Ren's chat of 200 thousand went wild seeing the notification pop up on his screen, the frenzy so insane that the chat was moving down so fast that even the shortest, most simple messages could not be read.

Yet, the person most bewildered of all was Ren himself, his eyes wide open and his body shaking like crazy as if the best day of his life had only gotten even better.

"Shit… This can't be real, it must be a troll or some kind of virus right?" He laughed and mumbled to himself, only to look at the chat screen to his right that was still completely unreadable.

"Fuck… I don't even know what to say… If any of the devs are in chat, I just want to thank you so much, and say that I am so honoured to receive this… It's been a long journey to get to where I'm at but I would have never been here if it weren't for everyone's support! SO LET'S FUCKING DO THIS!"

With no hesitation, Ren lifted his hands and stared at his 2 options once more, clicking the only option he could possibly pick.

[ Accept ]

[ Are you sure you would like to accept? Please read the terms and conditions below ]

[ If you accept, you must promise confidentiality. You will not be allowed to stream any of the new content provided in this update until it launches to the public, this will also include discussing any major changes provided — Please click here to read more about our terms and conditions ]

[ Do you accept all the terms and conditions? ]

[ Accept ] [ Decline ]

"Shit, sorry guys, it seems like I won't be streaming this! But I guess I'll just have fun by myself! Ha! Losers!" Ren laughed heartily at his chat that seemed to not take it personal or bad at all.

{ LEAK IT! LEAK IT! LEAK IT! }

{ Come on man! Don't be a dick about it! You could at least show us a little bit of the good stuff ;) }

{ You've always been a savage! Don't be a pussy! Fucking leak the content You're called balls for a reason!! }

Of course, Ren had no idea what his fast-moving chat was saying, yet deep down he knew exactly what they were thinking as he smiled and spoke.

"FBI might be knocking on my door if I leak this… But fuck it! I'll consider it after I see what it's all about, no way I'm streaming it though!"

He chuckled once more, casually hitting the accept button with the hands of his game character.

[ You're all set! The update is currently installing onto your VR machine! ]

[ Time Remaining: 25 minutes ]

There was nothing in the emptiness of the void other than his floating body and that simple timer as it slowly ticked down.

[ Time Remaining: 24 minutes 56 seconds ]

"Well guys, I guess I kinda have to end the stream here. I've been live for almost 14 hours now just grinding away at the game and I can't really be playing this much when it's updating now can I?"

He took a pause to softly chuckle at his own words before he took a deep breath and continued in a more serious tone.

"I would like to thank all of you for showing up for the stream! You legit just witnessed history being made live! But this is only the beginning! The launch of the next major update that we were all promised years ago is almost upon us! And your boy will have an early advantage on everyone else! So, we will rule it as well! Our reign of supremacy will not fall! I would once again like to show my appreciation to every single one of you. I would not be here without you and it truly, truly means more to me than you think… And on that note, I'll be ending the stream and enjoying the new update all by myself! See ya!"

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

*Click*

After ending the stream, Ren's face completely changed as he took a deep breath and thought profoundly in his mind, making a menu show up, clicking the final option written on it, directly below game settings.

[ Log Out ]

[ Owner: "Ren Silver" has returned back to reality! Welcome back! ]

As soon as he clicked the button, he was immediately thrust back staring at something all too familiar, looking at the thick black glass of his premium VR helmet, leisurely taking it off and slowly setting it on the metal table ahead of him, noticing a countdown right on its screen directly matching that of the update.

With a mellow smile, he leant back onto his chair, looking around his dark, completely white, fairly small and lightly furnished apartment that was slightly more futuristic than the average house at the time, his high tech gas mask hung to the side of his front door just in case he wanted to go outside, an artificial oxygen machine that allowed there to be air in his home, and a particularly messy desk in the corner that he had never bothered to clean up since he quit his last job.

Many would not think it fit for the house of a millionaire and the biggest, most popular streamer on Spaz— the largest streaming site in the world. However, he could not care less about such comments, a moderate lifestyle was all he really ever wanted.

His gaze eventually fell on his curtains that had shreds of dim, yellow, polluted light coming through it.

'Morning already huh…'

He had 25 minutes of time to burn until the update finished and he needed to spend his time doing something productive other than a nap which he was sure would take him out for at least a few hours.

He was unsure of what to do until the answer hit him in the face, or, more like in the nose...

He slowly lifted his tired, sweaty body and immediately went to take a shower, not before smiling at a certain picture, 1 third of it clearly ripped, feeling a mixture of emotions looking at it before he shook his head and entered the shower with his new clothes in hand, throwing all of his sweaty attire in a basket at the corner of his bathroom before he casually strolled in front of the mirror in an extremely good mood unlike he had ever felt in years.

There he saw his own reflection, the face of a somewhat above average, clean-shaven, well-kempt man that looked no older than an average college student. He was not skinny and not fat yet leaning closer towards the skinny side. His smooth black hair fell down slightly past his reddish hazel eyes that almost seemed to glow on his clear, pale face that was quite a common thing due to the lack of sunlight outdoors. Still, even amongst most people, his face was particularly pale, which that, along with other things, earned him the nickname "Vampire" that he eventually began to embrace as he grew up.

Although he stayed home 99% of the time, absolutely hated and adamantly avoided human interaction, he was definitely a man that took good care of his image. It was either from habit from his previous job or because he was forced to show his face every day on stream to millions of people and needed to look presentable, even he was unsure which one influenced his behaviour more.

"Huh…"

As he was looking deeply into his reflection, he noticed odd redness under his slightly watery eyes, a sight he had never seen in a long time.

"W-was I crying? Fuck! Did I cry on stream?"

He had not shed a single tear in years, ever since that faithful day— so why was he doing it now?

Although, unlike the last time, these were tears of joy instead...

Was he that happy for what he had accomplished today? He had no idea. Yet, what he was certain of was that he had never felt such warmth and sense of accomplishment in years, if only his dad was there to see it too…

Immediately, Ren shook his head and entered the shower bare naked, standing tall at 5'11" as he turned on the shower and stared up at the ceiling, cold droplets of water falling on his smiling face, seemingly unphased by the rather refreshing coldness as he let his mind drift in peace.

However, not even 5 minutes later, his peace was abruptly ended by the ringing of the phone that he did not expect, making him quickly come out of the shower, butt naked as he quickly grabbed the phone and answered in his natural, deep voice.

"Who is it?"

There were slight noises of static on his phone before another voice was heard, one sounding like the tender love and care of an old woman.

"Oh! My sweet little RenRen!? You actually picked up! I just called to congratulate you on your new achievement! You were all over the news! I w—"

"Shut the fuck up…"

"Sweetie?"

"How the fuck did you even get this number?! I told you to never call me again! You fucking bitch! I know exactly what you fucking want! And you're not getting shit from me!"

Hearing that person's voice suddenly clicked something odd in Ren's head, his mood and expression shifting a complete 180 degrees.

"Oh no! Sweety! It's not wh—"

"Shut your damn mouth slut! You're lucky I even pay for your sorry ass living expenses! But that's way more than you fucking deserve! Lucky for you, unlike someone else I know, I'm not heartless enough to leave my bitch ass mother living on the streets!"

"But honey… You're rich and you don't even use any of your money… But that's not what I wanted to call you for! I really jus—"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! And don't fucking call me again! You're completely dead to me! You fucking witch!"

"B-but— Re—"

*Beeeeeeeeeeep*