Kiryu woke to the sound of shattering glass, his eyes snapping open to the sight of his alarm clock in pieces on the floor. He let out a groan, rubbing his temples as he realized he'd once again succumbed to his habit of hurling the clock against the wall in his sleep.
"Great," he muttered to himself, swinging his legs over the edge of his futon. "Off to a fantastic start."
Dragging himself out of bed, Kiryu stumbled his way to the bathroom, squinting against the dim light as he splashed water on his face. But as he gazed at another clock on the wall, it quickly reminded him that he was already running late. Panic immediately settled in as he rushed through his morning routine.
Grabbing a packet of instant noodles from the cupboard, Kiryu hastily boiled water and tore open the package. Breakfast wasn't exactly gourmet, but it was quick, and right now, that was all that mattered. Slurping down the noodles, he winced at the scalding heat but pushed through, knowing he didn't have time to waste.
With another glance at the wall clock again, Kiryu realized he hadn't even had time to shower properly. Grimacing, he turned on the cold water, wincing as it hit his skin like icy needles. He scrubbed quickly, although it barely managed to wash away the sweat and body odor he had last night, at least it woke him up from the grogginess of sleep before shutting off the water.
Dressing in a hurry, Kiryu bolted out of his apartment, nearly colliding with his landlady in the hallway.
"Morning, Risu-san," Kiryu said, forcing a smile as he tried to sidestep the older woman.
The landlady's expression was anything but friendly.
"You're late on your water bill again, Kiryu," she snapped, her voice laced with irritation. "I warned you last time. If you don't pay up soon, I'll have to cut you off."
Kiryu's heart sank. He knew he was behind on his bills, but he hadn't realized it had gotten this bad.
"I'm sorry, Risu-san," he said, feeling a pang of guilt. "I promise I'll have the money for you tomorrow. It's payday."
The landlady's glare softened slightly, but the threat still hung in the air.
"You'd better," she grumbled before stomping off down the hallway.
Feeling the weight of his obligations pressing down on him, Kiryu hurried out of the building, his mind racing with thoughts of overdue bills and looming deadlines. Today was off to a rough start, but he knew he had to keep pushing forward. With a deep breath as passed through people, he squared his shoulders and headed out into the bustling community that was also starting its day. He was determined to reverse his situation. He sprinted through the crowded streets, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he tried to catch the train.
Adrenaline kicked in as he ignored his aching knees as he rushed inside the train station. He quickly paid his ticket and thanked his fate that the way to the platform was still empty.
But as he reached the train platform, he watched helplessly as the doors slid shut, the train pulling away without him.
"Of course," he muttered under his breath, feeling the frustration building in the pit of his stomach. It was already seven in the morning, and he already accepted the inevitable reality that he was now late for work. With a resigned sigh, he pulled out his phone and dialed his supervisor's number, bracing himself for the inevitable backlash.
"Hey, it's Kiryu," he said, trying to keep his voice steady despite the adrenaline still coursing through his veins. "I missed the train, so I'll probably be a bit late..."
He was met with a string of expletives from the other end of the line, his supervisor's voice dripping with annoyance. Kiryu gritted his teeth, his frustration mounting with each word he heard. He wanted to argue back, to defend himself, but he knew it would only make things worse.
"Yeah, I deeply apologize sir. But don't worry," he said tersely, cutting off his supervisor mid-rant. "I'll be there as soon as I can."
Ending the call, Kiryu felt a surge of anger mixed with exhaustion wash over him. He needed something to help him stay awake, to push through the overwhelming fatigue that threatened to drag him down. Spotting a convenience store nearby, he made a beeline for it, desperate for a caffeine boost to get him through the morning.
Grabbing a can of energy drink and a pack of cigarettes, Kiryu headed back out into the platform, popping open the can and taking a long sip. The sweet, fizzy liquid burned its way down his throat, jolting him awake with its sharp caffeine kick. He lit a cigarette, the nicotine helping to soothe his frayed nerves as he trudged along the sidewalk.
As he walked, Kiryu noticed a group of teenagers loitering outside of another grocery store, their laughter was loud and carefree. Despite still being early in the morning, they were passing around cans of beer, their youthful faces flushed with excitement. Kiryu couldn't help but feel a twinge of bitterness as he watched them, envy gnawing at his insides.
"Must be nice," he thought bitterly, taking another drag from his cigarette. "No responsibilities, no bills to pay. Just living in the moment."
