MONSTER MMORPG: Mayhem Online

I had gotten a few notifications back when Ena and I had put rings on each other's hands.

[You have been engaged to Ena Wenselm.]

[The ring of Mortal Fate has been worn by Ena Wenselm.]

[The world is in awe of your gift for your fiancee.]

[The achievement title: 'Husband Material' has been unlocked.]

[Female NPCs are likely to treat you favourably.]

[Reputation throughout the continent increased by +2000.]

The 'Husband Material' title was really funny and lucrative at the same time. Imagine if a boss character was female and they treat me favourably due to the title.

I might end up escaping situations that others won't.

—-Yawn!

I woke up and stretched a bit.

Today was the day I will depart for the quest of the Drisica kingdom.

Yesterday, after all the assailant and quest talk, I ended up totally ignoring Ena and making her grumpy. For which I had to console her for half an hour by continuously apologising. In the end, a kiss was able to solve everything, and she said that she understands the current situation and that I should definitely help his majesty clear out all the traitors of the kingdom.

To think I'd finally be doing some normal missions instead of falling in places like the abyss or battling a general.

There were still around 14 days of real-time remaining for the competition, so I had the leisure of doing my own stuff before all that.

I had not accepted the invitation from the mailbox and had ended up losing that offer which almost brought me to blood tears, but I held on strongly. Because I believed that if they truly wanted me to be a part of the competition, they should be offering me more than just that.

I still don't know what the eyes of the wise were, but I hope that if it was something important, they would offer it to me again.

'Argh! I should have just accepted it back then! I might have completely lost out on the chance to gain a Legendary 4-star eye power! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Who's idea was it to play hard-to-get? It's not the 21st century!'

I clamoured and threw a tantrum inside my brain, but in reality, I was just sitting normally while trying to get the drowsiness away.

Since I had already slept in-game, I was feeling quite rejuvenated and decided to log out for a while.

"Logout!"

Ah!

Sweet home Alabama!

Not really, it wasn't even my home that I was currently staying at.

I had made quite the money from selling the item drops from the fire general.

I had crossed a total net worth of more than 3 million just thanks to the fire general, and I was really happy about it.

I went to the bathroom and took a bath.

You should bathe every once in a while, kids! Stinking is no good.

Since I had made a fortune, it was time to squander some of it and help reduce mom's burdens and maybe throw a party or something.

"Oh, you're up? Don't always sleep in the capsule, you should sleep in real sometimes too. There have been cases where people lose the difference between reality and Mayhem due to oversleeping in the capsule. Not like it's life-threatening, but it can still mess with your head. You didn't even have lunch or dinner."

Scarlett said as soon as she saw me inside the gym room. Why did she know I was sleeping inside the capsule? Was I under surveillance?

—-Shiver!

I shivered and unconsciously wrapped my hand around myself like a girl, and she rolled her eyes seeing that.

After I was done exercising, I ate a heavy breakfast, since I was very hungry from skipping lunch and dinner.

'I should take care of my health before anything else.'

I made a mental note to not overwork myself and provide sufficient nutrients to my body from time to time so that I don't end up getting sick.

I checked my skreener device and was surprised to see missed calls from Mary.

'What does she want? Oh, wait—'

I felt like I was forgetting something but realisation struck me hard soon afterwards.

She had told me I'd forget, and I had ended up forgetting to text her after coming out of the abyss.

'Oh, well…'

I couldn't do much about spilt milk, rather I should think about how to make it up to her.

I looked at the day and suddenly got an idea.

"It's Sunday today and she must have a holiday from the office. Let's ask her out on dinner."

​ Again, I felt something was amiss even after I had made a backup plan.

'No, fuck!'

'I have a dinner date with Scarlett today, don't I?'

I suddenly remembered my appointment with Scarlett and felt like this was the first time I had faced such a real-life dilemma.

I never had to worry about meeting anyone before this, so it was all good.

