*Knock Knock*
A voice could be heard knocking on the door from outside the room. The knocking slowly became more aggressive as the knocker didn't get any response from inside the room.
"Hey! Dinner is ready. Mom is calling for you! You are watching porn, huh? That's why you won't open the door." A voice from a girl could be heard outside with a teasing tone.
*Creak*
As the door opened, a girl in her pajamas was standing behind the door. Her blonde hair is at shoulder length, which compliments her slender face quite nicely. Her eyes resemble the quiet and tranquil sky in the middle of the day, a perfect blue.
She stood there with a pout on her face and one hand on the hip, openly showing her frustration.
"Watch what you say! If Mom heard it and misunderstood about it, she would definitely scold me!" A boy replied while still holding the door handle.
The boy's features are almost as similar to the girl standing before him. A blonde messy hair with similar eye colors. If the boy ever dressed in a girly dress with his hair long enough, no one would ever guess it...
He had his gaze upward just to meet her eyes. The boy stood at the girl's chest level, with approximately 30cm difference in them.
"Or what? I'm not wrong, am I? If a boy in puberty is alone in a room with his laptop, what else would he do besides beating his meat off?" The girl teased with a smirk.
"Jeez! Can you please just shut up!" He replied in an annoyed tone while closing his eyes and raising both his hands in a pushing motion toward the girl's abdomen.
The girl effortlessly grabbed both his hands by the wrist and brought them together by force to disable any movement.
"Oh! Look at this, what is this little idiot doing? Are you gonna push me? Or perhaps you are trying to cop a feel on my breasts, huh?" The girl once again teased with a wide grin on her face as she proudly puffed her chest.
"MOOOM! SIS IS DOING BAD THINGS TO ME AGAIN!" The boy shouted while he tried to break free from the girl's grasp.
"BOTH OF YOU! HURRY UP AND COME DOWN HERE, THE FOOD IS GOING COLD!" The loud voice of a woman could be heard, filled with pressure in each of the words she uttered.
Even though the source of the voice is not visible to the two quarreling, but the voice itself is enough to carry her presence near them as they froze after hearing her yell.
The girl let go of the boy's hands, "No fun..." The girl muttered as she glared at the poor boy caressing his wrists.
"Seriously... what a brute. When will you ever gonna get a boyfriend." The boy retorted with a pained expression while glaring back at the girl.
*Smack*
"Aww! Hey, that hurts!" The boy complained as he touched the back of his head.
They continued their banter while they made their way toward the living room, where the dinner was served.
A man in his forties could be seen sitting on the couch with a remote in his hand scrolling through the TV channels.
The man has a wavy blonde hair covering down to his ears. His weary eyes lit up as he saw the two enter the living room, still doing their banter.
"Ah, hey! Energetic as usual, huh? Seriously, if it's not for dinner, I guess you won't even come out here." The man spoke cheerfully as his cheeks slowly raised and formed shallow dimples.
The man had a beautiful smile formed on his fatigued face. If someone has never seen a genuine smile in their life. Then they would, after they saw this man's smile.
"What do you mean by that? I'm not a hikikomori..." The boy replied with an eyebrow raised.
"Yes, but you almost turned to one. So, at least always talk with the people close to you if you ever have any problem," The woman said as she prepared the food on the table in front of the TV.
The boy could only force a smile after hearing the woman's words.
The woman wiped away the sweat in her temple as she arranged the variety of food on the table.
One could definitely discern this couple was a pair that stole everyone's gaze when they were in their youth. The woman's face is an uncanny representation of the girl if she grows old, with the exception of black hair and brown eyes.
"Dear, you worked yourself hard again... Look at how sweaty you are," The man said as he helped her arrange the food on the table from his couch.
"It's a rare occurrence for us to share dinner under the same roof for the whole week straight nowadays, especially with how you are all over the place from Hokkaido to Okinawa with your work..." The woman replied with a stern voice as she stood up.
"Well, it's work... what can I say? The same for you with how you've been frequenting the shrine as well to help your sister, right?" The man replied with a smile while he took a fried shrimp from one of the bowls.
*Crunch*
"Can't you hold yourself back, Dad? I want to eat some of those as well! I'm pretty sure once you had one of them, you won't stop till the bowl is empty..." The girl voiced her concern as she made her way to sit down beside the table.
"Aren't you supposed to be on a diet for the next tournament?" The father asked with a smile as he looked at his daughter.
The daughter then raised her arms and did a double bicep pose, "A meal or two won't ruin my diet, especially if the food is from our beloved chef!" She said proudly
"Fatty..." The son muttered as he sat in the opposite direction of her sister.
His sister then kicked his foot under the table, "I could hear that, you know?!" She scolded her brother.
"Aww! Hey, you heard it wrong! You've become too sensitive because you haven't been eating much. Didn't you know it's messing with your brain if you don't eat according to the calorie intake needed?" The son explained with an annoyed tone as he caressed his shin.
"No fighting! The last thing we want is the both of you turning the table upside down again like that one time!" The mother scolded with a loud voice as she took her apron off.
After washing her hands and folding her apron neatly, she finally sat down beside her husband.
"Let them be, darling. It's better to see them this way rather than seeing them being distant, right?" The father said as he slowly put his hands on his wife's hips and hugged her.
He looked at her wife lovingly. The wife's stern expression slowly melted before a warm smile took place as she pecked her husband on the cheek.
"Go get a room, you two!" The daughter exclaimed as she took a pillow from the couch and threw it to them.
The father caught the pillow before reaching them, "Young lady, didn't your parents teach you to not disturb two lovebirds in their nest?" He said with a smile as he put the pillow down.
They are such a warm family... Who knows what awaits them as each day changes to a new one. Hopefully, nothing bad...
They changed a few words after that before actually praying for the food and finally started eating it.
