The appearance

Huff Huff

"Thank you for always coming over here and helping with the work." The elderly voice came out.

"No need to worry. Let me know if you have more work to do, I'll always be available." a cheerful but exhausted voice replied.

There stood a young man 5ft 6in tall with dark black hair in plain white clothes, helping to carry out a load of packages from the old minivan to the houses. This was Raaf who worked as a part-timer for an elderly person in their moving business.

The elderly woman took out the envelope that seemed to have carried some amount of money from his pocket.

"As always thank you for your hard work. How's your sister?"

"She is still in the hospital bedridden and hasn't woken up."

Raaf continued as he started walking away, "Anyway... I've got to go now. Call me if you have more work."

"Such a hardworking lad. Hope his sister wakes up from her coma..."

She went on with her daily affairs.

***

Ring Ring

The door opened, "Here's your order. Enjoy!"

Raaf handed out the pizza that he had in his hand to the person inside the door.

He gave out the money to him and closed the door.

Raaf was now delivering the food on his working motorbike as his second part-time job.

All the money that he had earned from these part-time jobs was used to pay the hospital bills for his younger sister who was hospitalized.

He was holding on, even if there was barely any probability that his sister would wake up from her coma. Little of what was left was used to pay for his necessities.

***

It was the year 2069, the Voidnet Tower announced its first beta release.

Since it was in the first beta stage and there was not much marketing, it didn't attract much attention. So there were only a few who wanted to be a part of its first beta.

Raaf saw the announcement of its beta release while browsing a forum. He wanted to try out the game so he bought the set for it and signed up for the beta.

He quickly fell in love with it and spent most of his nights grinding it while he kept working part-time jobs during the day.

***

A year passed like that.

"Hello! Is this Raaf?"

"Yes!"

"I am speaking from the hospital. Please come over here right away."

"What happened? Is my sister alright?"

"Your sister's brain wave is showing instability. This may be bad so please rush over here."

"O-Okay"

Panicked Raff quickly informed the manager of the restaurant that he worked for and left the establishment.

Huff Huff

He arrived in the room where his sister was. There was a doctor and a nurse standing beside the sister's bed.

"How's my sister doctor?"

"Her brain wave has shown instability for the first time since her admission. It is low in frequency which often happens when one is about to leave this world. Unfortunately, there's not much that we can do..."

Raaf couldn't believe it, his sister was going to die soon.

"I'm sorry, Raaf. She may be gone at any moment."

He was shattered beyond words.

His sister was the only blood family he had left and she was dying.

"Please wait... What should I do?"

"You don't have to say anything Raaf, just hold her hand and let her know that you are there for her in her last moment."

Raff did as the doctor said. The nurse touched Raff on his shoulder and guided him to sit on the chair by the side.

He sat down as the nurse started an IV drip into his sister's arm.

The nurse left after putting the drip into place.

The doctor turned to look at the monitor in front of her.

He looked at him and asked, "So you're her brother? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry for bothering you..."

"Don't worry. I am a doctor so I have seen many patients go through this. You can hold her hand while she passes away."

"Alright."

The doctor and nurse left the room to give them some alone time.

Raaf held his sister's hand tightly.

He couldn't say anything. The tears just started flowing down his cheeks.

Sniff Sniff

All he could do was just hold her hand while she slowly passed away.

A few minutes later, the frequency wave became neutral indicating his sister had passed away.

Ahhhh

He kept crying for a whole day beside the bed before burying her body.

They had no relatives so there were not many people that attended the funeral. Only, Han and the people that Raaf had known after working his part-time jobs.

***

Raaf and his sister were both orphaned at a very young age. His mother died in an accident when he was 8 and his sister at 5, leaving them with no relatives or friends.

They lived a difficult life until Han, an old person found them and took them in, raising them like they were his own children.

Raaf was given a small amount of money every month to buy himself food and necessities. They lived a humble life under Han, and both Raff and his sister were very grateful for him. They helped him with the chores and other small things in the house.

Han didn't have any children as his only son and daughter-in-law died in a road accident. He lived all alone in his home when he found Raaf and his sister and took them in.

When Raaf became 15 years of age and his sister 12 years, she suddenly fell unconscious on the ground and never woke up since.

Ever since that day, Raaf worked many part-time jobs to pay for the hospital bills regularly. Sometimes, Han pitched in with his own money whenever there was some left. They both loved her and wanted her to wake up.

***

Raaf and Han went back home. He prepared food for both of them and ate it silently.

"..."

For the first time, they ate the food silently otherwise they would always discuss about something and keep the house lively.

After finishing their food, Raaf quietly went to his room and booted up the Voidnet Tower.

Even when he was playing his favorite game that he had grinded thousands of hours in, he felt no joy.

He had dead eyes showing no any expression and slayed the monsters in front of him mindlessly.

A day passed by and he was still slaying the monsters.

A week passed by, he never left the game and just kept slaying the monsters. His stomach growled but he didn't have any mood to eat

Another week passed by, his body slimmed so much that he almost looked like a skeleton.

As he was slaying the monsters his vision started to become blurry.

He still kept killing until he slowly started closing his eyes.

"Ahhh... Am I also dying?"

"Honestly, there is nothing that I want to live for anymore. I wanted to make sure if the old man is living well or not but he can take care of himself..."

He couldn't think any more thoughts and his mind went blank.

***

Whiff

Raff uncovered the blanket.

"Where am I? I should have been dead."

He looked around and saw a familiar old drawing.

"Isn't this the drawing that I drew the day when the Voidnet Tower was supposed to release its first beta? Pretty sure I tore this after a few months because I didn't like it."

He went outside his room and saw Han sitting on his chair looking at the newspaper.

"You are up early today."

"Early? What time is it?"

"Its 5 in the morning. Are you okay?"

"Uhhh what year is it?"

"2069. You are acting very weird... go have some breakfast."

"2069? It was 2071 when I last logged in to the Voidnet Tower. Have I come back in time?" Raaf thought in his head.

"Alright."

He went to the kitchen and made a toast with tea for himself and Han.

Nom Nom

"If I am remembering correctly then the Voidnet Tower releases this afternoon exactly at 12 PM."

He washed the dishes and went on to his room.

"I checked with the hospital and my sister is still there bedridden in a coma. She dies approximately 2 years from now on...."

"I have to do something so that she doesn't die this time around."

He pondered on what to do now for some time and went to his part-time work.

It was now 11:59 when he was on his motorbike going to deliver some food.

Then 12:00 hit.

[Announcement:

Welcome! The Voidnet Tower will now commence.]

Every people had this notification pop up in front of their eyes.

Then the earthquake hit where Raaf was standing. He quickly checked the news on his phone.

"The massive earthquake has hit everywhere in the world and following it, the tall medieval-style towers have begun erecting in every country of the world."

Raaf was confused, "What's happening???"