Dreaming

Fireworks could be seen in the night sky as the first of January had arrived at last.

New York City could be heard cheering on the streets as people kissed each other and wished everyone a happy new year.

Among all these cheering people was one high-schooler with a blank look on his face, he wasn't excited at all.

Last year had been a disgrace.

Their number one player had been killed while hunting in the deep danger zones of the Amazon rainforest.

The high schooler felt like this year wouldn't be better at all since their country's reputation was falling rapidly.

Elijah King walked back to his apartment with a scarf hiding his face, he didn't want to be approached by people who would ask him: "Hey, are you okay?"

He was completely fine, he just felt there wasn't anything to celebrate. 

Yes, a new year was here...

But what was the difference?

Nothing significant would change today.

It was just the usual, boring Monday.

Elijah had Winter vacation, to celebrate Christmas.

He spent most of his days playing videogames or reading novels.

When his mother asked him why he read novels, he only had one answer.

"They're fascinating." 

These days, novels about the current situation of the world were very popular. 

Only 1 in 100 people awakened, so not many had an idea of what that world was like.

The common folks usually watched the National League every year.

A competition where teams of Players would compete to be the strongest nation.

But what it was like to be one of the people competing in that very competition was unknown to most.

That's why Elijah loved novels, they would create a character that started weak and got strong enough to compete in the National League.

It gave him more insight into to world of Players, and thus inspiring him to awaken one day as well.

The high-schooler arrived at his apartment and was greeted warmly by his family.

Samantha, his mother, greeted him first by giving him a hug and wishing him a happy new year. She always called him Eli since it was easier, and in her opinion cuter as well.

Liam, his little brother was next as he just said "Hello." as he continued playing on his iPad.

Eli had an older sister as well, but she had already moved out and he hadn't heard from her a lot.

His mom said she got a good job and moved into her own apartment somewhere in Europe.

Eli didn't have any reason to think his mom was lying so he believed her whole-heartedly.

It was already late, but for some reason nobody in the house was asleep.

'Maybe it was the fireworks.' Eli assumed.

He entered his room and laid down on his bed.

'School starts a week from now, huh?'

'I don't mind, there's nothing to do anyways.'

Life was average, Eli felt like he was an NPC in a world of main characters.

He couldn't remember the last time a non-Awakener had been in the news, it was that long ago.

He felt like common people were being overlooked by other common people, with all the focus going towards the Players.

Not many interesting things happened for him.

While he was contemplating about life, he turned on a live-stream.

There was a Player streaming about entering a danger zone somewhere in Los Angeles.

These streams were very popular as even low-ranked players would easily get thousands of viewers.

This was one of the reasons everybody wished to awaken. The money you could earn in some of the easiest ways was crazy. 

A Player live-streamer with around 3000 viewers, streaming around one hour every day had a hefty earning of around 80 thousand dollars each year. 

Eli knew there was also a big downside to being a Player.

Players' death rate was crazy, around 30% of them died before reaching the 5th year after Awakening.

This was because of underestimating the Monsters and overestimating themselves.

Eli snapped out of his trance as he knew thinking about any of those thoughts was useless.

None of that world had anything to do with him.

People could awaken from 6-18 years old, excluding the people that were born before the Apocalypse happened.

He turned 17 on December 5th, around a month ago.

The optimism wasn't there anymore but he did still have hope.

If he awakened, his family would be better off.

He could buy a bigger apartment in NYC or he could move into a mansion somewhere on the countryside.

Hell, if he was very successful he could even start his own clan.

The children of Players had 100% chance to be a Player as well.

This was a big reason some of the older Players had already started a clan.

These people with a clan sometimes had well over 8 children with different women.

Players, when awakened, would receive a System.

A System was like an interface that told them their stats, their level, and what kind of equipment and skills they had.

Each System was unique, there were no two of the same System.

This meant there were Systems for everything you can think of.

Gardening, nurturing, farming, housekeeping.

Obviously these Systems were less wanted as they didn't have any cool abilities you can show off with. 

People with these Systems usually worked for rich families or clans.

Elijah had met a couple of Players before, but they weren't his favourite encounters.

Players usually thought of themselves as above the common folk, like they were some kind of other species.

The top Players usually kept a good attitude, but Eli knew that was just on the surface.

They had to keep a good image since the entire world had their attention on them.

This was the state of Earth at the moment, boring for common folks, but entertaining for Players.

Elijah could only dream of awakening someday and elevating his status and relieving him from a boring life.