Chapter 502 - 317: The Bratty Kids’ Epic Meeting (Part 2)

Chapter 502: Chapter 317: The Bratty Kids’ Epic Meeting (Part 2)

Thankfully, Dean was a good kid and didn’t say something like, "Tch, and here I thought..." at a time like this.

"Really? What a coincidence! I also passed the exam for Deepwater City Middle School, so I’ll be studying there too," Dean said excitedly.

"Oh, so that means we’ll be classmates."

"Ha, this way I’ll know someone when I start school."

The two quickly hit it off. They were close in age and had similar interests; as long as neither had a terrible personality, it was easy for them to become friends.

Friendships between boys that age aren’t yet too affected by family status or background.

In less than ten minutes, they developed the kind of relationship where they’d sling their arms over each other’s shoulders and pile onto a single chair after class.

They got so carried away chatting that they nearly forgot their main reason for being there today.

To tour Hogwarts.

It wasn’t until a staff member reminded them that they boarded a boat together and crossed the lake.

For a die-hard book fan like Dean, the fantasies in his head finally took on a concrete form.

The castle by the lake, the spires like a Mage Tower, the feeling of Magic that seemed to emanate from the very stones.

The winding corridors, the moving staircases, the talking portraits on the walls, and the Undead that occasionally drifted by—everything was filled with a sense of mystery.

Zog had also prepared a small activity for the open house.

Each visitor received a map marking the points of interest within the castle.

After arriving at a location, they could find a staff member to stamp their map. Visitors who collected all the stamps would receive a Harry Potter-themed snack gift pack.

A collection of magical little snacks.

"I’ll definitely get into Gryffindor," Dean said with considerable excitement as they visited Gryffindor Tower, which served as the dormitory building.

"Then I’ll definitely be in Slytherin. I’m so smart, the Sorting Hat will absolutely put me in Slytherin House."

Obviously, Craig had no idea how the houses at this Hogwarts were actually sorted.

But he did plan to apply to Hogwarts because his ultimate goal was the Deep Research Institute, and he’d heard they would recruit a type of student called "graduate students" from here.

Although he wasn’t sure exactly what kind of "student" a "graduate student" was, the name sounded similar to "research institute," so it had to be impressive.

As the two aspiring students were lost in their daydreams, a dissonant voice shattered their fantasy.

"If you want to get into Slytherin, relying on the Sorting Hat probably won’t give you high odds."

"What?" Craig looked toward the source of the voice. It was a boy about his age, wearing a Mage Hat that had the word "Staff" written on it.

"What do you mean, not rely on the Sorting Hat? That’s how it is in the book," Dean retorted first.

"That’s a book. At this Hogwarts, the houses are divided by academic major. If you want to get into Gryffindor, you’ll need to consider applying for these majors."

He said, handing over a small booklet.

"This is an introduction to the different majors at Hogwarts. You’ll understand after you read it."

Dean took it cautiously. "What is your job?"

When one is speechless, one tends to be... speechless.

’Did I just run into an idiot, or maybe someone illiterate who can’t read the word on my hat?’

’It would be pretty hard for an illiterate person to get into Hogwarts.’

Dean also realized his question was a bit strange and rephrased it. "No, what I mean is, isn’t this kind of inside information usually very valuable? You just gave it to me so casually."

The other boy rolled his eyes and held up his staff ID, which read "Guide."

"This is my job—to give you this information and hand out introductory booklets."

However, as he displayed his ID, the two of them noticed not his job title, but his name.

Ben Ackley.

"You’re Ben Ackley?" Dean asked in surprise.

"Yeah."

"*The* Ben Ackley!"

"Which one?"

"The one who made *Ferin Chronicles*!"

"I guess you could say that."

"I love your game!"

"I hate your game!"

The second sentence was shouted by Craig, and the atmosphere immediately became a bit awkward.

