The news that Ferocious Ravens lost their grand prize items circted on all social media. It was the talk of the town, overshadowing Roaring Tigers and Fighting Lambs'' win against ck Lion. The guild even offered a bounty on Ren''s head. But without any lead but his name and cloak, no one knew his face or voice.


    Ferocious Ravens evenined to the developers and filed a case against the yer who stole their treasures. They were asking to give Ren''s information or, at least, give the prize items back to them. It was only right because they won those items.


    However, the Developers were blind and deaf to their pleas. And they only announced one statement about the whole thing.


    [It''s part of the game.]


    Beatrix and Ferocious Ravens were going out of their minds that they even resorted to tarots and crystal balls to know Ren''s identity. When that didn''t work, they used boards and offered live animals to their lord of darkness.


    However, those endeavors were fruitless as they didn''t have any picture of the man, his full name, or anything that belonged to him. They didn''t even know what he looked like nor where to start looking for him. Even his voice was a mystery.


    It was like he was a ghost.


    "Why don''t we offer live baits?" Gina asked.


    "We already did that," Beatrix snapped.


    "No, I mean . . . live bait . . . as in human . . . person."


    ". . ." Beatrix gasped, and her eyes rounded at Gina. "I''m not a murderer, Gina! Forget it!"


    Gina wanted to roll her eyes and thought. But we worshiped the darkness. Shouldn''t we like do something evil for once? Maybe that''s why the lord ignored us because our fate is only surface level.


    "What was that?" Beatrix barked.


    Gina snapped her mouth shut. "Nothing."


    While Ferocious Ravens were looking for Ren the whole night, the culprit was having a st with Roaring Tigers and Fighting Lambs.


    As the news circted, Ren scrolled on his phone with a sly smirk on his face. It was nothing personal. It was purely business.


    Ren was sure that if he didn''t steal those items, others would.


    It would serve as a lesson to Ferocious Ravens and the other guilds in the future.


    "Ren. Ren. Have you looked at this? Our mercenary group received so many offers! Dungeon exploring. Boss hunting. Even quest solving. Some guilds wanted to recruit us even!" Leonel showed Ren the forums and the messages with unknown numbers and emails.


    As long as they created a group and made it public, others could leave a message on their World Conqueror chat.


    "Agh. I have a headache from the sheer numbers alone. I don''t even know who to reply first." Leonel''s eyes were going in circles before Ren lightly tapped his face to bring him back to earth.


    "That could wait. We''re here to enjoy the moment."


    Leonel scratched his head. "Egh . . . but . . . Mike and Saya are calling me too. They''ve been calling me nonstop."


    "Block them."


    "I did. But their messages went through."


    "Block all your notifications."


    Leonel sat beside Ren and sighed. "They''re asking to meet with us. But I said we''re busy."


    ". . ." Ren only drunk a bottle of beer before he chomped a good portion of beef on the grill. Nothing beats a samgyupsal ce when you''re hungry.


    Leonel stared at his friend, and he saw nothing but a nk face like usual. "You think they''re calling because they wanted to be friends again?"


    Ren was silent before he seriously returned Leonel''s gaze. "After all they said and done . . . do you still want to be friends with them?"


    ". . ." Leonel retrieved his eyes and shifted his attention to the bottle of beer he was holding. When he spoke, there was sadness in his voice, "To be honest . . . all that''s left within me are the memories. It''s hard to just forget four years of friendship, you know."


    Ren took a deep breath and released it in one full st. "Well . . . I don''t think that they treated as one. Maybe friends with benefits."


    Ren snickered before he added in a serious voice, "And I can''t entirely fault them since I benefited from that kind of friendship. It just showed how surface level it was that it''s easily broken."


    ". . ." Leonel closed his eyes tight before he raffled his fringe. He then smashed his palms against the table and whipped his head in Ren''s direction.


    "Why don''t we give them onest chance, Ren? Let''s hear what they''re going to say. For old-time''s sake. What do you say, huh?"


