Bzzt bzzt. My alarm clock sounded as if it were the end of the world.

"Why must alarm clocks always be annoying first thing in the morning?"

I slammed my palm against the hologram on my table and peeked beyond my curtains only to see a soulless street, if it weren't for the tin cans maintaining the place, mother nature would have reclaimed it by now.

In the year 2455, humanity was supposed to be thriving; in terms of technological advancement, we did. But in terms of our population, it plummeted — if our birth rate were to be graphed, one would see a vertical line extending down. The surprising fact is that it wasn't because of a galactic war nor was it because of an incurable disease, it was a decision they chose themselves.

The reason, Project Demiurge or otherwise known as full-dive VR. The pinnacle of Virtual technology that simulates "reality" itself, or a much more curated version of that. Free from constraints and hardships, they chose to live there. Where they are basically gods and everything is within their reach.

Our society was damaged by it and those that remained in the real world had to carry the responsibilities the others left, and because of it, they blamed the founders of Project Demiurge.

Being one of those who were left in this seemingly abandoned world, I share their complaints, but being a descendant of one of the founders resulted in me being ostracized.

William Weyland is my name, and this surname of mine surely disappoints me.

My day starts like any other. Wake up at 6 in the morning, do my morning routine, you know, stuff everybody does. I leave the house at 7 AM and arrive at my school 15 minutes after. I don't hate school, though I don't particularly like it either. If I were to say, the only saving grace in this crap show is my childhood friend, Annie. We've known each other for a long time. Mostly because my father and her father are lab partners. Because of that, she also gets picked on.

"Oi, Weyland! Enjoyin' yer cuppa tea? You must have it easy, devilspawn!"

Here comes the arrogant brat and his companions who pester me every lunch break, just like clockwork.

"Why yes, thank you very much for asking."

"That wasn't a compliment, you twat!

"Oh my, you didn't even realize that I was being sarcastic. I apologize for your dim-wittedness."

Seeing that he was humiliated, he threw a punch in anger. Heh. It really is like clockwork. It might look like his words didn't affect me, but in reality, they did. The emotionless face I show is just a facade. Talking about hellish experience, I can see different eyes glaring in our direction: Disgust, hate, and scorn. Oh, I wish it was for this twat, hatefully, they're all directed to me. The one that got punched, the one that got picked on. Heck, even the teachers and department personnel looked at me the same way. If it weren't for my parents and Annie, I'd have probably already transferred my consciousness to one of the virtual worlds.

"I-I'm sorry, Will. I didn't even try to stop them. I just stood there in fear..."

"It's alright, Annie. If anything, I'm glad you're fine. There's nothing I can blame you for."

It's alright? I wish that were the case. I don't want this. I never wished for this. Hell, it's not even my fault that the majority of people chose to abandon this reality! How can you blame someone for something they didn't even do?!

I went home with a bruise on my face, as usual. In order to hide my face from Mom, I wear a hoodie and a mask when I go home. And just when I thought I was in the clear, Mom saw my bruised face. She proceeded to embrace me to try and comfort me. Do I really deserve her?

"You poor thing. You don't have to act tough, you know."

"I know, Mom. I'm alright; there's nothing much to worry about."

Could you stop saying it's alright? Geez.

"Hurry up and treat your bruises, or you'll end up just worrying me more."

At dinner, I spoke something I probably shouldn't have.

"What's so great about this reality, anyway? It's been hell for me for a long time."

Seeing my father's face, I knew he was less than pleased. I hurt Mom too. After all, would a parent want to hear that from their child?

"Son, I know what you feel. I've been there myself. I get that you want to just disappear and live however you want in the virtual world, but have you ever thought about how we, your parents would feel? How about Annie?"

He's got a point. I was too selfish when I said that; I didn't even think of anyone but myself. But is my life reall worth living?

Father looked at me, but for one second, his hue changed. It wasn't his normal nosy look, but deep in his eyes, there's something sinister.

"I guess it's time I told you the secrets of our family. Go to my study after dinner."

I have no idea what it is about, but I think it's what the adults call "the talk", akin to sex education. With my swelling feeling caused by my conflicted emotions, I was near crying. So I quickly nod my head and went to my room to hide it — Like I always do. After that, I went to my father's study, just as he ordered.

"Will, you will be shocked by what I'm about to say, but it's the truth. Everything."

"I'm ready."

"The reason why people despise the Weyland family, it's not really right, but they're not wrong to despise us, either. The Weylands have their fair share of misdeeds."

"Creating the full-dive VR?"

I can see the hesitation in my father's eyes.

"There's a much greater sin than what it seems."

"Okay, but even so, Why are we held accountable for that? It was the sin of Arthur Weyland! Not me, nor you, Father!"

My father went silent, I saw him ponder about something.

"I guess it's better if you see it for yourself, out of seven virtual worlds known by the public, there's one we keep for ourselves — It's a closed server where we keep our secrets and other data. In order to avoid data breaches from happening, our system has no major control over the world so if we want to retrieve something, we've got to go there ourselves. There's no-"

Father halted as if he remembered something. After that, his action became rushed.

"Here, this is kind of like a master key. It allows you to go there but without much power."

After calming down, I went to my room and used my full-dive VR gear and the master key Dad gave me.

"Initialize Demiurge program"

I saw only darkness and the control panel of the program.

"Select server... Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Fido, Golf, and... hmm, kinda looks like a b... Beta? I'll go with that."

An automated voice spoke, warning me of the risks of choosing the Beta server.

"Warning: Choosing the Beta server will suspend Pain Inhibitor. In addition, unforeseen events may occur. Proceed?"

"Yes."

"Time Dilation ratio: 1 day: 1 month"

There's already a set dilation?

Oh yeah, we have no great control over it.

"Initialize"