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POV Richard:
I said my final farewells to Takeo and Rei and proceeded to make my way back to the city.
I still had tons of work to do today, but part of me knows I won't get much done with so much on my mind, I know I wouldn't be able to focus.
To be honest, the conversation I had with Takeo is starting to take a toll on my mind.
I've been here for far too long, I've been so busy, that I hardly think about my previous life as much anymore!
I felt a wave of conflicting emotions wash over me.
'5 years.... I've been here FOR FIVE ***** YEARS!!!' And this strange sensation of swear words blinking out whenever I say or think them isn't helping anything either.... I don't know why this is a quirk for otherworlders!
On one hand, I was grateful for what I had gained in this world and the bonds I had forged along the way.
But on the other hand, I couldn't help but feel a sense of longing and homesickness for the world I had left behind.
I know thinking about it isn't going to help me now... But part of me won't feel any sign of contentedness if I don't get it off my chest.
Ever curious about my previous life? Well, I should probably start at the beginning then.
This happened before I was one of the poor souls who was sent into this ****** Minecraft-themed Fantasy world!
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{ 6 years earlier }
My past life was pretty good. I had a wife, and two sons, one at 18, and the other 10. I loved my family deeply, but the one thing I hated was my job.
I served in the military as a soldier who spent most of his time fighting overseas. This sort of occupation ran in my family, my father made me enlist when I turned 19, and I've been in the game ever since.
You probably already know this, but working in the military can be a very challenging job. In short, there are many negatives this has to offer, you can get killed at any given time.
As a soldier, I can't help but feel that there is one major drawback to my job that I absolutely despise.
Due to my training and overseas trips, I rarely see my family. Sure I can support them financially, but besides the few times I can visit in person, I can only talk to them through phone calls.
Now I don't have a problem with fighting for my country, but this job is a lot harder mentally for me knowing that I'm missing so much back home!
Maybe I would have been better off if I hadn't been so reckless in my youth. It would have been easier if I didn't have any children waiting for me at home.
I'm aware that my actions have consequences, and I'm okay with that. I love my family, and I'm just glad to have something to fight for!
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Despite being far away, I always try to stay in touch with my family. I usually call or video chat with them whenever I have free time.
I'd usually call my 18-year-old son Lucas had started a foreign exchange program for college.
Part of me is rather worried for him. I know he's an adult now, It must be scary for him to try fitting into a college in a different state.
I always tried calling him after his classes were over. It was actually reassuring to know he's actually doing well!
Lucas wasn't exactly doing the best with his grades at a foreign college. He made new friends and fit in well, but I felt uneasy. They sound like they get into trouble a lot when he describes his friends to me over the phone.
A lot of the time, Lucas sounded short with me when I called him. Part of me doesn't know if it's because I'm not there to support him physically, or that he's having a rough time over there.... Probably both...
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My youngest 10-year-old son Max always loved playing a computer game called Minecraft. I was told it was the game he would spend most of his time playing.
I decided to download Minecraft on my laptop so I could play with Max on an online server or realm. I'd usually call him and get on the game around dusk since that's the time I'm usually off.
Max gave me a skin he found online for me to use for my character. The skin consisted of a suit with what I was assuming was leather armor, silver hair, and blue eyes. I personally didn't care what the skin looked like, but I guess it's cooler than using a default.
The skin that Max was using was some kind of cartoonish tiger skin, tigers were his favorite animal which was probably why he chose an animal skin over a human one.
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Most of the time, we played survival servers together., it was his favorite game mode. After learning the basics, I was able to survive and progress in Minecraft.
I learned the crafting recipes, how to mine more efficiently, and how to beat the entire game by defeating the dragon. I didn't have the level of knowledge that Takeo possessed about this game sure, but I definitely wasn't a.... What did they call them? A noob?
Ah forget it, let's just say I learned a lot about Minecraft, and I actually started liking the game after a while.
Most importantly, besides simply enjoying the sandbox game, I was just happy I could spend time with Max again, Every time we play together, we enjoy exploring and constructing. He isn't going to stay a child forever, so it's best for me to make the most of our time!
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Many months passed, and soon it was finally time to go back home and visit the family for the week. I never felt more motivated to finish my work in a long time.
I couldn't wait to visit everyone again! I heard that Lucas might even fly back home to see me, so far everything is going well!
That's when.... The unimaginable happened...
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2 weeks before I could return home, I got an emergency phone call. It was from my family.
"Hello?"
"Yeah, it's Richard."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"No no no... I think you've got the wrong guy!"
"..... ... ....."
I dropped the phone out of disbelief and just stood there frozen.
My eldest son Lucas was murdered...
Reports show that he was in an alley, stabbed to death by a knife. None of his belongings were stolen, meaning that this was some kind of hate crime.
The murderer was unknown, there was no evidence or traces of who had done this.
This phonecall... It was like a gut punch, a feeling of nausea and disbelief that coursed through my body and left me gasping for air.
I couldn't comprehend how something like this had happened, why someone would do something so cruel and senseless to someone who had his whole life ahead of him.
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I had to take an emergency leave to go back home and attend Lucas' funeral. His body was transported back to us, and later on, we held his funeral at the nearest cemetery.
I was no longer in denial when I saw his casket, he was really gone. I felt furious, maybe none would've happened if I just stayed home... I could've done something!
During the ceremony, I glanced around the room at the faces of family and friends, all of them with their eyes fixed on the casket, trying to find some kind of solace in the fact that we were all there together.
I could see the same pain and confusion in their expressions, a shared grief that somehow felt comforting and agonizing at the same time.
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The service came to a close, and Lucas was buried. I felt a mix of emotions welling up inside of me. The raw pain of sadness and devastation cut deep into my chest, a sharpness that took my breath away.
As I looked behind me, I noticed my wife and son walking up to me.
I wanted to say something... But for the first time in ages... I actually was at a loss for words...
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After the funeral, I spent the next week holed up in my house, mourning my son's loss. I couldn't think about anything else, couldn't focus on anything else, as I tried to come to terms with the tragic end to such a promising life.
But as the days went on, I knew that I couldn't let my grief consume me forever. Life was still moving forward, and I had to keep moving forward with it.
So, I made the decision to spend as much time as possible with my wife and younger son Max before I had to head back to the military.
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However, it just seems like I can't catch a break lately....
One day My younger son Max wanted to show me something on the computer. It was this new Minecraft server that he found out about online.
I was going to get my laptop so I could play it with him, but he just simply wanted to show me it first.
The second he booted the server up, something strange happened. White electricity started sparking from the computer. I thought it was just overheating at first, but this looked far more intense than any normal malfunction.
"TURN IT OFF!!!" I shouted
It was too late, and the next thing we knew, the room was emitting a bright white light. We were both knocked out.
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