37 The past (Part 1)
The moment Lin Fang came out of the game capsule, he immediately felt exhausted with his whole body sweating and his brain tired, it was as if he had gone a whole week without sleeping. He couldn't even muster an ounce of energy out of his body.
Lin Fang didn't know how he reached his bed but he fell asleep the moment he laid down on his bed. While he was asleep, there was someone else who would find it hard to sleep that night...
A city, Omni Corp Headquarters
The president of the company had been quite troubled recently, his small attempt to handle the 'Demon Wargod' had unexpectedly been caught by the major shareholders of the company, even though these old foxes didn't attempt to create trouble openly, this didn't mean that they appreciated his attempts at strengthening and supporting his children in-game. What was more troublesome was that the target he had been trying to take care of escaped. He couldn't take action in a short time as these guys were watching each and every action of his like hawks.
His position in the company was quite stable as he was the brains behind the creating of the virtual reality system which had become the greatest profit earning technology for the company, but he didn't feel satisfied at all. His heart felt completely empty...
He had a beautiful wife, two amazing children even though they were a bit too cruel, enough money to buy anything worth anything in this world and yet, he felt like these weird emotions. He looked at the beautiful office of his, it had a professional and modern feel to it, an amazing view for when he was not working, a room on the left dor when he had to stay in the office. It should have felt warm and cozy to him with all its facilities but somehow, it felt cold and empty, just like his heart.
Just what was wrong with him? He thought as his eyebrows joined together into a frown. He didn't feel emotions like these before when he was working towards his goal, he used to feel passionate and was obsessed over his work, so much so that he didn't even attend the first few birthdays of his children, but now that he has achieved his dreams, he felt as if there was nothing left worth doing in this life. Everything changed all those years ago on 'that' day. It became the reason he lost focus on his goal, had insomnia and even depression for a short period delaying the progress of the virtual reality system. Even though he was much better right now, he still hadn't found the cure to his problem.
He entered deep sleep sitting on his chair as he thought about how the times had changed him. He didn't know when but he entered the dreamland which he feared the most, something he had not remembered in a long while...
He stood in front of a massive door made out of wood which had the inscription of a dragon and a phoenix on it. Both sides of the door had huge walls as if to protect the one inside from the outside world.
His body shook as he smiled bitterly looking at the familiar surroundings, he knew what was about to come but he had to face it. He usually knew that he was seeing a dream, specifically this one. He had tried to escape many times from what was about to come but this dream was like a trap, once inside it was nearly impossible to get out. Like a curse, it had haunted him since that day.
He slowly pushed open the door to enter the premises. There were usually guards present to open the door but they had already been fired as this place would be abandoned after today. He would, of course, try to escape this nightmare but he had to see something before his attempt.
What greeted him inside was a beautiful white bungalow, it had a beautiful garden in the front with a massive peach tree.
"We will eat the peaches together when they grow this fall okay." The beautiful voice which he had loved once upon a time appeared in his mind when he looked at that tree, his gaze grew complicated as he looked at it, this tree was just as he remembered it, beautiful and full of life, just like her, he continued walking forward down the footpath towards the tree. He touched its rough texture as if trying to imprint it through the dream. He still remembered how he used to sit under the tree with her in his embrace and talk endlessly. Those were happy and good days. His facial expression was no more complicated but was completely covered in pain. He looked at the tree once again before turning to leave, he had seen what he wanted to see and he didn't want to see what was about to happen next. This man who had never usually shown any expression on his face was going through a lot of them at this moment.
When he was walking down the footpath towards the dragon and Phoneix gate, the door of the bungalow suddenly opened on its own and he was dragged inside, first he tried to grip the ground but to no avail, even as he tried to hold on to the door's edges when he reached it, his grip still loosened and he was taken inside. This happened every single time, if he didn't continue to follow the dream, it would drag him and force him to watch what was about to come.
His resistance was futile as he was dragged against his will.
"STOP", he screamed in tears, but no one was there to listen to his screams nor see his tears. He regretted it, regretted what he did this day but there was no medicine for regret, what had happened had happened and he couldn't change it, no amount of begging or seeking forgiveness or praying could change, what was about to come.
By the time he came to his senses, he was standing against the wall of the main room, his tears wiped like they were never there. Yes, he laughed bitterly to himself, how could he forget that this was a dream. The main room was huge and also had a joint kitchen with it to allow easy servicing, the television set had sofas in front and the dining table was only designed for two. He still remembered every inch of this place like the back of his hand.
As he stood there, two peoples' voice of shouting could be heard from upstairs and they became louder as two men walked down the stairs.
"How could you do this to her, I thought you loved her?", one of them shouted at the other in his rage as his eyes looked like they could eat the other person alive. He was wearing a white scientist lab court and looked like someone who would soon reach his forties. His beard was trimmed short and some of his hair had started to turn white. He was very handsome for his age.
"Keep out of my business.", the other person said coldly to the man in white. This man was completely opposite of the other person and was also much younger. He was wearing a black suit and his face didn't show any expression except the iciness which seemed skin deep. He looked quite similar to the man in white but personality wise, one was the north pole while other was the south pole. One carried his emotions on his sleeves but the other one didn't show them at all. This man was our lead of the dream, the president of Omni Corp.
"Oh! really what will you do if I don't keep myself outside of your business? Will you trap me as well, just like your wife. Listen up young man, she may be your wife but she is my daughter-in-law as well, how dare you treat her like this. She is my Lin Youmei's daughter-in-law and if you won't treat her well, I would take her back with me to my place, she is a good child and would be able to take care of me in my old age like the filial girl she is. She doesn't need a husband like you. I don't need a SON like you" he screamed madly at his son. "Your mother would have been very disappointed in you."
The man looked on coldly at his father screaming his voice hoarse at him. The temperature surrounding him was getting colder and colder as he heard his words. When he heard the last sentence, his mouth curled into a smile that was far colder than his usually expressionless face.
"You treat her more like a daughter than you ever treated me like as your son.", He said, his voice as cold as an ice cellar.
"Since you like her so much, you should see what is about to happen.", he said sinisterly. He clapped his hands twice loudly and two burly men ran down from upstairs and looked at the man in black awaiting orders. Lin Youmei's anger ridden face finally showed panic as he looked at those two tall burly men. His weak body clearly wasn't a match for these two.
"Tie him to a chair.", the man in black said as he walked upstairs.
The two men followed his orders and caught Lin Youmei before he could even move an inch to try and escape. His struggling body was dragged to the dining table as one of them pulled out a rope to tie him up. Even as they tied his body, he didn't let go, he kept using his legs and teeth to try and fight back. A pity his struggles were of no use as he was helpless in the face of absolute strength. This was how he had imagined things played out when he went upstairs. Thus, they somehow became a part of this dream.
Just when the two men finished tieing Lin Youmei up, the young president walked down the stairs with a female body in hand. The person's hands and legs were tied up and her face was covered with a black bag, her body wasn't moving at all as if she was unconscious or even dead.
Meanwhile, the real president who was standing against the wall, looking at this seen started tearing up again.
"No, please don't, I have seen it enough times, please, please, I can't do this again, please, stop this, somebody... anybody.. help me.", he shouted madly with red eyes.
But his plea was heard by nobody. His body stood frozen in place, he couldn't even close his eyes to escape from this hellish nightmare of his. The only thing he could do was watch helplessly, as he committed the greatest wrong of his life again, and again and again...