    ". . ." Ren didn''tment. He knew what Saya and Mike were going to say, which was definitely not good. But he guessed it was time to end whatever rtionship they had once and for all.


    It was time to give Leonel some closure too.


    "Sure," said Ren. "Let''s have lunch at Diamond Pce tomorrow."


    ----


    Camete morning, Ren woke up with a headache just like what he expected. He sat on the bed and took deep, calming breaths before he stretched his limbs and took medicines. After which, he took a shower, got dressed for their lunch with Saya and Mike, and went out of his room.


    He was surprised to find his parents watching television while breakfast was already on the table.


    "You''re up. Late-night drinking is bad for your health," said Troy while his attention was on the screen.


    <o>,m "Ah . . . Sorry. We celebrated too muchst night." Ren had already exined to his parents what happened, and he already had their approval to go drinking and celebrate.</o>


    "That''s good and all but try not to celebrate every night."


    Instead of getting annoyed by the lecture, Ren chuckled. It was good to hear the sound of his parent''s voices. Now it felt like home.


    "I''ll reheat breakfast for you." Helen went to the kitchen, but Ren stopped her.


    "It''s okay. We''re going to have lunch with Saya and Mike."


    "Just a toast, Ren. To fill your empty stomach."


    Ren knew better than to stop his mom when she was like that, so he obliged and took a sit first.


    After receiving his toast, he got a feeling that something was up when his mother sat opposite him instead of going back to his father''s side.


    "What is it?" Ren finally asked after a minute that his mother just stared at him with a constipated face.


    Helen hesitated before she looked at her husband. When she realized she wouldn''t get any support from him, she batted her eyelids before facing Ren with an awkward smile.


    "Remember your Aunt Hazel and her son Jonathan?"


    "Yeah. What about them?"


    "W-we''ll . . . they''re asking if we could loan them some money to buy her son a pod. She said those things suddenly surged in prices, and the bank wouldn''t loan her that kind of amount."


    ". . ."


    Helen felt like Ren''s mood didn''t change, and his stoic expression was still unnerving as before. So she struck the iron while it was still hot.


    "And also remember your Aunt Christine and Uncle Bernie? Also, your cousins, Joy, Martin, and Flor. They''re asking if it''s alright to move in with us since they''re going to study here in preparation for their future.


    "There is also you, Aunt Dina, and your Uncle Ben. They''re also asking if they could borrow money to buy those pods."


    ". . ." Ren didn''t bother to remember those names since he wasn''t interested in ying a loving rtive. He could never forget that there was no rtive – not one who came to their aid when they needed it the most.


    So why should he help them?


    Ren smiled at her mother, but thetter only felt scared for whatever reason.


    "Tell them that this house is off limits. I don''t want others to run around in here and do as they please. And as for those who wanted money . . . sure. No problem."


    Helen expected Ren to decline since she already felt that her son didn''t have any love or like for his rtives. But she was surprised when Ren agreed to the loan.


    "Then . . ."


    "However," Ren chimed in before Helen could finish her sentence. "I want interest and a coteral. Can''t be giving out precious money without anything in return, right?"


    He beamed.


    Helen''s mouth dropped. "You want to . . . make business out of the loan?"


    "Yes," Ren answered matter of factly. "Anywhere you go, it''s the norm. But don''t worry, mom. I''ll decrease the interest because we''re blood-rted and all. I''ll also put it in the contract so they''ll feel secure." So they wouldn''t have any way out if they couldn''t pay the loan. Renughed inwardly.


    "I . . . I see . . ." Helen didn''t know what Ren was talking about, if she had to be honest.


    "Don''t worry." Ren stood from his seat and gently squeezed Helen''s shoulder. "I''ll take care of everything," he said before he left his apartment.


    ". . ." After Ren left, Helen looked at her husband and gaped at him with eyes wide. "Thank you for helping me back there."


    "They''re not my rtives."


    "Yeah. Well . . . your rtives also wanted the same thing."


    "Yeah. But know what I did? I ignore them. End of story."


    Helen couldn''t believe her husband, and she sneered. "Now I know where Ren got his attitude from."