Pshh…. The Gaming Pod opened slowly, revealing Nael's figure as he stood up. 

Based on the time that had passed inside Antoria, Nael had spent roughly around a whole day inside the Pod. This was no issue, as the Pod was equipped with various sustenances and all kinds of machines that worked to keep the body as healthy as it was before it entered the Pod throughout long sessions. 

Nael wasn't sure what they were, but all he knew was that they kept his food, thirst, and overall health levels up while he was gaming. The exercise seemed to be a part of that too, as the amount of calories the brain burnt inputting commands through sheer thought was surprisingly huge.

Even if the Pod had done its job and sustained Nael, he still felt hungry. His stomach hadn't digested anything for over twenty-four hours, and it was starting to act up. He wasn't a stranger to long gaming sessions, but his body still required maintenance. 

Nael stared at the pink Pod beside him. A small screen was located close to the door, showing the text "in process," meaning his sister Stephanie was still inside playing. 

He wasn't sure what led Stephanie to like games as much as he did. Throughout his early days in competing, Nael had only thought of gaming as a means to earn money. He never painted it in a good light–although it was by no means bad. Maybe Stephanie had instinctively followed what he was doing and stayed with it if it kicked. 

I wonder how long she's been inside there. Better give her a ping to remind her to take a break every now and again. 

Along with the screen, there was also a button to its side that sent a "ping" to the person inside. This was done by Hylos to make sure the person inside wouldn't stay inside if their housemates were worried about them. 

Nael reached over and pressed the button, before heading outside to eat breakfast. 

"Good morning, master Nael. Breakfast is ready, and will be served if you wish to eat." 

One of his maids, an older woman by the name of Nasha–approached Nael. She was around thirty years old and looked much younger. 

If he were to put it, Nasha was the mother Nael and Stephanie never had. She was the first to join as a maid and the only one his sister had ever grown close to. 

Nasha had originally been hired by Nael to babysit his sister while he went to school, but the maid eventually made her permanent home here when Stephanie pleaded. She was a widow and without kids. They were kids and without a mother. It was perfect. 

"How many times have I told you to stop calling me that, Nasha? It makes it sound like you're a stranger to me. I'm sure Nael works perfectly fine."

"Hehe, my apologies, Nael. I figured you would appreciate a bit of teasing. How was your session? Did you enjoy Antoria Online?" 

"Never thought you'd ask me about that, Nasha. Is the game really that popular?"

"Popular is an understatement. It's been on the front page of the news ever since its release a year ago. I follow your sister's streams often, you know."

"Steph? She streams?" 

That's a surprise. I didn't think her the type to stream. She's always preferred playing solo, and even then she rarely ever talks to her teammates in games that require teamwork. 

"She does, indeed. In fact, she's live right now. Would you like to watch it over breakfast?"

"Sounds good. I'll head downstairs in a bit, I just need to get back to my room to change."

"Very good, Nael. I shall notify the others to prepare your meal immediately."

***

Nael was currently in the dining room, eating breakfast. He sat at a long table, meant for over a dozen people to eat, but he was the only one there. 

StephTeph, hmm. 70,000 concurrent viewers? That's a huge number. Nael noted as he chomped on a piece of egg.

Nael's highest single-stream viewers was about thrice Stephanie's, nearing the two hundred thousand mark. That was when he was at the peak of his popularity–back when he was still Demon and still streamed often. He still managed to retain that number, evening it out to a nice one hundred thousand viewers on every stream. 

What surprised Nael was the fact that Stephanie had managed to gather these many viewers without having any solid reputation to fall behind. 

Nael built his career around the moniker "Demon." That became his identity on the internet and was the name by which the world knew him. Over time, the world came to like Nael because he was Demon, and not Demon as Nael. 

Nael stared at the title of Stephanie's stream.

Happy Autumn Festival in Antoria Online! Come join me as we celebrate one of Antoria's biggest events!

The fact that Stephanie managed to build a sizable fanbase without having a reputation like Nael was worthy of praise. 

Let's see what she's doing. 

Nael tapped the remote and watched as the television screen shifted to show Stephanie's stream. There wasn't a webcam, as was the same with every other Antoria Online streamer. 

He stared at the gameplay intently. Stephanie was currently on Thundea, one of Antoria's many floating cities. It was currently night, and the entire city was decorated in a beautiful festive look. Lanterns were hung around lamp posts, signs and drawings were abundant, and people celebrating were everywhere. 

Stephanie's character was currently on a balcony, watching as fireworks were setting off in the background. The fireworks lit up the night sky beautifully, coating it in various colors and sparkles. 

Her actual avatar couldn't be seen from the stream–it was in first person, just like her point of view. 

"How beautiful…" Stephanie commented. "Antoria really has the best events in games. I could watch these fireworks forever."

The chat flooded with messages celebrating the festival. They completely crowded the flow of messages, creating one long line of celebrations. 

Antoria Online wasn't completely restrictive when it came to content creation. It was still a game, and thus people were very likely to create content on it. That was why they introduced Stramer Mode, the only option toggleable in the game that allowed the chat to actually be shown as the user interface. 

Granted, the only thing the streamer would be able to see were the messages to their stream and the donations they were given, but it was still a great way to maintain communication with one's fans. Most streamers, including Stephanie, had this enabled. 

"She looks like she's enjoying herself. I wonder if I'll meet her randomly someday."

Nael currently didn't have any plans to play with Stephanie, and that idea was further reinforced once he found out she streamed. It was one thing to appear in-game as Demon, but it was another to appear in his sister's stream.

A half-hour of watching Stephanie's stream indicated to Nael that he and his sister had vastly different reasons to play Antoria Online. 

While Nael merely wanted to take it easy and play through the game however he could, his sister was a diehard PvPer. Just as soon as the fireworks had finished, she began discussing in detail the various builds she was planning on using during her next battle.

You've got to admire the dedication. She's pulled out an entire platoon's worth of equipment from that bag of hers, and she's made up builds for all of them. Is that a Bag of Holding, I wonder?

Just then, a ring came from his phone. Nael took it out and read through the notification. 

Hey, it's Sylvie. Wonder what she wants. 

Sylvia was a long-time friend of his, and possibly the closest. Like him, she was an orphan but made her living from modeling. Her beauty was quite formidable even in the fashion industry, and as such allowed her to garner a lot of jobs and offers from big corporations. In fact, in terms of wealth, she was probably richer than Nael. 

Looks like she wants to meet. Odd, pretty sure I told her I was going to be busy playing for at least the whole week. But eh, why not. I could use a break, especially with how long I was cooped up in there.