—-

Ms. Arman was left stunned by Kieran’s abrupt departure but didn’t chase after him. Although she felt Kieran was somewhat different from before, she could tell he appeared more focused than before, almost as if he had some direction that he wasn’t present previously.

‘It’s really a waste for him to leave now, but it’s not my place to intrude upon his decision. After all, he’s a full-grown adult,’ Ms. Arman thought before slowly lowering her extended arm. She then glanced back towards the classroom with a thought continually prancing around her mind.

‘Zenith Online? If the kids are raving about it so much, maybe I should see what the fuss is all about when I have time. I’ll just have them order me one,’ Ms. Arman thought before tapping at a holographic screen that appeared before her.

In truth, she wasn’t much older than Kieran or the other students, including the returning students. She was a professor in training, which was an endeavor she ventured upon after growing bored of her previous professions.

From her appearance alone, one would mistake her for a student. She looked no older than 27 years old. Additionally, she held the charm of an older-sister type rather than the typical middle-aged woman appeal most female professors exuded.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t idle in the hallway for long. She returned to the lecture hall, whereas Kieran entered the administration office. He was immediately greeted by a rotund, balding male fiddling away in front of his desk.

However, after sensing someone had entered, he perked up and cleared his throat. “Yes?! Who is it?”

“Greetings. I’d like to make this visit as short as possible—I’m here to unenroll myself and drop all classes,” Kieran responded. As he mentioned, Kieran wasted no time before stating his reason for being here during in-session classes.

But, after realizing that it was just a student and not another staff member, the overweight man didn’t seem as professional and just grunted in response. “Tsk tsk, why do you guys have no drive? So many of you just quit after feeling some stress from college work. How will you all survive in the real world?”

“Meh. Probably by getting a job that will ultimately have nothing to do with the degree we aimed for in the first place. I mean, come on, how many people actually land jobs in the field they desire? But, just unenroll me.” Kieran shrugged indifferently.

He was well aware that the older generation still held the close-minded views that you needed to study to get a good job in society. Meanwhile, countless people with unusual jobs succeeded just as much, if not more, than the general population.

In Kieran’s case, he recalled many gaming organizations giving their star members stupendous salaries, benefits, and even accommodations! Of course, Kieran couldn’t see himself signing with any organization after his ordeal with the Golden Brigade.

‘They’ll probably all be like that. I can’t risk my health for the material gain of someone else. Instead, I’ll have to build my own empire brick by brick,’ Kieran decided with a resolute gaze. Although he never wanted the position of being a Guild Leader in the past, the same couldn’t be said about his mindset now.

Kieran understood the importance of reliable allies when attempting extremely dangerous tasks. However, he also understood how challenging it was to acquire allies one could genuinely trust. After all, betrayal never came from an enemy.

“Alright, whatever you say, kid. I just hope you don’t regret your decision in the future. You can pass me your ID if you’re done,” the administrator said. Thus, Kieran handed over the ID with no hassle whatsoever.

After inputting his information, the administrator’s eyes widened in shock. “Young man, is this really what you want to do? You only need two more semesters’ worth of class to receive your degree! Why stop now?”

“I have my reasons,” Kieran responded. His tone insinuated his desire to drop the subject. Still, the fat man just couldn’t see how Kieran’s decision was reasonable.

“Is it financial? If so, I’ll personally help you resolve the problem. One or two semesters shouldn’t be too expensive,” the man said.

However, Kieran immediately shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but that’s not it. I have a few matters lined up that require my full attention, so I can’t focus on school anymore.”

Kieran took a short pause before evaluating the man before him. He wasn’t unlikeable, and his offer was genuine, so Kieran offered some advice of his own. “If you have extra money laying around that isn’t being utilized, I suggest you invest in Zenith Online for the ludicrous returns later.”

Following that message, Kieran walked away from the administrator’s desk with a slight wave. On the other hand, the administrator remained in a daze as he recalled the news filling all the news stations yesterday.

‘Zenith Online, he said? Is that one of the reasons he left? Maybe he has some offer from a large company? Well, that’s fine by him. I just hope the young man’s future is secured,’ the administrator thought. Regrettably, he didn’t take Kieran’s advice to heart.

