11 CHAPTER 11: Getting Caried Away

'Do I still have some anger issues?'

After returning home from his shopping outing yesterday, Leon reflected on his past day in-depth as he performed stretches in his mansion's backyard.

'Maybe it was a bit overkill. Though I have chosen to start doing things for good, I guess I still lack the capability to hold myself back'

Crossing his arms behind his back to further ready his arms for his upcoming session of exercise, the young man narrowed his eyes as he realized he had still a long way to go until he reached his goal that he dearly wished to realize.

After a life of crime and survival of the fittest, it was quite hard for him to understand what constituted as too far for regular people. Because in his eyes, so long as it didn't end with the victim dead or in the hospital, he believed there was no harm done.

'Ah, there's psychological scarring to consider. Alright, the next time I encounter someone I want to 'teach' I'll hold myself further back'

Smiling in self-satisfaction at another productive period of self-reflection, Leon breathed in the cold and refreshing morning air as he began to resume his plans to continue building up the muscle and capabilities of his scrawny body.

"Alright! I want to aim for an hour of constant jogging today!"

Taking off to jog around the perimeter of the estate, Ada and Anastasia looked him on with a smile on their face as they both prepared the food they would all be eating together for breakfast.

…

..

.

"Phew, thanks for the towel, Ana"

"It is my pleasure, Young Master"

Returning from his session of exercise with sweat glistening off his body, Anastasia did her best to peer her eyes off her young master's alluring state as she handed him a towel to help wipe off his sweat.

"Take a shower then come back down, Leon. The food is fresh, and it would be a shame if you ate it when it cools down"

"Got it, Mom"

Heeding the words of his mother, the young man began to go up the stairs and then headed towards his room which appeared quite different from the day before.

Where it was once bare-bones with only the essentials, it began to appear properly live in. With furniture styled in warm colors, various books and hobby products lining the shelves on his walls, and a corner filled with electronics like game consoles and a PC.

His goal yesterday was to learn of the outside world and bond with his family, today Leon will begin exploring the world of hobbies.

He wanted to learn if there was an interest that would be able to occupy his mind when he had nothing else to do.

'In my past life, I usually passed the time doing some rather despicable things, so hopefully, I'll be able to do something a bit more productive'

Eyeing up all the things he had bought, an air of excitement ran through Leon's body as he couldn't wait to get started.

"But first, a shower, and then some food"

Throwing off his clothes before heading into the shower, the young man knew his priorities above all else. Something that would become a challenge as he began his journey to find a hobby.

…

..

.

As Leon began to indulge in the products he bought, a week began to fly by him as he immersed himself in the various interests he learned from the women he talked to.

He spent hours constructing and building model kits of eye-catching mechs from a certain long-running animated show.

He read through the constructions as he nipped the various plastic parts from their runners. Even going out of his way to detail the panel lines.

As he reveled in the finished product, he was indeed proud of what he accomplished. However, it didn't strike him as something he wanted to spend countless days on. So Leon simply relegated it to an occasional interest he would partake in.

The next few hobbies followed in the same manner. He spent another week reading through various mangas and light novels, and though he enjoyed the stories, he wanted to look for something he could improve his performance in over time.

TCG and TTRPG were hard for him to get into due to the conflicting schedules of his family, and his mother's hesitance to let him look for some people to play with.

As he burned through the various things he bought, he eventually was left with only two things. Video games and instruments.

He had bought an acoustic guitar after remembering his fascination with the instrument in his past life, and as he went through tutorials online on how to play the instrument, the young man grew quickly fond of the task.

Setting it down as a hobby high on the list, Leon's green eyes began to hover over the corner that his maid Anastasia had helped set up. The video game corner.

"I remember even the criminals of my past life openly talked about gaming, and seeing how many gaming videos I found on WeTube, there should be a good chance that I'll like this as well"

Two weeks had now gone by, and Leon figured he was close to concluding his search for a hobby. Wanting to move on to the next goal he had in mind for this new life of his, he quickly booted up the console produced by Zony.

With a gentle blue UI appearing before him along with the company's iconic logo, Leon began to peruse through the selection of games that were available for him to download in the online store.

Many things caught his eye, but one in particular struck him above everything else. Final Fantasia XIV.

