Chapter 1: Heartbreak
Shanghai, China.
19:03
Screech!
A shiny black car screeched to a stop in front of a grand hall, its polished surface gleaming brightly under the vibrant glow of the city lights. The hum of the engine fell subdued, softly melting into the faint sounds of bustling Shanghai streets.
With a soft click, the door opened, revealing a man who stepped out with measured purpose. He was attired simply in a fitted black tuxedo, which adhered with precision to his frame.
Tonight, he looked impeccable, an almost startling transformation when compared to his usual look of being rugged and disheveled. Most other days, his suits carried telltale wrinkles of long and belabored hours, while on his face there would be the faint shadow of neglect; the supposition that the cares of one's person come after all others.
At every observable corner of the illuminated parking lot that seemed to have no end, luxury cars gleamed under the city lights, their surfaces reflecting the lavishness surrounding them.
The air was thick with the smell of money and expensive perfume while people in high-priced clothes wandered in a crowd clothed with jewel-studded accessories and heavy silks. They floated across as if every step taken was done on an area prepared for their sole use only.
He couldn't be compared to them, how could he? But shockingly enough, he was the reason they could gather.
The man in question was Asher, a half Chinese and American blood, and the catalyst behind this event, though he was quite unassuming about the whole affair. Asher had designed the very first full-dive game, an immersive virtual world with the potential to so engross players that they might forget themselves altogether.
Yet, he was-staid and unobtrusive-surrounded by the gilded world he had created quite unintentionally.
Asher looked up, his gaze caught by the huge digital billboard filling the large foyer; luminous at its center, in bold, attention-grabbing letters, was the title of his work: Boundless.
Boundless was no mere game; it was a revolution, a world-altering experience within the confines of a fully immersive virtual reality.
Boundless allowed players to take two very different paths
Players could step into a realm where they had the choice to become adventurers, forging alliances and hunting beasts, or rise as lords, building their territories from the ground up.
Both paths offered rich, dynamic experiences, each more thrilling than the last. The game was bound to take the world by storm, reshaping the very way people interacted with entertainment.
A soft, subtle smile danced at the corners of Asher's lips as his eyes took in the array of color before him. His right hand instinctively reached into his pant pocket and found a small, black, cold-smooth box nestled therein, which weighed much more than his groundbreaking achievement.
Today was also the day when, after years of cooperation, friendship & love, he'd finally be able to pop THE question to Lia-the one whom he loved.
He had known her since his childhood because their lives crossed well in time; they had studied together in a foreign university, getting closer with time. Now he thought that he would proceed to the next step: asking her to spend the rest of her life with him, and all these things filled him both with love and excitement.
He couldn't shake the nervous anticipation, though it felt like the kind of fear that spoke only of hope.
Asher's fingers tightened around the box as he began toying with it to ease his nerves.
"I think it's going to rain soon. We should hurry along to get inside." The voice boomed through the noise of the gathering, and Asher glanced toward the source, noting the darkening sky outside. The air had already begun to cool, and the clouds gathered ominously above.
He pushed forward, entering the grand hall, his presence not unnoticed. As he crossed the threshold, several people in the crowd immediately recognized him. Murmurs rippled through the room as heads turned toward him.
"Mister Asher, your seat is reserved in the front row, sir," a man said, respectfully, with a slight, courteous inclination of the head accompanied by a polite bow.
Asher responded with a gentle smile and a nod of thanks. His steps were measured as he strode to the front of the hall. He was well aware of the gaze of so many eyes - some curious, others admiring.
The grand hall, a cavernous space filled with luxurious décor, buzzed with excited chatter. Tonight was more than just a celebration; it was the culmination of years of hard work. Asher had brought Boundles into existence, and now, the workers of X Gamers, the company he had devoted himself to, along with the wealthy sponsors who had supported them, were all gathered to celebrate before the grand launch the following day.
As he walked, his thoughts flickered briefly to the work and the struggles it had taken to get here. He was no stranger to hard work, to sacrifices, and the constant pressure of being at the forefront of something so groundbreaking. Tonight, the celebration was for them—his company, his vision, and his future.
Finally, he reached the front row, where his reserved seat sat under the soft glow of the chandeliers. He took a moment to survey the scene before settling in.
