章節 23: Declare the Name Part III
“Ah…Why are you in Phuket…?” Tan asked. “Right…A trip with your family. Okay, let’s meet when you’re back. Say hello to Aunt Phao and Uncle Khom for me,” he left with that and hung up.
Tan went for another number. His friend picked up almost immediately. “Hey! Let’s hang out tonight…” Tan asked, but it seemed like he was not satisfied with the answer. “Okay, later then, having dinner with your parents is more important,” he said and looked at his big house… which had no sight of his parents inside.
Tan looked at his phone, scrolling through his contacts which had more than hundreds, but there was not a single one he could comfortably call. Finally, Tan put down his phone and drove off his big house.
He slightly tapped the accelerator pedal and drove off the house, heading to a tollway. After paying the fee, he entered the tollway in Bangkok and accelerated the car. The wind blew against his face. He drove through the center of the city and soon reached his destination—a place to spend the evening as well as to meet and get to know people—the place people referred to as a ‘luxury club.’
A staff immediately prepared a parking lot at the front of the club. Parking his car here drew a lot of attention. He thought about how he paid the same amount as everyone in the club but was treated differently just because he drove an expensive car. He was reminded of the time when he was just a noob in the game and was treated the same as others, sometimes worse.
“Welcome, Mister Tan, I’ll prepare a table for you,” the manager greeted him personally. “Those ladies are making eyes at you.”
“I think they are looking at my car,” Tan replied. He did not give much thought to that. He brought this car with him to attract attention.
“How about you sit at the table next to them? I’ll let someone prepare it for you.” Tan nodded to the manager’s question. Soon, his table was ready; it was the table beside the ladies who were looking at him and giggling.
Tan sat down at the table. The manager knew that his drink was special; it was two bottles of whiskey…
One was real and the other one was tea filled up the bottle to make him appear as though he was drinking. The real one was for those who came to talk to him. All the servers knew that well.
“Is it dangerous driving a very fast car?” A gorgeous lady in a camisole dress asked Tan who was sitting beside her.
“Not at all, if you get used to it, it’s just like an ordinary car,” Tan replied. He finally found someone to talk to as he had wished for.
“What do you do for a living?” The other lady in the group asked Tan. She wore a black sleeveless blouse, a silver bracelet, and lighter makeup than the first lady.
Tan smiled. “I’m still in college,” he replied.
“Ah…still in college and driving a car like that, your family must have a huge business,” said the last lady in the group. She had a pretty face, but her eyes glowed with insincerity. Tan wanted to talk to someone to pass the time tonight, not for sincerity, so he said, “Why don’t we join the table?” He asked for their opinions, and the three ladies agreed with him.
Tan conversed with the ladies for almost an hour; the topics were mostly about his family, his wealth, and his luxury car. Even though he wanted to chat with someone, he suddenly became bored. He pretended to look at his watch.
“Oh, sorry, I’ve got something to do. It was pleasant chatting with you. If you don’t mind, can I have your contacts?” Tan asked and handed his phone out. The ladies smiled back and left their numbers on his phone.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Tan left them a farewell and walked to his car parked right in front of the club. He quickly drove out of the club, went along the road at night, and took a tollway. The wind passed through his face as he headed home. He wanted to run the gaming gear that could take him into the world where he was just Player Tanthai—a player who had friends who did not care about his wealth.
Tan parked his car in front of his home without taking the key with him because someone would take care of the car after he was done using it. He walked to his room, turned on the lights and his gaming gear. After connecting everything in order, he lay down on the bed, and soon the blinding light appeared.
…
He returned to the Church of Travelers, to the world where loneliness could not creep in, and to the world where he was just Player Tanthai…An ordinary player, a silly player who had two friends whom he could talk comfortably with.
Someday…He would ask for the contacts in the reality of his friends…
Someday…
…
“Phew…! Finally, I’m back,” he said and opened the communication screen; Nicki was not back yet, as she said earlier that she would be back when the tournament was about to start. He scrolled down and looked at Blanche's name. He smiled when he discovered that his friend was still online and then contacted him. “Hey, Blanche! What are you doing?!” He asked.
Several seconds later, Blanche replied. “Wandering around the market, why are you back so fast?” Blanche asked.
“It has been done earlier than expected,” Tan replied.
“Is everything okay?” He asked again in a serious voice.
Tan paused for a while and then answered, “What?! I’m fine. Everything is okay.”
“There must be something going on. It's cool if you don't want to talk about it, but I'm yours if you want to talk about anything.”
“So, you’re not Blanche but Jason now,” Tan giggled.
“What…? Jason? Jason who? I’m confused.”
“Jason Mraz, you said ‘I’m yours’ earlier. ‘I’m yours’ is Jason Mraz’s song. It’s very famous though. Have you ever heard of it?” Tan explained his joke to Blanche who was not good with jokes and puns.
“I see…” Blanche said. “Where are you right now? I’ll come to you,” he asked Tan.
“The Church of Travelers, I’ve just logged in, still has a teleport light on me,” Tan replied.
“Okay…We can go to the market together. I’ve got tons of cards that don’t suit me, so I think I’m going to sell them and buy me some cards that I have my eyes on,” Blanche’s voice rang out from the communication system.
“I’ve got tons too,” he said, and then something came up in his mind, so he spoke his mind, “I just drove my Ferrari outside.”
“Aha, that’s expensive…I prefer motorcycles more though,” Blanche responded carelessly.
His lips curled into a smile. “Me too, we can go for a ride together if we have time. By the way, just come to me fast,” he said.
“Okay, I’m coming,” Blanche finished and hung up.
“Ha-ha…As expected of him,” Tan said to himself and then left the Church of Travelers to wait at the front for his friend.
----------------
Ten minutes later, Blanche, who stood 6.2 inches, walked towards Tan. “Sorry for letting you wait, my customer was looking at a lot of cards,” he apologized as he saw Tan leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
“Is the market here crowded?” Tan asked as he walked towards Blanche.
“How do I put it…If you compare it to those located in the nearby towns, it’s the most crowded, but if you compare it to those located outside the Green Zone, it’s unmatched,” Blanche explained.
“The Green Zone? Ah…I heard that, in those early towns, known as the Green Zone, players can't fight against players if they don't accept the challenge, right?” Tan recalled the details he found in the manual.
“Right, but if you leave Caldia, go to the west, and enter the Red Zone—the zone where people can immediately attack others—it will be much more dangerous because players can attack you to steal your card.”
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