“So, explain it to me again. I still don’t understand what the hell you killed.”

A child wearing simple clothes and unruly brown hair told Neo. They both sat at an outside table of a restaurant, eating the specialty item. Neo had already finished most of his meal, while the child had barely touched his food. Neo had long since put on his plain clothes for relaxation, however, due to the fact he was wearing them without armor during the fight with Harold, many tears had been made, exposing a well developed body for all ladies (Men who swing that way included) to ogle. Sighing, Neo gave a hard stare at the child.

Riel Lvl. 101 Gender: Male Occupation: Business Owner Class: Celestial Mage

“I don’t even know myself.” Neo said weakly.

“*Sigh* You jumped from 165 all the way to 223, I need to kill what you did. You know how long I’ve been level 100?”

“Actually, it’s 101.”

“Doesn’t matter, how long have I been stuck at it?”

“Dunno, don’t care.”

“Three years! Three! Years! Staying at that level for three years is a disgrace for players like us. We have high leveling speed, so why am I still stuck here?”

“Because you’re, and pardon my language, shit at the game.”

“Find a hole to die in. Preferably your grandma’s asshole.”

“Now now Riel, calm yourself. Don’t throw a tantrum.”

“Fuck you too Neo. Do you know what its like to be stuck in the body of a kid when you’re a high school senior? Do you?”

“Well, I know what its like to be in a younger body. But no. I can assume it makes you throw tantrums though.”

“Do you want me to help you find that hole? Cause you seem to want it real bad.”

“Are you sure you don’t want a hole to play in, kid? I think I buried your toys in one.”

“… Just shut up and let me be sad for a bit longer.”

Neo smirked and took a sip of his coffee. Riel laid his head on the table and made weird crying sounds. Neo covered his mouth and looked away, quiet snickering sounds coming from behind his hand. Riel gave Neo a piercing look and sighed. He picked up his sandwich and devoured it with record breaking speed. However, both Neo and Lycar’s eating speed surpassed his. Truly worthy of the nickname ‘Eaters of God,’ given by the Ionisian common folk.

“Thanks for the food.” Neo told Riel.

“Eh? You’re already done?” Riel asked, setting down his half-eaten sandwich.

“Of course, you’re just too slow. It’s not my problem that you don’t have a fast eating speed like literally every player over level 30.”

“I just care to enjoy my food.”

“Meh. Well the bill is yours.”

“Hey- wait! Don’t do tha- I have no money!”

Neo laughed as he walked away, waving his hand without bothering to look back and said, “You’re a business owner, of course you have money.”

Riel looked at Neo with his hand raised, but no words came out his mouth. His hand fell to his side as a dark cloud of depression descended on him. While it was true he owned one of the largest businesses in Ionis itself, he was never one to carry the company’s funds with him. To make matters worse, he had recently deposited all of his personal money into the company bank to pay for an old debt. He was well and truly broke. The waitress who had come after seeing Neo leave looked at Riel in pity, knowing that he would have to pay his bill when he had no money on hand. Unfortunately, Riel would not be able to leave the restaurant until everything he owes them is compensated in full.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

*A Day Later*

Neo’s legs trembled as he stood in front of the terrifying enemy in front of him. In the face of this enemy, he would admit his inferiority without a moment’s hesitation. Fear and disbelief swarmed in Neo’s eyes, and he turned around as if to run away. However, his trusted friend had blocked his exit. Anger wormed it’s way into Neo’s heart as he witnessed this betrayal. He fell to his knees and looked down, full of despair. Neo, with a wrathful expression, stared intently at the traitor; however, the traitor did not flinch when met with that stare.

“You brought this upon yourself Neo,” The traitor said in a monotone. “You should have seen this coming ever since your battle at the royal palace. You know you cannot escape.”

“You bastard...” Neo growled. “How could you? How could you do this to me? What benefit is there to turning traitor.”

“Traitor? I’m merely hastening the arrival of the inevitable.” The traitor scoffed.

“Bastard!”

“Call me what you want, you cannot run away from this.”

Neo thrust his finger at the enemy that had been silent so far and yelled, “how the hell am I supposed to do that much paperwork?!”

That’s right. Currently, Neo was being forced to do paperwork as the result of the destruction he caused in the royal palace. Although a hero saves the world, the world is harmed in the process. Damage fees themselves only made up a small percentage of the documents on his desk. In fact, there were even stacks of documents on the floor as well, piled as high as the desk itself. The sheer amount of paperwork resulted from the backlog of unfinished paperwork from Neo’s guild, which he had an important position in. Along with the benefits that important position came with, was the terrifying amount of paperwork needed to be done.

