Chapter 61: Dan Steel

****(POV)

Dan Steel kept tapping rhythmically on his UW screen, annoyed.

Dan Steel had many things going for him. He had LOTS of cash, plenty of free time, success with women, but all he could think about at the moment was his mother.

Now, why was that so?

A Freudian would have grinned thinking the answer obvious. A pessimist would have been worried about her health. A comic would have made a sly joke about it, quite possibly even joining the Freud bandwagon.

Dan Steel's mom was actually perfectly fine except for just one tiny thing, ...she was a gold digger! While it did beat terminal cancer, Dan still couldn't stomach such a thing. Was it hypocritical of him since he had dated many of these exotic creatures in the past? Perhaps.

Actually, the concrete issue was that she used to be a very down-to-earth and independent woman. Ever since they moved to Metropolis C, he didn't recognize her anymore. He felt like she was losing herself, but no matter what he couldn't set her straight.

It was probably simply her way to cope with loss. She seemed to have created herself a fake persona, one that he disliked very much, a superficial one.

Back in Metropolis M, the Steel name had history. It meant tradition, it meant skill, it meant Mecha Piloting. Dan's father had been a hero and an idiot.

He was a hero for all the amazing things he accomplished with his <FV-80K Centurion>. Every time an ally needed help he was always the first one on the scene.

He was also an idiot for not quitting when the Tower appeared. His career ended abruptly with a 20m magical icicle to the face, not even the head remained afterward. In a world with super-humans and mages, an old-school Mecha simply wouldn't cut it anymore.

Nowadays, in Metropolis C, Steel implied something very different. It meant bars, idol shows, arcades, and some actual investing once in a blue moon. Dan didn't have as much power or wealth as a ranker but he was extremely well-off.

So how could he not get pissed when his own mother acted like a goddamn gold digger?! That damn pride of hers made it so she didn't accept "charity" from her own son!

He had tried to make her remember the once motivated woman she had been, but ever since his dad's death, she hadn't been the same. For now, all he could do was grit his teeth and distract his mind from the problem.

Dan was already in a shit mood when some idiot stood in the way of his favorite <Phantom> Arcade. He simply took out his frustration on the guy, soon entering the building.

In there he finally found peace and quiet. Funny how there was actually loud music, but it fitted so well with the decor that most people didn't mind it at all. He then chose a VR game at random before finally completely forgetting about his troubles.

A while later he noticed someone. The man he had dissed at the entrance was actually playing Super Wack-A-Gobbo. While the game was entertaining it certainly wasn't Newbie friendly.

Dan even noticed that after a few minutes he was already losing, this ought to be the most pathetic attempt he had seen, ever! Still, he couldn't help but chuckle slightly. He then remembered the expression of surprise and marvel that the man had adorned back then.

Dan figured out he had probably been too harsh on the guy. He himself had been a Newbie here at some point. He had used the arcades to forget his father's death. Who knew why this man was here. Hopefully, it was for a more joyful reason.

In any case, Dan approached him and warned him, but it fell on deaf ears. In fact, he even accepted a bet, about reaching the top 5000 in the rankings. Dan didn't set a monetary bet, he figured the man would probably lose a lot of credits in the process of training already, he didn't want to add to his burdens.

Finally, after 24 hours, it was time to settle everything. Dan had been watching. The man had managed to survive 10 minutes total. The most optimal and popular strategy for clearing such a game was to start in Hell mode then lower it a stage every time one almost became overwhelmed.

The only way the man could have possibly won the bet was if he had played in Hell mode the whole time! Of course, that was pretty much impossible, for a Newbie at least. Dan couldn't help but grin as he accosted him.

"So? How was it? Did you manage to officially become a SWAG ranker?"

"I did if you mean top 5000. <JustBuyingSoySauce>, see?"

"How?!" Dan's mouth was opened so much in surprise that the VR helmet would have almost fitted entirely in there. Was it possible for anyone to improve so fast?

"Eh, isn't it obvious?"

That is when Dan regained his spirits, he understood it all. The man had been playing the pig to eat the tiger! He almost instinctively wanted to argue that it was cheating but then again, it was Dan's own fault for having been fooled.

This meant he had to act as a lackey for a little while. The good news was that it had already been 24 hours. The man was bound to leave soon haha.

"Alright, I'll be gaming, make yourself useful, and go grab me some snacks! Actually, lots of snacks because I'm famished! Bring at least enough for dozens of people!" Then without even paying attention to him the man simply went back to gaming.

Not many had ordered Dan Steel in his life for he was a proud man. Even as a hobbyist Mecha pilot he had been better at it than most professionals and the same was true for his current hobby, investing.

Would such a man accept to be reduced to a lowly errand boy?! Yes, because he was a man of his word. He quickly headed to a supermarket and obediently bought many bags of very infamous chips, with his own money too!

At checkout, people were looking at him weirdly. He was akin to a guy figuring in math problems. Dan kept sending looks towards the others that said: 'Yes I'm buying 30 bags, now mind your own business, lady!'

A few people somehow thought he was planning on overdosing on chips. It didn't help much when he simply went: "Don't worry it's for an acquaintance."

Back at the arcade, Dan handed the man the food. He instantly started to gobble a bag as if a ravenous monster. Now, all Dan had to do was wait for the show to begin….except it didn't. No, the man simply kept eating one bag after another quickly finishing them all.

"You! Are you going to be fine?!"

"What is it?"

"These chips are extremely spicy and not meant to be eaten like that at all!"

"Oh, no worries." Then the man went back to gaming.

Dan couldn't help but pick up an empty packet with his trembling fingers. He then checked the label carefully. <Volcano Chips, Eating more than one bag will LITERALLY kill you!> Oh god. Was it going to be okay?! That specific company was renowned for its accurate use of the term Literally. (For once)

That's when Dan noticed crumbs at the bottom of it. Slowly picking up a small one, he carefully put it in his mouth. Then there was Hell, it felt like his mouth was about to explode. The spiciness was so exaggerated that Dan instantly rushed to the toilet and drenched his whole mouth in cold water for the next 10 minutes or so. It is only then that he got his cool back.

As he exited the bathroom, he could see the man still gaming calmly. Yes, the same one that had eaten so much of it! Was he even human?! It just so happened he was taking his headset off.

"Hey, can you get me some more of these chips? They're pretty damn amazing. Perfect spiciness!"

"…Sure"

Dan answered in a lifeless tone, he walked his ass back to the supermarket to lifelessly buy some more and came back lifelessly too. All the while he kept questioning reality itself.

Eventually, he simply attributed that ability to the Tower. Magic was convenient in a way that it allowed to explain any kind of bullshit.

Then as time passed, Dan realized something else. How was the man not even stopping even for a toilet break?! But then he did stop. He turned around and gave an embarrassed expression. The flag had worked!

"Say…I've run out of credits. Can I borrow some from you? Name's Josh Malum by the way."

So it wasn't that he wanted to stop but that he was forced to! At this point, Dan was almost wondering how long this Josh would keep going. Should he lend him some or not? But before he could reach a verdict, Josh exclaimed once more.

"Ah! Apparently, there is an option to borrow some! Nice!"

What the hell?! Since when was there such a feature?! Dan quickly checked on his own UW. He could read…<Phantom> Now affiliated with various guilds to allow their members to open training accounts.

Talk about a waste of funds! To play games and claim it as training! Who would do such a thing?!...