Most of the people returned inside the net cafe, though a few chose to stay in the orchard, finding the forest breeze and fresh air provided a scenic backdrop for their gaming.
Arator breathed a long sigh of relief; he had undoubtedly been under the most pressure today. When he had followed Vereesa out earlier, he thought she was going to take him away. To his surprise, she simply left him with a single sentence—"Do not forget the desires of your heart, and remain responsible for your actions and choices at all times"—before departing, clearly granting him silent permission to stay.
Shadowbreaker said to him, "That aunt of yours is wonderful in every way, except she's far too strict."
"Compared to your uncle Rhonin, who is also a serious man but far more reasonable, she's... well, I thought I was a tough teacher, but compared to her, there's no contest."
"Old Mi [Wayne] has some real skill to handle a woman like that. I'm impressed! Besides Rhonin, he's the only one I admire for it."
Andromath spoke up then, "Duke, your own lady is no simple matter either. You only go home once every few days; can you really keep things under control?"
Shadowbreaker grinned, "Absolutely. I went back last night and showed her my pocket watch and wallet—I've got her photos in both."
"Oh, what a good man," Jaina teased.
Shadowbreaker smiled proudly and turned to Wayne. "Old Mi, you're not getting any younger. If you have your eye on some lady, don't be shy. I'll step in for you. In Stormwind, even the biggest figures have to give me a bit of face. Just make sure that once you're married, you act like a good man, just like me."
"And let me tell you, I've already bought a plot of land west of here, north of Mirror Lake under the Thunder Falls. I'm planning to build a villa there. I won't live in the city anymore when I have free time. I'll bring my wife and kids over—the scenery is great, and most importantly, it's just a short walk to the net cafe. It'll be convenient to go home and sleep at night."
Wayne rolled his eyes. "A 'good man' like you..."
"A truly good man shouldn't have a wallet."
The crowd erupted. "Hahahaha!" "That makes sense! A classic!"
Shadowbreaker was amused despite himself, pointing at Wayne. "You brat, let's see if you're still this arrogant after you get a wife."
At that moment, Amy walked in after finishing tidying up outside. Many people looked at her with knowing smiles, causing her face to flush instantly, though she had no idea what had just happened in the room.
She set her things down and approached Wayne. "Old Mi, I saw Lady Vereesa from a distance just now. I didn't realize you knew her."
Wayne shook his head. "I don't know her... just met her today..."
Amy continued, "Seeing her made me think of Rhonin. I'm an Archmage now, and Rhonin sent me an invitation on behalf of the Kirin Tor. He hopes I can go to Dalaran next year for advanced studies and participate in their magical research."
Wayne took off his glasses and looked at Amy, genuinely happy for her. "That's great news. Working by his side means you're not far from officially joining the Kirin Tor."
But Amy frowned slightly. "Because my specialty is Arcane offensive magic research, Rhonin mentioned in the letter that there are signs the world's Arcane energy network is being disturbed. They've monitored a massive energy source somewhere in Northrend that seems to be rerouting the energy ley lines and absorbing Arcane magic."
"Rhonin believes I have a unique talent for Arcane. He thinks that one day, after officially joining the Kirin Tor, I might head to Northrend to investigate."
Hearing this, Wayne's heart skipped a beat. He blurted out, "You can't go!"
Amy was startled. "Wh... why not?"
Wayne didn't know how to explain it, but for Amy, Northrend meant a tragic end—a journey from which she would never return. As he struggled to organize his thoughts and find a reason, Tess came over to call him. "Boss, there's a customer at the door looking for you. A female gnome."
Wayne scratched his head, muttering to himself, "I don't think I have any female gnome friends..." He stood up and walked toward the entrance.
From a distance, he saw a petite, cute gnome with yellow hair tied into two round buns waving at him. Wayne's heart sank, and he managed a stiff nod.
Tess whispered, "Liar. You just said you didn't know her, but you clearly look familiar."
The two sat down in the lounge area. Wayne spoke first. "If you're here to play games, you're welcome. If you want me to do things according to your requirements, please leave. How does that sound, respected Miss Chromie?"
Others might have thought this was just a gnome who came from Ironforge or Dun Morogh out of curiosity, but this was Wayne's second time meeting this Bronze Dragon, whose true name was Chronormu, currently disguised as a female gnome.
