1 Eshe Brooks
"Temptation." I murmur to myself. "Thats the first time that name is on the most played list. Hmm… if I remember correctly, then that game has lots of NPC glitches and some rarity glitches, plus it's basically impossible to beat unless you are god ranked. Have the GM's fixed that yet? Wait, isn't that a game I made? Hmm… Heh, it is. Huh." I glance around my room expecting Lilith to burst in at any second, telling me to stop looking up random garbage on the 'work only' computer I am currently using. I peer around my spacious room again, looking for something I could say was homework. My room is an L shape, with a light purple wallpaper and dark brown wooden flooring with a high ceiling and a small chandelier. There is a window at one end with my queen sized bed directly under it. It has fluffy grey pillows and a deep blue quilt. I keep many bookshelves in my room at all times and they are overflowing with work books, manga, and books on how to interact with other people. I don't currently have any friends and at school I am lonely and my only company are my books. I have separate classes because I am smart enough to be in year 7 but am only in year 5. The school I go to is a school for people who have problems and are held back a year. I have no friends, am bad at communicating and 2 years above what is expected of me. A bad mix. I finally end up using the leftover homework from yesterday that is super easy as a diversion from what I am actually doing. I hear a knock on my door.
I frantically cover up the fact I was searching up games on my computer. Lilith peeks into my room to tell me its time for dinner and scolds me about not doing my homework.
I come downstairs and am greeted by my mother and our Border Collie, Isabelline (Isa).
"There you are! Come here and eat with us Eshe!" My mother (Ædel) exclaims.
I sit down and ask my mother where my dad is very quietly.
"Oh, you know, he's ever the adventurer, so he might be exploring a new part of the ocean for all I know!" She replies.
We all know that my mother broke up with my father but I always ask that question to see what my mother comes up with this time.
"So," I whisper as I start to eat.
"I've gone over this, what, 100 times now! I am not letting you get a game! Its too risky! You could begin to fall behind in class! Or worse! Be unable to communicate with ANYONE outside of this household! You could even have online friends, and their the WORST! You don't know who they are or their gender, and they may just be a creepy person who wants to get close to you!" She declares.
"But what if I have time dedicated to ACTUAL friends, the game, school, and homework! Plus, it could help me make friends by boosting my confidence within the game, and it being inside of me, supporting my confidence outside of the game as well! You know very well that that is a possibility!" I reason quietly with my mother in this ongoing battle. After 10 minutes of that ongoing debate, my mother won again. We continue to eat our dinner in silence. After dinner I head to bed after finishing the homework. I fall asleep instantly.
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When I wake up, its 5:59 am. I get up and get dressed. Heading downstairs, I notice that I have another application form to sign. This ones for Haliman College. I continue downstairs to find that breakfast is ready. I thank Lilith with a slight nod and start eating.
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I head quietly to school as I silently replay the debate of last night, noting what I can do to win next time. I turn the corner and find that I'm surrounded by a group of bullies. I recognize this group, they're the ones who bully weak people in my school. I stare silently at them, waiting for them to say something. All they do is launch at me with giant smirks and flying fists. It's over before anything happens. I have them all knocked out and continue onto school like nothing happened. Someone comes running at me and I instantly turn around to find its only May, a girl in my year. I continue to school while ignoring her.
"Wow! I didn't know you could do that! Can you teach me? Please!" She begs.
All I do is shake my head. Then, after a few more rounds of her asking and me shaking my head, I give in and nod my head.
"Yay! So, where do you want to meet? I have thought of a few options. 1. Your place. 2. My place. 3. The public gym down the road. 4. The school gym. 5. Another option I don't know."
After careful consideration, I put four fingers up.
"Aww! I wanted to go to your house!" She whined. "Oh, do you have any VR games we could play after?"
I shake my head.
"OK! I'm going to make you get one so we can play to gather. Is that OK?"
Again, I shake my head. And again, after a few times I eventually give in.
"Yay! Now we just have to choose the game. How would you like to play a game called 'Temptation'? It's the most played although it does have some money glitches if you pay for anything with real-life money."
After a moment of contemplating, I nod yes because I want to see what glitches it still has.
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After the training session, she 'trails' me all the way to my house. I open the door to our miniature house and she steps in without hesitation, as if she owns the place. I head to the kitchen and am greeted by my sister who gives me a cookie. I nod my thanks and gesture to May. Lilith gets the hint and offers May a cookie as well.
"This is the first time Eshe has had friends over, so sorry if the house is a bit messy." Lilith apologizes.
"Oh, no, it's fine. Say, is there any way that we can get Eshe here a VR Headset? I want to play with her online."
"Oh, you mean that thing that she's always bugging Mum about? The VR Headset thingy that comes with a game?"
"Yep!"
"Oh, then you might just be the thing that gives Mum the confidence to say yes to her."
As if summoned by her name, Mother appears, stepping gracefully down the stairs in one of her work outfits. She's talking on the phone when she notices May. She stops short and hangs up.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my house!?" Mother screeches.
It takes around five minutes for Mother to calm down enough for us to explain that May is an acquaintance of mine. We allege and sit at the dining table and May tries to persuade my Mother while I silently encourage her on.
"Only if you still do your homework and do everything else you used to do, plus you have to hang out with May outside of the game. And after ALL of that can you play, and only for a few hours at a time." Those were her requirements to the acceptance. I borrowed May's VR Headset for a while and I got started on making a new one that looks like an earpiece and is invisible to everyone. It took me two weeks, but I finally perfected it. It is an earpiece with a visor covering the eyes. I painted the earpiece purple and light blue. I also gave it the name 'Visilay'. The name doesn't mean anything, I just thought it sounded cool.
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At school the next day, I met up with May, returned her borrowed VR Headset, and we talked about what name I should use. I have a communication disorder so I just left the talking up to May and nodded my head most of the time. We came up with many ideas. The most popular is Reina. I gather all of the details of what's going on and when. Apparently May's in game name is Aya. I chose to focus on speed, magic and defense for my character. My plan is to choose a good job and gather money quickly.
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After school we meet at the gym to continue our training. May has grown used to my hand signals so I don't have to communicate. After a 4 hour session, we head to my house and May helps me speak. I manage to say a few sentences. May thinks I don't talk much because I don't get out much to enjoy nature, or because I don't have any friends. After May leaves I ask my Mother if I may play the VR game. She answers with a do as you please, as she is currently on the phone and didn't hear what I said. I wander into my room and put the Visilay on. I lay on my bed and close my eyes. "Begin; Temptation" I whisper as my consciousness falls into the void of oblivion.
