“Ahh! I can’t wait. The President!” Sal did a little dance in the limo seat as the two of my bodyguards entered the limo to sit next to us.
“Oh, Arensto? He had spoken to me before the match started,” I gave him a wink and a smile.
“No, no, no Champ. Not the president of Astafar Unlimited, the President. Of the United States.” He made an expression that reminded me of the Cheshire Cat from that old Alice in Wonderland cartoon.
“Whoa, he was here?” I asked as the limo started to move. I saw the crowd break free from the wall of guards and begin to chase my car. My two bodyguards; their names were actually Chester “Chip” Smith, and Daniel “Dale” Steward; tensed slightly in their seats as the crowd got within a few dozen feet of the bumper, but then my driver sped away, and they both relaxed.
“Yeah, it was kind of hush-hush, but Arensto, President Efron, and I were talking all about your next career moves.”
“What career? There is no one left to fight,” I sighed and glanced out the window. I’d grown up on the streets of the Bronx, but I hadn’t been back in almost eleven years. It felt weird to be here, especially in this fancy limo.
“There will be a new challenger next year, but probably not Jin. I don’t think that kid has the stones to battle you again.”
“Where are Jax and Garf?” I asked. We had passed one of the diners that the three of us used to eat at when we were broke high school kids. The place was named Tony’s Spot, and it served a mishmash of pizza, hot dogs, Greek food, and Asian noodles.
“They are already at the party. Oh, here is your phone and wallet,” Sal said as he reached into his jacket pocket and passed me my personal items.
I glanced at my phone and sighed. Over six hundred text messages, and two hundred missed calls. I didn’t recognize any of the numbers, and I reasoned that it was time to get a new cell phone number.
“Which party?” I asked as I stared out the window. We passed one of the playgrounds that Jax, Garf, and I used to play basketball in. For a while, the three of us were sure we were going to be pro ballers, but then we had started playing VR games, and the combination of the physical activity, teamwork, and fantasy world had pulled us in and never let go.
“It’s one that Katney is hosting. The tabloids went crazy last month when they photographed you two together. That helped me raise the price of the Nike promotional ad spot. I’m thinking that this will fuel the fires a bit more.”
“If you say so,” I said again with a sigh. In a few minutes, we would be out of my borough. I guessed we were heading to lower Manhattan because the driver was heading out of the east side of the Bronx to cut into Brooklyn.
“Hey Champ, what’s wrong? I thought you liked Katney? She’s the hottest singer alive right now. You two together is like Cleopatra and Caesar.”
“She’s fine, I guess. I don’t even know her, Sal. We had dinner that one time, then we met at the airport last month randomly.”
I didn’t want to tell Sal that the beautiful girl had bored me to tears during our dinner, and I hadn’t returned her calls since. When we happened to run across each other at the Los Angeles airport last month, we had done a quick photo session with the crowd, and she had told me that she was a bit upset at me for brushing her off.
“So what else is wrong, Champ? How can I help ya? You look down, you should be happy. Ten years in a row. Your name is up there on the wall with all the sports greats. It is etched in stone and filled with gold, my man.”
“I dunno Sal, I’m just... I’m just bored. I know it is stupid.” I looked out the window and saw the apartment tower that I used to live in with my parents.
“You aren’t stupid, Leo; no one can play like you. You’ve got it all, the strategic mind and world class fitness. Everyone wants to be you--”
“Hey, tell the driver to stop,” I interrupted.
“Wait, what? No, Champ, we have a bunch of appearances to make. I’ve got this party, and then two more we need to go to after.”
The Jewish man leaned forward in his seat and waved frantically as I unbuckled my seatbelt.
“Text me the address. I’ll call a car and meet you there. I just want to go for a walk in my old stomping grounds,” I said as the limo slowed and pulled next to a curb.
