5 A Viral Video and Suspicious Player

Walking out of the game capsule, I felt something strange about my body. It felt so heavy as if I had just finished doing a physically draining activity when in reality all I was doing was lying down to play an online games.

I then remembered everything I did in the game and thought, "Is this a psychological effect?"

Initially I intended to have dinner before resting. Now I changed my plans and immediately threw myself onto the bed.

Without realizing it, time continued to pass and night turned into morning. If it weren't for my smartphone constantly ringing, maybe I still fall asleep like a log.

After I finished cleaning my body and enjoying a simple breakfast, I'm getting ready to go to school. Seeing how quiet my house was, I didn't know whether to be grateful or not. I have a father but he has been working out of town since I started high school until now in my senior year.

My mother died when I was in middle school and I have no siblings.

In this house there is only me alone and of course it feels very lonely and boring.

Riding the bus to my school, I saw lots of news about Gaia Project on almost all the bulletin boards in this city.

Looking back on my family situation, maybe on the bright side my father wouldn't have scolded me for spending too much time playing games.

As I expected, when I arrived at school the students didn't talk about lessons but rather the Gaia Project which was going viral around the world.

"Oi, Saga, it's unusual for you to come when class is almost starting."

Turning to the right, I saw a youth calling my name while walking towards me. He was none other than my classmate, Finn.

Unlike me, Finn is the type of person who is very passionate about everything.

"I'm sure you know Gaia Project. I just ordered a game capsule so I could play it when it arrives tomorrow and was planning to play it after school at the game center. Want to come along?"

Being invited like this certainly makes me happy. It's just different from Finn who doesn't seem to have played it yet. I've played this game and will be busy with magic knight activities for a while. Even if we play together, I'm not sure I can accompany him because I don't dare to risk losing the job I just got in the game.

So I was forced to refuse his invitation by telling him that I didn't have the money to try the game.

Everyone in my class knows that I live alone and have to save money if I want to survive. So when I expressed my reasons, several people who were busy talking about Gaia Project became silent because they felt bad about my situation.

Especially considering that my school is filled with rich kids.

Finn probably intended to treat me but most likely realized that it could make things worse.

"I might be able to treat him to play Gaia Project today. But with his financial situation, if he likes this game but can't play it, isn't it the same as torturing him? The worst possibility is he can't manage his finances and spends all his money playing this game."

I'm sure that's what crossed Finn's mind because Finn is a good friend and understand his friend's situation.

To fix this awkward situation I said to Finn and in a voice loud enough for my classmates to hear.

"I may not play this game but I often read articles and even ask people in the forums. If you haven't played Gaia Project, it would be good if you think about the profession want to be. That's because you will be asked to choose 1 of 5 kingdoms where each kingdom will be closely related to the profession you might want."

When they saw me enthusiastically talking about Gaia Project, it finally made the atmosphere in my class return to normal. Until one of my classmates get everyone's attention in the class by showing a viral video of the situation inside the game.

"Hey, guys. Check this out!"

In the video he showed, we saw a witch make a movement with a fan in her hand and then surprisingly several people gathered near the witch trapped in a vortex of wind and made them unconscious within a few seconds.

The number of likes and shares for the video even exceeded 10 million. When I saw it, I was surprised because the video is none other than the video about Melissa's ability to help me escape from the crowd of players.

Luckily no one noticed my presence next to Melissa because everyone was transfixed by the magic power displayed by Melissa.

There is one more thing that concerns me. I didn't realize there was a camera or video feature in the game. I'll have to check it when I log in later. It feels very disturbing if someone secretly records us when we are not aware of their presence.

Apart from that, this feature can also be a double-edged sword because the level of pornography in the game will definitely increase. If the players were strong enough it was likely they would do something evil like raping NPCs while recording the deed and then selling them in the real world.

After the school ends I went straight home and didn't stop anywhere else. Lying inside the game capsule, I immediately said the magic word and entered the game world of Gaia Project.

Right after I opened my eyes, I heard several loud knocks from the door.

"Crimson Clover are you in there?"

The voice was Aldoun's voice. Getting up from the bed, I immediately rushed to open the door and saw Aldoun waiting for me in his official uniform as a magic knight.

"I didn't expect you to sleep until noon." As a magic knight you have to change your habits. I'll forgive you because last night you trained hard with Melissa. But tomorrow there will be no more excuses and you will be punished if you are not disciplined.

Hearing Aldoun's statement, I realized something. Time in the game and the real world are intertwined with each other. I don't know about other kingdoms in the game or other countries in the real world, but the time in this city corresponds to the time in the real world in my country.

That means it will be very difficult for me to be a magic knight and a high school student at the same time. As if I were a human living in two different places and that couldn't possibly happen. I have to sacrifice one of those world.

Do I have to sacrifice my school so I can focus on my activities in the game? But if I don't go to school it will be difficult for me to be accepted by society or get a job in the future.

Conversely, if I lost my job as a magic knight, I would lose my advantage over other players. That's the same as wasting the money I used to rent a game capsule so I could play Gaia Project in order to get money from selling various kinds of information that I could get in it.

I will decide about that later because now there are things I have to do with Aldoun.

Aldoun gave me a magic knight uniform and asked me to wear it so we could immediately go straight to the mayor's residence to officially inaugurate me as a magic knight.

Previously, I had also checked various features in the game and did not find any photo or recording features. That means someone used a certain tool or ability to record Melissa beforehand.

This made me more alert in paying attention to the players as I walked with Aldoun towards the mayor's residence.

As I expected, the Blight City players who had recognized me immediately noticed when I walking beside Aldoun who almost caught them last night. The thing that made me the center of attention was the uniform I wore, the same as the uniform Aldoun wore right now.

"Hey, isn't he …"

"There's no need to continue what you're saying. It was him indeed."

"But how can he become part of the magic knights in just one day while us here still don't know what to do?!"

"Goddamn it. Why is God so unfair?"

"Hey, why don't we just ask him?"

"Shut up! Because of your suggestion, last time many of us fainted from the wind magic of the witch who accompanied him."

"Hey, why blame me? Don't all of you also agree that is the best way last time?"

I tried to ignore the players until finally my eyes saw someone take out something from their clothes which I immediately recognized as a camera.

Without thinking too much, I immediately move towards that person and released a fire magic to attack him.

Not only the players around, Aldoun himself was surprised by what I had just done in front of him.

Destroying the small camera he was about to use, I asked the player in front of me a serious question.

"How can you have a camera to record when the other players including me don't have it? Tell me everything you know or I will imprison you."

Not without reason, I felt there was something wrong with the player in front of me compared to other players like me. As if something was being hidden from us.

If we don't have a camera, this player shouldn't have a mini camera.

Is he part of the gaming company to expose various interesting things in the game? If so, why did it say at the beginning that the company does not interfering all affairs in the game?

As a figure who almost secretly recorded, I feel very disturbed because I feel like I can't get any privacy in the game.