A NEW BEGINNING
" Riley ! I am going to work now , wake your sister up and be well ." My mother's voice pulled me from the haze of a restless sleep.
It was her daily routine: waking up early, cooking for us, and then heading out to her part-time job. I stayed in bed, the familiar warmth and weight of the blanket a small comfort in my otherwise directionless life.
It had been a year since I took a break after high school, hoping to get into a better university.
My marks weren't what I'd hoped for, and I hadn't even studied. My days had fallen into a monotonous loop: waking up late, eating junk food, staring at my phone, playing with my cat, and then going to bed far too late.
I knew I was wasting my life.
The motivation to do something, anything, was a ghost I could never seem to catch. I dreamed of adventure, of making friends, of traveling, but I knew those were things I couldn't have. My sister, two years younger, was doing the same, though she was still in her senior year of high school, studying from home.
Our family was struggling. My mother's part-time job earned less than $200 a month, and after renting our new apartment, we were tight on money. I'd tried to earn money online, but nothing worked.
My mother was overprotective and wouldn't let me work a part-time job outside the house. Online work was even tougher; it required ideas, money, and talent, and I had none of those. My focus was a lost cause, my social skills were nonexistent, and my hobbies consisted of reading manga, watching anime, and of course, playing a new game.
I was playing The Battlefield of Vexar. I wasn't good at it.
"You f**king bastard, if you don't know how to play, why are you playing?!" one of the players yelled at me through the voice chat.
I listened but said nothing. I never told them I was a girl; I wasn't interested in being hit on or judged. I knew not all guys were like that, but who knew if the person on the other end would be good or bad? And their language… I hated how much they swore.
Another player chimed in, "Let's leave that bastard to die and go to another location."
Sigh… They left me again. I was hopeless. I still didn't even understand the buttons properly. These guys had been playing for years; I knew it from the way they killed their opponents.
"I don't wanna play with them either," I mumbled to myself. I left the game, my heavy sigh echoing in the silent room. I got up from my bed, heading to the washing basin to freshen up for the next game. Even though I was losing, this game made me want to improve my skills.
My sister was still asleep. As I dried my hands and face with the towel, I gave her a gentle kick.
"Hey, you pig, wake up! It's afternoon. You haven't even eaten your breakfast."
"Mhmm, just two more minutes, sis, I'll wake up…" She went right back to sleep.
Sigh… "Whatever, starve if you want."
I walked toward the table to pick up my phone but stopped midway. A strange blue light flowed from it, and the light bulb above began blinking rapidly. The ceiling fan screeched to a halt, and my cat growled low from the doorway. I gulped.
This must be an electrical problem again. Damn, this village hasn't been converted into a city yet. Is the game glitching? Did I enter a different event?
I crept toward my phone and flinched as a voice, cold and detached, spoke from it.
PLAYER LOGIN... RILEY SLOAN... USERNAME HARU... IS NOW ENTERING THE GAME.
The voice gave me no time to react. The blue light flared, blindingly bright, consuming the entire room. In the blink of an eye, darkness enveloped me. I wasn't falling, I was floating, suspended in a void. Far ahead, a thin line of white light appeared, and my body was pulled toward it. The light was so intense it burned my eyes, forcing me to shut them. An unnatural silence pressed in, a vacuum that felt like it was tearing me apart, sucking my very soul toward that singular point of light.
The silence was gone. The painful sensation of my body and soul being stretched and pulled had ceased. My eyes were still shut tight, but I could feel solid ground beneath my feet.
This must be a dream. I get weird dreams all the time.
I heard voices, panicked and confused, but I still didn't open my eyes. The chattering died down, followed by gasps, and then a light kick to my leg.
"Hey, open your eyes and stand up," a man said with a calm voice.
I slowly opened my eyes, blinking against a frown. I saw a sea of legs before me as I slowly stood up. The scene was shocking. I was surrounded by dozens of people—men and women, young and old—all looking just as confused as I was.
I spun around. This didn't feel like a dream at all. I pinched myself, and the sting was real. We were inside what looked like a massive circular auditorium, a high, dome-like ceiling surrounding us. Everyone was either confused, panicked, or crying.
CLICK!
A loud click echoed through the hall, and the lights of the auditorium turned off. I looked up as a giant holographic screen flickered to life. Figures appeared on the screen, their faces blurred but their voices perfectly clear.
"Hello, earthlings. It seems your travel here was safe. We apologize if any of you were hurt while transferring," a woman's calm, confident, and strict voice began. She was in the center, and all eyes were on her.
"I know many of you are confused, so I will explain without delay. I believe many of you are strangers to one another. Today, we, the people of Vexar, have summoned you here to help us free our world from monsters. The host of this meeting will now explain everything, so there will be no interruptions."
She glared at the people below, who were about to speak, and they instantly fell silent.
"The Battlefield of Vexar, it's a game you all have played. It is the reason you are all here. It was made by one of our people. For you, it is a game, but to us, it is a teleportation tool created by our team. The place you are standing is the Auditorium of Vexar. Vexar is not a country but a training field for all of you. What does this have to do with you all? Let me tell you…"
To be continued...