Launch

What a great idea in mind Zoom had a joyous expression on his face as he laid on his bed.

It was past dinnertime and he was about to sleep, but the excitement stopped him, he just couldn't shake it off.

Just imagining looting excited him, be he forced himself to calm down, he needed to sleep early of course to take the game and start as early as possible.

Zoom had already paid and reserved four headgear from one of the many stores that sold the game, the store was location is near him and it's distanced can quickly be walked within minutes.

He forcibly closed his eyes to sleep.

***

Ring! Ring!

A loud ringing sound was being emitted by the watch he had on his right wrist, with an excited expression Zoom eyes shot up.

He threw himself up from the bed and glanced at his watch and tap on it which stopped the ringing sound.

The blue screen once again appeared in front of him which displayed the time on the top left of it.

"4 AM." Zoom lightly mumbled as he realised the time.

He focused himself and walked to the bathroom at a faster pace than normal.

Like how everyday went for him he would first take a bath, the water was very chilly, it felt like he was freezing to death but continued nonetheless.

Hot water was an option but by using cold water he would be easily awake and would feel like he was full of energy due to the freezing temperature.

He changed his clothes and grabbed instant food, cooking a full meal would be a hassle and take more of his time.

The game was scheduled to be launched at 8 AM but it never hurts to be early right?

This was what Zoom thought.

After finishing he once more looked at the time which was 4:15 AM before hurriedly walking out of the house.

Zoom wore a grey shirt paired with pants, simple clothing.

"It's been awhile since I've been in this neighbourhood." Zoom glanced at the houses that around him, the houses were above average being mostly very large, some even being three stories tall with his house being the same.

His parents were well-off but they wouldn't be considered rich by the current standards.

Together with an object shaped like a skateboard but without the wheels, he hovered above the air as he was on-top of it.

Humanity has already advance to such and extent and is even in close proximity to other alien species that reside within the universe.

Vroom

The hovering board rushed forward with the guide of Zoom's control, the distance to the store that would have taken a few minutes were easily crossed in only one minute.

Zoom hopped off of the board before grabbing it and held it beside him.

The store was fortunately not crowded, being in a not so dense neighbourhood.

"Early as always huh?" On the counter a scrawny man wearing the store's uniform and a black hat was casually spinning around the chair that was rotatable, his name was Kiyo.

"Of course!... By the way, has the game arrived yet? How about you give it to early?" Zoom knew that he would be denied but tried his luck anyways.

"Can't, I'm not allowed to, plus even if you did get it early the game wouldn't run no matter what you do until 8 AM." Kiyo yawned, he had bags in his eyes that were very noticeable.

"Hmm?... Finally I'm done with my shift!" Seeing another scrawny man enter the store with the same uniform, Kiyo stood from his seat excitedly before going to where Zoom was.

"I'm going to have to wait hear together with you." Kiyo said.

"Ha... We still have to wait 3 more hours, I'm tired of waiting." Zoom felt his body loose energy by just imagining waiting so long.

***

It was 8 AM and the game has been officially launched, grabbing the headgear he already paid for ran off quickly.

Before leaving he checked if everything inside the package was correct.

'Four headgears... That's it.' Four headgear were inside the large box that he held, two for both his parents and one for his sister.

Just like him, his parents and sister loved games just as much as he did so they usually play together when possible.

***

Running to the living room he saw a figure sitting on the large and comfy couch patiently waiting for him.

It was his older sister that was long awake two hours ago and is now patiently waiting for him.

Upon seeing him her eyes sparkled and turned her gaze towards the large box that he held.

"Open it!" She shouted.

Zoom carefully placing the box on the carpet before grabbing something to open it.

"We can finally play it Ciel!" Zoom grabbed the headgear and immediately entered the game.

Ciel his sister also entered the game with him, both were sitting on the couch with a headgear covering their heads.

Their visions were blurry and dark.

"Entering First World Online!" A robotic and cold voice rang in their heads, Zoom glanced around before bright light filled his sights.

He closed his eyes from the brightness before his eyes slowly adapted.

Looking around he was inside a square room made up of stone bricks, the bricks looked old and were covered in moss, vines and grass, the floor had small cracks while dust was falling off from the ceiling.

It felt like the whole room would collapse anytime, but since it was a game Zoom didn't bother with it too much but the he could feel his legs standing on the uneven ground making his heart beat slightly faster from both nervousness and excitement.

Lighting up the room were four torches, one on each side of the room.

"Welcome to First World Online!" The robotic voice once again filled his head before a screen appeared only two feet away from him.

He slowly walked over trying to not stumble from the vine that littered the floor.

Upon closer inspection he could clearly see the contents on the screen, his eyes widened with his mouth agape, he was looking at his status screen.