19 The teen half a year from now

Six months later.

Thomas stood outside Sebastian's house, looking at the unmaintained building, the jungle-high grass, and the dusty car. Until last year, he used to call this place his brother's house.

Although too much had changed since the last half-year, and this, was only a minor transition compared to the rest.

For now, he was the legal tutor of Sebastian, as well as the property guardian. Following Joseph and Molly's testament, most of the belongings would be returned to Sebastian when he turned 18.

But even though on paper he should take responsibility for his nephew's wellbeing, the teenager was independent enough to refuse to live with his family. So, except at school and on special occasions, Thomas doesn't see the boy much these days.

The teenager has been avoiding contact with people, especially with him.

So unless there is an incredibly important topic to discuss, it's rare for the two of them to talk.

Clouded with negative thoughts that emerge every time he comes to this place, Thomas introduced the key on the lock, but at the moment he wanted to spin, it got stuck.

"Oh, you little…"

The man sighed of powerlessness.

His nephew had changed the lock.

And it was not the first time it happens.

Speechless, he pressed the doorbell. But seeing no response, he knocked on the wooden door with the key.

"Sebastian! Sebastian! Open the door!" The man shouted.

It took five minutes of yelling for steps to be heard inside the house.

Tuck. Clack… clack!

The door was opened.

"I told you not change the lock again Seba-oh..." The sermon of Thomas suddenly stopped when he saw that who opened the door wasn't Sebastian.

It was a small green puppet of about a meter tall, the vague shape of its body was like that of a penguin, but fatter. Overall, it looked like a child wearing adult-sized armor.

The orifice on its flat mask inspected Thomas from head to toe, then it walked away, allowing the man to enter.

"Ahm… hello?"

Seeing that the marionette was completely ignoring him, he closed the door and stepped inside the house.

Which was a complete mess of a place.

From the first view, the most likely resident should be rats and cockroaches rather than a human.

Thomas felt bad for having that impression, but it was inevitable.

Over the table, over the chairs, even on the floor, there were boxes and boxes of fast food takeout containers, unwashed plates and bowls stacking one over another, and wrinkled dirty clothes that, may be clean, but because they were scattered all over the living room, it created the illusion of unsanitary.

"What in the…"

However, before the visitor could whine, the marionette came back with a big black bag and started to throw all that trash inside of it. Perhaps the little thing couldn't stand to see such chaos either.

Seeing that someone is going to do something, Thomas tried to ignore the garbage in the way of his feet and kept his steady pace towards Sebastian's room.

…

Noisy.

That was the second problem he found in this short stay at the house.

As he approached the door, gunshot sounds became as audible as to explode his eardrums. He did know that his nephew bought a gigantic speaker, it was on the bank statement he receives via e-mail every month, but he never thought the kid would use it inside of his room.

And accompanied of firing twangs, there were curses from stranger voices.

"You got a tiny d*ck."

"What's is your life about!"

"GG"

"Who the f*ck are you b*tch!"

"Bro you're a bot!"

"I f*cked your mom so hard last night."

Knock knock knock!

"Come in," The person inside pronounced.

Thomas turned the handle and entered.

Unexpectedly, Sebastian's room was reasonably clean and organized, fully contrasting the rest of the house.

Guess that was 'don't sh*t where you eat'.

The now long hair teenager was found sitting on a gaming chair with his hands on the mouse and keyword, looking straight to one of the three monitors, playing a popular shooter ran with the best graphics and frame rates. Despite the high definition, the PC was as quiet as an ordinary box, with no sign of overheating—  all the hardwares in this room were the best out of the best. 

Then, other than his habitual gaming set, on the long table were countless empty cans of energy drinks. And in case they ran over, there was no need to go to the kitchen because next to the table was a mini-fridge filled to the top with all kinds of sugary drinks.

Furthermore, Thomas knew that behind the closet door, the cabinets were full of snacks.

Spoiled to the upmost.

"Speak." The boy uttered, never taking his eyes off the screen.

"Sebastian, your counselor talked to me, she said you haven't been in school for a week..."

But Sebastian didn't reply, as if he had no intention to explain anything. The keyboard strokes echoed in the room.

"It's been six months already, you need to get over this! You're not thinking about your future!" Thomas started talking with a suggestive voice, but slowly, he lost the composure, as well as the initial intention.

"You're wasting your youth playing video games all day all night. You close yourself in this room for weeks, you're smart Sebastian, tell me what benefits that brings you! You had excellent grades, you were a top student. You could aim for the best university, not only in this country but even in the foreign!" The man grabbed the boy from the shoulder, looking at him directly through his eyes. Determined to change him before it's too late.

"And?" The boy didn't even frown.

Suddenly, all the anger and resignation hit the air, hit to nowhere, as Sebastian's indifference took over this conversation.

"If you don't get back to study, I won't give a single cent from your parents' money!" The dumbfounded man finally threatened with the ace under the sleeve he had thought by all the way to here.

"So you better clo-"

"You need to follow the testament, uncle Tom, or else I can sue you, as simple as that."

Then not allowing the man to talk, Sebastian continued. "I know you don't mean it. But in case you do, what about 'kid survivor of the Clericland Forest Incident that lost his whole family losses everything again, his uncle hoard all his parents's inheritance, refused to give a single cent to the child and kicked him out of his own house' on the news?"

"For sure you lose everything like that fictional Sebastian in the story… Your job… Your house. Your social media information would be leaked: In your emails, you'll receive threats of death. On your phone, you will get calls from strangers at least ten times a day, all yelling at you how heartless you are. And by the time people discover that I was lying, your life would be already ruined."

"You worthless piece of sh*t!"

In the meantime of his speech, Sebastian killed another player in the game, gaining the swear as the sniper rifle made a perfect headshot.

"Besides, I own a house and three apartments already, what's the point of putting effort into something meaningless. I'm at the finish line a lot of people work their asses for. What else do I want? Status? Fame? I'm not that superficial, I have never been. You know it."

"Keep your preaching to your students Tom, if that's all for what you came for, leave." Sebastian finished the sentence with a conclusive attitude, having no further intention of speaking.

His eyes went back to the monitor.

"Sebastian, is this how you- AH! What the…" Suddenly, Thomas felt something sting his back.

The man rapidly turned around and the first thing he saw was the stick of a broom.

Without him noticing, the short marionette was already standing behind, ready to escort him out.

This, of course, took away any last intention to use force. He was with Sebastian and the people from that special unit when they tested the marionette's power, even at that small size, it could easily defeat twenty specially trained soldiers... soldiers that were using assault rifles.

Thomas resigned, he gave up on trying to convince the boy, at least for today, and walked out.

"Last thing. On Monday the people of the Ministry of Different Worlds will come to school. I don't know for what, but they demand all students be present, so to avoid the problems, it'll be better if you were there."

"Bye. See you… soon." The man looked for last time at his nephew with dark circles under his eyes.

…

As he crossed the door threshold, the marionette closed the door.

By the window, he could observe the small being sweeping the floor with that broom. The house was looking less dirty than before.

…

…

…

"Uffff, can't believe he actually bought it, haha," Sebastian said to himself, laughing heartlessly.

He took a big gulp of the drink.

"Where were we? Oh yeah, killing toxic gamers."

His hands went back to the keyboard, but the moment he touched it, an electronic neutral voice sounded in his head.

[Ding!]

[Connecting]

With it, a panel of words appeared before his eyes.

[All-star Gaming System initiating…]