After a quick shower, Zen crashed onto his bed. He was exhausted after a long day, and the adrenaline was finally wearing out. Several years ago, Zen wanted to open his own restaurant. To think that his dream would finally be fulfilled in the least likely places! He fed a total of fifty people because, after a while, the word got around and even the invigilators wanted in even though they did not have character profile cards to show. Instead, they traded a meal for some of their interesting stories or tips for better survival odds. Zen had never felt more grateful for his civilian upbringing.

“Let’s see, I have 600 credits to spend. I don’t want to waste it all on any character profiles. Besides, my big brother and big sister should know most things about the other participants even if I don’t. I need to review my game highlight clip before anyone else’s!”

Logging into the system, Zen entered the home lobby of the VR game. It was highly customisable. Zen wondered if he could do anything he wished in here before exploring this game.

Similar to the basic room in the academy, the virtual home lobby had a bed, a wardrobe for changing his avatar’s outfits, a functional bathroom, a desk with writing supplies and a window that showed a lovely scenery that he could change. Zen took time to play and admire how well developed the game was. Even the duvet felt comfortable enough to sleep in! It was a shame sleeping in a VR is impossible.

After having his fill of fooling around, Zen took up a pen at the desk and chose a notebook. If his guess was right, this was where the important things happen. The rooms they were given in the physical world didn’t matter as much as the VR home lobby. Zen did his best to recall what he needed and started recording the details of every single profile charade saw earlier today.

“Oh, wow! This is very handy!” Zen grinned and wrote quickly. It didn’t take him too long to finish recording everything down. He had about twenty-four records of other people’s character profile cards including his new big brother and sister. He felt proud of his accomplishment. There were only 75% more to go before he had a general idea of every student and their abilities.

“Now, to find where I can buy the game highlight clips.”

There was a portal at the door that led to different places. It was obvious where Zen needed to go next. Just as he was about to leave for the shop, a window popped up in his vision.

[You have new mail!]

Curious, Zen checked it immediately.

[Greetings, Zen!

Due to special circumstances, the Godfather has decided to make a rule exception for you. From this moment onwards, those who renounce their affiliation with their family will receive equipment support based on the invigilators’ votes.

Your request for a VR headset and VR games was approved. However, due to the Taro family’s restriction, the system has decided to grant you access to all the games available in the market using the microchip VR device instead.

Your games can be accessed by the portal at your door. You may also invite any of your friends to game with you if you add them to your contact list.

Enjoy and try not to die.

- Admin.]

Excited, Zen quickly checked the portal by the door. There were hundreds of VR games, including those he’d never seen before. The gamer in him wanted to try everything out at once, but Zen held it back. He didn’t request these games for the sake of playing them. He needed them to train! More importantly, he could invite anyone in his contact list to join him in the games!

Adding a friend to the contact list was simple. Zen found the directory of every invigilator and student recorded in the academy. Of course, those who died in the first round were marked as “Cannot be Found” so Zen didn’t add them. Instead of searching specifically Two shotfor specific individuals, Zen decided that there should be no harm in sending friend invitations to everyone on the list.

For five minutes, the world watched Zen revise his message over and over again. What was so difficult about asking someone to accept a friend request? It shouldn’t be that hard. Yet, Zen felt his social anxiety drive him crazy. He didn’t want to come off as a crazy person, a prude or even a stalker. How did people make friends usually? He’d never have any friends in the past. Not as the young master nor as a civilian. If Celine could be considered a friend, it would be through food.

“That’s right! I can tell them to accept the request and let me know the kind of food they like!”

Pleased with his idea, Zen fired the friend requests with lightning fingers.

He didn’t expect anyone to accept it quickly but not even halfway through his list, two people accepted it and placed their food requests.

[Sasha “Two Shot” Angeloff sends you a message. “Pudding Custard for me!”]

[Liu Feng “Seer” sends you a message. “Why, how thoughtful of you, little brother. Could I request some steamed char siu buns?”]

Zen laughed at the responses. Indeed, he should have seen this coming when he sent this out. He dismissed their messages and penned it down so he wouldn’t forget them tomorrow and continued sending his friend invitations to everyone. Several invigilators accepted quickly and placed their orders. However, there was one person who accepted his friend request without putting any food orders.

[Akiko “Death princess” Kanzaki sends you a message. “Are you the little brother that Liu Feng talks about?”]

Zen fired off the last invite and paused. Meeting two big wigs on his first day? What were the odds?

“Should I reply or should I head to the shop first?” Zen contemplated. Sasha told him to run if he ever met the three terrors, but one was now his brother, and the other seemed to be a friend of Liu Feng.

In his panic, Zen concluded that it might be better to consult this with his older sister and brother first.