Shaped like a space capsule, it was designed for a single person to lie down comfortably. Beyond just logging into the game, the pod monitored vital functions like heart rate and respiration, and automatically regulated temperature, oxygen, and humidity. It was designed to ensure that the intense pace of the game wouldn't put any physical strain on the player's body.
The day before, when Kael had challenged the Arctic Phantomfox in Manual Mode using a simple helmet, his intense focus had left him drenched in sweat, nearly compromising his control at the end of the fight. That wouldn't happen in a state-of-the-art VR pod.
After a quick biometric scan to sync the new hardware, Kael was back in the world of Godpath.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
A series of friend notifications pinged in his interface. He opened his list and saw messages from Orion, Elon, and Rena. He started with Rena's.
"What's up with the guild leader? She hasn't been online since last night and she's not answering her phone. Did you do something to her?"
Kael smiled and typed back, "She's dealing with some family stuff. She'll be on soon."
"How do you know she has family stuff? Have you been harassing her?"
"You told me yesterday, remember?"
"..."
Kael ignored Rena’s impending confusion, knowing Lila could explain it herself when she logged on. He clicked on Orion’s message next.
"Bro, when are you coming back to Dustwind?! Carry me!"
Kael ignored that one, too.
Finally, he opened Elon’s messages. There were two. The first was a detailed expense report for the Sunfire Bell marketing campaign.
TikTok: $620,000 (1x 10M+ follower account, 5x 1M+ accounts, 20x 100k+ accounts for promotion/reposts)
Instagram/Reels: $230,000 (6x 1M+ accounts, 10x 100k+ accounts for promotion/reposts)
Twitter (X): $100,000 (10x 1M+ follower accounts for sponsored posts)
Twitch/YouTube: $50,000 (1x major streamer, 2x popular YouTubers for mentions)
In-Game: 300 Gold
Kael’s eyes widened at the invoice. Elon had burned through the entire million dollars in a single day. The auction was still two days away—what was the plan now?
He moved to the second message: "That classmate I mentioned wants to meet you. Please reply ASAP."
Kael had been about to call and chew Elon out over the ad spend, but the second message gave him pause. In his past life, Elon had started his business empire with a hundred million in seed funding.
But from what Kael had gathered over the last few days, there was no way Elon's family could produce that kind of money. The only explanation was that it came from somewhere else. Now, it was clear: the "classmate," the heir to Helios Biosciences, was the source of that capital.
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He initiated a voice call. Elon picked up instantly.
"Hey, boss."
"This ad spend is insane," Kael said, cutting to the chase. "What's your thinking here?"
"Right, so here's the breakdown," Elon began, his voice sharp and confident. "My classmate and I ran the numbers. We project the final auction price for the Sunfire Bell will be over fifty million. Standard marketing practices suggest an ad spend of five to ten percent of the projected revenue to generate corresponding hype. As long as we build enough buzz, more potential buyers come out of the woodwork, and the bidding price gets driven up layer by layer."
Kael nodded to himself. A 5-10% marketing budget was standard.
"And don't worry about the follow-up funding," Elon continued. "My classmate is covering it."
"Alright, fine. But the overall investment will still be split according to our contract."
"Of course, boss. On that note, he and I are planning to launch a new company, an e-commerce platform specializing in Godpath. We want to bring you in as a founding partner, but my classmate wants to meet you first before we finalize anything. When are you free?"
Kael thought for a moment. "Let's not rush it. We can schedule something after the auction."
"Sounds good. I'll get back to the promotions, then."
"Okay."
After ending the call, Kael organized his thoughts. He'd originally figured he would find Elon, dazzle him with his foresight, and have him work as his subordinate, reaping the rewards once Elon's empire was built. But knowing the Helios heir was in the picture changed everything.
Helios Biosciences wasn't just a company; it was a trillion-dollar mega-corporation, the only entity in the world that had mastered the technology of interfacing biological neurons with electronic chips.
Kael had deliberately delayed the meeting because he knew he didn't have enough leverage yet. In the eyes of an heir to a company like that, he was just another gamer who got lucky and had some skill. He needed to increase his own value. The final auction price of the Sunfire Bell would directly influence his potential share in their new venture. What had started as a simple cash grab now had far greater significance, and a wave of anxiety washed over him.
Come on, Sunfire Bell… don't let me down.
BEEP BEEP.
A new message. It was Lila.
"Where are we grinding?"
Kael replied, "North gate of Stonehaven. Get a full party of nine together and wait for me. We need at least three healers. Stock up on mana potions—everyone should be carrying a full stack."
Kael closed the message window and warped back to Stonehaven. He quickly cleared out his inventory and bought more mana potions.
Arriving at the north gate, Kael, back under the infamous name Dawnbreaker, saw Lila’s group.
Besides Hazel the Protection Warrior, Rena the Priest, and Starbloom the Warlock, there were five new faces: a mage named Lunara, an archer named Velora, a priest named Faye, a druid named Glytter, and a paladin named Argent.
As soon as Hazel saw him, she bounced over. "Mr. Dawnbreaker! This is Ava, the friend who got me into the game! She joined our guild, too!"
"Hello!" Glytter, the druid, said with a friendly wave. Kael nodded back.
Lila walked up. "Glytter can heal or tank, and Argent is a heal-spec pally. Is this setup okay?"
Kael nodded. It was perfect.
Rena joined them, her curiosity piqued. "Dawnbreaker, why so many healers? Where exactly are we going to level up?"
Kael pointed toward a barely visible mountain peak on the distant horizon. "There."
The group squinted, but it was too far away to make out any details.
Without further explanation, Kael waved his arm forward. "Let's move out!"
And so, the party of one man and nine women departed from Stonehaven, heading north. As they traveled, their unusual formation drew a lot of stares and envious whispers.
"Hey, look at that guy. One dude with nine girls. He's living the dream."
"Look at his name, though. It's so red. He must have killed a ton of people."
"Should we jump him? Red-named players drop the best loot."
"I'm in."
Just as a few newbies were about to act on their impulse, their more experienced teammates grabbed them.
"Are you trying to get us all killed? Do you know who that is?"
"Who?"
"Are you blind? You can't see the name [Dawnbreaker] floating over his head?"
"Dawnbreaker? The guy who slaughtered hundreds of players in one night?"
"Hundreds? Try thousands! He killed thousands defending the Blackwind Brotherhood!"
"Holy crap!"
"He's looking this way! Quick, turn your head!"
"What's the big deal if I look?"
"The big deal? I heard Dawnbreaker has a rule. He treats any stranger who looks at him for more than three seconds as a target."
"No way, that's insane!"
"If you were as badass as him, you could be that insane too."
"How do I get that badass?"
"Dude, if I knew, I'd be doing it…"
THANK YOU FOR READING!
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- The explosive results of the Sunfire Bell auction.
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- New dungeon clears, legendary loot, and the rise of the Dawnbreaker legend.
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