Prologue

Aogashima, Toyko Prefecture, Japan | 11:03 PM, JST

Taiki Rokuro leaned back in his office chair, sighing and stretching his sore fingers. After spending the last 10 hours or so at his desk, he was feeling rather stiff. I suppose that's only natural, he thought to himself. The last time I got up was at lunch. He yawned noisily - something he would never do if anyone else occupying the spacious office, then gazed out the window. It was nearly pitch black, with only the faint moonlight illuminating the starless sky. After that short, 30 second break, he decided to get back to work. Rokuro planned to leave at midnight unless a critical issue popped up, so he was almost done for the day and was looking forward to sleeping. 

What was this man doing in the office so late, anyway? 

He was re-coding a vital item in the world's most popular virtual dive game.

Rokuro was an employee of StarShard, the only 'true' virtual reality company in the world. StarShard was originally a tiny gaming company that hired just about anyone, but ever since the mysterious invention of the Reality/Shard, things were never the same. Rokuro remembered his time with StarShard before that fateful day when the first prototype Reality/Shard was created. He had recently graduated college and was seeking a job. His parents had advised him to take programming because there was a shortage of programmers in Japan, but despite this, he still hadn't managed to find a job. The young and penniless Rokuro was staring at a street post encrusted with soggy flyers when he spotted it. A small, gaming company recruiting new members. StarShard. He fondly remembered his interview - accepted in a mere five minutes. His first day. The warm smiles of his coworkers, and the fascinating work they did. It was a rather tight-knit group - and Taiki enjoyed it. However, ever since the creation of the Reality/Shard, everything had changed. StarShard expanded exponentially, and the number of employees skyrocketed. StarShard was forced to split itself into many different groups, each assigned to a single prefecture and game. Taiki Rokuro's old workmates, but frankly, were untalented, yet hardworking.

In contrast, Taiki was extremely gifted with his programming skills (which he compensated for with being socially inept), so he was split from his friends. He knew almost no one in his group, or Pod as they were called, and he was lonely. Being a workaholic, he rarely got to talk to his friends outside of work or indulge in any of his creations. This loneliness was also his - and Avalon's - undoing. Avalon was the most popular StarShard game because there were plenty of player unique features. Taiki, the support pillar of the Avalon Pod lost his creativity and players started to lose interest. Avalon was still number one, but if it continued to fall at its current pace, it would hit number two at around midnight - when Taiki scheduled to leave. The VR industry was truly brutal. He wished that the anonymous higher up that invented Reality/Shards would help - he stated via email that this was his favorite game, and had even gone so far to give the basic 'life code' and provided many pieces of equipment.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Ah, that's the end of it," Rokuro muttered to himself as he pushed back his chair and stretched his wiry and frail arms. "I guess I'd head home now that it's fixed. He had just repaired an annoying bug which made the [Auto-Translate Ring] that he designed malfunctioned. The reason that he stayed so late was that his personal creation stopped working, and he took that as an insult. Taiki himself acknowledged that as a strange logic process, but he didn't care too much.

Fixing glitches, while important, was that all he could do to keep Avalon afloat? His digital watch read 11:16, but Avalon was losing players slightly slower than normal. Maybe it'll last the night as number one, he thought dryly. Taiki shut off his monitor, then strode towards the elevator's steel doors. He pressed the worn button, slightly greasy from his coworkers' sweaty fingertips, leaving his own fingerprint on the faintly glowing button. Once the doors opened, he strode in, then waited for the ding that heralded the elevator's arrival at ground level. The great metal door slid open once again, and Taiki walked out. He opened the front door and turned around facing it once again. He was extra careful to lock it because all the C/Shards (C stood for Consciousness) that hosted the minds of everyone in Pacific-bordered nations and everywhere in Southeast Asia. There was no answer to what would happen to Avalon's players if the C/Shards were to be destroyed. This was his little way of preventing a tragedy, and he was the last person to leave, so Taiki had to be meticulous. He turned all six respective keys in their locks, then glanced at the ocean. It seemed rather turbulent tonight. Wouldn't it be weird if a tsunami came without an earthquake right at this spot? Taiki mused. He dismissed the thought as a product of his tired brain then started walking into the calm night.

He got about three steps away from the StarShard building before the tall structure came crashing down on top of him, devastated by a colossal wave.