But even as he envied their carefree lifestyle, Kiryu knew deep down that it was only a matter of time before the harsh realities of adulthood caught up with them. The world was a cruel and unforgiving place, and sooner or later, they would learn that the hard way. Soon they would be like him, living a mundane life and dying as a nobody.
As Kiryu passed one of the station's concrete pillars, he couldn't help but overhear a conversation taking place nearby. Two office workers stood just a few feet away, their voices hushed as they smoked cigarettes and exchanged complaints about their respective jobs.
"I'm already giving up, man," one of them said with frustration. "I just know I'm gonna be one of the ones they lay off. It's like they don't even care about loyalty anymore."
Kiryu couldn't help but nod in silent agreement, his own experiences with corporate layoffs all too fresh in his mind. Despite being one of the best agents at his former companies, he had found himself on the chopping block more times than he cared to remember. In today's cutthroat business world, it seems that loyalty counts for little, and even the most dedicated employees are expendable in the eyes of their employers.
With a grimace, Kiryu took another drag from his cigarette, the bitter taste of the smoke lingering on his tongue. It was a habit he had picked up years ago, a way to cope with the stress and uncertainty of his job. But even as he smoked, he couldn't shake the feeling of resignation that settled over him like a heavy cloud.
In a desperate bid to escape the cycle of layoffs and uncertainty, Kiryu had made himself busy with the virtual game. The only thing that's stopping him from going insane in this world. As would always Kiryu found himself caught in a never-ending cycle of phone calls and complaints, his days blending in a monotonous blur.
A boring life.
And unlike many of his former colleagues, Kiryu had no family or relatives to worry about, no one depending on him for support. It was a lonely existence, to be sure, but in some ways, it made him glad. He didn't have to answer to anyone but himself didn't have to worry about letting anyone down.
Shaking his head, Kiryu pushed the thought aside, focusing instead on the task at hand. He had a job to do, bills to pay, and responsibilities to fulfill. There was no time for envy or self-pity. Taking one last drag from his cigarette, Kiryu crushed the butt beneath his heel. Then he noticed a sign that warned him for smoking in the area.
"Follow the rules," he muttered to himself. Sarcasm befalls in his mouth. "Yeah, right. That'll get you to the top."
Kiryu reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, intending to distract himself from his frustrations with a quick scroll through his Yutube feed. But as he flicked through the app, his heart sank as he realized that he had forgotten to charge his phone the night before. The battery was dangerously low, and he knew it wouldn't last much longer.
Glancing up at the electronic display board, Kiryu saw that the next train wouldn't be arriving for another thirty minutes. With a resigned shrug, he made his way over to the corner of the station, where a row of charging booths lined the wall. Settling down on a nearby bench, he plugged in his phone and settled in to wait.
As he waited for his phone to charge, Kiryu idly scrolled through his Yutube feed, his mind drifting as he watched videos on everything from cooking tutorials, and news about the outbreak of war in Europe, South America, and Africa, the clashing of politics, agendas, and propaganda on Twiitard then to DikDok cat memes.
But it was a trailer with gameplay footage for a new MMO game that caught his eye, a flashy montage of swashbuckling pirates and daring adventures on the high seas. Rolling his eyes, Kiryu clicked on the video, his lips curling into a smirk as he watched the dramatic footage unfold.
It was called BareXBones and released by the known western triple-A company, YouBeHard. The description made him laugh as the CEO said it was the first AAAA game, much to his amusement and mocking the man. Kiryu could already see the piss-poor quality of the game just from that tone-deaf description.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
And he was proven right immediately as the gameplay was finally revealed in the middle of the video. It will be another game to flop under the company. But despite seeing the bad and bland gameplay which ironically, truly reflects the title of the game, the concept itself was interesting.
"Revolution and liberty," he scoffed, shaking his head in amusement. "More like chaos and lawlessness."
Despite mocking the upcoming flop game, Kiryu couldn't help but feel a pang of nostalgia as he watched the video.
He had always been drawn to stories and plots of rebellion and defiance, to the idea of throwing off the shackles of society and carving out a life of freedom on his terms.
But he lost his drive to continue watching after hearing one of its developers who was showing the gameplay, say ‘Forget all that you know about pirates! Because this game is different!’, which for him is a very stupid statement coming from the developers who are making a game about pirates.
Kiryu's thoughts turned back to his virtual adventures in his recent favorite game, to the time he had spent playing as a raider in the game with his online friends. It had been a thrilling experience, plundering stations and evading the authorities with reckless behavior.
