MONSTER MMORPG: Mayhem Online

"Ah! Welcome Flynn, welcome Malaika."

Terry, who was already at the table organised for Flynn and his little dinner, stood up as he welcomed the both of them, being a bit surprised that Flynn had brought Malaika over.

They were currently inside a private room of the same hotel that they were staying at, except it looked a lot more lavishly decorated than the buffet downstairs.

"Pleasure to meet you, Terry."

Flynn said as he shook Terry's hand. Malaika also offered her pleasantries as she shook his hand.

"The pleasure is all mine. I wasn't expecting Malaika to accompany you."

"Yes, I invited her over. That's fine with you, right?"

Flynn said as he raised an eyebrow.

"Hahaha, of course it's fine with me!"

Terry said, as his eyes darted back to the employees who were behind the duo. They seemed to have understood something without even communicating as they all moved out.

Soon, a waiter brought them some wine and gave them the menu, as he bowed politely.

"I'll go with whatever Malaika orders."

Flynn simply threw the duty of ordering food to Malaika, who seemed to be much more used to the current situation than him.

She glared at him like a kitten before gracefully carrying herself while ordering some lavish dish, the name of which Flynn couldn't pronounce.

As the table was set, Terry finally stopped with his pleasantries as he looked at Flynn.

"So, what do I owe you, Mr Grey."

Terry talked more formally as he smiled with his eyes curved, looking like a cunning old fox. At this point, Malaika was lost as to what was going on.

"Eh, I would say about 10% of this event's profit share?"

Flynn said as he slowly took a sip out of his wine glass. Malaika almost spit the wine in her mouth when she heard Flynn's absurd and outrageous sentence.

She was a businesswomen, and even if she didn't know the exact figures, she did know that the profit from MIT would be anything below ginormous.

It was absurd to ask for a profit share in an event held by a private and profitable company, much less a company on the scale of Kibea.

'Gone.'

That's what Malaika thought. She was expecting to talk to Terry and maybe make out a business deal with Kibea healthcare department, and felt very thankful to Flynn for creating an opportunity for her to talk to him privately.

But now she felt all that chance was gone. There's no way Terry would entertain Flynn after hearing what he just said, no matter how much of an asset he is to Kibea.

"You, as well as I, both know that is not possible."

Terry replied calmly unlike Malaika's expectations. She was confused but didn't dare to interrupt them, so she pretended to drink her wine which was starting to taste extremely bitter for some reason.

"Ah? Really? Well, I would say that most of this event's earnings are brought by me. Of course, you aren't entitled to pay me for that, as we have already signed a contract beforehand. But I am sure that isn't all, right? The speech that I gave at the beginning of the event should have boosted your viewer retention by at least 27%."

Terry's eyes, which were as stable as an iron pillar, finally shaked a bit as a crack in his poker face appeared. Maybe due to the fact that he was not at all ready to hear the exact numbers of the boost in viewer retention.

Seeing the glimmer in Terry's eyes which lasted for about a split second, Flynn smiled.

He was a man of numbers. And that is why he even got a job as a system moderator previously. He could easily make numbers out of large databases and such, and it was something which came to him naturally.

"Now, even if that was it, I wouldn't be as audacious as to ask for 10% of the huge profit share even when I know there are at least thousands of people who are going to share from it, if not hundreds of thousands. But, but, but."

At this point, Terry was back to his poker face and no longer showed any of his surprise on his face. This whole conversation was currently being broadcasted to the company's minor shareholders as well as that 'man'. Terry didn't want to seem like he was getting played by a newbie.

"But what, Flynn? Since you know that there are a lot of people who are going to eat from the pie. You should learn to share it appropriately."

'What the fuck is going on.'

At this point, Malaika's mind was going completely crazy. Not only did Terry not throw them out, but he was even asking Flynn politely to lower his demands.

Just who the fuck was Flynn to be able to make him this docile?

A legendary class player? That's in the game that Terry invented!

She was so lost that she even stopped trying to make sense out of this situation.

"You really don't seem to understand your position right now. I wasn't asking for negotiations earlier, I was putting up my condition. Do you know what's the price that I have to pay for breaking the contract to participate in the tournament? It's a mere $200,000. I can pay for it. But are you ready to pay in billions?"

