The world started counting seconds before the new announcement, and it finally started.

“12 years ago, CyberGrounds was a pet project of which started with 2 people, by me, the head creator and current CEO of Arctus Izanami Sato, and my good friend the late Daniel Howards. We both envisioned a space where everyone can be themselves and interact free from cultural and individual barriers, a space where competition meets humanity. And for the last 8 years, that is what CyberGrounds overachieved and we at Arctus cannot be any less thankful for that……. However, it’s time for the CyberGrounds experience, to takes it’s next and most important leap forward. We present to you, the newest version of CyberGrounds, from MMO to an exclusive VRMMO.

We will be shutting down the game for the next 2 years in the hopes of giving the perfect experience right out of the gate. The game everyone knew and loved will be retaining everything the original offered but will be rebalanced and retweaked for a VRMMO experience. Now I know what many are thinking, what is a VRMMO? Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online, you will be getting to experience the game as if you were living in it. Arctus is currently developing an “Artemis” console chair, that will transport the consciousness of the player into the game. All accounts of existing players will be reset however, your character will be retained along with your weapons and clothing of choice, new players are indeed welcome and will be able to start their characters from scratch as soon as they boot into the game.

And as a token of goodwill from Arctus, the “Artemis” console will be free for all who participate in the game on Day 1. Day 1 will be held exclusively at all Arctus offices around the globe and all who sign up for Day 1, will also receive free transport to the premises where you and all the other participants will be able to experience the game.”

This was too much to take in at the time, and if it was any other time, I would instantly call this to be a hoax. But knowing how much Arctus has grown in the past 8 years, I was willing to believe them. Sign-ups for Day 1 had begun, and the link was given with the announcement video. While I started to add my details in, Mom stops by my room.

“Akkun, did you do the booking for the trip next week?” She asked leaning her head into my room.

“Almost Mom, something urgent about the game came up… will be done in a second” I replied

“Make sure you double check the booking and start with the preparations, I swear, if you gave as much attention to other things as much as you do for your game”

I instantly stop her mid-sentence, as that just lit a bulb in my brain

“Hey Mom, you have always been telling me that you don’t understand how I like this game, they are taking sign-ups for Day 1 of a one-of-a-kind relaunch, you want to try it?”

I gave her all the details to clear her doubts and she finally caved in. I filled in her details, made her put both hands on my keyboard for the fingerprint ID, and she was also officially signed in. And I am dead certain that Yuito had already signed up. Would be a nice fun family outing…so I thought.

On the topic of family outings, a week later, our trip to the beachside arrived. A getaway planned by me, Tadashi, and the comrades we met along our long journey as pros. It might’ve been planned with the impression of getting some outdoor time after being glued to a screen day in and day out for what felt like our entire lives. Well, I do say outdoor time, but mom was fully committed on getting wasted at the resort bar and talking up storms with the other mothers who had joined our trip. Me, however, was planning on savoring the day, or so I thought.

The bright Shizuoka sun, the smell of the ocean salt and the hot mid-day sand getting in my trunks after I take a seat in and through my sabotaged lounge chair. And the cherry on top being greeted moments later by the 2 culprits responsible.

“Akio Onii-chan, that is a very unique way of relaxing under the sun” said culprit number 1

“Don’t be so quick to judge Onee-chan, many have their own ways of relaxing” said culprit number 2

And there I was, utterly helpless, with my butt stuck in a chair with no way of getting out while the one’s responsible were getting further away with their giggles fading away. And moments later comes in my Guardian Angel.

“The Kanie Beatdown?” asked Tadashi while helping me up from the chair

“What do you think?” I replied back.

“I at least thought that they would tone it down from the usual now that they are out of the team shirts and into swimsuits” I said

“Yeah, well the day those two tone down the pranks is the day that the whole world comes to a standstill”

Tadashi reaches into the cooler and grabs himself a fresh bottle

“So you were checking out their swimsuits? Never took you to be a lolicon” jokingly continues Tadashi

“Well excuse me for being observant”

“You do realize you still didn’t refute my point right?” replied Tadashi

“Would you have believed me?”

“No way in hell”

We both have a quick chuckle over that exchange, and it suddenly gets interrupted when Tadashi’s bottle starts spraying violently at his face once he opened it.

“Should’ve seen that coming” I jokingly said.