From the stage, an elderly man in his late sixties stood, commanding the attention of the room. His silver hair and sharp gaze marked him as the leader he was—Lia's father, the chairman of X Gamers, the company that had grown under his careful stewardship. Asher met his gaze, offering a respectful nod.
Asher gave a brief nod of acknowledgment, accompanied by a polite smile, then settled into his seat, mentally preparing for the evening ahead.
Oddly, Lia's father returned the smile, but Asher immediately sensed the lack of warmth behind it. The smile was there, but it didn't reach his eyes—there was something off about it, something forced that didn't escape Asher's notice.
With creases, Asher sat in the front row.
His eyes wandered around.
He found himself tuning out Choi Kang's speech as his mind lingered on Lia, consumed by that single pressing thought.
"Where is she?"
Unable to resist the urge, Asher reached into the pocket of his tailored suit; his fingers brushed against the cool, sharp edges of a black box. He played with it almost fiercely, moving it up-and-down with his fingers.
Breathing out, a long and steady breath, he pulled his phone from his pocket. He kept his hand hovering for a moment above the screen, hesitant, and then found the buttons. It all seemed like there was a split second more required for every move, as if the movement was as heavy as it made it feel.
Lia's name lit up the screen, the photo beside it a cruel mockery of better days. Sure, he did love her—and still did—but the more time passed, the more distant she was becoming.
Lia's name flashed on the screen, and her photo profile was a reminder of happier times. Without a doubt, he loved her-and still did-but it seemed as though with every passing day she would be farther and farther away.
It was as if she could pronounce the known words she was always saying, though there was something unread between them. Not to mention how busy she had been the last few months.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
Voicemail.
He muttered, "Where are you, Lia?" under his breath, his voice drowned by the room's soft hum.
Asher let out a sharp breath from his nostrils, annoyance boiling behind his eyelids.
He muttered low, wondering to himself, "Where are you, Lia?" - his voice swallowed by the soft tones of the room.
As time had went on, a shrill voice rose, reverberated like thunder against the ground, and held that modulated, almost mechanical quality that one would expect from a person who has held a speech a thousand times before, well-rehearsed, confident and wholly comfortable with every syllable.
"Ladies and gentlemen," called Choi Kang, Lia's father, who stood tall at the head of the room.
His voice cut through the quiet conversations. "A toast!
A polite applause rippled through the audience, Asher, startled wide-awake from his thoughts, looked down to find a wine glass in his hand.
When had he taken it? He could not even remember the server reaching close enough, let alone the fact that he had been given a drink. His mind was just too consumed by Lia's absence, looming in the air at the back of his mind.
Choi Kang's eyes had swept the room, stopping momentarily on Asher.
Their eyes held, and for one thrilling, flashing instant, Asher was certain he'd seen something in the likes of compassion? Calculation? Contempt? And then, just as quickly, it was gone, and the taste in his mouth was bitter. He hadn't long to think about it.
Because just then, from the corner of his eye, he saw a motion of a person coming toward him.
Not in a careening, mad-dog fashion, rather in a calculatedly slow and steady, passive-aggressively weaving fashion, in and out through the crowd's servants and butlers.
The person in question was clearly a security guard. The dead giveaway? Black glasses, short and tidy black hair, a threatening facial structure, and a clean shave.
He had collided with a few of the workers without so much as an apology or a glance in their direction. His eyes, however, were fixed squarely on Asher.
As he approached the table, Asher caught a small glimpse of a tattoo on the security man's forearm as his sleeve raised, extending just past his cuff. It was a design that struck Asher as very much out of place.
"Mister Asher," he said. "Miss Lia wants to see you outside."
The words striked through him like a current.
'Finally!'
He got up at once, abandoning his untouched glass on the table. He was quick to march behind the suited man.
It was just as he was about to reach the grand double doors that Choi Kang's voice boomed, blocking him again.
"A toast to the completion of a world-changing invention," he said; his voice full of pride; "And to a marriage that will secure us the first place!"
Asher froze. Slowly, he turned back toward the room, drawn by a strange, magnetic pull.
The crystal chandeliers dimmed, bathing the hall in golden light as the spotlight shone on the stage. It was a perfectly framed silhouette of a couple.
Gasps and chatter ran through the crowd.