Flynn, who had the same subtle smile till now, finally smiled widely. And it is nothing sort of devilish. Terry's eyes flashed again, due to that smile. He couldn't believe how identical it was with 'that' man.

He suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Did he have any relation with Flynn? No, that was absurd. He had done all the background checks and knew Flynn like the back of his hand.

"Flynn, you know you are putting me in a really difficult situation. Do you really think that your absence will cause the tournament's earnings to go down? Well, here I thought you were smart enough to know how much sand you could grab in your hand before you lose it all. But it seems you weren't."

Terry said coolly as he sipped on his own wine and looked like he had lost interest in the convo as he started to cut down the roasted turkey which the chef had brought.

"Alright, it was nice to finally talk with you. I am going to have this nice dinner that Malaika ordered and leave. I thank you for the treat."

"You're welcome."

Terry replied and after that, all three of them just silently ate their meals. Malaika felt like splitting open Flynn's brain and see what exactly was he thinking. She wanted to try her luck with Terry, but her business brain told her now was not the best time.

After the dinner was done, the chef brought some desserts as they slowly savoured the taste and complimented the chef, who looked like he would burst from happiness.

'I guess a chef really does live for people who can admire their food.'

Flynn thought as he took out the napkin which he had tucked in his collars and cleaned  his hands with it.

"Thank you for the dinner, it was delicious."

Flynn said as he got up, shook Terry's hand and left without saying another word. Malaika reluctantly followed after him as the bodyguards stationed held the door for them.

"Fuck! He really didn't reconsider. Is he really the same idiot that we have been monitoring for months?"

Jacob Eves' voice rang out in Terry's earpiece. Terry let out a huge sigh, unable to comprehend the situation.

"Bring him back."

He told the men in black that were standing in front of him.

***

Outside of the private restaurant room, Malaika and Flynn were walking out. Malaika kept opening and closing her mouth, wanting to say something but not saying anything at all.

"What is it? You can just ask, you know?"

Flynn said as he smiled. He felt like he overdid it a bit, like the time with the Eyes of the Wise. But that time it turned out well, and twenty cents said it would be the same this time too.

Malaika's mouth opened and closed a few times again, almost looking like she would curse out. But in the end, she just calmed herself and said a single word.

"Why….?"

That one word contained all her pent up emotions as she looked at Flynn, genuinely wanting to know an answer.

Just when Flynn was about to reply, he heard footsteps behind him.

"Oh, you will know why."

He said, acting mysterious and Malaika just rolled her eyes. Just then, two men in black came behind him.

"Mr. Corbyn is requesting your presence."

Flynn acted like he didn't want to go but he went reluctantly anyway, followed by Malaika's whose eyes were shining like light bulbs.

"Flynn, let us both be reasonable here, alright? How about 5% profit share of MIT?"

Malaika wanted to jump, as if she was the one getting all the money. But she kept her cool and let Flynn do the talking.

"10% of the profit share and 1.73% of the company's equity."

"Alright, deal."

Terry said, almost biting his lips off. He had never made such an outrageous deal, and he never would. All the shareholders of the company were already wreaking havoc in his ears, as each of them owned way less equity than that.

But Terry knew what was best for him, and for the company. It was to keep the game running, which won't be possible if he didn't follow that man's order.

After a bit, they prepared an agreement and Flynn read it, signing it off.

"Pleasure doing business with you."

Flynn said with a wide smile, taking his hand out for a handshake.

"I wish it was the same for me."

He smiled bitterly as he shook Flynn's hand, making him laugh.

After a while, Flynn prepared to leave and Terry stopped him to ask a question that has been bugging him.

"Why did you ask for 1.73% equity exactly? It could have been 1% or 2%, did you calculate that too?"

He really wanted to know that. No matter how much he calculated in his head, he couldn't come with a reason as to why he asked that exact number.

"Oh, that? It was just something that I randomly came up with. Don't waste your brain cells calculating random numbers haha."

Flynn laughed as he left the private room, leaving behind a baffled Terry and a bunch of terrified shareholders.

He didn't know that his little unplanned trip would end up in so many gains.

***

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