Reborned Top Gamer: Spell-Swordman Rule the World

5 Fire the Boss

Walt locked his office and was humming to himself as he made his way towards the elevator. He stepped in and pressed the button that led to the lobby when he suddenly remembered that his boss had asked for his audience before he left the building. Cursing under his breath, he stopped the elevator and pushed the button to the top floor where his boss worked. The entire floor was his office and was a large space with a conference table, his own personal desk, and a 360-degree view of the city. It was an imposing space for an imposing man.

The ascent took a while before the bell finally chimes at his arrival and the doors slid open. Walt stepped into the brightly lit space and stopped at Heather’s assistant’s desk. She was focused on something and didn’t realize he was there until he cleared his throat, startling her.

“Oh, hi Mr Walt. Mr Heather said to send you right in,” she said and smiled up at him. He smiled back and found himself wondering how she managed to work with a smile on her face when her boss was a tyrant.

“Thank you,” he said and slowly made his way towards the man’s office space. There was a glass screen that separated his desk space from the rest of the floor. So, Walt could see him seated behind his desk, staring at a computer screen. Walt knocked on the glass screen, causing him to look up. Heather immediately frowned and indicated for him to come inside. The glass screen lifted and Walt stepped into space. He was incredibly curious about the reason Heather asked to see him, he wondered if he would be getting fired earlier than he anticipated.

“Please, sit down,” Heather said and pointed to a seat. Walt sat, placing his hands on his laps and tensing his shoulders as he waited for his boss to say something.

“I’m not happy, Walt,” he said after staring at his employee for a minute.

“I don’t understand, sir,”

“Of course you don’t,” Heather hissed “you understand nothing, I don’t even know why you’re working here.”

“Sir, if I did anything-”

“You have made no significant contribution to the development of this company. All you do is sit all day and play with games and gadgets and get paid for it. A monkey could do what you do Walt,” it was at that point that Walt realized his boss had called him in to use as battering practice and there was no way to save his job. Heather did not like him and would fire him sooner or later, so there was no point in taking his insults.

“I suppose you would know what monkeys are good at since you are one,” Walt shot back, surprising Heather who stared back at him aghast.

“What did you say?”

“You heard me. Listen, I have been nothing but a good, loyal, and patient employee since I entered this company. I do my job right and I’m good at it, the only reason your games and software aren’t going anywhere is that they are mediocre pieces of s**t that no one would be interested in using.”

“Leave my office right now!”

“Gladly. Before I go though, I want you to realize that unless you loosen your purse strings and employ competent programmers and engineers, you’ll get nowhere with your company,” Walt said and stood up “oh, and I quit.”

“You can’t quit because you’re fired!” Heather yelled back but Walt was already walking away. As he walked towards the assistant, she stared at him in admiration and gave him an approving nod. Walt smiled to himself as he left the building, he was so pleased about how he left the situation that he did a little dance as he left the building.

“Honey, I’m home,” Walt said in a sing-song tone as he entered his apartment but got no reply. He frowned and placed the box he carried down on a stool then made his way to the living room where he saw Ailsa lying asleep on a couch. He smiled and moved to sit next to her. Her lips were parted and she was snoring lightly.

“Hey,” Walt said, his voice barely above a whisper. He brushed her hair from her face and said her name, then her eyes fluttered open and blinked to adjust before she smiled back at him.

“Hey, you’re finally back,” she said and stretched her arms upwards a bit.

“Yup, I quit my job,” he said and her smile disappeared. She sat up quickly and looked at him in shock and disbelief.

“What? Why? What happened?” she demanded. He told her that he did not feel fulfilled at his job and he hated his boss, he didn’t want to be stuck in a job that sucked out his happiness and made him feel miserable. She stared at him as he spoke, unable to believe what she was hearing. Just a few moments ago, they were in combat in another world where she had managed to defeat him, causing him to fall back to the same level as her.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Ailsa asked and folded her arms.

“Nothing except focus all my energy on you,” he said and smiled, she forced a smile back. Placing both her hands on his cheeks, she looked into his eyes.

“What about the game?” she asked.

“What about it?”

“You lost on purpose, why? And also, aren’t you going to play anymore?”

“I don’t think I’ll play anymore,” he said and held her hand. He paused, thinking of what to tell her about the reason why he lost to her. He decided it made no sense to lie to her. “Concerning the battle we fought, I lost on purpose because I had a feeling they were going to recall my account and I would lose all my equipment. I prefer you have them than losing out completely,”

“Wow,” Ailsa said, she hadn’t expected that response at all “okay, so now what? You just won’t play anymore after just introducing me to it? That’s not fair…you promised we’d be a team. Please, let’s play together as a team, pretty please”

He looked at her for a moment, unsure of what to say next. After he left the building, he had walked around for a while, stopping to buy the extra gaming pad he had promised to buy. He went to the center of the city which was always packed with people and saw that all around him, people were talking about Fantasy, the adverts were everywhere and the competition was getting tougher.

In Fantasy, there is an ultimate game called the decennial World League where teams from all around the globe playing Fantasy competed for the opportunity to get to the top. In his previous life, that had been his fundamental goal but he had been a one-man team. Ailsa’s profession was so rare and excellent that they might actually have a chance of winning. That excited him.

“You’re right, we should play together,” he said and kissed her forehead. Then he told her about the ultimate game to which she nodded enthusiastically. He laughed as he realized that he was making a gamer out of his girlfriend.

“Did you buy the extra pad?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said and got to his feet to retrieve the box he had placed on a stool “Here you go, a brand new gaming pad,” She accepted the gift and tore at the protective covering which made Walt laugh.

“Easy there, tiger,” he said.

“Let’s play now.”

“No, let’s eat first,” he responded and pulled her up from the couch. He knew he had to take care of her because people usually made the mistake of forgetting to eat or sleep when they start playing Fantasy. It was a good game and it was addictive.