from a private bank, I could but there''s no point to do it is there?


    I can just earn money by making games myself.


    With that being said, I tracked his IP address and went to find out where he lived, and who he was.


    It''s much better to be safe than sorry.


    Let''s see... this type of IP address, no VPN was used, it''s not a fake address and it''s from Melbourne.


    As for his identity, Daniel James, a fake name indeed.


    His real name is James Stevens, living with his parents at Gilga Street, block X.


    A month ago, he won two million dollars by luck, so he quitted school and decided to run a business with the money.


    But in the end, he spent most of his money on traveling and left with only little left to invest in his business.


    He coincidentally finds me when he heard that a popular game suddenly erupt out of nowhere and said that it needs someone''s help.


    What a lucky guy.


    When his money about to ran out, he met me.


    Anyway, that''s about it, I should stop researching him. He didn''t seem to be planning anything dangerous.


    So... From Melbourne to here, indeed it''ll take a day even with a plane.


    Since there''s no airport here, he can''t fly directly to this place, He''ll need to use a ferry to get here.


    By the time he arrived, I''ll have to meet him directly with this body and when that time comes I''ll use my way to convince him.


    After I''ve finished researching him, I deleted all the trace so no one could track me.


    Including files, I obtained through an illegal method.


    Next, since I''m now free, I went to update the content of Hero.


    Time passed quickly as I immersed myself to draw as many sprites as I could.


    I was planning to create enough content, hoping that I don''t need to work again in the future.


    For now, these should be enough to satisfy my audience.


    Sound of motorcycle being parked outside was heard. I looked out through the glass to see who is it.


    It''s Father and Mervin.


    I quickly saved all of the files and closed the computer.


    I don''t mind Old Man noticing it but definitely Father or Mervin.


    I should continue when they''re not watching.


    "You guys are back."


    Since when Mervin followed Father?


    Their clothes were soaked in sweat and there''s a trace of ashes on their clothes. Did they rummage our old house without telling me?


    Lee was carrying two bags on his hand and Mervin was also carrying a bunch of stuff. It can be seen that they''re cleaning tools.


    "We went back to check the scraps, we tried to search but nothing can be reused in those rubbles. In the end, we just cleaned the place and put a sign that the land is on sale."


    Mervin explained what he has done with Father.


    After the explanation, Mervin went back to being a cold brother.


    "Take the these and go clean upstairs.".


    Mervin ordered me as he handed me a broom and dustpan.


    I obediently took them and directly went upstairs to start cleaning without any complaints.


    "Let Andy clean by himself first. As for you, you should rest, your body won''t make it if you pushed yourself too hard."


    "Then you should rest with me too."


    "...O-of course, who said that I''ll help him."

 Chapter 12

    Puff*


    After three of us spent our entire day, cleaning the entire place, it finally looks like a place that could be lived by a human.


    Before, clouds of dust gathered in every corner, even on the wall.


    Creatures such as spiders, cockroaches, rats also could be found.


    Now... It was hard to believe that before, this place was worse than ruins.


    Everything is clean and could be said better than their old house.


    If they fully furnish the empty rooms, it''ll be even better.


    As we''re resting on the floor, The Old Man arrived with two movers.


    It looks like Old Man ordered some furniture as I told him to.


    "Wow, you guys can really clean!"


    The old man touches the floor trying to see if his hand could catch any specks of dust.


    "I''ve brought some furniture, on my volition, without anyone telling me to."


    Ehem.


    Don''t make it too obvious! Just say you want to help us like a normal human being.


    "This..."


    "Umm, what should I call you?"


    Father approached Old Man first. He wanted to show his gratitude but he didn''t know what to call him.


    "You can just call me Old Man."


    "No, that''s an inappropriate way to call our savior..."


    ''And the gap between us is not that large for me to call you old.''


    "Oh It''s fine~ other people call me that nickname too. Ahahahaha!"


    "Anyway, there''s more furniture coming, I''ll leave it to you guys to manage where to put the furniture."


    "Are you sure for us not paying anything? you can easily rent it to others for one million per month especially since you have furnished the place."


    Father was worried, especially when Old Man was this generous toward him and his family.


    "Like I said before, if not for you guys I won''t even touch this floor. I''m just glad someone is using it."


    "I''ll be leaving them at your hands, I''m tired after choosing the furniture, you guys should rest early too."


    ''The hell? Since when did you choose the furniture!''


    The movers wanted to retort something that Old Man said but decided not to.


    Old Man smoothly excused himself to leave, leaving my Father who can''t believe that they secured a wonderful place to live.


    While Father was thankful for Old Man''s great deeds, I was thinking of something else that sounds stupid.


    Old Man, you''re damn great. Even in this life, I still didn''t manage to get your name.


    ("Oh It''s fine~ other people call me that nickname too. Ahahahaha!")


    That phrase... he said the same thing to me when I asked for his name in my past life.


    After all the furniture is moved in, the floor finally looks lively.


    The next thing that happened, you can guess it.


    Yes, everyone took a bath and rest themselves, except for me.


    I pretended to be asleep, waiting for Mervin to fall asleep.


    It took a while and it''s hard to be sure too whether he''s truly asleep or not as he doesn''t snore.


    Slowly and steadily I walked out of the room and went downstairs.


    I need to finish the game updates so that I could finally rest in peace.


    Need to finish it as soon as possible and get back to rest.


    Tomorrow I still have school to attend.


    I also didn''t want to leave things halfway or unfinished.


    The faster I update Hero content the better.


    That Old Man... I said to buy furniture but not all of them.


    Looking at everything that was moved in, their cost should be easily over four million rupiahs.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    This means Old Man spent some of his money on the furniture too.


    Without wasting time, I turned on the computer and continued where I left off in the evening.


    I added enough characters, enough to entertain them until they reach the 10.000th area.


    Also increased the number of artifacts and decrease the chances of getting artifact from beating demons bosses.


    At the same time, I added a new type of balance that''s not gold.


    I called it Mana Crystals which is 100% from the demon bosses, ranging one to ten.


    This new type of balance can be used to summon a special mercenary that cannot be bought and only available by summoning with mana crystals.


    It deals with certain damage per second depending on how far the player has reached in the game.


    At the same time, it could also be exchanged for golds, the amount depending on how far the player reached.


    That special balance, in the future, will be my source income as once I''m able to host my own website, I''ll allow the player to buy Mana Crystal with money.


    At the same time more when that happens more features will be added.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    Hmm... this could be considered as a huge update.


    Yawn*


    It''s almost morning.


    I should take a short nap while I could.


    -----


    In just a short three hours, the morning finally arrived.


    Mervin was the first to wake up, using his own money that he earned. He went out and buy some food across the street.


    After he bought food. he went and took a bath and change to the casual clothes that he usually wears.


    He then was about to call Andy, but then he was reminded that Andy woke up in the middle of the night.


    ''Should I let him skip school?''


    ''I can send a letter to the school, saying that he''s tired and need to rest.''


    ''Our house was also burnt down recently, there''s no way the school would force him to go to school.''


    Currently, Mervin was contemplating whether he should wake Andy or not.


    Due to him moving around, back and forth, Andy woke up as he sensed the uneasiness feeling of Mervin.


    "W-wake up, the new uniform is in the closet. I bought some food, go and eat them later."


    Seeing that Andy has already woke up by himself, Mervin quickly left the house.


    Yawn*


    That short nap, as expected wasn''t enough.


    I still feel a bit sleepy, should I drink coffee?


    Wait, we don''t have coffee.


    Sigh*


    And it''s Monday...


    Sigh*


    Monday. Indonesia. Flag Ceremony.


    An Indonesia Tradition to do a flag ceremony every Monday.


    We have to endure the torture standing still for one hour, outside, in the field, being bathed upon the scorching sun.


    After I wearing my uniform and rarely, a cap.


    A cap is a must on Monday or to be exact during the flag ceremony.


    If you forgot to bring it on Monday not only you''ll be punished in front of all the students for not wearing the attributes needed for the flag ceremony, you''ll also suffer as you have to endure the scorching sun without additional protection.


    After I wore my uniform and all the needed attributes for the flag ceremony, I then, went out to eat the food Mervin bought.


    Hmph, my breakfast was fried bread with caramelized coconut shaving, the typical Indonesian staple food.


    Despite it was cheap food, it was surprisingly good.


    Once I finished eating, I then quickly left after locking the convenience store with the key I had with me.


    I need to be faster than before as since we moved further from the school.


    Arriving at the school, the students were already lining up themselves according to their classes, similar to Saturday, except for today everyone is not wearing PE uniform and is preparing for the flag ceremony.


    I went to find my classmates and start, lining up with them too.


    "Hey, Andy!"


    Micheal suddenly called out to me as quiet as he could, but because the entire field was dead silent, he still attracted others'' attention to him.


    Mr. Ridwan who saw Micheal whispering to me, he immediately scolded him.


    Sigh*


    Who told him to be short. (You''re the one who''s tall)


    With my tall height, broad shoulder, I obviously stand at the back while with Micheal''s tiny body that''s still being developed, he stood at the very front of the line.


    Similar to how military formation work, where the shortest person in the front, all the way to the tallest person in the rear.


    Even after Mr.Ridwan scolded him, Micheal was still persistent in calling me.


    Fortunately, Mr.Ridwan has returned to where the teacher supposed to be.


    I then gave a signal to Micheal, telling him we''ll speak after the flag ceremony is over


    In the next few minutes, the flag ceremony finally starts.


    At the same time, as though the cloud knew we''re going to start the flag ceremony, they escaped from the sky, not shielding us anymore.


    Some of the students even swore at the cloud.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    "Saluuuute!"


    After saluting the school principal, it commences the end of the flag ceremony. We can finally return to our class.


    Groans*


    Everyone was groaning in pain, screaming hot as they''re sweating profusely due to the hot weather.


    With only one small fan in the classroom, most of the students went under it to catch the cold breeze.


    Thankfully, the principal''s speech wasn''t that long or we''ll be dried out by the time the flag ceremony ends.


    "Andy, your house! What happened? Suddenly it was gone."


    I see he must have seen it when he passed by


    "Fire accident."


    Or should I say arson? Nah, it''s better to not say that.


    "Our house was burnt down."


    Micheal was shocked to hear that. A few days ago, they''re still fine now Andy''s house is gone.


    "Is everyone fine? Where are you staying right now?"


    "None of us got hurt and father found a place for us to stay, it''s actually nearby. I could take you there after school."


    "Really?! Ehem... Sorry, I got so excited despite your house was burn down."


    "It''s okay, I think it as a good opportunity for us to move out. That house was old anyway."


    Micheal decided not to talk about it anymore, he changes to another topic.


    "Let''s not talk about that anymore. You shouldn''t be sad too. There, there don''t cry."


    Um, what?


    Micheal misunderstood Andy''s eye bag, thinking that he was so depressed that he couldn''t sleep.


    The class soon starts and I was trying my best to not sleep.


    At least, for now, I managed to survive and it was finally break-time.


    As I''m tired, I asked Micheal to go and eat by himself.


    "I''m sorry, I''m sleepy. I''ll have to skip breakfast today."


    "Then I''ll bring my food here and eat it here."


    Micheal didn''t argue as he knew Andy was tired but this won''t stop him accompany Andy.


    There he goes...


    Anyway, I''ll use my fifteen minutes break time to take a nap. It will help me survive the next two hours of Mr.Ridwan''s class.


    While I was trying to rest my head on the desk, a girl was staring at me intensely behind my back.


    I didn''t know about it until she spoke to me.


    "What happened to you? Today you look terrible. Did you not sleep?"


    ...


    Not even a minute of lying down on the table, I was interrupted by someone already.


    I then turned my head seeing the torso of a girl, I then lifted my head to see her face. It turned out to be Yulia.


    "Hi there... Yeah. I barely slept last night."


    "I see. Then I won''t interrupt you."


    That response she gave me at the end is disturbing.


    Sigh*


    "You can ask me if you want. I can answer them as I sleep."


    "No, Thank you."


    Right. She''s not the type to bother someone.


    But now I''m curious what makes her think that it''s fine to bother Kervin.


    Well, I appreciate it but I feel if I didn''t answer her questions, she will haunt me in my sleep.


    "How about give me a paper with your questions listed on it. I''ll give you the answer tomorrow."


    The paper was immediately ripped out from her notebook, she already wrote down the questions.


    Now, back to sleep.

 Chapter 13

    Two hours of hellish and relentless perseverance, I''m starting to feel the headache from the lack of sleep.


    There''s still one more hour before the school finally ends.


    Thankfully the last class was Miss Fitri''s class, I can relax a bit when it''s her class.


    She only has the teaching experience of merely two years, from the first day till now she was never the type that scolds students.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    Ding Dong.


    The sounds of the bell ringing, the sound that I''ve been wanted to hear.


    After the class representative commanded the rest to greet, we''re finally dismissed from the school.


    "Andy, are you okay?"


    "Yeah, I''m fine."


    Yawn*


    "You know what, today you should go home early. I''ll visit your new house next time."


    "Thanks... I''ll do that then."


    "Bye~"


    "See you tomorrow."


    -----


    Upon reaching my bedroom, it felt like heaven.


    After walking over two hundred meters, with my current condition, I feel like I about to die.


    Thankfully I reached home in one piece.


    Old Man wanted to ask me to watch the store for him but looking at my terrible complexion, he let me off for the day and watch the store by himself.


    At least he now has something to enjoy while watching the store.


    He''s playing Hero as we watch the store.


    Ah... The moment I laid down, my consciousness fade.


    Snore*


    -----


    [James'' POV]


    Where should I go?


    Arriving at outside Tanjung Karimun Harbour''s arrival entrance, not even the exit yet. I was swarmed with a bunch of people.


    They''re not here to meet me or anything, these people persistently asking whether I needed a taxi or not.


    "Taxi?"


    "Need a Taxi?"


    "Taxi?"


    I thought because I was a foreigner they were persistent.


    Nope, everyone was treated the same. They were surrounded by a group of taxi drivers.


    Since I needed one anyway, I decided to choose one out of ten. Only after that, the other nine left me alone since I got my driver already.


    "How much?"


    Without wasting time, I talked to the taxi driver asking for the price first.


    I was resolved on getting the lowest price.


    I''m not sure the price they usually charge, so as long as it''s not above the average cost I''ll be fine with it.


    With my vast traveling experience, I won''t get scam by them. I was wary of it because I was scammed before.


    Some places do charge foreigners double the normal price.


    So, as an experienced traveler, my experience told me to negotiate the price with the driver first.


    Only when I''m satisfied with the price, I''ll follow him.


    "How much to bring me around the area?"


    I spoke English with the taxi driver, hoping that he could understand me.


    Hearing my foreign language he tilted the head, he then used hand gestures trying his best to communicate with me.


    "Taxi, five-ten. Hotel."


    Five ten?


    Did he mean to say fifty?


    I handed him fifty thousand rupiahs to confirm it.


    "Yes, yes! Terima Kasih!"


    The man smiled and waved his hand signaling me to follow him.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Looks like, this guy is honest.


    Fifty thousand rupiahs is very cheap if it was compared to Australia''s taxi fares standard.


    "Okay, take me to the Hotel, I want the ''best'' hotel in Balai."


    "Best Hotel? ok ok."


    Following him, we exit from the harbor.


    "Tunggu disini!"


    I don''t understand but it looks like he wanted me to stay still.


    While that person left for whatever reason, I was looking around at the area.


    The more I look at this place, the more I was suspicious of whether that person really is here.


    Did that person really live in this kind of place? How can a talented game developer live on this small island instead of a big city?


    If it''s Jakarta I would understand... but a small island that barely shows in the map...


    After a while... a shady looking car honking at me.


    Don''t tell me this is my ride...


    When the window was open, showing the face of the taxi driver that I made a deal with just now, I cursed myself.


    ''F**k me mate...''


    ''No wonder it costs less than five dollars.''


    Just as I expected, the inside was as worst as its outside appearance, it has a heavy odor that makes you feel nausea and headache just from breathing the odor.


    How far is the hotel?


    I definitely don''t want to stay here for too long.


    I opened the window to get fresh air, else I''ll get carsick.


    Not long later the taxi stopped.


    "Hotel."


    The driver helps me carry my stuff and thanked me.


    At least the service is good.


    Bleurgh...


    After I finished doing my business, I became much more refreshed.


    The taxi driver seems worried when he saw me vomit, asking me questions but I don''t understand what he''s saying.


    I simply paid him the money and went into the hotel.


    Hotel Maximillian was the hotel name.


    It looks decent from outside, I hope the service in this hotel is good.


    Oh? Already a person opening the door for me, this place should be nice.


    A man who wears a formal uniform opened the door for me. It smiled at me, so I smiled back politely.


    Afterward, I went to the counter to book a room.


    Please... speak English.


    "I would like to book a room please."


    "Welcome, sir~"


    "Which room would you like? These are the choice available."


    Hearing the receptionist spoke English, even though it''s only okay but it''s understandable.


    More importantly, she understood what I''m saying.


    I didn''t know that I would feel like this but, for the first time, I feel very grateful toward her just because she understood and speak English.


    When I travel, I usually have a tour guide accompanying me, but on this small island, I can''t find any tour guide available.


    "Thank god, you can speak English."


    I got too excited and grabbed the receptionist''s shoulder without her permission, things got awkward for her as it''s not polite to touch someone without the person''s permission, especially when it''s a woman.


    "Um, which room do you want sir?"


    Seeing her bitter smile, James thought that, she was nervous.


    I quickly answered without hesitation with a big smile on my face, trying to be friendly as I could after sensing her uncomfortable feeling.


    ''There''s no need to be nervous, your English is good enough.''


    I misunderstood the whole thing.


    "Give me the best room in this hotel."


