Re-Awakening: I Became a Pay To Win Boss Monster

As they chatted and headed for the warehouse, Karina's eyes suddenly widened.

She hit the brake pedal with all her might, stopping the car within seconds.

"Hey..." Maria mumbled. "Warn us next time, would you? Hm...? Who's that?"

"Looks like some idiot who's lost his money," Asuna remarked with a scoff.

In front of their car was a man with pitch-black hair.

He seemed to have stepped out of the casino and then fallen right on the crossing.

Karina honked her horn several times, but the man wouldn't move.

"I'll give you 5 bucks if you run him over," Asuna said innocently.

"I second that. I'll add 10," Maria chimed in.

"Hwaaaa! I addh one!" Elise said, raising her little arms in excitement.

Karina rolled her eyes as she stepped out of the car and approached the man.

He seemed pretty young, likely her age.

She crouched down beside the man, who lay there with his green eyes open, staring up into the sky with a blank look.

"My fucking money..." the man muttered. "That sack of shit Peter told me there was a cheat code to counting cards... turns out the fucker used a custom deck..."

Karina's brows twitched. "Hey... do you mind moving? My friends and I need to head somewhere, but you're blocking the road."

"Hmm?" The man turned to her, his eyes widening slightly. "Well, aren't you a sight to behold, wanna go out on a date?"

"Pass," Karina replied with a frown as she took out her phone. "Move it or I'm calling the cops on you."

The man stared at her for a few moments in silence before letting out a groan.

"Fuck... fine, I'll move," he said, slowly standing up.

But just as he was about to walk away, he stopped, turning to her again.

"Hey, when is that Sketa Online thing coming out? Is it today?"

She checked her phone, then nodded. "It's in 12 hours, yes."

The man let out a low chuckle. "12 fucking hours..."

He looked up at the sky again. "Well... I guess I should pay a visit to my sister... it's been a few weeks since I last visited her in the hospital."

Karina didn't pay much attention to his mumbling as she walked back to the car and got inside.

Yet the moment she did, she couldn't help but glance back at the man through the mirror.

He seemed... familiar.

"He's pretty handsome," Asuna commented. "Maybe shoot your shot with him?"

Karina scoffed. "He looks like someone who can't even take care of himself. He even mentioned a sister he hadn't visited in a while... he's trash. I don't want to be anywhere near him."

A moment of silence ensued in the car when all of a sudden, Elise leaned closer, holding a half-finished pastry.

"Yhou want ith?" Elise asked cutely.

It felt as if Karina's heart melted in that instant as she accepted the pastry without a second thought and stuffed it inside her mouth.

"It was only a joke, my bad," Asuna apologized, falling silent. "But... have you ever thought of settling down?"

"For the record, I think you should settle down as soon as possible," Maria chimed in. "You're a beauty, and I'm sure most men would fall head over heels for you."

Karina lowered her head in silence. "I want to focus on my goals first..."

Maria let out a sigh. "Yeah... that does sound like you."

"No kidding," Asuna added as she went back to her phone.

With that, Karina resumed driving toward the warehouse. Less than half an hour later, they finally arrived.

The warehouse, gifted by Maria's rich husband, stood tall in the middle of the city.

As fate would have it, the two had met in kindergarten, and had stayed close all the way into adulthood.

Of course, he proposed, the two got married, and had a kid.

Karina sort of wished for a life like that, but she knew that at the moment, she wouldn't be able to give it her all.

Not while her goals were still incomplete.

Still, they all stepped out of the car, with Elise getting a piggyback ride from Asuna.

They went toward the warehouse, and Maria swiftly unlocked it, then pushed the doors open.

Immediately, the sight of a massive interior greeted them, and to the side were a bunch of unpacked boxes.

Yet it didn't take Karina long to pick up on the familiar shape of a few.

"Did you buy more Virtual Reality Pods? Why?" Karina asked, puzzled. "We each had one at home, didn't we?"

"Well yeah, but these are the new models," Asuna replied, raising her finger. "For one, these have better specs, which means not only can we stay there as long as we want, but our bodies will also automatically receive nourishment. I got four of the 500 available models. One is for little Elise, of course."

Asuna puffed her chest. "So yeah, no need to thank me."

"Asuna... this is too much..." Karina said, her palms beginning to sweat. "How am I supposed to—"

"Hush it there." Maria stepped in, placing a finger on Karina's lips. "When you get free stuff, you accept the free stuff. If it looks like there's a catch, you ignore it and act oblivious. That's how the world works. And unless you want to end up negotiating a deal where Asuna makes you run around Sketa Online in a bunny suit, I'd keep my mouth shut."

"Huh...? How did you know?" Asuna's eyes widened. "Tsk... you and those Milf instincts..."

"I'm only 23, Asuna," Maria said with a pout, then looked her up and down. "If instead of playing games all day and streaming, you actually went out on dates, I'm sure you'd get laid too."

"Heh... I can't take the risk," Asuna replied with a cheeky smirk. "My body is a symbol of purity, and it will stay like that until I'm old and ugly. Plus, I'm not too keen on having kids, they seem like a chore to maintain."

—Sniffle

"B-But not Elise!" Asuna corrected herself. "She's the greatest, most beautiful little kid to exist! R-Right, Karina?"

"Of course," Karina replied with a smile, then turned to the hundreds of unopened boxes.

"You did hire a crew to help us, right?" Karina asked, her hands beginning to tremble. "R-Right?"

Asuna turned her gaze away and began to whistle.

Clearly, she didn't.

"Asuna..." Karina mumbled.

You idiot!