GENESYS

SIX

Inside one of the mansions in Cherry Ville, a handsome man is walking down the stairs wearing designer brand clothes. 

If someone says that this man comes from a poor background no one would believe it. He has the charisma to make any normal girl fall in love with him in a single look. He's a typical senpai next door. 

This handsome man is no other than Leon White. A year of proper nutrition and exercise transforms his malnourished body to something any girl will desire. 

“Are you going to the coffee shop again, bro? Why do you bother so much in that dump? ” Ask Ems, who is lying on a sofa watching television.

With a smile, Leon replied “I love it there. Just watch sooner or later my baby will be the best copy shop in the country.”

“I still prefer Moonbacks. If I were you I'd just go on a date, meet some women, and get married. You’re not getting any younger.”

“I'm only 23 years old plus I will wait before you and Val get married.”

“Suit yourself, if you want to die alone it's fine, just buy me a popsicle on your way back, okay?”

“Buy it yourself, you sloth. You have to go out and play with the other children once in a while instead of just hauling in the house all day watching T.V.”

“I hate it, they're too childish. I’ll prefer watching my Prince Eric instead.” Ems said with eyes filled with admiration.

Hearing a familiar name, Leon can’t help but pause and look at the T.V 

[Hello Prince Eric, how is it feel to be one of the few players to own a kingdom in Genesys?]

[To tell you the truth Kelly, I only got lucky compares to the others I still have a long way to go.]

[I concur, Prince Eric, you're now the king of Camelot and the owner of the only Divine Weapon in the Game Excalibur, I doubt anyone will be dumb enough to oppose you.]

[You’d be surprised, for the past year Genesys had changed so much but so us the player. I would not be surprised if some random player walks right in front of me and beat me up.]

‘Would you look at that, the Prince manage to also own a castle in the game?’ Leon thought to himself.

“Isn't he dreamy bro? Not only is Prince Eric handsome, but he is also so hambled,” Ems said, mesmerize.

Hearing his sister, Leon immediately turns off the T.V.  “I don’t want you to have a crush on that prick, remember that guy is an assh*le, stay away from him.”

“Chill bro, I’m only eleven plus there is no way I’ll meet him, that guy is a real prince. ”

Leon thought of something in the past, back when he was still part of the Light of Dawn. It was one of the guilds he enjoyed being a part of. He found Eric to be quite a nice guy despite the latter lack of interest in the guild, he still treated his members nicely. If not for the fact that he was really desperate for money at that time, he would not steal from them and let it be destroyed.

“He was much easier to approach than you think.” 

Ems's eyes shine “Do you know him, bro? Can you introduce me?”

“You wish, I quit Genesys long ago.” ‘Plus that guy hates my guts, If one of his subordinates sees me, they will kill me immediately.'

“Bro, I've been wondering about it for a while now. Why did you stop playing Genesys?” 

Leon's face suddenly turns sad. “For me, Genesys is just a way to earn money, now that we have enough, I stop playing it, it’s as simple as that. There is no deep reason for it.”

Leon lied, his memories of Genesys is one of the things in his life that he wishes to forget. Even now the face of the dying Arthur still haunts him, making it difficult for him to sleep.

Feeling that her brother didn’t want to talk about it, Ems stops bothering him.

……

In the fanciest place in the city, there is a particular coffee shop. In front of the shop, there is a large sign saying Cat’s Cafe.

The coffee shop is small and rarely has a customer as it was situated near other fancy shops. For this shop to have five customers will be considered a busy day.

There is also nothing special about the shop except its open irregularly. It only has one employee, a barista who is decently good looking.

This barista is none other than Leon White.

…..

On this particular day, five guys wearing suits walk in Cat's Cafe.

“Welcome to Cats Cafe." Leon greeted with a smile.

The moment the five men walked into the shop, Leon became extremely alarmed, his guts keep sending him signals that they come with bad intentions.

“May I take your order, sir? I’ll recommend our best selling americano.”

The man in the middle looks at Leon trying to size him up. “Leon White, you’re as good looking as your mother.”

“Excuse me, sir?” Leon said puzzled.

The man in the middle smiled “We heard your father is doing okay.”

“Yes sir, according to the doctor, he might make a completely recover this year.”

“That’s great!” The man said continuously nodding his head, trying to look relieved.

Although the man seems nice, Leon can’t shake the bad feeling he was having. “Are you a friend of my father, sir?”

“You can just call me Ivan. I and your father go way back. In fact some time ago, when your father borrowed money from us to cover your mother's medical treatment, I even acted as his guarantor. As he was facing the most difficult times of his life, I even begged my firm to temporarily forget your father's debt. This shows how deep of a relationship I and your father have. ” The boss said, trying to sound magnanimous.