We both managed to join up with the rest of the group, me with a sore butt after planting it hard in the sand, and Tadashi covered in the drink that blew up in his face. The sight of the 2 Kanie demons high fiving, followed up by my own brother pretty much gave us an idea for the ones responsible for Tadashi’s predicament. Mai and Meguru Kanie, twins and 2 of the youngest competitors in the history of pro play. They only competed for a year before the shutdown, but they quickly became 2 of the most feared players even by some of the most experienced veterans both in and out of the game. But what is known to only a few, is that even demons have something they fear. And just after noticing, that same thing they feared were looming behind them

“You two, I hope you two don’t have anything to do with this” said the towering presence behind their seats.

And from the way they turned around slowly and looked at him in fright, he knew the answer to his question immediately.

“Well now, what are we going to go about this?”

“Let it go this time Jun, we did come out here for a change of pace”

I could see Mai and Meguru’s fright-ridden faces relaxing for a second

“You have a point, I’ll worry about these 2 after we get back home, so you won’t mind if I let them off their leash for today” he asks while smirking

“Please never do that, keep it as tight on them as possible at all times” I replied while every hair on my back was standing up even at the sound of that.

The big brother of the 2 troublemakers, Junichi Kanie, he is also the same age as me and Tadashi, so we got along really well, while he is the more responsible one in the group, he also shows signs of the Kanie mischief gene once in a while.

While this was going on, I spot my brother trying to move out of my line of sight from the corner of my eye.

“Don’t think I have forgotten about you, Yuito”

“Would you believe it if I said that Mai-chan made me get involved?”

“I would, at the same time I won’t… I’ ll see to you once we get home as well” I replied back only for Yuito to show a sigh of disapproval.

I meant what I said since I definitely knew that the Kanie duo did indeed tempt my brother into it, but at the same time, I know for a fact that he didn’t even try to hesitate. I knew this mostly because those 3 are the same as our group. They were of the same age and Yuito looked up to them as much as he did to me, as he also had the dream of going pro one day.

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“Hayato, how’s our charcoal looking?” said Jun sarcastically to our grillmaster behind our table.

“Looks edible for now, but I’ll have a burning hot coal made especially for you, Kanie”

The one manning the grill is the last piece of our small ragtag group from the pro days, Hayato Ishikawa, he was a closer friend to Jun as they knew each other long before me and Tadashi, and for some reason unknown to me, he has the respect of the twins and almost never the victim of one of their beatdowns.

After a couple of minutes, Hayato brings a massive platter of cooked meat and places it in front of Jun

“Ladies first” Hayato said to Jun

“Very funny, but I’ll risk the life of my tongue to consume this blackened meat concoction of yours” replied Jun

Me, Tadashi, and Hayato were trying to contain our laughter

“You do realize how wrong that sounded right” Tadashi said to Jun

“Huh?” said Jun and paused

“Oh, OH HELL NO!” he said again after he recalled what he said

But the laughter turned into awkwardness when the others in the group started to question us on what just happened, they are 4 years younger than us who graduated high school recently, so they were completely oblivious to the context. I gathered a big portion of the meat in the platter onto a plate while that was going on and stood up

“Well, might not keep the folks hungry, I’ll go had over some of the spoils here to them” I said in the hopes of them forgetting what happened.

“I’ll come with, need to check how Mom is fairing out as well” followed-up Hayato

We left Tadashi and Jun to hold the fort, and started to walk towards the outdoor resort bar

“You signed up for Day 1?” asked Hayato on our way

“I don’t think there is anyone here that didn’t, even got Mom to join” I replied

“Nakamura-san?, Why though?”

“She was always against me playing CG as much as I did, and now it’s a full reset, I thought about bringing her in Day 1 and let her experience it.”

“Huh, that’s actually genius now that I think about it” Hayato approved

“You sure that those 2 are going to survive in there” he follows up

“Well, it’s Jun, he’s the only one who can handle those 2, and Yuito, well, he’ll either disappear until the coast is clear, or will be too busy bothering Tadashi for stories about the pro days” I said what I thought

“And he usually doesn’t bother you for those?”

“He does…but he never gets enough of it” I replied

“Speaking of which, what is Nagato and Kasumi up to, I thought they would join us today” I asked Hayato

“They wanted to come but they had a school field trip to Osaka…definitely for the better, I think we have our hands full with 3 kids so far”

“I hear that” I said and ended that exchange

We finally reached the resort to find the ‘Moms of Pro Players Club” talking loud enough to be heard from outside the boundary of large rocks which marks the limits of the resort. And to neither of our surprise, they are mostly alcohol talking.

Mom was tipsy but I managed to leave the plate beside them and tell her what it was. We both left before the drunks trap us between their conversations.

“As drunk as I expected, I’ ll check on her later just so I don’t get caught up in the middle of that” said Hayato

“You just read my mind”

We both were walking back to our spot on the beach, but that is when I caught the sight of Tadashi away from the crowd.