He had seen a lot of posters for it in the shops he went around in the hobbyist section in the shopping district. An advertisement campaign to inform the public of the game's latest expansion.

"If I remember correctly, the lady at the game shop called this an MMORPG. A game I can play with millions of other players online"

Remembering that tidbit of information, Leon smiled as his interest in the title grew. In truth, he had been trying to get to know more people in this world.

But after his last outing that garnered many women's attention, he was hard-pressed to gain permission to leave the house without careful planning from both his mom and maid.

"Surely they won't mind if it's online, right?"

Wanting to get to talk and know more people, Leon began to download Final Fantasia XIV on his console, waiting with anticipation as he watched the progress bar reaches ever closer to completion.

Once the game was ready to launch, he put on a pair of headphones, readied his controller, and confirmed his comfortable resting position.

"Alright, let's see if I'll enjoy the world of gaming!"

…

..

.

A month had passed since that fateful day Leon entered the virtual world of Final Fantasia XIV. After he spent a considerable amount of time creating his character after reading the lore and consequences of each customizable aspect, the young man quickly immersed himself in the game's mechanics and exploration.

The sprawling world of Aorzea captured his attention immediately. The characters and the overarching conflict between the three nations and the empire filled him with tension and anticipation. But above all else, the combat mechanics hooked Leon in like a predator locking its jaws on its prey.

Wanting to be a player who could easily meet and interact with others, the young man chose to pick a support class as his character's profession.

When he first started out, he thought it to be a bit boring. He spammed his one attack spell over and over again, with the occasional heal on himself to not die. But it all changed when he entered his first co-op dungeon.

'Ah! The tank is about to die! Heal! Heal!'

'Huh?! Out of mana?! How am I supposed to keep our party sustained?!'

'Damn it! I was too focused on switching targets that I forgot about the boss' mechanics!'

'Agh, the death debuff is about to hit our DPS! Cleanse! Cleanse!'

After being coached by the veteran players who were assigned to his first co-op to help him learn the ropes, Leon felt a rush of emotions as he saw his TV screen display the congratulations message for his victory against the boss.

'I'm hooked…'

Leon felt foolish to believe that the healer class was simple and that it was only beneficial for him to meet other players who needed to fill up their party.

Shifting his skill rotations depending on the needs of each party member. Positioning himself to provide effective cover with his AOE spells. Learning boss mechanics so that he would not die and cause a wipe. Managing mana and his class-specific resource bar.

It was a wormhole of learning and skill that drew Leon in and gave him no room to escape. And so it was how the young man felt an entire month pass him by as he continued to delve deeper into Final Fantasia XIV.

…

..

.

"Yo, do you want to help me clear Alexandria Extreme?"

Speaking into the microphone of his headset, Leon held a stagnant expression as he pursued through the player market of the game, looking for a specific buff item he needed before he challenged a particularly difficult raid.

"Hm? Alexandria Extreme? That's only on the second expansion. Didn't you proudly declare to the guild that you would reach end-game in a month?~"

Speaking smugly on the other end of the voice chat was a person who provoked Leon numerous times in the game as he progressed. A tank player who went by the username 『Freyja』

"Yeah, yeah, stop reminding me Freyja. Are you going to help me or not?"

But though their fiery bickering was known throughout their guild and prog group, the two of them regarded one another as close friends. They talked with one another for long periods, even when they weren't trying to clear a raid.

"Of course, I wouldn't want our guild to be known as the one raid-oriented guild with some newbie in the second expansion~ Hah!"

"I swear, when the boss gives you the doom debuff, I'll wait until the last second to cleanse it, you bastard"

"Don't spite me just because I'm better at mechanics than you~ Anyway, will we party up with our usual line-up?"

"Yeah, this might take a while. Though I watched a tutorial, I'll still need to get a feel for it"

"No problem. No problem. I got some time to burn~"

Smiling at his friend's kindness despite her harsh words, Leon was grateful that he was able to make such a good friend. Though he would've liked it if they could meet in real life as well.

"Also, Wild Hunt-"

Freyja began to call out to Leon in the game with his username. Wild Hunt. The title he once held as a criminal in his past life, he now currently uses as the name for his character and account.

"Hm? What's up?"

"Are you still going to use that voice-changer?"

"As I said, it isn't a voice changer"

"Whatever you say~"

However, if there was one thing to complain about with his friendship with Freyja, beyond the casual insults and bickering, was the fact that she believed he was a girl using a voice changer to sound like a guy.