"Uh, well, I don’t *hate* it that much. It’s just the new character cards that came out recently. You have to pull so many card packs, and even then, you don’t unlock them directly. You get shards, and you have to collect a whole set of shards to unlock them. It’s just disgusting."

Realizing he’d been a bit rude, Craig explained.

Towards the designer of *Ferin Chronicles*, he simultaneously felt both admiration and the desire to punch him in the face a couple of times.

While he was a fan of gacha-style card pulling, in a game like Yu-Gi-Oh!, a card’s rarity didn’t affect how you could use it in a duel.

But with the characters in *Ferin Chronicles*, the newer ones were truly stronger than the older ones, and the harder they were to pull, the more powerful they were.

Ben spread his hands. "You can’t blame me for that. I’m only in charge of designing the gameplay. As for the monetization, that’s up to the operations and marketing team. It has nothing to do with me."

"Alright, my mistake."

Dean still hadn’t recovered from the shock of suddenly meeting the famous tabletop game designer.

"You’re really Ben Ackley!" he kept repeating, stuck on the same phrase.

"Calm down. The fact that I’m Ben Ackley shouldn’t be that surprising. Isn’t Craig standing right next to you?"

"Craig is standing next to me?" Dean took a moment to process this. "*That* Craig!"

Then he turned to stare in shock at the classmate he had been chatting idly with all this time.

Craig shrugged. "There should only be one Craig Clan on the Continent."

"But, this, I, huh?"

Dean’s language module was gradually failing.

’The young master of the Craig Clan! The person my own parents are constantly trying to curry favor with. Ben Ackley, the youngest genius designer, whose game *Ferin Chronicles* has taken the Continent by storm. Then who am I? I’m a nobody!’

"Yes, I’m Craig, and that’s it. There’s nothing else special about it, so calm down. We just became buddies."

If this had been the old Craig, he definitely would have been posturing by saying that.

But after attending Deepwater City Middle School for a while, he had begun to rethink this issue.

’Just because of my last name, does that mean I’m a cut above everyone else?’

Besides academics, the school also offered a lot of material on mental and psychological well-being to help the children grow into better adults.

Growing up wasn’t just about physical development, after all.

After a period of reflection, Craig came to terms with the issue. His family’s resources certainly allowed him to surpass the vast majority of his peers, but that material advantage didn’t mean he was superior as a person.

He also began to understand why the rule that nobles enjoyed no direct privileges in Zog’s territory had been established.

In Zog’s territory, even Zog himself had no direct privileges. If Zog broke the law, he would be punished the same as a commoner.

That was how the rule was written, at least.

As for how that would be enforced if Zog actually did break the law, that was another matter entirely.

And so Craig, having had this mental epiphany, decided to stop bringing his entourage everywhere. Instead, he used his own money to send his friend—the one who had grown up with him since childhood—to a more basic school in Deepwater City to study.

"Okay, buddy."

Dean looked like he still needed some time to digest the shocking news.

"What about you? Why are you here?" Craig asked.

"Me? Because I want to apply to Hogwarts, too," Ben replied. "There’s a game design major here, and Mr. Zog himself will be teaching it. Pretty amazing, right? That you can actually major in gaming."

"I don’t mean that. I mean, why are you working here as staff? You shouldn’t be short on this kind of money."

"No sum is too small to earn. It’s the Ackley Clan family motto. My dad came up with it."

Craig fell silent. ’What the hell kind of family motto is that? No wonder the Ackley family got in with the Zog Group so early on.’

Craig’s reaction was just what Ben had expected. He continued, "But the main goal is to find inspiration. Earning a little money is just a bonus."

"Find inspiration?"

"Yes, for my new game. A new game that could change the course of tabletop gaming. It just has some difficult points that I haven’t been able to revise to my satisfaction yet."

"What new game? If you don’t mind talking about it."

"I haven’t decided on a name yet. Dungeon Adventurer Corps, Treasures & Dungeons, Dragons & Dungeons... something along those lines. It’s a role-playing game you play on a tabletop."