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AN: The point of view will change throughout the novel in accordance with the story I want to tell, every change in perspective will be referenced before it is changed.
MC's name is pronounced: "Ahndri"
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ANDRI POV:
"Sigh"
I shoved my hands in my coat and pushed a chair into my desk, barely making enough room to shuffle to the door without knocking on my bed.
Navigating across the empty ramen cups and other packaged foods strewn across the floor with ninja-like movements, I stretched my leg halfway across the room before hopping to my door and exiting the room quickly, ensuring that no one outside saw the mess within.
I exited the main door of my crappy apartment building with a small smile making its way across my face, these smiles were few and far between throughout my life but this trip I was making was an exception.
Throughout my walk I checked my wallet more than twice to ensure that I had enough money for what I was about to do next, it would be empty afterward but that didn't matter nearly as much as the experience.
*Ring!*
The door to the VR Arcade swung open as I stepped inside with a wide grin, inhaling the familiar smells that entered my nose.
*Inhale*
"Ahhh..."
From the faint musty smell of the carpet to the whining sound of the ceiling fan, everything about this place was perfect, for me, it was heaven on earth!
"Oho? Back for another round already?" said a familiar voice from my left.
"Yup, someone has to keep this business afloat, you might as well give me a share of the business at this point" I turned to the old woman with her gummy smile showing and remarked snidely.
The lady scoffed at my reply and tossed a key at me, without thinking about it I caught the key and placed a few bills on the counter.
"I'll be out in 3 hours Mrs. Winston, can you get a black coffee ready for me then?"
"You're good for four Sonny, I'll keep my shares but this isn't a busy day, you can get an extra hour hoho!" said Mrs.Winston with a strange chuckle at the end.
My eyes practically glowed as I gripped the key and beelined my way to my regular room, entering it swiftly and locking the door behind me, no way would I let my one moment of respite be intruded on by anyone.
Looking at the sleek grey pod in front of me, I shrugged off my jacket and shoes and opened it up, sliding inside and shuffling a bit to make it more comfortable.
It was finally time.
I logged into my account and tapped on one of two games that I had in my library, the newer one of the two labeled "Vishwas' Last Stand". The machine took a few moments to process this and then...
Black.
I felt my sight, hearing, touch, and even the subtle taste of ramen in my mouth from an hour ago completely disappear, vanishing as if I never even existed.
And from this abyss... light!
An entire world constructed itself around me, every sense that I had been deprived of came back full force discombobulating me for a few seconds as I took it all in, even after years of playing in virtual reality, I still wasn't used to the transition. Some more expensive VR pods boasted a seamless transition from reality to gameplay but Mrs. Winston's shop didn't have any and the shops that did, were simply too pricey to be affordable. Not worth it at all from my perspective.
*Inhale*
Fresh vegetables, cooked meats, spices, herbs, and more powerful smells assaulted my nose. I would never get used to this smell.
The streets were packed with people of various races, some small and stout, some tall and graceful with long ears yet each with a light smile on their lips going about their day. NPCs with cutting-edge AI that I adored interacting with populated the streets of Vishwas' largest city. They were realistic enough to be interesting yet exploitable enough to give me superiority over them in lots of areas; I had used some of these exploits to my advantage, and technically, it wasn't cheating.
I promise it isn't!
Maybe a little.
No matter how developed the AI was, it was easily distinguishable from a real person, these people were far too nice.
I walked through the streets with my shining armor collecting the stares and gasps of admiration from people watching me, the eyes these NPCs looked at me with were much better than those of real people, their eyes contained no hint of disgust, sadness, or even worse, pity.
As I was in the final act of the game, my materials, stats, weapons, and armor were all of the highest grade possible, a few "exploits" on a few NPCs allowed me to get my materials for a lot cheaper than they should be, but hey still... it ain't cheating!
Vishwas' Last Stand was the second game in the Vishwas series, it was a prequel to the original game Vishwas' Rise. Rise was the very first VR title I played that I fell in love with, I played that game to bits before the prequel was released, a prequel that somehow was even better than the original game!
From the lovable characters to the immersive story... all of it was fantastic, my entire life revolved around Vishwas' Rise, and now, the prequel had taken that place in my heart as my favourite game.
Even though I was jubilant to play this game again, I had a sour taste in my mouth as I knew that this was all for naught.
You see, the game Vishwas' Rise, is the first game in the series and takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where you create a character that slowly grows in strength to take back the planet from the invaders that now inhabit and rule over it. It's a slow-burn adventure RPG where you spend hours upon hours building your strength, forming alliances with ragtag groups, and scrounging up whatever specks of the civilisation that once was to fight the invaders.
