MMORPG: Birth of the World's Luckiest Player

The visitors were none other than Serena’s cousins, Crystal and Jade.

Crystal stood at the doorway with her usual icy composure, so still and poised she might have been mistaken for a sculpture carved from flawless ice.

Just ahead of her stood Jade, smaller in stature but no less striking. Where Crystal was cold and distant, Jade was vivid and expressive. Her delicate features and slender frame gave her a natural grace, but at the moment, that grace was overshadowed by the fire in her eyes. Her lips were set in a sharp pout, and the tension in her posture made it clear she hadn’t come for a friendly visit.

"Marcus!"

For the briefest moment, Jade almost smiled, the familiar "Big Bro" hovering at the edge of her tongue out of habit. Then she remembered why she was here. The softness vanished, replaced by indignation, and she snapped his name instead, her glare sharpening.

"Come in," Marcus said, stepping aside with a quiet, resigned sigh. As they passed him, he couldn’t help but notice, once again, how extraordinary the Nance sisters were. Even standing in the doorway of his apartment, they seemed completely out of place, as if they belonged to a different world entirely.

Jade brushed past him without another word, moving straight inside with barely concealed agitation. Marcus turned his attention to Crystal, offering a polite smile as he waited for her to follow.

The moment their eyes met, something shifted.

Crystal’s mind was pulled back without warning to that day, the memory arriving with a clarity that made her breath catch. She could still feel the pressure of his arms around her, the heat of his body, the way he had kissed her without hesitation or restraint, shattering the composure she had spent years building.

A flush rose instantly to her cheeks, spreading warmth across her otherwise cool features. Her heartbeat quickened, loud and unsteady, and for a fleeting second, she felt as though she were standing there exposed, her carefully maintained distance stripped away.

It was worse than embarrassment. Somewhere deep inside, that moment had left a mark she couldn’t erase. No matter how much she had tried to avoid thinking about it, his presence lingered, persistent and undeniable, as though a part of her had been quietly claimed in that brief, reckless encounter.

She had avoided him ever since, almost instinctively, afraid of facing him again and confronting the weakness he seemed to draw out of her. But now that she stood here, with him just a step away, the reaction she felt was not what she had expected. Instead of fear or anger, a strange warmth spread through her chest, soft and unfamiliar.

She realized, with a start, that she had missed him.

Missed his presence. Missed the way he looked at her. Missed the sense of steadiness she had felt, however briefly, in his arms.

The realization unsettled her more than anything else.

In front of him, her pride felt fragile, her usual cold detachment meaningless. She blinked rapidly, forcing back the sudden sting in her eyes, unwilling to let even the smallest crack show.

Jade had already moved inside. Left alone with him for even a moment longer, Crystal felt her composure slipping further, so she stepped past him quickly, following her cousin without looking back, clinging to what little dignity she could still gather.

"Marcus... why did you break up with Serena?" she asked at last, her voice controlled but softer than usual, lacking its familiar sharpness. "You’re being... irresponsible."

The words sounded rehearsed even to her own ears, as though she were repeating something she felt she should say rather than something she truly knew how to express.

"Marcus, you jerk! You playboy!" Jade burst out before he could respond, stepping right up to him and fixing him with an accusing stare. "Crystal and I came here for an explanation. Why did you dump Serena? If you don’t fix this, don’t expect either of us to forgive you!"

Marcus felt an odd flicker of nostalgia at the scene. Jade’s fiery temper, Crystal’s restrained presence, the tension between them, it all brought back memories he hadn’t expected to resurface so clearly. For a moment, his mind drifted, recalling the closeness they had once shared, the fleeting glimpses of warmth behind Crystal’s cold exterior, the easy familiarity he had with Jade.

But standing there under Jade’s fierce gaze, he quickly realized he couldn’t afford to get lost in that.

"Marcus, my sister is a martial arts expert," Jade continued, her tone rising as she tried to intimidate him, though the worry beneath it was already starting to show. "If you don’t tell us the truth, you’re going to regret it!"

She wasn’t just angry. She was hurt. Serena meant everything to them, someone they cherished and took pride in, and Marcus’s sudden decision had shaken that trust. To Jade, it didn’t make sense. The Marcus she knew wasn’t supposed to be someone who walked away so easily.

’Martial arts...’ Marcus repeated inwardly, a thought forming almost immediately.

If he wanted to avoid unnecessary interference from the Nance family, he needed to handle this carefully, and quickly. He had already decided he would deal with Serena on his own terms. The last thing he needed was her entire family stepping in.

"A couple of years ago, I started practicing a very aggressive combat technique," Marcus said, his tone turning serious, measured and just convincing enough. "It focused on something called Solar Energy, but I pushed myself too far. I ended up suffering some side effects. My internal energy went out of control, and I nearly died because of it."

The shift in the room was immediate.

"Lily was there when it happened," he continued, keeping his voice steady as he built on the lie. "She risked her life to save me. In the end... she had to give herself to me to stabilize my energy. After that, I couldn’t just pretend nothing happened. I had to take responsibility. I had to be with her."

Jade froze, her anger dissolving into shock. Even Crystal’s composed expression wavered, replaced by unmistakable concern. As members of a family deeply connected to the supernatural world, they understood all too well what a an Energy Deviation meant, and how close it could bring someone to death.

"Marcus!" Jade rushed forward, her voice breaking as she grabbed his arm, all thoughts of confrontation forgotten. "You... you had an Energy Deviation?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Her eyes filled with tears almost instantly, her face paling as fear took hold. "Don’t scare me like that! Are you alright now? Is there any lasting damage? You have to come with me, right now. I’ll take you home, my father and grandfather will examine you. They’ll fix anything that’s wrong!"

Marcus was caught off guard by how completely she believed him. He had expected resistance, doubt, at least a few probing questions. Instead, her concern was immediate and overwhelming.

For a moment, even he felt the weight of the lie.

"Jade, wait," he said, gently stopping her before she could pull him away. "I’m fine. Really. After that incident, I managed to break through the barrier. Since then, my training has been smooth, and my energy is stronger than it’s ever been."

To demonstrate, he gestured casually toward the refrigerator across the room. With a slight flick of his finger, the heavy appliance lifted cleanly off the ground, hovering steadily in mid-air.

Jade stared at it, her breathing uneven, torn between disbelief and relief.

Marcus, meanwhile, knew full well that going with her was not an option. Given Serena’s father’s attitude toward him, the rest of the family likely wouldn’t be much kinder. If anything, they might prefer him weakened and distant.

"Are you sure?" Jade asked softly, her voice trembling as she looked back at him, her eyes still wet with tears. "It’s really gone?"

"Jade," Marcus said gently, stepping closer. He reached out and wiped the tears from her cheeks with surprising tenderness. Up close, her beauty was even more striking, and for a brief moment, his expression softened in a way that wasn’t entirely part of the act. "Have I ever lied to you?"

She stilled at his touch, her breathing gradually slowing. After a moment, she shook her head, then looked up at him with fragile hope in her eyes.

"Is that why you broke up with Serena?" she asked quietly. "Because you felt you had to?"

Her voice faltered slightly before she finished.

"Do you... still love her?"