Across the spacious private room in Gargino Restaurant, the Gambino main family was sitting crossed-legged on the tatami mats circling a long expanse of table.
The head, Augustus Gambino, took the center of the long table.
All sorts of delicious and luxurious dishes were laid on the table, but none dared to eat until the head had taken his first bite.
However, there was always an exception to the rule.
Isolde didn't mind her cousins and elders as they argued about COVENANT. She wasn't interested in politics, and all her attention was wholly on the platter of sushi on her plate.
Everyone was miles away from their Ancestral home and pressed with little time, they all agreed to meet at the center point of the CBD, which was the Highland Mall.
Apparently, Isolde's father wanted to invest half of their family's fortune into buying COVENANT's shares once it hit the market with its Initial Public Offering (IPO). Everyone at the table disagreed with him—except for Axel Gambino, Isolde's older brother, and Isolde herself, who was far too busy admiring her food to care.
One of the things that brought Isolde joy besides owning the latest gun in the market was eating delicious food and sleeping.
"It's just a game played by bored teenagers. And once class started, it would be long forgotten," said Xian, one of Isolde's older cousins.
Xian was competing for the head's position with Axel since he was older than Axel by months.
However, it was an impossible feat with Axel's brains and talents.
Augustus slightly shook his head and stifled a laugh before drinking his sake cup. "Do you know how many players are playing that game as we speak now?"
"A hundred?" Xian shrugged. "A thousand, maybe?"
Augustus eyed his son, and Axel nudged his eyeglasses perched on the bridge of his nose and said in a monotone voice, "More than one million players worldwide and counting."
Everyone's jaw dropped.
"T-that many?" said Ingrid Gambino, Isolde's aunt and Xian's mother.
"If not for the shortage of Pods, that number would have doubled or tripled by now," answered Axel showing the statistics on the board using his tablet to back his claims.
. . .
. . .
"If millions—or even hundreds of millions—of players start playing this game, what'll happen to our casinos?" asked Ezequiel Gambino, one of Augustus's brothers.
Augustus slammed his cup onto the table, the sharp clang echoing through the room and making everyone flinch. The impact rattled the dishes, but Isolde reacted in time—snapping her chopsticks together to stop a piece of fish from leaping off her plate.
"Gone. Barren. Pass out of time."
Augustus looked everyone in the eye seriously. His fierce hawk eyes and spiky beard made everyone swallow hard. "Ladies and gentlemen, guns and knives, this is no longer just a game. COVENANT will be a second world, and we must establish our footing in this second world!"
Everyone looked at each other, unable to refute the numbers backing the head's claims.
"Then . . . Should we just invest directly into the game? As investors, we are bound to have many benefits. No need to deplete our fortune just to buy its shares." said Emmy Gambino, Isolde's aunt who was married to Ezequiel Gambino.
Axel shook his head and said with a still robotic voice, "The developers wouldn't accept investors."
"What? Everyone accepts investors!"
"What do you mean wouldn't accept investors?"
"Who do they think they are?"
"Just because of a virtual game that's first in the market?"
Lee-Rin sneered. With her long green hair and striking features, she was a beauty—and the daughter of Ezequiel and Emmy, making her Isolde's cousin of the same age.
"Just because they're the only ones with that kind of game right now, they've gotten arrogant," she said with a scoff. "Do they really think that a few million players gives them the power to dictate the economy? Please. Others will make games like that soon enough. Let's just wait and see."
Augustus's bushy brows twitched. "If you can wait fifty years or possibly a hundred years from now for others to replicate that same virtual game, then do so. Our casino and family name had already been long forgotten by that time. Buried by others who establish their clan in this second world before us."
"Eh . . ." Lee-Rin Looked away before she cleared her throat and drank her juice in one gulp to escape the embarrassment of being slammed by her uncle.
Does developing something like that takes too long? Lee-Rin asker herself since she was clueless with all things that aren't shoes, bags and clothes.
"Then . . . what are we going to do?"
