Weak.

Holding the brand new headset box in his hands was an indescribable feeling. He had, of course, held this box in his hands before he went back in time, but it seemed to feel heavier than what he remembered. Almost as if all the weight of his hopes and dreams that depended on this game made it that much more weighted.

"I can't wait to play you tonight," Lance whispered sweetly to the box in his arms as if it was a baby. "I'm going to take such good care of you."

"Stop being so creepy." Arthur cringed and Lance ignored him as he continued to whisper sweet words to the box.

They were walking down the Main Street towards their houses, the area becoming less and less crowded as they got away from the city centre. They chatted about the game and their plans and Arthur didn't go into too much detail, only telling Lance that he wanted to focus on gaining strength first.

"Remember to add me as a friend as soon as you set your headset up!" Lance ordered as they reached the entrance to the road where he lived.

"Yeah, I will. Just text me your username." Arthur agreed and then waved goodbye before heading towards his apartment block.

He tapped his fingers happily along the headset box, imagining the moment the servers go live and he's transported into Solistia Online.

"Help!" He heard someone shout and he stopped dead in his tracks. He looked around the street he was on to try and pin point where the sound was coming from but after a moment of silence, he wondered if he had maybe imagined it.

"Help!" The shout was quieter this time, but he definitely heard it. He headed towards an alleyway located between two buildings and felt his hands clenched in anger when he saw what was happening.

"Why are you shouting for? As if someone's going to come and help a nobody like you!" A teenager in a school uniform chuckled as he shot his leg out to kick the slumped form in front of him.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!" Arthur shouted as he rushed towards them. There was a group of three high school kids surrounding the slumped form and they all look startled when Arthur approached.

When they saw his café uniform though, they relaxed.

"Why don't you mind your own business?" The obvious leader of the gang said and made a shooing motion to Arthur.

"You guys think you're so cool right? Three against one? How the hell is that a fair fight?" Arthur said mockingly and the the three guys frowned at his taunts.

Arthur has had his fair share of fights in both online and in real life. He was bullied a lot by idiots just like this when he was in high school and had no other choice but to fight back.

'Once you stop being an easy target to bullies, they tend to get bored of you.' Arthur thought to himself. 'It's just hard to put those words into reality.'

It was around this time when he began to really train and learn how to fight. This, in the end, helped him survive life and excel in Solistia Online.

These little punks didn't know that Arthur had an extra ten years of training on them.

"You're pissing me off." The leader spat and began to saunter closer to Arthur, his eyes dipping to look at the box in his arms. "Holy shit, is this the new VR headset for Solistia Online?!"

"It is." Arthur's hands tightened around the box, his eyes narrowing on the guy in front of him. "And I really want to get home and set it up, so I'm going to give you till the count of three to leave before I beat all three of your asses."

The alleyway filled with silence except for the occasionally groan from the slumped guy on the floor.

"You crazy fucker!" The guy erupted into laughter with his two friends joining in.

"1," Arthur began to count, his mind running through all the memories of the fights he had ever been in.

"Shit man, I haven't laughed this much in months!" The guys laugh turned dry as he began to get closer to Arthur.

"2," Arthur continued, his narrowed eyes continuing to follow the man as he approached.

"I was gonna go easy on you and let you off, but this headset is way to expensive to just let go." The guys eyes lit up with greed as he reached out for the box in Arthur's arms. "Give over the headset and we will let you g-"

"3," Arthur cut him off and suddenly shifted his body to side and shot out his foot so it landed directly in the face of the high school guy. The guy flew a good few feet backwards and crashed into the other two stunned members. It all happened within a few seconds and Arthur nodded to himself, pleased that still retained his knowledge on how to land a good kick in this younger body.

"Get up so I can kick you again." Arthur ordered as he took a few steps closer. The leader of the gang looked up terrified, blood was beginning to stream from his nose and he quickly pushed the other two guys to go and fight.

"Kick his ass!" The leader yelled and the two guys gave each other a worried look before they both charged towards Arthur.

They threw punches and Arthur narrowly missed them whilst also protecting his headset. When he saw the first opening, he kicked his leg out towards one of the guys and hit him in the stomach. Once he keeled over, Arthur then pulled his knee up to hit the guy right in the face. The crunch echoed around the alleyway and the guy yelled in pain.

The remaining guy seemed to hesitate as he glanced between his two fallen friends.

"Shit!" He yelled before half dragging the two back down the alleyway and eventually disappearing out of sight.

Arthur watched as they left, not bothering to chase after them as he wanted to get home as soon as possible.

"Hey, can you get up?" Arthur called out as he made his way over to slumped guy who was still on the floor. He wore the same uniform as those other kids, his young face a mess of cuts and bruises.

"Ugh," the guy groaned before pulling himself up off the ground, Arthur steadying him when he swayed on his feet a little. The kid's eyes were a little unfocused and Arthur thought that he had perhaps been knocked out cold for a while whilst on the ground.

"Where do you live?" Arthur asked as he began to lead the guy the exit of the alleyway. He was about two heads shorter than Arthur and he guessed that he was maybe 15 or sixteen from how thin and small he was. Maybe he was even younger?

"Uh… Phoenix apartment block." The kid mumbled and Arthur's eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"That's lucky! That's where I live too." Arthur took the kids school bag and put it over his shoulder before beckoning the kid to follow him. "Let's go together."

They began to make their way to the apartment block, an awkward silence falling over them as the boy kept giving wary glances towards Arthur.

"So, why were they beating you up?" Arthur asked after a moment as they neared the entrance of the building.

"Do they need a reason to?" The kid snorted. "I'm weak, so I'm an easy target."

'Well at least he's self aware,' Arthur thought with a bitter chuckle.

They walked through the lobby and Arthur watched the boy as they boarded the elevator.

This Kid reminded him of himself when he was younger. He too knew that his own faults were the cause of why he was being picked on when he was younger. It was only when he hit rock bottom and was nearly left for dead did he realise he had to change.

When you hit rock bottom, there's no need to fear fighting back.

"What's your name?" Arthur asked.

"Why do you want to know?" The kid snorted arrogantly and Arthur felt his jaw tick in anger.

'This little brat…' Arthur thought to himself.

"I'm Arthur, I work over at the Shell Café." Arthur said with a smile as the elevator finally reached his floor. "If you need any help again, you can find me there most days. If not, I'm at number 168."

"Why…" The kid began to say something but then bit his bottom lip and watched as Arthur exited the lift. "Yeah, sure." He eventually muttered.

Arthur shook his head with chuckle as he made his way down the hallway and just before the lift doors closed fully, he heard a quiet,

"Thanks."

Arthur stopped for a moment before smiling and continuing on.

Now that his good deed of the day was over, he could finally focus on what he needed to.

It was finally time to set everything up for Solistia Online.