Game invitation (1)

Emotions. What was once familiar to Aksel is now foreign.

He cannot recall when it became this way. What disconnected it. 

His mind often dwelled on it, trying to figure himself out. 

One memory does always stand out among the many. When he was 9-years-old—when his childhood friend moved away.

Her moving away wasn't even the depressing part, it was saddening, but the pressing part was when they promised to meet up but she never showed up. 

They promised to meet up during summer break. He wanted to believe in that promise, so he waited and waited in the downtown until the sun descended behind the horizon. No matter how long he waited. She never showed up.

Whatever it might be, he trusts she had her own reasons.

Lost in his thoughts, ongoing in the background was a psychological lecture he took at the beginning of university in hopes of salvaging his connection with emotions. So far, it has only helped him get behind it in theory, but not in practice.

The lecture's project this time was emotional construct. 

The person in front was doing a presentation on pride. 

His eyes shifted to the whiteboard with all the emotional constructs listed in the order it'll be presented in.

Followed by pride is empathy, the subject of Aksel's project. 

Applause roared through the room as the person in front finished his presentation. It was now his turn to go.

Standing in front before a huge crowd was no problem for Aksel. He began his presentation in a confident tone. A project which was so well brought together, it captivated the attention of everyone in the room, making them invested in a subject they would usually find boring. It truly made him worthy of his title as the student council president. A perfect role model the other students desire to follow the steps of. 

No matter how perfect a human strives to be, creatures like humans will always have a flaw. Whether they know the flaw or not.

Among the topics listed needed to expand knowledge on, personal experience was included. 

When he reached the slide about personal experience, the admiration which was in the atmosphere before faded. 

What was supposed to be a heartfelt and emotional story, was told in a heartless manner, as if the narrator of the story had no humanity. It felt detached, evoking no such feeling as empathy. It was ironic since the subject was empathy. That was Aksel's conclusion. 

Unease filled the air as Aksel continued through the slide.

Sensing the atmosphere in the lecture room, Aksel himself could tell that he messed up with this part.

As much as he felt disappointed that his well brought together project was ruined by a single slide—writing a personal experience based on empathy when you're disconnected with emotions, he only expected this outcome. 

Applause nonetheless soared through the room and Aksel returned to his seat. 

Followed by his presentation were many others. 

The applause was getting repetitive in a bad way for Aksel. He wished time could pass by faster in this moment.

It only bothered him so much because he had sensitive ears and just ran out of earplugs.

For the last half an hour he'll just have to endure.

***

He breathed a sigh of relief, finally released from the dreadful lecture.

Earlier, after he had finished doing his presentation, he received a message from an unknown number but turns out it was just from his friend—Johannes.

The place they decided on, or rather, the place Johannes decided for them to meet up at was the train station in their city. He found the meet up place a bit weird, but before he could even ask anything, that guy blocked him again. He wonders how this dude even created so many accounts. Each time he blocks him, he just comes back with a new account.

That aside, he wanted to gift Johannes something and that something was sitting in his locker.

Aksel walked down the long, quiet hallway. The day had just ended, so it was silent with barely anyone left but a few staff. 

Reaching the long row of lockers, he spotted his own. The sound of a faulty locker creaked in this gloomy hallway. The sound was creepy, but he couldn't get the feel since the hallway had a modern architecture to it.

From his locker he fetched an item, an envelope with something packed inside. Walking back down the hallway he just passed through, he halts, hearing whispering coming from around the corner. He isn't the type to eavesdrop, but the topic between those whisperers just happens to be Domain of Greed.

"Did you hear the news?"

"What news?"

"The game creator changed the rules. Apparently now, only the winning faction will be revived!"

"Huh, no way…"

Leaning a bit forward to the corner, he catches a glimpse. The two students seemed quite distressed at the profound news. 

He had heard many rumors regarding the Domain of Greed, but this was the first time he heard about factions. 

He wanted to listen a bit more, but those began walking his way. He had no choice but to just leave.

Heading towards the train station, he found the city strangely desolate today. The moment he had stepped out of the university, there were barely any signs of others. The traffic was awfully quiet, the lights weren't working either. It felt as if the world had stopped. He didn't like what was going on.

Arriving at the station, he spots his friend sitting on a lonely bench beneath a platform canopy. 

He appeared behind Johannes like a ghost, nearly startling him to death.

He sat down beside him to rest for a bit after a long day. Shuffling through his bag, he brought out the white envelope, seeming to be filled with something. 

Aksel handed it over to his friend who accepted the envelope with no question. 

Johannes could tell at first touch, the envelope was packed to the brim with cash. 

"Really?"

"It's your birthday soon, isn't it?

Go buy yourself something nice with it."

Johannes wanted to give it back, but he knew Aksel wouldn't take it back no matter what. He accepted the cash with silence. 

"Say, why'd you even want to meet up here?"

"I gotta catch a train."

"For what?"

"To play a game."

His head twists to his right, "Domain of Greed?"

Johannes nodded in return.

Domain of Greed was always a subject of interest for Aksel.

Three years through university so far, countless rumors regarding Domain of Greed, Aksel still hasn't gotten a single invitation letter from that game, which he found offending. 

Numb to his own emotions, he always thought perhaps Domain of Greed could salvage his tie with emotions. 

That came to his thought ever since he entered university, but it didn't matter how long he waited for an invitation, he never got one. It's throwing him back to her.

His phone vibrated from inside his backpack, shaking the whole thing. His hand shuffled within the backpack when it landed on another letter. He found it strange since the only letter he should have with him was the one filled with cash which he already gave away. Out he pulled a peculiar looking envelope painted in a deep emerald color adorned with opulent gold lettering. 

Johannes, who recognized the letter at one glance, leaned over. 

Aksel, who saw the gold lettering spell out a familiar name, turned to look at Johannes, "Isn't this?…"

Aksel who was expecting Johannes to confirm him instead had an awful reaction on his face.

Next thing he knows, Johannes was scratching his own head, sounding frustrated, "This is such bad timing…" He muttered.

Before Aksel could ask more, the whole world which was dead silent painted itself gray. 

Looking up at the sky, the clouds had stopped moving. 

Staring at the clock, the flow of time had been paused. 

Aksel was bewildered, but when he turned to look at Johannes, the guy seemed as if he was used to this strange phenomenon.

Air began cracking like glass, white light flashed from the thin cracks. The cracking dragged one for several meters and then shattered into light particles, opening up a realm rift.

Train tracks forged from thin air, forming a railway for a train that emerged from the realm rift. 

For Aksel, this event seemed like straight out of a fantasy story. 

While he was busy being flabbergasted by everything happening as of the moment, Johannes was still frustrated.

"You… okay dude?" Aksel asked.

"This is a bad timing…"

"Can you just stop repeating the same thing and just tell me?"

Johannes seemed dreaded with worry. 

To put it shortly in Johannes' words, the train travels through time and space, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that Aksel would be a first time traveler. His body cannot handle the pressure and temperature in the realm rift. 

It took three years for Aksel to finally receive an invitation. Who knows if he'll get another chance if he declines this one.

No matter how much Johannes tried to convince Aksel not to participate—since it isn't the right moment, he still insisted on participating.

On the train, Johannes has been stressing nonstop, he was in a frantic state. Aksel tried to get him to calm down, saying he'll do fine, but Johannes just can't stop worrying.

A static sound echoed from the speakers.

"Dear players and passengers, we welcome you aboard. Please take a seat as the train will shortly warp."

Warp was a word he's never heard before. He didn't know what it was until the train began moving. 

The same sound of glass shattering happened, the realm rift opened, allowing the train to move forward. 

Aksel did feel some kind of wave wash over him, but he feels just. 

Though Johannes said newbies usually pass out from being in this realm rift, in his eyes, it's Johannes who will soon faint from stress overload.

No matter how much he tried to calm Johannes down, he just couldn't. 

"Look me in the eyes."

Johannes did.

"I look fine, don't I?! So stop stressing—!"

As Aksel finished his sentence, he passed out, dropping on the floor with a slam like a log. 

Johannes held his palms against the side of his head, "This is what I was stressing about!"