“You have a high level, right?” The ‘traitor’ asked.

“Y-yeah...” Neo didn’t like where this was going.

“If you try hard enough, it is possible to stay up for multiple days in a row. I heard that a level 150 went for a year without sleeping because he was in the same situation as you.”

“A… year…?”

“Yes, it shouldn’t take that long for you right?” Though the words were said in a friendly tone, the meaning behind them was clear. ‘Do this paperwork quickly, you know what happens if you don’t’

“Gulp...”

“Saying gulp does not help your situation.”

“Well, there’s no reason to actually gulp, right?”

“Well you have a point… Ah! No! Stop trying to trick me with your words, get to the paperwork!”

“Damn! Foiled again!”

Neo was left all alone in his office, with only the mountain of paper to provide him company. He stood up and smiled bitterly at the paper on his desk. To him, fighting Harold again would be like a heaven unto itself. Tears welled up in his eyes as he remember the good times. The paperwork was truly a fearsome enemy, but Neo had gathered his courage. He stood up and glared at the paper. Although a fearsome enemy the paperwork was, as long as one had the will, one could defeat their foe. Pen in hand, Neo started his great battle with the ‘fearsome devil’ know as paperwork.

*Many Days Later*

“Fuck me...” Neo moaned.

The paperwork had been cleared. A truly arduous journey full of peril. Though comrades had come to help, they had all been defeated as well, leaving Neo alone to walk the endless road that is necessary work. As the last paper got his signature, Neo finally let out the tears that he had wanted to cry from the beginning. Now the nightmare was all over, and he could get rest. However, the door swung open and a secretary came in, holding a stack of papers.

“Hey boss,” He said. “Here’s some more, I have a few more stacks outside, I just need to bring them in. I wish ya luck.”

“I curse you...” Neo cried. “I CURSE YOU FAAAAAAAATE!!”

“Curse me all you want, I won’t care.” The ‘traitor’ that had imprisoned Neo stuck his head in and said.

Screaming in shock, Neo fell back off his chair and fell on the floor. The ‘traitor’s name was Fate, so it was only natural when someone screamed his name. Fate laughed when he saw Neo fall over. Neo roared and stood up. He jumped over the desk and went around secretary and threw a punch at Fate. However, Fate dodged and backed up. Neo stared at him in anger.

“Why the hell did you dodge?!” Neo demanded. “You know it wasn’t going to hurt!”

“Are you kidding me,” Fate sighed and held his hands out. “You were obviously going full force. That would hurt if I got hit by that.”

“Eh… You’re level 290 or something, right?”

“Yeah, and you’re level 220-something, right?”

“You’re mocking me.”

“It’d hurt if you hit me.”

“Stop mocking me.”

“Hurt my fun with you that is.”

“I’ll kill you.”

“Whatever, you wanna go clear a dungeon?”

“You found a new one?”

“Yeah, level 200 one. Perfect place to get used to your new strength, right?”

“Yeah, I put a bunch of points into STR, so I would like to see how big of a hole I can make in level 200 monsters.”

“Good. It’s called Hiroslav’s Research Dungeon.”

“Why the hell would someone have a research facility in a dungeon?”

“Shit if I know. I ain’t this Hiroslavy guy, so I wouldn’t understand him.”

“Hiroslav.”

“Yeah, go ahead and preach you grammar Nazi.”

“Did you know that grammar has no ‘e’ in it?”

“… Is that so?”

“Yeah, lets go.”

Neo and Fate left the room and closed the door behind them. Still in the office, the secretary stared at the door in wonder. He had been standing there for a long time now. He was curious as to how they had completely forgotten about him. He was actually more curious as to when they forgot about him. Sighing, he set down the papers on his boss’s desk and left to go get the rest. When Neo finally came back from the dungeon, he would be terrified by the stack of papers his secretary had left on his desk.

…

Neo and Fate stood in front of a modern-looking building. It had modern lights, doors, construction, everything. Except for the fact it was in ruins, it would’ve looked like something that had been stolen from their world and placed there recently. Both Neo and Fate were now armed in their battle gear. Neo, his duster, boots and light arm guards. Fate had a set of medium armor on that made him look like a paladin for a church. Both wielded swords, with Fate carrying a shield as well.

Neo looked up and asked, “You ever wonder why these things look like modern buildings?”

“No.” Fate said flatly.

Neo looked over at him and then back at the dungeon. “Okay, conversation over, lets go have fun.” He said.

Neo and Fate walked into the dungeon and were engulfed by the darkness.