“Aren’t you too old for Distant Destiny?” My cute younger sister asked while shooting me an odd look. “No, more than that – why is a famous actor like you even playing games? Shouldn’t you like, do more popular stuff or something?”
“But this is popular stuff, my dearest sister. Don’t you know that Distant Destiny is considered the best mobile gacha game of the year? Oh my, where have you been living up till now?”
“You even know the genre,” she narrowed her eyes at me. “And will you stop talking like that, it sounds creepy. Sigh, it’s only been a year since you left to pursue your dreams and you already became like this. Where did my cool elder brother go?”
“Haha, jokes aside,” I approached my beloved sibling with open arms. Despite what she said, she didn’t reject my embrace. “Long time no see, Noel. I’m glad to see you’re snarky as ever.”
“I’m not snarky,” she grumbled while wrapping her arms around me. “I’m glad you could make it to my graduation ceremony, big brother.”
“Of course, how could I miss such an important part of your life? Besides, it’s not every day that I get the chance to celebrate with a top civil engineer student. I’m proud of you, Noel.”
“It's computer engineer you dumbass.”
“Oops,” I scratched the back of my head. “Stress is finally taking a toll on my mind it seems, do forgive this stupid brother of yours.” I was only joking of course and she knew that.
“Hmmp, saying sorry isn’t enough.”
“How about this, I’ll treat you to the best restaurant the city has to offer. I’ll even give you an in-depth tutorial on how to play Distant Destiny. I’ll make you a top player in no time.”
“I’m in for a free dinner; the tutorial, not so much.”
“What,” I exaggeratedly took a step back. “Do you have any idea how many would kill to get a tutorial from the great Luke? This is a once in a life time chance you know?”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“Whatever,” she uttered with a shrug.
***
I woke up with a smile thanks to a great dream. An adolescent dragon hugged me shortly, elevating my mood even further. “Good morning, Rael,” I said before my charge did his usual thing – rubbing his face onto mine. He’s now a head taller than me yet he still hasn’t grown out of that habit of his.
He only released me once he was satisfied which was after an hour or so. I don’t have anything urgent to do so I tend to let him act as he pleases.
Rael went to fetch a corpse as I lifted myself up. It was a cave lurker, one he most likely hunted while I was asleep. Now that he can fight, the only thing left for me to do here is map the two main paths and find an exit. We’ve been here for too long. It’s about time we step out into the open.
By the way; recently there are more and more monsters appearing close to the chamber. If my guess is correct, they kept their distance because of Malassa. Since she’s no longer present, they have no reason to avoid this place. It doesn’t help that I rarely show my power and the few that live to tell the tale only saw a glimpse of my true strength.
After placing the corpse before me, Rael sat by my side and asked me to take the first bite through his own gestures. Not wanting to waste his effort, I ripped an arm off and bit a large chunk of meat.
I still prefer cooked food. But due to my body’s influence, I was neutral to the sour and chewy flesh in my mouth. And once I take Rael into account, it becomes a rather enjoyable meal. Ah, I wonder how my past self would react if he sees me right now.
Despite my barbaric eating style, my face remained fresh and my body was free of stain, the complete opposite of Rael’s bloody appearance. And even when I ate quite the amount, my stomach didn’t bloat in the slightest. As for Rael; his size made it hard to see but the bump was there.
“Thanks for the meal,” I gave my foster son a pat on the head. When he tried to stick to me, I jumped back saying “nope, take a bath first.”
He whined but all he got from me was a bright smile, “no buts. Go and wash yourself.”
Sighing in defeat, Rael left for the small river on the path where I first came from. It was just dozens of steps away so I could sense him and anyone that might hurt him. My perception becomes blurry only after one or two hundred steps- “Rael, come back here!”
In a flash, a large group of monsters entered my field of perception. Worst, their numbers increased with time and some were even coming from the third path. We’re surrounded!
“How could this happen?!”
The adolescent dragon returned without question but his eyes showed confusion.
I’m confident that I could take all the monsters on, it's just that my arsenal is limited in an enclosed space. Since I can’t kill them all in one go, a few might get to Rael while I’m busy fighting.
“Tsk, Rael go hide in a corner and stay there!”