I'm Really a Cheater! Not a Pro Player!
Chapter 7 – Atleast, I got something this time.
After struggling for what felt like an eternity, Arka finally managed to force himself to sleep. But sadly, it barely lasted.
The sharp sound of his alarm dragged him back to consciousness before he even recover. He groaned, fumbling blindly until his fingers found his phone. Then, he lift up his phone and cracked one eye open.
6:00 a.m.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
Arka immediately dropped his hands. It felt like he'd closed his eyes for five minutes at most. His body was heavy, his thoughts sluggish, as if his mind had never really shut down at all. He sat up on the edge of the bed, his hair look like completely mess, he then staring blankly ahead while his brain tried restart itself.
No matter how exhausted he felt, the world wasn't going to wait for him.
With a quiet sigh, Arka dragged himself to the bathroom. Cold water splashed against his body as he take a shower, biting enough to jolt his senses back into place. It helped, even just A little. At least now he could stand without swaying.
Breakfast was barely worth calling a meal. He grabbed a piece of bread from the kitchen, chewing absentmindedly as he packed his things. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad either.
Once outside, the morning air greeted him with a crisp chill. The streets were still relatively quiet, sunlight stretching lazily across the pavement. With every step, the noise in his head dulled slightly. The world felt … calmer out here.
Still, one things keep going around in his head right now.
No matter how much he tried to ignore it, he knew that by evening he'd be facing something far more exhausting than his shift.
The developers.
Arka arrived at the restaurant and slipped into his uniform. Morning shifts were always busy, especially as lunch approached. Orders came in waves. He then go left and right because the tables needed clearing, and the Drinks needed refilling. His body moved on autopilot, his body working from muscle memory at this point.
Smile. Take order. Write it down. Give it to the kitchen. Walk back. Repeat.
His body keep continuing the auto pilot mode, because Inside, his thoughts kept circling about the same question.
"Why does the developer want to meet me in person?"
If it was about the World Announcement or the economic changes, couldn't that be handled through messages? Emails? Literally anything else?
Unless…
His jaw tightened.
"Unless they suspect something."
"No no no. It cant be. Chrono frontier server's already close long enough, that I believe they don't have a way to recover my data. They are the one that said it too on the public community."
He shook his head, forcing the thought away. Even if his logic held, the unease in his hearth still refused to disappear. It clung to him like a shadow he couldn't shake.
By the time his shift finally ended, the clock has been set to 4:30 p.m.
Arka untied his apron and changed clothes in the staff room, pausing briefly in front of the mirror. He look at the reflection that staring back at him. He looked ordinary, Tired maybe. But everything normal.
That's good.
He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly.
"Don't look nervous. Don't act weird."
Stepping outside, he didn't go far. Instead, he circled around the building and re-entered through the front entrance.
Yes, he'd decided to meet the developers here, at his workplace.
Of course, he had no intention of telling them that.
At the very least, this way, he'd be on a familiar ground. He chose a table near the window and sat down, glancing at his phone.
4:55 p.m.
"Five minutes until they come."
His heartbeat picked up. His palms felt slightly damp. Thinking about it again, This was ridiculous. Everything about this whole thing happened doesn't even make sense in the first place.
Arka rested his elbows lightly on the table, tapping his finger against the surface in a slow, nervous rhythm. He tried to keep his expression neutral, even as his mind ran through every worst-case scenario it could imagine.
Then—
From the corner of his eye, he noticed movement at the entrance.
Two people stepped inside.
The first was a man in a suit, glasses perched neatly on his face, a briefcase held firmly in one hand. His posture was rigid, his expression serious. It's like the kind of person who looked like he preferred a long data spreadsheets over small talk.
Beside him walked a woman with long blonde hair, dressed casually yet unmistakably expensive. She moved with easy confidence, her steps light, her presence energetic, as if the room naturally bent around her without her needing to try.
Behind them arka can see more than four large men in casual clothing, their movements subtle but deliberate. The four man then stands at the entrance of the restaurant.
"A privat bodyguard huh? What kind of person I meet ...."
Arka's starts to trembling just thinking about it. But whatever he do, he must retain his calm.
When their eyes met, the woman smiled widely and immediately walked toward him. Her steps were quick and confident, as if she already knew this meeting would go exactly the way she expected. The man with glasses followed a few steps behind her, his pace slower, more controlled, his posture straight and professional.
"PhantomArk, right?" the woman asked as she stopped in front of his table. Her voice was bright, energetic
Arka looked up at her calmly. His expression remained neutral, his gaze steady.
"Yes," he replied. "And you are…?"
Instead of answering immediately, the woman pulled out the chair across from him and sat down without hesitation. The man placed his bag carefully on the table, then took the seat beside her.
"Claudia Everhart," she said, extending her hand with an easy smile. "And this is Lucian Graves. He's part of the core development team and the branch manager for CFTL here in Indonesia."
Arka didn't shake her hand right away.
He looked at her first, briefly. Before finally reaching out and returning the handshake. It was short and polite.
"Nice to meet you."
Claudia's eyes lit up slightly, as if she found his reaction interesting.
"By the way," she continued casually, "I'm curious. What's your real name?"
There was a short pause.
"Arka Virendra."
Lucian's eyes shifted almost imperceptibly. He didn't speak, but it was clear he was already committing the name to memory.
Claudia blinked once, then leaned forward slightly.
"And how old are you?"
"Twenty-three," Arka answered.
For a moment, Claudia froze.
"…Wait, what?"
She stared at him, genuinely surprised. "Twenty-three? That can't be right."
Arka raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why not?"
She laughed softly and leaned back in her chair. "ArkZurei's account was created in 2023. That was ten years ago. Everyone assumed you were a long-time veteran. Someone who'd been playing for years and years. Most people thought you were, at least in your thirties."