But eventually, the thrill had worn off, and they had returned to their mundane lives as farmers, builders, and traders in his favorite game's vast virtual world. Something that he saw to be the reflection of their personalities.
Now, as he sat in the charging booth, watching the world go by outside, Kiryu couldn't help but wonder if he could recapture the excitement of those days gone by. The idea of playing as a pirate once again intrigued him, and he made a mental note to give it a try the next time he logged into the game.
Kiryu locked his phone inside a charging drawer and took a seat. Then he took a small nap and tried to remember what happened last night.
He reminisced the glow of his computer screen, casting a soft, eerie light across his dimly lit room as he hunched over his desk, fingers flying across the keyboard with practiced precision. It was well past midnight, but Kiryu was too engrossed in his gameplay to notice the passage of time. He had been up late every night for the past week, tirelessly tinkering away at his favorite video game, Pitch Black Void.
The game in question was a space simulation unlike any other, a sprawling epic that seamlessly blended elements of first-person shooters, X4, role-playing games, simulations, heavy sci-fi, and sandbox exploration with multiplayer or Coop features.
And the most beautiful feature was the 1 to 1 scale depiction of the entire known universe inside the game.
It was a game that had captured Kiryu's imagination from the moment he first laid eyes on its trailers and after it came out, he had spent countless hours immersed in its vast virtual universe.
Last night, however, Kiryu wasn't content to simply play the game.
No, last night he was on a mission to make modifications to it. He already completed the vanilla features and campaign of the game. And he got bored with it. Then he found out about the vast potential of the game when it was modded. Pushing the boundaries of what was possible within its digital confines and the vision of its developers.
First, he went to watch every video tutorial and instruction on Yutube, to learn how to start modifying the game. Then he went to online forums and a community of fellow modders, asking for their insights and tutelage. It took him several weeks to learn of it all before his first successful mod that modifies the reactions of NPCs to players' actions.
Then he decided to make it bigger.
With each line of code he wrote, scripts he edited, and each tweak he made to the game's mechanics, he felt a sense of exhilaration unlike anything he had ever experienced.
It became his only joy after working overtime to be able to buy more assets and programs to assist him in his new hobby.
Finally, after a few months of painstaking effort, he completed it all last night. After that, he remembered the feeling when he just leaned back in his chair with a satisfied sigh, his eyes scanning the screen before him. Adoring the creations he had made. Most of the modifications he had made were subtle but significant, enhancing the game's already impressive features and adding a new layer of depth to its gameplay and universe.
The NPCs were much more realistic, he added new factions, new technology trees, fixed the vanilla bugs, a new system to automatically add star systems that were not previously known by modern astronomers, new weapons, new updates to its UI, new game mechanics, new rules by combining the real Newtonian physics, his favorite hard sci-fi features and finally improving its game engine to become capable of handling all of what he added in the game.
Some of the people he would chat with in the forums would laugh at how he practically made an entirely new game when he showed off the features that he created. Then he would catch their attention when he released a video of his gameplay which got him several hundreds of requests to make his mod public.
He still hasn’t decided if he wants to, as he only desires to enjoy his creation.
Kiryu was always eager to see his handiwork in action every time he got home from work. He remembered the familiar feeling of seeing the loading screen fade away, finding himself once again transported to the far reaches of space, the twinkling stars stretching out before him in all their celestial glory.
Fortunately for him, his saved file was still compatible with his modifications. As such, he was able to test and feel the things he added to the game without the need to progress much. He was already a shipping magnate who could be considered powerful enough to topple a sovereign state in the galactic board.
Not to mention his great interconnected subsidiary companies that caused most of the star systems to be dependent on his shipping empire.
Then after feeling satisfied with what he had achieved, he decided to start a new life.
He purposely cut off himself from his shipping empire and traveled back to Sol, the birthplace of mankind in the game, also the favorite place of players where he would meet up with his friends during coop plays.
Kiryu took a small M-size Mining Ship from one of his mining operators. Somewhere he would have the time and space to test more of his mods that he still hasn’t checked. And he found his corner in the asteroid belt of the Sol System.
As he mulled over what he wanted to do next, he remembered that he added another thing.
A ship of his dreams.
He could still summon it through console command and he could already feel his anticipation increasing to feel its presence. He originally added this to the game as a blueprint that his company could build but he forgot to leave the blueprint on his wharf. But due to excitement to see it personally first, he decided to cheat the system and summon it instead. He typed the necessary codes and impatiently pressed the ENTER button, then he saw a sudden bending of space around his ship.
