The mysterious text message sat on Ethan's phone like a ticking time bomb.
It's time to meet the other managers.
For a few frantic hours, his mind had raced with a thousand wild possibilities.
Was it a trap? A prank? A genuine invitation to a secret society?
But then, his 24-hour FCG ban kicked in, forcing him out of the virtual world and back into the real one.
He spent the day helping his mom, who was now walking around the house with a new lease on life. He played with Gaffer, the fluffy, four-legged source of endless joy. He talked to his dad about the toy shop.
And as the hours of normal life went by, the cryptic message began to seem less like a thrilling conspiracy and more like a stupid, childish prank.
First the fake death story, now this? he thought, deleting the message with a decisive swipe. Someone on the forums is just trying to mess with the new guy. I'm not falling for it.
He had a team to manage.
A real team, with real momentum.
