After dinner, KMega6KMegacharacter gave Adams and Brian enough money to hail a taxi back to the GSP compound. As for KMega and Astrid7Astridcharacter, they took another taxi back to the expo and arrived just after the end of the tournament. He had missed the after-game press conference, so he waited on the bus that would drive them back to the GSP. When the others returned, they found him asleep and leaning on Astrid. She knew that KMega had not wished to join the trip but had compromised for his friends. KMega had spent a not small sum either; over half of his savings had disappeared from the items she had asked for to the later bail and fancy meal. Astrid knew he would spend a lot of time grinding for items to make up his losses. Nonetheless, she was happy because she had plans to personally ease this burden. She would exploit the system for her own gains.
KMega woke up in his bed feeling stiff. He felt stale because he still wore his clothes from the day before. Throughout taking a shower, cooking, exercising, taking another shower, then attending school, he did not notice Adams and Brian the entire time. After letting Elsa know that they would have takeout because he needed to catch up for the missed gaming time, he logged into the game.
Elsa did not know that KMega had not learned of what had happened in the past. Since he was still new to the GSP, he had no clue about why and what happened for Adams and Brian to be thrown in jail. All she knew was that KMega had bailed them out, treated them to dinner and sent them home, which was probably the best possible course of action. As the incident only involved those two, the hammer would not slam the entire team too hard. Elsa and Emma had been in a public place during the event while Winter had made a scene at the pub-LAN computers because she had been showcased on the highlights. She had lost an unregistered match due to several of her direct competitors had taken advantage of her out-of-norm mentality. While not an official match, this loss brought false hope to many of her competitors.
Adams and Brian sat in the director of the GSP program’s office. As a passionate gamer himself, the director understood the duo’s frustration when they had reencountered Tygart Tyler. However, he was a professional first. “Who threw the first punch?” (Director)
Surprisingly, Brian raised his hand. “I did sir.” (Brian)
Adams had been prepared to take the blame, but Brian had beaten him to it. Since it was true, he kept quiet. “I would have expected this from Adams. He is a trained martial artist after all, but you, Brian?” (Director)
The director took a deep, annoyed huff. “This was obviously premeditated by Tygart; otherwise, we would not have already received a call from his lawyer.” (Director)
The two were stunned as the director continued. “He is asking for a hundred thousand. Our lawyers can probably bring that down to fifty.” (Director)
It took Brian a moment to understand. His net worth was well over a half-million due to playing tournaments over the three years he has been in the GSP, but much of that was tied up by in-game expenses or taxes. Fifty thousand plus whatever fine the Green corporation dished out was not a small amount.
***
Winter and Emma felt sour in their respective pods upon learning the situation. Emma had always disliked Tygart, so she avoided him like the plague. Meanwhile, Winter hated Tygart. When he had joined the GSP, Winter had only been sixteen and he had quickly hooked up with her. It had taken him less than a week to break the fragile girl’s defenses and go through the bases with her. Then he had waltzed off to his next adventure with a new girl to exploit for personal gain and profits. From that day onwards, anyone that became attracted to her had received her b***h act.
