CHAPTER 20: NEW NEIGHBOR IN DANDELION ESTATE

The room was utterly quiet.

It wasn’t like the cottage back at Elaris Village.

For Nick, it didn’t feel right at all.

He’d only been in the game world for barely a week and yet it felt like that was his whole life.

He paced back and forth like a possessed man.

Barefoot, messy hair, eyes darting between the floor and the VR pod sitting smugly in the corner.

Every few seconds, he’d glance at the helmet resting in the seat as its visor still glinted mockingly.

"Unbelievable..." (¬_¬")

He ruffled his hair till it looked like a bird’s nest.

"I finally grow some balls, finally do something intimate with Merlin of all people... and this stupid game decides now is the time to ban me?"

He stopped. Exhaled. Then groaned.

"Sure, maybe she took it as a platonic kiss..."

He didn’t even care if she took it like that.

"But to me, it meant something! It was our moment!"

Suddenly, he gave himself a pat on the shoulder.

『Nero that "it’s our special thing" line was genius!』

He pumped his fist with excitement.

Just thinking about how an emotionally ignorant woman like Merlin actually blushed and touched her cheek to savor his peck made him feel ridiculously good.

Maybe that was part of why he was so hopelessly obsessed with her.

Merlin never treated him with pity.

She treated him like anyone else and always cherished everything he did for her.

Sure, he’d grumble about having to wash her underwear or clean up after her mess, but then she’d whine like a child about how she was useless without him, or how she’d gone six months BUCK naked because she had no idea how to wash clothes.

Stuff like that always made him smile so hard.

He stared at the pod again.

"I have to go back."

Nick lunged for the VR pod like a desperate junkie chasing one last hit. He jammed the helmet back on, slammed the start button, and waited as his heart hammered.

The screen lit up then instantly flashed red.

[ⓘ Account Suspended!]

[Please refrain from attempting to log in again.]

Nick’s fists tightened.

"Come on!"

He tried again.

[ⓘ Account Suspended!]

He hit the pod.

"I said let me in!"

Another alert popped up.

[ⓘ Final Notice: Continued attempts may result in a lasting ban you won’t find comfy.]

"Permanent!? Are you kidding me!?"

He slammed his palms against the pod.

"I’m nothing in this world! I’ve got nothing here!"

He slammed the pod again.

Why do you have to clip my wings now when I finally found a reason to live!?"

His voice cracked halfway through the sentence.

His throat burned.

He panted hard as his tired fists trembled.

BEEP!

A new panel blinked in front of his eyes.

[ⓘ Notice: This is a brief ban. Please remain calm.]

Nick froze mid-breath.

"Brief?"

Then he shouted back at it anyway.

"I don’t care if it’s brief! Just—just let me see her one more time before I have to stay here any longer!"

He punched the pod again and again as sweat dripped down his bulging neck.

He could barely even breathe.

His chest rose and fell like he’d just run a marathon.

Then his eyes drifted...

To the reflection on the helmet’s visor.

A pale, wide-eyed man stared back.

He had wild hair and a tense jaw.

He couldn’t recognize this man at all.

But he certainly looked insane.

Nick blinked. Then rubbed his face.

"Damn... maybe they’re right."

He chuckled bitterly.

"I really am addicted to it."

He took a deep breath. Then another.

"Alright. Fine. Get my mind off things."

He sniffed himself and blinked again.

"Woah..."

He sniffed again, incredulous.

"Wait, I smell amazing right now. What the hell?"

He raised his arm and sniffed deeper.

"Okay—no, seriously. Normally I smell like garbage after lying down for an hour, but this... this is weird."

PING!

[ⓘ Suggestion: To get your mind off things, you should start by checking your bank balance.]

Nick squinted. (ᵕ—ᴗ—)

"What?"

He grabbed his phone anyway and muttered—

"Maybe Mom sent me pocket money or sum..."

He opened his banking app.

"Let’s see... there’s that eleven thousand from a few days afo... maybe she—"

His voice stopped.

The number on the screen nearly burned his eyes.

[Bank Balance: $255,000]

Nick dropped the phone. It clattered on the floor.

He rushed back and stared at it like it just transformed into a live hand grenade.

"Wha—where did all that money come from!?"

Ding!

[ⓘ Notice: Your in-game gold and excess loot have been converted into real-world currency.]

[ⓘ 500 Gold = $250,000 USD equivalent.]

Nick’s eyes widened even further.

"You—what?! You sold my stuff!?"

[Correction: Sold unnecessary loot you didn’t need.]

He gawked.

"That doesn’t make any sense! Yeah, sure, I... I... I erm... I remember you said something about conversion, but I thought that was just a joke—!?"

[I have no emotions or will. I am incapable of jokes.]

Nick blinked. Then laughed very loudly.

A half-crazed, disbelieving laugh.

"So the game world affects this one in more ways than one it seems... I should’ve thought of that sooner... the currency, the items—everything’s real?"

His lips stretched into a wide grin.

"That means... that means Merlin’s real too!"

He threw his hands into the air and quickly spun around like a lunatic.

"Ha! Ha! Take that, reality!"

He jumped onto the bed, laughing uncontrollably.

"Merlin’s real! She’s real!"

Then another alert popped up mid-celebration.

[ⓘ Daily Task Available!]

Nick blinked mid-spin.

"Huh?"

He pointed at the hologram.

"Wait, wait, wait... so you’re telling me I get quests in this world too?"

[ⓘ Affirmative. Think of them as urban assignments that upon successful completion drastically increases your social status and real-world level.]

Nick rubbed his chin.

"Urban assignments, huh?" (¬`‸´¬)

He nodded slowly.

"Alright. What’s my first task then?"

[ⓘ Objective: Travel to Dandelion Estate and check your newly acquired property.]

