章 1: Try to Change
A young man with black hair and blue eyes stared thoughtfully ahead as his old coat fluttered in the strong wind and cold rain, leaving icy drops on it. In his right hand, he held an umbrella, which slowly swung from side to side like a pendulum.
Pleasant aroma wafted toward him as a pretty-looking girl picked up a bouquet of flowers for him. She took some yellow tulips, cut off the tips, and tied them with a white ribbon.
"Here's your bouquet!" The girl said with a pleasant smile holding out her hand.
However, the young man didn't react in any way, he didn't seem to notice her.
"Hey! Do you hear me?" The girl frowned with puffed-up cheeks.
"Ah... Sorry, I was just distracted." Zayne muttered in embarrassment, scratched the back of his head with a slight smile, and picked up the flowers. He opened his umbrella and headed forward, on the way illuminated by dim streetlights.
The girl leaned her head on her arm and stared at Zayne's receding back, and with a bored look whispered, "Eh... He's pretty cute... too bad he's poor, otherwise, I'd be hooking up with him for sure. Damn, who only takes three tulips? Is he trying to impress someone with that?"
Zayne stepped leisurely forward as two men passed on the other side of the road. They were talking about something, but as soon as they saw him they became silent and quickened their pace with contempt on their faces.
"Let's go faster... I don't want that guy looking at us for a second more..." The man in black whispered as he covered his face with a collar.
"Yeah..." His mate nodded hastily.
Zayne couldn't hear what they said as he was too far away and the rain muffled all sounds, but he understood them without words as he was already used to it.
"Ah... These sights will haunt me even in hell... I hope one day I can get out of this hole. How could one get such a reputation here? Fate is clearly not on my side..." Zayne complained slightly while shaking his head before heading on.
After about half an hour he came to the gates of a massive building with a hundred brightly lit windows. A stone sign in front read, City Hospital No. 17.
"I got in pretty late today... Well, in that case, I should hurry, right?" Zayne muttered with a slight smile on his face as he stared at the window on the right side of the building and a deep sadness appeared in his eyes that he tried unsuccessfully to hide.
He folded his umbrella, took a step forward, and suddenly a powerful stream of wind blew in, bringing something that clung to his face. Zayne jerked his head sharply as the square leaflet fell into his palm.
"Fallen Fate Online...?" Zayne slowly read the inscription of massive orange letters.
Crackle.
He crumpled up the flyer, threw it into the nearest trash can, and headed on his way.
"Looks like it's going to be something big, but do they really have to put up an ad for some game all over town?" Zayne complained lightly.
He needed to go to the fourth floor to visit someone very important to him. Before he went inside something caught his attention, it was a massive billboard displaying a man with long blond hair, and glowing amber eyes surrounded by golden streams of energy with a caption on the bottom that he had recently seen on a flyer.
'Agh, do people actually have so much time that games are so popular? Well, hopefully someday I'll have less to worry about too.' Zayne inwardly sighed and opened the door.
On the bed lay a young fourteen-year-old girl in a white robe. Her eyes were closed and a pulse-tracking device was attached to her arm.
"Mia..." Zayne uttered with a saddened expression as his voice grew weaker. He sat down in the empty chair beside her, placed a bouquet on the nightstand, and gently took her hand, "I'm sorry I came too late today, I hope I can see you next time."
Zayne sat next to Mia for a moment until an unemotional voice echoed throughout the hospital.
"Patient visitation time ends in half an hour. All guests are requested to leave the hospital grounds before the end of time."
At the same point, a girl in a blue nurse's suit entered the room. She had short, curly azure hair, hazel eyes, and a tired but kindly look.
"Hmm? Zayne? When did you get here?" The girl's eyes went wide with surprise as she touched her lips with a finger.
Zayne was silent for a while before he replied looking at the flowers, "Recently, but I will be leaving soon... Please give this to Mia when she wakes up."
"Sure... Zayne, you care so much for your sister... I would be the happiest in the world if I had a brother like you!" The girl smiled, leaned forward, and corrected her hair.
"Huh, Rubia, I wish I had as much enthusiasm as you do. You work all day, but I get the feeling you're willing to do it indefinitely." Zayne said with a slight smile on his face.
Rubia's cheeks flushed for a moment as he turned away in embarrassment, then her eyes opened wide as if she remembered something important.
"That's right! Zayne, are you going to play that game everyone's talking about?" Rubia asked with curiosity as her eyes glittered.
"Hmm? Are you talking about Fallen Fate Online...? Their flyers are scattered everywhere, one even flew right in my face!" Zayne frowned, waving his hand irritably.
"Ahahahaha, yeah, I'm talking about it. This is going to be something really special! This has never happened before! Those lucky people who have already tried to play Fallen Fate say that it is dozens of times better than all the other games since it is the world's first VRMMORPG!" Rubia exclaimed in excitement as she clenched her palms into fists.
"You're ready now, aren't you?" Zayne asked with a calm look as he leaned back in the chair.
"Of course!" Rubia smirked and put her hands to her sides with a confident expression, "I already have everything ready for this! I hope I can play as a mage, an archer, or someone to shoot at!"
With these words, Rubia pointed two fingers at Zayne and began playfully twitching them as though shooting at him, however, after a few seconds she stopped as she realized what a mistake she had made.
Zayne's face darkened considerably, he clenched his teeth hard and grabbed at his pants, wringing them as if remembering a horrible nightmare.
"Oh... sorry, I didn't mean to do that, I completely forgot..." Rubia muttered as she tilted her head guiltily and put her tip-toes together.
Zayne shook his head after a while and sighed, "Never mind, it's my problem. It's been years since that day, but I still flinch every time something reminds me of guns..." Zayne looked at Mia with a deep gaze, then stared at Rubia's eyes and asked, "It takes something to play in Fallen Fate Online?"
"Uhum, a special capsule, that's enough. They cost quite a bit, but I figured I couldn't pass up such an opportunity." Rubia quickly replied before heading toward Zayne.
"Well, then it's definitely not for me, though I wasn't going to play anything like that anyway." Zayne just shrugged.
Rubia sat on the edge of the bed, touched his shoulder, and muttered, "Maybe you should try it. I mean... games help you relax, that's what you need right now."
Zayne threw her arm off his shoulder, turned to Mia and his gaze became deadly serious, "Rubia, what I need right now is money! I can't spend it on games!"
Rubia tilted her head, biting her lip as if she was gathering her strength to do something important.
"I'm trying to help you, but... We both realize that making the money you need to cure your sister is... impossible with your current job." Rubia whispered, remained silent for a few seconds, stared at Zayne, and said, "In Fallen Fate Online, you can make money that way! This could be your chance! You might not make it, but in that case, you could just sell the capsule, couldn't you?"
Zayne didn't answer anything, he just looked at the time on his phone, adjusted his coat, and headed for the exit.
"Keep an eye on her, as always." Zayne didn't look back and waved his hand before walking out.
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