Chapter 17 - Mastermo Had Already Forgiven His Lover

"Hello and Welcome back to the show where we bring you very spicy news about the game T.I.A.D."

"So yesterday night the Stage 1 opened once again and the teams were given their second mission."

"Like the first time; the missions were once again randomly assigned and while some emerged lucky, others were not so fortunate."

"But at least this time T.I.A.D. released news about how the Stage 1 elimination would be conducted.".

"Stage 1—at the moment—would only remain open for three days and the elimination will be based on the three missions assigned to the teams in these three days. Since it had already started two days ago, The elimination stage would reopen for only tonight where the players would be assigned their final mission. This final mission may be the deciding factor for continuing the quest to beat the gamemaster. The minimum requirement to pass this stage is Two missions; if a player successfully completes two of the assigned missions—the player would then be eligible for the next stage which means If the team has won the previous two missions—they are automatically qualified for the next stage and would need not worry about tonight's mission however not many teams can confidently say that they have been successful in completing the last two missions."

"One such team is the team formed by BBtrash and Hulk0_0 who had, unfortunately, ran out of luck as they found themselves assigned a mission in an S-ranked level yesterday."

"This is a team that is on the top of the leaderboard and their future depends on the mission tonight."

"That's a lot of pressure."

"Indeed. This isn't just about winning that million-dollar cash prize anymore, it's now about their dignity as a pro-gamer that's on the line."

"Right, as from the top three teams, they are the only ones who have failed a mission. I hope luck has not turned its back on them just yet."

"Talking about luck, Remember that team of four comprising of two pro-gamers and two-newcomers? They were assigned an I-ranked and an H-ranked mission from which they emerged victorious in both and were very close to overthrowing Mastermo's team from the top of the anticipated winning teams."

"Almost! If only it hadn't been for yesterday's shocking incident."

"That was something indeed. Yesterday night, When Mastermo turned on his live stream, he was rumored to be crying because of his teammate, devilmagiclover, who ditched him."

"If Mastermo wasn't able to play yesterday because of his teammate it would've really been a huge blow to the pro-gamers future goals, however, the tables were turned when only ten seconds remained for the closing of stage 1 and his unexpected savior showed up just in the nick of time."

"And what was truly shocking was the identity of this new player."

"It was none other than the gamemaster who personally showed up for the first time and formed a temporary team with Zhihao."

"The arrival of this unexpected player caused havoc among the fans and drove them to watch the live-stream for the entire night, not daring to blink for they feared that if they did—they might miss something important."

"I think now you're just talking about yourself. your eye bags are clear evidence."

"Don't call me out like that!"

"Anyway, The temporary team was given an I-ranked mission from which not only did they simply emerge victorious but also found some shocking new information."

"Shocking indeed! It seems that the System had hidden some crucial details from us once again."

"The levels may not be as simple as they seem."

"Previously we had only known non-ranked levels to have hidden secret missions, however now we have also been made aware that maybe all of the levels have hidden missions that can earn the player some extra T-points if completed."

"Following this logic, BBtrash who had failed in his last S-ranked mission had insisted on experimenting and proving if this theory was true or did Mastermo just accidentally luck out?"

"And the result, as you may have guessed already, was positive. BBtrash found four more secret missions in other ranked levels present in Stage zero."

"Now everybody is not as lucky as Mastermo or gets to have a gamemaster of their own to guide them through the secret mission so finding these hidden treasures was proven to be challenging."

"With that being said, Why did the gamemaster choose Mastermo as his temporary partner? It really makes one's imagination go wild?"

"Maybe he just randomly picked a player or it could be deliberately done by him as Mastermo is already the top player of the game."

"The top player and the gamemaster. My senses are tingling, I have a feeling that we'd be seeing more of these two in the future."

"At least, that's what most of the speculating fans say."

"Well, I wouldn't be shocked if we do hear from them in the future since, at the moment, Mastermo has the most chances of beating the gamemaster. But, then again, I'm not claiming anything to be the case. The game is far from over and anything can happen, it's best not to take things for granted."

"As a Mastermo fan, aren't you just forcing yourself to say that?"

"You caught me."

"With that being said, we are ending today's news broadcast."

"This has been your anchors, Kevin and Dev live from the studio."

"See you next time."

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The first thing Zhihao did when he finished playing the level was faceplanting himself on the bed and taking a short nap. After a few hours when he was finally awake, it was already afternoon outside and he didn't have much to do, so he decided to enjoy his hard-earned peace, but unfortunately, he had a little brother who was at home due to the high school holidays.

As the Blaring music entered his ears, Zhihao really wished he could've either brought a soundproof house or thrown his brother out from the teenager's single-man party that was taking place upstairs.

Just as he was planning to go upstairs and reprimand his brother's loud-ass speakers, He received a call from Li Ling.

Ever since Zhihao had come to know that the man was sick, he had already long forgiven him since it really did no real damage to him and even if the gamemaster didn't show up, he would've still forgiven Li Ling just because he was Li Ling. This was an advantage he would only give to those he either considered friends or family.

Zhihao picked up the call, "Hello?"

