Hiro logged out of the game again to find out more about the information muddling his train of thought.

The night was getting darker. The cold air in the early December of Tokyo seeped into his room as he swiped his skinscreen to check Ninecent’s site for information about the CBT.

However, even after an hour of searching every page of the site, he didn’t find any information. There wasn’t even any mention of the CBT version.

It was as if it didn’t exist.

‘Am I hallucinating? No way… Don’t be stupid, Hiro!’

“CBT players…”

‘Who are they, actually? Why don’t they have the option to log out? There’s no way they’re NPCs, they’re too… human. And Liberty, she’s clearly a real girl!’

“Hashhh!” Hiro ruffled his hair and sat up. His head was throbbing due to lack of sleep and reading while lying down on the hard bed.

He checked the internet. Numerous websites were talking about the sudden release of Last Shelter Online, but most of the articles were talking about the value of LSC in legal cryptocurrency and the drastic increase in its demand.

No information regarding the game’s CBT version could be found anywhere.

Hiro decided to try changing his search engine, but before that, he first turned on his VPN.

It was only when he felt safe enough that he entered the special browser, The Onion Router.

[Welcome back, CyberWarrior]

The page on his phone turned dark and a moving text greeted him. It had been a while since he last opened the dark web.

[Need assistance? Input your personal information here!]

Hiro glared at the screen in displeasure.

‘Personal information, my ass. You think I’m a newbie?’

This wasn’t his first time using the browser, of course he could differentiate which sites are dangerous scams and which might have the information he needed.

He input the keyword in the search bar.

[Last Shelter Online]

[1 site has been found for ‘Last Shelter Online’]

“Just one? You’ve got to be kidding me!”

The result disappointed him a little, but he still had hope as he opened the site.

However, his hope was immediately crushed the moment he tried to open it.

[The site is under maintenance]

“What the hell!?”

Not even this browser had any information, where else was he supposed to look?

But to his surprise, just after he returned to TOR’s search page, a new notification appeared.

[Hot topic discussion in the game world]

[Headline: Conspiracy Theory?]

“?”

Even though he felt his head getting heavier, the headline successfully piqued his curiosity. Hence after thinking about it for a moment, he decided to open it to check.

The moment he tapped on it, the page on the skinscreen turned into an empty page with a black background. A moment after, texts that seemed to be messages appeared on the black background.

A post from an account named Anonymous got thousands of comments and more dislikes than likes.

Hiro’s eyes widened when he saw the title of the topic Anonymous was talking about.

[Do you guys believe in the legendary WynterRain’s death?]

WynterRain was the signature username of Hiro’s brother, Yuujin Yamaguchi.

Everyone in the world of MMORPGs knew of the name. Moreover, numerous gamers of all ages used that username for themselves with different variations because of how much of a fan they were.

Yuujin was very clever when it came to playing games. Becoming a peak master in games didn’t require an academic degree, and Yuujin proved it. Despite being an orphan with a difficult life, he inspired many with the hard work that brought him success.

WynterRain. That name had probably been regarded as a hero in the MMORPG world.

[Anonymous]

[WynterRain was a really careful, clever, and responsible person. Suspected to have committed suicide? What kind of bullshit is that? He still has a brother that has to go to university, too. Don’t be fooled by the authorities and media. Someone clearly murdered him.]

[Dark_Horse: Wake up, man. WynterRain is clever, I agree with that, but Yuujin isn’t that clever. Did you forget how he almost got himself in an accident for drunk driving? Stop treating him like a god who’s always right.]

[Ponytailsuck: Just let Yuujin rest in peace]

[devilsnaret: Do you have any proof? If you can prove it, I’ll be your follower. But if it’s the opposite, I’ll find you and kill you myself.]

[dovoodoo: Right? It’s too weird. And that investigation, what did they do to Yuujin’s body, actually? With the technology we have nowadays, why did it take so long? I’ll never accept this.]

[Anonymous replied to dovooodoo: They’re in cahoots, those authorities. Someone with power bribed them. If I were you, I wouldn’t believe the investigation results even if it hasn’t come out.]

Chills ran down Hiro’s spine as he read the discussion about his brother’s death. So far, he thought that his brother only faked his death or ran away from him. He never expected that another person would have a crazier theory.

“M-Murder…?”

His finger hovering above the skinscreen suddenly felt ice cold. The thought made him feel somewhat nauseous and suffocated, but he continued to scroll.

[ForeverRain: I agree! This is my first visit to the dark web. Something’s definitely wrong with WynterRain’s death. I’m glad I found your post. I’m not alone. My life has been messy ever since WynterRain was announced dead. Tell me, how can I help you bring the truth to light?]

[Anonymous replied to ForeverRain: I’m doing something spicy, pray for me.]

Hiro heaved a long sigh. He never imagined that the life of a stranger out there could become a mess because of his brother’s death. Now that he found one, he was sure that there were more out there.

Still, he didn’t expect that so many were unable to get over the bitter reality as well.

‘Yuujin, just what did you do?’

The mere thought of his brother breaking a rule was already unbelievable to him. Except for that one time he almost got into an accident because he was drunk driving, Yuujin was practically clean. He really couldn’t think of anything his brother could’ve done to cause him to lose his life.

He wanted to fly to America right this instant.

Hiro’s finger moved to the comment box and began typing.

[CyberWarrior: Delete the discussion thread if you have no proof.]

He commented on purpose. His feelings were now messed up, and it was because of this post.

Full of annoyance, he decided to quickly log out of his account and deactivate his android bracelet.

He lied back down. His head was throbbing so hard he felt as if it was going to explode any second now. Lack of sleep, no information regarding LSO’s CBT, and the conspiracy theory of his brother’s death. These three exhausted his mental energy.

He closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

…

“Hiro… Hiro… Wake up, you sloth!”

Hiro sat up and opened his heavy eyes with difficulty. It took him several seconds to focus his sight to see who had just woken him up.

However, as soon as he caught sight of his visitor, his entire body froze. His eyes widened and his hands visibly shook as he harshly slapped himself. The person in front of him looked exactly the same as he last saw him.

Hiro’s voice trembled.

“Yu… Yuujin?”