New Beginning

As Ethan looked at the screen of his mobile device a curious expression appeared on his face. A realistic scene of monsters getting slaughtered by spells or swords. It looked extremely realistic too. 

"The Brand new game Dreamscape Online has been in development for 2 years now and will be released tomorrow." 

'Three days?'

Looking through the comments Ethan's brows furrowed "How did I not know about it?" 

While Ethan wasn't an extreme gamer he still knew games that were probably going to be popular. 

Looking at different social platforms which were all a buzz for the game he grew more curious. 

Looking up from his phone Ethan realized that they were on a street. It seems he was so immersed in the reach that he didn't realize that they had made it off the highway. Soon the car parked on the driveway of a house. It was currently extremely chilly due to it being the fall. Exiting the car Ethan saw a beautiful woman in her late 40s exited the car. Her blonde hair was down to her waist and her brown eyes were also beautiful. 

Looking at him she smiled and brought out a key from her purse. Opening the door of the house Ethan took off his sweater. 

Looking at the house's interior which was pretty empty a sigh escaped Ethan's mouth 

After his father passed away a few months ago his mother decided that they would move to Canada which was her home country. While Ethan wasn't too keen on it he agreed to it.

  "When will the furniture get here?" Ethan asked while getting his sleeping bag  "Your uncle is bringing it here tomorrow" his mother replied 

"Alright" With that he took his sleeping bag and went upstairs. Looking around the rooms Ethan opened the door of the farthest room. 

Laying down his sleeping bag he looked and opened more websites about the new VR game. 

"Maybe I should buy it?" 

He had enough money to pay for it but would it be worth it? While the game looks and sounds extremely cool the game may not be as good as advertised.

He then found a forum from the beta testers. Reading their post they all had good things to say about it. While it could be fake Ethan thought about my new school.

He didn't know anyone from here so it would be hard to fit in. So shouldn't he get something that will allow him to make some friends?

Opening Amazon Ethan found the VR helmet and put it in his cart. He then opened his photos where he had saved multiple funny videos. Considering the wifi wasn't going to be up until tomorrow he decided to save some funny videos instead of using his data. Scrolling through the different memes he had saved he then made it to a video of a man and a child. They seemed to be in a room playing a game of mini-basketball

Hesitantly Ethan pressed play. 

"You ready Ethan?" the man asked he seemed to be in his early 20s with black hair with sharp emerald eyes which made him look extremely handsome. 

The child nodded "yea" 

"Alright, here we go" gently tossing the ball in the air the boy caught it and then shot the ball into the net. Flew into the next with a swish.

"Good job pal!" the man said while raising his hands for a high five. The child with his small chubby hands high-fived the man where the video stopped. 

Letting out a sigh I turned off my phone and decided to go to sleep. When his father passed he didn't know how to feel. While he was present for his early years when he hit the age of ten his father wasn't around much. But he still made it to his games or extracurriculars but then he stopped. He didn't meet his father much which caused him to resent him a little and then his resentment grew bigger but then he died. 

He then closed his eyes with a sigh.

***

"My name is Ethan Hawthorne, my favorite food is chocolate, my favorite subject is math and I love to play video games- no maybe I should say enjoy?" Ethan mumbled while looking at himself in the mirror. 

Currently, Ethan was practicing his rehearsed speech to say to his classmates. 

Considering he moved here recently he didn't know anyone so he had to make a good impression first. 

Ethan then remembered the VR helmet while brushing his teeth "It's coming tomorrow isn't it?" 

After that, he changed his clothes and headed downstairs. Just in time too as his mother entered the house as well while holding breakfast. 

"Alright I'll be back at 5 and Uncle Jacob will be here at 1 with the furniture so help if you can," she said in a hurry "PhmPhmHamwawro" Ethan said while having a croissant in his mouth.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth!"

***

After finishing his breakfast Ethan looked at the map "Let's explore the town" he muttered to himself putting on the sweater. He exited the house checking the time Ethan realized that he had about 2 hours until his uncle arrived so he decided to go on a morning bike ride. 

Looking at his bike which his mother had left Ethan lifted the stand and took it for a ride. While it was cold it was barrelable. Biking in the morning was something Ethan did to clear his head in the morning. After riding around the neighborhood and getting a good idea about its layout he decided to head home but then…

-TANG!

