Free Web NovelChapter 2: The Invitation (2)
After declining the invitation, Misha suddenly remembered something. She hurriedly took out her phone from her pocket to message her brothers.
<Misha: NO MATTER WHAT! YOU HAVE TO DECLINE IT! @everyone >
A reply appeared almost immediately.
<The Final Brain Cell: Too late. Bye sis! @Side Quest Generator, bye bro! @Hidden Boss! >
Misha stared at the screen for a while. Then her eye twitched, and her gaze darkened while staring at the reply. That idiot brother of hers!
She wasn’t particularly worried about her older brother, but the youngest? She knew too well that he wasn’t going to think twice.
≈≈≈
"Have you seen the the news? Have you seen it?"
The moment Misha stepped through the front door, Caleb practically launched himself at her.
She sighed... and sighed again. Of course this was the first thing he would bring up.
Everything went back to normal after the small occurrence at work. Since everyone was talking about it, she could only guess that everyone was invited.
No one vanished without a trace so it didn’t become a big deal to most. Well... except for people like her younger brother, who loved gaming, watching series, and reading webnovels.
"Yes, of course I did." Dropping her bag on the table, she walked towards the couch and sat there, trying to melt into it. "I saw it."
"Hell yeah! I’m going to climb the tower!" He punched his fist out in the air, the boyish grin on his face grew wide, and his midnight-black eyes sparkled from excitement.
There it was, the declaration she had expected from the start. Misha wasn’t even surprised anymore. Even if she was there with him in person, she could already imagine Caleb accepting it the moment the window appeared before him.
She could only sigh inwardly this time.
Well, if she were to think of it, Caleb has a higher chance of surviving the tower than someone like her. This baby brother of hers was a genius.
Third year in college, Caleb was the kind of student who aced all the exams despite not putting an effort into them. He was more of a nerd than her, especially when he managed to memorize all the characters from a thousand-episode series. He even knew which specific episodes those characters first appeared. Yes, episodes. It was terrifying.
Meanwhile, Misha would take an hour or more to understand the mechanics of a game, while he only took seconds after reading it once. That’s why despite playing the same few games with him, he would complain that her skills suck, then abandon her to it.
If she were to think of someone with a protagonist potential, it would be him.
Shaking her head, she reached out and hugged the pillow nearby. "Then why are you still here?"
Hit with the question, a look of horror spread across Caleb’s face. "Wait..." His jaw dropped in disbelief as he ran his hands through his curly black hair. "Why am I still here?!"
"Maybe the tower thought you were not worth it, that’s why it didn’t summon you?"
Despite her little tease, Misha couldn’t help but think about it as well. Actually, she has been thinking about it since earlier.
She would be lying if she told herself that she wasn’t relieved when Caleb didn’t disappear. But would things be fine like this?
Was it some false alert?
Maybe the world glitched or something?
"Sis..."
Here he go again...
Caleb suddenly grabbed both her shoulders. "I want to climb the tower!"
"U-ugh..."
"I want to have powers!"
"Right..."
"I want to become an Awakener!"
Misha could only groan and roll her eyes before she immediately tried to push him away. "Argh! Caleb, move away! It’s already too hot here!"
"I want to disappear!"
"You need therapy."
"This life is too boring!"
"You need more hobbies."
"It needs spice!"
"Spice my ass, you just want to skip your studies." She flicked his forehead.
"Ow!" He pouted. "But Shasha!"
"Argh! Caleb Reyes! I’m going to punch you if you won’t stop bothering–"
The front door opened.
"I’m home."
Both siblings froze.
They were interrupted when a man in a black suit stepped inside. His chestnut hair was neatly slicked back, and despite the few faint winkles visible on his face, that wasn’t enough to disrupt his handsome appearance.
He raised a brow at the sight that welcomed him. He looked at them, then turned to Caleb, then at Misha. Neither of them moved.
"..."
"..." freewebnσvel.cøm
"..."
"Ehehe..." Slowly, Caleb released his sister’s arm and straightened his back. "Bro... you’re early today."
"I am," he replied as he continued to stare blankly at his siblings.
Misha’s attention immediately drifted elsewhere.
"Jabibi!" Her eyes sparkled in delight when she saw the bag of food her older brother was carrying.
Caleb instantly shot his gaze at the takeout, his face beamed the same way. "Bro! How did you know I was craving Jabibi?!"
She rolled her eyes at her younger brother’s remark. "Yeah, right, you were mentioning it nonstop in the
Mateo sighed helplessly before he handed the paper bag to his sister, took off his coat and handed it to the youngest. Only then did he sat on the couch. The older siblingg looked exhausted.
Which reminded Misha of something. "Teo, did you also accept the invitation from the tower, or did you decline it?"
"I accepted it."
Misha nearly dropped the food. She snapped her head towards him reflexively, her eyes wide in disbelief. "What?! No way! Why did you accept?!"
Caleb burst into laughter. "Hahaha I knew it!"
"No! Seriously, why?!"
Out of the three of them, Mateo was the cautious one, the responsible one, and the one least likely to click mysterious magical pop-ups.
Mateo loosened his tie. "I read your message late."
"..."
"And I thought you two might accept it."
The room fell silent.
Misha was speechless. But honestly... If that was his reasoning, then it was the most logical of them all.
Caleb erupted into laughter once again. This time, he was pointing dramatically at her. "I GUESS WE’LL BE LEAVING YOU, SIS! HAHAHA!"
"You declined it?"
"Well duh! It’s too risky! Who in their right mind will accept such..." She trailed off as she eyed Caleb. "Right."
Mateo could only heave out a long sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Both of you are exhausting."
Despite his words, a faint smile appeared on his face. Then he added, "Well, it’s a good thing nothing happened."
She couldn’t help but agree with it. It REALLY was a good thing.
Mateo may have the brain just like Caleb, but she wasn’t sure if his survival rate was as high as Caleb’s. She didn’t want to lose her remaining family. Her brothers were too precious for her.
Their parents died when she was in high school, and Caleb was in elementary. Mateo, who was 7 years older than her, had to step up to support them. Their lives haven’t always been too easy, but they managed to overcome things by being there for each other.
A warm feeling settled in her chest as Misha stared at her brothers for a while. Instinctively, the side of her lips curled up into a warm smile. "Come, let’s eat."
Just as Mateo was about to stand up, the ground began to tremble. He nearly stumbled but caught himself on time before he reached out his hands to his siblings. "Misha! Caleb!"