    Only after I said that I lifted my arms away from her shoulder.


    "Ehem, How long will you stay?"


    "For now, I''ll book two nights. It''s possible to extend my stay right?"


    "Yes. So, you want a suite for two nights, is that correct?"


    "I guess, yeah."


    "That''ll be 2.600.000 Rupiah."


    Wow, that''s quite cheap for a suite, right?


    I happily gave her the money and afterward I was given the key to my room.


    A bellman then escorted me to my room personally, since there''s no elevator, he also helped me carry my luggage to my room.


    As I arrived in the suite room, I immediately open my laptop to email LEE123, notifying him that I have arrived here.


    Usually, a normal person would be impressed by the suite room but seeing James instantly dropped his things and open his laptop, the bellman knew that James is someone rich.


    "Enjoy your stay, sir."


    Well, James wasn''t particularly interested because there wasn''t anything special with the suite room.


    In fact, he was disappointed.


    The suite is not that spacious.


    The furniture was okay.


    If it doesn''t have wine, James would''ve complained immediately.


    [I have arrived at Tanjung Balai Karimun, I''m staying at Hotel Maximillian]


    Now that I can only wait for his reply, I should go and take a bath, afterward I''ll go walk around and find some food.


    I haven''t eaten anything for the last five hours.


    -----


    [Andy''s POV]


    AfterI slept for a while, I finally felt much better.


    If not because my stomach is grumbling, I wouldn''t have woke up.


    Right now it''s about 4 P.M.


    I should go and find my own food.


    I haven''t anything except for the fried bread which I ate in the morning.


    Arriving downstairs, I found the Old Man was playing the computer at the counter, he must be playing Hero.


    Meanwhile, there''s a customer in front of him and he didn''t even notice it. The customer wanted to call him but he hesitated to do so.


    "Old Man, a customer."


    "Oh? you''ve done resting? Since you''re back I''ll let you take care of the store then."


    The Old Man immediately left the store. I''m guessing he''s at the stage of need to let it idle to get to the next area.


    Since he can''t do anything much, Old Man wanted to return to his internet cafe.


    Now, it''s me and the shy customer.


    I quickly took care of the customer items.


    Beep*


    "That''ll be 12000 Rupiah."


    "Thank you for coming."


    Now that there are no more customers in the store.


    I went across the street to grab a quick snack.


    Vegetable fritter, aka bakwan in Indonesia.


    After that, I returned to the store, while munching on the piping hot fritters.


    I should check my email.


    James should have arrived already.


    Since there''s no customer, I used the computer for personal use.


    Inside my inbox, I received many new letters, more than a hundred this time.


    Sadly, I have no interest in them anymore, they''re too late. I''ve found a perfect guy already.


    Skimming through my inbox I found James'' letter, it was recently sent by him.


    [I have arrived at Tanjung Balai Karimun, I''m staying at Hotel Maximillian]


    Seeing that, I replied to him casually.


    [A person will meet you at your hotel, 4 P.M sharp. Make sure that you are at your hotel at that time.]


    4 P.M should be the perfect time to meet him. At that time, Micheal should have gone home already.


    Now that I replied to James, let''s see how much money we made today.


    Checking my balance, there''s whooping five grand of US dollar inside, converting them to rupiah it''s over seventy million rupiahs.


    Seeing the amount of money, I was proud of myself.


    This rate of income won''t last long though. It will gradually decrease as time passes.


    If I want to stabilize the rate of income I''ll have to constantly add content to attract more audiences.


    Other than that, I''ll also need to promote my games.


    Anyway, that amount is enough to repay Old Man.


    He''ll be shocked when he sees the number of money that was transferred into his bank account.''


    [Would you like to withdraw?]


    Yes.


    -----


    [James'' POV]


    I took a bath and ate at a place called Rumah Makan Pak Cokro.


    At that place, I ordered Nasi Padang. I heard it was an Indonesian dish.


    It''s basically with plain steamed rice, with various pre-cooked dishes to choose from, cooked in Indonesian style


    It''s cheap alright, twenty thousand and I was given a large serving with various side dishes.


    They''re surprisingly good, especially the chilies.


    After eating, I quickly went back to the hotel to see that person have replied or not


    ''Why he''s not replying yet.''


    ...


    ...


    Ding*


    Just in time!


    [A person will meet you at your hotel, 4 P.M sharp. Make sure that you are at your hotel at that time.]


    Reading the reply, I was disappointed that I can''t meet him today.


    Truthfully, James was curious about what kind of person he would be.


    Sigh*


    Then I''ll just go for another round of eating.


    This time, I''ll go to a seafood restaurant!

 Chapter 14

    It has a few days since I came back but so many things already happened.


    Especially the fire incident.


    It was something I didn''t expect would happen.


    "Andy, how do you do this question?"


    There''s still one month until the final semester exam.


    That much of time, I think I should be able to endure it.


    But, two years... two years are needed until I graduated from primary school.


    Now I''m considering, whether I should go for high-school or not because if I were I''ll need to attend something like this for six more years.


    If not for Micheal entertaining and talking to me, I might have died of boredom already.


    Of course, there''s Yulia too, though she didn''t talk while in the class when it''s break-time, we actually talked.


    Well, it''s me the one that''s doing the talking. Nevertheless, we still talked.


    Anyway, there''s nothing special that happened in school today.


    After the school was over and I took Micheal to Old Man''s convenience store, fulfilling my promise which I made to him yesterday.


    "This is your house?"


    "The second floor is where we lived."


    "It must be nice to above a convenience store."


    Micheal thought that it was nice because they could buy and eat snacks every day if they wanted to.


    "Oho, you''re back kid."


    "Who''s that? your friend?"


    The Old Man was talking to me while his eyes are fixated on the screen.


    Somehow he managed to notice Micheal and me but Old Man...


    There''s a customer in front of you!


    It''s the same guy from yesterday.


    "Oi, Old Man, there''s a customer."


    Only after I said that the Old Man noticed him and apologize for not seeing him,


    He then took the customer items and scanned them.


    "Twelve thousand."


    "Thank you!"


    He returned to play his games again.


    "Feel free to take a snack from the shelf."


    Micheal was overjoyed when he heard Old Man offered him a snack.


    While Micheal was picking a snack, Old Man whispered to me.


    "Today... you can''t watch the store?"


    I shook my head.


    Unfortunately, I can''t because after this I still need to go and meet James.


    Sigh*


    "Then I''ll play this all day. Enjoy playing with your friend~"


    Once Micheal chose his snack, we went upstairs.


    Similar to how Micheal react at my old house, he was excited and adventures around the house.


    He tried to go to the third floor too but I stopped him.


    We did clean the tried floor but not entirely as that time we''re too tired to do anything.


    There''s a room on the third floor and we haven''t touched that room yet.


    "The third floor is dirty, I don''t think you should go there."


    "It''s fine. I''m okay with it."


    Micheal didn''t heed my word. He still went upstairs.


    Well, there''s no harm.


    I quickly followed him and the first thing I did was asking him not to open that door.


    "Don''t open that door, a bunch of spiders will crawl out if you open it."


    "Got it~"


    There''s nothing much to see on the third floor.


    The only thing worth staying on the balcony on the third floor.


    This place is used by Father to wash and hangs our clothes.


    "All explored, Mission complete!"


    "Alright, time to go back and study. Let''s return."


    "Andy, look! You can see the mountain from here."


    "The people look so tiny from up here."


    Yes yes.


    Seeing how happy Michael was, it would be cruel of me to not realize the atmosphere.


    I let him enjoy staying the balcony, only after he''s satisfied, we went downstairs to study.


    After Micheal went home, I was about to leave to visit James.


    While Micheal was fetched by his mother, I notice something weird.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    How did she know where I lived?


    I didn''t think too much when she fetches Micheal at my old house too, but now that I moved to another place.


    It''s weird that she still knew where Micheal was at.


    Micheal couldn''t have told her since he''s with me the entire time.


    I remembered from my past life that Micheal''s parent was very rich.


    To be precise, it was his father who was rich. It was a rumor but people say he was rich enough to buy the whole island of Balai.


    the only plausible explanation is, there are hidden bodyguards, employed to protect Micheal. They told her where Micheal was.


    I hope they''re not around right now...


    I''m worried that they still lingered here. I don''t want someone to follow me to the Maximillian hotel.


    To play it safe, later on, I''ll have to be careful then.


    "Old Man, if I haven''t returned at 6 P.M then tell my father to not worry about me."


    Using public transport which exists in Indonesia called ''Oplet'', it''s like a bus but a smaller version of a bus. It only costs two thousand Rupiah too, no matter where you stop at the price will be the same.


    "Stop."


    I stopped quite far away from Maximillian hotel instead of directly stopping in front.


    I used small alleys that I was familiar with and walked my way to the Maximillian hotel.


    No one is following me. I guess I was thinking too much.


    Arriving at Maximillian Hotel, I head to the hotel lobby.


    There I saw a foreigner-looking man sitting on the sofa, constantly watching his watch and gaze around as though he was waiting for someone to come.


    Well, even though there are ten foreigners at the same time, I would recognize James anyway.


    I already investigated him back then.


    "Boy, what are you doing here? Is your parent staying here?"


    Seeing me, a boy that he never saw before, coming into the hotel without accompanied by a guardian, the man approached to confirm.


    "I''m looking for someone." (In Bahasa)


    I replied in English to avoid unnecessary trouble.


    Hearing me speaking English despite me being a kid, the man immediately back off.


    ''This boy must be a foreigner.''


    "Welcome."


    With no one bothering me anymore, I proceed to the VIP lounge area and approached James.


    "Good afternoon, Mr.Daniel James."


    I said with a sarcastic tone, hinting that he''s using a fake name.


    At the same time, I handed him a letter which I already prepared beforehand.


    James was confused by the sarcasm tone, but after he receives and read the content of the letter, he immediately understood.


    -----


    Lee


    The child in front of you is one of my trusted followers. I would like you to follow his order as you''ll be signing a contract with him.


    To James Stevens


    -----


    ''What kind of situation is this? Gain his trust first before he shows his identity? Am I about involved in the dark market?''


    ''And how did he know my real name?''


    "Um... Are you sent by Lee123?"


    "Yes."


    "Can you tell him to stop joking? I''m just asking him to sign a contract, I have already prepared the money."


    "This is not a joke. If you''re unwilling to sign a contract with me, he won''t be cooperating with you then."


    After I said that, I stood up from my seat and was really going to leave. If he didn''t want to, then there''s no choice, I''ll just choose another person from my mail.


    "W-wait... give me a moment to think."


    ''I''ve never done this kind of business before, maybe this is how it normally works.''


    ''Judging from the look of this kid, he''s not a normal kid.''


    ''Just what did I involved myself into... If I want to escape this is my opportunity to reject.''


    ''But, it will be a huge loss if I can''t secure this opportunity.''


    ''Hero is bound to be known by others. You just need to do an advertisement around.''


    "I''ve checked the game yesterday. It has improved so much compared to the day we made the deal."


    "So, does the deal we made that day still valid?"


    "Of course, the deal is still valid, forty thousand dollars for 51% of the profits but there will change in the conditions. You should read the contract properly."


    Seeing at my unusually serious attitude James became anxious, it''s not normal for a kid to have such serious expression.


    ''Who is this kid...''


    It''s similar when I was interviewed. The pressure professional interviewer gave is similar to the kid in front of me.


    "Alright. Can explain it briefly so I understand? I would like to see the contract to."


    I handed over the contract to him and explained the extra conditions added to the contract.


    "You have to follow my command from now on, if you didn''t, the contract will be voided and you''ll have to pay a huge amount of fees to compensate us. The start fee is one million dollars and will increase accordingly as the worth of Hero increases."


    "In other words, I have the right to say whether you breach the contract or not."


    "T-this. The condition is unfair."


    If James signed the contract, he''ll have to listen to Andy''s command for the rest of his life or he''ll have to pay the compensation fee.


    "Can I change the contract to a five-year contract?"


    "Nope, I can''t let you earn enough money and run away afterward, right?"


    "You shouldn''t be worried about my command. I''m just a kid what can I possibly command you to do."


    ''When he said it like that, it makes sense but I don''t think I could trust his words.''


    James really has no other choice here. 51% of the profits are too tempting. He can''t let it go easily no matter what.


    In the end, James just sighed and gave up on negotiating any further.


    He signed the contract.


    Basically, I secured myself a million dollars.


    Like what I expected, he''s naive and inexperienced. A spoiled man, who never experience hardship, thinking that his life will be smooth sailing every time.


    "Let''s visit your room first, we''ll talk about what you need as a 51% profit holder."


    -----


    "Welcome to my room, Feel free to sit anywhere you like."


    James politely gestured me to come in, while doing so, he glanced at me, sneaking up to look at my expression to see whether I was amazed when I saw this room or not.


    Sensing his glance, of course, I played along with him.


    "Wow, this room is so pretty!"


    Though it was a genuine expression that I felt relieved the moment I came in.


    It''s all because this room has the most fabulous thing, that would be the air conditioner.


    It has been a while I stayed inside a cool room with air conditioner.


    It felt nice...


    Seeing the current me, James finally nods his head with satisfaction.


    ''This is what a normal kid should be.''


    "Want a drink? I have various drinks inside my fridge. I don''t recognize most of them though..."


    "Give me chrysanthemum tea. The one with yellow can."


    It''s my favorite drink, though it''s canned version, it shouldn''t be that bad.


    "Got it."


    James grabbed two out of the fridge, one for me and the other for himself.


    Pop*


    It''s refreshing!


    "By the way, what should I call you? Boss?"


    "Andy is fine."


    "Alright, Andy. What should I do for now?"


    What should he do...


    "Tomorrow, you should head to the immigration office and get a visa to stay here for more than three months. If you can become a permanent resident, then I suggest you do that."


    "Once you could stay here as long as you want without a worry, the next thing you need to do is to buy a house and settle down there.


    "After all, you can''t keep staying at this hotel. Even though you''ll earn enough money, I don''t want you to spend them mindlessly. Understand?"


    "You should also open a bank account and exchange all of your money to rupiah, including this forty thousand dollar."


    I have no use of the money anyway and he won''t dare to scam me as long as the contract is still on my hand.


    "Once you finish all the tasks I mentioned just now. Email me your bank account number, password, and PIN."


    "Is there any question?"


    "Um, what would you give me your forty thousand dollars?"


    "For me to spend it. I''m still a kid and my bank account is constantly monitored. It''ll be weird too for a kid to have that much money."


    "So, instead I''ll be spending money under your name."


    "I see. I''ll get everything done tomorrow."


    After the task has given, it''s time for me to head back.


    As soon as I left the room James cursed himself.


    "What the f**k wrong with him?!"


    "I''m fine with staying here but I have to stay in this place for more than three months? He even said to get a permanent resident. This means there''s a possibility that I need to stay here for more than a year!


    "I even have to give him my bank account too..."


    Today is probably the last day I can enjoy myself.


    I should wait for a while until he''s gone then I''ll go all out just for tonight.


    -----


    [Andy''s POV]


    James must be regretting now, but I''m sure later on he''ll be thanking me.


    The reason, I asked him to become a permanent resident was because he has to stay here for at least maybe a year, depending on the future.


    And right now, it''s the perfect time for him to do so. The current government was in a mess, a bunch of corrupt government officials has yet got eliminated yet and because of this bribery could solve many troublesome things for him.


    The moment they realize how rich he was, they''ll gladly accept him as not only they''ll help the country''s economy by letting him stay here, but they''ll also receive their own personal benefits.


    Anyway, with the contract was signed by him, move on to the next thing I should do.


    It''s something about Father''s health condition.


    I need to think of a way to persuade my father to go to the hospital and get a check-up.

 Chapter 15

    "You''re back! Come here I have something to ask you."


    Hm?


    "Andy, there''s something I want to tell you."


    Currently, the old Man is being weird. Why is he acting like someone about to confess his love?


    "I''ve been thinking for a while."


    "It''s fine if you reject me."


    "But I just want to say it."


    Please stop looking at me with that face... you''re making me nervous.


    "Do you mind..."


    Yes.


    "Teaching me how to make games?"


    Oh.


    Wait. What?!? Old Man wants to make games!?!


    "You do know it''s not easy right?"


    "Um, yes. I tried to learn them myself, thinking that since you could, it must have been easy to make games."


    "I''m awfully mistaken after I find out the truth..."


    Yeah, making games and playing them, both of them are two different entities. They don''t resemble each other at all.


    I was also shocked when I find out but I got interested in it anyway.


    "And you still want to make games?"


    "Of course I want to! Please! Teach me, I''ll call you master!"


    Should I? I still have many things that I need to do.


    Teaching Old Man coding. If he diligently studies, I might have found myself, trusty helper.


    Let''s see if he really wanted to learn.


    "Okay, I''ll teach you but on one condition. You mustn''t tell anyone what I teach you and that I''m teaching you."


    "Sure. Why would I tell that to others anyway."


    ...If I didn''t warn you I''m sure you would.


    "Okay, since you said so I''ll trust you. I can''t teach you how to make games instantly."


    "You need to know the basics first, it''s about computer logic, basically how a computer works."


    "I''ll give you some notes tomorrow."


    "Yes! Master!"


    Old Man saluted me and afterward went back playing his game as though nothing happened.


    And that''s how I got myself another troublesome job to take care of.


    Grabbing an empty book, I start to write the basic theories that I remembered.


    The theories were focused on how computers view math problems.


    This was the most basic, it''s fine that you don''t know but it''s better to know it as you''ll get the gist of what''s going happening when you actually learn to code.


    Once he understood those, I''ll teach him basic languages such as phyton, C, or Java.