For the timeline to work, with Vishwas' Rise being a post-apocalyptic game, Vishwas' Last Stand, its prequel, needs to be the one which sets the apocalypse in motion.
I looked around at the people around me, fake as they may be, their bodies made of code in the stead of flesh... I couldn't bring myself to finish the final act of the game.
Looking down at the minimap I knew that some of my ally NPCs were waiting for me at the meeting point, it was the final mission of the game and the mission in which I would perish, saving a few cities from the invaders yet still allowing billions to die.
The moment I stepped foot in that area, I would have to watch as the people-
The moment I stepped foot in that area, I would have to watch as the NPCs I had grown to care about die in vain, watch the people of this city and those around it crumble and collapse in on itself, with me shortly thereafter joining them.
I ignored the glowing yellow dot signifying the mission objective and decided to spend my time doing what I did when I was stocking up to do the final mission I knew I could never start, much less finish.
I checked the auction houses for the items that were sold, visited a few NPCs I was familiar with, and engaged in light conversation with them while bartering for more items I really didn't need.
Even if it was boring, it was fulfilling. The only part that sucked was the fact that the NPC's I had grown closest with were at the meeting point and there was no way to talk with them unless I was willing to initiate the final mission.
Before I knew it, the hours had flown by and a message prompting my exit had played out in front of me. The smile that had adorned my face throughout the game withered as I saw this and with a grunt, I exited the game and stepped out of the VR pod.
I took a moment to get adjusted to reality and put my jacket and shoes back on with a blank face. Taking one last look at the pod, I tore my eyes away from it and left the room.
'Mrs. Winston must've made the coffee by now... hope she has sugar this time...'
I made my way to the reception area only to find it empty.
In all the years I had come to this place week after week, never once had Mrs. Winston not been either at the front desk or by the windowsill brewing some coffee. This was not something I was used to.
"Mrs. Winston?" I called out, hoping for an answer only for nothing to echo back.
I started to get a little worried before an idea popped into my head.
'Bathroom break maybe?' I guessed, I chuckled at the fact that I got so worried over such an inconsequential thing, of course, she's probably just taking a leak or something I consoled myself.
I plopped down on the questionably smelling couch and took out my phone, mindlessly scrolling to pass the time.
5 minutes passed.
10 minutes passed.
20 minutes passed.
40 minutes passed.
And still, no Mrs. Winston.
Now I was worried for sure.
I spent almost half an hour looking around the building only to still not see her, worried as I may be, I had to get to work soon and didn't have the luxury of waiting around all day.
Leaving a small note thanking her for the extra hour on the notepad at reception, I left the premises with a little ring announcing my exit. I was making my way back home when I heard a shriek coming from nearby.
I turned my head a little to focus but after hearing nothing, I turned and moved on with my day. Sure, someone could be in trouble but I was not going to jump headfirst into a situation like some braindead idiot only to find myself dead, I've struggled too much for too long to throw away my life for someone else.
Before I took another step forwards I heard another scream.
"PLEASE! I- I- I don't have any more!" a stuttering voice laden with fear assaulted my ears, a voice that I had heard many times.
'Mrs. Winston??' I thought.
'Fuck... is she in some sort of trouble?'
My head swiveled back and forth from the path to my home to the alleyway where I heard the screech.
I was stuck to the floor and undecided on what to do next before I heard her start to sob loudly, by then, I found myself running forward as quietly as I could to investigate.
I reached the alley where the screams could be heard coming from and saw Mrs.Winston with her back pressed against a green rubbish bin, her hands shaking and waving defensively at a strange man in a hood.
Even though it was getting dark, I could make out from his silhouette that he was holding something, most likely a gun.
"Shut the FUCK up you old hag!" said the hooded man, emphasising the curse yet still talking as quietly as he could while still being menacing.
I saw the old lady place a trembling hand over her mouth to stifle the sobs that unwillingly came out of her, even though this was a traumatising moment for her, I had seen many situations just like this, and as such I wasn't phased.
'Just another fucking bully...' I thought, grimacing.
Shitty as this situation may be, the lady wasn't in trouble most likely, once the man got her money or jewelry he would most likely leave her be.
"Now listen to me and listen close 'cause I ain't gonna repeat it." The man stepped closer to the trembling lady as he enunciated each word with a thick British accent.
