Chapter 244 - 240: $20 Million Card

"I don't know everything about the politics, but that is indeed not normal. Normally, the President should have the control. Something seems strange," Ryder muttered as he frowned.

' From what I know of my past memories, Nothing bad has happened in the three years related to Necrosis. They did become an organization that was in the top five in the entire world in just three years, though. They increased this Fully Immersive VR craze.'

Ryder fell into a deep thought as he wondered about the incident.

" They involved real-life money in Divinity. Players became millionaires just by playing and the brand deals. The live broadcast industry also bloomed from this growth. Although it was surprising how they became so big and so fast, I didn't find anything strange enough to warrant this crazy protection.'

' Is it that I didn't know what was happening in the background in the past, or is it because of some change in the future because of me coming back in time? The Uprising also wasn't a big problem in the last timeline. At Least I didn't know about them or any other high-level terrorist group. Could it be that I have changed the future?' Ryder thought as he frowned.

"Are you sure about this information?" Ryder inquired as he glanced at Shu.

" Yeah. The Major Generals told me about this. I don't think they were lying. I'm somewhat good at catching lies. I would have known if they were lying," Shu replied as he sighed.

"Anyway, let's not talk about this serious topic. It's your reunion today—time for celebration and party. We don't need to concern ourselves with Necrosis," Shh chuckled as he shook his head.

"No, it's fine. There's no harm in discussing a little bit. Anyway, I do have a question. If you know that Necrosis has something big going on in the shadows, why do you still keep using Divinity? Don't you think there might be danger in you using it?" Ryder asked Shu as he turned the steering wheel sideways to take the left turn.

" Divinity is safe. I had my staff check the Divinity Glasses just to be sure. I also talked with the scientists that certified it. This thing has literally no danger to life. Now I did feel that there was a possibility that they were trying to steal memories of people to use them for their financial gains. Still, I am certain that it's not it after I did some more digging," Shu started explaining as he looked towards Ryder, who was listening while keeping his eyes on the road.

"Divinity is not stealing memories of the users, and it is not stealing any data. It's also not harmful to life at all. It's pretty amazing they managed to create a tech like this. Still, I do think something shady is going on. It's not related to the players or the Divinity Glasses, but they do have something that the government is interested in," Shu said as he sighed.

' The glasses are safe? Dude! You're talking to someone who died in real life after dying in-game. You should find another person to claim that,' Ryder thought as he smiled wryly. 'Like hell I'll believe that thing is a hundred percent safe.'

Ryder knew that there was also a possibility that someone had killed him in real life while he was in Divinity, but the chances of that happening were really low. He was not someone extremely rich. He wasn't well known either in his real life. 

Ryder also lived a relatively peaceful life and didn't have any enemies as far as he knew. He might have had a few arguments and some fights but nothing big enough to warrant someone's decision to murder him.

He fully believed that he had died because of Divinity since the chances of him dying in real life were almost negligible.

"Why are you so interested in Necrosis? Even after finding out that it's relatively safe?" Ryder asked Shu.

He was quite curious why Shu was trying to find this much information about Necrosis? If it was about the Government sealing information, how would he know that if he wasn't trying to get the information out in the first place? It was clear that Shu was pretty interested in Necrosis.

" You can just call it a hunch or a wild goose chase. It could even be the fact that I'm interested in Necrosis as a future competitor. There can be many reasons when it comes to that, and all of them play a role in my curiosity," Shu explained as he sighed.

" Interesting. Tell me if you find something about it," Ryder let out as he nodded his head.

Shu was about to reply when his stomach started growling.

"I'll keep you updated. Anyway, where is the reunion? How long before we get there? I haven't eaten, and I'm getting Hungry," Shu let out without feeling the least bit embarrassed.

"Why didn't you eat at home? See, even your stomach is angry at you. You should not keep yourself hungry," Ryder couldn't help but laugh as he replied.

"I didn't want to be rude. The reunions have celebrations and all you can eat parties, I heard. I didn't want to be rude by going there and not eating," Shu answered Ryder.

"You heard? Have you never gone to the reunions?" Ryder asked out of curiosity.

"I didn't. I didn't attend any reunion. It was the time my family had died. I was busy focusing on the company. Those guys decided to throw another reunion just for me, and they kept bugging me. Things happened, and now I'm not close to any of them," Shu explained. "So, I've never been to a reunion."

"Don't worry. Treat this as your reunion as well. Also, there will be food there," Ryder said. " Also, we're nearby. We'll be there in a few seconds."

After around Twenty seconds, Ryder stopped his car before a small building. It seemed more like a shop that had two floors only. There was a Karaoke Restaurant sign on the top.

Ryder parked the Ferrari and stepped out of his car. Shu also stepped out.

Shu and Ryder were both in casual clothing. Even though Shu's clothes were very expensive, they seemed cheap since they didn't have any branding on them.

The clothes that Ryder was wearing were also similar to Shu.

Ryder was wearing a yellow T-shirt and black jeans. Shu, on the other hand, was wearing a black pants and a round neck t-shirt.

"Let's go inside. I wonder how they have planned it. This seems to be a Karaoke party at the first glance. It can be fun if it's that," Shu let out excitedly.

" Do you like karaoke?" Ryder asked as he walked towards the building.

"I do. It's pretty fun. I gave a karaoke system at the mansion. We should try that sometime," Shu responded. "It'll be fun with us there."

" Sure, in the future," Ryder said as he nodded his head.

He pushed the door open and entered.

Ryder and Shu entered the building and called Bastion.

"We're here. We're standing near the reception. Where are you guys?" Ryder inquired.

"We're on the second floor—room number 13. Just wait there. I'll be right there," Bastion replied as he disconnected the call.

" Where are they?" Shu asked Ryder.

"They're on the second floor—room number 13. Now we can go there ourselves, but Bastion said that he's coming down. Let's wait for a little," Ryder replied. Shu nodded his head and opened his phone.

" This is interesting," Shu muttered suddenly.

Ryder heard that as he glanced at Shu.

"What happened?" He asked.

" Do you know about Pikomon? Shu asked Ryder. 

" Yeah, It is a big franchise that makes animated shows for kids. What about them?" Ryder asked Shu in confusion.

" I just heard a news about them. More specifically, about Pikomon cards. An original Pikomon Card they made nearly half a decade ago just sold for over twenty million dollars." Shu let out as he chuckled.

"A playing card? 20 million?" Ryder asked with a frown on his face, not believing it even a little.

"Yeah. It's a collector's item, you can say. Still, Twenty million is not much. I want it for myself! If I had known about the auction, I would've bought it," Shu let out as he sighed.

"Twenty million is not much?" Ryder muttered, not knowing whether to laugh or cry at the Prodigal Shu.

"Yeah, this card would have been a good collection. It's the rarest of them all," Shu muttered.

"You know that I don't understand your language now. Stop talking about cards. Save that money for something else," Ryder let out as he shook his head.

" What are you guys talking about?" 

While Ryder and Shu were talking about Pikomon, a man placed their hand on their shoulders as he asked. 

"Nothing, We were just talking about some cards. Let's go," Ryder replied as he looked at Bastion.

"You sure that the girl isn't here, right?" Ryder asked just to be sure.