“No, Champ. Everyone is going to be expecting you. We’ve got all the A listers there man! You are going to leave me hanging!” Sal looked pretty upset, and I felt bad for a few seconds. He’d been my business partner since I won my first tournament. The man had secured my love and trust after he broke into my training room, told me that he was ‘the toughest, fastest talking, best video game playing manager-Jew this side of the pond’, and challenged me to a duel in Astafar Unlimited. I’d kicked his ass, of course, but he did much better than I expected.
“I won’t be that late. Stall them for like an hour. Tell Garf and Jax to cover for me.” I opened the door, and Sal sighed. Maybe he knew me well enough to understand that I needed to be alone for a bit.
“Want us to come too, Champ?” Dale asked as I stepped out of the car.
“No, I’ve got my hoodie, no one will recognize me here,” I said as I raised the cowl of my sweater.
“Champ, you just won the World Championships. You could walk down the street in rural Patagonia, and they would know who you are.” Dale shook his head with a sour look.
“Yeah, but they aren’t going to expect me walking around outside of Yankee Stadium after they saw me drive away. Look, I’ll be okay Dale. I’ll just go visit my old house, few other places, then I’ll call a car. Be at the party in half an hour. If you are with me, I’ll definitely stick out.” I closed the door before Dale could respond, and then I knocked on the roof of the limo.
The car didn’t move at first, but once I started walking it continued to roll down the street away from me.
Then I was alone.
My phone buzzed, and I pulled the device from my pocket. Sal had texted me the address, along with a long message begging me not to take too long. I tapped on the screen a quick reply back, and then put it back in my pocket. The time was close to ten at night, but I knew that Tony’s Spot was an all night hole in the wall kind of diner. Or at least, it was some dozen years ago.
I walked past a man and woman chatting about my recent battle, but the couple didn’t even spare me a glance, and I realized that I had been holding my breath. I let it out with a chuckle, and then rounded the street corner to face the apartment building that I had once lived in. The place looked as it had before, with an ancient looking brick surface, broken fence, and half the light bulbs out of the lamps on the building. I recalled the building had been made in the 1970’s, and it didn’t look as if it had gotten any sort of facelift in the last eighty years.
I continued on my walk and came to the playground where Garf, Jax, and I had spent most of our pre-teen years. The courts were empty, cracked, and three of the four court lamps weren’t working. Perhaps the scene should have upset me, but I hadn’t spent more than a few minutes thinking about basketball since I’d quit it cold turkey to play Astafar Unlimited.
I continued my walk on the streets of my hometown. There were some loud party noises emerging from the buildings lining the street, and I guessed that people were celebrating the USA hat trick of wins over the rest of the world. First, our All-Star team had beaten the other nations in the Dungeon Run event. It was a timed effort that required a party of adventurers to clear an unseen area the quickest. We had bested the other nations by a good three minutes, and some of the teams believed that we had cheated.
Then we had beaten the other nations in our team arena challenge. This event was multiple rounds and carried through a different types of deathmatch, capture the flag or assault modes. Garf, Jax, and I had dominated again, but it was almost expected after our performance in the Dungeon Run.
I let my mind wander to the duel I had just fought, and I lost track of time. My feet stopped on their own, and I looked around in surprise. I was
standing in front of Tony’s Spot, and the scent of freshly baked pizza seeped out of the cracks under the glass door. My last meal had been this morning, and my stomach growled with frustration.
I kept my head down when I stepped into the tiny red and white themed diner. There was no one else in the place, but I didn’t want to freak out the single waitress standing behind the cash register.
“You have to order and pay before you sit down. There is a sign right there.” The girl pointed to a piece of paper that was laminated and taped to the wall by the door.
“Oh, okay,” I said as I stepped to the cash register.
“You have to take your hoodie off for the cameras. We keep getting robbed.”
“I’ve got a really bad cold,” I lied, “Here is my cash. Can I have a personal pepperoni, sausage, and mushroom pizza? Ahh, two dirty dogs, and one of Tony’s tofu ramen bowls.” I opened my wallet when I talked and handed the girl a crisp hundred dollar bill.