    Only after that all those are learned, and he got to familiarize himself with everything, I''ll teach him the knowledge that doesn''t exist yet in this world.


    Only if he can get that far without giving up on making games.


    I''ll be teaching him computer language that hasn''t existed in the current era, at least not until the year 2057. This language was called Anonymous, just like its name, the creator of it was unknown, the only thing we know about the creator was that he was a genius.


    The language wasn''t easy to be understood, it could be said as ten times harder to understand than C++. It actually took me twelve years to master it, while it only takes me a year to master C++.


    At the same time, If you compare the effort I spent between both of them, they''re also drastically different. When I was studying C++, I was also in the midst of learning other languages.


    As for Anonymous, I''ve been learning it since I have retired.


    I spent most of my day learning it every single day.


    If I did the same with C++, with the same amount of effort, it might only take me a few months to master it.


    What''s special about anonymous was that its capability and efficiency.


    Sadly, those can''t be seen if it was used in the current era''s computer architecture.


    In fact, if it was used in the computer in this era, the efficiency of the computer will drop significantly.


    Meaning, if I wanted to use Anonymous, I''ll also need to make the computer from my era, to fully utilize the language.


    There''s still a long way to go, but by the time Old Man mastered that language, I think I should have made the future computer already.


    Not saying that Old Man was incapable or anything, it''s just that the language was really that hard to be learned.


    "Where have you been?"


    Oh, Father is back already.


    Should I tell him now?


    I hesitated because I''m not used to saying these kinds of things to my father.


    And he''s not the person that will waste money. Why would he wanted to go check-up his body at the hospital when he''s totally fine.


    Seeing me not replying, Lee thought that I went to play computer games at Internet Cafe but seeing me being so obedient for the last few days, he''s willing to drop the matter.


    "Never mind, come, and eat. I''ve bought Ayam Penyet."


    "We should wait for Mervin and eat together. I have homework to do anyway."


    "Alright. we''ll wait for Mervin to come home."


    I went to my bedroom and start writing notes for Old Man.


    While doing so, we''re waiting for Mervin to come home.


    Ding-dong*


    It''s the sound of the doorbell.


    Mervin has returned.


    "I''ll go!"


    Heading downstairs to open the door to Mervin, but Father has already opened the door for Mervin.


    It seems Father was waiting downstairs the entire time.


    Well, I should''ve known it since I didn''t see Father in the living room.


    Both of them are coming up, I quickly return to my room as though nothing happened.


    "Andy, come out and eat!"


    "Yes!"


    ...


    ...


    While three of us are eating on the same table, I was thinking about something else.


    Out of nowhere, I spoke.


    "Dad, I have something to talk about."


    "Hm? Yeah?"If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "I want you to make a promise with me. You see, the final exam is coming soon."


    "And I want you to promise me to fulfill one thing for me if I ranked inside the top ten."


    "Huh? You can just tell me right now."


    "No, it''ll be meaningless. I''ll tell you what I want only if I ranked the top ten in my school."


    Lee was confused, he didn''t know what would Andy want to ask him to do.


    It was rather unusual too, for Andy to make this request.


    "Was it to buy a computer? If you want, we''ll get it for your birthday."


    "No... Anyway just promise me that you''ll do one thing that I tell you after I ranked top ten this year."


    "Sure, sure. I''ll promise."


    After that, we ate dinner with an awkward atmosphere.


    After dinner, I then took a bath and change into pajamas and continue to work on Old Man''s note.


    "Hey, Andy."


    Lying on the bed as I was about to sleep, I was surprised that Mervin called out to me.


    "Yeah?"


    "What promise you want to ask father to do after you rank the top ten? Don''t tell me you''ll force Father to do something unreasonable."


    Hearing that Mervin wanted to know about it, I suddenly have another plan.


    "Right! Big Brother! Can you promise me too? It''s the same thing I did with Father."


    Without hesitation, Mervin rejected it. He didn''t want to get involved in Andy''s trickeries.


    "Eh~ Why not? Please! I won''t ask something unreasonable, I promise! In fact, you can choose to not do it if it''s something unreasonable."


    "Then what about this. If you can''t get in the top ten I want you to study properly to become a doctor."


    Yes! Mervin is fooled too.


    There''s just no way I won''t be top ten. I won''t say the same for the top three but since it''s just the top ten I can at least manage that.


    "Hmm... Okay. Deal."


    "Really? You have to stop playing games. Are you really confident?"


    "I''m not but I''ll try my best."


    With my optimistic attitude, Mervin gave up.


    "Stop what you''re doing right now. Go to sleep."


    "So it''s a deal?"


    "On the second thought no. I don''t want to get involved. Now, go to sleep."


    "But~"


    "Then score hundreds on your final exam. All of the subjects, I want you to get a hundred. Can you do that?"


    "Sure!"


    "Then deal, if you can''t, I wonder what will I ask you."


    "There''s no way, I can''t! The moment you agree, you have fallen for my trap!"


    "Yeah, Yeah, go to sleep."


    "Hehe, Good night."


    "Good night."


    -----


    The next day arrived.


    Yesterday, I made a promise with both Mervin and Dad and It felt amazing.


    It lightens my responsibility a little bit.


    Not that I solved Father''s lung cancer problem yet.


    I can only proceed to the next step after I''ve received my final year report.


    If there were no problems I''ll ask both of them to get a check-up at a hospital.


    What comes after that... I''ll have to wait and see.


    "I''m going. This is your allowance."


    "Un, have a safe trip."


    Time to go to school.


    With a bright mood in the morning, I ran full speed toward the school.


    People that saw me were simply amazed how energetic I was in the morning.


    "Ah, it''s nice to be young."


    Arriving at school, I''m still full of energy even after the running, arriving at the classroom I slammed the classroom door open.


    Pant*


    "Good Morning!"


    No one except for Micheal reacted to my overly energetic greeting.


    "Andy! Good Morning! You''re surprisingly early today!"


    Meanwhile, Yulia only gave a glare, she looks like she wanted to say something but when I stare at her, she pouted. She was as though a kid throwing a tantrum.


    I was clueless and then I suddenly remembered...


    How can I forget... Well, this explains Yulia''s yesterday weird behavior.


    I quickly opened my bag, grabbed a piece of paper out of it.


    Going over to her seat, I gave it to her and apologized to him.


    "Here you go, I forgot to give it to you yesterday. I''m sorry."


    It''s the answers to her questions that I promised her. She snatched it away from me as soon as I presented it to her.


    "Took. you. long. enough."


    As she received the paper, the angry expression gradually disappears, replaced with seriousness. She went into full concentration mode, reading the paper intensely.


    "By the way, Chinese New Year is coming soon. You should visit my house at that time!"


    Micheal said excitedly as he pleading me to visit his house.


    Right, the Chinese new year is coming.


    The school even generously gave a total of two week holiday to celebrate the Chinese new year.


    And Today is the last day of school.


    Though after the holiday, the students will be despairing as one week after the holiday we''ll be having the final semester exam.


    So, for the student that hasn''t prepare themself, they could only spend the holiday to study.


    I wonder if Yulia will do that? She''s the definition of nerd and bookworm after all.


    As I was curious, I then went over to Yulia''s seat to find out.


    "Yulia, Do you have any plan during the holiday? Such as visiting relatives?"


    Surprised by the sudden question, Yulia took a while thinking the answer first.


    "I think... I''ll be staying at home to study."


    Yeah. That answer from Yulia is expected.


    Being hard-working is good but she shouldn''t spend too much on studying.


    "Since you have nothing to do, Can we visit your house?"


    Yulia didn''t reply instantly but after thinking for a while, she said.


    "Sure. Mom will be happy if someone visits our house."


    For some reason, when Yulia mentioned that, her face brightened up a bit.


    "When do we start visiting?"


    Well, for me.


    Since our family doesn''t have any relatives. We won''t get visited by anyone nor will we visit someone else.


    "I''m free for the rest of two weeks."


    It''s sad but we''ll be spending our time together, only three of us.


    As for Micheal, his family must have wide connections, so it''s normal for him to get busy during the first four days of the Chinese new year.


    "Hm, I think I''ll only be free only after the fifth day."


    "How about Yulia?"


    "Fifth day will do."


    "Then, on the fifth day, it is! Whose house should we visit first?"


    I don''t actually mind the order so I leave it to Micheal to choose.


    "You choose the order."


    "Then, we''ll go with Yulia and then yours and lastly mine!"


    Ding-Dong*


    The class is starting, we then returned to our seat.


    The entire class was silent until the teacher arrived.


    As soon as the class start, the teacher called me.


    "Andy, follow me."


    "Others should read the story on page 121. I''ll ask a few questions later and you guys should be able to answer."


    ''Hm? Is there anything wrong?''


    I was confused, I''m unaware of what happened so I just followed her to the teacher''s office.


    Standing in front of her desk, she showed me something.


    "Did you draw this?"


    She was holding the drawing of the car. The one I did together with Micheal.


    Without saying anything, I nodded my head.


    "How in the world did you do it?"


    "I just practice it myself."


    That''s the only viable reason that I can tell her.


    "Practice huh? Did you know that these few days, Mr.Robin and Mr.Ridwan was praising you endlessly?"


    "Are you saying that merely practice could make you this good at drawing?"


    "Miss. Are you implying that I''m lying?"


    "How can you say that?"


    Sob*


    "I was practicing really hard! Every single day! Repeating the same actions again and again."


    I started crying in front of her, attracting other teacher''s attention. I even said it loudly so that they could hear what I said.


    Well, what I said. They''re not a lie.


    Back then when my drawing is worse than kid''s drawing.


    This is why I learn how to draw sprites out of pixels and a single sprite took me more than an hour.


    I struggled as I have experience or talent in drawing at all.


    The only that saved me was my painstaking effort.


    As for the one that has talent, it barely took the time to learn how to draw.


    Meanwhile, I struggled to draw a proper pixelated character.


    I tried again and again, gathering feedbacks from professional artists and my audiences.


    After I perfected my pixel-arts, I moved to real drawing, drawing a 3-D character or object with a drawing tablet.


    "You... Stop crying. I''m sorry. I believe in you."


    "I just can''t believe how much you have changed in just a week."


    "Let''s go back to our class."


    We returned to our classroom and resumed class but still can''t stop thinking about Andy.


    With distractions in her mind, she gave us exercise and left the classroom on her own.


    Honestly, she shouldn''t be that surprised when she saw my drawing. There''s plenty of kids that''s younger than me could draw better than me.


    She just can''t believe that the most useless kid in the class suddenly became capable of everything. That is what she can''t accept.


    -----


    [Lee''s POV]


    "Here''s some water."


    "Thank you, boss."


    The boss suddenly became more considerate and caring toward me after that incident happened.


    "You should rest, I''ll take over for now."


    "No, no it''s fine. You should really take a rest."


    See? He''s being overly polite and kind.


    "By the way, you''ve been smoking less lately."


    Hm? Did I?


    "Really?"


    "Yeah, usually you smoke every time you sat down."


    If what he said is true... then it''s good then.


    Now that he mentioned it, I haven''t bought any new cigarettes pack in a while.


    "Um? How did you notice these things?"


    "Of course, I noticed it! You''re my precious employee!"


    Looking at my hand, I''m not holding a cigarette surprisingly. Even I''m shocked.


    But now that I notice it, I wanted to grab one out of my pocket.


    Now I want to punch him for letting me know.


    -----


    [Andy''s POV]


    "Good job! You understood most of the things already."


    To think, Micheal was able to learn everything this fast.


    He basically learned the whole fourth-grade material already. He''s obviously ready for the final exam too.


    "Praise me more~ Hehe."


    I wonder if I could teach him other things too.


    "Micheal, do you want to learn something interesting?"


    "Hm? What is it?"


    "It''s called Mathematical Concept for Computer."


    I suddenly have the urge to teach him how to make games just like Old Man.


    "First I''ll show you something first."


    [ 01101000 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101111 ]


    "This, do you know what it means?"


    "Huh? Numbers?"


    "It meant ''hello'' in computer language."


    I started teaching him stuffs that shouldn''t be taught to kids.


    As I expected, Micheal blankly stared at me and shook his head when I explained to him.


    I guess it''s a ''no''.


    I''ll have to wait until he reaches high-school.


    With that being said, Micheal''s mother arrived.


    Once he left, I continued the work I have left, writing notes for Old Man.


    Twenty pages were done, I could do a bit more and these much should be plenty for him.


    Time passed slowly, looking at the clock it was almost 6 P.M before Old Man went home I handed the notes to him.


    "These are the notes I made. If you really want to learn how to make a game, you''ll need to understand all of these first."


    "If you have trouble understanding certain parts just ask me and I''ll explain to you."


    "Understood! Master!"


    Old Man has waited for this for a long time. He could finally start learning how to make games.


    Seeing the current Old Man, I''m curious to see what his face looked like when he read the paper''s content.


    Nevertheless, I''m highly expecting something from Old Man, I really hope he read the notes I made for him.


    Closing the store, Old Man then went home carefully carrying the notes with him.


    While waiting for Father to come home, I opened the computer to check my email.


    No response from James yet, don''t tell me he met some trouble while applying for his visa?


    If he''s not responding tomorrow, I''ll go and find him myself.


    -----


    [James'' POV]


    "Why are you staying here for?" (Indonesia)


    "I''m sorry but I can''t understand you." (English)


    "This stupid foreigner, why did he speak English. Can anyone understand him?" (Indonesia)


    The interviewer looked around to see if anyone here understand English.


    "I can." (Indonesia)


    Someone volunteered, saying that he can speak English.


    Me the one that doesn''t understand what''s happening can only look at their expression figuring what is going on and suddenly the guy that raised his hand said.


    "Good Morning! Nice to meet you!"


    It''s night outside, you piece of sh*t! I''ve already met you guys from the morning till now!


    "Good Morning! I''m here to apply for a Visa."


    Holding my anger, I spoke politely toward them again.


    "What did he say?" (Indonesia)


    "He wants Visa." (Indonesia)


    "I know! Ask him why is he staying here you moron!" (Indonesia)


    "Ehem..." (Indonesia)


    Waiting for the man to speak only then he said.


    "I can''t..." (Indonesia)


    "Get me an English dictionary!" (Indonesia)


    I''m doomed...

 Chapter 16

    Putting my life problem asides, no matter what I still can''t forget this goal of mine.


    Immersive VR-MMORPG.


    To achieve that there are important stages that technology has to achieve before it could be turned into a reality.


    The first stage was to create Artificial Intelligence capable of mimicking human emotions and actions.


    In other words, what we needed here wasn''t normal Artificial Intelligence, what we need is AI that capable of imitating human behaviors.


    This stage was the easiest to achieve as I have the program needed in my head already.


    The only problem with this stage is that it''s time-consuming.


    The reason was simple, for an AI to make one human expression, it needs to be fed with a large amount of data, understanding why humans make this expression, when or how, etc.


    In other words, Deep Learning because obviously there will be more than a thousand data involved.


    Not only that, but I also have to find a way to obtain the data needed.


    The prerequisites to the data are that the fact each behavior came from more than one human.


    The AI has to be capable of generating multiple human characters at the same time.


    The solutions to this problem, there''s no other way around.


    I can only think of a way to shorten the process, by building a more efficient computer so it can process and feed the AI more information at the same time.


    And yet again, to achieve that right now is impossible and out of all available solutions I have in mind, this solution was the viable one.


    With my current condition, I can''t do things properly with this outdated computer.


    Only after James finally send me his bank account number, I can start my project to make a supercomputer.


    Being said all of that, I can only write the codes in notepad and after I finally created the supercomputer, I only needed to copy the line of codes over to Anonymous Shell.


    Hearing the familiar sound of the motorcycle being parked in front of the store, I knew that it was Father.


    I only wrote a few lines of code and Father was back already.


    Before Father could ring the doorbell, I went to open the door for him.


    "What happened? You look very tired."


    "Nothing. I''m just tired after arguing with my boss."


    An argue?


    "Well, it''s more like competing to work."


    "For some reason, he just starting to- Ah, nevermind. It''s not a bad thing, you shouldn''t worry."


    Since Father said so, I shouldn''t ask too much.


    "I bought Chicken Soup and Fried Rice. You should eat now before they get cold."


    "Shouldn''t we wait for Mervin?"


    "It''s fine, he went over to my workplace and told me we should eat without waiting for him."


    "Okay then."


    I managed to only write thirty lines of codes but it''s better than nothing. I then closed the computer and went upstairs to eat my dinner without waiting for Mervin as per Father''s request.


    After eating I went back downstairs to continue to write the program, at the same time it''s to open the door for Mervin.


    "Huh? Andy?"


    "Why are you here? Do you realize what time was it now? Go to sleep!"


    Bam*


    Mervin smacked me on the head with his fist.


    -----


    The next morning, everything was normal, I was called by Mervin, I took a bath and then eat and lastly, I went to school.


    The school was also normal and boring as usual.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Mainly, because the students wanted to go home early as starting from tomorrow the holiday for Chinese new years starts.


    If I want to mention something unusual, it would be about Micheal''s Mother.


    For whatever reason, his mother arrived as soon as the school was over.


    Micheal was shocked too, seeing her mother arriving earlier than before. He didn''t get to chat and play with me for a bit longer.


    Though while I said that, the unusual incident only applies to Micheal''s mother.


    Most of the students'' parents have arrived early, waiting outside before the school ends.


    Asian parents...


    For example, Yulia''s mother. She was already waiting at the school''s gateway before the school ends.


    That''s the main reason both me and Micheal didn''t have the opportunity to talk to Yulia after the school was over.


    Anyway, now I''m alone.


    I should go back.


    -----


    [Convenience Store]


    Hm? Old Man is back to sleep?


    I said that because recently he wouldn''t do that anymore, all because of Hero.


