The day after the Royal Gala was chaotic, however, it ended fast.
While the only significant meeting on Leo's end was his interaction with Shane, Luke and Cervantez had many other important conversations as they fraternized with nobles whom they could not meet yesterday.
Soon it was time for dignitaries to leave and players to undergo their second night's curfew, as the moment they were locked inside the rooms once again, all players got the system reminder to log-out of the game.
The 24 hour grace period that they had received had finally run out and everyone was forced to return to reality once again.
*************
( Leo's POV, The Arc Ship, Sector D )
As Leo opened his eyes in the living room, he saw the frowning faces of Luke and Amanda standing over his head, as apparently both of them seemed to be waiting for him to log out.
"I can explain-" Leo said immediately, panic etched into his face, as Luke shook his head and walked away.
Leo's panicked and guilty expression told him everything he needed to know, as if there was even a shadow of a doubt left in his mind before this, he no longer doubted it anymore.
"So it is you….. THE LEO SKYSHARD IN THE GAME IS YOU-" Luke shouted, as Amanda looked towards him in anger and said "Of course it's him? Who else would enter Leo Skyshard as their gaming ID, duh?"
Both of them looked extra snappy today, and as Amanda made this comment, Luke glared towards her warningly, however, said nothing, out of respect for her gender.
"Wait! Wait! I can explain…. I can explain" Leo said, pushing his both hands outwards, as he stood between Luke and Amanda, trying to calm them down, before a major fight broke out.
Simultaneously, both Luke and Amanda folded their hands, waiting for Leo to explain, as Leo nervously began narrating his story.
"When I first logged into the game and they prompted us to choose a username, I assumed it had to be our real name, so I over-thought it," Leo explained, his words tumbling out in haste.
"I immediately regretted it once I realized my mistake, but I was too embarrassed to admit that I had foolishly used my actual name as my gaming ID, which is why I lied about it," he confessed, revealing the origins of his gaming alias.
"I really never meant to deceive either of you, it's just that this NPC I met called me Lin Mu when I refused to tell her my real name and since then it's been the alias I've been using inside the game.
I don't tell anyone I'm Leo Skyshard, I just say I'm Lin Mu-" Leo said, as Luke shook his head and could not believe a word of the garbage he was listening to.
"How can you lie to me Leo? I'm your brother! When I explicitly tell you to give me your gaming ID, how can you lie to me?" Luke said, sounding offended, as Leo felt his heart pinch at this remark.
If there was anyone in the world, Leo never wanted to be untruthful to, it was Luke and it stinged his heart that he had to lie to his beloved brother.
"Forget about the alias, I don't care if your name is Jin Mu, or Mu Kyu, or Balls On Walls.
How can you be so dumb as to put your real name ID as your profile name?
Do you even understand how there are several individuals and especially thirsty women who have already identified your real identity based on your name?
You want to get hit on by all those women? Is that why you did this? For attention?" Amanda said, sounding extremely upset and angry, as Leo felt attacked for no reason.
Agreed, he was dumb to put in his real name as his second gaming ID, however, he never did it for the purpose of getting more attention from the opposite gender.
"Thirsty women? That's not even half of it, our supervisor, our colleagues, people in sector S and A, everyone knows your identity now. You absolute fool. You cannot go to work now without facing extreme heckling" Luke said, as he looked at his clock and realized that it was almost time to report for work.
"You're unbelievable….." both Luke and Amanda said together, as they shook their heads and expressed common disapproval of Leo.
For a moment, Leo felt remorseful and guilty, as he hung his head in shame, however, as a few awkward seconds of silence passed, his internal thoughts took a turn towards comedy.
He couldn't help but laugh at the thought of how he was trying to be discreet in the game and on the arc ship until now, to hide the true nature of his identity as 'The Boss' and how suddenly, he had now accidentally turned himself into the gossip centerpiece.
'Next up: Leo Skyshard mugs, t-shirts, and commemorative plates!' He thought wryly as despite the seriousness of the situation, Leo couldn't help but find humor in his own folly, wondering if this was how comic relief characters felt when they bumbled their way through the plot twists of life.
"Guys, I think we might be getting late for roll-call" Leo suggested, trying to lighten the mood, however, his words were only met with a collective "SHUT-UP"
"You're using MP today and not showing up for work. Let me and Amanda first survey how safe it is for you to actually get out-" Luke said, as Amanda nodded and agreed with his words.
"Let me make sure some lecherous bitch doesn't just start pinning you against a wall and kissing you-" she said furiously, as Leo felt his left eye flutter at her weird imagination.
Since the two of them had given their verdict, Leo now had no other choice but to obey, as he silently lowered his head and accepted his fate of staying at dorm for the day.
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the PS target, good job everyone! ///