This time, Max was the one who felt guilty. He shouldn't have joked around earlier.
"My bad, dude. I was only joking." He said while smiling bitterly, "I will join, but I have a condition. This is not unreasonable, like me asking for a hundred thousand dollars or something, though. So, rest assured."
Hearing what he said, Flexy's lips curled up into a smile.
"Hahaha, I would give you even if you ask me for a hundred thousand as long as you join. Don't worry, pal." A mocking laughter escaped his lips. "But let's hear your condition. I will try my best to fulfill that. Of course, I will also do my best to schedule the training so it does not collide with your tournament."
"That helps a lot." Max nodded in gratitude. "As for my condition, it's pretty simple. It's..."
And so, Max told Flexy his condition and the reason why he requested it, which caused the orange-haired streamer to burst into laughter. Max felt embarrassed and thought he made a big mistake again. He was just trying to be reasonable, but it backfired on him.
'Freaking hell. Can't he be subtle and at least try to hold back his laughter?' Max groaned. 'And here I felt guilty after seeing his expression earlier. Return my guilt, motherfucker!'
After a while, Flexy calmed down and wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes.
"Fine, that's okay. Consider it a deal. I will also add a bonus for your... emotional damage."
"Ugh, that's unnecessary, but I appreciate it. Thanks"
"Hahaha! No need to mention it. I should be the one who thanked you." Flexy said, grinning widely. "And if you're free tonight, I will introduce you to our teammates. Let's meet in Roach Planet Lobby at 8 PM. I will gift you the game after this; just think of it as my way to be considerate.
See you there."
"Alright."
With that, the call ended, and Max let out a long sigh. He let his body fall onto his bed.
'Flexy has it hard, huh? Poor guy. All his 3 teammates left the team, in the end.' He thought. 'Still, it was good that he found the other two replacements, excluding me. I wonder if they are really as skilled as he said. I will find out tonight.'
***
Just as promised, Flexy gifted Max Roach Planet. The game was unexpectedly pretty expensive, sitting at $250. Not to mention, there were still in-game transactions too that needed money, mainly costume and custom weapon skins.
Just as usual, Max planned to go vanilla without buying anything from the game store.
'Everything is ready. I also spent the whole afternoon reading the guide and information on the Roach Planet forum. The mechanic is simpler than I thought. But still, the enemies are as disgusting as cockroaches in real life. It's a bit unsettling.'
Still, one wouldn't be able to grow if they kept avoiding what they were afraid of.
The sound from the elevator earlier brought the three's attention to him. When they turned around, Max's eyes widened slightly. He knew these two people. They were Atlas and Ferin, the couple he met when he was on a date with Lily.
"Ah!" Ferin exclaimed loudly upon seeing him, pointing her index finger. Then, she smiled and waved her hand excitedly. "It's Breeze! Hehehe, we meet again, huh?"
Atlas also smiled upon seeing him, "Long time no see. How have you been?"
Flexy looked confused. He didn't expect the two teammates he desperately recruited to know Max. The orange-haired streamer looked at him with a look that said, 'Explain this.'
However, Max ignored him and approached the two.
"It's been a week, indeed. And I've been well, Atlas. Thank you for asking." He smiled at them. "So the teammates Flexy talked about, are you two?"
"Yup!" Ferin answered with an excited nod, her ears moving with her head.
"Peter asked Atlas to help his friend, you see? And we're pretty much free around this time as our main game is still in maintenance for 2 weeks. They have a large update! So, I was thinking... Why don't we just join the tournament and have fun? And here we are." She explained.
"Just as she said." Atlas confirmed, "I have a debt with StoneSword too, so I tried to help. Flexy never mentioned that you are also on the team."
"Well..." Max's voice trailed off as he glanced at his friend, "That's how he is."
"Hey, that's rude." Flexy shouted while pointing at Max, "What do you mean that's how he is? I am telling you that I don't know you are acquainted with them, alright?"
"Yes, yes." Max shrugged his shoulders at Flexy's words. Then, he turned to Atlas and extended his hand, "Still, I heard from Flexy that you're pretty skilled. I hope to have a pleasant cooperation."
"Same here." Atlas shook his hand and smiled, "Let's win this competition."
"It sounds fun!" Ferin exclaimed excitedly, bringing the energy up. She put her hand on top of the other two. "Let's shout together!"
"Hey, am I ignored now? I am the leader! Don't leave me with the shout." Flexy immediately jumped from the chair he sat on and joined the others, putting his hand on top of them.
Suddenly taking the position of the leader, the energetic streamer shouted.
"Let's go, team OrangeSquash. Ooh!"
"Ooh!"
So, team OrangeSquash was formed without any problem, with the addition of a hyper-energetic bunny girl on top of Flexy.
'This team is going to be loud.' Max sighed in his mind. 'Still, this is going to be fun. I prefer this kind of team rather than those overly serious ones.'