    Now seeing him taking a nap on the cashier counter, it''s unusual of him.


    But when I saw the notes that were scrambled on the floor, I finally understood why Old Man was sleeping.


    I picked up the notes on the floor, using the notes, I slapped his head with it.


    Slap*


    "Hm?"


    "Oi, Old Man! Wake up. What''s wrong with you today?"


    "Give me another minute..."


    Slap*


    "Ow! stop it!"


    "Ehem, How much have you progressed? How much did you read?"


    Hearing my questions, Old Man that wanted to berate me for hitting him suddenly averted his eyes, avoiding my gaze and pretend to look at the scenery outside.


    ''This is definitely not a good sign.''


    "Just tell me what''s wrong? Which part you don''t understand? I''ll explain it to you."


    When Old Man heard that I will be helping him, he finally turned around to look at me. He then shamelessly said. "Everything!"


    "..."


    Everything!?! Did he even read the notes I gave him? He has studied math before right?


    "What do you mean by everything?! Did you even read the notes I gave you?"


    "Of course! Do you see these eyebags?"


    Old Man pointed to the black circle under his eyes. It proved that he tried to read the notes and probably because of that he didn''t enough sleep.


    "Sigh... Alright, I''ll explain to you from the beginning."


    "First is this. You should be able to understand this part right?"


    "Which part? Oh... this... I don''t understand."


    "Do this question. Try to convert binary to hexadecimal for me. Let me see what you did..."


    ...


    ...


    ...


    Phew*


    It turned out to be fine, he was just not sure about some parts and misinterpret the meaning of the words I have written.


    "So, Why am I learning this?"


    "It''s the most basic knowledge and the most important out of all is to exercise your brain. Either way, they''re useful, just bear with dealing mathematics for a while. After this, I''ll teach you some coding."


    Enjoy this while you can, later on. Later on, you''ll suffer even more.


    There''s still calculus that Old Man haven''t met. That''s the final boss.


    I didn''t say those out loud, but at the same time I was unconsciously giving out terrifying aura.


    Thankfully, Old Man didn''t notice my sadistic smile, as he was studying.


    Leaving Old Man to study, at the garage. It''s my turn to watch the store for him.


    While there''s no customer around, I opened my email to check on James.


    I hope James has already got his Visa and permission to create a bank account.


    Opening my Inbox, I found a letter from James attached inside.


    -----


    From James


    It''ll be a while before my Visa was finalized, but I did manage to create a bank account


    The account number is XXXX XXXX XX. the pin is XXX XXX. from bank XX. Under my real name.


    Inside the bank account put most of my leftover money and of course yours inside too]


    -----


    -----


    Finally, with the bank account ready I can spend money on the internet!


    With his first task finished, I can now ask him to do other things but first I need to ask if he has bought a house or not.


    ------


    Have you bought a house?


    If you did tell me your address as I''ll be sending items over to your side.


    -----


    After I replied, I prepared myself to do some shopping on the internet.


    The first thing I did was to buy a domain and web hosting service from a trusted host.


    When the website finally created, I started working on the online version of Hero where players can finally interact with each other now.


    Following that, I executed what I planned before which is allowing the player to spend money on the game.


    It took me a while to set everything up.


    After everything was arranged properly and the website is up, I need to promote the official website.


    To do it, I have to rely on my audiences.


    I can approach the advertisement company and ask them to promote Hero but that was unnecessary.


    I''ll leave that to James in the future as I don''t want to involve in Hero anymore.


    This is my last contribution to Hero.


    I announced the news of the official website to all the platforms, including Newgrounds.


    To persuade the players, I also added a reward for the one that plays on the official website.


    There''s also the fact that I added interesting features and contents.


    If that''s not enough to persuade them I don''t know what will.


    About the offline version of Hero, I''ll just leave them as it is. I won''t delete them as they are still generating income.


    For now, all of these should keep the game alive for a few months.


    That time should be enough for James hire someone capable enough to take over Hero.


    Once he can manage everything on its own, I''ll give Hero to him on the condition that he still has to follow what I told him to do.


    Now that Hero''s problem was resolved, I need to focus on making the supercomputer.


    It has been a while already. James should have replied by now.


    [Jalan XX RT XX RW XX, No X]


    With James'' house address obtained, I started to look for the component I needed to make a supercomputer.


    Solder, Ohmmeter, bunch of resistors and capacitors, motherboard, RAM, SMD Crystals, wires.


    Basically, everything that I deem useful, I''ll buy it.


    A total of over fifty thousand dollars was spent instantly just by buying the components I needed.


    It''ll be a while before they arrived in Indonesia, so I''ll have to patiently wait again.


    Sigh*


    To think I''ll have to wait more than a day for my product to arrive. Previously, not even an hour, the product will arrive delivered by a flying drone.


    ''What? Time passed so quickly?''


    While I was so immersed shopping that I didn''t pay attention to my surroundings for the whole time.


    Did I really not notice?


    Looking at the clock hanging behind me, I was relieved.


    It was only 4 P.M and the store was closed already.


    Old Man for some reason closed the store early without notifying me or maybe It''s me the one didn''t hear him?


    After moving my body around a bit, stretching my body, I''m ready to go shopping again.


    If James has known this, he wouldn''t put all of his savings inside the bank account.


    I''m not done spending money yet.


    Fifty thousand worth of component definitely not enough.


    Back to shopping!

 Chapter 17

    This one...


    And this...


    I think I''ll get this one too...


    After I was satisfied with the item I have, I check out my shopping cart and transfer the money.


    Just in case, I checked James'' bank account to see how much money is available.


    There''s not much left but It should be enough for him as long as he didn''t spend money lavishly.


    Sigh*


    I don''t want to spend time on Hero. It definitely can make me a lot of money if I really tried but...


    There''s no fun in it, are they?


    A simple idling and clicking game.


    Maybe I should make another game?


    But what game should I make?


    While I was in a deep trance, thinking of the game that I should make, Father was at the door ringing the doorbell.


    Ding-Dong*


    It was sounded once and I was still sitting with my eyes closed and a frown.


    Ding-Dong*


    The second time...


    The third time...


    Ah! I got it, interactive games!


    Interactive games are always interesting!


    It''s nostalgic to hear this term as the game with this genre in 2034 was booming like crazy, due to one single game has thousands of possibilities of endings and almost millions of choices that you make matter.


    Of course, right now no one should be able to make games with millions of possible endings, not with the current method of coding.


    On second thought, it''s not impossible but just time consuming as they actually need to commit to creating those millions of possibilities.


    In 2034 to make that kind of game, they relied on a game development engine, similar to unity. A platform to allow people to make games without actually know how to code.


    But instead of Unity, this one is called StoryEngine. That engine allows you to create story-based games and generate games that have millions of endings.


    So, to make the game I have to-


    Bam*


    "Oi Stupid Andy! Are you there?!"


    "How long you''re planning to ignore the doorbell!"


    Suddenly, I heard Mervin yelling outside. I then quickly went to open the door, seeing Father and Mervin was already outside I was dumbstruck.


    "...How long you guys have been waiting?"


    "Twenty minutes. If not that I returned together with Father, he''ll have to wait for two hours outside, for me to knock your head awake!"


    Bam*


    Without holding back, Mervin hit my head with his fist.


    Ouch... Well, I deserved it.


    "What are you standing there for. We''re going outside to eat."


    Eat outside?


    "Oh, Okay coming."


    I went to close the computer and the lights before getting on Father''s motorcycle to wherever we''ll be eating.


    "Where are we going?"


    "I don''t know, what do you guys want to eat?"


    Where... I don''t really know...


    Tanjung Balai is quite small, there''s barely a place to go. I''ve stayed here for more than twenty years already.


    I have already tried every food that existed in this small island.


    Since I don''t know what I want to eat, I then put the blame on Mervin to choose as there''s no food that I particularly wanted to eat or excited to try for.


    "Brother, what do you want to eat?"The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "...You choose."


    "It''s fine, I''m not a picky eater, so Brother should choose."


    "Are you saying I am a picky eater?"


    Hearing the question, I kept quiet, waiting for the ''storm'' to pass by.


    "How about we go to visit the night market?"


    Great idea. There are a lot of varieties of food stalls at the night market.


    Since there''s nowhere else to go, Mervin and I agreed to go there and eat.


    With destination decided, Father no longer drives at a very slow speed. While I said that, his driving speed was still moderate, not too fast and not too slow.


    Arriving at the night market, we''re immediately greeted with people, walking in and out of the alleys.


    Tomorrow is the start of the Chinese new year. A lot of people are going to celebrate it, including us. Which is why the main reason this place is packed with people.


    People came here to relax, drink beer, enjoy food chat with each other.


    Walking into the night market, we try to find an empty seat available.


    Sadly, the place was too full, even when we walked to the end of the night market, we can''t find a single seat that was empty.


    Having no choice, we could only buy the foods we wanted and take them home to eat.


    Well, eating at this place wasn''t that nice anyway. It is hot and crowded with people.


    People are smoking, and It''s noisy as well.


    "Alright. If you guys saw anything that you want to eat just tell me, okay?"


    After Father said that we resume our walking, squeezing ourselves into the crowd while looking at the food we wanted to buy.


    After we walked out of the night market, we suddenly have a lot of food in our hands.


    I know that today we''re supposed to have a feast but looking at how much food we''re carrying...


    There''s no way we could finish them!


    Since there''s so much food already, we agreed to quickly go back home.


    Most of the food we bought is best to enjoy instantly.


    Arriving at home, we feast on the food we bought and ate as much as we can.


    As tomorrow there''s no school and Mervin and Dad also not working. Just for tonight, since there''s no need for us to wake up in the morning anymore.


    Three of us sat in the living room, open television, and watch a random movie that we found together.


    -----


    The next morning arrived.


    It was a nice sleep.


    I look at the clock on the wall, it''s already 11 A.M.


    Mervin is still asleep though...


    Holiday...


    Exiting from my bedroom, I wash my face and brush my teeth. When I got to the living room I saw the father was already awake and is currently watching television.


    "Oh, you have woke up. I''ve bought some food and also heated the last night leftover."


    "Okay~"


    Seeing the assorted food available on the table awed. We usually only eat a little in the morning.


    The current scene is unimaginable. This didn''t even happen in my previous life at all.


    This is probably the best breakfast I''ve eaten in this life for now.


    While I was eating, I was remembered last night.


    The movie was terrible. Father and Mervin enjoyed them though.


    It was indeed funny but the action and graphics were awful...


    This reminded me that I returned to the past.


    What should I do after I finish eating?


    Should I watch Television again?


    During Chinese new year, the family was supposed to hang out after all.


    I took a peek on what Father was watching right now.


    It''s super old Chinese drama...


    What should I do? I can''t go and play the computer downstairs on my own.


    "Hey, Dad? After Mervin is awake, should we go jogging? You know, exercise a bit?"


    That idea suddenly popped inside my head.


    This idea not only good for Father, but they''re also good for me and Mervin.


    Right! Exercise together! For a healthy body!


    "Jogging?"


    "Yes. You should exercise. I learned from school that jogging could increase your stamina that way you won''t get tired easily. There are also other benefits of jogging too."


    "I don''t know... if you insist on it, sure... we''ll waif for Mervin."


    A while later... Mervin woke up.


    I told the same thing I told the father to Mervin.


    Unlike Father, Mervin responded excitedly. I didn''t know about this previously but does Mervin like exercising this much?


    All I know is that both of them are workaholic, they preferred to work than sitting still doing nothing.


    Changing into proper clothes, three of us went out jogging.


    We planned to jog our way to the Coastal Area which was two kilometers away from our house.


    That much distance is enough to make us sweat.


    Father who barely exercise, struggled to keep along with me, and Mervin who has a healthy and young body.


    After jogging for about ten minutes, he was breathing heavily and panting. As for me and Mervin, who walk or run every morning, we''ve barely felt anything yet in the first ten minutes.


    "Both of you are okay?"


    Lee asked while he''s short of breathe, squatting down on the floor and wiping his sweats.


    Seeing that we barely sweat, Lee felt old.


    As we rested and rehydrated ourselves with water bottles that we brought with us, we then continue our jogging.


    This time, Mervin and I try to be slow as we could so that Father could keep up with us.


    While Jogging we enjoyed ourselves as much as we could, appreciate the weather and nature.


    As we arrived in the coastal area, we could finally hear the sound of sea waves, hitting the shores.


    Gradually, as we continue to get further, we came to a stop, as Father really can''t continue anymore.


    We walk at a slow pace, back to our house.


    By the time we arrived home, it''s still 1 P.M only.


    We indeed spend a few hours outside but it''s not enough to pass the whole day.


    In the end, we spend the rest of our time watching television together for the rest of the day, only when it''s dinner one of us went out to find food.


    After eat, sleep.


    This is definitely hell for a workaholic.


    -----


    The next morning arrived.


    Today, everyone got up early than usual.


    We plan to jog at 5 A.M in the morning to see the sunrise at the Coastal Area.


    The same routine as yesterday, we jog our way to Coastal Area but today the place has fewer people compared to yesterday as it''s still early.


    More importantly, today we''re fast enough and could see the beautiful scenery of sunrise when we reach the coastal area.


    Upon reaching Coastal Area, we stopped jogging as father was probably suffering some muscle aches from yesterday jogging.


    In fact, Father is slower than yesterday.


    On the third day, Lee''s stamina was getting better, his complexion after a jog wasn''t that worse compared to before.


    The time he needs to rest has also decreased.


    On the fourth day, Lee could finally arrive in Coastal Area without resting on the midway. This proves his stamina was increased substantially due to jogging.


    Then finally the fifth day, I finally have something to do after Jogging with Lee and Mervin.


    Come to think of it, this was the first time I spend my Chinese New Year with someone other than Mervin and Lee.


    In my last life, I avoid Micheal when it''s Chinese New Year since he''s also busy during that time.


    I spend my Chinese New year holiday by asking my Chinese new year allowance from my father and spend them on Internet Cafe.


    The entire two weeks'' holiday, I spend it on an internet cafe playing computer games.


    Even during the time when I''m working as a Game Developer, I don''t have anyone that I''m relatively close with. So, I also spend my Chinese New Year at home.


    Ding-Dong*


    It looks like, Micheal has arrived.


    "Coming!"

 Chapter 18

    "Andy!"


    "Hey."


    As expected from a rich family, this extravagant car and a personal driver.


    "So, where''s Yulia''s house?"


    "...I don''t know."


    "Eh?! I thought that you know."


    I shook my head dejectedly.


    How can we forget to ask her!


    "Young Master, Do you at least have a clue? Maybe I can look it up."


    The driver suddenly asked Micheal but instead of answering the driver, Micheal turned and look at me.


    ''Don''t look at me, I don''t know anything at all.'' is what I want to say but I tried to at least remember something from my past life.


    Searching for any information I have in my head the only thing I recalled is the news where Yulia got interviewed when she returned to Balai.


    If I''m not wrong, it should be around that area.


    But even so, I know that it''s around that area there are too many houses, there''s no way we could knock on every house just to confirm it.


    Top...


    "The store''s name, it''s called something-Top, around the area of Baran and Kolong."


    "I see, if that so, I know where is it."


    Soon we arrived at the place. It''s a store called ''TipTop''.


    There''s no sign of Yulia at all and it''s all based on my old memories.


    Hitting the doorbell button, we then wait for someone to open the door.


    After a minute, there''s the sound of footsteps coming.


    Clank*


    A beautiful young woman opened the metallic shutter gate greeting us with a smile, upon we saw the woman we knew that we''re correct.


    The person in front of me resembled Yulia.


    But who is this? This person definitely not Yulia''s mother.


    I''ve seen Yulia''s mother before. She''s not this tall.


    "Both of you must be Yulia''s friend, she was worried that you guys might not come. Please come inside and sit."


    I have a bad feeling about this. Micheal, wait, don''t say anything yet.


    As I about to stop Micheal but it was too late.


    "Auntie! Happy New Y-!"


    I instantly covered Micheal''s mouth.


    "Um, Sister. He didn''t mean to say that, he didn''t know that Yulia has a Big Sister."


    "Eh? Big Sister?"


    Micheal was shocked when he heard that.


    Right, how could I forget about that?


    Or else who would watch the store when Yulia''s mother was away to pick Yulia at school.


    I''ve never seen or heard that Yulia has a sister before, not even in my past life, but seeing her in front of our eyes, I''ve made my own conclusion.


    Right now, she must be angry, hearing that she was called Auntie, her eyes twitching and the gentle smile was gone.


    Sensing the animosity from Yulia''s big sister, we quickly bowed and apologize. She must be very hurt to be called Auntie at such a young age.


    "Please. come. inside."


    Gulped*


    We messed up.


    We carefully took off our shoes at the entrance and put them neatly on the shoe rack.


    Following, Yulia''s big sister, we walked inside, surrounded by giant shelves with a bunch of pipes, metals, screws, and more stuff.


    As we walked inside, we arrived in a totally different room, judging from room appearance, this place was a kitchen but what''s with the pipe and metals all over the place?


    "This "Auntie" will prepare delicious drinks and foods, both of you should head upstairs first. Okay?"The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Emphasizing the word Auntie loudly, Yulia''s sister gave us a murderous glare. This shows how pissed she was to be called ''auntie''.


    Without questioning anything, we quickly climbed up the stairs, we then arrived in the living room.


    There, we finally can see Yulia''s Mother standing on the side as though she was waitting for us to arrive.


    "Welcome~"


    Now that I see Yulia''s mother up close, I notice a huge difference between Yulia''s mother and big sister. It''s body proportion.


    For some reason, Yulia''s mother has a larger curve on the chest.


    While I said that, their appearance still resemble each other like sisters.


    Ehem.


    Let''s stop talking about that.


