"Hah, fuck!" A sigh escaped my lips as I walked down the familiar hallway of my father's mansion.
So much luxury yet it was a hopeless home.
I had lost all expectations I had from him… from life.
And from myself.
"Hah! Fuck… I envy those bastards."
Oh the fucking irony.
I envied my friends and those gremlins envied me as well, but what would they know? I wasn't living, every day was merely a survival and every night was spent in anticipation of what the witch was going to do.
The back of my neck prickled, the same way it always did when someone was watching.
Which usually meant… they were.
When was I ever not monitored?
I was still alive because that witch couldn't kill me yet, but I could tell, she was enjoying my struggles, pushing my buttons and testing the limit of how much I could endure before I finally broke.
My steps slowed then came to a halt abruptly, I slowly turned my head around where I could feel a gaze.
"Don't you have something better to do?" I asked.
There was no response but I knew who it was.
It was the witch's whistle blower and the bastard who was constantly monitoring my movements on her request.
"Fatherless bastard." The words came out rather harsh but I didn't care, not when he was one of the people who made my life a mess.
I ignored his existence and continued walking till I reached my room.
A few steps away from the door, I felt an icy chill creep up my spine.
"Fuck!"
The curse left my lips faster than I could even think as I saw the figure standing outside my door.
It was the witch or should I say my stepmother, Cha Ga-eul.
I didn't even bother hiding my disdain.
"What do you want?"
She smiled with her gaze lingering on my reddened cheek.
'Damned bitch!'
I wish I could slap the living daylight out of her but I would probably meet a tombstone with my name on it the next second.
"You've picked some bad habits from that unruly crowd you've been mingling with."
Ah… so that's what this was about.
I met her gaze with a sharp glare of my own.
"Should I hold my tongue when speaking to a servant? Or will you lecture me on how to treat a lesser creature now?"
"A lesser creature?" She repeated with a lazy gesture. "Is that what you see people as?"
"How I see people is none of your concern… mistress, now if you have nothing to say please leave my floor."
Her hands trembled slightly, It was a subtle gesture but one I noticed nevertheless.
She was probably irritated by my attitude, but she couldn't do otherwise, each member of the kang family was given a floor and as much as she hated to admit it, this was mine.
Rules were rules and she had to respect that, in here… she had no authority.
She was but a mere mistress my father took in after a drunken one night stand, I would never acknowledge the vile woman before me as his wife.
The smile soon returned to her face as she leaned closer.
"You did well, keep failing just like that till your father sees you as nothing more than a waste of space."
This again…
She'd been doing this for years, chiseling away at me in front of him, piece by piece, until there'd be nothing left worth inheriting.
Until I was nothing but a worthless son.
All so her child could inherit the company.
Not like I had any interest in the family business, I already made my intentions clear but her insecurity just wouldn't allow her to listen, why would she?
Her son was illegitimate and she… wasn't an official wife, her position in the family wasn't even guaranteed.
On the other hand I, as the legitimate son had all the rights to the company, so Cha Ga-eul was doing all she could to make sure I had nothing to my name.
Everything was so her child could inherit what was rightfully mine.
I scrunched my nose while my expression twisted into a sneer.
"You…"
"Hmmm?"
"Your breath… it stinks."
Cha Ga-eul's face crumpled and at that moment I felt a sliver of dark satisfaction.
Her expression… it was fucking priceless, so much that I wanted to capture the moment.
"You must have forgotten your place." She squeezed the words out through gnashed teeth. "Have you forgotten what I can do?"
I almost laughed at the ridiculous threat.
"Sure, go ahead." I said. "What? You'll tell my dad about the game? Do it… we both know you can't, that's the only advantage you have over me."
"Kang Ta—"
"You also can't resort to kidnapping me again, I made sure the next time you do so, all traces would lead directly to you and the moment I disappear, a file of your misdeeds will be sent directly to father and the rest of his relatives exactly twenty-four hours after I go missing."
It was checkmate.
I had the bitch exactly where I wanted her, the only exception was my cat, lissy.
But I didn't think she could stoop so low as to harm it.
Besides, she couldn't touch it since it was always holed up within my room.
Cha Ga-eul studied my face for an uncomfortable second, then she exhaled before smiling deeply.
Her hands quickly found my shoulders as she adjusted my uniform causing my face to wince in disgust.
"You will regret this."
Such were the last words she spoke before walking past me and towards the elevator.
A scowl marred my face, watching her retreating figure before another figure joined her.
Her perfume still lingered, mixing its scent with the cold marble of the hallway which made me click my tongue in disgust.
I internally made a mental note to burn the uniform she had just touched, later.
The biometric security of my room scanned my eyes before revealing a small cavity in the wall big enough to fit my hand.
I placed my thumb directly on the fingerprint sensor and then… my door slid open with a soft click.
As I stepped inside a familiar sound reached my ears.
Meow~
"Lissy…" I beamed. "Come here girl."
The ruddy furred Abyssinian cat rushed towards me with its tail held high, I could only laugh at the gesture.
"Someone's in a good moo—"
Before I could complete my statement, I saw something from my peripheral vision.
Hidden behind a black luxurious curtain was my echo pod, a VR sarcophagus created for the sole purpose of playing the world's most popular MMORPG, Echoes Of Ruin.
My brows slowly creased into a frown.
Never before had my echo pod displayed such a light before, not in the three long years I had been playing.
'Strange…'
It was strange, the kind of strange that felt ominous which was funny considering it was just a game. Nevertheless I took a step forward because…
I couldn't afford for anything to happen to my progress within the game.
That game… was the only thing keeping me alive.