(Luke's POV, one day ago)
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[ Global Announcement :- Congratulations to player 'TheBoss' for achieving the realm of a 'Master' fighter and becoming the first player in the game to achieve the status of a Master.
Player 'TheBoss' can now be considered on par with the strongest NPCs within the Empire and has hence became a key figure for the future of the game's main storyline. ]
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Just like everyone else in the game, Luke too received the notification about 'TheBoss' reaching the realm of a master.
"Well…. This guy just keeps on racing ahead on his own. He's in a league of his own.
I can't believe I fought toe to toe with this guy at the finals of the Grand Tournament and almost beat him…." Luke muttered looking at the announcement, as he took it as a good hearted joke.
There was no point in him being jealous of 'TheBoss', as he never held ambitions about becoming the top player himself.
He was content improving at his own pace and did not really care about the success or failure of others.
However, while he did not think much about the announcement itself, later that day when he received the article about the exposè on 'TheBoss' and 'Leo Skyshard', was when he started to frown hard.
"What is this nonsense? Why are these people slandering my brother?" Luke questioned, as his first instinct was to dismiss the evidence before him.
'TheBoss' and 'Leo Skyshard' could never be the same individuals. He knew his brother, if he were 'TheBoss', his brother would have told him long back, however, no matter how much he wanted to dismiss the whole concept as absurd, the evidence against Leo was quite damning.
It was simply impossible for the two of them to always gain the same number of levels, all the time and hence for the first time in his life, Luke started to critically think about all his interactions with Leo so far.
"Well, when the first time we met at StrongHaven City, he did use daggers as his primary choice of weapon although he's a merchant….." Luke muttered to himself, as the doubts started to creep in.
The next clue was about how 'TheBoss' never showed up at the first rankers event, but Leo did.
And coincidentally, both Leo and 'TheBoss' gained the exact same number of levels from the rankers event.
"But no one player is allowed to hold two accounts…. That's simply impossible–" Luke muttered, as he knew that it was against the game's rules for players to have two accounts, which made the whole matter even more confusing.
In the end, Luke decided to believe that perhaps 'TheBoss' and his brother had a special connection, one that allowed them to share EXP for some reason, because that was the only way one could make sense of this situation.
"Well, I must ask Leo about this today…. It's been a while since we have had lunch together too, so I'll surely visit him today" Luke muttered to himself, as he resolved to meet Leo at lunch.
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(Present day)
Early morning the next day, he used MP to skip his day's work and headed over straight to Leo's apartment after logging out.
He pressed the bell, and banged on Leo's door a few times asking him to open the door, however, there seemed to be no response from the other side.
"Huh? It's too early for him to report to work. Did I somehow miss him?" Luke wondered, as he sat outside Leo's door and decided to wait there till he finished his morning inspection and returned.
According to Leo's routine it would only take him an hour to do so, and hence with nothing else to do, Luke simply hung out in the lobby outside Leo's apartment, de stressing from his duties as a vice guild master, and thinking about what recipes to cook for lunch.
To his shock however, an hour later, when Leo's apartment door opened…. It wasn't Leo who walked out of the apartment, but rather three alien elf operators, one of whom appeared to be very strong and powerful.
"Huh?" Luke muttered, surprised, as he did not expect the operators to be personally visiting his brother.
As per Cervantez, the operators were mysterious beings who never needlessly mingled with the passengers, so if they personally came out to seek Leo, it was definitely a big deal.
"Good Morning Mr.Skyshard–" said the tall, middle aged looking elf, as before Luke could even respond, the three of them simply disappeared as if having teleported.
"How did he know my name?" Like wondered, as he pressed the bell on Leo's door, feeling curious and worried as to what may have happened.
The more he tried to find out about his brother, the more shocked he became, as it seemed like Leo was hiding more stuff from him than he could even begin to fathom.
*Ring* *Ring*
This time, with the operators gone, Leo finally answered the door, as there seemed to be a big grin on his face when he did.
"Brother–!!" He said happily, as despite all the controversy surrounding him currently on the global forums, Leo himself seemed to be in a cheery mood.
"Are you okay Leo? Why were the operators here?" Luke asked, feeling worried about Leo's safety, however, Leo simply waved him off and invited him in.
"You won't believe what just happened brother…. I have a lot to tell you, I'm so happy you're here–" Leo said enthusiastically, as for a moment Luke felt taken aback by his brother's happiness.
Keeping his doubts to himself, he entered Leo's apartment, deciding to give his brother a chance to speak before he popped the questions himself.
There seemed to be something big going on, and Luke did not want to start doubting his brother, before he had a chance to come clean himself.
"Okay, let's talk over lunch–" Luke said, as he went straight towards Leo's fridge, looking for some ingredients to cook lunch with.