"Though the developer declined investors, they replied with a letter saying that COVNENANTs shares would be available in the market in a few days. A billion share for every establishment in the game."
"A . . . a billion?"
"Are they out of their minds?"
"The business mogul Rutherford, the oil mining and shipping conglomerate Axis, the mega construction and developer magnate Si, the real estate tycoon Gokuwei and every old and powerful family are willing to buy these shares and establish their footing in this new world."
". . ."
". . ."
"T-they . . . They're out of their minds."
"It's business," said Axel simply. "One to make sure that we would never be left behind in the passage of time."
Augustus slammed his palms on the table, and everyone flinched again except for Isolde, who saved her fish from jumping out of her plate using her chopstick for the second time.
"Every member of the Gambino family will give half their wealth. Every last bit of that money will be used to buy COVENANT's shares when its IPO is released in the market and we will establish numerous casinos in this virtual world," said Augustus with finality.
"S-should we wait and see first?"
"Wait and buy after its market price skyrocket?"
"What are they going to do with all that money? Are they going to manipulate the market?"
Augustus looked over at his son and nodded.
Axel swiped over his tablet, and the board displayed another image. "They're going to introduce in-game currency after a few days that they released their IPO.'
"What?"
"In-game currency? Is that possible?"
"Something like an in-game currency is only possible if . . ."
"They have trillions, and every powerful family is backing them," continued Axel.
". . ."
". . ."
Everyone's faces turned serious, and sweat slid to the side of their cheeks even if it was cold.
"I guess . . . they really planned this out."
Unlike investing directly in the game—where investors could earn back double or more of their initial investment, not to mention exclusive perks—the developers chose to fund COVENANT through the stock market instead. With over a million players joining on launch day, the game's shares were guaranteed to skyrocket. And no one in their right mind would sell off a thriving, money-making asset once that happened.
What's more, if major corporations established their own in-game businesses—casinos where players could gamble for real profits, condominiums or houses purchasable with real-world money converted to gil, malls for avatar fashion, or mining industries producing raw materials for weapons and equipment—then the flow of virtual money would become endless.
There was no way in hell that COVENANT's share would go down, and with everyone funding this virtual world, the in-game currency would surely become a success!
It would really be like a new world.
A second world where everything was possible!
. . .
. . .
As everyone was serious in their thoughts, Augustus took the time to study her daughter, who had a solemn face.
Her big eyes were looking down, and she was biting her lips in frustration. It was an indication that Isolde was seriously pondering about something.
Good. Good. Augustus said in his mind.
He knew of his daughter playing the game at the start of the opening. He even had her pod customized the very first time the developers launched their pod in the market.
And he would use this opportunity to make her the leader of their guild in this virtual world. While Axel leads the Gambino family in the real world.
Augustus was nodding to himself.
He was so sure that Isolde would want that. After all, she seemed to like the game where she could shoot real–virtual players without being jailed.
Isolde would surely like her own guild, and she would reign supreme in this virtual world. Augustus was hype, and he couldn't contain the silly grin on his face.
Meanwhile, Isolde was thinking of a different matter entirely.
How do you eat this perfection? Isolde thought, thinking seriously with a sheen of sweat coating her face. Should I swallow it whole and contain the burst of flavors? Or should I take tiny bites to savor its taste?
Hmm . . . Isolde's brows wrinkled, arms crossed, and eyes heated on the sushi platters in front of her.
"As I was saying," Augustus drew all attention back to him, "I have called this urgent meeting, so you have enough time to liquidate your assets and prepare your money by this week. Of course your money will be returned to you once virtual money start rolling in. You know the drill."
When no one argued, Augustus stole a peek at Axel, and when the latter nodded, he cleared his throat and continued.
"Now that we made that clear, we'll go to the most important part. Besides establishing our casinos in the game . . . we will also form a guild to further solidify our foothold in this virtual world!
. . .
. . .
Everyone looked at each other.
"A . . . guild?"