--- Mysterious Box

Early in the morning, three teenagers can be seen walking through the streets of downtown. One of which is Chris, along with his two brothers.

One is a green-eyed, red-haired boy with an above-averagely freckled face. He was thin, but not as thin as Chris. His name was Peter Hughes, 17 years old.

The other is a blonde-haired boy with black eyes, a slightly flat nose, and an above-average face. Surprisingly, he was fat. His name was Darryl Cross, and he was also 17 years old.

They can be seen walking in a fast-paced manner; their destination was the eastern part of Glaze City, a huge landfill.

Today, a fresh batch of trash carried by huge dump trucks from other cities around the country will arrive soon. It's why they woke up early in the morning and were hurriedly walking. The earlier you are, the better. They're going to scavenge today.

Chris looked at his bank account through his old phone. He had a smile on his face as he was satisfied with his progress.

[Current Balance : 482,000 Gils]

'Haaah... Just a little bit more and I'll be able to purchase the cheapest console for Gaia Online...'

*Guruguruguru...*

"Hey guys, let's stop by the Grantz sisters' place first and grab some snacks, yeah?"

"Hmmm... That's right, we need to fill our belly first before going to our destination. We can't let our pet worms inside go on a rampage after all."

"Geez... You know, this guy was carrying bags full of scrap food last night that he bought from Granny Martha again..."

The hell, Darr! At this rate, you won't be able to purchase the console in time. Furthermore, those scrap foods ain't safe for human consumption!

"Hehehe.. I can't help it as I get hungry all the time, and besides, they are cleaned and cooked again, so it should be fine."

*Bam!* *Bam!* "Ahhh!!!"

""What's so funny, you idiot!?""

Two feet landed hard on Darryl's ass, making him fly away and roll on the asphalt road. His brothers were clearly disappointed in him.

*Sigh...*

"What do we do with this gluttonous pig, first bro?"

"Well, whatever! I'm just about 18K short, and I'll be able to buy the console, so I'll just give money to Darr once I manage to exchange game gold for real money."

"What? But we promised to play on the same day, so we'll be at the same beginner village..."

"I guess it's fine. We can't let this guy go hungry after all. Besides, we're already left behind in Gaia, so I have to go first and check it out."

"Haaah... Alright."

"Oh, Chris, I love you so much! You're the best brother ever! From now on, you're the absolute eldest brother of our brotherhood. Come, this little brother will give you hugs and kisses!"

"Wha-!? GO AWAY!!! It's your fault to begin with."

*Bam!* "AHHH!!!"

*******

After a few minutes of walking, the trio reached the edge of the city's commercial area and finally arrived at the Grantz sisters' place. It was named Le Grantz.

Outside, a curvy blue-haired woman in ponytails can be seen cleaning using a broom. She has green eyes, a thin nose, full lips, a busty chest, and a shapely ass that can make any man drool just by glancing at her. Her cold, piercing eyes are enough to scare any horndogs away. She's also a Gaia player. Her name was Shiela Grantz, and she was 28 years old.

"Good morning, big sister Sheila! You're so beautiful as always!"

As always, Darryl greeted her first with a bit of pleasantry. Although he was a pervert, he never tried to flirt with her or anything. He still loves his life.

"Hmph! Fatty, you're glib-tongued, as always. You brats need something this early?"

"Hehehe..."

"Good morning, big sister, Do you have cooked food? We're kind of hungry..."

"Hm! Go inside. Sherryl should be done cooking."

"Alright."

*Creak!* *Ting-Ling!*

Upon opening the door of the shop, the smell of delicious food instantly greeted their nostrils. It made them even more hungry than they already was.

The interior of the shop was pretty small, with a simple, homey design, and big vases can be seen on the sides with roses of different colors.

Five tables are placed in a cross pattern, where each table has four chairs. There was also a counter with three chairs in front. Overall, only 23 people at a time can dine in. Not much, but there are only the siblings that serve.

"Hello goo- Ah! Chris~! Good morning~! And you two as well~"

A blue haired girl appeared over the counter. She was about to do her usual greeting to a costumer when she saw Chris and his brothers. She only looked at Chris though.

She looks exactly the same as Shiela but in a younger, more petite version. Her eyes are also full of playfulness; pair them with her melodious voice, and she's like a siren ready to ensnare any weak-willed men. Her name was Sherry Grantz; she was 16 years old and Shiela's younger sister.

"Good morning, Sherryl."

"..."

"Sherryl! Each and every time, you treat us like air and only look at Chris. That's unfair, you know?" Darryl put his fat arm on top of Peter's shoulder then complained to Sherryl with a pout.

"Heee~ Heee~! Sorry Fatty~!"

"Seriously, whenever my brothers or others call me "fatty," I really don't mind. I feel like it was natural. But when it's Sherryl, I feel like my heart is breaking into pieces..."

""Pffft! Hahahaha!""

Darryl was murmuring with a dark and sad face, making his brothers laugh at him.

"Really~?"

""Hahahaha!""

"..."

Sherryl added salt to his injury by acting innocently, making the other two laugh once more. Chris suddenly remembered something and immediately spoke.

"Sherryl, will you please charge our phone? And also, three coffees and four orders of stir-fried noodles with lots of veggies, please!"

"Okay, coming right up~!"

But before she entered the kitchen to get their orders, Darryl added something.

"Sherryl, make it five orders, please. I want three for me. Hehe!"

"""..."""

She was speechless and just stared at an equally speechless Chris. He nodded weakly, and she left.