"Hey," The mother called to her son, "I got a miss call from the school two days ago, but after I called them back and asked what was wrong, they said they got a wrong parent's number... I know they could never make such mistakes, but even after I pressed them and asked, they only answered with how there was a student who skipped school." She said as she squinted her eyes while observing her son's reactions.
"Where is this question going? Are you asking if I actually skipped school?" While chewing his food, the son asked, "Even if I skipped school, where would I even go?" He continued with his tone raised.
"Hey, hey... let's just eat, okay? You said it yourself, dear. It. Is. A. Miss. Call, okay?" The father interrupted as he put his hand on his wife's thigh.
Suddenly, the sounds of swords clashing and magic particles exploding come from the TV.
"ASHEN FANTASY ONLINE!"
Just like how they say. No matter how intrinsic you fabricate your lies, it will one way or another slips through your teeth. In this case, it slipped from the TV.
A couple of cosplayers with cue cards in their hands could be seen giving reports about the current state of the VRMMORPG.
The family, without knowing anything, watched it with their eyes glued to the screen.
"Woah, this is the trending game lately! All my friends are playing this. They even tried to talk me out of practice to try this game!" The daughter exclaimed with food coming out of her mouth.
"Hey! Did I ever teach you to talk with food in your mouth?!" The mother scolded her daughter while slapping her on the shoulder.
"My colleagues have been buying the whole capsule as a present for their children. Even though in the end they ended up buying one for themselves as well... they said things about hunting together and exploring the natu---" The father suddenly stopped talking after he saw how his son had his eyes fixed on the TV.
Clips of parties going into dungeons, fighting raid bosses, players doing PVPs, and everything the game could offer were flashed before the son's eyes as he watched it intensely.
The father slowly put his hand on his son's shoulder and grasped it. The son was surprised with the sudden touch and asked, "What?"
"Do you want one as well?" He asked his son while smiling.
The son turned his gaze to the food before he spoke, "It's not like I would ever have the chance to play it... I need to focus on my studies and such, so yeah... maybe not. Thanks for the offer though, Dad."
The mother put her hand on her husband's thigh and grasped it firmly while looking at him with a concerned expression. Hints of sadness and guilt could be seen from how her eyes waver after hearing her son's reply.
Like a loving husband, he reached for her hand and held it tight while nodding at her to reassure everything's going to be fine.
"Now! For our awaited section! The new and upcoming rising stars of Ashen Fantasy Online! Last week, we already covered and saw a Player named " Musashi." The male host said as he kept switching his gaze toward the camera and his partner.
"After the time our report was broadcasted, not long after that, he reached the top 10 in the leaderboard and claimed the first spot for Samurai class! I mean, he probably stood up there toe-to-toe with the Chinese player Xiao Zhuge himself if it's not for his---" The female host explained about the powers and everything about the players from the leaderboard excitedly.
Before finally, a sign from the producer could be seen clearly as both hosts had their eyes focused on something behind the camera, asking them to continue the segment rather than actually getting off the rail.
The male host picked up the pace with an awkward smile, "Sorry for the inconvenience. It seems like my partner here was actually too excited for the upcoming new star herself that made her drop her spaghetti and off-railed the conversation."
"Ah, yes! Sorry for what I just did earlier. It's because we actually have a special player reserved for this spot! I am one of his big fans. Tell me, Takuma, are you his fan as well?" The female host professionally handled her mistake by keeping the flow going effortlessly.
"At this point, you would either be a hater, or you don't know him at all if you are not his fan. Isn't that right, Yui? Without further ado, let's introduce the brat that had taken the world of Ashen Fantasy by storm and left his fans wanting for more!" Takuma slowly builds up the hype by letting the air of suspense linger as the drum and other sound effects roll in.
The son could be seen slowly getting uncomfortable. He anxiously squirms like a worm being poured with chemical solutions.
"Are you okay?" The father tapped his shoulder.
He almost jumped by the time his father touched his shoulder, "Ah--- yes! Yes! I---I'm fine! By the way, can we change the channel? I swear there is a new show I need to watch!" He spoke as he tried to reach the remote.
Seeing his son's reaction, the father snatched the remote and held it out of his reach.
"Hmm? But I want to watch this, though? Who knows, it might be one of my colleagues or their child making it to the TV. I need to congratulate them beforehand." He playfully insisted, with a smile.
Even though he is a busy man, he watched his son grow before him for years. He knows every single thing about this boy that's acting sussy right now.
"Dad, Pl---"
"IOKI!!! The lovable brat that swept many people with his bratty charm!" The host's voice, accompanied by grandiose music and clips of Ioki, was played on the TV.
The son's heart sank as he heard that name being called on the TV. The mother and the daughter had their eyes glued to the screen, watching Ioki's abridged journey in Ashen Fantasy Online.
*Smack!*
"HAHAHAHA!" The father laughed out loud after he slapped his son's head, "Ioki, huh? Woah! What about that thing you said before? Focus on your studies? Look at this kid. Lying as he breathes to his parents." He continued with a wide smile on his face.
"Ioki... Iori Kichiro? Kichiro, tell me, why does that boy on the TV look really similar to you?" The mother asked in disbelief as her jaw dropped to the floor.
The daughter then rushed and hugged her brother, "Woah! Is that really you? Is my idiotic brother finally famous?" She asked while hugging him tightly.
The clips of Ioki fighting the Goblins, Kobolds, up to Arwen and Jezetein were shown. Followed by his random shenanigans inside.
The son and the brother that they thought had lost his expression since long ago, was shining brightly before them on the TV screen. His radiant smile lit the nook of their darkened heart, the spot where they kept him.
Before he knew it, his influence had spread even outside the virtual world... The start of the journey for him to rebuild the bridge connecting him with his family once again.