"A-Zhi, I'm sooooo sorryyyy! Please don't be mad. Forgive me, please! I promise to never do it again. I'm not going to make excuses and I understand if you are still mad at me, just give me the chance to make it up to you." Li Ling pleaded, his voice sounding extremely worried whereas Zhihao was the one who was more worried about the man.

Although they had met only recently, both felt like they had known the other since a long time ago, In Li Ling's case, it was indeed true considering the fact that he had been a loyal fan of Mastermo for years but shockingly even Zhihao felt that he had known Li Ling his entire life. Zhihao really didn't know where this feeling had come from but due to it, he had gotten comfortable around the man and had started considering him his friend and Zhihao was a man known to only have a few friends, this was mostly due to Zhihao's unwillingness to let new people enter his life.

"Are you okay now?" Zhihao asked, concerned.

"Huh? Of course. Why would I not be?"

"No need to lie. I called you earlier and your sister told me everything."

"My sister?"

"Yeah, Li Ying."

"Ah! Is that so?"

On the other side of the line, Li Ying was suddenly self-aware as she saw her big brother glaring at her for some reason. She thought in her mind; Where the hell is my thanks? I helped you. Isn't this too unfair? Why drag an innocent between the two of you?

"Are you feeling well now? I told you not to overwork yourself." Zhihao scolded.

"I-I'm good! Absolutely fine! No need to worry." Li Ling blushed as he answered, feeling kinda happy with himself for having Zhihao worry about him. This was certainly progress, "Was A-Zhi worried about me?"

"Worried to death! You were suddenly unreachable, I called you and texted you a thousand times. My mind was going crazy thinking up all the bad things that could have happened to you." Zhihao lectured as he was keeping all of this in for quite some time and now having finally talked to Li Ling—he could sigh in relief.

"I'm really sorry about that."

In reality, Li Ling was not sick, he was definitely tired from working nonstop for the last 48 hours without sleep but he was not exactly in a condition you'd call sick. The sickness was just an excuse his sister, Li Ying had come up with to cover her brother's ass. Such a caring sister—she was—but in the end, she received no gratitude only a pillow that was thrown at her by her 'beloved' brother. She regretted her decision to help, when she picked up the call, she should've just said something along the lines of 'He is too busy to play with you.' that would've certainly taught her brother a well-deserved lesson. While on the other hand, Li Ling was mad at her for lying because he knew one day this lie would inevitably be uncovered and his future self would have to face the aftereffect.

Zhihao, "It's no use worrying over spilled milk. I'm not mad at you, but I am mad at your boss tho."

"Huh?"

Zhihao sounded angry as he complained, "In this day and age, how can somebody make their employees work like that?! This is unacceptable! No matter how much salary you are getting, one should never be overworked to the point where they fall sick and still have to work?!"

Poor Li Ying once again received a glare from her brother.

"I think you should just quit your job and look for a job that treats you better."

"Calm down, A-Zhi. It's really not as bad as you think."

"How can it be not bad?! It's super unfair. They deserve to be sued for making people become slaves for them." Although Zhihao had no idea what the man's job was or who was the receiver of his curses, he still had a moral sense of justice intact and according to which; in no case would it be justified to overwork your employees.

"No. No. You really don't need to worry about me. This happens with everyone, it's how we all earn our meals. In the end, not everyone can be as lucky as Mastermo."

Li Ling really didn't mean to but he had hit a sore spot.

Not as lucky as Mastermo; Zhihao had heard this phrase too many times in his life. These words had always been said with some sort of attached envy, however, when spoken by Li Ling, he could not detect even a shadow of that supposed envy.

Zhihao fell silent.

"... Sorry, A-Zhi. Did I offend you?" Li Ling asked with a worried expression on his face that could not be seen by Zhihao.

"You're right. Not everyone can be as lucky as me." Zhihao beamed making his voice sound as optimistic as possible, "and I'm sorry for the background noise, It's my brother. He is... Having a party with his imaginary friends."

"Ah! So that's where the music is coming from." Li Ling knew that Zhihao had only wanted to change the subject, but because he knew that the man was uncomfortable speaking about it, he followed suit and took on a new topic.

"Let me go and scold him a little.", Zhihao walked up the stairs as he spoke

"Yeah. Don't be too harsh on the kid, he's still young."

"What young? He's already 16."

"16? Oh, what a coincidence. Li Ying is also around the same age."

The pair chuckled together as they found the sudden similarity shared by the two.

Zhihao knocked on the door to his brother's room but the music coming from inside was so loud that the knock was probably not heard and so he pushed open the door with the intent to scold his younger brother.

As the door opened, the lyrics of the song sounded clearer; "S-s-shake! S-s-shake! Shake that—shake that! Shake that ass! Shake that ass! Shake that—shake that! Shake that ass!"

Zhihao suddenly felt his face twitch with disgust as he saw his brother dancing; twerking alone inside his room to some upbeat EDM. Such a pitiful sight it was. At least when Zhihao was around this age, he had a few friends who'd always invite him to party with them even if Zhihao refused such offers, finding his online games much more enjoyable. Now looking at his younger brother, he really felt like he should pay someone to be his friend.

Unlike Zhihao, Huang Zhen had zero friends and that had sadly been a solid zero throughout this kid's entire life.