Chapter 142 - New Skin: Black & Gold

"Ahhh... This night was not what I imagined it to be," Sofia said after sitting back in Stephen's car. 

"No, it's not a chaotic night of fight. Hehe, but, who is the person inside this other car?" Stephen softly asked and stared at the unknown car.

However, before they could approach it, the car already roared away. Sofia stared at the figure of the car and sighed. She then looked at the moon hung brightly above.

After a few seconds, her phone suddenly vibrated by the urgent call from Claire.

"Sof, you guys, what happened? I thought we will stay in the car! Why did you go out and approach those hooligans!" Claire's voice was in frantic after Sofia answered her call.

"Well, I went out to reprimand those students for putting bad reputation for our school. It turned out they are here to gamble. Speaking of a gamble, I'll check that streamer who had been provoking me. Let's meet tomorrow afternoon, Claire. Tell Joey and Clark too. I'll discuss the acquisition of the building for our business," Sofia summarized before she ended their conversation.

Stephen started the car and drive back to the main highway. Two cars slowly followed his lead. Then, Clark's car changed a lane and went in the other direction.

"I'll grab a take out and then let's call it a night," Stephen suggested. He then made a left turn and stop at a drive-thru eatery. The car of his bodyguards where nowhere to be seen.

"I'll get donuts, a box with assorted flavors," Sofia requested while looking at the tiny menu plastered below the window.

"A box of donuts with assorted flavor, two regular cups of espresso," Stephen stated their order and handed a silver card to the cashier. Sofia observed him quietly.

"You're not going to ask me?" Stephen suddenly asked while the staff was preparing for their orders.

Sofia did not need to ask what Stephen was asking about. It was clear in her head that their conversation would be the identity of Stephen.

But then, she had her own secrets to keep for the rest of her existence. So, there was not much for her to confront.

"I get it, Steph. No need to worry," Sofia answered. She meant to say that she completely understood Stephen from any perspective he was in. The rich never revealed their identity unless they are in the upper-class society. But even then, they conceal most of their wealth to the public eye.

"Thanks!" Stephen mumbled with a small yet genuine smile on his lips. "Ehh... Are we going to employ those guys?" he smoothly changed their topic.

"It's not a clever move to use other people to undermine business. Hmmph! What an ugly way to compete," Sofia snickered. "But, those kids proved to have a tough reputation in this district. They will be an advantage to us," Sofia mumbled. She raised her hand and subconsciously combed her hair.

'Kids?' Stephen went silent for a while and took their orders from the cashier. He mentally wondered why Sofia was calling those men as kids. Those frat boys were older than them!

"Careful," he softly said while passing the cups of espresso to Sofia.

"Thanks!" Sofia casually held the cup and smelled the aroma of coffee directly hitting her nose.

Stephen gazed at her as she closed her eyes and inhaled all the scent of coffee that lingered around them. 

"It's late but we are drinking coffee," he chuckled while maneuvering the steering wheel.

"It's a bad routine but tonight, there are too many things to settle. Why are you drinking coffee?" Sofia asked. She had too many things to finished but Stephen does not seem to have anything to do.

"Haha, I'll hang out in your place. Are you going to battle the streamer?" Stephen curiously asked. He had seen the chaos of the netizen online earlier and he was also curious how Sofia would handle it.

"For practice, yeah. I only know how to use the tank role. I've been playing that character ever since I registered in the game. With the upcoming ban mode, I had to learn another role," Sofia stated.

"I've learned and played both gunner and archer type marksmen. I could adjust if one of the characters would be ban," Stephen muttered. "But, if you decide to change role, our rotation and strategy would be changed too."

"I'll read and familiarize the skills of other characters first. It's not easy to change role but the ban feature will definitely be fun to play!" she eagerly said. 

After half an hour, they parked and exited the car. Stephen grabbed a bag on the trunk before he pressed the lock button from the key.