    "Come here and sit."


    Yulia''s mother waved her hand, wanting us to come over but Micheal whispered to me first before he said anything.


    ''This is Yulia''s mother, right?''


    I nodded my head slightly, signaling that this time he''s correct.


    This is definitely Yulia''s mother.


    "Auntie, Happy New Year!" (In Mandarin)


    When Micheal blurted out those words, the atmosphere around us suddenly turns cold.


    This one is scarier than the previous sister.


    "Ah, that is my big sister, my mother is sleeping in her bedroom, she''s sick."


    Yulia who was sitting on the sofa the entire time, nonchalantly correct Micheal''s mistake.


    Micheal became petrified when he heard what Yulia said. He then looked at me while sobbing,


    ''You said that this time it''s Yulia''s mother!''


    I looked away, avoiding Micheal''s crying expression, pretending that I wasn''t involved in his mess.


    "Please, don''t stand there. Come here and sit."


    Another murderous gaze but this one is directed to Micheal only. Even so, it''s still uncomfortable for me as I was sitting right beside Micheal.


    Not long later another one came and join the fray.


    Now there''s two lioness glaring at us.


    We didn''t dare to move our bodies at all. Not with, two lionesses glaring at our way.


    Yulia was confused, seeing the current scene. She understood why his second sister was mad but why is her first sister was mad too?


    Then another woman came out of a room. This woman, again, has a look of almost the same with Yulia''s big sisters, but her complexion was pale.


    "Oh my~ Both of you must be Yulia''s friend."


    The woman smiled as she was holding two red packages on her hand.


    To fix his mistake, Micheal then quickly stood up from his seat and then greet the woman but this time a bit differently.


    "Sister, Happy new year!"


    "Oh, you flatter me, I''m Yulia''s mother. you should call me Auntie."


    ''No thanks... from this moment I''ll everyone sister just to be polite.''


    At least this time, Micheal made a powerful ally. Yulia''s mother was pleased when she was called Sister by Micheal.


    "This is for you, May your studies improve."


    After she gave Micheal the red package and said her wish, she then gave it to me too.


    "This is for you, May your studies improve too."


    After, Yulia''s mother did her job as an adult, giving the red packages to us. She then went back to the bedroom to rest.


    "Both of you should treat our guests politely."


    When Yulia''s mother left, the atmosphere got heavy again.


    "Feel free, to take the cookies in the jar."


    "I''ve prepared some drinks too, feel free to drink them."


    Grrr...


    "Um, Big sister, Second sister. Please don''t be mad anymore, they didn''t mean it."


    Yulia tried to calm her sisters down and fortunately, it worked a little.


    "Humph, Did you tell that boy that you have big sisters?"


    She was talking about me.


    "No, I don''t think so."


    "Humph, at least this boy knows that I''m your sister when he saw me."


    I have to thank my keen eye.


    "Now that your friends are here, why not tell them your plan."


    "Huh? It''s both of you that want to play."


    "You. You are staying back to play with big sis right?"


    Nod* Nod*


    Without slight hesitation, Micheal nodded his head even though he didn''t know what they''ll be playing.


    "We''ll play. We''ll play."


    On the other hand, while Micheal was being threatened, I was persuaded with a gentle smile.


    No other choice, both of us agreed to stay even though after this we''re supposed to visit my Micheal''s house and then lastly my house.


    "Okay~"


    "I think both of you heard or played this before. We''re going to play Monopoly!"


    "Ta da~"


    While the second sister is assembling and arranging the monopoly board.


    the First Sister who was sitting on the floor, suddenly she called me over for some reason, asking me to sit with her.


    "Come here!"


    "Um, I''m fine sitting here."


    "No, this big sister must reward you for noticing it, unlike the other one."


    She then forcefully pulled me over. I''m forced to sit on top of her legs as her two soft mountain, pressing against my head.


    "How is it, it''s nice sitting with big sister right?"


    ''You''ll be reminiscing this moment when you finally become an adult.''


    ...


    Calm down... I''m a kid!


    How did it become like this?


    As I try to calm myself by drinking the glass of coke that was prepared. I felt a glare from Yulia.


    She must have noticed that I was flustered.


    "Hehe, Why are you looking at him like that, I''m the one that pulled him over, don''t blame him."


    Big sister... Don''t say anything weird, please...


    "Don''t care."


    Yulia was still sitting on the sofa, reading her books, she has no intention to join us at all.


    "Yo~ I''m done, choose a color. I''m red!"


    The second Sister, she finally finished arranging everything properly.


    "Yulia, you''re not playing?"


    She really doesn''t have to study that hard. I bet that even without studying from today onward he still could surpass Kervin already.


    After all, I''ve helped her.


    With me clearing her doubts and answering all of her questions, her study is much smoother than before.


    "I''ll just be the bank and watch you guys play. I''m not good at this kind of game."


    Micheal who was quiet the entire time, finally speaks up.


    "You should play! I''ll be the bank instead."


    Micheal looked at Yulia, begging her to change position with him, he really didn''t want to play with two predators preying at him.


    Seeing the pitiful Micheal, Yulia out of kindness, agreed to join us and play.


    "Just this once."


    ...


    ...


    The first game was Big Sister''s win, she got very lucky and secured most of the expensive place.


    As for the second game, it was the Second Sister''s win. Three of us really got unlucky as we kept enter jail.


    The third game was my win, I honestly got lucky on this one too, they constantly stepped on my hotel and was forced to keep paying money.


    As Yulia said, she''s bad at this game or should I say very unlucky. She always the first one to go bankrupt, it was as though our hotel found its way to Yulia.


    Anyway, after the third game, we have stayed for quite long already.


    We decided to go back and rest as we can''t just keep staying here and eat their new year''s cookies to fill our stomach.


    "Feel free to visit us even though it''s not a holiday!"


    "We will!"


    If we have time. Though I doubt Micheal will follow.


    ''Old Women are scary...''


    "So, are we still going to me and your house?"


    "Yeah but let''s just continue tomorrow."


    Micheal gloomily laid his head on my shoulder as his soul is drained out.


    "See you tomorrow."


    I hope that he recovers from his current state because tomorrow we''ll have to visit them again to fetch Yulia.


    Arriving home, it felt great as I''m free from Yulia''s big sisters but then realized that I need to spend my time either watching Chinese Drama with Mervin and Father.


    There''s still time until the day is over.


    If only there''s a good movie to watch...

 Chapter 19

    [James'' POV]


    In the middle of nowhere, around Palawan Beach, I bought a house there.


    I thought that living near the beach would''ve been very nice.


    Who would''ve expected that it was a grave mistake?


    I truly regretted living here.


    The beach is dirty. They''re full of trash.


    More than that, there''s nothing to see there. Most are high-schooler who visit the beach.


    Basically, kids. There''s barely a hot matured chick around.


    Even though there was, the people who came to the beach won''t wear swimsuits. Most of the people that came here wearing casual clothes.


    I don''t understand the people here, I really don''t.


    What''s worse is the fact that I''m stuck here.


    I forgot that I don''t have a vehicle and I''m currently far away from Balai City.


    The reason that I could come here was that I was brought here by the previous house owner.


    Now that he''s gone, I can''t walk back to Balai can I?


    The food in this area is scarce. The only food vendors or stalls available are from the beach and there''s only three of them.


    At first, yes they''re delicious and then morning, afternoon, the night the same place, same menu, same types of dishes, I''m dying right now.


    I emailed LEE123, I want him to get me a car but there''s no response from him. I can''t talk to the locals too as I don''t understand their language.


    I can only wait until he read my letter.


    -----


    The next morning, following the routine that we agreed upon, we wake up early and went to exercise.


    This unusual routine is definitely good for Father. The result of the jogging is obvious. Father has a better complexion than before and looks healthier than before. (The result was partly because Andy recently became an obedient son.)


    After the morning routine, I got myself ready as later they''ll visit.


    I also informed Father beforehand telling him that Micheal and Yulia will visit our house later.


    At the same time, while I sat at the chair of the counter, waiting for Micheal and suddenly thought of James, I wonder how he''s doing, he should be getting used to staying at Indonesia already.


    Ding-Dong*


    ''Oh, They have arrived.''


    When I got out and entered Micheal''s car. I only found Micheal inside.


    "Let''s go! To Yulia''s house together!"


    Micheal is alone. He hasn''t fetch Yulia yet.


    "...You should go call her. I''ll stay in the car and wait for you."


    What about the together you said a few seconds ago...


    Driving to Yulia''s house, I then went out by myself to call Yulia as planned, ringing the doorbell and then wait at the gate.


    After a while, the person that came and open the gate was Yulia''s Big sister but unlike yesterday, she didn''t dress up properly.


    She''s currently wearing a sleeveless top and shorts, revealing her fair skin and slim waist. Even her hair was messy too.


    "Good morning, Sister. Sorry for disturbing you in the early morning."


    "Please wait a minute... Yulia is preparing herself."


    "And call me Yuna, Sister Yuna, don''t just Sister, it feels weird."


    Yawn*


    "Yes."


    "You should come inside and sit first. It''ll take a while for a girl to dress up."


    Yuna pulled me in, without waiting for my answer. She then glances at the car outside too.


    "The rude one is in the car?"


    "Micheal? Yes, he wanted to wait inside the car."


    "Humph, serve him right."


    Waiting for Yulia, I found myself sitting at this house''s living room again.


    As time passed, there''s still no one coming whatsoever.


    I can''t just go and check her. It''ll be rude of me to barge into someone''s room.


    I have no choice but to wait here patiently.


    ...


    ...You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    After an hour of waiting in the living room. Yulia finally came out of her bedroom.


    Seeing the jeans and casual red shirt she''s wearing, I was surprised as I didn''t anticipate that Yulia would be wearing this kind of clothes.


    I mean, yesterday she wore a pink dress, that has a flower pattern on it, so, why would she wear that today?


    "Come on! You should wear this dress."


    "No! I''m fine with this."


    Sister Yuna was holding a red Chinese qipao on her hand, judging from this sight, Yulia was being forced by her sister to wear that.


    As Yulia was avoiding Sister Yuna, she took a glance at me, it felt very sharp but then after a while, she went downstairs without saying anything.


    "Oh, there she goes."


    "Well, I don''t blame you but yesterday you should''ve complimented her or look at her more."


    "Huh?"


    "It was rare for her to wear such a cute dress. Sadly, you didn''t say anything about it. Haiya~ Boys."


    "Just go, not like you''ll understand maiden''s heart at this age."


    Big Sister pushed me downstairs, asking me to leave.


    "Also, don''t forget to lock the door."


    She notified me and then went back into her bedroom to sleep.


    Walking down slowly, I was still confused with what just happened.


    I cannot understand maiden''s heart at this age... I''m over seventy you know. (To be exact over eighty if add the current Andy''s age and for your information, Andy has zero relationship experience.)


    I''ve watched and read romance stories before.


    I get what she said. She wants me to compliment Yulia, right?


    But honestly, why would Yulia be happy with my compliment? She''s still young, she won''t care for such little things.


    As I got outside, I didn''t forget to lock the gate.


    The store gate was heavy and hard to move. It would be hard for other kids to lock the gate but not for me.


    Thankfully, it''s almost the same as a convenience store, the model or it''ll be embarrassing for me ended up call Sister Yuna to close the gate.


    Returning to the car, Micheal who was previously at the back seat moved to the front.


    I don''t know why but I just went with the flow.


    The atmosphere inside the car was quiet, Micheal for some reason didn''t talk too. I wanted to say something I didn''t know what to say.


    In the end, the car was quiet the whole time, until we reached Micheal''s place.


    As I expected, it''s your typical wealthy family mansion.


    There''s a giant garden surrounded by hedges and in the center of the garden, there''s a fountain and also even from here you can already see the building.


    Outside the entrance, there are lines of maids and butler waiting.


    This confirms that Micheal''s family was very wealthy. Probably the most wealthy in Balai.


    Stopping in front of the giant building, Micheal awkwardly scratched his head.


    "Um, welcome..."


    Upon getting down from the car, Yulia''s eyes never stop looking around. It''s normal since she never saw such a large building and a beautiful garden before.


    As for me, I''ve seen something grander than this.


    What I''m more concerned with is Micheal.


    Why is he being nervous and awkward?


    "Oi, I get it when it''s Yulia but why are you being weird too?"


    Hearing the question and seeing Andy was more concerned about him than the building, Micheal''s was surprised but yet unsurprised.


    His nervous expression gradually disappears.


    ''Andy notice my agitated expression instead of the mansion. What am I thinking about in the first place? Will Andy jealous of me and wanted to take advantage of me?''


    ''This is why I like Andy in the first place...''


    Micheal then returned back to normal, acting normally being playful as how he would usually.


    "Did you have a quarrel with Yulia?"


    "No, why?"


    Micheal avoided my question but it seems he returned back to normal.


    "Just now when he got into the car, she has released the same vibes as her sisters. I was scared of her which is why I moved to the front seat."


    Hearing what Micheal said, I can only sigh.


    Alright, later I''ll just compliment her. I''ll treat it as a kid throwing a tantrum and wanted attention.


    "So, where should we go?"


    "Do you guys want to explore around my house?"


    Yulia who heard Micheal''s suggestion immediately turned around and nod her head.


    This side of her is new. I didn''t know Yulia would like wealth that much.


    I understand though...


    If not of my previous life, I believe I would''ve be impressed and fantasized about myself being rich.


    "Prepare some food for my guests, while I take them around the mansion."


    "Yes, master~"


    After they receive their order from Micheal, the maids, and butlers in perfect order, heading back into the mansion to prepare.


    Only one stayed back, from my experience that butler should be the head butler.


    "Let''s go."


    Entering the mansion, we were greeted by the grand hallway.


    The exquisite decorations appalled Yulia.


    ''Once I get a job and earn money, I''ll definitely buy this so Sisters and Mom could live in this kind of mansion.''


    ...


    ...


    ...


    Ten minutes passed.


    It literally took that long to finish venture the mansion.


    After finished going around, we decided to stay in Micheal''s bedroom.


    "So, what should do now? Should we play games?"


    Micheal asked as there''s no way we''ll just sit here and do nothing.


    I shrugged as I''m not a fan of playing board games. at the same time, I''m fine with anything.


    "Yulia, any suggestion?"


    Yulia from the moment she arrives, she didn''t speak to us all. I hope she''s not angry anymore.


    I''m going to compliment her just waiting for the right time.


    "What games can we play?"


    "Hmm, I have a lot of board games. Chess, Checker, or maybe cards?"


    The classic ones huh... Chess and Checker were obviously a ''no'' since it can only be played by two-person.


    As for playing cards, there''s a lot of versions such as blackjack, old maid, powers, etc.


    Maybe, we could use cards.


    "Chess."


    Suddenly, Yulia voiced out that she wanted to play Chess.


    "You want to play chess?"


    "We have one at home but both of my sisters didn''t like chess. I want to play it because it''s been a while."


    Since only two people can play it, I''ll just watch them on the side and watch them play.


    "Both of you should play, I''ll watch."


    "It''s okay, I have many chess boards and it would be boring to go against each other, how about we play against my butler?"


    Butler?


    "Butler Wu, please bring three chess boards. You will play against the three of us at the same time."


    "Understood."


    The butler went out of the room to fetch the chess boards.


    Not long later, the butler returned with his subordinates to bring in tables and chairs.


    The chess boards were set as well as the chess clocks. Each has one on each table.


    Is this a tournament or something...


    We sat on the corresponding tables and chairs that were prepared.


    Then the game started.


    I''m not a master or anything in chess but I''ve played it before just out of curiosity and more importantly.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    "Checkmate."


    I-I got checkmate before both of them.


    ''Why?!''


    Micheal, as the young master of this house, he, of course, received training personally from Butler Wu.


    He played against Butler Wu plenty of times before.


    Though he never won at least he could delay it.


    As for Yulia, she''s a genius. There''s no other word to explain.


    "Again!"


    ...


    ...


    "Checkmate."


    I got checkmate again and yet they still haven''t lost. Not even once.


    Just a little more Micheal would''ve lost but I got checkmate first...


    As for Yulia, she''s actually on a stalemate with Butler Wu.


    Am I really that bad in Chess?


    "Would you like to play again?"


    "No thanks. I''ll just watch."


    Not long later as I predicted, Micheal lost.


    "Argh. I lost."


    "Great job young Master, you have improved."


    Following that, Butler Wu tied with Yulia.


    "It''s a stalemate. You really are good."


    "May I get your name, young lady?"


    "Yulia."


    "Have you received training from someone? Or play against a grandmaster before?"


    "I''ve played against my big sisters. That''s all."


    Wow, she actually tied against Butler Wu with only two kings left on the board!


    It left me depressed, it''s fine when it''s just Yulia but Micheal was better than me too...


    "Want to play against me?"


    Seeing me depressed, Micheal out of kindness played with me.


    "I''m good. Let''s watch the pros play against each other."

 Chapter 20

    After playing chess for a few rounds, we were starting to get hungry.


    We then stopped playing chess.


    Well, to be precise, Yulia and the butler stop playing chess.


    If I didn''t ask Micheal to stop them, I think it''s possible that it continues until the next morning.


    "Let''s eat! I''m starving!"


    "Butler Wu, can you ask them to bring the food here? We would like to eat them here."


    "Understood."


    it was my suggestion for us to eat here.


    The reason was that it would be uncomfortable to eat in a giant dining room where it could fit over ten people but only three people are eating.


    Other than that, there will be maids and butlers watching us eat.


    Knock*


    The butler and maids arrived with trays of foods.


    After they served the dishes, they left, giving us private time to eat.


    Luxurious meal.


    It''s been a while.


    Not going to complain about what I have at home though.


    They''re decent.