“Take out or eat in?” she asked as she keyed the register.
“Eat in. I’ll sit in the corner if you don’t mind. Hey, keep the change.”
“You sure?” She raised an eyebrow. She was kind of cute, but looked like she still wasn’t old enough to drink.
“Yeah. Oh, can you get me some water, and maybe a coffee?”
“You got it.” Her previous look of annoyance was now replaced with a smile.
I walked to one of the small booths in the corner and sat with my back to the wall. The waitress soon set down a cup of coffee and a plastic cup filled with ice water.
“Been super slow because of the match. Did you watch it?” she asked.
“Yeah. Had a pretty good seat, actually.” I continued to stare down at the red-painted table so that the girl couldn’t see me.
“Wow, I heard tickets were going for a few large. Even in the nosebleed sections. Probably worth it. Leo is amazing. Did you get a good look at him?”
“Not really, sorry,” I said.
“Ahh too bad. Don’t say sorry to me. If I’d have been there, I probably would have ripped off my clothes and tried to rape him. He’s so fucking hot.”
“Ramen up!” a voice sounded in the back of the restaurant, and the girl turned her head.
“Let me go grab your noodles,” she said, and I watched her walk to the far counter.
The waitress set the bowl on my table and then moved back to her position behind the register. There were still no TVs in the diner, and I was kind of glad. I imagined that every news station would be playing my interviews, and I just wanted to be somewhere away from the game.
Away from my life.
I was stupid to be feeling this way. I had accomplished everything I ever dreamed about. Of course, I had worked hard to get here, harder than anyone else alive, but I had always been fueled by my thought of the next challenge. I had wanted to be the world champion. I had wanted to be the grand champion. I had wanted to win for ten years in a row. I had everything I wished for, but now I didn’t know what I would do with myself.
The battles weren’t even hard anymore.
Sure I’d done my work. I hadn’t slacked off in my training. I’d maintained my disciplined regimen and had listened to my coaches. I did everything I needed to do to ensure that I would win my tenth time.
What now? Eleven wins? Fifteen? Twenty? Thirty?
Did it even matter anymore? I had more money than I could ever spend, and I’d fulfilled all my dreams.
I wasn’t even thirty yet. Was the next step to start a family? Should I get married? Have kids?
Should I just retire?
“Anyone sitting here?” A woman’s voice tore me from my reverie.
“Excuse me?” I hadn’t even taken a bite of my ramen yet. I was still staring at the steaming bowl, and I could see the shape of perfect legs wrapped in business suit slacks.
“Anyone sitting here? Can I join you?” she asked again.
“Uhh, there are other tables.” I gestured to the empty diner and my eyes slowly climbed up her long legs, to her perfectly shaped hips, narrow waist, and rounded chest. She was wearing a gray pinstripe suit that probably cost more than the diner's month rent.
“Yes, but I want to sit with you, Leo,” the woman said as she slid into the booth opposite me. Her movement was graceful and catlike.
“I was looking to be alone.”
“Why is that? I imagine the world thinks you are partying at the moment with your blonde singer girlfriend,” the woman snickered.
“I’ve got your hot dogs and pizza,” the waitress said as she set the food down on the table. “Are you ordering anything? You have to order at the register.”
“I’ll have what he is having,” the woman in the suit said. She handed the waitress a hundred. “And you can keep the change also, just give us some privacy.”
“Damn, lucky night for me,” the girl said as she snatched the bill and shuffled back to the other side of the diner.
The food looked like it was made mostly of grease, and my mouth watered at its fattening scent. My diet consisted of lean proteins, green salads, and starchy carbs. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d enjoyed a pizza or a hot dog. It was probably three years ago. I didn’t want to be rude to this woman and eat before her meal came, but I was ravenous.
And she was also sitting down uninvited.
