"…"
Sozen sat on his knees inside a well-lit room. Under him was golden-colored wooden floor, and around him were walls adorned with white tapestries.
He was donning a white tunic that looked like one a swordmaster would have worn.
Beside him, there was a wooden bokken—a sword made of wood.
Across from him, his father, Aizen Song, was dressed in a black tunic and had the same wooden bokken with him.
He was a gray-haired man with a stern expression on his face and had a short, trimmed beard with streaks of white running through it.
"Again."
Aizen said coldly.
Sozen grabbed the wooden bokken and lunged.
His strike came quick but shallow, the arc of his sword showing his hesitation.
Aizen moved only slightly—enough to let the sword slide past. A dry crack sounded as his own bokken met his son's mid-swing, stopping it dead.
"You do not trust yourself."
He said with an even voice.
Sozen breathed heavily, his hair clinging to his forehead with sweat.
He swallowed, adjusted his stance, and exhaled.
This time around, he moved smoother, faster—less like a boy mimicking a master, more like a current learning to follow the shape of the riverbed.
This time, their wooden blades met cleanly, the sound echoing throughout the room, sharp and satisfying.
Aizen's lips stayed tightly pressed together. Not a sign of a smile in sight. There was still something that he found dissatisfactory.
Then, in one motion, Aizen shifted his weight, sweeping his sword down in a diagonal cut that forced Sozen to parry hard.
The impact jarred Sozen's wrists, but he held his ground with gritted teeth.
"…Lackluster."
His father said coldly.
Sozen's eyes shook, and as he stepped in, he turned his wrist and tried smacking the wooden bokken at his father's sword-wielding hand—an attempt at disarming.
Aizen pulled his hand back, raised the wooden bokken to block his son's strike, and then he spun past him.
With his free hand, he backhanded Sozen across his face, and he dropped down to one knee with a bleeding nose.
A wooden bokken's dull edge appeared near his throat.
"You have a habit of overcommitting. You abandon defense in favor of a strong offense."
Aizen pulled back his sword and sat back down on his knees.
"…I am disappointed that you have not improved since our last sparring session."
After hearing his father's words, Sozen stayed silent and sat back down with his hands on his knees.
The clock was ticking down at the wall.
8:49 P.M.
'Eleven minutes…'
Sozen thought.
There were only eleven minutes left until the grand opening of Black Game, and he had been waiting for it all day.
"You are not paying attention. Go then. I know you'd rather be somewhere else."
Aizen said coldly.
"…I am sorry, father."
Sozen kowtowed deeply, then took the wooden bokken to the storage room and started heading down to his room.
The Song family's servants were cleaning up the hallways, and at the sight of him, they stopped what they were doing and bowed respectfully.
As he got closer to his room, he noticed that his little sister's door was ajar and peeked inside to see her sitting on the bed with a couple of her friends.
They had all brought their very own virtual headsets and were laughing and chatting excitedly while waiting for the remaining time to pass.
"…It's your brother."
In that moment, her friend whispered in Anna's ear and looked quite bashful at the sight of him.
Anna turned her head around to the door.
She was a brunette-haired girl with bright blue eyes and just extremely pinchable cheeks that made her look like a porcelain doll.
"Brother!"
She chirped with a smile and asked.
"Father finally let you leave?"
"Yes, he did…"
Sozen chuckled and leaned at the door.
"Now can you leave, stupid brother?"
Anna put her hands on her hips and playfully said.
She didn't like the amount of attention that her friends were giving to Sozen, and it honestly made her a little jealous.
In that moment, he felt a hand touch his shoulder, and as he turned around, he saw his mother smiling fondly at him.
"Sozen, may I have a word?"
She asked.
"…Sure."
Sozen nodded, and as he looked at his little sister, he saw her showing her tongue at him.
He just rolled his eyes and followed his mother back to his room.
"…I have a favor to ask you."
Sara said.
"What is it, mother?"
Sozen sat down on the bed and asked with a raised eyebrow.
"…Keep your sister over there? I am worried about letting the two of you enter that game… It doesn't sound safe."
She said.
"I am sure that it will be perfectly safe."
Sozen said.
"But do you promise?"
She asked with a smile.
"…I promise, but she is at that age that she hates it when I am being overprotective."
Sozen said with a wry smile.
"That's all I ask."
She said, and kissed her son on the cheek before heading out.
It all turned silent in the room, and Sozen turned to the left to see the virtual headset resting on top of his bedside drawer.
He checked his phone and looked at the time.
8:55 P.M.
There was still a little bit of time, and he checked his friend's messages as they talked about where they were going to meet in the game.
He then also checked the social media, scrolling through the posts, and everyone was as excited as they were.
The age of the video games was here!
"I hope the game is as good as the beta testers said it was…"
Sozen mused to himself and then pocketed the phone before taking the virtual headset and putting it on.
He took a resting position on the soft bed and slowly exhaled.
For some reason, his heart started beating in nervousness.
8:56 P.M…
8:57 P.M…
8:58 P.M…
8:59 P.M…
9:00 P.M…
Sozen pressed on the button at the side, and the headset slowly powered up, and then the visor at the front started glowing blue.
Slowly, he started to doze off, and his consciousness slowly faded away.