Chapter 18 Spotlight

Axel headed back to the warehouse where he promptly collapsed onto the piss-stained mattress. He didn’t care; it had been a long and tiresome day. Once he awoke the next morning, he logged out straight away.

His body felt withered more than usual. He had been playing for over 24 hours. His belly rumbled and his joints felt old. Nevertheless, Axel removed the headset, put on some basic clothes and went outside his room.

However, when he reached the landing, he heard two voices downstairs. That would be akin to panic, but it was a familiar voice.

He trudged down the stairs and shouted, “What are you doing back?”

Once he was down the stairs he noticed his mother in the garden with his sister. She got up from her chair and smiled at her brother. It was a bright morning, and the sun had just broken from the horizon. It was cold but when was it even in London.

Her name was Summer, Summer Smudge. She was five feet and six inches, with blonde hair much like his own. She had grown up so much since the last time he had seen her. Her body had developed and she had heavier makeup on. She had a smile that could kill and an attitude that matched. She was far smarter than Axel; she was studying to become a doctor, and scored at the top of her class in every test. Whatever money Axel had leftover from his job, he would give to her. It was only a few hundred pounds a month, but anything to keep her float. She worked which Axel didn’t like, but she was her own person. Now that she was 18, she was exploring herself.

Axel stepped out into the garden and hugged her. “You’ve grown,” he said, breaking away.

“You look terrible, Axel,” she stated.

“It’s good to see you too,” Axel joked with a smile. “Why are you back? You’re not supposed to be back for two days.”

“Oh,” she said, sitting back down. “I aced all my tests and the professor said I could go home early.”

“That’s great.”

“I’ll go make you two some coffee,” their mother said, getting up. “Sugar?”

“Don’t worry about sugar, mum,” Axel told.

“I’ll have one,” Summer replied.

Once their mother was inside, the two hardened their gaze at each other. “Why are you actually here? It’s dangerous right now.”

“I know it’s dangerous,” Summer replied, folding her arms.

“Then why?”

“I wanted to see mum. She was getting worried about you.”

“Well, no shit, Summer. Do you know how much I have to pay back tomorrow?”

She shook her head.

“Sixty fucking grand. I am close though.”

“Ohh,” Summer came to a realisation, pressing her finger to her mouth. “That’s why.”

“Why what?”

She brought out her phone and went to her saved videos. She clicked play and Axel watched. It was the giant explosion on the wall that he caused. He took a step back in shock.

“It was you then,” Summer remarked. “I didn’t think you had started playing again. It’s all over the gaming news with your name plastered everywhere. I can’t check my feeds without someone mentioning it.”

Summer enjoyed gaming too, only she preferred the more fantasy reality rather than the game he was playing. She had stopped since she needed to focus on her studies.

“Ah,” Axel groaned, running a hand through his blonde hair. “I’m making money in there. It was the only option I had.”

“I know you’re trying … Sorry, I shouldn’t have come back—”

“No Summer, it’s fine. I’m actually glad you’re here. Mums doing that thing again when she pretends everything’s alright. It’s just gotten worse recently.”

She nodded while swallowing. “Yeah Axel, I know. Do you need any help?”

“No, I can do it by myself. Just make sure you’re not here at five tomorrow.”

“We’re going to be here as a family, whether you like it or not.”

“No, Summer yo—”

“I’m here for mum then, not because you don’t want me here.”

Summer was always stubborn growing up. The two batted heads on numerous occasions. She often got the better of Axel as she had more brains. She used gaming as a way to blow off steam, not to make a fortune.

“I heard some bad things about you,” Summer explained.

“Yeah. I’ve heard enough.”

“You’re causing chaos in the city. I can’t believe you can change it that much.”

“Oh, so now you’re interested,” Axel tutted, arms crossed.

“Well duh, my brothers all over the news. Take a look for yourself.”

Axel brushed the phone away. “I know what I’m doing. It just happened to be that I gained two Worlds First and blew a gate in spectacular fashion, so what?”

“Nothing really. I just want to say keep going.”

“Yeah right,” he scoffed.

“I’m being serious. If you’re making that much money then keep doing it.”

“You generally care?” Axel questioned.

“Yes, Axel, we’re not children anymore.”

Axel furrowed his eyebrows. His sisters always had ulterior motives, so when she generally cared, Axel was perplexed. “Alright. Sure. Thanks.”

“Your coffee’s ready!” their mother called. “And stop talking like I’m deaf. I heard every word of that. You two should be ashamed to call each other siblings.”

“Sorry mum,” they said in unison.

Their mother too was smart. However, due to her disease, she couldn’t do much. They got all of their wit and cunning from their mother who was once a CEO of a company. The two hated to see their mother grow weak, but they had no money to give her the appropriate care. The NHS wouldn’t the comfort part, only the medicine to help curb the pain. It was a shame that such a strong woman was reduced to nothing but bone.