“Hey Hayato, go ahead without me, I’ll catch up soon”

I walked over to Tadashi

“Can’t handle the crowd?” I say to surprise the unsuspecting Tadashi

“You know me too well, it’s nice and all but you know, change isn’t easy”

“Oh well, I aint one to talk but you’ll get used to it. They are good people you know” I replied

I take a seat next to him on the evening sand

“Beer?” Tadashi extends me a bottle

I gave him a disapproving look since that was clearly a tease

“I’m kidding, here”

He passed me a can of cola which I carefully open hoping it is not rigged to blow.

“So, what is it?”

“What you mean?” Tadashi asked looking confused

“Oh, don’t play that card with me, you only offer me a drink even as a joke when you want to talk to me about something”

“Man, I really need to start hanging out with other people more. You got me” he replied admitting his defeat

“To be honest I did want to talk to you after this, but guess there is no better time than now” he followed up

“Alright…shoot” I said facing him ready to give my full attention.

“I received an offer a couple of days ago, by Arctus. It was an invite to the Beta test for the new CG VR. All the Immortal players received it and everyone has accepted, including me. But there is a catch, I will have to live in their offices, and I will be gone until the game releases”

“That’s great…not the part that you will be gone, but, I am happy for you, I really am. Sooo what’s the problem?”

“The reason I got this is because I got to Immortal, and every time I see the names of everyone invited, it just eats me in the back of my head that you weren’t there. I still remember that game, it was you who opened up that game to get us the win, the one person who defied all the odds and rose to a place that even the people who looked down on you couldn’t reach. You deserve this as much as I do” said Tadashi in one long rant

“Alright, listen, we are both our own people. We started the journey together sure; we’ve gone around the world together and won tournaments together sure, but we also went our separate ways and at times, even tried to take each other down at one point, which were as good times as much as when we were in the same team. The point is, don’t feel bad of something you earned, and I didn’t get. If I had to go back to that day and make that choice again of helping my brother out, I would do it again in a heartbeat. That was my decision, don’t make that weigh on any of yours. And besides, it’s a beta test, I would much rather play the full product than a half-baked one where I just fall through a floor or see someone in a wheelchair just get up and run away.”

“Sheesh, when was the last time I was this serious talking to you” I replied to break the tension

“Only the times that it mattered the most, my mom, and now this. Thanks man, I wish I was more like you sometimes”

“Oh cut the sentimental shit, I get enough of that from my brother” I said to bring us back to our usual casual tone

After a brief chuckle on both our ends:

“Oh well, lets get back shall we, I want to get some hot meat in my-” I paused mid-sentence just before I dug my own grave with that sentence

“Damn there isn’t a way to say it without sounding very wrong is there?” I followed up

“Man, almost. A little bit more and you would’ve joined Jun in the deep end” Tadashi said with a disappointed face

We walked back to the spot and rejoined the group

“What took you so long, girl issues?” Jun greets us with

“Girl issues?...This guy? A block of concrete would learn how to fall for a girl before he does” Tadashi says while pointing at me

“Hey, at least I don’t go getting turned down on every advance I make”

“Well making zero advances and not getting turned down doesn’t count” Tadashi struck back

“Alright dumb and dumber, time for lunch” said Jun to break up our rant

We were handed a plate with all sorts of grilled meat on it covered in sauce. We all put our hands together before we started our meal.

“Itadakimasu” said everyone before taking a bite moments before everything plunged into chaos.

I felt a slight burn on my tongue which rose a little, and more, and more, until it felt fully on fire. I screamed in the pain and turns out Tadashi followed the same as well.

We were too relaxed to notice that the Kanie duo had spiked our food. We reached for the cooler in a rush to get a drink, but both the beer Tadashi grabbed and the can of drink I took had been rigged and started to spray violently in our face. We diverted that spray towards our burning mouths to at least get some of our composure back but once we did, the first thing that awaited us was the bursting laughter of the Kanie Twins. Jun started to chase them around after he realized their prank and the whole lunch started to descend into chaos. But then again, this was the normal for our ragtag group and it stayed that way for the rest of the day.

A couple of weeks later, Tadashi finally left to Arctus. We did talk time to time over social media, but 2 uneventful years passed, and we arrive at the current day of 3rd May 2038, Day 1 of CyberGrounds has finally arrived and it also happens to be in the Golden Week.

