"Happy birthday!"

That's what I hear from two of Kazuki's classmates as they enter the ballroom with Mom standing at the entrance bowing to them in her best blue party dress.

Yep, today is the day. Before every Christmas, we celebrate my little brother's birthday and since he's turning 13, we're going to celebrate in style!

It’s enough to make me smile seeing some of his friends are willing to accept our invitations to celebrate my little brother's big day. But they're not the only ones. Some of our cousins, aunts, uncles, and family friends are here, too. I can imagine how Aunt Mary and Machi will compete in the "Pinch Kazuki's Cheeks the Hardest" contest and Uncle Ralph will sing "Dame Dame" during karaoke hour. Of course, Zac and Damon are also here along with a few friends and club members who support me and Kazuki. I don’t know about them, but I guess they are willing to drop everything on their schedule to meet us on this special day. I only pray that Zac doesn't say anything funny about me or else...

Speaking of which, they are still busy upstairs doing a certain thing. For this party, the dress code is semi-formal and I'm currently wearing a black tuxedo suit with a green shirt underneath it. Dad is wearing a simple blue jacket, black dress shirt, green striped tie, blue slacks, and black shoes. He's currently chatting with a few teachers from Kazuki's school along with his work colleagues we have known for a while. As for Kazuki himself, he's too busy dressing himself back in the dressing room upstairs. Though, I'm more worried that he might bite Zac's hand while he's trying to dress him up. He really doesn't like neckties for obvious reasons...

However, this year will be different. Because the next set of people entering the ballroom is a familiar pair of girls. One is a blonde girl wearing a pink blouse, orange skirt, and brown boots holding a purple purse and another is a young girl wearing a simple auburn dress and a pair of red Mary-Jane shoes carrying a big gift box that I'm guessing it's for Kazuki.

"Welcome to the party, Arin," Mom greeted before turning to the young girl accompanying her. "And you must be Annie... Uh..."

"F-Fortune," Annie stuttered behind Arin. "A-Annie Fortune. A-Are you Wind and Kazu's Mom?"

"Why yes. I'm guessing you're one of the friends Kazuki was raving around. My name is Tsukino. Nice to meet you!"

"N-Nice to meet you! Y-You, too, Hayate!"

Fortune, huh? Guess her name is not just a coincidence on her part. "Yeah. Same here, Annie. And if you're looking for the star of the show, he's busy preparing for it," I say to her gently. "But if you want to personally give that to him, then I'll let you keep it. But I advise you not to put it on the table for everyone's sake."

"R-Really?" Annie's brown eyes perked up while trying to carry the big box that seemed too big for her size. "Thanks, Mr. Hayate!"

At least she worked up the courage to talk to me this time. Small steps, but it's good. Looks like Kazuki did wonders for her confidence. I hope she's okay meeting him outside the game, too. Although I'm a little concerned about her still carrying that box. Maybe I should take the box for her sake...

"Don't worry, Hayate." Arin grabbed the box from her cousin twice removed. "I'll take care of this. Annie, how about you find us a table to sit at? Maybe in front of the stage?"

"Sure! I'll see you soon, Kazuki's Mom and Mister Hayate!"

And she's off. Annie really is a nice girl both in and in real life. I turn to Arin and help her put down her cousin's gift.

"Are you sure you want to leave her to find your table?" I ask.

"She doesn't look much, but Annie is a responsible girl and she's not the type to wander off while I'm not around unlike her brother." Arin sighs in frustration. "And before you ask, I gave some invitations to him and the rest of Force Blade. Unfortunately, they're too busy with some guild stuff and some school club shenanigans at the moment."

I thought so. Then again, most of the Force Blade guys were not that close to us compared to a few players we know. Speaking of which...

"What about Azel and Wallaby?"

Arin smirked when I asked this question. "Got Ol' Wally's text before arrival. They will be here in a few minutes."

"Awesome. I'll let Kazuki know soon." I sigh as I look at the ballroom one more time. "Man, who knew playing an online game changed a lot of dynamics between me and him, huh?"

"You can say that with every other game that you think has changed everyone's lives," Arin says. "Not all video games are all "brain-rotting" or "violent" things kids always play instead of doing their homework. There are some that are made into classrooms or virtual walkthroughs of museums and landmarks of the past. Heck, some players from those past famous MMOs have met in real life and become true friends and even big names you may know today. It's no different than what you're doing with your brother's birthday."