[Flynn- Hey…

Mary- Oh, look! Who finally has time to respond to me?

Flynn- I am sorry, I got occupied with something…

Mary- Occupied with gaming, yes?

Flynn- Sorry! Can I make it up to you somehow? Apart from a dinner date…

Mary- Wow! So you're already going out with someone for dinner? Who is it? Did you get a girlfriend?

Flynn- No, not really. She's just my housemate…

Mary- …

Flynn- Don't think anything weird! I am an engaged man!

Mary- Huh? Since when?

Flynn- Since today. I got engaged to Duke Wenselm's daughter.

Mary- An NPC won over me?

Flynn- What?

Mary- Nothing! But you really turned out to be such a playboy! How are you planning to make it up to me?

Flynn- I am fine with anything apart from a dinner date today.

Mary- Then let's go on a dinner date next sunday.

Flynn- That's fine with me. It's a deal!

Mary- Don't think I am letting you off so easily. I'll text you the details on Saturday.

Flynn- Yeah, yeah! Thank you and bye-bye!!

Mary- ….bye and take care.

Flynn- You too.]

—-Haah!

Girls were really tiring beings. Why was I trying to console girls left and right?

'Wait, she said she won't let me off easily… how do I make it up with her?'

I suddenly remembered the passionate kiss between me and Ena, and how she had all her anger washed away after that.

'No no no!'

I shook my head violently. Ena was my fiancee, Mary was like… a boss to me?

Instead of dwelling more on it, I stopped thinking altogether.

Let's worry about things when they actually happen!

***

'"WHAT??!"'

Honestly, I had expected such a reaction. But seeing it live was still very satisfying.

I looked at mom and Clint's flabbergasted expression and felt proud on the inside.

"Hoho! Although it's still too early for Christmas, this Santa has brought gifts for you."

I stroked my non-existent beard and laughed like Santa.

"Son… this."

Mom looked at the watch that I placed in her hand and couldn't help but cry with emotion as she placed her other hand on her mouth.

It was a branded watch that my mom liked and talked about back when I was still in school. After that, our financial condition got worse and I had to drop out of college. She had given up on buying something as unnecessary as a fancy watch when her son's future was on the line.

Now that the same son had brought her the watch that she used to desire back then, she couldn't control her raging emotions. I hugged her gently and let her cry it out until she finally calmed down.

Clint, who was usually cheerful in front of us, currently looked at both of us with a sad smile as he hugged us both together.

Ah! A good family is such a wonderful blessing.

A blessing that I was devoid of my whole childhood. But I had no regrets about it.

"Hey squid, I've brought something for you as well."

"What?"

Clint looked around with expectations but couldn't help but be disappointed when he couldn't see any visible gifts.

I flicked his forehead with my finger.

"Ouch ouch ouch!"

"Go and open the door, let the people who are waiting outside come in."

I said and Clint confusedly went and opened the door.

"NO WAY!"

"Yes way kid."

"NO WAY! NO WAY! NO WAY! HOLY MOTHER!"

Clint held his head tightly and pinched himself to see if he wasn't dreaming. Then again started shouting before running to me and hugging me tightly.

"Thank you."

He said softly, unable to contain his happiness. Although his eyes were moist, his sincere words were enough to tell me what he was currently feeling.

"You're welcome. I'll come and check on you from time to time so you better not play too much before you finish college, Okay? I'll let you join my guild if you reach level 100."

I said, even though I knew full well that Clint wasn't the type of kid to lose focus of what's better for him. In many ways, he was way smarter and more sensible than me.

"I love you, bro."

"I love you both too. Now let them get in, they've been waiting outside for more than half-hour already."

I chuckled and Clint ran towards the door to let the people outside set up his brand-new gaming capsule.

….

//DreamNote// (12 sept)

Please continue supporting this with your power stone and golden tickets :)

I have resumed writing, will try to get back to 2ch/d in the coming next few days.