Chapter 902
Chapter 902
Anna admitted that she had taken her time leveling her first character during the new ladder season because, aside from playing the game, she had also been busy chatting with her online friends. She explained that she had become very close to the three girls she had met while playing Diablo II.
"Are you sure they're actually girls?" Anton asked. "Be careful, Anna. A lot of men playing online games pretend to be women."
He almost burst out laughing when he saw Anna suddenly freeze, as though she had just realized something.
"Why would they do that?" Anders asked.
"There are different reasons," Anton explained. "Some are harmless, while others are malicious. Some men simply prefer playing female characters because they're looking at their character for hours while they play and would rather see a beautiful woman than a man. Others genuinely identify themselves as women. Then there are the malicious ones who pretend to be girls to gain the trust of young women online."
He shrugged.
"At least Anna is relatively safe. Most online predators eventually try to convince their victims to meet them in person. Since Anna lives in another world, that's impossible."
Both his father and sister were still inexperienced when it came to the internet. Even though they could only go online during Diablo II ladder seasons—and even then, mostly within the game itself because they had no access to the rest of Earth's internet—Anton still considered it his responsibility to make sure they did not become victims of Earth's more cynical online culture.
When he noticed Anna's thoughtful silence, he immediately understood.
"You're starting to doubt one of your friends, aren't you?" he asked.
"Well... Judy doesn't talk very much," Anna admitted quietly. "And when she does, her voice has this strange, mechanical sound to it."
"That could just be a voice changer," Anton said with a laugh. "There's a decent chance your friend Judy is actually Judas."
Anna glared at him.
"You don't have to worry too much," Anton continued. "As long as you've enjoyed spending time with them, that's fine. Since you can't physically travel to where they are, you're relatively safe. Just avoid conversations that aren't appropriate for someone your age."
"What kinds of conversations?" Anders asked, his expression turning serious.
"Topics that can strongly influence young people," Anton answered. "Things like sex, which should be discussed responsibly by adults, extreme ideological discussions, encouraging children to rebel against their parents without good reason, or glorifying reckless behavior without considering the consequences."
"What do you mean by ideological discussions?" Anna asked.
Anton sighed inwardly.
He had not intended to discuss subjects like this with either his father or sister, but since he had brought it up, he needed to explain himself.
"Some parts of Earth have become so wealthy that many people no longer spend their lives worrying about survival or basic necessities," he said. "Because of that, society has started focusing more on personal identity and self-expression."
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He continued after a brief pause.
"For example, some people identify themselves differently from the way they were born. Opinions on that vary greatly depending on where you are. Some consider it a mental illness, while others don't. Personally, I don't spend much time worrying about it. As long as someone is happy and isn't harming anyone else, I think they should be free to live however they choose."
"I have a classmate like that," Anna said. "His name is Rueford. He likes dressing and behaving like a girl, even though he's clearly a boy. The academy allows it because his family is extremely wealthy and lets him do whatever he wants, as long as he becomes a powerful wizard who can support the family."
"When I worked as a mercenary," Anders said, "there were men in several mercenary companies who formed relationships with each other like husbands and wives. They usually called themselves close friends, but everyone understood the truth without saying anything. Most of us believed in living and letting others live. Survival was always more important than judging other people's personal lives."
Anton was mildly surprised by how openly his father spoke about the subject.
For a moment, he had expected Anders to become overprotective after their discussion, but he quickly realized that their father had long since begun treating both him and Anna as adults and trusted them to behave responsibly.
Given everything they had experienced, Anton and Anna had been forced to grow up much faster than most people.
For a long time, survival had been the only thing occupying their minds.
Fortunately, the three of them had finally reached a point where they could enjoy life again.
"So," Anton asked, "have you decided what you'll do if one of your friends really turns out to be a man?"
"I don't want to assume anything," Anna replied. "I only started wondering because of what you said. I'll just avoid conversations that I shouldn't be involved in."
"What do you usually talk about anyway?" Anton asked.
"Nothing important," Anna answered. "Mostly Diablo II—things like the best equipment for different builds. Sometimes we talk about our favorite movies and television shows. I told them I recently started watching America's Next Top Model and Project Runway, and it turns out they're fans of both shows too, so we've spent a lot of time talking about them."
"Just be careful," Anders reminded his daughter.
When it was Anders's turn to share what had been happening in Oakswood, most of it was business as usual.
He quickly realized that neither Anton nor Anna was particularly interested whenever the conversation shifted toward politics, so he simply gave them a brief summary of the progress of Oakswood's developing government.
Anton once again reminded his father that leveling as many ladder characters as possible remained one of the fastest and most reliable ways to increase his strength.
All three of them understood that Anders could only fulfill his ambition of becoming an influential leader—perhaps even the future king of Oakswood—if his personal power became overwhelming.
After the family gathering ended, Anton returned to leveling his newest ladder character, a Paladin.
He wanted to finish it before the ship reached its next destination in two weeks.
Since he had promised his father that he would return to Rose Manor to bestow a Diablo II class and multiplayer access upon Sonya, he would not have time to explore the island.
That did not bother him in the slightest.
According to Paul, the island was so small that it was hardly worth exploring anyway. In fact, the ship planned to remain there for only two days before continuing its voyage.
Because of that, Anton intended to return to Rose Manor immediately after the ship docked.
He also planned to lend one half of the magical communication earrings to Paul so his friend could warn him if the ship unexpectedly departed ahead of schedule, giving Anton enough time to return before it sailed.
During those two weeks, Anton maintained a balanced routine.
Although most of his free time was devoted to leveling his Paladin, he still made time to spend a couple of hours with his friends every day and occasionally watched an episode of an anime or a sitcom.
Before the ship finally reached its next destination, Anton successfully raised his Paladin to level ninety-nine.
As twenty percent of the class's primary attribute transferred to his real body, he immediately felt another noticeable increase in his strength.
For his ladder reward, he transferred the Chilling Grand Charm of Life into the real world.
The charm granted +1 to Cold Skills and provided an additional bonus to his life.