Max’s wasn’t aware on the impact of his post.

Most were doubtful, but backed by Aethernova and his confidence to bring the organization with him in his statement, it was difficult to not to believe him.

Julian acted immediately, contacting the keyboard warriors to deny Max’s statement and convinced the others to hate him.

He mobilized more than a thousand keyboard warriors this time, draining half a hundred thousand US Dollars in an instant.

Their parents entrusted them with such amount of money to invest not their hobby but their career as a player.

It wasn’t surprising that Julian possessed a large sum of money.

His elder brother had also provided him money for destroying the First Player’s image.

Surprisingly, Rhayne was quiet after Max’s reply to her statement.

She was also aware and was as exasperated as Julian and the others.

But she wouldn’t stoop so low as to destroy Max’s reputation.

As the only player who was close... briefly to him, she was aware of Max’s capability.

It was indeed not surprising he had completed the second-class advancement.

As for the lockdown in the village, the cause was still unknown but Rhayne believed Max was definitely involved with it.

Max, on the other hand, didn’t bother too much about it.

He had an idea of how impactful it was—disturbing the Lewis’ brother.

At the moment, he also had a meaningful breakfast with his brother, Enzo.

While they were eating, Max recalled the million dollars on his account.

He had already pondered of how he must proceed with his new life henceforth.

Enzo not investing on the game must not happen at all.

Max glanced at Enzo and seemed to be in deep thought.

He must be studying in his head again.

Max shook his head and said, "Enzo. I have something to tell you."

Enzo glanced at him and saw how serious his expression was.

Enzo didn’t treat it lightly and replied, "Go on."

Max said, "I have a million dollars in my bank account. That’s just the beginning. It will increase to ten millions up by next month."

He paused, letting Enzo to process what he had just said.

Enzo was taken aback. He was in complete disbelief.

He couldn’t fully process what he had just heard.

He suddenly recalled how Max continued to buy foods for them, including appliances such as refrigerator...

He had also planning to replace their current bed and improved their life.

But it was impossible. The loan shark would suck them dry.

They wouldn’t simply let them go even when they already paid for their debt.

Before Enzo could reply, Max already had an idea of what he was thinking. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

He said, "Forget about the loan sharks. I can deal with them. I just want to tell you that you must invest your energy in the game.

No time to waste. I believe you can still graduate if you neglect your studies now."

Max was contacted by Aethernova after they discovered about his connection with the loan sharks.

They offered a way to get rid of the loan shark by themselves, in exchange for a compensation.

The loan shark was his biggest headache.

When Max could only offer coins as a compensation, and they asked fifty golds and a hundred silver coins, Max didn’t bargain and accepted the deal.

Getting rid of a loan shark in another country was difficult and he couldn’t possibly hire an assassin for them.

Now that the Aethernova themselves had offered a lending hand, even at a cost of coins, Max didn’t mind.

He had thousands of gold coins and tens of thousands of silver coins in his storage ring from Archmage Arlen.

So much so he couldn’t count them all.

Though the inventory showed the exact amount but he didn’t even try to finish reading them.

Enzo was in disbelief again, finding it difficult to accept that his brother had managed to deal with the loan shark.

HIs brother loved to joke around but when he said something serious, he was definitely serious about it.

Talking about getting rid of the loan shark and suggesting to neglect his study for the sake of gaming might seemed to be a joke to him, but his brother was too serious that he couldn’t just ignore it.

He was silent for a while, leaving his gaze off of his brother, but he couldn’t continue eating.

He sighed under the intense gaze of Max.

"If it wasn’t because you didn’t laugh at all, I might be convinced you were joking."

Max shook his head.

"Yeah, I know, you weren’t." Enzo sighed again. "Why are you so serious about gaming? It’s not definite. What if in the future that disappears? What will you do, then?"

Max was about to reply when he suddenly realized he had misunderstood Enzo’s question.

Enzo couldn’t possibly know about the future where Apocalypse Online disappeared and the real apocalypse had descended on earth.

Enzo might be talking about the timeline where Apocalypse Online vanished but the peaceful earth continued.

How would Max then earn without his main source of income without having a diploma?

For Enzo, Max was definitely not thinking it through.

He had already ignored the part where Max didn’t continue study, believing he would definitely repay him for financing his tuitions.

Yet, here Max was, trying to convince him of following his path.

It was simply too ridiculous.

But Max suddenly replied, "What if it won’t?"

Heavy silence descended.

Enzo remained surprised of his brother’s unyielding attitude.

He pondered for a while before shaking his head.

"I won’t change my mind. You do you. I do mine."

He resumed eating, finishing his food quite fast, and prepared for his school.

Max simply watched him and shook his head.

He wasn’t surprised that he failed.

His brother was same as him.

Once they already had their sights on their goal, it was difficult to stop him.

Max sighed in defeat.

He thought. I guess, I just have to grow stronger to protect them...

===

A/N: Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to show your supports by giving golden tickets, powerstones, gifts, and reviews! It means a lot since this is participating for WSA.