This sound wasn't anything new to him actually he had heard it a few times. His bike was kind of old and the chain would sometimes fall off.

"Tsk" Clicking his tongue in annoyance he then made his way to the garage. 

Ethan then noticed a large moving van entering the driveway.

Checking his watch a frown appeared on his face "Wasn't he supposed to be here at one?" with a sigh Ethan got up from the floor. 

Opening the door a tanned muscular man exited the car "Hey Uncle Jacob" Ethan said a grin appearing on the man's face "Haha if it isn't my darling nephew" the man said with a boisterous laugh "How Is the new house" 

"It's fine" Ethan replied while dusting his hands "but why are you early"

With a sheepish smile, he said "Uh yea I miscalculated" 

"Oh" nodding Ethan then helped his uncle with the furniture. First, they did the living room then the kitchen. After that, Ethan did his room while his uncle did his guest bedroom. While they step up the bed and table and put them in his mother's room she would decide where to place all her stuff. 

First Ethan set up his PC. This was something he had saved up for when he got his first job. After that, he decided to put pictures and posters on his wall. But when he opened his first box a frown appeared on his face. The box in question was filled with different trophies and medals. 

He thought that he had thrown them away but it seems his mom found them. With a sigh, he closed it and put it under his bed. Then he fished setting up his room "Now for the clothes" 

***

"Phew" After everything was said and finished Ethan layed on his bed. He was currently tired however he was happy to have everything done. 

Looking around the room there were different posters of anime characters and superheroes. However, the poster Ethan loved the most was a poster behind his door. It was a poster of all the different characters from different cartoons posing. 

"Ethan" his uncle then opened the door getting up from his bed Ethan asked "Yes?"

"I see you are done too," he said with a nod "I set up the router and everything so I'll be on my way," he said but then he stopped "Oh right there is something I need to give you," he said 

With a curious expression, Ethan followed his uncle to his truck 

"Where did I put it, Oh here it is" Bringing out a box. It wasn't regular as it was one of those high-tech ones. A confused look appeared on Ethan's face "What is this?" taking the box he was about to shake it but his uncle stopped him "Don't shake it the thing is valuable": he said

"But what is it?" Ethan asked "It's from your father"

His eyes widened "What?" 

"There's a letter in it which will explain everything" Jacob raised his hands "I don't know what it says but Liam wanted me to give it to you if something happened to him" 

"I-I see," he said "Thanks for the help"

Ethan closed the door to his room and hesitantly opened the box. In the box was a grey helmet with a black visor. On top of it, there was a white envelope. 

Lifting the letter he opened it to find the same messy writing he was familiar with but could still read it. 

[To My Dear Son

If you're reading this then I am most likely dead. I would first like to apologize for my absence in your life. I am sure you are angry and rightfully so, but I have a good explanation for this. I'm sure you know where I work and know what I do. You see for the past 6 years we have been working on the VR helmet. This is going to be revolutionary but not in the way you think. 

While I was extremely happy to work on this project my only regret is that I wasn't able to see you win the nationals in basketball or graduate from your middle school. I am deeply sorry. 

As another form, I decided to give you a VR helmet. Now it isn't your ordinary helmet. The ranks of the helmets are Basic Headgear, Standard Visor, Enhanced Immersion Helm,  Elite VirtuMax, and finally the Supreme Quantum Sphere Helmet.

Supreme Quantum Sphere Helmet is the best helmet and won't be released to the public until 4 months into the game. Thanks to me pulling some strings, I was able to get it early and give it to you.

I was going to surprise you with it on your 16th birthday but as you can tell plans have changed.

I hope you enjoy your gift and grow up to a splendid young man that I can be proud of

Love,

Your Father]

-Petter

-Petter

Small tears started to land on the paper and Ethan immediately wiped his eyes. 

With a breath, Ethan brought out the helmet but a confused expression appeared on his face "I guess it was still in its early phase" 

If this was the Supreme Quantum Sphere Helmet his father wrote about then the design could use some work. 

"Hm" Putting the helmet on the bed Ethan started to search for more information about the game.