I'm surprised at her sudden insight into video games and how it affects everyone including . Now that she mentioned it, I realize that I might have judged the game on the surface level of things. When I first heard about it from Dad, I thought it was a hyped-up trend attempting to make VRMMO a reality through . But now that I’ve experienced it firsthand with Kazuki, I realize it's more than that. We’ve met other players, experienced a living story through a group of near-realistic NPCs, and worked hard on becoming stronger and more skilled at things we never would have done in real life.

I guess that the moment I logged into the game for the first time, everything changed for me for the better.

"Yeah, you might be right." I smile as I start recalling my memories of our first days in [Isekai]. "With all the ups and downs we endured, it has changed us for the better. It has also helped me realize what I want to do first in my life. I don't want to exaggerate, but without this game, I would still be a kid who can't make up his mind about his future. At least that's what I thought from a few months of playing the game."

Gah... That sounds cheesy just thinking about it! I can hear Arin chuckling behind me and... smacking my back. Ow...

"Hey, no arguments here. If you hated the game, I would have heard your complaints about it. Instead, it's the polar opposite and you guys are already looking forward to the first major expansion coming in a few days. If anything, you might be on your way to becoming two of the strongest players of [Isekai] or discovering something amazing that no one else has done."

This time, it's my turn to chuckle. "Yeah, I doubt we’ll become big. But we can still explore around wherever we want. Only, we may sometimes go off our own separate ways now that Kazuki will be coming out from the [Guardian Player] program. But that doesn't mean the Palmer brothers will be disbanded because of him turning 13."

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I smile as I turn to see the birthday party turning livelier than I expected. "In fact, I feel like this is only the beginning of our journey in ."

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I yawn loudly as I stretch out my arms. I walk down the hallway behind the ballroom to meet up with Zac and Damon while Mom picks up Kazuki so we can start the show. I do want to accompany her, but I have other obligations to go to first.

"Hayate!"

I smile as I see Zac and Damon by the elevator wearing red and blue tuxedo suits respectively. The first time I saw them made me glad Mom picked mine with my consent. In their defense, the colored suits were Zac's idea and I would have joined the cringey rainbow gang if Mom hadn't dragged me out to that novelty shop.

"Hey, guys. Did Mom take Kazuki to the stage right now?"

"Yep. We also saw Azel's player arriving on time, too. They should be with the birthday boy right now," Zac answers. "Ol' Wally also sent us a short message to you. Nothing much. He just said you should meet him up at the ballroom sometime."

Ol' Wally... I guess he might have shared his in-game name with his real one. Then again, he's a player who never played a video game in his whole life, so I don't blame him.

"I'll try to find him later. I really want to thank him for the awesome weapons he provided me in the game along with the lessons," I say. "But first, did you two bring the "package"?"

Damon nods and gives me a thick rectangular object wrapped in a blue snow wrapper and navy blue ribbon. "There you go. Wrapped as you requested with my mother's touch," he explains. "She also left some birthday cards with my brother and Zac's mother to make up for not making it to the party."

I smile. The gift seems to remain intact and true to his words, the ribbon is tied nicely as with other ones his mother made in previous years.

"Thanks, guys. I'm guessing Kaz didn't get a hint of what it is, right?"

"Nope. We have to keep the gift away from the dressing room in case he starts snooping," Damon answered "I also kicked Zac out with the gift when he started whining about the necktie."

"Speaking of which, was the kick really necessary?!" Zac growls while rubbing his behind. "Either way, we succeed on our mission and all that's left is to give that guy the big surprise of his life!"

"Yeah." I look at the gift in my hands one more time. "I hope it's worth the wait."

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One last thing to do before the gift-giving portion of the show. Right now, Mom and Dad are giving speeches during the opening portion and the latter suggested I should save mine until I give him my gift. This gives me enough time to look around in the ballroom to find a certain someone...

"Hey! Is that you, Windy?"

I gasp when I hear a familiar deep baritone voice booming nearby. I turn around and see a brunette-haired man in his 30's wearing a suit and orange tie waving at me with a familiar grin.

"Uh, yeah... Is that you, Ol' Wally?"

The man let out a booming laughter that would have scared all of the guests if it wasn't for his indoor voice and the opening show had already started. "Yep. Here, I'm Wallace Spurling, a professional blacksmith for your kitchen knives and artistic needs. But you can still call me "Ol' Wally" if you want."