Chromie giggled. "Is this what they call an unsolicited confession? Hehe."
"I haven't said anything, nor have I done anything," Wayne replied. He stood up and pointed toward the seats. "While there are still vacancies, why don't you try it out? But here, you pay before you play."
Chromie reached out, and a handful of gold coins suddenly appeared in her palm. Tess, shocked by this wealthy little gnome, quickly collected the money and led her to a station.
Wayne thought to himself: How could she not have money? In that little house of hers in the Western Plaguelands, she scammed so many adventurers with that 15-gold 'Chrono-Blessing Displacer' just to save a buff...
Not long after Chromie sat down, the cafe was full. Many customers who hadn't come yesterday only found out today about the temporary closure and had been lingering nearby.
Chromie tried almost every game. She was terrible at all of them but played with great relish. By evening, she even started watching movies. Wayne ignored her, treating her like any other customer.
For the next three days, Chromie arrived every morning at 8:00 AM and didn't leave until 10:00 PM. She finished all five movies and the 39 episodes of Saint Seiya, eventually spending her time on The Elder Scrolls V, playing a low-level mage. Aside from that, she had no communication with Wayne. Whenever their eyes met, she would simply squint her eyes with a smile, nod, or wave.
Wayne knew she was up to something. A Bronze Dragon who transcends time and can, to some extent, escape causality has countless timelines to maintain, yet she was staying motionless in his net cafe. She was either waiting for something to happen or staking him out.
However, Wayne couldn't kick her out. Both were currently playing a waiting game to see who would blink first.
Besides her, Chen Stormstout had also been keeping an eye on Wayne—but in Street Fighter V. On the ladder leaderboard, the two were chasing each other relentlessly. In the online "Ranked Mode," both had reached Master rank and broken into the top 2500. Chen was slightly higher at rank 1636, while Wayne was at 2315. Tess and Li Li had both reached Diamond.
To be fair, the gameplay style—relying on mental control over martial arts moves rather than physical inputs—gave them a massive advantage. While Wayne spent his time questing in Skyrim with Arator and Amy, Chen spent every moment he wasn't doing chores or teaching Tess cooking submerged in Street Fighter.
He was counting on his fleshy fingers every day, calculating Wayne's five-year promise to visit Pandaria. He planned to use these five years to settle down in this town outside Stormwind, letting Li Li learn from these talented individuals instead of wandering with him. Meanwhile, he intended to master the games in the net cafe to see how far he could push his path of the Monk. He also wanted to save enough money so that when they eventually returned to Pandaria, he would have the resources to find the Stormstout ancestral lands and his kin.
The two of them climbed the ladder frantically. Many legendary players—even those like Daigo Umehara, Eita, and Chris Wong—had faced off against them. While the results were mixed and they were still a bit behind the absolute top-tier professionals, the consensus was that their reaction speeds were equal to, if not slightly faster than, any top player.
Recordings of their matches were posted on various gaming websites back in Wayne's original world. Many netizens commented that their playstyles were unique, and their reactions were suspiciously fast, as if their characters, Guile and Ryu, weren't being controlled by a joystick and buttons, but were actually fighting in the game world themselves.
Interestingly, in the world Wayne came from, a Platinum-tier tournament was about to be held, where the champion would qualify for the annual "Capcom Cup" finals. Yet, no matter how hard officials and fans searched, they couldn't find any information or clues regarding the players "Mustard Xiao Long Bao" and "Net Cafe Owner."
Some people even asked a certain famous streamer from Wuhu if "Small Owner" was one of his fans or an alt account. The streamer expressed helplessly during a live broadcast that even if he were outside the atmosphere, he still wouldn't know who this "Net Cafe Owner" was.
Of course, none of this was visible in the Azeroth where Wayne now lived.
However, something the netizens said was true: as Wayne personally used Ryu over and over again, successfully performing the unique "Mind's Eye" (Parry) technique countless times, his body had begun to develop natural reflexes. Once, when Clara from the neighboring orchard sent a crate of apples and Li Li tossed one at him, he subconsciously parried the apple toward the ground, just like Ryu.
Fortunately, he snapped out of it just in time, or his body would have followed up with two mid-punches and a Shoryuken...
As she played, Chromie watched time slip away second by second, day by day, silently observing Wayne.