    "Let''s eat!"


    We filled our stomach and while doing that we also have small chat regarding Micheal''s life in this house.


    It was Yulia''s question, she only asked out of curiosity and has no other meaning in it.


    She just wanted to know the daily life of Micheal. What he does in the morning, who wakes him up, etc.


    Somehow, Micheal doesn''t feel comfortable when we ask that but because I said I''m want to know about it too, Micheal''s uncomfortable expression disappears.


    ...


    ...


    Did we come here to ''visit'' Micheal''s house to celebrate the Chinese new year?


    Micheal''s house didn''t have a single New Year''s decoration. Neither did it have any traditional cookies or sweets that are usually served when people visit.


    At this point, we were just normally hanging out together.


    "After we''ll visit Andy''s house!"


    "Yeah, my father will be happy if you guys visit."


    Father is quite a superstitious person, mainly was because he''s Asian and a parent.


    As how Chinese superstition describes, having someone to visit means wealth and fortune so he would definitely be happy if someone does visits.


    In fact, Micheal and Yulia would be the first one to visit our house.


    "Just so you know there''s no board games or anything, not even a single bit of food was prepared."


    "No problem, we''ll bring them over!"


    Gulped*


    I''m fine if Micheal brings food but I''m disagreeing with the board games.


    I''m tired of chess.


    No thank you, I''m not playing chess against any of you...


    "Instead of playing any more games how about, we study?"


    I quickly suggested as I didn''t want to embarrass myself.


    "The exam is nearly here anyway. There''s no harm if we revise everything we learn so far."


    I revised countless times already though...


    "Eh~ No fun..."


    As for the other one, Yulia, she''s quite enthusiastic.


    Nod, nod.


    "Two agree, one not. Then it''s decided! Studying it is!"


    Leaving Micheal''s mansion, this time we''re heading to my house.


    When Father and Mervin saw that I brought some friends over, they were extremely happy.


    "Welcome, Welcome."


    Father and Mervin was kind toward Yulia and Micheal. They treat them as guests.


    Seeing the scene I''m a bit skeptical.


    I understand that Father was kind but how in the hell Mervin was able to smile politely like that. (Mervin is in his working personality where he''s extremely polite with his customer.)


    Anyway, we sat in the living room, and prior to what I said, there are no cookies or sweets.


    After waiting for Father to give Micheal and Yulia a red package, we didn''t stay in the living room anymore.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Instead, we went to my bedroom to study as a group.


    It''s to not be disturbed by Mervin or Father and us not disturbing them.


    Micheal was reluctant to study at first.  He kept pestering us to play. He even secretly brought the chessboard over.


    It was teeny tiny board that was able to fit inside his pocket.


    But, in the end, his effort was useless as there was no one willing to play with him.


    This is much better than playing chess because no one win or loses when studying and it''s not something I''m bad at too.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    Three hours passed and it''s finally the time for them to go back.


    Today we actually spend the entire day together. The three of us.


    It was fun.


    Throughout the fun activities, we also revised every subject and topic within that short time.


    With this, Micheal should be able to get above seventy marks and that is an underestimation. I believe Micheal could even score over ninety if he actually tried.


    As for Yulia, I''m sure that she''s able to get above ninety marks.


    Now that they returned. I was bored again.


    Father and Mervin were bored too.


    Actually, the entire time, both of them were watching us studying as though we were some sort of attraction. Now that we were not studying anymore, the entertainer was gone.


    They became bored again.


    Ah... I have to endure!


    I can''t play video games and I can''t code either.


    -----


    Throughout the week since there''s a week left for me to laze around in the house, being bored and has nothing to do.


    I work out.


    For the entire week, I intensely work out my body until I almost feel death.


    It was for the sake of being as healthy as possible.


    The reason Andy was obsessed with having a healthy body was that previously he died of a heart attack so Andy didn''t want it to repeat again.


    It''s finally time to return to school!


    Waiting for this very day for a long time, I even woke up earlier than Mervin.


    Though, while I woke up earlier than Mervin, I''m still not the earliest one to wake up.


    Without a doubt, Lee was the earliest as he got up at 5 AM every morning to get to work.


    Seeing Mervin was sleeping pleasantly, I went out to buy breakfast, doing what he supposed to do in the morning.


    I also bought what he usually bought for me for our breakfast, a deep-fried bread with caramelized coconut shaving.


    The food was gulped down by me, as I walk.


    Arriving at our house, I already my breakfast and only left the rest on the table for Mervin.


    Putting the remaining food on the table, I took multitasked to another level. I was showering, taking a dump, and brush my teeth at the same time.


    After I was done using the bathroom, as usual, I wear my uniform and before I go, I didn''t forget to wake Mervin up.


    "Brother. Wake up."


    Honestly, the surprised expression of Mervin was hilarious. He didn''t expect that he would be the one to get woken up by me.


    "Huh?"


    "I bought the food already, I''m going to school now. Bye!"


    I ran out of the house, as swiftly as I could.


    With my current stamina, without a problem, I could easily reach the school entrance within less than two minutes.


    Even I was surprised at how fast I reached school.


    What''s more surprising, I''m not short of breath at all after running for that long-distance at full speed.


    This shows that my work out did pay off.


    Bam*


    Inside my classroom, there were only three students, Kervin, Novian, and Micheal.


    Seeing the current number of students that were in the classroom, this is what it feel like to arrive early.


    Boring...


    Kervin was studying of course, as expected from the honor student.


    Novian, he''s an average student but he''s also studying because the exam was near.


    Micheal, he''s not studying. He was staring at the window outside, daydreaming in the morning.


    Huh...


    It''s rare to see Micheal having a deep thought of something. He usually was an easy-going person and never think about things too much.


    "Micheal. What are you thinking about?"


    I called out to him, tapping his forehead to wake him up from his daydreaming.


    Micheal who didn''t expect I would arrive this early was so shocked that he almost fell off his chair.


    "Andy?"


    Micheal''s cold expression disappeared instantly and it returned to the old cheerful Micheal.


    "Why did you arrive this early?"


    Micheal out of nowhere asked a weird question.


    "What do you mean? I''m always this early."


    "U-um, then nevermind what I said."


    "Anyway, you looked very different... despite it only has been a week."


    Because of the workout, I got taller and bulkier than before. I also lost the majority of my body fats due to the intense exercise.


    Wait, Micheal is trying to change the topic.


    "Nevermind, with me, what''s wrong with y-"


    "Oh, Yulia arrived!"


    Micheal smoothly avoided my question and went to find Yulia.


    "Good morning, Yulia!"


    "Good morning."


    Yulia walked past Micheal while he followed her like a puppy.


    "How are you?"


    "Good."


    "You''re reply is really short."


    "I''m busy. I want to study."


    "Eh~ we haven''t seen each other in a week and you prefer looking at a book instead of your precious friend?"


    "Yes."


    Seeing them arguing normally, I decided to drop the matter. If Micheal didn''t want to talk about it, then I wouldn''t force him.


    It''s not like I can fix his problem if he reveals it too.


    -----


    A few days back.


    [Micheal''s POV]


    "Young Master, you''re back."


    Butler Wu was my most trusted aide. He was like a father to me.


    He has been with me since I was a kid.


    He taught me many different things more than what Mother taught me or teachers at school taught me.


    I was taught etiquette and manners.


    How to walk properly, how to eat properly, how to act like a gentleman, etc.


    I was taught formal education.


    History. Geography. Economy. Math. Civics. Chemistry. Biology. Physics. Literature. Art.


    To the point, I can easily pass national exam of high-schooler easily.


    In many ways, I respect him but I''m also scared of him.


    In fact, he''s definitely a kind man, you can see it by how he treats me, mother, the butlers under him, and the maids.


    But when he''s angry, even Mother was afraid of him.


    There was an incident where Mother said something she shouldn''t have said to me.


    Then Bulter Wu punished Mother severely for what she said.


    From that moment, Mother never said ''that'' sentence again.


    What did she say again?


    Anyway, today was definitely the best day but upon seeing Butler Wu...


    I don''t know what is this feeling was but I think I might do something I shouldn''t have done.


    I shouldn''t have invited Andy and Yulia over.


    I have the feeling of uneasiness which I can''t describe in words.


    "I''m back."


    I replied with a smile, trying to hide my ''fear''.


    "Young Master, May I ask you a question?"


    "Hmm? Yes?"


    "What do you think about Miss Yulia?"


    Yulia? What about Yulia?


    Why Yulia out of nowhere?


    "What do you mean?"


    "How about we arrange her to be your fiancee?"


    Fiancee? If I''m not wrong that is arranged married, right?


    When I was five years old Butler Wu taught me a lot of weird knowledge. It was some term that was used by wealthy people.


    The term of Fiancee was one of the things.


    "Is it Butler Wu''s suggestion?"


    "It''s head of the family''s decision."


    Funny.


    it''s clearly your selfish decision.


    That man decided this out of nowhere? There''s no way for him to suddenly care about me.


    The chance for him to see or get involved in my life is slimmer than finding a needle in a haystack.


    "Tell Father, I don''t want to be engaged yet."


    "Young Master, his decision is absolute."


    Hm, Butler Wu since when became this persistent?


    Is Yulia really that good?


    "I would like to talk to Father."


    "Young Master, you shouldn''t be selfish. Master''s order is meant to help you."


    "Call him and, I''ll talk to Father myself."


    At worst, Butler Wu will snap and I''ll get beat up by him.


    As for the chance whether it''s really a decision made by him, there''s literally no chance at all.


    "I apologize, Young Master. Master might be busy right now and doesn''t want to be disturbed."


    Your excuses are not original...


    "I want you to call him!"


    I snapped out of anger and yelled at Butler Wu.


    I can''t hold it in anymore. This is to fasten the process too.


    Slap*


    "Hmph. You really did it, Micheal Chen. Who said you can raise your tone at me?"


    "Today, I''m going to properly train you."


    "Since the carrot approach is not working, I''ll use the stick approach to teach you a lesson."

 Chapter 21

    "Andy, can you go and buy me some food? My ankle was twisted yesterday and it''s hard for me to walk."


    Micheal handed me the money to buy his food. He handed me a fifty thousand note.


    "It''s my treat. What do you want? Nasi Goreng?"


    "Thanks! I''ll eat anything you pick for me."


    "Alright."


    I left them alone for a second.


    After I returned with food on my hand this happens?


    Slap*


    Yulia gave Micheal a slap on the face. It an unbelievable scene which was happening right in front of my eyes.


    "I''m sorry I shouldn''t have said that."


    "Please forget everything I have said just now."


    Micheal bowed down his head and apologizes to Yulia. I don''t know what happened but seeing Yulia''s icy cold expression, she is genuinely angry.


    What in the world happened while I left?


    After Micheal apologize, he approached me, or to be precise, he wanted to exit the classroom and I''m blocking the way.


    "I''m sorry, Andy. You guys should eat together, I''m afraid if I stay Yulia will not have the appetite to eat."


    Micheal explained with a bitter expression, he took the food that I bought for him and somehow manage to push me out of the way to get out of the classroom.


    I wanted to stop him, he shoved away my hand.


    "Leave me alone for now."


    Since Micheal is not going to disclose what happened I went to ask Yulia.


    The exact same thing happened, Yulia is not speaking at all.


    "What happened? Why did you guys fight?"


    "I don''t know."


    "What do you mean you don''t know?"


    "Andy, tell me. If someone kept mentioning that he''s rich does this mean that he''s showing off?"


    Showing off? Micheal is not that kind of boy.


    "He kept asking me how is his mansion and whether I want to live at his mansion or not. What did he think of me? Am I really that kind of person in his eyes?"


    Yulia started tearing up while she''s explaining what Micheal said to her.


    If Micheal really said that, then he is really is in the wrong but is Micheal that type of person?


    While I ask that question to myself I also remembered that I have only known Micheal for a year and a half.


    We didn''t know each other that long, which means I can''t say that I know everything about Micheal.


    Sigh*


    "Stop crying. I''m sure something happened in his family or something. It''s unusual for Micheal to snapped like that. I''ll talk to him later and ask him what happened. Okay?"


    I gave her a pat on her head. It felt weird for me petting someone''s head as I''ve never tried to comforting someone before.


    "Un."


    Phew*


    Good girl.


    Now that Yulia has calmed down, should I go and see Micheal?


    Just as I was about to go out and search for Micheal, someone caused a commotion.


    "Andy bullying Yulia! She made her cry!"


    "I thought he changed."


    The kids have returned and I''m currently in a bad position.


    In the end, I can''t go out to search for Micheal. I have to stay by Yulia''s side to clear up the misunderstanding.


    This way they''ll know I''m the good guy and I didn''t do anything wrong.


    Time passes, the class starts normally.


    Micheal also returned to the classroom but it can be seen that he''s still not in the mood to talk to me.


    I''ll try to confront him on the second break-time.


    ...Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ...


    ...


    "Yulia~~~"


    "I really want to apologize to you, Yulia!"


    "Please! Forgive me!"


    Micheal sobbed as loud as he could, attracting the attention of others but no matter what, Yulia is avoiding Micheal with her utmost effort.


    Right now, Yulia is currently on top of my head.


    I don''t know how did manage to climb but she did it.


    She was as though a cat that was driven to a corner by a dog, having no choice but to climb a tree.


    Pant*


    "I forgive you so stop chasing me already."


    "Really?!"


    "Then, to prove it let me give you a bear hug."


    "No, I won''t let a boy hug me."


    "But, you''re hugging Andy''s head."


    "Andy is different. He''s a tree."


    "Pffft."


    Micheal burst into laughter.


    ''Andy still can''t take the hint, even though it was this obvious.''


    "Don''t laugh!"


    Thankfully, everything went well. I don''t know how it happened but they forgave each other.


    Even so, after school is over, I''m still confronting Micheal to ask what happened to him.


    For the time being, I''ll ignore it and not ruin the bright atmosphere that Micheal created.


    The break time was over and the class resume normally.


    Again more exercises were given by the teacher for final exam preparation.


    I finished the exercises given faster than other students. They were a piece of cake for me as I''ve already prepared myself thoroughly for the final exam.


    For the next two hours of class, I just slept my way until school is over. The teacher isn''t bothering me too because he knew that I finished the exercises he gave.


    It''s better for me to sleep than me being annoying and noisy.


    Once the school is over and there''s only two of us left, I can finally talk to Micheal properly.


    "Hey, Micheal."


    "Hm?"


    "I''m your friend right? If there''s something wrong, tell me. I might be able to help you."


    "There''s nothing wrong,"


    Micheal replied with a smile but that answer from him doesn''t satisfy me.


    "Seriously, what''s wrong? Did something happened?"


    "No, I''m fine, really. In fact, I''m really happy that you cared about me."


    This kid... really is stubborn.


    This is not what I want to hear from you.


    "Um, Andy, I know this is out of nowhere but do you like Yulia?"


    "Like Yulia? Yeah, of course, why not?"


    Yeah, of course, I like her. She''s a good mature kid.


    "What if I said I like Yulia as a girl?"


    Huh? Maybe... the problem wasn''t that complex as I thought it would be!? Micheal wasn''t familiar with having a crush on someone and maybe that''s the reason behind his weird action.


    So that''s why he said those to Yulia!


    "Then, I''ll support you but honestly your method is not suitable for someone like Yulia. Micheal, let me tell you something, if you want Yulia to like you back, you need to play fair and square to connect with her. Try spending more time like how you always been during break time, I''m sure there will be another opportunity."


    "Andy... you''re as dense as a rock."


    "Also, I suggest that if you want to get Yulia, you''ll have to do it before she graduates from high school, or else later it''ll be hard."


    In the future, she will build GreenBio. That company that she created will be as big as Microsoft and other big companies.


    With the authority and power in her hand, I doubt Yulia will rely on a man.


    "Goodbye, Andy."


    "Yeah, I''ll see you tomorrow."


    ''I''m sorry, but you won''t be able to see me again. When time is right, I''ll definitely visit you.''


    After saying my farewell to Micheal, I went home.


    Phew*


    That was a tough and weird day.


    As I reached home, I finally saw Old Man again.


    It has been two weeks since I last saw him.


    Did he get fatter?


    "Master, give me a coding lesson. I''ve finished learning everything from the notes already."


    Old Man present me with the notes that I gave him. They''re in poor condition, meaning he did spend his time or use the notes I gave him.


    "Don''t tell me you spend your whole New Year''s holiday studying?"


    "Well, I have nothing else to do. My fellows, they all busy with their own things. Such as visiting their relatives, spending their time with family."


    "And during the holiday, Internet Cafe is full too, there''s no seat available even when I''m the owner."


    Right, Old Man was over forty already but still not married. He doesn''t have anyone close to spending his time together during the holiday.


    As for his parents, I''m sure, not sure of it but, if I''m not wrong, they passed away.


    "We''ll see if you are ready to learn to code. I''ll prepare a test for you, if you can score ninety marks, I''ll teach you coding."


    "How many questions?"


    "Not much, fifty questions."


    "Fifty is not much?! Then what is much to you?"


    That was the truth, fifty was, in fact, was too little. I can create at least two hundred questions from what he learned.


    "What if I fail?"


    "Then, I''ll explain your mistakes and you''ll need to take a test with one hundred questions. It''ll continue to increase as you keep failing."


    "Now go and prepare yourself, I''ll be using this computer."


    I shamelessly snatched the computer from Old Man, while he went to review what he learned in the back.


    The first thing I did was open my Email to check if there''s anything from James.


    What the-


    Opening the letter one by one, I read the content.


    The first day.


    [Can you send me a car or bike? I''m stuck in the area of Pantai Palawan, I don''t know the road name so if you have arrived tell me, I''ll go to the beach to meet you.]


    The second day.