Usually, Golden Week in Shibuya is like hell on earth if hell ever decided to send a stampede of elephants your way. But today, it was an organized crowd on either side of the street, waiting for the lines of buses that arrive to take everyone to Arctus Japan. Luckily for us, it was only a short ride of a couple of hours and apart from the deafening chatter of excitement in the bus, the highlight of that journey was seeing the bus taking the long bridge towards a massive pyramid shaped structure on a massive island. Where civilization disappeared into the wide-open waters on a straight road, and back into a busy complex on a private island.

I got off the bus and took a nice deep breath. Mom was exhausted more than most of us since she never did handle the crowds too well.

“I am starting to regret this decision” said Mom limping forward from exhaustion

“We are already past the hard part Mom, you will definitely thank us for this later, and besides, no one will mess with us with Nii-chan on our side” Yuito reassures with a mix of excitement and pride.

“Alright you idiot, just not so loud, I don’t want anyone gunning for me even before we enter through the doors” I replied while grabbing my brother’s head and roughing him up to contain his excitement.

While we were waiting for my mom to recover, I took a few steps back to the edge of the island, sat against the boundary wall and looked up to see how massive the pyramid is; Answer…Very. And my mesmerized gaze into the blue-sky was interrupted by 3 unexpected guests.

“Onii-chan…help me” said a soft voice into my ear.

That immediately snapped me back to reality and my jump that followed served as some light entertainment to the troublemakers of the group.

“Akio Onii-chan having dirty thoughts in the corner” said that same voice while having a laugh

My embarrassment was saved by Jun coming to the rescue. He grabbed both by the collar and had them hanging like cats.

“Mai, Meguru, what did I say about your pranks once we get to the island?”

“Sorry Nii, won’t happen again” both said in unison with a disapproving tone.

They definitely do live up to their name as the Twin Terrors. After they are dropped back on their feet, Mai and Meguru run away towards the entrance and Jun take a moment to get a word in

“I swear those two, they drive me crazy sometimes”

“Hey, I got a loose cannon of a brother too, I know how you feel…rather, I know how worse you have it compared to me” I replied to that sentiment.

“Oh well, can’t live with them, can’t live without them. You heading in soon?” replied Jun

I brought him up to speed about bring my mom and she needing a few minutes, but Jun left my presence the moment Meguru called their brother from the entrance.

On a normal occasion, I would be sharing an experience like this with Tadashi, whether it’s a once in a life-time event or the usual Kanie Beatdown, but last I called him, he did say he would meet me in-game. Well, I guess he did get in early after all.

I was dragged into the building by Yuito where it was like a football stadium. Rows of thousands of chairs going all the way down, if one was to trip and fall from the top, I think they will only reach the bottom after a couple of hours. The complex was much bigger than what I saw on the outside and the dim lighting and the carpet floor made it feel like the world’s biggest game café. We were free to select any Artemis chair we wanted but everyone was said to be logged into the game, all at the same time. Similar buildings with similar chairs are said to be being filled around the world and social media is blowing up about it.

It was almost impossible to find 3 chairs next to each other, so the fastest way was to divide and conquer. I found myself a chair on the floor higher than Yuito and Mom, but I took a moment to scan around, but it was too crowded to spot if Tadashi is here somewhere.

The console was like a lounge chair, a headrest that curved left and right forming half a circle, 2 arm rests with circular disks around it and what looked like circular node that were placed along where the spine and the head would lie on. I took the seat and a holographic console popped up, it asked me to place my hands in on the chair arms. I placed both down and it scanned my fingers and displayed my account. Turns out even in a fresh new start, I’m still stuck with my low tier weapons of choice. But even after all this time, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

I leaned forward and it was impossible to spot my family anywhere, but the chair had an inbuilt search function, which allowed me to search for them. I just thought about them, and it popped up immediately, and that’s only when I realized that it was projecting sound directly into my brain and that I can only communicate with the chair by thought. Yuito was already set up and my mom was still setting up her character. We still had a few minutes before the game officially started so I just took a moment and searched up the others I knew. Firstly, I checked up on the nuclear duo, so with the thought “Locate Mai Kanie”, it showed me where their chair was at. Unfortunately, they discovered how to chat to observers, and you can guess what that meant

“Akio Onii-chan is a Stalker!” instantly played into my head, courtesy of half of the terrors.

I instantly backed out and who followed was Jun Kanie and Hayato Ishikawa, and they were as oblivious as me when it comes to figuring out how to know if you are being watched or how to talk back. But in this chance, I did do one more search “Locate Tadashi Chifuyu”. I showed his status as present, but wasn’t showing me a feed of his chair, but knowing he was here was reassuring.

And the time finally came. A countdown had begun, and it advised me to stay in my chair, with my hands in on the armrests, and close my eyes. 3…...2..….1…..Engage.