Chapter 41
I always felt there was something mysterious about Jack. When faced with my curiosity, Jack simply replied, “Yes, the house you live in belongs to him.” Good friends are there to take the heat.
He went to a nearby private room. A waiter approached deferentially.”Mr. Wilson, here’s the menu.”
“Give it to her.”
Jack leaned back, his arm exposed. I didn’t take the menu.”Just bring out a few of your signature dishes.” I’d eaten here before in my past life; the menu changed daily, customers just ate whatever was available. But the waiter gave the menu to Jack, indicating that his friend’s status was indeed something special.
At that moment, my phone buzzed incessantly. I glanced at the screen to see it was Noah calling, but I didn’t answer it. Soon, I received a message from him:”Alice, the restaurant is closed due to an emergency. We’re in the parking lot. Where are you?”
Closed? I was surprised; the restaurant was still open. Jack must have asked his friend for help. I replied:”Then you guys should leave.” I ignored his further messages.
Looking up, I met his deep gaze.”Your brother?”
“Yes, he left.”
“Well, now we can eat.” He was calm, as if nothing unusual had happened.
I found it strange. Was he really just a school doctor? His background seemed deeper. But maybe I was overthinking it; if he was so influential, he wouldn’t be a school doctor. Maybe he’d asked his friend to help me get revenge.
“What did you talk about with Noah?”
Jack rested his hand on the table, revealing part of his wrist, and replied, “Just casual conversation.”
Casual? Noah had looked unhappy. Jack was turned slightly away from me, so I couldn’t see his expression at that moment. No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t seem like a simple conversation.
I hesitated. “I know you’re kind, but this is New York. Noah might cause trouble for you.” I didn’t want to drag anyone else into my mess.
“So that’s why you moved back?”
“Yeah, it’s only a few days anyway. After the exams, I’ll be free.” I showed a hint of excitement. I wanted to live the life of a carefree protagonist after my rebirth, but reality wasn’t that easy.
In my past life, I’d depended on my brothers. Now, I wanted independence, a good university, and the freedom to pursue my goals.
Seeing my smile, Jack knew I had a plan. He didn’t say anything; he had no right to interfere.
After dinner, he asked, “What do you want to do next?”
I thought for a moment and replied, “Gaming. Let’s grind some dungeons.” Right now, running dungeons was my only way to relieve stress.
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Mens
Jack stood up to leave, and I watched his tall figure, asking, “How come you’re here today? Are you dining with someone?” I’d seen him with a beautiful woman earlier.
He paused in front of the elevator, his gaze momentarily faltering, “Just some business.”
I bit my lip; was it really just some business? That date certainly seemed like a significant matter.
My mood shifted oddly, and I quickly adjusted my mindset. The person I had a crush on should be that online gaming partner, the man who appeared after the college entrance exams. Jack was nice to me, but he probably started out feeling sorry for me and later helped me out of kindness. I couldn’t complicate our relationship.
Back at the apartment, I logged onto the game and received a friend request notification. I glanced at the name. and was surprised to see it was my sixth brother, Luke. A few days ago, I had turned down his invitation to join his team, and now the proud Luke was personally reaching out to me.
I didn’t accept the friend request and teamed up with Jack to run dungeons instead. We joined a random group, and a teammate sent a friend request. My assessment of their skills was good, so I accepted.
The next second, a message popped up:”Hi, I’m Luke Welch, the captain of Landing Team. I noticed your skills during our run; would you like to join us? We can discuss the terms.”
I frowned.”He’s relentless.” He’d used a new account.
Jack looked at me.”What?”
“Luke added me with a new account, wanting me to join his team. He doesn’t know it’s me.” It was my new
account.
Jack said, “If they can’t find a skilled artillery player, they’ll lose the first round of the finals.”
“So Luke is getting anxious. He’s too proud to recruit well-known players, so he can only train some talented newbies.” I knew Luke’s personality well. The Wilson family’s Blitzkrieg team was strong; in my past life, they only won because John Wilson hadn’t participated in the finals.
“The Blitzkrieg team is strong. Their captain is supposedly King’s apprentice.”
“He can’t even master the twelve-hit combo.”
I looked at him, shocked.”Not everyone can learn it.”
“You did.”
“That’s because…” I realized I almost let something slip about my past life, which hadn’t happened yet.
Jack narrowed his eyes. “Because of what?”
I hesitated. “Because I admire King so much and really like him, I accidentally pulled off the twelve-hit combo. It was just luck!”
Jack shot me a look, clearly not buying my story. Did I really learn it on my own? Or did someone teach me?
I ignored Luke’s message and continued playing.
On the other side, Luke, feeling defeated after not getting a response, rubbed his temples, his chin covered in stubble. The training results lately had been disappointing. He hadn’t found a strong artillery player. He watched my
my twelve-hit combo from the second-chance round. He was proud; I was his sister. He’d tried
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< Chapter 41
countless times to replicate the combo; but he couldn’t. He had to admit my talent. But that slap had ruined everything.
He called Noah.”Noah, how’s Alice doing lately?”
“Same as always. She ignores everyone. She ranked tenth in this month’s exam; she’s improved a lot.”
“Tenth? That’s quite a jump.”
Merti
Luke remembered thinking I’d cheated when I scored 100th. He’d been wrong. I’d always been smart. When did I start to change? It seemed to have started after Chloe came to the Welch family.
Noah looked at the emerald necklace in the box and sighed, “Luke, do you think we’ve neglected Alice?”
“Noah, do
you feel that too?” The two brothers fell into silence on either end of the call.
“Noah, do you think if I apologize to Alice; she would forgive me?” Luke said this with a lot of mental preparation. He genuinely wanted to reconcile with me.
He regretted hitting me that day. It hadn’t been intentional.
