Chapter 1
As The Rain Falls
No money.
No permanent job.
No college degree.
No family.
No friends.
A no one.
Rain had always wondered what purpose he had in life. He grew up in an orphanage with no idea who his parents were. The priest who found him and took him in named him Rain, hoping that one day he would be the blessing to cure the drought in someone else’s life.
I am no rain, he thought as his head snapped back after receiving a punch.
Every family that tried to adopt him when he was little returned him after a few days. He would always end up in a fight with other children. It was fine if it was only a minor squabble, but the other party would always be seriously injured.
Soon, he reached the age limit of the orphanage and was sent out.
I hope you find your namesake. The priest’s parting words reverberated in his heart, but was quickly forgotten as a kick landed on his side.
Rolling on the wet concrete, he quickly pushed his self up and faced his opponents. There were three of them, sneering at him with contempt.
Five years had passed since he left. The world was harsh, and there was no place for someone like him in this world; a no one like him.
When he was walking through an alley earlier, a group of three mobbed him and made away with his wallet and the scant amount of money he had saved up with his blood and sweat. He quickly pursued his attackers, and now they were in this situation.
It had started to rain as soon as the brawl began. Now, four people stood drenched under the rain, one against three. Fighting fiercely, Rain managed to hold them off, but it didn't take long before he was caught. The two held his arms and the remaining one threw a flurry of attacks at his defenseless form.
“You there, what are you doing!” a female voice interrupted the three. It came from a figure wearing a black leather jacket and jeans standing by the alley’s exit. Her face was covered by a helmet. Only the visor was open. The light from the nearby buildings revealed a pair of fierce upturned eyes.
“None of your business, missy. Scram!” one of the men holding Rain shouted at her.
“Let him go,” she said, ignoring the man’s words.
“Tch,” the one attacking Rain clicked his tongue, then without warning, dashed toward the woman and threw a punch aimed at her stomach. Nimble like a cat, she dodge to the side while pulling out a black cylindrical object from beneath her jacket, and suddenly extended with a snap of her wrist. It was a retractable baton.
With a quick swing of her arm, the baton lashed like a whip and hit the man right on the nape. His eyes turned white as he fell down.
Seeing her practiced movements, the other two knew that she was not a person they can deal with. Quickly, they let go of Rain.
“Take your friend and leave before I change my mind,” the woman said as she walked over the unconscious man. The two did as told and ran back deeper into the alley.
“Are you okay?” she asked as she knelt down in front of Rain’s slumped figure. With a hand, she helped him stand up.
“I didn't need your help!” Rain angrily said as he pulled himself free of her hand. Supporting his battered body with the wall, he made his way out of the alley, the place where the woman appeared. Suddenly, he felt a pain on the back of his head and he fell down.
“What a pain…” the woman complained as she caught him. It was her who knocked him unconscious.
When Rain woke up, he found himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.
It’s not like I have ever stayed in one place, he thought as he tried to sit up. His body was wracked with pain. Gritting his teeth, he sat up, and found that he was naked except for his underwear. He was also on a small bed with a hard mattress.
The lights were on and he could clearly see that he was in a small plain room. Other than the bed, there was only a small cabinet and a table. On top of the table was a laptop computer and a round metallic object.
It was a Virtual Reality headgear.
Virtual Reality, or VR for short, was the most famous technological advancement made in the past century. It allowed people to enter and interact in a virtual world. VR had a lot of uses in various fields and applications, but its most prominent usage was gaming. Even Rain knew about VR games, although he had never played one. He was able to use a VR headgear before, but it was related to a job he had for a short while.
“You’re awake.” The voice came from the open door. It was the woman from before. Rain could tell from her voice and her eyes. She was wearing a loose shirt and boy shorts, and she was drying her long dark red hair with a towel. Looking closely near the scalp, her hair was black. She looked to be in her late twenties.
Rain didn't respond and only glared at her. He then growled, “Where are my clothes?” He stood up from the bed and winced in pain.
With a sigh, the woman approached him and lightly pushed him. He easily fell back down on the bed. She walked toward the table, took something on top of the desk and showed it to him. It was a picture of Rain.
“Old James told me to help you if I ever find you,” she said as she flicked the picture toward him. On the back side of the picture was Rain's name. James was the name of the priest who took him into the orphanage.
“That meddling old man,” Rain muttered as he looked to the side.
“You owe your life to that ‘meddling old man,’” she rebuked him as she poked his forehead with enough force to make him reel back on the bad. She suddenly said, “I’m giving you a job!”
“I don’t need one!” he stubbornly shouted back.
“Oh? Then, what are you planning to do from now on? Join that group of thugs and mob other people in dark alleys shamelessly?” He could only stay silent with her words. He hadn't thought on what he would do from now on. The three men who mobbed him had taken his wallet and all his money and IDs.
