Chapter 6: Wild

The fact that Ari had time traveled didn’t change his determination to stay steadfast and keep his promise to himself, despite his flabbergasted reaction. He had to stay true to his aim if he didn’t; he knew that this life would turn out just as bad as his previous one.

 

“I will make sure that it doesn’t,” Ari whispered, resolve filling his eyes. “But first I need to know the exact point in time that I arrived here.”

 

When he checked out the date the first time, he had been too busy looking at the year to notice anything else, but now he needed to know the exact month and day it was so that he could make a plan. Checking his phone once more, he saw it was July 21, 2310, which meant it had been around one week since he moved back to Korea with his mom.

 

Ari remembered the date well because of the emotional rollercoaster he went through during this period in his life. In this timeline, his dad died because of an allergic reaction to fish on a business trip around six months ago.

 

When this happened the first time around, he wasn’t able to accept it. How could he? His father wasn’t allergic to seafood, so how did he die? That was the main reason he couldn’t accept his death, because it made no sense.

 

The medical team said that while on his trip, his father and their colleagues wanted to try the local cuisine and everyone ordered Moreton Bay Bugs. From what they could gather from the people that were there, it was his father’s boss who insisted that everyone try something new since they were in a foreign country.

 

Yet, the man didn’t know his suggestion would end in tragedy. And even though a doctor explained that some people could be allergic to some fish and not others and that his father was one of those people. Ari couldn’t contextualize the notion of how a couple of days ago he could see and speak to his dad, and now he couldn’t. 

 

In the previous timeline, it took him about two years after they moved here to do so. It didn’t help that his mother had sold the house where he made the most memories with his father. He remembered being extremely upset with her for the longest time because of that. 

 

He thought that she just wanted to erase his father’s existence away so the memories of him wouldn’t hurt her. But he knew everyone grieved differently.

 

So, Ari displayed none of the anger he had toward her. Instead, he let it fester inside of him until one day all his feelings exploded. Sadly, that happened coincidentally on the day that she died. He had never forgiven himself for that.

 

Especially after finding out that the only reason his mom had sold the house was that his parents were in financial debt after a poor investment, so she needed to sell the house to pay it off. It broke him when he found out and for years he blamed himself for her death.

 

However, this time, he would make sure her death never happened. Her death and the fire that took away his grandparents’ lives, he would prevent them even if it killed him. Gripping his phone, Ari started pondering what he needed to do.

 

The one thing he knew he needed that would help him prevent all the bad things that would occur in the future was money. After all, money makes the world go round, and in this case, it was the key to saving his family’s lives.

 

If he had money, his mother wouldn’t have died because of a coffee maker explosion during work. Ari still couldn’t comprehend how that was possible, but from what he learned, the coffeemaker flew towards her head with so much force that it killed her. 

 

Also, the money would help him fix the faulty wires in this house so that five years from now in June, an electrical fire wouldn’t occur, killing both of his grandparents. Money was indeed what he needed, but the question was how to get it.

You are reading story Oasis Online: The Toymaker at novel35.com

 

An easy way to go about getting cash was playing Oasis Online as he did before, but a VR helmet or pod cost way too much. And he knew that there was no way he could ask his mother for funds, especially knowing the money problems she was facing right now.

 

His grandparents might let him have the money for it if he asked, but he would feel bad taking their money since they had long stopped working. The only option left was if he joined a Black company.

 

Yet, he didn’t want to go down that road again. The last time Ari walked that path, he was stuck farming, gathering crops, and scouting areas for 24 hours a day, virtual time. And he couldn’t leave the contract until he had clocked in 43,800 hours.

 

If that wasn’t bad, the company only paid him ten percent of the profit they made from his labor. He never wanted to do that again. If he gets to play Oasis Online, he wanted to enjoy himself as he worked to make money.

 

‘Maybe I can find some kind of job that I could do remotely,’ Ari thought hopefully. ‘I graduated from high school. There should be something I could do.’

 

However, before starting a job search, Ari decided that his first task should be getting himself cleaned and fed. After all, it was a proven fact that people focused better on a full stomach.

 

With that thought in mind, Ari went over to a nearby dresser and grabbed a pair of sweatpants, a shirt, and a pair of underwear before heading to his connected bathroom to take a shower. Clutching his clothes to his chest, he entered the bathroom and turned on the light, feeling a little nostalgic.  

 

After looking around for a bit, he walked over to the shower and fiddled with a couple of knobs before the water started gushing out. While waiting for the water to heat, Ari walked over to the sink to brush his teeth.

 

 He placed his clothes down on the empty space of the counter connected to the sink before grabbing his toothbrush. Seeing the bottom, he could only wince because it was designed after a singer he really liked.

 

Designed, meaning that the bottom was the singer’s lower body and the brush was…well… embarrassing. He couldn’t excuse his behavior, but all he could say was that he was a teenager. 

 

Knowing that there weren’t any spare toothbrushes in the house, since they were long-lasting, Ari could only sigh. Shaking his head, he rinsed the toothbrush off with hot water. 

 

Once satisfied with its cleanliness, he picked up his favorite Strawberry Kiss toothpaste and put a dab on the bristles. As he put the toothbrush in his mouth, he could only regret his former decisions.

 

‘I was really wild when I was younger,’ Ari thought in amusement. 

You can find story with these keywords: Oasis Online: The Toymaker, Read Oasis Online: The Toymaker, Oasis Online: The Toymaker novel, Oasis Online: The Toymaker book, Oasis Online: The Toymaker story, Oasis Online: The Toymaker full, Oasis Online: The Toymaker Latest Chapter