Nick’s eyes went wide again.

"New house?"

[ⓘ Reward: 300 EXP | Housing Feature Unlocked.]

"NEW. HOUSE!?"

He jumped up again and screamed like a man who just won the lottery.

Technically, this was better than the lottery.

"Let’s goooo!!"

–

–

–

Dandelion Estate, One Hour Later

Nick stepped out of the taxi wearing fresh clothes.

Technically his stepdad’s, but hey, they fit.

He looked good. Really good.

When he tried to pay the old man, the driver just laughed as he waved him off.

"No, no, you beautiful bastard, keep your money!"

Then he drove off cackling.

Nick blinked.

"What the hell just happened?"

But he was too excited to care.

He ran up to the estate gates.

The guards almost didn’t let him in until he showed his ID and the property code.

Even then, they looked at each other in disbelief.

"Kid like that owns a house here?" one whispered.

The other guard sipped his coffee.

"Probably some young crypto millionaire or sum..."

"Nah. Look at him. That rich long hair, the jawline?"

"Model. 100% model."

"Yeah, true. Definitely too dumb for crypto."

Both guards nodded, took a sip, and burst out laughing.

Meanwhile, Nick was already gone.

He was half-running, half-sprinting down the neatly paved road as he excitedly scanned each house number like a child in the toy section.

･･･

Meanwhile, in Fox residence.

It was the ideal luxury home.

The most expensive house in the whole estate, and its yard was the biggest too. Most of the other houses barely had any yard space... some didn’t even have one at all, but this place was completely different.

The gardens were perfectly trimmed, there was a wide blue pool that glimmered under the sun, and a small fleet of shiny cars sat neatly in the driveway like a private showroom.

Sunlight filtered through white curtains as Susan Fox lay under a wide gazebo.

Her tablet rested on her firm thighs.

Across from her, was a bronze-skinned, messy blonde hair with blue eyes that could melt diamonds.

Nadine Hodges.

Her father worked for Susan’s father as one of the board members at Fox Industries. Since both their dads were always caught up with work, the two of them ended up spending most of their childhood together.

Over time, they naturally became really close friends.

She lounged on a recliner with a lollipop in her mouth while two maids worked on her pedicure.

Nadine flipped through a glossy magazine lazily.

"Hey, Sue, you think anyone’s ever gonna buy that sad little house across the street?"

Susan didn’t even look up.

"Probably not. It’s nice, but the yard’s tiny."

She gave the house a halfhearted look.

"Only fits one car."

Nadine nodded as she flipped pages.

"Mhm. Shame though." ╮( ˘ ､ ˘ )╭

She licked the tip of her fingers and flipped again.

She had an oddly wet tongue so soaking her lollipop and fingers were quite easy.

"If it wasn’t right across from your house, I bet your dad would’ve snatched it already."

Susan hummed distractedly.

Nadine narrowed her eyes.

"You’re not even listening to me, are you?"

Susan didn’t answer.

Her eyes was somewhere far away.

『Where is he...?』

She’d been looking for Nick for two days.

No texts. No calls. Not even online.

Every time she went to his house, his creepy stepdad just gave her that weird look that made her skin crawl and forced her to pull her skirt lower.

『Did he give up on school? Or... run away?』

And this wasn’t her just overthinking things.

After the "small weiner" incident with Betty Thompson back in middle school, Nick pretty much thought his whole school life was ruined... especially now that everyone knew he was small down there.

He didn’t want to go back to school or even step outside his room.

No matter how much his mom tried to help.

In the end, Susan had to talk to her dad, who managed to get Nick into their current school on a scholarship... even though Nick had zero talent in academics.

He probably didn’t want to seem ungrateful, so he forced himself to go along with it.

『Did I just make things worse for him...?』

Her chest tightened.

Then—

"EARTH TO SUSAN FOX!"

Susan jumped so hard she almost threw her tablet.

"What?! What?! What!?"

Nadine rolled her eyes.

"You were totally spacing out again."

"I wasn’t spacing out!"

"Right. Still worrying about that beta-energy fatty?"

Susan frowned at her. (｡ • ᴖ • )

"Don’t call him that. And honestly, who even uses that word anymore?"

"Beta energy? Everyone! It’s trending again! It’s all over NTR manga and TikTok!"

Susan pinched her nose.

"Why do you even read NTR manga?"

Nadine grinned like a little she-devil.

"I like to challenge my mental health sometimes."

Susan groaned. "You’re such a problem."

But before Nadine could retort, her lollipop nearly fell from her mouth.

"Holy mother of eye candy..."

"What now?"

"Peep the hottie, Su. Right there—by THAT house."

Susan turned lazily then froze.

A tall young man with long black hair tied in a messy bun stood near the gate, looking slightly lost as sunlight brushed across his jawline like a spotlight.

Susan blinked. "He’s... hot, I guess."

"Guess!? That’s an understatement! If that guy’s living here, he’s definitely a model!"

Nadine dropped her magazine, dipped her freshly pedicured legs right into the pool.

This made the maids flinch and mutter curses.

Oblivious to Nadine, she jumped to her feet.

"Come on! Let’s go say hi and show him around!"

Susan tilted her head.

"Show him around? Nadine, he probably knows where he’s going."

"Duh, no he doesn’t. Look at him... he’s SO lost!"

Nadine tugged her hand and grinned wickedly.

"Besides... there’s literally no harm in greeting the new HOT neighbor, hmm?"

Susan sighed softly... but couldn’t stop herself from stealing another look at him.

There was something about that familiar face.

Something in the way the sunlight hit his eyes...

Her heart skipped for just a second.

『I know those blue eyes...』

She rubbed her chin.

"Weird... he almost looks like..."