It was widely believed that there was no possible way for a guy to be into a game like Final Fantasia XIV, so when Leon introduced himself as a guy, he was only met with laughter, sarcastic acceptance, and compliments and questions about which program he used to change his voice.

"I swear, if we ever meet up in real life, you'll eat those words for constantly calling me a desperate middle-aged woman, Freyja"

"Hey, isn't it true though?~ Not that I'm against a middle-aged woman pretending to be a young man. Do whatever makes you happy~"

Not wanting to entertain Freyja's smugness any longer, Leon simply chose to remain quiet. Eliciting some laughter from the tank player as they prepared to ready up for their raid.

But just as they were about to head off to begin the raid, Freyja casually mentioned something that shocked Leon greatly.

"Oh, by the way, Wild Hunt. I won't be able to play much in a bit"

"Hm? Why?"

"I have exams coming up soon, and with high school entrance exams just a couple of months away, I need to do my best to get into a good school"

"Eh? High school entrance exams?"

"Yeah. I'm in my final year of middle school, and I have to do my best to enter a top-ranking high school. Hopefully, I get into Saint Maria"

"..."

"Wild Hunt? You there? What? Were you shocked I'm a young teenage girl who has just begun to experience her youth?~"

"..."

"Uh, I didn't trigger some bad memories for you did I? You know I'm just joking around. I'm sure that you're-"

"I won't be able to play for a while, Freyja. I'll message you when I can get back on"

"Huh? Wait. Wild Hunt-"

Exiting the game and turning off his television, Leon was met with his reflection against the blackness of the screen. On his face, an expression of shock and embarrassment could be seen.

"I GOT TOO ADDICTED TO VIDEO GAMES AND FORGOT ABOUT MY NEXT GOAL!"

Rising from the sofa he used to game on, Leon desperately made his way to the living room where his mom and maid were currently located.

If he had any semblance of a chance to fulfill his next goal with a reasonable degree of success, he needed to make a move right then and there.

As the room to his door remained open, and the frantic noise of his voice could be faintly heard as it emanated from the floor below, a diary the young man had been using to plan out his goals for his second life remained open and unused for the past month.

On the page where it was currently open, the next goal he originally planned for himself was laid bare for anyone to see.

『NEXT GOAL: STUDY HARD AND BECOME A SUCCESSFUL STUDENT IN A PRESTIGIOUS SCHOOL』

…

..

.

"Wild Hunt?..."

On the other end of the voice chat which Leon abruptly left, a gentle female voice called out his username with a tone that was devoid of the hostility and smugness he was used to hearing.

"Damn it, I guess I was too harsh on her. Hopefully, Wild Hunt doesn't hate me too much"

Wearing a melancholic expression upon realizing that she might've hurt one of the few people she was able to get along with online, a beautiful redhead girl began to slump back on her chair in sadness. Regretting her toxic personality that she used online.

With her dark green eyes peering through the fiery red bangs of her messy hair, she decided to trust in her friendship with Wild Hunt rather than speculate on something she could not confirm to be true.

"𝘚𝘪𝘨𝘩…I guess I'll call off the raid with the other members then. I also need to begin studying more…"

Turning off her console and her screen, the young girl began to change out of her gaming attire of a camisole and some shorts, and into a more elegant and refined white dress.

Confirming that her image now had no faults to be commented on, the young girl slowly opened the door to her room, revealing a grand sight beyond it.

"Call the private tutor over. I now have the time to prepare to study once more"

To her voice that exuded the majesty of a well-groomed daughter of a renowned family, the house that was full of maids tending their duties immediately faced her as she exited the premises of her room.

"As you wish, Lady Emilie"

The elegant young woman they answered was one Emilie Cromwell, the sole daughter of the current head of the Cromwell Group. A business titan in the fields of real estate development and retail, with one of their successful projects being the Central Shopping District.

"I wonder how Mother is dealing with that whole 'Prince of the Shopping District' trend that has been circulating on social media? Last I heard, she was trying to contact him to do some sort of ad campaign"

Speaking idly as she prepared herself for another round of intense studying, Emilie had yet to learn that she would have already formed a connection with the supposed prince that her mother and the group's employees had failed to achieve.