Axel enjoyed their cheap breakfast. He had been so hot-headed the past few days he had barely spoken to his mother. So it was nice to listen to her talk about all the drama on the TV shows she watched.

After filling himself with whatever canned goods he could find, he kissed his mother on the head, glared at his sister with a smirk and headed back into his room. There was work to do.

Axel flashed back into the game. He jumped off the piss-stained mattress and could smell the breakfast Jason was cooking. “Morning sweety,” Jason said, in his usual garments.

“Just what I wanted to wake up to,” Axel said, cracking his neck.

He spotted Jack in the corner going over something in his menu. Axel gave him a head nod.

“You’ve gone viral,” Jack said.

“Yeah, my sister told me.”

“No. Like not just viral, you destroyed the internet. Even fucking celebrities are going on about it. Every twitch streamer alive is talking about you.”

“Oh shit, is it really that bad?”

“Well, you there are currently 1.1 million tweets using ‘TheHoarderIsBack’.”

Axel coughed. He didn’t think it was that big. He often downplayed anything his sister said. “Can I see?”

“Sure sure.”

Axel headed over to him and Jack swung around his screen. There, he opened out dozens of the top apps and websites.

“The Hoarder is back. The Hoarder is a coward bitch. The Hoarder will ruin the new game—”

“Oh, my bad, they’re all the negative ones.”

Axel cleared his throat as he read them again. “Pockets Full Of Gold. The Hoarder brings a new age to professional gaming. All Hail The Hoarder … Not bad.”

“Not bad,” Jack countered. “The whole world is talking about what you did. Even fucking Kayne wrote a freestyle about you.”

“Really? Anyway, I don’t want the spotlight. I’m here to make money, not bask in the glory.”

“Fair,” Jack commented. “What are you going to do today?”

“I won’t lie, I’m pretty stumped. Has Jasmine already left?”

Jack nodded. “Yeah. The markets fluctuating again by the way. Don’t worry, we’re still on track. Remember, we can give you our money from the collectables.”

“I know. I think we can reach it.”

“Sorry Axel, to ask, you’re not going to quit after you’re finished?”

Axel hadn’t even thought about quitting. He had already planned in his mind he was going to make the game bend to his will. “Fuck no. I’m in this for life now. I wanted to play so badly but I just couldn’t. There’s no way I’m leaving you again. You’d collapse in on yourself.”

“I did go through some shit,” Jack admitted. “When you’re talking every day to someone and then they just disappear— it’s hard.”

Axel kicked himself. Maybe he was too self-centred. He barely even thought of the damage he had done to Jack.

“You wanna hug it out?” Axel asked, teasing him.

“Shut up,” Jack chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m just glad your back, man. We’ll take this city down together.”

“Oh, we’re not partners. You’re like an Alfred to my Bruce Wayne.”

“You’ll always need me. Bruce Wayne can’t be Batman without Alfred. Everyone knows that.”

“I can’t argue with that logic. Alright—” Axel saw Jason leaving carrying crates of potions. That was normal, his birthday suit wasn’t. “Clothes Jason, clothes,” he reminded.

Jason paused and looked down. “Right you are. Your breakfast is on the table by the way. It’s on the floor, cause you broke the crate.”

“We’re gonna need furniture in here,” Jack said. “When you’re finished though.”

“You too?”

“Jasmine wants a bat cat too?”

Axel nodded his disappointment.

“Man, it’s be fucking cool. Yeah?”

“Fine,” Axel sighed.

The two sat down and tucked into the breakfast while catching up. Axel was more relaxed today. The events from last night and the clearing of his name caused him to be at ease. It was nice to catch up with Jack; reminiscing about the old times.

“I think I’ll help Jason out at the store,” Jack said. “I can put on a performance as you did.”

“Uh, sure. If all goes according to plan, I’ll need an extra 300 gold today. That’s after Jason’s and Jasmine’s income. I also need to give Lenny a visit.”

“Lenny?”

Axel grinned. “The new Guard Captain of Tresluna.”

“You bastard. Plan after plan with you.”

“Yeah. Not sure how it’ll go. I may have to put him in his place. But, I think he’ll go my way.”

“Alright, man. Good luck.”

Axel threw his cloak over his head as he left. He wanted to check up on the market at the slums before he headed over to the gate. He took the sewer path and within a few minutes ended up in the centre of the slums. He liked the fact the entire slums was in darkness as he could move faster with his legendary item.

It was bustling again. There was also an increase in NPCs too. It seemed Jasmine was working her magic. The place even looked cleaner. And the ones selling their wares had upgraded their stalls. As he walked through, he saw Barb waving at him.

“Hey Barb,” Axel said with a head nod.

“There’s a rumour that it was you at the gate,” Barb warned. “Great job by the way. You stopped the entire horde.”