On the stage, a man stood tall and proud, straight as a soldier in his navy blue, with power and control oozing out of him.
Next to him, a blonde woman's arms were wrapped around him like a piece of jewelry, elegance oozing from her being.
Her emerald green eyes sparkled under the lights, lips curving in a smile that very well captured any man's heart in the venue.
"It's the successor of the Chen group!"
But Asher didn't see any of that.
He saw her, particullary her hand decorated with a jewel, a diamond.
"Lia…" he whispered, the name escaping his lips like a broken prayer.
For a brief moment, her gaze met his. Recognition flickered—soft and hesitant—but it was gone in an instant, replaced by a cold, distant mask. She looked away, her body involuntarily shifting into the man at her side, confirming what was already swimming in Asher's mind.
The audience clapped, the noise, a roar in Asher's ears, drowning out all rational thought. His hands shook, and before he knew it, his wine glass slipped from his grasp.
It hit the floor with a sound that turned some of the crowd's attention towards him.
"LIA!" The name exploded from his throat. He pitched forward, but was caught by strong hands clutching at his arms, hauling him back.
The suited man from earlier stepped in front of him. "Mister Asher, your contract with X Gamers has expired. We no longer require your services. Please leave the premises."
The words struck like a physical blow, leaving him dazed.
The sleepless nights. The endless sacrifices. Our time. Love… Lia. Was this why?...
The guards then dragged him out and tossed him on the street like a worthless piece of trash serving no use any longer.
Clung.
The gates clanged shut behind him, a deafening finality. Rain began to fall, light at first, then heavier, soaking him to the bone.
Appalled, Asher could not have believed that this was happening, but cold droplets of water brushed the remaining unbelief away to the cold-hearted reality.
Then, after who-knows for how long he bathed on the streets of Shanghai, his hands slowly clenched into fists.
All the years he spent working to make sure this project was a success ended with him losing his girlfriend to one of the top sponsors of the project and losing his job.
This night was supposed to be the night all his dreams came true, but it became a nightmare.
"Why…"
His heartbroken voice drifted out as he got up and walked on the sidewalk with slumped shoulders, covered in a variety of common filth found on streets.
"You planned this," he hissed as if the words were laced with acid.
"Used me. ALL OF YOU!"
Years of buried frustrations and anger clawed their way to the surface, mingling with today's betrayals.
Images blurred in his mind—Choi Kang, Lia—their faces spinning in and out of focus like flashes of light behind closed eyes.
Their voices twisted and collided, each one overlapping the next in a tangled legion of sound, fast and disorienting.
Who could have foreseen that buried anger, left to fester, blooms not in fury but in fleeting madness? Certainly not he.
The whirl of faces and voices slowed until only Lia remained, smirking.
"Hahaha. Look at you," her voice mocked. "How pathetic. Is this really all it took to break you? The almighty and all-knowing genius inventor Asher… Pathetic."
"No. You're not real. Leave me alone!" he said.
A moment later, her smirk softened into something sweet but clearly false.
"I love you… I love you, Asher," she said, her voice thin and unconvincing.
As she spoke, her hands rose to touch his face gently, a gesture that only deepened the emptiness behind her words.
He flinched, stepping back as his hand shot up to push hers away, but it passed through nothing. The touch wasn't real—she wasn't real. His chest heaved as he stumbled, his breaths uneven.
"I love y-"
"SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP!" he yelled, the sound ripping out of him, raw and desperate, until the silence swallowed it whole.
Whoooosh.
The air shifted, and then, as if stepping from out of the shadows, a figure appeared: Chen Long.
His smile was sharp, cold, sure; this man could make even the most confident men hunch over with just his presence. He stared straight ahead, composed and unruffled, like always.
His hand fell on Asher's shoulder as if by instinct; its weight fell deep into his bones.
This time, he didn't move away. Instead, his shoulders hunched more as if trying to collapse into himself, gaze fixed on a single, unchanging spot on the ground.
"I'd like to thank you for all of this, Asher," Chen Long said smoothly, his voice calm, composed, and mockingly polite.
"Really. You've done wonders for the company. Your invention is going to push us to Fortune's top 5 rankings. And, well, I've got to thank you for the courtesy of letting me borrow Lia these past few years while you two were... practically dating."
