A siren rumbled through a small, messy room, shaking Zayn awake.

His eyes shot wide open, and he jumped up from the bed.

Zayn’s right hand reached out for his weapon, only to realize that there was nothing. No weapon. No scabbard. Even his item belt disappeared.

He tried to access his Heart Deck to make sure that he could do something to protect himself, only to realize two things as he scanned the surroundings with a quick glance: Zayn was in a small, oddly familiar, room that posed no immediate danger, and he couldn’t access his Heart Deck. He couldn’t even sense his Heart Deck.

The siren continued to ring through the room, but it was not a dangerous monster that was about to pounce on him. Instead, the siren was an alarm. Zayn’s hands moved naturally to his nightstand where his phone vibrated violently. He turned off the alarm and stared at his phone, blinking several times in utter confusion.

“What the hell is going on? Is that the afterlife? What a fucking shitho–...” He was about to curse when the door to the room barged open. A young man with long brown hair tied to a man bun charged inside, his face contorted in frustration.

He didn’t say a word but glared at Zayn. The man reached out for his hands and pulled him out of the room before forcing him to sit down in front of a large dining table.

Zayn would have instinctively escaped the man’s grasp and knocked him out before asking questions if he hadn’t been too stunned to say or do anything. He recalled the young man, who’d barged into the room. It was his oldest brother, the same brother who died in his arms four years ago.

His head was rumbling as various scenarios, thoughts, and doubts flashed through his mind. But before he could even try to understand what was going on his eyes landed on a middle-aged couple, a young girl, and another young man. Zayn was familiar with all of them.

They were his family…and they were all dead. They should be dead.

If that was the afterlife, it was far from the shithole he had imagined to end up after dying.

It was.

“A dream…”

Tears welled up in his eyes and his sight turned hazy.

Even if this was merely a dream, being with his family was something he had sought for the last few years. His life had been filled with war, death, the sense of loss, and blood – lots of blood.

But now he’d finally reunited with his family.

Maybe, it was not that bad to die?

His older brothers and younger sister eyed him weirdly. They saw the tears in his eyes and frowned deeply. His parents didn’t expect their son to act like this all of a sudden as well. Their youngest son cried the least in his childhood. Was he a late-bloomer? That shouldn’t be it. Zayn wasn’t an immature brat like his other brothers either. He played too many games but he was a responsible little fella.

“If you’re worried that we are angry at you because of your driving test. Don’t be. Your mother told us already this morning that she recalled the inspector. She said that he had always been a jerk. Your brothers would have failed the driving test just like you if they were in your stead,” Malcolm Dexter, Zayn’s father, said lightly.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

He was not the greatest at comforting his children, but he was exceptionally talented in playing his children against each other.

His oldest son, Nicolas, jumped up from the chair.

“I would have never failed my driving test. My driving skills are chef’s kiss!”

“You drive better than you study. That’s for sure. How about you quit university and start a career as a bus driver?” Percy, the second oldest son in the Dexter household, remarked. He looked up from his plate and smiled cheekily at his older brother.

“At least, I can satisfy my girlfriend, you bimbo! You should workout less, otherwise, your little Joe will never grow again. Do you want to become a eunuch or are you one already?!” Nicolas shouted back at Percy, whose fork froze in place.

“Shot’s fired. Bam Boom!” Natalie, the youngest child and the only daughter of the Dexter household shouted, her giggles filling the room.

“Language!” Their mother declared loud enough to make sure that Percy wouldn’t say anything back to his older brother.

If they started to throw insults at each other right now everyone would lose their appetite pretty soon. The start of the day would be messed up as well. It would be better if the two would hold their little diss battle later when everyone was done with breakfast.

“Wait, wait, wait. What date is it?” Zayn asked, his heart beating wildly. Something felt odd about this conversation. His brother’s fight was something he recalled clearly. It was one of the few memories Zayn never forgot, not even after a decade of blood, sweat, and tears had passed.

“It’s the 11th of November. Why? Do you have something special to do today?” His mother asked, trying to calm her nerves. At least she had one calm and composed child. Though she wondered why he had been on the verge of bursting into tears.

“11th November…what year?” Zayn’s question was barely a whisper but everyone at the table heard it.

Percy stared at his younger brother as if Zayn lost his last brain cell in yesterday’s driving test.

“It’s obviously 2025, you dork!”

“Language!!” Their mother shouted with more intensity than before, only to hear Zayn blurt out quietly, “What the fuck.”

Zayn was the last one his mother expected to curse in this household. She stared at him, speechless for a moment.

“That’s something new. Zayn is cursing and Mother is speechless,” Nicolas grinned at the changes in the household and got up from the table.

“I’m done with breakfast. Percy, how about we have some fun?” He asked, pulling his brother from the table.

“Where are you going?” Their mother asked, slowly growing tired of this conversation.

The two brothers looked at each other for a moment. Nicolas’ eyes traveled to Zayn and Percy followed. They spoke out in unison.

“We will beat the shit out of the reason Zayn failed his driving test.”

Zayn looked at his brother and a long-forgotten memory resurfaced in his mind. He recalled that his girlfriend told him one hour before his driving test that she’d cheated on him for months…with his best friend.

That happened on the 10th of November 2025. When he was 18 years old.

On that day it felt like the world collapsed above his head.

Little did he know that it was exactly a decade before he died being one of the last survivors, six months before the Forgotten Lands started to descend onto earth, and two days before the Pantheon started the initialization.

By releasing a game.

Forgotten Lands.

The very first ultra-realistic VRMMORPG.

A game that felt just like reality.

A game that would turn into reality six months later.