NOVEL WEB Chapter 11: The Family
"Oh! Lizzy was right!"
When Maria stood up from her bed and gazed at the evening sky just outside her window, she couldn't help, but marvel at the sight.
She had started playing the game around early afternoon and despite all the time she spent inside the game; only a couple of hours had passed outside in the real world.
Unitale ran on a 3:1 time difference with reality. 3 days of in-game time would only amount to 1 day in reality.
Maria hadn't played for long, probably only for half a day. She did fall unconscious for a while and didn't check to see how much time had passed.
Despite all that, it really amazed her that the 12 hours or so of gameplay only amounted to a short couple of hours in reality.
"Maybe I can start studying while in the game as well?"
*KNOCK KNOCK*
"Young miss? Dinner is ready, Master and the others are all waiting for you in the dining hall..."
"Oh?"
Maria quickly glanced at the clock and noticed that it was already 6. She quickly washed her face in the bathroom connected to her room and hastily made her way down to go have dinner with her family.
"Ah! S-sorry I'm late..."
Down in the dining hall, she could see her father and the rest of her family waiting patiently for her. Normally, she wouldn't have been so late, but because she was so immersed into the game she forgot all about the time.
It was a good thing she logged out when she did. If not, she might have kept her family waiting for her until late into the evening!
"No matter, come, sit with us Maria" Her father said. He was a handsome and dignified middle-aged man with a powerful presence and a charismatic aura around him. He had dark brown hair and pale gold eyes. Maria inherited her father's eyes as well as his intellect, her mother's beauty...and cluelessness.
Corinthos Heltania was his name. He was a world renowned businessman who liked to keep a low profile, always going around using an alias rather than his real name.
Only close friends from his social circles would be well acquainted with him and have the privilege to know his actual name.
He was a doting father as well, showering many gifts and praises for his only daughter. That's right, DAUGHTER. As for Maria's other siblings, she had 2 older brothers, one being just a year older than her and the eldest being 3 years older.
"Hey sis! How unusual for YOU to be late," A brown haired boy asked teasingly. He had a cheerful demeanor. Maria's brother, Gerald Heltania had his father's handsome looks and his mother's platinum blonde hair just like her.
"I-I was busy with something, big brother Gerald..."
"Haha! I bet you were studying again! You really should get out more, Mary!"
"I-I wasn't studying..."
"Oh?"
"Hm?"
Her family was really astonished to hear this. Her eldest brother, Mikael Heltania, a young man with similar features as their father with the same charismatic aura, quickly asked.
"So what were you doing?"
"Oh! I was playing a game, big brother Mika!"
The family and all the servants in the room were immediately shocked.
"G-game?"
"What?!"
"Could it be...?" Her father seemed to have a hunch on what game she was playing, since he did receive a report from the family's servants about Maria's recent activities, and the girl herself affirmed of this.
"Yup! It's the game that father's been supporting for a while now! Unitale, right?"
Maria took her seat next to her father's side. Before the conversation continued, the family of 4 expressed their thanks and began eating dinner.
"Hey Sis, have you seen this video yet?"
While they were eating, Gerald suddenly pulled out his phone and showed it to Maria. There was a video of the game, Unitale, currently being played.
"Gerald, mind your manners," Their father warned, but despite this, he too took a look at the video when he noticed a very, very familiar figure being featured in it.
"H-hey! That's me!" Maria immediately knew who the person inside the video was. The black winged angel inside the video was her very own avatar. It was a compilation video of some things she did in the city while inside the game.
In the video, Maria's character was first shown coming out of the teleportation building, then it showed her fighting and slaying monsters in the field then the moment when she took off into the air in search for the temple and finally when she had touched down and entered the Dark God's temple.
Her videos on the forums had grown so popular after not even half a day since it had first been posted. Universal Games Company naturally took advantage of this and compiled all of the footage into an edited video for promotional purposes.
The scene where she had killed numerous players had naturally been cut from the video. It was obviously bad for promotional purposes. The PK video had also been taken down by the forum's moderators at the behest of the company.
Maria's father had actually already seen this video just earlier before he came home, but he just wasn't sure whether or not that girl was actually his daughter. Now that the person herself had said so, everyone in the dining hall was once again shocked at the revelation.
"W-where did you get this brother?"
"It's all over the internet! Universal Games had decided to compile all of the videos about this avatar that was being posted on the forums and turn it into a promotional vid. The girl in the vid looked just like you, but I didn't think it was actually you, lil sis!" Gerald replied with a cheerful smile while giving Maria a thumbs-up.
Finally, their klutzy bookworm of a sister had found something else to do other than holing up in the house reading, playing, or studying by her lonesome!
It wasn't like she didn't have any friends, but it was worrisome for the family that Maria only focused on studying and doing her own things by herself rather than hanging out with her high school friends after classes were over.
Now that she was playing a very popular game, her friends in school will most likely call her out to play together! At least now she won't be doing things by herself anymore.
The family became animated and continued talking about the game while eating dinner. It was mostly Gerald, who was also a player, and Maria who were talking. Their father and Mikael had become listeners and would occasionally ask a thing or two. They were all glad to see the only girl left in the family become so happy and animated while conversing with them.
"Wow, big brother sure knows a lot! I didn't know about that SP thingy! No wonder I fell from the sky...or I suddenly wasn't able to swing my staff anymore...or when I couldn't sprint to run away from something..."
"Wh-what?! You fell from the sky?!"
"Ahahaha~ I was too happy flying around, but it wasn't anything serious though!"
The family was dismayed that she had brought her clumsiness into the game, but it was a good thing it was only a game...the men in the family took note NOT to let her up into high places. They might have to seal up or tear down all the second floor balconies in the mansion now.
Even the family's butler and servants in the room could only break out in cold sweat at their young miss' clumsiness. Corinthos eyed the butler, David, and he nodded in understanding. He made a small hand gesture to the maids and some of them quickly exited from the dining hall.
"Anyway, I can't wait to tell all about my adventures to Lizzy and the rest tomorrow! I bet they won't believe me when I tell them that I even defeated a field boss by myself!"
Gerald widened his eyes in shock.
"S-so that world announcement was because of you?!"
"Huh? What announcement?"
"..."
This girl had done something incredulous only on the first day, but she didn't know it. Gerald turned helpless at the lack of gaming knowledge that his sister had. He didn't know where to begin explaining, so he just dropped it.
As long as his sister was happy, everything was A-Okay.