"You're bringing a bag? Are you staying for the night?" Sofia was surprised to see him with a large gym bag. There was no hint of malice or anything in her tone. Only pure curiosity after seeing the bag dangling in Stephen's side.

"Maybe? I brought all the papers that I needed to answer. These are the activities that I missed when I was suspended," Stephen casually answered. He then unzipped his bag and showed her the stacks of paper stuffed on it.

"Ohh," Sofia nodded while holding her box of donuts. Their coffee was in Stephen's other hand.

The two walked past the entrance door. A vigilant guard of the establishment nodded at them as a form of casual greeting before they went continued walking.

The apartment was already silent. Apart from their soft footsteps, only the tick-tack sound of the medium-sized wall clock can be heard in the entire building.

Sofia took a quick glance at Claire's unit first and saw that the lights of her room were still on. She made a stop and knock on Claire's door.

"Yes?-- Oh, Sof! I'm about to sleep!" Claire stated. Sofia noticed that she was already in her pajama.

Claire's eyes looked up and gazed at Stephen. "You two are hanging together this late?" she questioned.

"We made a stop to a drive-thru and bought some donuts. Come and take some. Stephen will finish some papers he had missed in school," Sofia explained. Her fingers swiftly peeled open the box of donuts and it revealed various colorful circles inside.

"Oh, I see! I'll take this green and pink!" Claire stated and took the two donuts right away. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome! Good night!" Sofia said and finally walked towards her unit.

"The two of you are very close?" Stephen asked.

"Claire is the only friend that I have become really close. It's maybe because we both play online games. And she is also a good gamer," Sofia answered.

She pushed open the door of her unit and switched on the lights. The two entered silently. 

Sofia went to her dining table and placed the box of donuts on it. Stephen followed and put their coffee beside the box.

"Just use that table, I only have this or the dining one," Sofia said while gesturing to a mini table on her couch. She then grabbed a phone charger on her desk and plugged it into the outlet.

"Do you want to charge your phone?" she suddenly asked when Stephen started to arrange the papers and placed them on the mini table.

"I'll charge later, Sof. My battery is still full," Stephen replied.

"Okay, I'll just wash my face first," Sofia said and then dragged her chair. She made sure that her phone was charging before letting the device sit in her chair.

Several minutes passed and Sofia returned to her dining table, removing all the wrappers from their take-out order. Stephen has already engrossed his attention to the papers on the mini table and started writing on them. 

He sat on a carpeted floor and leaned his back on the sofa. Sofia placed the cup of coffee on his left side and a small plate with a chocolate donut.

She took one last glance at Stephen before she went back to her phone and looked at the battery level. When the notification hinted that her battery is full, she unplugged the charger and joined Stephen.

She also sat on the carpet and started her own multitasking. Her left hand was holding her phone and was opening the game. The right hand was holding a donut, as she chewed it slowly.

"Ohh! Brent sent me skin!" Sofia exclaimed causing Stephen to look at her phone too.

"Cool!" Stephen stated as he remembered the face of Brent. "Is he interested in you?" he suddenly asked.

"Nahh, this is normal. We sometimes exchange in-game equipment in the past. So, there is no other meaning other than him being generous," Sofia stated. Her fingers moved towards the message that was attached to the skin gift.

'Congratulations! Here is my gift to your squad, Sofia! See you in the regionals!'

"How generous! He is sending all of us a skin as a form of congratulations! Check your account later after you're done with the papers, Steph. You have yours too!" Sofia said.

The skin was called black and gold. Once it's activated and used, the clothing of the character will change into black and its weapon will become color gold.

Sofia stared at her tank character when she took a peek at the preview. Not only does the new skin gives off a profound level of mystery to the character, but it also portrayed a sense of dangerous aura while a faint black smoke continued to circle around the body of the character.

"This black & gold skin is so cool!" Sofia said as her eyes were still staring at the magnificent tank character in her phone.