"Haaah... Seriously, Darr, just what kind of worm was inside your belly that you have to eat too much?" asked Chris.

"Nah, bro, it's not worms anymore, but maybe there are large anacondas inside!" said Peter.

"Come on, bros! I can't help it, you know? The smell made me hungry even more."

""...""

**Sigh...**

This brother of theirs is hopeless, so they just gave up. After a few minutes of their chatter while waiting, Sherryl came out with the foods and coffees.

"Here you go guys~!"

"Thank you, Sherryl. Please put it on a tab; we'll pay later in the afternoon."

With a cute pout, she said "Muuu~! Even though you don't have to pay anymore, you still insist on paying. You're too stubborn."

"We are people with income, so we pay for what we eat. If we let women give us food, despite being capable, how are we called men?"

Sherryl, as usual, doesn't want them to pay, as she and her sister knew of their hardships, especially their saving money for consoles. But the stubborn Chris wouldn't accept anything that was free. He is a very stubborn and prideful person. She doesn't want him to be upset with her, so she just gave up.

"Hmph~! Stupid Chris. Just be careful out there...~"

"Hm! Thank you!"

""...""

Peter and Darryl just looked at the two while silently munching on their food. It's like they were watching a live romance.

After thanking the sisters, they bid goodbye to them. They ate their food while walking, as they didn't want to be late.

*******

It took the trio an hour to reach their destination. Right now, they are standing on top of a mountain of trash, their eyes focused on the incoming trucks. Other people, from young to old, can also be seen waiting expectantly, and their numbers are increasing. They're also scavengers who live in the slums like them.

Near the dumpsite, a big junkshop where the scavengers sell their "goods" was built. This shop also serves as a processing factory where recyclable materials are cleaned and processed to be sold to companies from all over the country that use plastic and cans for food products and plastic wares.

*Vrooom!* *Pshhh...* *Creaaak!*

The trucks dropped their "package" one by one.

"Let's go!"

The trio and the rest started to frantically scavenge for plastic and cans. Their set-up was Darryl holding the large sacks while the two would scavenge.

They will do this for hours, whether it rains or shines. It is currently sunny, so they will have to endure the incoming heat, but they don't mind as they're used to it.

*******

A few hours later, the trio can now be seen walking in the direction of the junk shop. Darryl carries six sacks, while Peter and Chris each carry one. They're all sweating and very dirty.

"Phew! We got a nice haul today! All seven sacks are cans, and there is only one sack of plastic."

"Yeah! And we even finished early, so this is nice!"

"Well, it is good, as we are going to take the other way to avoid those bastards anyway."

"A long walk later, huh? Man, I'm so tired and hungry..."

"Stop whining! At least we don't have to hand over half of our earnings to them."

"Heh! Once I become a player, I'll kick their sorry asses!"

"Since you eat too much, that might never happen..."

*Clink!*

While his brothers were chatting, Chris, who was in front, was just looking straight ahead in a daze while smiling. He's happy that their haul was big today and that he's ultimately nearing his goal. His daze was broken when he suddenly stepped on something.

"Hmmm?"

"Something wrong, bro?"

"..."

"Well, I stepped on something... Oh? What a weird box..."

"Huh? It's just a wooden box though..."

"What do you mean? It looks like it's made of metal—look at the glowing curved lines!"

""???""

"Come on, you're probably just hungry. Let's go sell these sacks so we can eat."

"Wha-!"

"Let's go, let's go!"

'The hell? Am I that hungry?'

He stepped on a hand-sized, metallic black box with glowing runic lines all over. His brothers can only see it as an ordinary wooden box, though. He was confused by what they said and tried to argue, but they just treated him like he was confused due to hunger. In the end, he pocketed the box and moved on. Little did he know that his life would change thanks to it.

A few minutes later...

"Hahaha! We earned 6,800 Gils today, 6,800!"

"Yes! What a nice day."

"We'll have 2,000 each for the rest; we'll pay our morning expenses and buy lots of food. What do you say, Pete?"

"That's fine for me."

"Wooohooo!"

"This fatty..."

"Oi, oi, you look like a bouncing ball when you jump around like that."

*Pffft!*

"Hehe..."

*******

8:30 P.M.

"Phew! What a day!"

Chris was now back in his small house, completely tired and dirty.

"Ughhh... Damn, I'm still young, but my back was hurting already... Guess I've got to take a bath first..."

*Cling!* *Gling!*

When he was about to remove his pants, he heard a bell-like sound in the pocket.

"Huh? Ah, the box! What's that sound, though?"

'Hmmm? It's not a wooden box after all! They should be the one hallucinating...'

Upon opening the box, Chris found a silver colored bracelet engraved with circular colorful gems that each looked like a planet, a bigger yellow gem that seemed to look like the sun, and on the other side, a white colored gem that looked like a moon.

"So beautiful! How did it even get inside, though? I was so sure there had been none before. This is really weird..."

After his mumblings, he checked the box completely and found nothing else. The runic lines stopped glowing as well.

"I wonder if it's legit though. If so, I might be able to pawn it for a huge sum of cash. Still though, this look so beau-"

*Fwooop!*

"W-what!?"

While he was appreciating the beauty of the bracelet, it suddenly sank into his skin as if it had been sucked in. He was shocked and slightly terrified—he froze on the spot for a while.

"Ah! What the hell was that? Is it haunted or something?"

*Shwiiing!*

"Uhhh... what's...going...o-?"

His whole body shone brightly, and he then lost consciousness.

[Perfect host found!]

[Initializing...]