"No… She was mi…"
He leaned in Asher's face.
"You seriously thought she was yours? You seriously thought that would work out? What a dumb thought from a smart person."
"All those years you struggled. All those times you thought you were building something, achieving something, everything was part of the plan. My plan."
Chen Long straightened, his hand leaving Asher's shoulder.
"And here we are now, Asher. You,… broken, me,… winning. How sweet it is, isn't it?"
"You think you've won?" he whispered to the empty street. "You have no idea what you've started."
Lightning cracked across the sky, illuminating his face. Gone was the man consumed by despair. In his place stood someone colder.
Asher disappeared into the night, the black box in his pocket pressing against his side.
........
Minutes later, a taxi stopped outside a towering skyscraper—the headquarters of X Gamers.
"Thank you," Asher said, taking a wallet from his back pocket and handing the taxi driver crisp, but soaked notes of ¥370.
"Here's your cha—"
Before the taxi driver could finish, Asher had already gotten out of the car and started walking away. The gathered rainwater cascaded off of Asher's form, making him look like a half-drowned rat.
A neon sign with the words 'X Gamers Corporate' was perched just over the doorway and on top of the building. Asher threw a cursory glance at it and went inside through the front doors.
He entered to the surprise of the security people, who quickly fixed their postures, and nodded without asking him what he was there for, given that he occasionally worked both night and day shifts.
However..
One of the officers looked up as Asher walked away and leaned over towards his partner, "Isn't that Mister Asher? What's with him looking so down and soaked like some kind of homeless person?
An ace of spades was thrown onto the pile of playing cards by the officer. "Eh, what a tough life he lives, right? Making millions, having a perfect beautiful wife, set life, while we're here playing guard dogs for them and playing jack, eh?"
"Damn right she is..."
Ding, Floor 20
He took the elevator up to the level he had labeled The Brain, the central hub of his control unit called Boundless.
Upon barely entering the control room the humming of machinery was heard; this only seemed to further infuriate him. His body trembling, he reached for the black case the security personnel had not even acknowledged and opened it, revealing a fire axe.
A streak of lightning illuminated his face through the floor-to-ceiling windows—his face contorted with anger.
With a piercing cry of anguish, he brought the axe crashing down, fracturing vital elements of the memory unit.
Sparks flew, alarms blared, and he gasped sharply through weariness; yet, he continued. He went ahead and killed one by one all the life support systems that had kept Boundless running.
.......
Panting heavily, Asher climbed to the roof.
The rain pelted him mercilessly, but he didn't care. His gaze locked onto the signal receiver—a towering structure essential for the game's satellite connection.
To his right, a digital billboard displayed the golden-haired elf, Liya, one of the main player-friendly characters.
Seeing a character he once loved, hatred boiled in his heart. Asher ignored the rumbling thunder clouds and heavy downpour hitting his weak frame. He went for the thick wires on the white structure.
"ASHER!" A piercing familiar voice cut through the storm.
He turned to see Chen Long, Lia's new fiancé, standing at the doorway, a gun in hand.
"You destroyed everything!" Chen Long's voice cracked as he raised the weapon. "Do you have any idea how much this cost?!"
When he got the information that Asher left, he felt something was wrong, but he was late. This madman had already destroyed a project worth billions!
"'How divine,' Asher said. 'You've won… You've stolen, schemed and conquered. What a man, you, must be, standing at the very top of a stolen creation, leading a soon-to-be borrowed life, sustained by stolen shadows."
"…You know.. no matter where and how you try to run, my shadow will always follow you."
"There'll always be THAT! thought in the back of your barely working mind, that you are not the origin, but merely a reflection. A pale imitation. A copy… No.. not even a good one."
Chen Long snorted, whipping out his gun as the sky - now really darkening - rumbled with loud thunder, pouring rain down and drumming into the streets with din and chaos.
"Go ahead pull it and fall into your fate of mimicking me, of existing as nothing other than an unfeeling, obedient doll to the real monster.."
The shot rang out. Asher staggered, clutching his chest as warmth spread through his fingers. Blood.
Through his blurry vision, he saw her—Lia. She ran onto the roof, her eyes wide with horror. Was it regret? Guilt? He couldn't tell.
His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the rain-slicked floor. His last thought lingered on one last question.
Why?
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone