New Beginning

RING! RING! ... RING! RING!

Alex covered his ears and rolled over in a futile attempt to block out the obnoxious sound. He knew he had never set an alarm.

'Who the hell is calling me at this time?'

Opening his eyes to create a tiny slit, he recognized the caller. It was his friend Peter Gilden. Ever since he could remember, he knew Peter. Peter was an outspoken guy who blabbered everything on his mind.

Alex hesitated. He didn't know if he should answer. Alex wished that Peter would just forget about him and find better friends. 'I'll tell him today.'

"Peter I-"

"Shut up, you finally answered my phone calls. YOU WENT MISSING FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK! A WEEK! I know what happened, but you should get over it already. DAMN! You could have said something before you left, you know? I only found out what happened when I went to the hospital to look for you. Do you have anything you wanna say?"

"I think we should stop being friends." Alex bit the bottom of his lip.

"Stop. Just because you lost your parents, doesn't mean that you give up everything! You're not disabled or crippled! Heck, I'm still here. Do you think you would leave me if I lost a bit of money." Peter yelled through the phone.

Alex breathed a sigh of relief. He was ashamed of trying to end their friendship.

"I'm... sorry… I- how do I make it up to you."

"You can come to East Arona and apologize to me, face to face at the cafe we used to hang out at... You seriously gotta get a grip on your life, man."

"Yes… thank you." Peter made up his mind.

…

Wearing torn denim jeans, a plaid shirt, and a worn-out cap, Alex stepped out of his house for the first time in weeks. He was assaulted by a burst of cool air.

A few minutes later, he arrived at the cafe he knew and loved. It gave off a home-like feeling with its rustic setting and warm lighting. 'Hm… The old man is gone now. I wonder what he's up to.'

"AY! Alex! Over here." Peter dashed towards Alex, arms wide open.

"I'm here." Alex struggled to breathe as he pushed himself out of the bear hug.

"Sit down, let's talk over there."

"Peter… I'm sorry for trying to end our friendship."

"Who cares about that?" Peter dragged Alex to a seat in the corner of the restaurant. Alex was confused.

"Why am I here then?"

"Aren't I enough reason for you to come?" Peter winked flirtishly.

Alex glared at Peter with a face of disbelief. Peter felt a shiver crawl down his spine from the stare and turned his head away.

"Have you heard of the new virtual reality helmets?"

"Yea, what about it?" Alex was also curious about it.

"You don't seem so excited about it.

"IT'S AMAZING. I can't wait to get my hands on it." Alex waved his hands in the air sarcastically. Peter felt like vomiting from what he heard.

"Well, I have one for you!" Peter pulled out a large box.

"I need a job, not a game."

"You can make money in this game."

"I can also make money from a job." Alex debated in his head on what to choose.

"Come on. With the new models, you can play 24/7 without a problem."

"24/7? Are you trying to get me addicted?"

"It's better than beer and cigarettes." Peter gave off an innocent smile.

"Fine. Sign me up."

"Actually you gotta sign yourself up."

Alex stared at Peter's blank face.

"Just gimme it. I'll play it later."

"I'll get on tomorrow. I actually have work today."

"Go already." Alex waved him off like brushing lint off a suit.

"Tsk, cold as always. Smile more or you'll never get a girlfriend."

…

Right as he got home, Alex fell flat on his bed, thinking about his future. He already submitted his application to another car dealership.

To the corner of his eye, he saw the box with the virtual reality helmet. Alex rarely played games in his life because it was unproductive and pointless, but he had nothing to do except waiting.

"Fine, I'll play." Time wasted on games is the same as time wasted on nothing.

Alex slowly slid the helmet onto his head. It wasn't as uncomfortable as he had expected, instead, it felt like his head was lying in the lap of a hot anime school girl.

[WELCOME TO ACORA

YOU ARE PLAYER #8,967,743

The game will begin when there are 10,000,000 Players

Estimated time until launch: 1 hour, 34 minutes, 15 seconds]

…

In Alex's small apartment, the T.V turned on automatically to show a public service announcement. With flashing red lights, blaring a screeching alarm, it read:

"DO NOT USE VIRTUAL REALITY HELMET!!!" x3

But it was too late, Alex was no longer there. Nothing was there.

…

All around the world, millions of people disappeared suddenly. The government quickly discovered it was caused by the virtual reality helmets, but they were too slow.

Everyone was in panic. Chaos broke loose when thousands of government buildings were surrounded by worried civilians. Nothing could quell their distress.

…

In a publishing firm, oblivious to the madness outside, Peter worked happily without a single bit of unease on his face. He had finally got to see his childhood friend after a few weeks.

"I wonder if he's having fun."

…

Watching the world go into chaos, a silhouette of a lean man ambled carefully towards an enormous monitor without a care in the world.

"The world will advance, and mankind will evolve for the future."

His assistant kneeled down with a report in his arms. "Leader, we have gathered all the necessary personnel to begin."

"It is time." The leader observed the screen in front of him. On it was the faces of millions of missing people from all around the world.

...

[Estimated time until launch: 0 hours, 0 minutes, 1 second]