[You have consumed one and forty-five minutes of game-time in the cafe. Please reload your subscription again if you still want to play at the desk.]

A notification floated from my screen, apart from the usual alert windows of the game. The monitor glued itself in front of me, followed me around, and obstructed my view. It even flashed a bright light to remind me about my subscriptions.

I wanted to play more, but I needed to return home with my sister, Himari. She would never allow me to go outside again if she learned about me cutting my class and ended up playing in a cafe.

“I get it already!” I shouted.

My hands slid open the settings, revealing the set of options I could choose from the slides. I scrolled down and pressed the button that said “log-out”. Within a second, my body materialised and woke my senses back in the actual world. The world around me changed from pixelated cubed into a dark place. As I opened my eyes, the recognisable ceiling greeted me.

A knock on the door jolted me awake. I stood up and turned to the gates. As I glided the door open, I met with the staff.

“Sorry to interrupt you, but you are out of time.” The man apologetically announced and bowed.

I lowered my head in exchange and answered, “It was not a big deal.”

With a nod, the bloke went to the other rooms and reminded players to play with their holographic reality. All of them shared the same reaction as I had jerked from my bed and woke up with a stern expression.

My phone vibrated inside my pocket. I reached out for my gadget and saw the name of my sister on the line. With a panicking face, I hurried outside before accepting the call. I afterwards slid the green button open and answered.

“How was school?” Himari asked.

I ran through the bustling nightlife and headed towards the streets with my phone gripped near my ear. “Everything was fine. I made a lot of friends.”

My sister hummed a merry tune while something was on the other side. I could only guess that it was the meat roasting on the skillet. The thought made my tongue drool for more.

“I have a little surprise for you,” Himari added, and broke off the call.

My sister does that every time she wants to make me feel eager for her sentences. Himari never finishes her thought and would cut me off with a cliffhanger. If I were dangling on the verge of a mountain, she would stare at me before falling. As soon as she saw me descend, Himari would reach out to her magical stick to save me.

“Geez, that sister of mine,” I confessed, and carried on walking the unlit road.

Despite my conversation with Himari, that was far from the truth that I knew. I did not attend my first day of classes and played for the entire afternoon. I also used my allowance I earned from my part-time job and earned nothing from the game.

“Playing Code again is such a stupid idea.”

I cursed myself for touching the holographic reality for the nth time of my life. It brought nothing good when I was inside that damn video game. However, I learned a devastating truth about an NPC.

The vermillion hood covering her back was still fresh inside my mind. Although she killed the coachman and the king, her expression filled her with guilt, begging for forgiveness. Red, the girl whom I met, refused to accept her fate. She wanted to free herself from that world and seek vengeance on the game developers, and even the player who abandoned them.

“She felt more human than the people I knew.” I second my claim.

I shrugged the thought aside as soon as I reached my house. The lights coming inside gave away the presence of my sister, still preparing the dinner she mentioned. I opened the door and crept closer to the kitchen, wanting to surprise the unaware Himari.

But she was two steps ahead of me as she popped up from the side.

“Boo! I got you!”

My sister went all the way inside the bin, closed the lid, and waited for me to enter the house. I glanced at the container and saw a pocket-sized hole meant for her to peep through. With an evil chuckle, Himari burst into tears. She even fell on the floor with her hands clasped against each other.

“You could have seen your face, brother!”

“Yeah, hilarious. I am dying of laughter.” I said and went inside the room.

“You are no fun, meanie.”

Himari pouted, but tagged along behind my back. She beckoned her hands to the sizzling plate already prepared on the table.

The darkish hue of the meat met my eyes. I can smell the euphoric fragrance of the pork swelling through my nostrils, lifting me to the heavens above. By looking alone at the plate, I could taste the meat on my tongue, with its juicy fat slipping through its sides. The sauce invited me to taste it already, and so I did.

I took my favourite rice bowl and dug into my meal. My hands quivered as I raised my spoon and guided the food through my waiting mouth. The crunchy and flavour-filled pork tumbled inside my lips, creating a rollercoaster of spices mixing with my saliva.

I helped myself for more after swallowing the rice and my viands through my throat. Himari joined me beside and reached out for her cooking.

“Thanks for the meal!”

After fifteen minutes, I cleaned the plates bone-dry. No leftovers remained on my bowl, since I already gobbled all the meals to their last piece of meat.

“This meal is a surprise for you.” Himari stated and locked her eyes into mine. “We need to celebrate the first day of your classes, right?”

I silently looked at her and flashed her a faint smile. It was not a beam intended to agree with what she said, but a pathetic glee to criticise my actions.

“I did not go to school today. I played Code, thinking about earning money again for your college.”

These words never escaped my mouth. Like a mouse captured under the trap, I could not move my lips and let the conversation flow without objections.

“Yeah. I love my school.” I lied, but kept my straight face gazing at her eyes.

Himari gave me a nod and suggested I go inside my room and do my homework if I had one. But I needed the time alone, so I excused myself and went the series of steps, onwards to my room. As I nudged the door close, silence once again blared in my ears.

“What am I doing with my life…”

I hurled my bag over to my side. All the fresh notebooks given by Himari slid through the floor. Mixed with the pads was a piece of note clipped on a page. I reached for the mail and read it out loud.

“To my awesome brother going to school. It’s okay if I skip a year or two this academic year! I always wanted to see you graduate and walk upon the stage! I know our parents are not here anymore, so I will take charge and support you in the end. Love, Himari.”

I felt my face drenched with tears flowing from my eyes with my shaking hands. The paper soon became weak because of the water sliding from my salty tears.

I wanted to quit playing the game and follow Himari’s wishes. There was no point in playing Code anymore, since it was the same reason that isolated me from my family. I escaped my addiction from that game, and I am not planning to resume back to that dreaded underworld again.

However, everything changed as I felt another tremble inside my pants. It was not the sausage that I had, but my device that had been relentlessly annoying me.

I looked at the phone and read the name out loud. It was my best friend, Ryoshi, calling me late this night.

With a beeping sound, I answered the call. “What is up, my man, Ryoshi?!”

I heard him snivelling from the other side of the line, crying ceaselessly from something. I did not know what was bothering him, but I knew it was a grave matter.

“Help me, Okami.”

“What happened to you?” I shouted, but the call abruptly ended there.

I looked at the monitor and noticed a message sent from the game. It was the same game that I played a while ago.

“We are bringing this news live here in Tokyo, Japan. The famous game ‘Code’ has received a massive event that shakes the entire world. Players cannot log out from the game.. If the game crashes or forcefully shuts down, the person wearing the holographic gear will die from shocking the brain.”