Rise of the Gamer [Hiatus]

Chapter 8

~~ 1 Month Later ~~

"Weeeeeeeee! Hahaha" I laughed as Tou-san, Kaa-san and I rode down the snowy slope in a wood toboggan. At the bottom, a man dressed in a yellow parka grabbed a hold of the toboggan and began dragging it back up the slope. We also started walking back up the slope as Tou-san held my right hand while Kaa-san held my left. I kept my gaze on the ground in order to distinguish any ice from the snow because no one likes slipping on ice, occasionally lifting both feet off the ground while my parents supported my inconsequential weight.

Last week I had made an astonishing discovery: we had underfloor heating. I only realized it after it had started snowing and I felt rather cold after being carried back from the dojo one day. Upon reaching the playroom, I realized that the hardwood floor of the playroom was actually rather warm. This new fact led me to alter my prior assumptions: my family may not actually be poor. After all, people who were poor usually did not have underfloor heating installed or even if they did, they didn't leave it on for the entire day.

'I'm quite certain that my family isn't poor and is actually rather wealthy if I had to guess. Let's review the evidence thus far. Exhibit A, two random strangers are currently holding up large wooden umbrellas for Tou-san and Kaa-san to prevent snow from falling on us as we walk up the slope, which is quite ridiculous because we're tobogganing, a snow-based activity. A third random stranger is currently dragging said toboggan up the slope for us. The only kinds of people I can think of who would actually hire people to carry out these sorts of activities are people who have way too much money.

Exhibit B, two weeks ago I watched from Ojii-san's arms as roughly two dozen men created this very slope by carting over large amounts of earth from somewhere using wooden horse-pulled carts. This slope must be about twelve feet high at its peak! Once again, the only kinds of people who would have a slope constructed in what I'm no longer assuming is the school's soccer field but apparently our backyard, for no reason other than so they can go tobogganing, are those who are really super crazy rich. Does this mean that I'm a crazy rich Asian? Huh. Anyways, Your Honor, I rest my case. Oh, here we go again!'

"Weeeeeee! Ahaha" I laughed gleefully as my parents and I slid down the hill for the ninth time. 'Man, this never gets old! Also, tobogganing as a baby somehow makes it seem more exciting. Oh, apparently Tou-san has had enough.'

Holding Kaa-san's hand while watching Tou-san walk away after he had kissed Kaa-san on the cheek, with one of the strangers trying his very best to prevent any snow from falling on Tou-san, I noticed that Ojii-san was walking towards me arm-in-arm with one of my grandmothers. They also had two umbrella-wielding strangers escorting them. My grandparents are standing really close to each other, surely one umbrella would suffice for the both of them. But nope, apparently one umbrella per person was the order of the day. Got to protect us from the filthy snowflakes falling from the sky after all.

"##### ### #### ### toboggan with me and Obaa-san, Genji-kun?" Ojii-san said while smiling warmly at me, my grandmother also smiling warmly but her eyes were on Ojii-san instead.

'Yay, more tobogganing! Hmm, does Obaa-san mean grandmother?'

|[ You have learnt something new. Your intelligence increases by 1. ]|

'Ooh! Free intelligence stat! Nice! Oh man, we're walking up the slope again, I don't enjoy this part of tobogganing. Wait, I'm a baby aren't I, time to abuse my position! Mwahaha', I thought to myself as I proceeded to lift both my arms up into the air, the universal signal for 'carry me!', understood in all languages and cultures around the world. Except for this one, apparently.