"If you so much as tell a FOCKING rabbit that I or me friends were here, we'll come for ya and that pussy of a husband you have, got it?"
Ugh. Classic villain talk, empty threats most likely. Even though the streets had their fair share of shitheads, most of them were drug-ridden scums with nowhere else to go, almost none stupid or brave enough to actually follow through on a threat.
"Now... you'll let me boss purchase that shitty building for his GENEROUS offer which is now HALF of what it intially was... the other half has been reduced to account for your tosser of a husband annoying me friends. You can find him at St. Cathy's O'spital."
Fuck.
Not empty threats. Got it.
'Hang on... purchase a building?'
Cold dread washed over me, I felt an icy hand wrap its hands over my heart and clamp down on it, a physical revulsion flooding through my system at what he was insinuating.
My knuckles turned white with pressure as I grasped the bin I was hiding behind.
I was broken out of my stupor by the man getting a call and putting it near his ear.
"Hm? Oh yeah? Pft ... hah! What a fookin pussy... Oh?? I see... Will do boss."
The conversation wasn't clear to me but I could tell that Mrs.Winston could hear it and I saw her face morph from one of fear to pure desperation.
The man chuckled and tucked his phone back in his pocket.
"You 'eard the man 'eh? Your hubby said he'll finally sell! Man's much smarter than you haha! Still a fucking pussy though! Heh!"
I felt my heart stop in its place at what that meant for the only pleasure in my life.
"But now me boss says... you're not needed... 'cause who knows? Maybe you'll change your hubby's mind, can't 'ave that can we?"
Mrs. Winston tried to get some words out but they got stuck in her throat, she turned into a babbling mess and looked around frantically.
"PLEA- *hick* I- ... no...*hick*."
'No... no no no...'
'This can't be happening... everything... I'll lose everything...'
I felt fear rising within me before it was suffocated by an uncontrollable amount of rage. Rage at every miserable shitty thing that had ever happened to me, and at how it was always some fucker like this, some mangy... demented, flea-ridden musty-ass-piece-of-shit that ruined everything I cared about, killing it without giving me any fucking peace.
*THUD THUD THUD*
My feet slammed into the pavement, almost making me fall forward at the pace at which I was running. I was never an athlete, never nourished enough to grow to my full height nor did I work out enough to grow my muscles, yet right now, I was lightning.
Mrs. Winston turned up from her sobbing and saw me, her eyes widening in recognition as she fell to the floor.
The hooded man turned around in shock at the sudden intrusion, he quickly raised his gun to aim at my chest but faltered as he looked at my me, an expression of disgust flashed across his tattoo-ridden face.
It was this moment, this moment of disgust and hesitation as he saw my scarred visage that gave me enough time to tackle him before he managed to get a shot off. This was perhaps the first time I was thankful for my appearance.
Bringing us both to the ground, I began raining punches on his face, not thinking, not planning, just moving on instinct and emotion, anger being the main one... right behind fear.
*BANG*
A bullet whizzed past my head, barely missing me. I grabbed his fist that held the gun, and turned it towards him, we both fought against the other to move and point the gun at each other.
Several more shots were fired, but I didn't care anyway.
I don't know where this rage came from... or why it's here... but it's here now and I can't escape it. It's controlling me, giving me the strength to not run away.
Finally, after a conclusive resounding bang, the man stopped struggling.
I rained down a few more punches on his face for good measure but he didn't respond. The job was finished.
Panting, struggling, stumbling, I got up and looked around. An excruciating amount of pain wracked my body... I've been shot for sure.
"Mrs.Winston... call an ambulance..." I groaned out.
No response.
"Mrs. Winston?"
'Is she ok?' I panicked, did I get shot for no reason? Is she dead?
I looked back at where she fell down only to see nothing there, she was gone. Probably escaped during the fight.
"Oh..."
*THUD*
I fell on the floor, my legs failing me as gravity pulled me in for a gravel-tasting hug.
Looks like I was shot more than a few times huh.
My vision started to dim... getting weaker... darker...
"Hel...p some..."
The words I wanted to stay died in my mouth as I coughed out a mouthful of what looked like blood with a few other "goodies" packed in.
This was it.
As pathetic as this life may have been... at least it meant something... maybe Mrs. Winston would be ok...
But man...
'I really just wanna play Vishwas one last time... just... more...'
I looked at the grey sky and felt an inexpressible feeling.
Pain, loneliness, anger, and melancholy.
There was nothing more to think, nothing more to say.
'Goodbye world. Fuck you.'