( The next day, Terra Nova Online )
"Boy, I usually never reprimand you, however, what you're demanding today sounds utterly foolish to me-" Ben said as he was disappointed in Leo for requesting to go out alone in the market today.
"Trust me master, I don't want to, it's just that I don't have a choice. This is something I must do…." Leo replied with frustration evident in his voice.
He really did not wish to go, however, he had no other option. Neither Luke nor Amanda were people he could afford not meeting with today.
"What part of 'we are going to war' did you not understand boy? The night guild is out there hunting you like hounds, your first grand tournament match is in two days!, is this really the best time to be loitering around?" Ben asked angrily as he did not understand why Leo was behaving so disobediently.
"I'm sorry master….. I would never willingly go against your instructions.....if you absolutely forbid me from going today, I won't-
However, this is very important to me. I would not request you to let me go if it wasn't.
I understand that the environment out there is not good, however, I have to go. I really do" Leo said as Ben clutched his head in disbelief.
Since Leo had now said that if Ben absolutely forbade it, he would really not go-, all the burden of deciding was now on Ben's shoulders.
If he forbade it, he would be denying Leo to do something very important to him, but if he agreed, he would be exposing Leo to unnecessary risk.
It was a great dilemma, but eventually Ben relented as he said "Alright, you can go, but I will be shadow tailing you from a distance"
Leo grimaced, he did not wish for Ben to see him spending his day with Amanda, however, without the lack of a better alternative, he accepted his instruction.
**********
For the entire last work day, the only thing that Leo kept thinking about was how he could get away with meeting Amanda and Luke without exposing his identity as 'TheBoss'
The first and obvious solution that came to his mind was to change his appearance, which was why the first thing that he did after logging back into the game and getting Ben's permission to head out, was going to a nearby clothing store and buying a new outfit.
Instead of the black overalls and Virex face mask that he always adorned, Leo shifted to wearing a loose t-shirt like local garment, baggy lower garment and some wack sunglasses.
He splurged 7 gold coins on the entire set and bought clothing that was considered designer wear.
He then proceeded to buy an inspection blocker device which looked like a pocket watch for 1500 gold coins, paying a ridiculous sum of money for the best detection blocking device that he could get his hands on quickly.
The item's description indicated that no one below level 250 could inspect his stat panel, offering Leo a measure of tranquility, especially since he was still quite far from achieving level 250 himself.
With this, his transformation from 'TheBoss' to 'Leo' was finalized. Yet, he remained unable to share his gaming ID with Luke or Amanda, even if they requested it for private chats.
Although he succeeded in changing his overall appearance, if they were to request his gaming ID, he would be exposed immediately—a vulnerability Leo needed to be particularly cautious of in today's meeting with them.
'Sigh, Ben must think I'm a clown' Leo thought, as he gazed over his shoulder and noticed a man inconspicuously walking a few feet behind him.
He was sure that Ben would think that he was a fool for dressing the way he did as his current dress was hard to camouflage with and had no space for carrying concealed weapons, however, he had his reasons for doing what he was doing.
*********
( Outside the scrap metal shop )
Amanda waited patiently for Leo to show up outside the scrap metal shop after completing her work with the shop owner.
She too had gone dress shopping before coming here today, but for entirely different reasons compared to Leo.
She had gone shopping because she considered this meeting to be her first official date with Leo as while this was in the virtual world, with them being stuck on the arc ship, this world was the only space that the duo could travel freely.
She wore a pretty white dress and even put on some white flowers in her hair to look extra cute as she patiently waited for Leo to show up to their meeting spot.
When she finally saw him, Amanda could not help but chuckle as in her eyes he looked like a complete hipster.
Black shades, loose t-shirt and baggy jeans with a pocket watch hanging out, he looked like a 20th century gangster as Amanda could not help but laugh out loud when she saw him.
"Oh my god…. What the hell are you wearing?" She said excitedly as she laughed out loud pointing at his outfit.
"Ummm…. It's designer okay? Costs 7 gold coins!" Leo said proudly, as Amanda only laughed harder after hearing this.
"No way you paid 7 coins for this silly, you got scammed! And hard! Tch, I have to take you shopping with me today" Amanda said as she leaned in and got up on her toes to match Leo's height.
"Usually, the guy brings flowers when coming to meet a girl and then takes her out shopping when it's their first date" Amanda said teasingly as Leo's face reddened immediately.
"D-date?" He said, not expecting her to use such language.
"Of Course silly. You think I'll dress this pretty just to meet a friend?" She said pinching his red nose as Leo felt his heart flutter wildly.
Although this was within the game world, Leo's character still looked a lot like the real Leo, especially from his facial looks.
However, his trained and toned body within the game world was nothing like his real world body, which was why his overall charm went up by several levels when Amanda gazed on him within Terra Nova.
" Despite your outfit you look very handsome today... I approve of you as my date!" Amanda said as she very much took the lead in breaking the ice.
"I accept you as my date as well, you look beautiful" Leo said coyly, looking towards the sky as Ben who was listening to this conversation from afar felt like he was going to puke some blood.
He had expected Leo to have something extremely important to attend today, however, it turned out that he was going out to meet a girl!
To make matters worse, his student who took on mountain lions like they were kittens became a kitten when talking to women as he could not even look into the girls eyes when he gave her compliments and instead gazed towards the sky.
"I have failed as a master…. I've raised a beta wolf as my disciple, the girl is more manly than he is-" Ben murmured in disappointment as he could not believe that Leo was so clueless that the girl had to take lead amongst those two.
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the PS target, good job everyone! ///