Chapter 111 - First Mention Of The Chronos Corporation

"Devour! Ehem, I have that look on my face, Sof? Mmmn..." Stephen furrowed his brows and pretended to be ignorant as he asked Sofia. He gently shook his head as if removing some of his sleepiness. The sharpness of his gaze intensified as he looked at her in the eye.

Sofia's eyes widened feeling a little bit nervous by how this boy stared at her. For her who had the perfect confidence in the world, she never thought that his gaze was enough to make her heart beat faster.

"You do have that expression earlier. It's gone now! And I'm serious, it's rude to boldly stare like that to anyone in the party later," Sofia murmured. Then, she adjusted her sitting position and moved a little bit farther away from Stephen. Unfortunately, the space was very limited and there was really not much for her to move.

'Why do I sound like an aunt!' she mentally lamented after realizing what she just told Stephen.

"I would not contest on what you think, Sof. That could be true,"  Stephen openly said with a cute pout on his lips. However, Sofia was too oblivious to his message. 

If their companions had paid them even a little attention, they would have realized that Stephen was starting to tease Sofia. Flirting to be exact. But then again, this group was mostly engaged in playing. They might not sense the difference in Stephen's tone.

In addition, Clark and Claire were already immersed in their own world. The two started to watch something on Claire's phone and were minding their own business.

As for Joey, his eyes were already close as he returned to his slumber. The man was even snoring lightly as his head leaned stiffly on the headrest.

"Yeah, yeah! I can't blame you, we haven't properly eat our dinner," Sofia suddenly said.

Upon hearing her words, Stephen could now help but frown. The lady had switched their conversation to food! 

"Uhuh... maybe?" he awkwardly responded.

"If you are starving, we can have dinner at the party," Sofia shrugged and blamed the time for the expression that Stephen showed to her earlier.

"Haha... I'm not that hungry. But I will eat good food later. The venue of the victory party have a great dish to offer," Stephen responded with a dry laugh. By his tone, it would seem that he had already been in such place that he was familiar with their food. 

Sofia nodded her head and looked at the other two companions. Then, she took a deep breath as the car made a left turn.

"Guys, I have some random questions for all of you. With the earning that we gained and will be gaining, I need to know what are your future plans," Sofia suddenly asked the team. 

This time, her mind was set to make preparations and considerations.

Such questions were totally unexpected for they were in the car running in the middle of the hi-way. 

But, for Sofia, the earlier she knew what her teammates want to pursue, the easier she could make preparations for their investments.

She cannot just spend the money that they gained and use it for her interests only. 

Although she was certain that she would make a profit in her own way, it would be too selfish for her to do. She was never selfish even in her last life.

As a woman of her caliber, she planned to equally divide their profits and bring the group to success with her.

"That's really a random question, Sof!" Clark looked up at her.

"Yes! Haha, but I had to know your aspirations apart from gaming. Playing pro tournaments is a fleeting career. Once our age hits the prime, we will need to retired and let the younger generation play," Sofia reminded her team. She was certain that the group also knew this fact about playing online. Mostly, players retired from the pro scene after reaching 25 years old. By then, they must have a solid plan to switch their career.

"I have not thought too much about what I want to take. As long as I can surpass my parent's fortune, I'll follow your advice, Sof!" Clark expressed with confidence in his tone.

"Ohh? Then, my advice is to follow what you want to do?" Sofia instantly answered.

"Hehehe, besides playing, I actually love cooking also. Hehe," Clark stated with a gentle smile on his face.

"Cooking! That's great, Clark!" Sofia clapped her hand and gave the man an encouraging look.

"Yes, sometimes, I cook in my house," Clark admitted. "I'll let you taste my cooking one day!" he added.

"I'm looking forward for that day! Claire would be flattered too! Hehe" Sofia gave her friend a subtle signal.

"Yes! I will wait for that day! I also like cooking. But, I want to do programming more. There is so much potential in IT. I know you knew about what I am talking, Sof!" Claire enthusiastically responded.

Stephen saw that Sofia's gaze landed on him. At that time, a silly thought crossed his mind. 'I want you.' Such words were suppressed on the tip of his tongue. Threatening to be spoken out.

He was subconsciously grinning while thinking of what he should say. 

"What are your future plans, Stephen? Why are you smiling like that?" Sofia wondered as she fixed her expression into a more serious one.

"I can't tell you yet. But I do have one goal, for now, Sof. I just need to wait for the right time to make this goal be mine!" Stephen directly replied.

"Ehh? That's some sort of mysterious planning you have, bro!" Clark reacted after hearing Stephen's response. Stephen just gave a small smile and shrugged.

"Okay... well, inform me soon if you have changes in what you want to pursue. Food establishment is a good investment to start. And Claire, you are right! There is great potential in IT. We can also find a way to invest our money in this area," Sofia told them.

"How about you, Sof? What are your plans?" Stephen suddenly asked. Since the lady was asking for their future plans, then, it was only fair for him to know what Sofia wanted to do in the future.

"At the very least, I want to be successful. And I want to see you guys, successful too," Sofia replied softly. The way she tilted her head made her companions see that she was making a deep consideration about their team.

"Then, which field do you want to pursue? I know that success is everywhere," Stephen probed further. 

'Success is everywhere!' Such words struck Sofia's mind. She knew that Stephen had almost got removed from their school. Yet, the man had actually the same mindset as her!

"That's true! Success can be found in any form. But, I'll go to the corporate world. I'll pursue business. Maybe the five of us can create a corporation when we got sufficient resources. It's too early to say this but if you guys are all with me in creating a corporation, let's do it!" Sofia responded.

"Corporate world? Yes! We should aim for that!" Stephen quickly supported.

"Fromt the Chronos squad to the Chronos Corporation. That really sounds so perfect! Let's build one when we have enough resources!" Clark's eyes sparkled in excitement. He started to imagine how their squad would one day turned into a full corporation.

"Yes, I love that name! But, is it really possible for us to make a company? I mean, we are just students right now. I think only those who have great family backgrounds can do it!" Claire looked at Sofia with a slight worry on her face. 

Sofia smiled. "If they can do it, we can too! It's mostly up to our guts to start a business. And then, our determination to success will show the result."

She could not tell to these four members that she was too familiar with how to engage in the corporate world. 

With her mentality, Sofia understood Claire's concern. They had the burning passion to succeed. To stand at the peak. But the path that they would need to take would surely be a narrow one. It would be hard to get there.

But with Sofia's experience in her last life, she was confident that they could dodge failures along their way.

"We will build our company... maybe a chain of businesses. Clark can manage his restaurant. You, Claire, can go with IT. I'll see if I could go with the real estate," Sofia told them. These two looked at each other with full of dreamy looks. It was as if, Sofia had laid down and made their goals valid.

After which, Sofia glanced at Stephen, "Just tell me which career do you want to pursue?"

"I'll go with the business," Stephen easily said. It was evident that he just copied Sofia's plan. However, the lady gave her an approving look.

"Good! Go with business! How about Joey?" Sofia glanced at the man but Joey had fallen back to sleep.

"He wanted to join the national team of basketball. But, he was injured and could not fight. So, I don't know if he made new plans for his future," Stephen said.

"Alright. If he likes basketball, but cannot play, he could do coaching?" Sofia suggested.

"That's also possible," Stephen responded just in time as they reached their destination.