Chapter 288: Who Are You?
Henry’s POV:
“Joybringer invited me to join the game?” Henry blurted, his breath uneven as he clicked “yes,” fearing he might miss something important. KK assumed he was joking. He was about to reply, but to his surprise, his game interface displayed the same message: Joybringer invites you to join the game. KK froze, his excitement overwhelming. Stammering, he said, “Joybringer is inviting me too!”
Without hesitation, KK clicked to enter the game. Instantly, three characters appeared on the screen: Henry, KK, and Joybringer! When he saw his idol, KK couldn’t contain himself. He rushed forward, saying, “Joybringer, I can’t believe it’s you! I never thought you’d invite me to play!”
“Don’t worry,” KK added, “I’ll give it my all. I won’t let you down.”
Hayley’s POV:
KK showered me with compliments, making me feel awkward. I quickly typed a response: “Don’t be nervous; we’ve played together before.” The group fell silent. They all seemed stunned by my words.
“Joybringer, have we played before?” Henry asked first. I couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction and decided to stop hiding. I replied, “Henry, it’s me!”
The room fell silent once again. After a while, Henry asked, “You… Who are you? How do you know my real name?” I simply typed my name: “Hayley Carson!” This time, I waited for a while, but still, there was no response from everyone.
Moments later, Henry barged into my room without knocking. I waved my phone at him and asked, “What’s up? Ready to start?” Henry rushed forward and grabbed my phone; his eyes widened when he saw my ID. “Y–you… you’re Joybringer?”
I smiled and teased, “What, don’t I look like it?” Henry staggered back, nearly losing his balance.
I remember our last game together now! No wonder you had a new account, beyond mine! Your skills were far… but your skills… He looked at me in disbelief. “It makes sense now! When we talked about Joybringer, you were so calm about it. I thought you weren’t interested. Turns out, you are Joybringer!”
Henry dropped to his knees in front of me. “Boss, being your sidekick is worth it.” I couldn’t help but laugh at his dramatic gesture. “Don’t get too worked up. I’ll play with you often.”
Henry jumped up, beaming. “Wait for me, Boss. I’ll grab my phone, and we’ll play together.” With that, Henry ran out of the room, and just before the door closed, I saw him jumping in excitement, shouting “YES!” several times.
Henry’s POV:
Hayley is Joybringer! I fought to contain my excitement as I walked back to my room. Just then, I bumped into Benjamin. He noticed my overly excited expression and raised an eyebrow. “What’s going on?”
I quickly controlled my emotions and casually replied, “Nothing, I’m just here to play a game with the Boss.” Benjamin probably thought I was being dismissive, but before he could say anything else, I walked away.
Before long, I was back in Hayley’s room, acting like a fanboy. “Boss, let’s start. Lead me to an easy victory.” Hayley gave me a speechless look.
KK was so nervous he couldn’t focus. He quickly messaged me and said, “I can’t do it; seeing Joybringer makes me nervous. I’m going to mess up.” I glanced at Hayley, who remained calm, and said, “It’s fine, Joybringer’s just like us. Nothing special. Just play seriously, and we’ll do great.”
KK then asked, “By the way, where’s your boss? Didn’t you say we were playing together? Why haven’t they logged in yet?” He even tagged Hayley in the group chat. I hesitated, wondering if I should tell him that my Boss is Joybringer.