Chapter 37: HTSCF CH 035 All of your pieces…

In a small studio apartment, two men were busy discussing something while a youth sipped on his milk tea and listened in. The men were considering adding a gender change option to their VR game ADAS.

Why had they never thought about it before? Because they were the types to play as their gender and never saw the appeal of playing the opposite sex, much less consider a gender change.

“It’s not hard,” Azazel said.

“But what about those that are married?”

“Weren’t you planning to allow gay marriage in-game?”

Elior had been considering it. ADAS was a worldwide game and most people were very accepting of same-sex marriage these days. Looking at Jun, then looking at his cousin, he considered something else. “… What about multiple marriages?”

“Hmm.”

That would make their game more appealing. After all, what made ADAS stand out was that it was ideal for MMORPG and online dating. The forbidden romance between demons and saints, the infinite ways to strengthen an avatar with various gear, skills, and player skill, the very real pain and pleasure… What was adding a gender change or multiple marriage option?

“We have to limit multiple marriages though. Don’t want too much chaos and drama.”

“3 then?”

“3 is good.”

Jun thought, ‘Not the number 3 again!’

|Congratulations, Host! The Hidden Mission’s progress is now at 50%. Please keep working hard.|

Just convincing those two was enough to earn him 50%? Sometimes he didn’t understand how the system mathed.

The men continued to discuss and Jun kept watching and listening to them. How long were 15 years? It didn’t feel that long when he was in the training room learning aikido, which kept him distracted and relieved him of all his pent-up frustrations. Only when he entered this world and found himself alone for just a day did all of the repressed emotions pour out. It was nice to see Azazel and Elior again...

“What’s wrong!?” Azazel asked when he looked over. Jun wasn’t crying but his face was dark and gloomy, appearing on the verge of tears, quite unlike his usual self.

“The—the milk tea just tastes so good…”

“… Ha.” Azazel tried not to laugh and rubbed Jun’s head with familiar intimacy. “Well, don’t cry or it’ll taste salty.”

Elior, always the more unreserved one and had been controlling himself pretty well so far, leaned over and licked up an unshed tear from the corner of Jun’s eye, startling him into a blush. Were 15 years enough to revert him into a virgin? After all the crazy sex in the last world, he didn’t think it possible. Then again, Fei Lan was a virgin.

“Cute.” Elior caressed Jun’s cheek. “Can I kiss you?”

Asking for permission? That was a first. “Mm.”

The kiss was very light, soft, and brief, so unlike what Elior would usually do. When he finished, he parted with a lingering kiss on Jun’s forehead. “Hmm, sweet.”

Azazel leaned down to kiss Jun’s cheeks and eyelids, then his lips. Though he wanted to do more, he stopped himself. With some regret, he returned to playing with the youth's hair. Jun was still 17, not yet an adult. Even if it felt like they had known each other for years, they only just met.

There was still plenty of time in the day, but Azazel and Elior left after a few more minutes. They had work to do and left all their materials back at the hotel. No matter, they planned to visit Jun again tomorrow.

“How long are you staying?”

“A month, then we have to return to A country,” said Elior. “We’re working on establishing a branch here in M country. If all goes well, we can move here by next year.”

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What that meant was he wouldn't be able to be with them every day like before. That might be better since he still had a year of high school and college exams to prepare for. He was determined to finish college this time!

Azazel and Elior left for the day and later that night, an announcement about a huge, game-changing update was posted on ADAS’s and Monsoon’s official websites.

When Azazel and Elior showed up at Jun’s apartment the next day, they brought their suitcases with them. Jun’s face had black lines, but he couldn’t exactly turn them away, and they didn’t have plans to be rejected either. After moving around some things, they managed to squeeze in the two men’s luggage.

Fortunately, Jun’s bed could accommodate all of them, though it was a little bit of a squeeze. Neither intended to sleep on the sofa or the floor. An exasperated huff later, Jun laid down on the bed between the two men and went to sleep feeling stuffy but content. The air conditioning still had to be turned on though.