    [Hello? Can you ask Andy to use the money in the bank and buy me a bike? I would really appreciate it. Notify me as soon as possible]


    The third day.


    [I apologize for troubling you, please send someone to fetch me.]


    The fourth day.


    [If you read this and pretend that you didn''t I curse you to die. Just kidding. Seriously. Please reply.]


    The fifth day.


    [Master Lee, I hope you can send me a car, I''m stuck at Pantai Pelawan]


    The sixth day.


    [Master Lee, I hope you can send me a car, I''m stuck at Pantai Pelawan]


    The seventh day.


    [Master Lee, I hope you can send me a car, I''m stuck at Pantai Pelawan]


    The eighth day.


    [Reply if you see this pls.]


    The ninth day.


    [pls.]


    The tenth day.


    [The beach is great, today I saw a hot chick. She was very sexy. This is the photo]


    It''s a photo of himself with a naked old woman.


    My eyes sting when I saw the picture, it''s best if you don''t imagine it too.


    The eleventh day.


    [The chick was hot right? Here are some more.]


    Nope, I''m not downloading the picture.


    This guy is doing it on purpose.


    The twelfth day.


    [Here''s a hot babe pic]


    Thirteenth day.


    [Another hot babe pic]


    Fourteenth day.


    [ ]


    Literally, he put ''blank'' word on everything, the content, and the title.


    Now I''m in the last letter and it was sent today


    [Help]


    Even after that long strips of the letter, I didn''t feel any pity toward him. Who told him to buy a house in that secluded area.


    Want to see women in swimsuits? I''m sorry but this island is a bit special. No one wears swimsuits to the beach.


    And I can''t drive, so basically I can''t help him too.


    There''s no way I could buy a car or bike for him too.


    Well, I could but still, it''ll take time for it to arrive.


    ["Walk back on your own or stay there for now. It''s your fault since I can''t drive." From Andy.]


    That''s what I replied to him.


    I hope he has enough money to survive while I find a solution to save him out of there.


    Now that I''ve done replying to James, I went back and make a test for Old Man.


    -----


    [Micheal''s POV]


    "So shall we leave? You see them today, just like what you wishes for."


    "I know. There''s no need for you to remind me. We''ll leave tomorrow."


    "I see. you''re determined this time. Then, I shall follow you, third young master."

 Chapter 22

    "Not bad, you managed to answer twenty-three out of fifty correctly."


    "What?! Only twenty-three?"


    Old Man was dumbfounded when he heard out of fifty he only got twenty-three.


    It''s fine though. That amount is already quite good for someone who studies for not more than a month.


    The knowledge he learns could be said, on the college level, it''s at least three months'' worth of knowledge.


    This proof Old Man is not bad at learning things.


    The most important was his willingness to learn, if not I doubt he could even answer ten of the fifty.


    "You''ve done a great job but sadly, still not enough."


    "First is number three, why did you answer this?"


    "Why? Is it not a subset?"


    "Of course it''s not..."


    ...


    ...


    I discussed with Old Man, correcting Old Man mistakes one by one, afterward, I asked him to study again.


    Time passed so quickly that I barely have the time to write the code for the AI program but it''s fine, as it''ll be a while before I could get to James'' house.


    This continues until it''s almost nighttime.


    The store was closed and Old Man went home by himself to continue his study at his place.


    Just like that, a day passed.


    Waking up the next morning, the same thing happened as yesterday except that I didn''t wake up as early as yesterday.


    It''s the opposite, this time Mervin wakes up earlier than he usually would just to make sure he gets to wake me up.


    Ah... It''s raining outside.


    I took an umbrella with me and start heading to school.


    With the rain pouring hard and the strong wind, my clothes were getting wet even with an umbrella.


    I tried to walk to school as fast as I could but by the time I arrived at the school, they still wet anyways.


    Next time, I should buy a jacket, my old one is burned down. (Poor jacket-san.)


    Sitting on my seat with my wet uniform, I noticed that Micheal''s seat was empty.


    He usually would''ve arrived at this time.


    The rain shouldn''t have stopped him as he arrives here by car.


    Didn''t put my thought too much into that matter, I calmly wait for him to arrive.


    Time went on but even after the class has started, there''s still no sign of him.


    The next day, it was the same. Micheal was nowhere to be seen.


    I tried asking Teacher if they know about his whereabouts but they don''t know either.


    From what they said, they tried to contact his parents too but there''s no one picking up the phone.


    As for visiting Micheal''s house, none of the teachers dared to as they knew how influential Micheal''s family was.


    We let it passed since it has only been two days.


    Unfortunately, Micheal didn''t even return after a week, the day the final exam started, he still absent.


    Eating together with Yulia at the canteen since we finished answering our exam paper early, we also get to exit the classroom early.


    "It has been a week. There''s still no news where Micheal went to?"


    Yulia seems troubled. They did fight with each other but I guess no matter what Yulia still cared about Micheal.


    "I have an idea. Why don''t we visit his house to confirm his whereabouts?"This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    We could get there with oplet. Usually, the driver will not go to the secluded area where Micheal is living but if we pay the extra money, he should be willing to bring us there.


    Currently, money was not a problem for me as my game "Hero" could produce over two thousand dollars a day and my game isn''t dying yet.


    "Then we''ll go after today''s exam over."


    Yulia enthusiastically suggested that we go today after the exam is over.


    I planned to go during weekends probably Saturday, so I could visit James at the same time.


    "Sure. We''ll visit him today."


    After we talked about Micheal, we then ask each other questions regarding the upcoming exam.


    This was the benefit of finishing the exam early, you could relax as you eat slowly in the canteen and also spend your time preparing for the next exam.


    As time was over, we returned to our class and quietly wait for the Teacher to arrive.


    After the teacher handed the question and answer paper, the exam started.


    After finishing answering, I double-check my answer to confirm everything, only after that, I submit my answer paper along with the questions to the teacher.


    Since there''s no more break time, we''re forced to sit inside the class quietly until the exam was over.


    After all, the school doesn''t allow us to return earlier than other students.


    Ding dong*


    As the bell rang, everyone whether they answered all of the questions or not, they have no choice but to submit their papers.


    Now that the school was over, following what we agreed earlier, we planned to visit Micheal.


    Yulia first explained to her mother, that she wanted to Micheal. It looks like, she already told her about Micheal sudden absent.


    "Little Micheal still hasn''t returned yet?"


    "No. The teacher has no clue too."


    "There must be a reason for him not coming to school. Hop on. Auntie will bring you guys to his house."


    This is unexpected...


    Hopping on the motorcycle, we then went to Micheal''s place.


    With me and Yulia guiding the way, we arrive at the correct place.


    "Woah, this is little Micheal''s house? This will be troublesome to clean and take care of everything."


    While Yulia''s mother was admiring the giant mansion, I went over to the gate and press the doorbell.


    After a while, a maid which I didn''t recognize came, bowing politely toward us.


    "I''m sorry, May I help you?"


    "We''re looking for Micheal."


    The maid became hesitant when she heard Micheal was mentioned.


    "I''m sorry but Young Master is busy, he cannot meet you right now."


    "If that''s all, I''ll be leaving."


    The maid left without turning back, not even a second to look at us.


    "Wait!"


    She''s not responding at all.


    I tried to ring the doorbell again but there''s no response whatsoever anymore.


    "So, what to do right now? There''s no way Micheal is busy."


    Yulia is right, the maid didn''t seem like she''s telling the truth but then what exactly happened to Micheal?


    Sigh*


    "There''s nothing we can do. We can''t barge in to see him or anything."


    "So, we''re not going to do anything?"


    We''re not special agents that could jump over the fence, use hook and fly over to the rooftop of the mansion to find Micheal.


    "Let''s go home first, meanwhile I''ll try to come up with an idea."


    "Andy, trespassing is a crime."


    Yulia''s mother warned me, thinking that I want to barge in without permission.


    How would I do it anyway, the wall was like four meters tall.


    But while I couldn''t barge in, I could try and search for something else with my own means...


    It''s trespassing in a different manner.


    As I dropped off by Yulia''s Mother in front of my house, I thanked her as they left.


    Arriving inside the store, I could see Old Man was handling a customer while at the same time, focusing on the notes on his hand too.


    "I''m back."


    "Brat! I''m definitely ready this time!"


    For the past few days, the test wasn''t going well for him. He got better but the questions I prepared for him got harder too.


    In the end, the number of questions kept increasing until I couldn''t make any questions anymore without repeating the same thing.


    "Here."


    I opened a form filled with questions on the computer, yes with the help of the computer, making a test is much easier and there''s no need for me to check his answer one by one, inefficiently.


    "Welcome!"


    While I Old Man is taking the test, I entertain the customer that came. The customer pays the money to me.


    As for the price of each item, since Old Man did put a price tag on them, things got easier for me.


    Though with this, the items bought are not recorded in the system.


    "I finished!"


    Old Man finished his test. He scored 92 out of 100, passing the requirements that I set.


    Still, I''m not teaching him coding right away.


    "How is it? Did I passed?"


    "Tomorrow we''ll start. These are the notes I prepared, it''s basic functions of phyton, I''ve set an example and how to use it too. You should just try and give this a read later.


    "For now, I think you should head back and rest. I''ll watch the store for you."


    Old Man was hesitant at first but then I show him a mirror to let him see the current face of himself.


    His expression is miserable. The exhaustion on his face is evident. He definitely needs some sleep or else he''ll break.


    I''m not particularly being strict on him. It''s Old Man being strict with himself, even studying when he returned home.


    He is already over thirty and needs to take care of his own health.


    Old Man can''t help but agree, he said he will return and rest.


    I don''t mind if he goes and plays games to relax, as long as he didn''t plan to study.


    The first thing I did when I''m alone was breach into Balai''s harbor system to get all the information of passengers who entered and leave.


    Checking on the day he disappeared which is the sixteenth of February.


    I checked everything but there''s no list of information regarding Micheal leaving this island.


    Did my suspicion was wrong?


    Checking one more time but instead of public ferries that everyone could board on. I check the private boat or ferry.


    There I finally found Micheal.


    The information says that he''s heading to Singapore, why?


    Next, I breached into Singapore security, getting the footages of the CCTV so I could track Micheal.


    From there I found out that, he''s heading to the airport and is planning to fly to Jakarta.


    So, the conclusion from my investigation is the fact that Micheal is safe and is currently staying at Jakarta.


    Now that I found out he''s fine, I''m relieved.


    Judging from who traveled with him, It''s probably an important family matter that he needs him to be there.


    I should tell Yulia about this. With this, she shouldn''t worry about him anymore but there''s a problem.


    If she asks where I got this information from I''ll be troubled to answer her.


    Shaking my head as there''s no use thinking about it any longer, I''ll just wait until the moment I tell her.


    With my uneasiness was gone, I can peacefully write the code for Super AI.

 Chapter 23

    Today will be the last exam for this year. Even so, after the exam has ended students still need to go to school for a class meeting.


    It is held by the school to celebrate the end of the final exam of this term and as well for the students to spend time with other students.


    During this time, the students could do whatever they wanted to do. Whether it is participating in events or just sitting in the classroom and hang out with friends.


    The events are pretty normal, it''s your typical school meeting events.


    There''s drawing competition, eating contest, relay race. They''re all for kids to enjoy...


    I''ll have to pass on this one. I''ll just watch as a spectator on the side.


    "Yulia, I found out where Micheal was at. He''s currently staying at Jakarta, probably due to some unexpected important family matters."


    As soon as I arrived, I went to tell Yulia about Micheal''s whereabout.


    "I know."


    Huh? Yulia knew?


    Andy was prepared to explain how he receives the information but the preparation he made was useless as Yulia already knew it.


    "Where did you heard it from?"


    "Mr.Ridwan told me."


    Yulia went to the teacher''s office every morning to ask whether there''s news from Micheal''s parents or not.


    Today, the school finally received a letter from Micheal''s parents. It announced that Micheal is transferring to another school in Jakarta and studying there.


    I shouldn''t have said it if I knew this.


    "Don''t you find the news to be weird? Why would Micheal transfer when the final exam is approaching. He could''ve transferred to another school after he finishes the final exam here. He also left without saying any word to us."


    Of course, I found it to be weird too. Micheal must have been forced to transfer by his family.


    I suddenly remembered the day Micheal acted unusually. It must have related to that.


    "You shouldn''t think too much. He should be fine."


    There''s no use worrying about Micheal as we can''t do anything for him. Both of us are still a child.


    The bell ring and the exam was starting soon.


    I went back to my seat, preparing my utensils, and wait for the teacher to arrive.


    As usual, I was the first one to get out of the classroom. Next would be Yulia and Kervin.


    Ignoring Kervin who''s waiting for his ''girlfriends'', we then went to the canteen to discuss the upcoming exam.


    ...


    ...


    Time passed and we return to class again.


    After the exam, I then went home by myself.


    For the past few days, there''s a feeling of something missing.


    Without a cheerful person around us, the atmosphere wasn''t, no the sun just wasn''t there. It felt gloomy without Micheal around.


    Sigh*


    -----


    "This is what I prepared for you."


    Borrowing from the original Phyton which you can easily download from the internet. I modify the current version of phyton into my own version.


    This version should be the same as Phyton from 2070. The main difference was, of course, the efficiency, I would say I increased by a twofold plus a bunch of new functions.


    "You should try them out by yourself first."


    Old Man immediately starts messing around with Phyton.


    After he plays with it for a while, he''s able to do basic things such as displaying something or getting input from the user.


    Afterward, I taught him some loop functions. The first one is ''for'' function, a machine-controlled loop and the second one is ''while'' function, a condition controlled loop.


    ...


    ...


    "It''s 6 P.M already, time for you to go home but before that I to give this to you. I want you to solve the problem when you reach home, just write the code on the paper."


    "Just follow the tips I gave and you shouldn''t make small mistakes such as missing bracket or quote."


    The homework I gave him, it''ll only take him five minutes to solve. It''s not a particularly hard problem.


    I just gave a scenario and want him to create a problem based on the scenario given.


    Once Old Man went home, I can finally use the computer to check my email.


    [The things you ordered have arrived, what should I do with them?]


    [Place them into your storage room or something, don''t touch any of them and some of them are fragile too, handle them with care. On the weekends, I''ll go pick you up so that you can go buy a car or something.]


    Ding*


    The reply was fast...


    [Got it.]


    I''ll visit James either Saturday or Sunday. That way I''ll have plenty of time to work on the supercomputer.


    There''s still a long way until I could reach VR-MMORPG, but at the same time, there''s still plenty of time left.


    If I assume that there''s no accident that happened to me, I should be able to live at least seventy more years.


    I became extremely excited as it''s clear that I could make my dream come true without a problem


    I will definitely--


    Pak*


    "Stop staring at the computer! Go and eat!"


    "Uh, yes."


    -----


    [The next day at school]


    "Congratulations, the exam has ended."


    "Tomorrow, as you guys knew. Today is a class meeting and you guys still need to come to school for attendance as they will still are marked, understand?"


    Mr.Ridwan strictly announced to the students reminding that to the students that they have to come to the class meeting.


    "Yes!"


    All of the students answered Mr.Ridwan in unison while being disappointed inside, though some of them are looking forward to the class meeting, most of them aren''t.


    "The class rep will take the attendance and report to me for the rest of the class meeting and also, for the students that want to join in competition or tournament, inform the class rep too."Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "Mr. class rep, can you do all the things I mentioned?"


    "Yes!"


    Finally, the exam was over. The result of the exam will only be out on the last day of the class meeting.


    Today there''s nothing much happened as this is the first day of the class meeting. Students registered themself on this day so they could participate in it tomorrow.


    As for me and Yulia who didn''t plan to join any of the events, we just sat in the classroom and play chess.


    It''s miserable, I lost no matter how hard I tried but at least we got things to do because without Micheal around, things are boring and not lively like before.


    Heading home, I continue Old Man''s coding lesson, I''ll be teaching him until the store closed.


    "Oi Andy, I''ve been curious for a while. How the hell did you even get all of the knowledge you taught me?"


    Sigh*


    I guess It has gotten to the point even Old Man question it. Indeed, even Old Man has loose screws in his head and doesn''t have common sense, the situation was unbelievable to the point Old Man started asking questions. He usually would just go with the flow and won''t ask anything.


    "You see,"


    Hearing that particular word coming out of Andy''s mouth, Old Man frowned.


    That word was the forbidden word for him, right now Old Man wanted to stop Andy from speaking any further but at the same time, he also wanted to know where the heck Andy learn all of these.


    Holding the urge of stopping Andy was hard-quenching that Old Man needs to close his eyes and grit his teeth like a madman.


    I continue explaining nonsense, all the sentence I said is of course gibberish and lies that I could think of, trying to keep them as long as possible until...


    "Stop! Don''t mind what I ask just now, you should continue with the lesson."


    Yep, I''ve been waiting for you to say that.


    The lesson continues without much hassle, and my random story blabbering skill was slightly improved.


    A few hours passed and it''s already 6 P.M, the time for Old Man to return and me to work on the Super AI program.


    Afterward, I eat and spend time with Mervin and Father for a while and go to sleep.


    -----


    The next morning at school.


    It''s finally the real day of the class meeting where competition and tournament are held.


    The school is very lively, with the boys running around playing tag and girls gossiping.


    "The tug of war is starting!"


    "Really?! I need to go downstairs, I''ve registered myself yesterday."


    "Me too!"


    The students that registered themselves yesterday went downstairs to prepare themself.


    As for us who are only planning to spectate the competition, we watch from here, from the classroom window.


    Oh, it''s starting already.


    On the left side, which was Class 5-B, the team consisted of three small boys and two normal-looking girls.


    The girl looks stronger than the boys...


    While on the other side, 6-A, There are three tough-looking boys and two giant girls.


