( The real world, Sector D )
For the second straight day after being exposed as the number two player, Leo chose to skip work using MP, as he felt that the environment outside was still too heated for him to show his face.
Although he knew that he could not ignore this problem forever and would have to face it sooner or later, he did not want that day to be until he finished the grand tournament at least, as for now, he wanted to shift all of his focus to winning the tournament.
His life was still hanging in the balance, with him winning the Grand Tournament being the only way for him to save his own skin.
Although things were better now than before and his identity as The Boss seemed almost secure, he still needed to win the grand tournament to seal the deal.
Once his win in the grand tournament was complete, he could then focus on his next big problem as 'Leo Skyshard' the merchant, but until then he wanted to delay the inevitable.
"So… what should we do today? Staying within the room all day seems boring…." Leo muttered to himself, as he wondered if he should treat today as a cheat day and go visit the luxury restaurants in sector D where one needed to pay MP to have food.
With everyone that knew him already off to work, the chances of him being caught outside during non-lunch hours were less, however, with them not being zero, Leo decided to cancel the idea.
"Perhaps I should visit the MP exchange store and call mom…. I miss her and talking to her will make me feel less lonely" Leo thought, as after thinking about it for a while, he decided that calling mom was probably the best idea, especially since she was back with the asshole father of his.
"I don't even understand why she is back with that man? Is he broke again or something? Was he so desperate for food and shelter that he moved back in with mom?" Leo muttered to himself, as he walked out of his apartment wearing a red work uniform and walked with his head hanging low.
"That man is clearly up to no good, the smirk he gave us when we called mom was so evil….. I doubt if he's our real father, ain't no way someone so sly created Luke….. nope, impossible" Leo muttered, as he walked at an increased pace towards the MP exchange store in sector D as he worried for the safety of his mother with that man around.
Once the dark thoughts began, it became a slippery slope for Leo as his thoughts wandered from that man using his mother for food and shelter, to him scheming to sell her second kidney for securing his own ticket.
"Oh I'll use all my MP to kill you, if I see so much as a scratch on my mother's face" Leo said, as he walked into the MP exchange store, which was completely empty at this hour and walked up to one of the operator booths which looked exactly like the MP exchange store within the game.
"Spooky….I almost feel like I'm inside Terra Nova Online right now-" Leo murmured to himself as he picked up the telephone and requested the ship operator to connect a call to home in exchange for 4 MP.
*********
( Meanwhile On Earth )
It had been over 36 hours since Elena and Jacob found themselves buried deep within rubble and they had been surviving using the emergency rations that they kept taped under the catastrophe desk, for emergencies like this one.
"It's been 36 hours Jacob…. We only have two more 200 ml Tetra packs of water left. We will die at this rate of dehydration in 2-3 days" Elena said with a sad voice, as she contemplated committing suicide.
"Hey, I know the situation is tough, but we must ration our supplies as long as possible and try to hold out.
Never lose hope Elena…. Never lose hope" Jacob said, as he tried to keep Elena mentally strong.
"There is no one who is going to come to save us Jacob…. What's the point of having hope? Buildings crumple everyday in this hell of a world and the government stopped functioning 9 months ago.
There is no hope…." Elena said, as she began sobbing inconsolably, wasting her precious tears as she lost hydration even faster.
"Hey…. It's okay… we are here together" Jacob said, as he hugged Elena and tried to console her, while Elena tried to push him away with her feeble strength.
"I- I'm just happy the kids are safe…. At least they escaped this hell.
I couldn't have afforded to be weak if they were around" Elena said, as she started to chuckle at the thought of Luke and Leo living a good life on the arc ship.
Based off their last conversation with one another, Elena understood that the two were doing well for themselves and were turning into some sort of bigshots and she could not have been any more proud as a mother.
"At least they won't have to attend our funeral… haha, that would be so sad. I remember burying my mother…. It was hard" Elena said, as she began to mumble nonsensically, however, Jacob still let her speak her heart out and only embraced her softly.
"I'm just sad they will never know how good their father really was and how much he sacrificed for them.
Poor kids gonna hate you forever…." Elena said, as at this comment Jacob momentarily felt his breath freeze.
The kids never found out the true reason behind his absence all these years and had grown to detest him with all their essence.
"It's okay…. I didn't do it for their affection, I did it because I had to do it as their father" Jacob said, as he hugged Elena a little harder as the two shared an intimate moment together.
Suddenly, however, a voice interrupted their alone time, startling the two—
"HEY GEEZER, GET YO HANDS OFF MY MAMA" An angry voice said, as a frowning Leo appeared on a floating screen before the two within the small confines of the rubble that they were in.
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the PS target, good job everyone! ///