Lucian nodded faintly. "That explains certain gaps in our assumptions," he said calmly.
"That's make it even more amazing, thinking what have you done in our game until now."
From the outside, he looked relaxed.
But Inside his head, he was screaming, "How far this thing is going to be?? I'm tired!"
Then, Lucian opened his bag and began taking out a laptop and several devices, arranging them neatly on the table.
Arka noticed immediately.
"… Quite prepared, huh?" he said.
"It is," Claudia replied lightly. "We didn't want to miss the chance to talk to you directly. To be honest, we didn't expect you to agree to meet us this quickly."
Arka didn't respond.
"Agree? You didn't give me a choice."
But what truly bothered him now wasn't About the game. But about the figure standing before him right now. It was Claudia Everhart.
That name wasn't unfamiliar. Anyone who followed Chrono Frontier knew it well.
The Everhart family owned the company behind the game.
Which meant that the woman sitting across from him, wasn't just some People with positions in the CFTL World.
But she was one of the people who decided the future of Chrono Frontier itself.
Arka kept his expression calm.
"Before we continue," Arka said calmly, "may I ask something?"
"Hm?" Claudia replied, "What is it?"
"Is what happened really serious enough," Arka continued, "that a member of the Everhart family would come to see me in person?"
Claudia stopped.
For a brief moment, the room went quiet. Then she looked up and smiled.
"Well," she said casually, "first of all, I'm already in Indonesia. Bali, to be precise. It's my holiday."
She leaned back slightly. "Second, I came here on my own initiative. My father didn't order me to do this."
Her eyes sharpened, just a little.
"But of course right? Anyone would be curious about the person who managed to evolve CFTL's entire economic structure in just two days."
Arka fell silent for a moment before replying, "That makes sense."
Claudia grinned. "It seems you still don't fully grasp how large the impact of your actions really is. The global economy outside CFTL is about to shift. Soon."
She tilted her head slightly. "So if you're asking whether my presence here is justified. Yes. Absolutely."
Their gazes met.
Arka looked down shortly after, his thoughts sinking deeper as the weight of what he had done slowly pressed down on him. Claudia, satisfied, returned to finishing her setup.
Not long after, everything seemed ready.
Claudia turned back toward him.
"So," she said cheerfully, "I'm really curious. When did you actually start playing 'seriously' in Chrono Frontier?"
Arka remained quiet.
He could feel Lucian's sharp gaze now fixed on him as well.
Arka gave a faint smile. "A long time ago."
"Well, that's obvious," Claudia replied casually as she began typing on her laptop.
Then Arka spoke again.
"There's something I want to ask," he said. "If the Legacy system existed from the moment CFTL launched, why were you and your developers tim, still shocked when ArkZurei appeared on it? Shouldn't you have already had access to that data?"
Claudia stopped.
She looked at him, visibly confused.
"Wasn't that because of you?" she asked.
"…Me?"
"Yes. You set your account so that all progress would never be recorded on any leaderboard." She leaned back slightly. "We never imagined someone could conquer our game to that extent and still choose to remain anonymous."
Lucian finally spoke.
"There were hundreds of millions of registered accounts in the original Chrono Frontier," he said evenly. "We couldn't possibly review them one by one. All we did was send the undeleted accounts data into CFTL as part of the Legacy of Heroes system. We focused on old leaderboard data to just only to identify outstanding players."
Claudia nodded. "So Legacy of Heroes isn't based on leaderboard rankings data in the Chrono Frontier. It's based on raw account data."
She looked straight at Arka.
"And that's why your name appeared as number one."
She smiled wryly. "Until that moment, we never suspected that an account which had never appeared on any leaderboard would suddenly claim the top position."
Memories surged into Arka's mind.
Years ago, he one comparing monster kill counts with his friends. And then at some point, they Laugh. Being mocked for his stats.
He had disabled leaderboard tracking entirely. Neither it's level, achievement, title, not anything.
"So this is my fault?"
Arka covered his face with his palm, stress finally breaking through his calm exterior.
Claudia noticed immediately.
"As a result," she said smoothly, already prepared, "one of the reasons we're here is to offer compensation. For the attention you never wanted."
Arka looked up sharply.
Claudia turned her laptop around.
Displayed on the screen was a sleek, unfamiliar design. It's look smooth, reinforced structure, and unmistakably high-end technology.
"Neurolink Capsule X1."
She spoke with clear confidence.
"This is our newest capsule, completed just a few days ago after extensive research. It has a 98% reflex synchronization rate with a player's real-world capabilities. Brainwave detection is significantly more precise, delay is reduced to nearly zero, and immersion stability far surpasses previous models."
She continued calmly.
"The estimated market price for the limited collaboration version with all of the advanced techology is 100.000$ per unit. The private version with only additional systems will be 49.000$. The general release will be priced at 19.900$."
She smiled.
"We'll give you the highest-tier version. Free. As initial compensation."
'One hundred thousand dollars… Even if I worked for decades without spending a cent, I'd never afford that.'
Arka stared at the screen, stunned.
Claudia watched his reaction closely, then grinned. "So? Do you accept?"
Arka replied with his usual calm tone. "Well, things have already reached this point. With this, I can finally solve my biggest problem when playing CFTL."
'YES. YES. YES. No more internet cafés. I get my own capsule.'
Claudia nodded, clearly pleased, but her expectations ran deeper.
"That's right," she said. "With this new version, all the limitations that previously restricted your movement and skills, will be gone. You'll be able to use your fully potential."
"…Huh?" Arka muttered.
Claudia smiled at him quietly. As if she calculated something he didn't.
> > T O B E C O N T I N U E D <<
— KS