    Judging from the body size it''s obvious who''s going to win.


    In fact, I can easily predict that the 6-A will win this whole tug of war competition.


    Those kinds of healthy physiques are rare after all and they''re sixth grade. They''re basically unbeatable.


    Bam*


    Someone suddenly barged into the classroom. The person is in such a hurry that he knocks the door with force to open it.


    "Andy, we need you!"


    He''s the class rep, Yanto.


    "Can you join us in the tug of war competition? We need one more people."


    Hm? Why so suddenly?


    "Did you guys not gathered enough member or something?"


    I wanted to reject him politely, but first I want to know why would he ask me to join. If it was because I look strong, then no thanks.


    "Heli, he didn''t come to school, he''s absent and now we lack one guy."


    "Try to ask another person-"


    "I did it! They all rejected me."


    Before I could finish the sentence Yanto Immediately intercepted


    ...


    "You''re the only one that I can ask. Please."


    Yanto was pleading toward me, to the point he bowed. From the sweat of his clothes, I can see that he got it from going around the whole school to ask someone to join.


    "This is a good opportunity to put good use of your buffed body. You should join."


    Seeing me hesitating, Yulia interfered in the conversation.


    What did she mean by that?


    "Are you afraid of losing? This time I think you could win."


    Ah... she meant that.


    My miserable thirty-three loses streaks in chess against Yulia. She noticed my depression when losing.


    "Fine, I''ll join."


    "Great! You should head downstairs now, it''ll probably be our class to go in a few minutes or so."


    The class representative left in a hurry as he has to report to the teacher that I will replace the missing member.


    It''s sure troublesome to be a class representative.


    We walked out of the classroom, heading to the field, but not as fast as Yanto.


    "What will you do on school break?"


    Yeah, after the class meeting was over, we''ll have another two week holiday.


    Gahhhh!!


    Thinking about having nothing do pain me!


    Eh, wait.


    This time I can do things unlike Chinese New Year, where I have to relax and spend time with family.


    This is just school holidays and I could use that time to go to James'' house.


    "I''ll be helping out in the convenience store, I guess."


    "Your family runs a convenience store?"


    "Not exactly but it''s a friend of my father. What about you?"


    "I''m helping my mom and sisters in the store too."


    While both of us are chatting, suddenly the announcement speaker called out my name.


    "Andy from 4-B. Please head to the field now."


    Hearing the teacher calling out my name with his mic, It''s definitely our turn now.


    "They''re calling your name."


    "Yeah, I''ll get going then, see you on the field."


    "Go and do your best!"


    With all my might, I reached the first floor in mere minutes, and then I got to the middle of the field, where Yanto and others are at.


    "You''re here!"


    Seeing me, the class representative smiled at me. I didn''t know that he''s participating too.


    Well, this is good for me as he''s no doubt the strongest in our class in terms of strength if I''m excluded.


    He was after all picked by class as class rep because he looks the strongest and to put it simply he''s a muscle brain.


    "Andy at the back followed with Christian, Tracy, Fiona."


    Standing by on the back, I hold the rope as hard as I could, I decided to give all out on this one because we''re against class 4-A which has three strong-looking opponents.


    They supposedly won''t pose any problem at all but looking at the members in our team, only me and Yanto can be considered a member.


    The other three, looking at their face, they''re thinking. ''Ah, I''ll just let this lose and go and do my own things.''


    They''re not even trying to win. They just wanted to lose and get over with it.


    I''m guessing they''re also forced to join by Yanto like me.


    "Three!"


    "Two!"


    "One!"


    The whistle was sounded by the referee, we then started to pull or to be exact Yanto, and I started to pull.


    With me and Yanto who''s unusually strong for a mere fourth-grader, we easily won the match for our class.


    "Class 4-B... unexpectedly won!!"


    Ah, that was fairly easy.


    "Wow, we won guys!"


    Yanto who tried his best cheered joyfully to the other three that didn''t try at all.


    While Yanto was cheering, the other three was confused as to how did they win.


    ''How did we win?''


    ''I barely pull at all.''


    They did slight put some force on the rope but they''re actually prepared to let the rope go.


    Unfortunately, before they could, they have won the match.


    The next game was fairly easy too. Our class won again and moved to the next stage.


    ''Are actually strong?''


    ''We might really win!''


    The three that at first didn''t want to try, gained their confidence. They''re now trying their best due to a certain person trying too hard to win despite not wanting to.


    The competition went on until we reach final and we''ll be fighting against the possibly strongest class in this school, the class 6-A, they''re two years older than us and much bigger than us in terms of size too.


    Though I''m almost the same size as them, as well as Yanto. The others, not so much.


    Five bears against two grizzly bears and three bear cubs.


    "Guys! This is the final! We should give our best shot! We can do it!"


    "Yeah!!!"


    Wow, since when they''re so hyped in winning this competition.


    "Three!"


    "Two!"


    "One!"


    Peep!


    This time as expected, the enemy didn''t lose immediately. There''s definitely some fight going on.


    I''m really trying to pull as hard as I could. until the vein was bulging out of my arm, but no matter what they won''t move from their spot.


    Everyone is trying their best, but our strength is evident, we cannot win against them.


    Seeing the people in front of me wasn''t willing to give up, especially the other three, which at first barely trying are now trying their best.


    At least we tried our best...


    Four of them already have their grips loosen up, they have fallen down. Only my who''s standing mightily fighting against five of them alone.


    I tried to hold as long as I could but then I loosen up my grip due to exhaustion and that one moment causes the loss of our team.


    "The winner is Class 6-A!"


    The crowd cheered and yelled excitedly, the last game was really intense, it was as though you''re watching a professional match.


    It was exciting because of everyone''s serious expression.


    All of you have done great.


    "Ah, the 4-B really has done their best. They almost won and embarrassed their seniors."


    "I know right, they put up a good fight at least."


    Despite our loss, many clapped and cheered for us


    "4-B!"


    "4-B!"


    Four of them who was about to cry when they lost, but after the crowd cheering them they managed to stand proudly.


    One of the class 6-A, the most strong-looking boy, went over to shake Yanto''s hands.


    "You guys have done great."


    "You too!"


    When both of them shake each other''s hand, the crowd cheered loudly again.


    It was a wonderful sight to see the leader of both teams, admired each other. A bromance scene.


    Now that the competition is over, I went back to the classroom.


    Yulia who saw me returning also followed me back to the classroom


    Puff*


    The competition is really crazy...


    I''ve never tried so hard in an athletic competition before.


    This is definitely different compared to when you force yourself to continue working out.


    It''s much more intense.


    "You really tried your best out there."


    Yulia smiled at me who''s laying down in my chair lifelessly. I can''t see the smile though, I''m laying my head down and was closing my eyes.


    "I guess, I did."


    "By the way, since I''ve joined one, why not you participate in one of the events too. I remembered there was a chess tournament. If you tried you can still get yourself registered."


    I suddenly got the urge of wanting her to join a chess competition. If she really won then I won''t feel bad for losing against a kid anymore.


    "I only play chess for fun not competitively."


    "Then, treat it as a normal game. It''s not an official competition anyway. You''re just playing against other students in this school, or maybe you''re afraid of losing against others?"


    I followed what she did to persuade me to join just now but on that method of persuading is not effective on Yulia as she said she''s not competitive in chess and she treated it as a normal game for fun.


    "It''s not going to work. I''m not joining."


    "You are going to because I''ll go and register your name later."


    "You dare!"


    Yulia pinched me on the arm. I''m already drop-dead on my chair but the pinch jolted my body that I stood up from my chair.


    Damn, I don''t know why a woman''s pinch always hurt.


    To take revenge, I pretend laying on the ground like a dead body, once she got closer, I caught her off-guard and pinched her on the cheek gently.


    Her soft cheeks, definitely worth to pinch at.


    Yulia who didn''t expect I would touch her cheek was frozen on the spot that she forgot to get angry.


    I then quickly ran out of the classroom and just like what I said I''ll do, I''m going to teacher''s office to register Yulia on the chess tournament.


    "Andy! Come back here!"


    Nope. You''ll pinch me to death.

 Chapter 24

    These few days it was extremely tiring for me. All because that Yanto kept pestering me to join most to the competitions.


    Eating, Drawing, Sack race, Quiz, thankfully I didn''t have to join chess, Yulia did it for me.


    Other than that, when I got back I also have jobs to do such as teaching Old Man and after he went home, I''ll continue writing the code for Super AI.


    Finally, after the hellish lively day, it''s finally come to an end.


    Today was the last day of the Class Meeting and our exam result is out.


    Yanto, the class rep was entrusted by MR. Ridwan the paper contains results of this class.


    "Guys! You guys won''t believe me!"


    At this point people would just think, it must be either Kervin or Yulia but they didn''t expect what comes out of Yanto''s mouth.


    "The highest in this class is actually..."


    "Andy!"


    Yanto pasted the paper on the board to let everyone see it. At the same time, people start coming to the front to see the paper.


    "What?! No way!"


    "Andy? Seriously?"


    "Eh? Andy?!"


    The students that weren''t convinced, they wanted to confirm it with their own eyes. No matter what, they can''t that Andy scored the highest in our class."


    "Congratulations."


    Yulia congratulated me with a smile when she heard the news. Unlike others, she didn''t go to check the exam result as she believes that Andy definitely has the capability to do it. After all, Andy was the one that taught her everything.


    "Thanks."


    "You''re not going to see?"


    Yulia shook her head.


    "Later, when they calmed down."


    Currently, the front was still filled with the other students, checking their own score as well as Andy''s.


    Some also approached Andy and congratulated him.


    Slowly, Andy'' was surrounded by the others asking him how did he able to do it and something.


    Andy was overwhelmed by the unending questions coming at him, he slowly answers them one by one but with stupid and normal answer.


    "How did you do it?"


    "I study."


    "Wow, Andy did you cheat?"


    "No."


    "Damn, I should ask you to teach me next time."


    "Sure, if we meet again next year."


    While I''m being surrounded, Yulia secretly went to the front to see her how she fare in the final exam.


    In turned out that she was the second-highest.


    Just like what Andy expected, Yulia really beat Kervin in this exam.


    "Maybe it''s because Yulia taught Andy? Both of you hang out with each other very often recently."


    "Yeah, that could be possible."


    ...It''s the other way around. At least for now.


    While they''re gossiping with each other, I sneakily snuck out. I grab Yulia''s hand and both of us went out of the classroom as quickly as possible to avoid them.


    I forgot to see my own score. Nevermind that, the answer paper will be given by the teacher at the end of the day so that we show it to our parents.


    The results paper was given beforehand so that students won''t be noisy during the hand-out of the answer papers.


    This is the only class that was given results paper, it was done by Mr.Ridwan and Mr.Ridwan only.


    Another reason to like Mr.Ridwan.


    Both of us hid for a while until the bell rung we returned to class.


    Everyone has calmed down even though they weren''t, with Mr.Ridwan around they won''t dare to utter any words.


    Mr.Ridwan gave out our answer papers one by one, calling our name to the front and congratulated us no matter what mark we score.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "Good job."


    ...


    "Work harder next time."


    ...


    "You have done great."


    ...


    "Next, Andy."


    My name was called by Mr. Ridwan.


    I went to the front to fetch my papers.


    "You did really great. I''m proud of you."


    "Thank you, sir."


    That was probably the most compliment you can get from Mr.Ridwan.


    Let''s see how much did I get.


    100. 100. 98. 100...


    There''s only one was 98, which was Bahasa Indonesia.


    To think I made a small mistake...


    As for Yulia, she got three hundred and the rest was ninety-eight.


    Wow, she''s catching up to me quickly, as expected of genius.


    "You''re not satisfied with that result?"


    Yulia quickly noticed my disappointed expression when I saw my own result.


    Yes, but It was because can''t get Mervin to do something for me.


    "I made a bet with my brother that I would score all hundred..."


    "A bet?"


    "Yeah. I wanted him to do something for me but since I failed..."


    Gah, shit.


    Mervin said he will prevent me from touching computer and wanted me to properly study if I failed.


    That obviously will not happen. I''ll secretly use the computer when he''s not around then.


    Now with the result of the exam out, I can ask Father to do a full-body scan.


    After all the students got their papers, we could go home already.


    All we need to do left is to get our report which will determine whether we advance to the next grade or not.


    "Bye!"


    "See you!"


    I said to Yulia as she went home with her mother.


    Three days, that''s when we collect our final year report accompanied by our parents or guardian at 8 P.M in the morning.


    Heading back home with the exam paper on my hand, I carefully put them upstairs first before I start my lesson with Old Man.


    "What''s that in your hand?"


    "My exam result."


    "Oh, let me see."


    Handing the papers to Old Man, the moment he saw most of them were hundreds, Old Man nodded his head proudly as though he''s the one who scored all those hundreds.


    "As expected of my master but why there''s one 98..."


    Why did you remind me of that again...


    Laying down on the couch, I was resting myself from all of the work that I''ve done today.


    Old Man who noticed my tired expression didn''t ask me to teach him and let me rest.


    From tomorrow onwards, I''ll have another thing on my must-to-do list, which was to visit James'' house every day and start working on the Super Computer.


    For VR-MMORPG!


    -----


    The next morning I got up early, I got some money from Old Man. The money was for my transport fee to get to James'' place.


    At the same time, I also paid him through Hero''s earning, giving him over a hundred million rupiah.


    The last seventy million that I gave him, I bet that he still hasn''t found out.


    "I''ll be going out, tell my Father to not worry about me."


    After I reminded Old Man to relay my message I left to hire a driver, aka oplet.


    "I''m going to Palawan Beach, can you bring me there?"


    I showed him a hundred thousand rupiah note. Seeing the hundred thousand notes, the driver didn''t reject it.


    "Okay. I''ll bring you there."


    It took thirty minutes to arrive at James'' place.


    "We''ve arrived."


    It''s has been years since I came here. This place is as shabby as how I remembered.


    "Wait here, I''m waiting for a person. Later, I''ll pay you another hundred thousand."


    "Okay, okay. Go and bring your friend here, I''ll wait."


    Yesterday, I did email him that I''m coming. I hope he''s here by now.


    Where is he?


    I walked around, trying to find James, after looking for a while, I spotted him inside of a hut.


    James was apparently doing something unusual inside of the hut. He was serving the customer?


    "Good Morning! What would you like to eat?" (Indonesia)


    He''s speaking Bahasa Indonesia though he has a weird accent, he is speaking a foreign language.


    That''s impressive for an incapable guy like him.


    Walking over to the hut, James instantly notices me.


    "You''re here!"


    "Yeah."


    "May I know, what in the world are you doing?"


    "I ran out of money. This is my only choice to feed myself."


    Oh, I didn''t know about that. Even though he has money inside his bank, but there''s no way he could pull them out in this place.


    "Ehem, I got a person to send you to Balai. Walk outside you''ll see a large brown car. Go and buy your own car so you won''t be stuck at this place anymore."


    "But, my job here is not done yet."


    And here I thought you desperately want to leave this place.


    "Suit yourself, it''s now or never. The person waiting outside won''t wait for long."


    "And I won''t be bothered to come back to help you again."


    Gulp*


    James immediately drops the menu on his hand, removed the apron that he''s wearing.


    "Ma''am, I have something to do and I''ll return in an hour or so."


    James surprisingly spoke in Indonesian telling his boss that he''ll be leaving.


    "Ok, ok."


    The owner didn''t argue with James and immediately let him leave.


    "So, where is the person?"


    "There''s a giant brown-colored car outside, just give him this and he''ll agree to take you anywhere."


    I handed the money to James, while he also gave me the key to his house.


    "Thanks. My house is just at that corner, the one with a giant black gate."


    James quickly left as for me, I went to find his house as quickly as possible in order to start and do my own work.


    Black gate...


    This must be the one.


    The gate wasn''t locked so I just went in and opened the front door, using the key.


    Inside, it''s like a normal house. Looks like, he''s good at cleaning. His place was very clean for a man who lived alone.


    Now, where did he keep my stuff?


    I opened the first room that I found and it was an empty room with nothing whatsoever inside.


    The next one was apparently his bedroom, there''s plenty of photos of the wall.


    My instinct told me that it''s dangerous, the ominous presence of the pictures was familiar so I didn''t bother to see what it is. I immediately close the bedroom and pretended I didn''t see anything.


    This must be the one as this was the last one.


    Opening the door, Inside of the room I found a lot of packages which were probably mine.


    I started by opening all of the packages and sorted them accordingly.


    It took me a lot of effort just for unpackaging all of them.


    With the stuff I bought laying down on the floor neatly, I start to move to the empty room which was unused.


    I''ll use this room as my workshop.


    Working while sitting on the floor was inefficient, as there''s really nothing inside this room, I can only sit on the floor.


    I''ll need to ask James to buy a table, chair, lamp, multiple electrical sockets, and maybe a toolbox too.


    For now, I''ll have to work on the floor while waiting for James to return.


    Right now, I was disassembling all of the parts that I bought, the motherboard, hard disk, graphics card, RAM, etc.


    I only took the parts that I needed and put the unuseful part away for now.


    "I''m back!"


    "Good, go and buy me a table, chair, lamp, electric socket, and every tool that you can find. I can''t start working without all of those. After you''ve done that then you''ll do whatever you want until next week."


    "Really?! Alright, I''ll go buy them right away!"


    James left again, this time he has a car with him, allowing him to move around freely unlike last time.


    Dissembling was done and right now rather than wasting time, I''ll go and draw the design on the blueprint that I ordered.


    An hour passed and James returned with a mover truck with him, to move in the table and chairs.


    "Now I can leave right?"


    "Yeah, go and do whatever you want just don''t waste money."


    "Got it!"


    Now with everything ready, I should get started!