"Vivienne Cross is my classmate," Jan Squire replied without missing a beat, pulling Vivienne along as they walked deeper into the grand hall—earning themselves a wave of secret but fervent looks from the household staff.
Stop looking, stop looking, Vivienne repeated in her heart. Even though she had mentally prepared herself, being stared at like this in real life was still a bit too much—total social death.
But.
For 500,000 star credits. For the class rep's bright future.
She'd endure!
The two of them sat down on the couch. The original plan was for Jan to bring home a friendly Sentinel to show some "intimacy" in front of his father.
But it turned out the Financial Minister wasn't even home. So they were left awkwardly holding hands like two actors performing for a blind audience—complete waste of effort.
Jan asked, "Want something to drink? Tea?"
Vivienne said, "Sure."
"Make some red tea for Vivienne. A little sweet, but not too rich," Jan instructed casually. Then he asked, "When will he be back?"
The "he" he referred to was obviously the "Master."
After all, the lady of the house was off on vacation, enjoying her glorious youth.
The butler replied with a gentle smile, "The Master changed his plans at the last minute and didn't inform me of his schedule afterward."
Jan nodded, "I'll be staying for dinner."
The butler smiled and went to prepare the tea himself. Normally, only the master of the house or the most honored guests would warrant his personal attention—otherwise, the maids and footmen handled such tasks.
Jan and Vivienne exchanged another glance. Now, the plan was to wait.
Wait for the main character of the show—Jan's father—to arrive.
Jan suggested, "Want to go upstairs and play some games?"
—Thank goodness he didn't say "read some books."
Vivienne readily agreed. It wasn't like they could just sit in the living room staring at each other all day.
The tea would naturally be brought up. As they got up, Jan instinctively reached for Vivienne's hand.
Vivienne: "…" Ahem, we only agreed to hold hands when entering the house, remember?
As he continued trying to lead her up the stairs, Vivienne finally couldn't take the clinginess. She subtly twisted her wrist and used a bit of leverage to naturally slip her hand out of his.
Jan paused, slightly frowning, and looked at her in confusion.
Vivienne really wanted to say, "Jan, even if we were really bonded, I'm still allowed to walk on my own, okay?"
—But of course she couldn't say that. So instead, she just gave him a playful wink, her dark, grape-like eyes gleaming.
Come on, dude. Everyone who needed to see already saw. Holding hands on the stairs? That's just overkill.
Jan held her gaze for a beat, then looked away. "What kind of games do you like?"
No surprise that the son of the Financial Minister had already achieved financial freedom—assuming, of course, that his funds weren't sourced from the very man he was preparing to antagonize.
He had three game rooms.
Vivienne: "…"
She would never have guessed that this serious, straight-laced guy was secretly a hardcore gamer.
"What do you want to play?"
Vivienne had very limited knowledge of gaming. None of her exes had been into it either—it was basically a blind spot for her. "Umm… I'm good with anything? I've barely played before."
Jan thought for a moment, then helpfully pointed to a shelf. "The second row is full of beginner-friendly titles."
Nothing too reliant on high-level mechanics.
Vivienne scanned the shelves, filled with all kinds of colorful, flashy game boxes. She pointed at one that looked nice: "How about this?"
Jan looked over.
It was a silver case with gold-foil lettering that read: Mecha World.
Jan: "…"
He fell into a strange silence.
Most of the second row consisted of PVE (Player vs Environment) games, but Mecha World was a PVP (Player vs Player) mecha battle game—he'd just played it recently and lazily left it on the second row…
Sensing his hesitation, Vivienne moved her hand away. "Want to pick something else?"
"…No need. If you want to play it, we'll play it." Mecha World also had farming and housing features, right? Should be fine.
Vivienne shrugged. "I'm fine either way. I haven't played any of them." No need to force yourself.
But while her focus was on the first part, Jan fixated on the second. He replied seriously: "You can play any game here. As many as you want."
Mecha World was a classic mecha battle game that had maintained a loyal fanbase for nearly 20 years thanks to its enduring gameplay.
Thanks to massive funding from wealthy players, the game had evolved from a browser-based title to a full immersive headset experience.
…
"No thanks, I'll just try the browser version first," Vivienne declined Jan's offer to switch to the VR version, which would've required her to change clothes and lie inside a game pod.
What if the Financial Minister showed up mid-game? That'd be awkward.
"Do you have an account? I can log in on mine."
Jan explained that Mecha World required real-name registration. If she made an account, it would be her only one—deleting it was the only way to reset.
"I'll make my own."
Vivienne created an account and randomly picked a username: [Xi Yi Xi]. She was super satisfied with it, thinking it sounded fierce and sharp.
"'Xi Yi' sounds like the word for 'bad.' I'm here to cause trouble!"
Jan didn't catch her twisted logic and assumed she'd just used a cute spelling of "Xi" from her Chinese name.
Vivienne quickly sped through the tutorial and added Jan as a friend. He'd logged in from another console in the same room.
Yes—this gaming room even had multiple projection rigs.
Maybe he liked playing multiple accounts at once?
A moment later, Jan's character [Qiu]teleported to her side.
Clad in a shining silver pilot suit, magnetic gloves, and surrounded by a glowing fire-orange dragon aura.
Clearly, an expensive fire-dragon skin.
Vivienne said sincerely, "Your gear looks amazing."
"Not bad."
In truth, Jan was a Mecha World superfan. He had poured years into the game, both grinding and spending. With a bit of gaming talent on top of that, he was basically a god-tier player.
Anyone who knew the game would immediately recognize the single-character name [Qiu]as a mark of elite skill.
But Jan didn't say any of that. Instead, he focused on explaining the PVE housing gameplay to Vivienne. "Retro plants boost prosperity the fastest…"
For the next hour, Jan simply watched Vivienne play her cozy little homestead game.
She wanted to plant flowers? He handed her seeds.
All the seeds he offered were labeled "Rare," sparkling with golden glow.
She wanted to buy land and furniture? Didn't have enough gold? He gifted her currency.
She wanted anything?
Jan responded to her every whim. Truly, always ready for her.
[Congratulations! Your home's prosperity has reached Level 64. Global Ranking: Outside Top 10,000 (Exact rank hidden).]
Still outside the top 10,000.
Vivienne lost interest in decorating her little digital garden.
She suddenly noticed that Jan had been watching her the entire time. "Ah, sorry, I got really into it—kept you waiting…"
"No," Jan said instantly. "Keep playing."
"I think I'm done decorating." Vivienne twirled her avatar in place. "Jan, this game's called Mecha World. Shouldn't there be, like, mecha combat modes?"
She saw his eyes light up—those usually calm red eyes shining with excitement, as if she had just said something incredibly awesome.
He nodded. "There are."