1 The Game

"Game of the Century is what people has been calling it!" The news reporter shouted in glee, obvious in his tone he is also excited for this game. "The Loop has taken several awards for being the most unique and addicting game in THE WHOLE WORLD!" the reporter continued.

Overheard in the town square, a lonely young men looked up in the displaying billboards. There it showed "The Loop".

Jihoon sighed as he heard the name of the game. He always dreamt to play this game for more than a month already. Aching to wear those Virtual Reality Headset, which unfortunately he doesn't have.

No money, no nothing. He had nothing to own. "Get out kid" A man yelled in front of Jihoon, shoving him away from his path. He sat down next to a restaurant building. His tummy grumbled as he was in need for some food, but he couldn't afford any.

"Another day without eating" He said to himself, sighing and standing up.

On his way to his place, a familiar white headset peeked through the garbage bag. Realizing what it was, he immediately ran into this. He grabbed it and there it was, the Virtual Reality Headset he has been longing for. Now on his hands, shining as it looked like it was newly bought.

"Nobody owns this now right since it's in the garbage?"

"You can have that." A cold and raspy voice surprised Jihoon. He turned around to reveal a man, around 20-30. He was good-looking and well-dressed.

"Does this belong to you Sir? If it does, I can't have it" Jihoon said politely. He always knew that taking things from strangers is no good.

"Keep it." The man spoke again, but this time he had a little smile. Which made Jihoon smile as well. "Thank you!" He was grateful for what the man has said, he finally have what he finally dreamt of. What could go wrong?

While Jihoon was admiring his VR Headset, the man already left. When he looked up he was gone.

Jihoon continued to walk to his place, he arrived in an apartment building. Noises heard through the walls, but to Jihoon he was already used to the ruckus.

Walking up the stairs of the apartment building he arrived at the rooftop. Opening the door slowly, he was greeted with a cat and a small make shift house. Opening the door I immediately wore the VR headset.

Loading... Welcome '000'

Jihoon opened his eyes to reveal a world exactly as his. The Town Square. As he stood there, a lot of people started to notice him. Murmurs were heard as if they were real.

Above the heads of the players were messages Jihoon didn't see at the first place.

"Is that Legendary 0?!"

"Is he back?!"

"I thought he stopped playing!"

"No Way! I finally get to see him!"

Confused with what the people were saying, he felt scared and suffocated by their stares and murmurs. Slowly, people started to get close to him, continuing with their uncanny actions.

They started to pull him from all directions, which confusingly made him dizzy. Overwhelmed with the situation, he took of the VR Headset. On that very moment, he was panting and sweating like crazy.

Unfamiliar with the situation, he thought he wouldn't like it but strangely, he felt the opposite of it. He liked it. He loved the attention people were giving him. Never in his life had he experienced this before.

Looking at the VR Headset, it oddly felt like it was calling to him. Midway of getting the Headset, his cat jumped in his lap. Meowing furiously, indicating that he was angry.

"Moon, not now." As he said that, Moon started to hissed at him. Annoyed by his pets reaction, he stood up to find some leftovers. Going down to the ground floor of the apartment building, a middle-aged man stopped him.

"Mr. Park? Is there something wrong?" Jihoon asked the middle-aged man.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"No, not yet. I also need to find something to feed Moon." He replied. Mr. Park smiled as he mentioned Moon, also thinking about the cat he has.

"Oh! Well then, I have some leftovers. Would you mind waiting for me while I get it?"

"Of course!" Jihoon politely acknowledged Mr. Park's kindness.

Mr. Park then proceeded to go back inside his house to get the leftovers. As this was happening, Jihoon overheard the television of one of the tenants.

"BREAKING NEWS! It has been confirmed that '000', The one of the Three Legendary Loop Gamers has been sighted just a few minutes ago! The Hashtag #ComebackOfTheKing, has been trending No. 1 Worldwide!"

The realization hit him. He ran as soon as he heard the television.

"Jihoon! Your leftovers!" Mr. Park shouted as he just came out of his room. But Jihoon didn't heard this as he was already filled to the brim with excitement and thrill. Slamming the rooftop door open, Moon jumped out of his sleeping position out of shock.

"This can't be real" Jihoon kept repeating to himself. He once again wore the VR Headset and started to play The Loop.

Loading... Welcome '000'

"IT IS REAL!" Jihoon shouted on top of his lungs.

"What happened?!" Mr. Park was breathing heavily as he said those words. Just coming out of the rooftop door, he saw Jihoon with a VR Headset screaming joyfully as if he had Ranked 1st on a College Entrance Exam. Mr. park was still busy catching his breath and he lied his eyes on Moon.

Moon was meowing so he fed the hungry cat.

"Eat well Moon" His last words as he left a separate leftovers in a table for Jihoon to eat. Then he proceeded to get down of the Rooftop.

On the other hand, As Jihoon entered the Virtual Game, he spawned in a different location, but this time he was exactly on top of his apartment building. As he searched around, he felt a presence behind him.

"Well, well, well, If it isn't 000?" A deep voice greeted Jihoon. When he turned around, he saw a translucent tall dark figure.

"Don't we have an unfinished business?" It spoke. Unexpectedly, it wielded a flaming sword in thin air as well as creating some sort of protective bubble.

"I'm screwed"