I don't know if whether to call it luck or a close call, but thankfully for Kazuki and me, we were able to reach our home in Arthur Avenue just before 7 o'clock. For a second there, I thought I would face our mom's tirade of me focusing on my friends and not Kazuki. Still, I was thankful for the lack of traffic today. That helped us a lot.
After I left my backpack in my bedroom, I headed straight to the kitchen to help my Mom out with dinner. From what she told me when I ask how was her day was, she had actually finished with tomorrow's article and got to leave work early as a reward. Sure, I know her boss let her go home just to see us, but if I know my Mom, she has more ideas for a new article every day. Though she wasn't too much of a workaholic, as she did spend time with us for a family game night.
Once the food was ready, we sat down in our usual seats with Kazuki joining us. But, I was confused when I saw an empty seat near Mom's. "Huh? Shouldn't Dad be home from work already?" It was weird, Dad usually is supposed to get home before dinner on Thursdays. It wasn't like him to just skip out on dinner like that.
"He did, but he texted me he had to come home a little minutes late. He said something that he needs to pick something up."
That didn't answer my question. But as I shifted my glance from my mom to my brother, I was even more confused when I saw Kazuki smiling oddly while jumping up and down in his seat. I knew something was off because he wasn't the type to smile like that, especially while Dad was very late. "Did Dad say anything about when will he come home?"
"He said he will be here in about half an hour. Until then, we should try to eat without him."
I would've complained about this, but whatever kind of work he was working on right now, I couldn't do it because I knew it had to be important. Compared to Mom, Dad is the biggest workaholic of all. Even to the point that I've gotten worried that he might start completely ignoring me and Kazuki someday. But I had no choice. We decided to eat without him while Kazuki and I told Mom about our day and studies.
----
Even though I managed to finish my chicken soup, Dad still hadn't come back. It had been almost 30 minutes by now, and Mom and Kazuki were almost finished with their meals. Ugh... This is what I hated about his job. Instead of helping us study and spending time with us, he was probably stuck with building some kind of a new AI or something. It was official, he was completely focused on his work instead of u-
"I'm home everyone! Sorry, it took so long."
I broke out of my depressed mood just in time to hear Dad's voice. To be honest, I was almost worried there. "Dad! You're here!" Kazuki shouted as he rushed in just to hug him before I approached him in a proper manner.
"Well, I don't want you all just to finish up without me. Besides, I do have some special news for you two."
"Really, what kind?" Special news, huh? Was that why he was somehow late? Still, I did know he had something in store for me and Kazuki. Though I hope it's not too work-related. The last times he made an announcement like this it was just a 'Bring Your Son or Daughter to Work' day. Besides, I'm already too old to go something like that anymore.
"Well, it's something that the officials just give me for the project." Just then, he then left the house. I was confused about it, but for some reason, Kazuki was strangely restless and excited about it. But when Dad came back a few seconds later, my eyes widen as I saw him carry two huge boxes into the house. "You could say it can make anyone's wish come true."
Anyone's wish? I was confused at what he meant. That is, until I took a closer look at the boxes, and gasped in shock at seeing the writing and logo on it. "'V-Veil Console'?! You managed to get two consoles?! B-B-But how?!" That's what I really want to know. These VR consoles are very expensive and I know buying two of them would be way out of our family's budget.
"I did say the officials gave me these for our new plans. I just told you about you two, and they let me have these VeilCons for you guys. Though it wasn't easy to convince them."
Okay, now I knew that all of this just seemed impossible. I tried to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming. To my surprise, I was not. Right in front of me were two of the VR consoles, the very said successors of the first ADVR consoles. But, I know they didn't give these to Dad for free. "O-Okay. I know this isn't a dream and those packages seem real. But what's the catch? I know they didn't just give it away like it was candy!"
I felt like as if I was panicking right now. There were two VeilCons right in front of me, and I still kept trying to make sure that they weren't fake or anything. Thankfully, my dad gave me time to breathe before he continued. This was a lot to handle, as we now had three VeilCons in our house.
"I know you would ask that, so I might as well tell you. As you know, we are working on a new AI for a special project from the third-party. That project is a game called <Isekai Online>."
Isekai... Online...?
Damon and Zac did invite me to play the game, but I rejected them for obvious reasons. But with these VeilCons in front of me, I figured that I was going to eat my words. Ugh... I feel like I'm going to hit myself because of this unexpected surprise. I just kept my mouth shut while my Dad continued his explanation. "They were about to release the game to the public, but the AI department still needs some players to check on the interactions between them and the NPCs programmed with the special advanced AI that we made. They were about to put up some job hiring ads on their website to look for new players, but I decided to tell them about you two, and they agreed to let you boys to fill that role. Besides, I think you two have good grades so far. Except for Kazuki's physical education class."
I just chuckled at this, while Kazuki frowned in annoyance. Yeah, our parents were aware of his 'PE problem'. "Regardless, I feel this job should also serve as your rewards for doing a good job with your studies. But as long you take the job, you can have these VeilCons all to yourselves."
Hang on a second, Dad said this would fulfill 'someone's wish'. And all this time, Kazuki remained calm with that smile before he mentioned his PE grades. So...
"And let me guess, this is your only chance to fulfill Kazuki's promise to play Isekai Online, huh?" I asked in the most deadpanned tone in the world, which Dad just nodded yes to this. "Of course..."
This was very obvious at the start. Kazuki loves fantasy novels like 'The Lord of the Rings', 'Harry Potter', and 'The Golden Compass' and he was raving about the game ever since the announcement. I don't want to disappoint him, but I opposed this idea because of obvious reasons which I still stand by to this day.
"Come on, Hayate! I've been begging Dad for months now and now that we have it, I can finally to play the game in a VR world whenever I like!"
Yeah, that is his dream. He is very smart for a kid his age, but he has a big imagination. He even pretends to be a knight or a wizard when he was 6 years old. I always had to play the role of a horse or a dragon in his pretend plays since I was bigger. "I-I don't know. First off, the game has some mature and violent content that you might not be able to endure. Plus, the age limit for it is for 13-years-old and up only. You won't able to play at your current age. Sorry, Kazuki."
I really didn't want to crush his dreams, but this was a reality. There are laws meant to protect young kids from games that they can't handle. I only wish that he wasn't too disappointed at this. I just don't want to hurt his feelings.
"That is true. The game will block anyone who tries to lie about their age, which is against the law." Dad was right. Every VR console is equipped with a special device that can scan their bodies and their personal information to determine their correct identity. If they try to put in false information about themselves, they risk being fined heavily and/or put in prison for 3-4 years. So I knew it would be a bad idea to enter the game with his current age. "Although, I doubt you're telling the whole truth about your intentions for the game."
The whole truth? What was he talking about? I turned to Kazuki once more, only to see that he was smiling again as he said, "You really think I'm playing this game all by myself?" Okay, I was even more confused than ever. What was he even planning with the game? "To tell you the truth, I want to invite you into the world of Isekai Online. So you and I can explore the lands together like the heroes from the book!"
Wait...
WHAT?!!
"Surprised? I did say that you and Kazuki are chosen to be the NPC beta testers. And you don't have to worry about those age problems. Along with the style choice features, there are also features to not only lower the PK and gore settings, but there is a special feature that allows minors into the game with the condition of <Guardian Players> keeping an eye on them during their gameplay session. So in other words, you get to come along with Kazuki into Isekai Online."
So... This was his special news. Not only did he gave us two VeilCons and the game itself, but both of us were invited to the game to be their beta testers.
At this rate, I felt like I was going to faint at any second because I couldn't take this any longer. Where was a nice bed or sofa when I needed it?!