But before he could gaze upon his great prize, he heard an alarm on his scanner. Incoming boarding pods were heading towards his mining ship. He was confused about the identities of his attackers and immediately scanned the boarding pods.
And he didn't need to, as more ships appeared on his holo display. Dozens of ships with peculiar shapes of a non-uniform set of armor on top of their hulls.
Their sleek black ships descended upon Kiryu's humble mining vessel with deadly intent. But in all of the chaotic design of their armor and ram prow, he saw one thing that was marked on their ships.
The pink skull with a cartoonish snake wriggling on its sockets.
A pirate insignia.
Then he remembered that he disabled his ship's Point Defense Cannons to avoid attacking the new ship that he was about to summon through the console. But before he could even turn it back on to mount a proper defense, his own ship's hull was suddenly penetrated by boarding pods.
And the attackers quickly subdued him and locked him onto his own ship's brig. A very ironic fate as he was already getting into the groove of the game, which pulled Kiryu back to reality with a jolt.
Then he cursed under his breath, realizing with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he had to be up for work in just a few short hours. In his mind, he swore to kill those pirates when he logs back into the game later after his work.
Reluctantly tearing himself away from the game, Kiryu saved his progress and shut down his computer, the glow of the screen fading to black as he slumped back in his chair, exhaustion washing over him like a tidal wave.
Then he woke up after hearing the alarm from his almost fully charged phone. He checked the status bar and found it was already 85%. He took a glance at the train platform and found his train still hadn't arrived.
He had barely closed his eyes when the shrill of the station's announcement of a train shattered the stillness of the room, dragging him back to consciousness with a groan of protest. Rubbing his bleary eyes, Kiryu stumbled out of his chair and began the arduous process of getting ready. He unplugged his phone from the booth and slowly walked towards the coming train.
But his mind kept drifting back to the game he had been playing the night before. The thought of leaving it behind, even temporarily, filled him with a sense of unease, a nagging feeling that he was missing out on something important.
Kiryu found himself standing on the now-bustling platform, a sense of déjà vu washing over him as he stared up at the transparent crystal ceiling of the station.
A cloudy sky could be seen overhead. It seemed like only yesterday that he had been walking this same path, jobless and uncertain about the future just a year ago. But here he was again, on his seventh job since being laid off from his last one, the cycle of uncertainty repeating itself like a cruel twist of fate.
He couldn't help but laugh bitterly at the irony of it all, the absurdity of a world that seemed determined to grind him down at every turn.
Lost in thought, Kiryu realized with a start that he had smoked through the entire box of cigarettes without even realizing it. Tossing the empty pack into the nearby trash bin, he sighed and glanced at the electronic display board, noting with relief that his train had finally arrived as the dull roar of the crowd filled his ears. Kiryu couldn't help but wonder if there would ever be an end to the endless cycle of disappointment and disillusionment.
The familiar chime of the arriving train echoed through the station, signaling the start of another chaotic rush hour commute. He watched the doors slide open, the crowded interior of the train beckoning to him like a distant oasis in the desert.
Then felt something wrong with his body. First, he felt like the world was ringing loudly. Right after, his body felt so light that he had trouble standing upright. Then his legs started to fail him as his mind was ransacked with stinging pain.
Gritting his teeth against the sudden wave of dizziness that washed over him, Kiryu clung to the nearest chair for support, his vision swimming as he struggled to stay upright. Every fiber of his being screamed for him to get on that train, to push through the pain and exhaustion, and make it to go to work on time. But his body had other plans.
With a weak cry of frustration, Kiryu felt his legs give out beneath him, his muscles trembling with the effort to keep himself standing. He stumbled forward, reaching out desperately for the closing doors of the train, but it was no use. In an instant, his strength failed him, and he collapsed to the floor in a heap.
Panic surged through Kiryu's veins as he felt a sudden sharp pain lancing through his chest, his breath coming in short, ragged gasps. He tried to call out for help, but all that escaped his lips was a choked gurgle as he felt something warm and wet filling his mouth.
Then, with a sickening lurch, Kiryu coughed up a spatter of blood, the metallic taste coating his tongue as darkness closed in around him. His vision blurred and dimmed, the world spinning out of control as he fought to stay conscious.
But it was a losing battle.
And then, as if mercifully, everything went black.