He offers me a handshake and I oblige. "Nice to meet you in the real world, Ol' Wally. But can you at least call me by my real name here? "Windy" is even more embarrassing outside the game," I suggest. "It's Hayate. Hayate Palmer."

"Hayate, huh? I never expect it to be more foreign than I thought," Wally says.

"That's because Kazuki and I are half-Japanese. Our Dad is American and our Mom is Japanese. Sorry if you have mistaken us for something else."

"Hey, don't be sorry! I was shocked when I learned my kid was non-binary and I did want to meet up with another Asian-American. I had a friend who is half-Filipino and I still treat him as my fellow colleague in our craft even to this day. It may take a while to get used to who you are, but in the end, we are what we are and there's nothing we can change about it. As Sheridan always says, "We are what we are and that's that"."

That's one thing I agree with. I am what I am and that's the same for any race, gender, or sexuality. But I quickly realized something...

"Sheridan? Who's that?"

"Oh, right. That's my son who you knew as Azel," Wally answered. "He's meeting up with your brother right now, so feel free to greet him if you like."

I guess Zac was right about Azel meeting up with Kazuki. I should try to meet up with them before the gift-giving session.

"I see. Thanks for telling me that, Ol' Wally," I say. "But before I leave you alone, can you do one favor for me?"

"Sure. Anything for my blacksmith apprentice."

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After that meeting somehow took an hour to finish, I stretched out my arms as I headed backstage. There, I see Dad carrying what seems to be a small rectangular gift wrapped in light blue and white ribbon. I can hear Mom is hosting a few games for adults on stage, so I'm guessing Kazuki is hanging out with Azel, Yuri, and his classmates somewhere.

"Oh, Hayate! There you are!" Dad calls out once he sees me. "Did you..."

I quickly show him my gift before he can finish his question. "Right here with Kazuki none the wiser," I quietly declare. "What about yours?"

Dad smiles before he waves his gift in his hand. "Ready on my end. Sorry, it took a while for me to get it. Some of my colleagues from work are also at the party along with their kids."

"Dad, I don't think meeting with your colleagues makes you late from delivering it to Kazuki for the gift-giving," I point out.

"Well, that's that. But there's another hiccup on my end." Dad quickly scratches the back of his head as he puts his arm down. "Namely the fact that my company's clients are here at this party."

"Clients?" I repeat. "Please don't tell me this is another way to get around your NDAs again..."

"It's not that." Dad takes a deep breath and says, "Some of the developers of Midnight Dragon were here earlier."

Wait?! The developers were here?! For what?!

"Where are they right now?" I ask while trying to keep my composure from breaking.

"They just left. They didn't have an invitation, but they were here because of your offer."

Offer? Oh, right. The office visit. When Dad said he would try to get permission, he wasn't playing around with it. "Right... Sorry if we made a crazy offer. I would blame Kazuki, but it's partially my fault..."

"You don't have to apologize about it. I understand your frustrations. However, it seemed like they were okay with it."

Did my ears deceive me? The developers of the massively growing game just accepted our request to tour around their game studio like that?! Unless...

"But they did put a few caveats to it. Rather, they also responded with another invitation to you two due to your several brief reports on AI development."

Oh, I almost forgot about that. Dad did give us the game on the condition to make reports regarding the AI side of things. Well, I did most of the work since Kazuki's were nothing more than his rants about the story, quests, characters, and theory-crafting. It was a good try, though.

"Alright, let's hear it. If this is another surprise quest..."

Dad then told me everything about the tour without leaving out every single detail. At first, I'm paranoid. But when I hear more and more, I slowly realize the whole point of it.

"Wait, seriously?!" I exclaim.

"Yep. No strings attached. I hope this is enough to satisfy you and Kazuki. Not to mention satisfying their humor after witnessing your...tantrum after the quest."

Dad did say we were going to be under surveillance whenever we interacted with an NPC or story cutscene (thank god they respected our privacy with everything else). But I laughed at the mere thought of their reactions over Kazuki's tantrum and my rage after that brutal battle.

"So what do you say?"

What do I say, huh? Honestly, this should be Kazuki's decision, not mine. But I do have a lot of questions regarding the game. Questions I can't ignore any longer. Refusing would mean losing my chance. So I open my mouth to share my answer...

And after that, it's time for me to see the birthday boy himself after a time of socializing and free time.

It's time to give Kazuki the greatest gift of all time.