“Ten years in a row. Quite an accomplishment,” she said as I grabbed a slice of pizza and took a bite. It tasted better than I imagined, but I felt like some sort of jail inmate eating all hunched over my food.
“I don’t know how you found me here; do you want an autograph or something? As I said before, I really just want to be left alone.” I crammed the rest of the slice of pizza into my mouth and relished its greasy-cheesy-meaty flavor.
“Oh, I know what you want. I believe that you might not actually know what you want.”
“Listen, lady, you aren’t the first woman to throw herself at me. I can appreciate your boldness, but I--”
“Here is your coffee, your water, and your ramen. Pizza and dirty dogs will be up soon,” the waitress interrupted my words when she set down the items on the table.
“Thank you,” the strange woman said, and the waitress walked away.
“I’m not trying to throw myself at you, Leo,” the woman whispered so that the waitress wouldn’t hear.
“Seems like you are to me.” I grabbed another slice of pizza and crammed it into my mouth with two large bites.
“No, I’d like to offer you a job,” she said.
“No thanks. I’ve already got a job. Too many actually,” I said around the mouthful of food. This was just like I was at an afterparty. I’d be trying to eat and relax while women offered me their bodies, and men offered me business opportunities.
“Too many?” the strange woman asked as I grabbed my penultimate slice of pizza.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me. I’m not as dumb as I look, although you haven’t looked at me yet.” The woman chuckled a little, and her comment actually made me lean my face upward so that I glance at her from under my hoodie.
I had seen plenty of beautiful women and expected all of the afterparties tonight to be filled with them. In my younger days, I had enjoyed their attention and had probably partaken of their affections too voraciously. But now I was hardly impressed with a woman’s beauty. Every single woman I encountered now was beautiful, and it tended to make them all seem average.
Yet this woman was strikingly gorgeous.
I had already guessed that her body was well proportioned from glancing at her legs and waist, so I wasn’t surprised when the rest of her shape was revealed to me. She had the long, lean, athletic proportions of a dancer, and her tight business suit accented the fullness of her perfectly shaped breasts through her coat. The woman’s skin was a creamy mocha color, and her neck extended elegantly from her shoulders to meet her jawline. Her thick black hair framed a well-proportioned diamond shaped face,
and I found my eyes drawn up her features until our eyes met. They were a strange violet color, but she didn’t seem like the type to indulge in all the crazy body modifications that my parent’s generation had. I guessed the woman was wearing contacts or the shitty fluorescent light in the diner was playing tricks on me.
You could have put a pair of feather wings on this girl, and she probably would have been a greeter at the pearly gates.
Then she smiled at me, and I wondered if some leathery wings, horns, and a tail would have been a better fit.
“You like what you see?” Her wicked grin did actually make my pulse quicken, and there was no hiding the fierce intelligence behind her strange amethyst eyes.
“You know you are good looking, and I know you are arrogant,” I said as I matched her smirk.
“Ha!” she let out a short laugh. “And you were telling me about your too many jobs.”
“Parties, TV interviews, magazine interviews, and photo shoots. They actually want me to make an appearance at Disney World this time, my manager wants me to go to this island to schmooze with some dignitaries and their families, and I have to train for the next championship.”
“Sounds exhausting,” she agreed and nodded her head in sympathy.
“I don’t want to be rude, but I really would enjoy some alone time. I don’t get much of it.” I reached for the last piece of pizza, and then ducked my head under my hood when the waitress set the beautiful woman’s food on the table.
“This looks delicious. I heard a rumor that you don’t even eat carbs.”
She picked up one of her hot dogs, leaned over her plate so that she wouldn’t get any of the onions on her suit, and took a bite. I realized that I was staring at her lips, and I forced myself to look at my own food. The waitress had retreated to her spot behind the register again. I wondered if I should just ditch the food, and leave this strange woman.
“Ummmm, this is wonderful.” Her moan was a bit distracting, and I picked up my own dirty dog to occupy myself.
Lion's Quest: Undefeated: A LitRPG Saga Page 3