“Thank you Mr.Ivan for taking good care of my father,” Leon replied, trying to sound grateful but in his heart, he called bullshit. If he is really a good friend of his father, where is he when he needed him the most? He just left him for dead and no real friend will do that. It was the last straw for Leon. He didn’t hesitate any more and pressed the button calling the police. 

“It was my pleasure, but unfortunately we have to collect the debt now as our company Hell’s lending is facing financial difficulty. Seeing that my good friend is already doing okay, I don’t think there will be any problem, right?.” After saying so many bullshit, Ivan finally revealed his true intention.

“There is no problem, sir, as long as you have the contract with you?” 

“Yes we do, here is the contract. Your father owes us a total of 90,126,546.23 USD but as your father is a good friend of mine. We’re willing to lower it to 90,000,000 and we’ll let bygones be bygones.”

Hearing the amount Leon became furious. “Bullshit! How can my father owe you that much money, if we had that kind of money we would not have live like rats for five years.” 

The guy in front of him called Ivan is greedy some of a b*tch. He didn’t just want to extort some money from him. They want to get all of his money. The money meant for his family.

Seeing Leon furious, Ivan just smiles at him as if everything he was doing is just standard procedure. “But everything is in the contract Mr. White and your father even signed it. Your father borrowed 200,000 thousand from us and in the span of 5 years, it ballooned to 90,126,546.23. That's how debt works, it gets bigger and bigger if you don't pay it.”

“Bullsh*t! How can 200,000 become 90,126,546.23? Get out of here! “ Leon shouted furiously.

“You do not understand the situation you are in Mr. White.” One of the goons grabs Leon's collar.

“Listen here, if you don’t have the capacity to pay then don’t borrow money in the first place,” Ivan said as one of his goons slammed Leon to the wall. 

Retaliating, Leon smashed both of his hands in the goon’s ears.“You are the one that didn’t understand anything, I already called the police, if you don’t want to get arrested. Get out of my shop”.

The boss looks at Leon completely unconcern, he has dealt with this kind of person before. People who violently refuse to pay but sooner or later they all eventually pay. 

“Oh, is that so then give as five americanos please.”

“What are you trying to do?” Leon looked at the boss confused.

“Ordering, this place is a coffee shop is it not?”

Seeing Ivan calm attitude, Leon started to worried “You might not hear what I said but I want you out of my shop.”

At that moment the door of the shop opened. Finally, the police arrived.

“Who among you is the caller.” the officer asked.

“I am officer, this gentleman here has been harassing my shop,” Leon said, pointing to Ivan and his goons.

“Is that right?” The officer asked, looking at Ivan. The latter calmly walked at the officer handing him the contract.

“We are not harassing anybody, officer. We’re just collecting a debt, we have the contract here to prove it.” 

Feeling that something is not right, Leon protested.“Check the contract, officer. It's not a legitimate contract”.

In response, the officer just quickly glanced at the contract. “Looks fine with me.”

“Bullshit!” Leon exclaimed, clearly, the officers have been paid.

“Watch your tone! If you’re unable to pay then don’t borrow. Don’t just call the police whenever you want, we're not your bodyguard, if you call us again I'll arrest you.” the officer said, leaving  Leon helpless.

“Will you look at that, what are you going to do now?” Ivan said smugly

“You! Did you buy that cop? No worries, I’ll just call another one.” Leon said, pushing the button again.

“No, no you're wrong Mr. White, we didn’t just buy a single cop, we own the whole damn police,” Ivan said showing his golden teeth.

“You better just pay when I’m still playing nice. You didn’t want something to happen to your cute little sister won’t you?” Ivan said, showing Leon a live video feed of his sister Val playing with other kids. 

Leon can’t help himself anymore and furiously throws a punch at Ivan's face but it was easily caught by one of the latter goons. The goon then dislocated his shoulder and proceeded on choking him.

Struggling Leon said. “If you touch my sister, I’ll kill you. You hear me! I'll kill you!

Ivan ignores Leon's threat and walks closer to him, staring him directly in the eyes.“So what’s it gonna be Mr.White?” 

With a reluctant look in his eyes, Leon finally gave up. “I’ll pay you, just don’t hurt my family.”

“Good choice Mr.White, you don’t have to worry I’m a man of my word like I said before I'll let bygone be bygone.” Ivan raises his hand ordering one of the goons to drop Leon.

Getting what they wanted Ivan and his goons left Cat’s Cafe leaving Leon on the floor coughing. ‘Bastards, I’ll get even with you one way or another. I’ll kill anyone who threatens my family.’

……