This was partly due to his skepticism towards accepting financial advice from a younger person and his fruitless relationship with games. Gaining money from them? In his youth, this man used to dump money into games like no tomorrow, yet he still couldn’t beat some of the loosely geared competitors.

On the other hand, after leaving the Metro University campus, Kieran brought up a screen with Zenith Online’s forum completely open. The first ten posts were all filled with comments regarding his stream, especially the fight against Grifear, where he unleashed serious damage and seemingly pro-level mechanics.

Some organizations even left messages in the comments asking if anyone was familiar with this individual or possessed their contact information. After uploading his stream and guides, Kieran disabled requests and messages from people who weren’t friends on his friends’ list.

Of course, this only applied to individuals who weren’t a part of the Gamer Republic Corporation’s staff. However, Kieran didn’t log into his stream account to skim through. He wanted to check on the reason his holo-phone vibrated incessantly after taking off the Do Not Disturb mode.

A stream of tens of thousands of notifications appeared on his phone that made Kieran smile helplessly. ‘I tell you, there’s nothing like a bunch of GAMERS.’

Although organizations and wealthy, ready-to-dump funds, players held most of the buying power in games like Zenith Online, one couldn’t underestimate the power of the public funding space. They were in far greater numbers than organizations. In fact, thousands of groups didn’t make the criteria to even be called third-class.

These groups were known as Gradeless Teams. Some of them were led by wealthy kids looking to somehow make a name for themselves, but there were also a lot of diamonds in the rough who established their teams by revealing superior skills.

Kieran received countless follows from the accounts of casual players and players who fell into this Gradeless sort. What’s more, some even immediately purchased the Basic and Standard Version of his guide.

So, in addition to ballooning to over 40,000 followers in one night, the purchases of his guides were insane. Over 800 people brought the cheapest version. More than 300 people purchased the standard one. Finally, more than one hundred individuals purchased the most expensive one after receiving reviews about how much Kieran’s advice relieved the difficulty of the beginner dungeons.

Factoring in the revenue from the watch fee and all the donations with ridiculous comments, the overall income made Kieran stagger on the sidewalk! Despite working with hundreds of millions in the past, Kieran just couldn’t help but marvel at the generated earnings!

“Jesus Christ,” Kieran muttered with widened eyes. Kieran earned a grand total of $1.1 million! Suppose anyone were to learn that someone earned over one million dollars in less than 24 hrs of gaming. In that case, they’d shit themselves in stupefaction!

‘Selling information is an absolute goldmine. No wonder information guilds prospered despite their lacking martial might.’

What’s more, this wasn’t the greatest surprise Kieran received. There was a flashing notification on his stream alerts. When he clicked it, it opened a message that made Kieran grin from ear to ear.

[E-mail: Hello, this is Chief Partner Advisor from the Gamer Republic Platform. We’re reaching out to you to extend the opportunity to partner with the platform. If you’re interested, we can set up a virtual appointment to address any questions you may have. Otherwise, I hope to see you on the official roster of our partners! You have the potential to be great.]

After reading through the email, Kieran grinned. Depending on the level of advertisement, a game’s opening could lead to absurd profits. In Zenith Online’s case, it was advertised on all major platforms, and it launched on the weekend to ensure everyone could at least try it out.

While it didn’t reveal anything particularly unique currently, its systems were well designed and promoted enjoyable leveling rather than incessant grinding that most VRMMORPGs required.

Ultimately, Kieran agreed to set a virtual meeting with the staff member who reached out to him. In the meantime, Kieran withdrew the funds from the secure financial line of the company.

Now that he had some capital, he needed to address two matters immediately—his housing situation and the right doctor to run his test.

Therefore, instead of heading home, Kieran sat in a cafe while scrolling through areas with available apartments, preferably a space with high-end equipment, decent security, and great access points.

Soon enough, Kieran’s options dwindled down to newly opened apartments in the inner city. The activity was bustling there, and all one’s needs were relatively close, so Kieran booked a few viewings.