...
Right after logging out of the game, Shin and the others quickly made their respective morning routine.
When Shin was done with his own daily training, he quickly took a bath and went to the kitchen on the first floor of the house, planning to prepare their breakfast as usual.
On his way down, he bumped into Jerimiah and Vincent who also happened to walk out of their respective rooms at the same.
"Yo! It has been a while. We rarely see each other despite staying in the same house," said Jerimiah with tired eyes, greeting Shin.
Hearing that, Shin quickly nodded his head and replied. "Yeah, it seems like everyone is busy."
He then walked alongside them while continuing their conversation. "Speaking of it, how is your progress in the game. I don't hear anything about your team these last few days. It looks like you guys are acting in a low-profile manner. What are you up to?"
"Well, we are doing fine – just doing some quest here and there and hunting a couple of monster bosses from time to time. Just like your regular Adventurer Team," answered Jerimiah while shrugging his shoulders.
Then he suddenly squinted his eyes and looked at Shin with mischievous faces. "On the other hand, there is this certain group of people who keep on messing around wherever they go. I also wonder what they are up to these last a couple of days."
An embarrassed look suddenly appeared on Shin's face as he replied to him. "Well, you know-… things happened. We are originally planning to do our quests quietly but a couple of accidents happen here and there."
Hearing that, Vincent, who kept quiet up until now, couldn't help but snicker at Shin before commenting. "Yeah, right, a couple of accidents. That is why your names are always the topic of everyone in the forums."
Shin nodded his head and clicked his tongue. "I know right? Those noisy parrots on the official website keep on making a big deal out of trivial things just to get some attention. It is really starting to annoy me."
Right after those words left his mouth, he suddenly felt a pair of sharp glares directed at him. And when he turned his head to the direction where they were coming from, he saw the two looking at him with skeptical looks on their faces.
'Trivial things you say?' thought the two inside their heads as they were trying to guess if Shin was telling them the truth or just boasting his achievements on purpose.
"What? Is there something wrong?" asked Shin innocently as he paused his steps.
"Nothing."
"I suggest you not talk to me for a moment."
Replied Vincent and Jerimiah respectively while walking past Shin. They were not sure if they want to smack their fist on his face after seeing that innocent look that he had.
As they climbed down the stairs, they immediately saw the quite rowdy living room as everyone was already gathered in there, waiting. The girls were also present and seemingly waiting for Shin impatiently.
"Hey, Shin! Hurry up, I am hungry," said Lorraine after seeing Shin climbing down the stairs alongside Vincent and Jerimiah.
Hearing her and seeing the current look on her face, Shin couldn't help but look at her skeptically before asking. "You are not going in 'diet'? I thought girls are sensitive at gaining weight."
"It's fine! I am not getting fat no matter how much I eat anyway," answered Lorraine nonchalantly.
On the other hand, Jerimiah and Vincent couldn't help but comment inside their heads. – "Well, it is pretty obvious where the fats are going." –
They even gulped a mouthful of saliva unconsciously as their eyes wander off to 'you know where' out of instinct.
Then they suddenly felt a sharp look being directed at them. And when they turned their heads towards its sources, they saw Leonard looking at them with squinting eyes.
"You know what, I am starting to get jealous of these guys," whispered Jerimiah to his cousin quietly.
Vincent didn't say anything to answer but he still nodded his head in agreement.
…
As usual, the group ate their breakfast together right after Shin finished preparing them.
'I hate to admit it, but the food that he made is really much better than those top-class restaurants. How can a 15-year-old kid be this good at cooking?' thought Jerimiah while looking at Shin with a weird gaze.
When they were done eating, Cloe volunteered herself to take care of the dishes. Well, one of the reasons was because she wanted to spend some time with Shin.
The others were obviously understood her intentions which were why they started to stand up and walked away to do their respective plans that they had for today.
All of them aside from one.
Alice didn't say anything and started to pick up the plates one by one.
Seeing that scene, the others couldn't help but wear a mischievous look on their faces, anticipating a pretty good show.
"Hey! Do you even know how to take care of dishes?" asked Cloe aggressively after seeing Alice's actions.
Hearing that, Alice turned to her before replying with a calm tone. "I can at least help you collect them. You can wash them later."
"Huh!?" Cloe suddenly narrowed her eyes before saying. "No. There is no need for that. A princess like you should be relaxing on the sofa over there. We can take care of this ourselves."
"It is fine. I can at least handle this much," answered Alice back.
Then their gazes met in the air as a pair of invisible sparks clashed in there.
"Hoh~!"
The others simultaneously made the same sound as they watched the show from the sideline. Then they turned their heads to the guy who was the center of this storm.
And this seemingly dense person didn't disappoint at disappointing them.
"If the two of you are just going to bicker with each other, then do it somewhere else. It's early in the morning yet you guys are starting to fight," said Shin as he collected the dishes in a very skilled manner.
"Boring~!" commented Arthur while wearing a disappointed look on his face.
"At least choose a side to defend," said Lorraine quietly as she also didn't like how the scene was developing.
Then the others started to disperse and went to do their own thing.
Shin was really skilled at killing the mood.
Due to the insistence of the two, Shin told them to watch the dishes together as he started cleaning the kitchen even though it already looked like the cleanliest kitchen that anyone could see.
The kitchen was quiet for quite some time as the sounds of flowing water and clanging sounds of utensils and colliding plates could be heard.
A few moments later, Alice was finally done with the plates that she was cleaning and quickly headed over to Shin.
Cloe obviously saw that and immediately quicken her pace at drying the plates. She couldn't leave them and stop Alice since she knew how strict Shin was about cleaning the dishes, so she could only yell at Alice. "Hey! Where do you think you are going?"
Due to her loud voice, Shin couldn't help but turn his head in her direction and saw Alice walk towards him. He slightly knitted his eyebrows when he saw that and asked. "Do you need something?"
Naturally, the others in the living room heard Cloe's loud call. And right after hearing the urgency in her voice, the eyes of Arthur and Leonard seemed to be turned bright as they quickly stood up and headed over to the kitchen.
They acted as if they were taking some cold water from the fridge while sneakily paying attention to what was happening.
It was at that moment they heard Alice replying at Shin. "Can we talk for a moment?"
'Hoh~! Now this is getting interesting,' commented Arthur inside his head as this was the development that he wanted to see.
Shin, on the other hand, just continued to knit his eyebrows while staring at Alice silently. From the tone of her voice, he could sense that there was something into it. Though, he obviously didn't know what exactly was it.
"Sure!" he responded while pointing to the other three who were with them. "You can just ignore those three and tell me. They pretty much know everything about me anyway, so it shouldn't be an issue."
"But it is a confidential issue," said Alice with a desperate tone mixed with some urgency.
Hearing that, Shin just shrugged his shoulders to indicate that his response was the same.
'Yep! That is my Shin!' commented Cloe inside her mind while nodding her head in satisfaction.
But that thought only lasted for a moment since she saw that the expression suddenly turned weird after hearing Alice's next words.
"But it concerns the person that we discuss in the hotel before."
Shin suddenly paused for a moment when heard those words before looking at Alice with trembling eyes.
A menacing feeling couldn't help but surface in Cloe's heart when she saw the current expression that Shin had. It was her first time seeing him act that shocked.
It was pretty the same for Arthur and Leonard who were supposedly eavesdropping from the side quietly. They even spat the water that they wear drinking at each other right after seeing the reaction that Shin had.
"I look like things are getting out of hand," muttered Arthur as he wiped the water on his face.
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