In the world of Yvestell, a virtual cosmos birthed from the pinnacle of human ingenuity, the line between the fantastical and the tangible grows thin. Here, in the first VRMMORPG of its kind, the revelation of non-human players shatters the boundari...
Matteo, who was intensely stared at by his father, fidgeted with the tableware. His father's gaze felt almost tangible. It was loaded with envy and worry, but Matteo didn't realize the latter part.
"Today is the day, isn't it, Matteo?" His father's rough voice reverberated against the ceramic kitchen floors. The question remained unanswered as Matteo silently grabbed his dinner from his mother's hands and thudded it onto the table. His mom shot a look of pity and sadness over his shoulder, her eyes then locking with her husband in a silent exchange.
"Matteo, you heard your dad. Don't play dumb; your ears work just fine."
"Ah, sorry, got distracted. And, um, yeah... it's today." Matteo managed to say, plastering on a fake smile. His voice was shaky, a clear indication of his anxiety that didn't go unnoticed by his parents. Dwight, his father, felt a sharp pain in his heart at his son's actions. "Don't get it twisted, kiddo. Your mom and I aren't thrilled. And I don't want you thinking I'm saying this because of my hobbies." He let out a heavy sigh, "All this secrecy, dropping out of school, making us none the wiser in front of everyone. And we're still here to support because, well, you're our son." He pauses and glances at his wife for affirmation.
"All of this is happening abruptly, and all of it..." The soft palm of Dwight's wife rubs against his shoulders as he defeatedly added a few words, "... for a game."
"Please, honey." Matteo's mother chimes in, the strength behind her voice shaken by the truth her husband brough up. "Your father is only saying this because he is undeniably jealous." Dwight almost springs up into response, but her hand kept him seated.
"We first bonded over the possibility of science fiction, the very same thing that's sitting, eating dust in our house. Living out an epic fantasy and waking up in a new world. Dwight was all about those games, and now I get why. And Teo, you get to jump into that dream of his before him. Living the dream."
Matteo's words clamored at the tip of his tongue, yet they remained unspoken, stifled by the intensity of his mother's piercing gaze. He misread the emotion in her eyes; it was not an accusation but the deep, instinctual concern of a mother. "Matteo," she said, her voice soft and riddled with fear and worry, "today is a big day for you but please, be careful in that virtual world, okay? For all our sakes."
I am doing this for them, for us. If I don't, she'll have to work. Busting her ass off at this age. If not, then we will be thrown to the streets like trash, Matteo's thoughts were in disarray. He sat on the edge of his bed, lost in thought, the computer screen across the room casting a hard light in the darkness. He recalled the call that changed everything-the day his dad got heavily injured during the job. And as someone who worked a physically demanding career, the future looked grim. Their lives turned upside down.
A notification from his computer snapped him out of his thoughts. He leapt to his desk and click the mouse and opened the email. The title read: "COUNTDOWN COMPLETE."
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