2 End of the Beginning
At first, nobody greeted him, as if the house was empty. As if the other residents were still enjoying their blissful dream, wholly abandoning reality.
But then…
"Hi!" came a soft voice.
"How's your day?" asked another gruffy voice full of love and care.
"Like usual," Emmet replied.
He got out of his pod and went to the kitchen to prepare his dinner.
"A nice lady rented this beautiful hand mirror from me. She even gave me a silver coin for it."
"How wonderful," answered the woman's voice.
"Maybe I'll have some sandwiches for dinner. A silver could last for a couple of weeks if I'm not too greedy."
"That's our son!" hyped the man's voice.
The boy prepared his sandwiches in silence. He, nor the voices, got anything to say.
Two thick slices of white bread. A spread of mayo and mustard on each slice. Pieces of cabbage. And that's it. Emmet's dinner no. 99. His dinner for today, like every other day.
Except for the day with no dinner. Those days when he felt so lethargic that he could not even muster the energy to prepare himself a simple sandwich for a grub.
He brought the plate of sandwiches to the front couch. Usually, the couple would lounge away their time on it after a full day of fantasy time.
But not today.
Like any other.
Since then…
"Thanks for the food."
The boy took a small bite of the sandwich savoring every flavor and nutrient it supplied him as he had to wait another night before he got to feel this blissful sensation again.
"Enjoy!" said the lady's voice.
The boy eats his sandwich in silence.
Once again he nor the voices had anything to say to each other.
Dusting his hand onto the plate, he went to the kitchen to wash it. Usually, he would be the one helping with the dishes.
But it was all up to him now.
Everything.
He then went to take a bath. Silently staring at the white ceiling, hugging his knees in the bathtub. Droplets of water dripped from his now smooth and lustrous hair. He was stasis in that moment for quite some time.
Wafts of steam filled the room as mixed emotions of various colors swished around in his heart like a lava lamp. Ever so slowly arises to the surface.
Satisfactory orange from the heartful dinner.
Blissful pink of the warm water that filled his heart.
The dark dreadful loneliness of an empty house.
The cold grip of white noise tightening around his neck. Omen of an imminent reality encroaching onto his fake dream.
The colour of that sound kept getting brighter and brighter until Emmet cannot even hear his beating heart.
Is he even alive at this point?
"Tsk!"
He got out of the bath, patted his body dry and went to his room to get dressed. Plain white oversized shirt and black shorts. Standing silently in his dark room, he didn't know what to do for a moment.
"Ah! I have to go to sleep. It's already ten."
He grabbed his favorite pillow and blanket. With the pillow hugged tight to his chest and the blanket dragged across the house, he trudged thoughtlessly to the biggest room in the house.
The master bedroom was empty and masterless. The bed tidy, the floor clean, the curtain closed. Everything in it was preserved as it had always been.
Like it always had been.
He gingerly climbed onto the bed, lying his head on the soft cold mattress. His white fluffy blanket covered his whole body, shielding him from the harsh notion of reality and sanity. He hugged his pillow tight in a fetal position.
"I miss you guys," he murmured his ritual as he fell asleep like any other day.
Like any other day since that day where good night and good morning were nothing but echoes of voices and sparks of smiles only remembered in his memory.
One he tried not to remember. One he couldn't forget.
***
Emmet blinked his eyes. The rays of dawn that seeped through the gap between the curtains fell onto his face.
Yet another day had come.
Emmet drowsed himself awake feeling like he always did.
A sense of alienation. This was not his room but he recognized them. He recognized them but not like he always did. The atmosphere was normal but there was this emptiness of breakfast not being made wafting in the air.
Where had all of those gone?
When has it been like this?
Why did they have to go?
"Why did you guys have to go?"
Clear tears dropped from his dimmed lilac eyes onto the soft fluffy blanket below.
The blanket was soft but he felt restrained by it. Like it weighed the whole two worlds. The burden of reality came crashing back at him like a battering ram forcefully opening up his tightly closed heart.
The brutality of sanity.
Emmet would rather remain insane so that he could ignore the realization of what had happened but how could he after he heard…
"Good morning sweety!" said both the man and woman's voices.
Instead of a reply, Emmet wailed and screamed in silence. His lung felt suffocated, his chest burned, his neck choked. No voice came no matter how hard he tried.
Why?
He never tried screaming before, not even a wail of cry on that fateful day. But now when he wanted to do it, he couldn't.
Why?
Why was he like this?
'Why am I like this?'
These questions, he asked to himself silently because deep down he knew…
Nobody would be there to answer him
No words of reassurance. No sweet nothing. Only the harsh reminder of what the silence indicated.
The voice did not console him. They were unable to.
A couple of minutes passed. Gasping for air, Emmet had exhausted himself from all the tears he shed.
He tossed the shielding blanket away. He stomped out of the room and went to the only remaining pod in the house.
His pod.
With still moist but now determined eyes, Emmet hopped into it.
Before closing the door he shouted, "I'm off!"
And before the door completely shut he heard, "Good luck, Em!" and "Break a leg, son!"
And the shutter closed off completely, once again hugging him in darkness.
"System?"
[Welcome Emmet!]
[Login to World Fantasy Online?]
The vibrant colour of inscriptions appeared in front of his face, shedding some light on his puffy eyes.
"No. Open the great academy's trial invitation."
[Welcoming the 77th batch of the Three Great Academy!]
[You could be one of the lucky few who would get this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and attend the renowned great academies. Trials would be conducted en masse all over the world for both locals and players alike. Please note the details below and confirm your participation.]
[Date: 24th of December 1013]
[Time: 8 a.m. onwards]
[Venue: Private server]
[Reminder: all participants should be prepared for a minimum of a week time of gameplay]
[Would you like to enter the trial?]
[Yes/No]
His left index hovered on the inscription [Yes]
He looked forward. Though blocked by the pod's shutter, he knew his house would remain the same. He knew in front of his pod was the front couch. Placed there so that anybody who logged out first could welcome those who logged out after them.
He knew his parents wouldn't be there to wish him anything anymore. Even so…
"I'm off. Ma. Pa," he whispered.
And so he pushed [Yes].
[Confirming player, Emmet]
[Registering for Three Great Academy's trial…]
[Successful!]
[You have 00:05:11 of time to prepare…]
"System, deploy prolonged gameplay protocol."
[Deploying prolonged gameplay protocol…]
[Alert!]
[Premium fee of 1 silver is required for 1 week duration of PGP]
[Continue?]
[Yes/No]
Emmet tapped [Yes].
[Balance:-]
[Gold: 0]
[Silver: 0]
[Bronze: 11]
[Deploying prolonged gameplay protocol…]
[Deploying sustenance aether…]
[Deploying stasis magicule…]
[Alert!]
[Player Emmet, prepare to go into the Dreaming]
Emmet closed his eyes. He thought back to the good morning greetings earlier.
"Whoever you are, thanks. Without that I won't be brave enough to push that button…"
[You welcome, Emmet]
"Not you, you trash system!" Emmet grunted.
A few seconds passed and he felt his mind floating away from his body.
He was dreaming into the Dreaming. The land between fantasy and reality.
[Prolonged gameplay sequence initiated!]
[Sequence successful!]
[Enjoy your game, Emmet]
The system announced but Emmet had no way to hear that as his mind was now in the Dreaming.
The preparatory plane before diving into the world of World Fantasy Online.