“Oh, I know. Can you keep that to yourself though?”

Barb grunted. “It’s not that I’m worried about. A kid came up to me, offering a coin for information about you.”

Axel furrowed his eyebrows. It was a problem. He thought he had remained fairly invisible but apparently not. “Resident?”

Barb nodded while folding his arms. “I told them I knew no such name.”

Axel breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks. That’s not a favour, right?”

“Only business,” Barb replied with a grin. “I would ask you to be careful, but I know that’s not how you work. Besides, the vendors only know of you, not of your name.”

“I hope it’s good,” Axel wondered.

“Oh, it is. Most of them want to thank you for what you’ve done to this place.”

“Tell them it’s no problem. The slums deserve better.”

Barb spat on the ground outside his stall. “Too right.”

“Just to let you know, the gate is mine.”

“The main one?”

Axel nodded. “Can you spread that to your friends?”

“How?” Barb questioned, ignoring his question.

Axel tapped his nose. “That’s a favour.”

Barb laughed. “Fair enough. I will spread the word. What do you intend on doing?”

“Whoever controls the gate controls what enters. If they want an easy way in with cargo, then they just have to ask me.”

“Smart, very smart. I should have a hefty list for you. I must warn you though, the ones who control the black market do not play fair.”

“So there’s a black market? Interesting.” Axel hadn’t even considered a black market. “Can I have some names?”

“That’s a favour,” Barb responded.

“I do have three,” Axel muttered to himself. He decided on leaving the favour, saving it for another day. It wasn’t his motto, but he didn’t want to deal with them now, only spread the word. “What will happen if I get … Too big for my boots?”

“Many things. Just be warned. As I said before, they don’t play fair.”

“Playing fair is boring,” Axel remarked. “Who wants that?”

“Eager, I like it. I hope you have a prosperous day.”

“As with you, Barb.”

They both gave each other a head nod. Axel left shortly after. He weaved through the crowd until he got to the main road of the city. He passed by the bank to take ten gold coins back and then headed towards the wall. As he got closer, he noticed building materials being carried towards the gate. Even some players were helping; it was probably a quest.

Already, there was a temporary guardhouse out the front. There was even a large office at the back. Axel rubbed his hands greedily as he approached.

“Halt there,” a guard said, putting his spear to the entrance.

“I’m here to speak to Lenny. He said something a trading licence problem.”

“Your name?”

Then the door was opened wide, and there Lenny standing in magnificent armour. “This is the man I told you about.”

“But Cap-”

“No questions,” Lenny stated. “Unless you want to be demoted to a place down the wall?”

“Absolutely not, sorry, Captain, my apologies.”

Axel smiled at the man. Lenny stepped aside to let him in. Lenny took him into an office and offered him a seat.

“Wow, Lenny, you look great.”

“Thank you, Axel. I just wanted to thank you for everything. Do you need me to do anything for you?”

{Your relationship with Lenny Krav, Guard Captain of Tresluna, is now Allyship}

{Lenny Krav, Guard Captain of Tresluna, is now loyal to you. Anything you ask of him, he will try his best to accomplish it}

Axel wanted to burst into a dance he was that excited but he kept his cool. “There are a few things. But first, congratulations, Lenny.”

“Ah, it’s all because of you, Axel. I cannot express in words how thankful I am. I’ve managed to move my family out of the poorer west side. We now live in the noble quarters.”

‘Even fucking better—’ “That’s great, Lenny.”

“So, what can I do for you? My power stretches along the entire wall and the guards inside.”

“How much contraband do you acquire every day?”

“A fair amount. It depends. On Fridays, a dozen illegal items, a crate of potions and few miscellaneous items.”

Axel nodded. “Do you know who they are transporting them for?”

“I don’t know, unfortunately. But, we do arrest those carrying them.”

It was leverage he had on the big players in the city. He wanted everyone under his thumb. However, there were some things he still needed to know.

“Can you release these men with little involvement?”

Lenny nodded. “Yes. Only the ones who commit the most awful crimes or transport extremely dangerous weapons will be put in front of the court. The others I can release with a telling off.”

“Right. I may ask you to release some. Others, I want you to keep there for longer. Is that alright, Lenny?”

“Completely fine, Axel.”

Axel smiled. He laid three gold coins down on the table and Lenny almost choked like he did last time. “I want you to increase the guards’ payroll. Tell them I’m a donor of sorts. You can also take your wife out to a nice restaurant in the city.”

“Thank you, Axel. I will do as you say.”

Axel stood up and extended his hand out. “Thank you, Lenny.”

Lenny stood up abruptly and shook his hand. “You’re welcome, Axel. I hope I can do my best for you.”

“That’s what I like to hear, Lenny. Enjoy your new life.”

Axel left with a skip in his step.