53 Unveiled (1/2)

Congratulation! You leveled up!

Weapon level up!

Empowered Slash level up!

A series of notifications claimed the death of a formidable enemy. Shesmu starred at the broken parts of the Greater Steel Doll before looting it. However, before even checking the items in his inventory, Shesmu turned around and looked at his teammates.

”Leo, you did well tanking the boss. You really became better.”

Leo's mouth opened for a second before happiness overtook him. His shoulders went down and breathed a sigh of relief. It was as if a mountain was lifted off his shoulders.

Shesmu knew that Leo was internally struggling. His two brothers were geniuses of a kind never seen before. One was an extremely popular figure in the gaming community and had skills that made him renowned throughout the nation. The other was even more of a monster. Just one day ago, DepressedRyan was a player of around the same caliber as Leo, and today he showed talent even a superstar could only be jealous of.

With this kind of pressure, even Buddha will succumb to envy and jealousy, if even by a little, Shesmu thought. Maybe some would judge a person's character through these types of experiences, however, Shesmu was not one of them. If I let a brother go through all of that without giving him any support, then what kind of brother am I?

Shesmu tapped Leo's shoulders and whispered in his ears, ”Don't take on everything alone in the dark. We're brothers, aren't we? Brothers share things.”

Leo stayed silent for a second before replying, ”She-no, brother… Thank you.”

Shesmu smiled.

”Don't sweat it.”

Shesmu then focused on Kazumi and Amaterasu. Kazumi had his chest puffed up and a big smile covered his face. Amaterasu on the other just put her hands behind her back and kept eye contact with Shesmu.

”Kazumi, your rotations were good, and your hits were clean.”

”You bet they were! Great Master!”

Kazumi had a radiant smile on his face. Since the moment they met in the Forest of Beginning, Shesmu had never praised him. For Kazumi to finally receive these words, for him to finally be accepted, Kazumi felt unending joy.

Amaterasu, on the other hand, was conflicted. On one side she was happy that Kazumi is happy. On the other side, she couldn't stomach the cause of his happiness. She kept fidgeting around with her hands and went back and forth with her eyes looking at Kazumi and Shesmu.

”Amaterasu-”

Amaterasu jolted at the sound of her name and she let out a little squeak. She wasn't expecting to be called out. For a moment, she thought that she will be praised like Leo and Kazumi. However, after remembering what happened in the Forest of Beginning, and the talk they had in the cave on the first floor, she had known that Shesmu would berate her as usual. She was just about to rebuke him when Shesmu's voice cut her off.

”Good job. You were sharp enough to understand the rules of this minigame, and you were good enough with the sword to handle the steel dolls. Your synchronization with Kazumi was also remarkable.”

Shesmu looked at Amaterasu in the eyes. Even though she wasn't the nicest human being, Shesmu understood that she had her own circumstances that made her that way. Plus, after thinking about it for a long time, Shesmu knew that Kazumi and Amaterasu were here to stay. They had the key to understanding the phenomenon that pushed him into this timeline after all. If they were going to stay at the party, then there was no reason for Shesmu to alienate them. That would only result in a toxic environment.

Shesmu kept eye contact with the shell-shocked Amaterasu. She never expected this outcome. The words she was about to cry out were stuck in her throat, and her mind was blank. Wasn't Shesmu just an arrogant man blessed by good luck? Didn't he always berate her whenever he got the chance, for no reason at all?

For a second, Amaterasu didn't know what to do. Her mind told her that it was just a trick to make her loosen her guard. A devious plot coated by his silver tongue. However, her heart knew that his words were genuine. If so, was she on the wrong? Was he always a good human being and it was only her mind that kept feeding her bias? Amaterasu didn't know the answer to these questions. She wanted to scream, but her throat was dry and lips were zipped.

In the end, she just lowered her head and muttered, ”Then, what about father?…”

Tears streamed down her cheeks. And, one droplet at a time, fell on the ground. She, who never flinched, who was always headstrong, finally cracked. While she kept whimpering under her breath, a warm hand caressed her hair.

Shesmu came in closer and whispered on Amaterasu's ears.

”Was it hard on you? Going to this unfamiliar place, with neither of your parents nor your friends. Was it scary?”

All of a sudden, Amaterasu broke eye contact with Shesmu and looked sideways. A look of guilt plastered on her face.

”Was I… wrong?”

Amaterasu shook her head both ways.