One month flew by so fast that the long and slow week prior felt unrealistic. Most of the time, the trio stayed home, only leaving to purchase more groceries and necessities or some milk tea. In almost every world, Azazel had always been the one who was accomplished at cooking, so Elior and Jun left things to him. Whenever he could, Jun helped a little but Elior was specifically warned against helping, lest they burn the apartment building down.

Having brought their VR helmets and laptops with them, Azazel and Elior worked on the game most of the time. Occasionally they had to have video call meetings with some department heads, managers, or the rest of the development team. While these people were curious about why the president and CEO were staying at what appeared to be a very small apartment, they didn’t ask.

But when they saw a pale slender hand place a cup of coffee in front of the CEO, and the CEO caress the hand very sensually without batting an eye as he continued to talk, they had to bite down on their tongues. What was even more frightening was when the president, who usually retained no expression, displayed a gaze full of tender gentleness and adoration directed at the owner of that hand. Which magical fairy woman had managed to snag both of these two aloof men?

They were in for a greater surprise later when during a different meeting time, they saw in the background a teenage boy lying on the bed with a book open, his cheeks resting on his palms. Why had the CEO and president moved to sit on the floor instead of the sofa from before? As they observed the screen they noticed that the eyes of the two men weren’t on them but fixated on something in the bottom right corner.

It couldn’t be that they were using their miniature screen to watch the teenager? While Jun’s avatar in ADAS had a certain charm and appeal to both men and women due to its androgynous appearance, Fei Lan was more on the adorable side, making people want to pinch his cheeks and squeeze him.

The company workers could see the appeal of such a youth, especially when he swung his legs while writing down some things in his notebook. Azazel noticed the look in their eyes and moved back to the sofa, dragging Elior with him.

Other than studying to catch up with his coursework, Jun still played ADAS to level up. Feeling somewhat guilty, Elior offered to remove the Cursed route but was rejected. Then after days of endless pestering from Oriana, Jun joined her guild <Chains and Whips>…

The guild tag above his avatar’s head was so sparkly and embarrassing, not to mention he was the only male in the guild. Oriana had tricked him into a cavern of thirsty fujoshi who immediately started questioning him about the details of his romantic life and sending him “educational” materials, which he safely stored away.

(A/N: Fujoshi, Japanese, can be translated as “rotten girl” and they are fangirls who are fascinated by male/male relationships. The male equivalent is fudanshi.)

By the time the start of school arrived, Jun had reached level 107. So slow compared to his earlier progress, but still better than nothing. Azazel and Elior had been looking forward to seeing Jun in a school uniform only to be disappointed. A jacket and jersey pants? Where was the clean-cut dress shirt, blazer, tie, and tailored trousers?

(A/N: I couldn’t believe it either when I searched up what sort of uniform Chinese high school students wear lol)

Their look of utter defeat made Jun sweatdrop. Not allowed to walk him to school, the two men cried inside after seeing him off at the door, but that didn’t prevent them from picking him up after school to walk home with. When he saw the two handsome men waiting for him at the school gates, Jun dragged them away in a hurry.

Because of his looks, bad rumors started spreading in school about him being a sugar baby. After all, he was parentless and lived on his own. How else could he afford such a lifestyle? Little did they know that using the money from his parents’ life insurance policies, his grandma sent him a specific amount each month that he strictly managed.

Fei Lan, having been quiet and withdrawn, was already a loner at school long before Jun came along, so the rumors only made him more ostracized. A week after school started, Azazel and Elior had to return to A country and the sight of the foreigners at T City Preparatory School stopped, igniting another wave of negative rumors—Jun had been abandoned by the two men because they couldn’t tolerate him anymore.

Before they left, Elior told Jun: “We’ll visit as soon as we can, but even if we can’t, we can still see you in Atlan.”

“You two play the game?”

The two men looked at each other, and Azazel smiled, patting Jun’s head. “In a way.”

—

A/N: Chapter title is inspired by the song “Pieces” by Andrew Belle. Some lyrics:

There's too much smoke to see it
There's too much broke to feel this
Well, I love you, I love you
And all of your pieces

There's too much smoke to see it
There's too much broke to feel this
Well, I love you, I love you
And all of your pieces

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