“Just swallow your pride and accept people’s help!” She then walked to the door and switched off the lights. “Go to sleep. I’ll tell you about your job tomorrow morning.” She slammed the door shut. “What’s his problem, sheesh!” Her complaints could be heard beyond the door as she walked away.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Rain was slightly taken aback. It was the first time he had met someone with a personality like her. He had also forgotten to ask for her name and what her relationship with the priest was. Shrugging his shoulders, he lay back down on the bed and pulled the covers over his exposed skin. His body was bruised and hurting. There was not much he could do. For now, he’ll go along with the weird woman and see how this situation will end up.
Morning quickly came and Rain woke up with his entire body in pain. He groaned as he got up from the bed and found the woman sitting by the desk while busily typing on the laptop. There was a bowl and a glass of water beside her.
“Eat up and we’ll begin afterward,” she said without looking at him.
He did as told and took the bowl. It was rice porridge. He remembered the meals back in the orphanage, and with a scowl, he started to eat. His eyes widened in surprise. It tasted better than he expected. He looked at the woman’s back and saw her in a new light.
Quickly finishing his food, he took the glass of water and drank it all down. He felt slightly better, but after remembering that he haven’t had dinner last night, he started to get hungry again.
Turning around on the chair, the woman faced him and spoke.
“My name’s Rose, and just like you, I also grew up in the orphanage and was not taken in by any family. Unlike you, though, I found a friend to rely on who helped me do better in life.” She was sneering at him when she said the last line. “She lent me her stuff, and with that I made a living. If you’re curious, it’s by RMT on online games.”
“RMT?” This was the first time Rain heard of this.
“Real Money Trade. You buy and sell stuff in games with real money. With the money I earned, I took a college degree. I chose one related to gaming, since I already had invested time on it. With the degree and my gaming experience I and my friend joined along with others to start a small company dedicated in making Virtual Reality games.” She ended her narration with a smug smile.
How old is she? Rain thought as he secretly mocked her current attitude like a child boasting her accomplishments. “Your life story is good and all, but what about the job you said?” A vein seemed to pop on her head as she heard his words that were said with a mocking tone.
“Oh? You’re interested now? Last night, you were all ‘I don’t need one!’” she retaliated.
Rain wanted to jump at her and sock her, but remembering the fighting capabilities she had shown a glimpse of last night, he thought otherwise. Swallowing his anger, he said with a very low volume, “I was in the wrong… I apologize…”
“What did you say?” Rose asked pretending to not hear his apology.
“I said I’m sorry!” he shouted, his face red with anger and embarrassment. Rose laughed at the sight.
“Good boy!” she said while patting his head. He could only glare at her. “Now, your job will be simple! My company had finally made a game that can be compared to the current famous ones! We had already started advertising a month ago, and we have received good response. It will go live in three days.”
“And how am I related to all this? Just so you know, I have no knowledge when it comes to games. I was too busy trying to survive to even spare time for it.”
“That, I know, and that’s why you will be perfect for this. You will play the game.”
“I don’t have the money to spend for that.”
“That, I also know. We will provide anything you need for free. Well, technically it’s not free since it will be deducted from your pay. You only need to play. We will be recording your gaming video directly through the hardware. You then need to tell us what you think of the game. Since you have no experience of other games, we will be hearing the opinion of someone who had play VR games for the first time. A virgin’s opinion of the matter!”
He was quite shocked with her crude words.
“Did I hit a sore spot? Were you still a virgin? Haha! Too, bad! You were too busy trying to survive to even spare time for it, right?”
She’s acting really childish, Rain thought, then replied with smirk, “I had my first taken by one of the older sisters when I was thirteen.”
Rose’s mouth hung open. Quickly, she recovered and coughed to hide her embarrassment.
“You were quite a precocious little boy, huh? Anyway, back to the topic. You play and give us your opinions, and we will take that and see if we can improve the game further.”
“What about the pay?”
“It’s not definite yet, but it would be enough for your daily needs. You will be staying here, so all other costs like electricity, rent, and account subscription will be deducted automatically. What’s left is for you to use on food and other necessities. For the hardware’s cost, it will also be paid by installment, also through your paycheck’s deduction. If you need more money, you could also try doing what I did and sell stuff through RMT. Your first pay will be given in advance the day after the game goes live.”
“Sounds simple.” Rain truly thought that.
“In these three days, get used to the VR hardware’s functions. The game is already installed, so run it and create an account. The hardware is also customized for this purpose, so all you need to do is follow the procedures.” She stood up and walked toward the door, while carrying the bowl and glass.
“Thanks for the meal…” Rain whispered behind her. Her ears perked up and she turned around with a smirk.
“Your meals for these three days will be deducted on your first paycheck.” She then went through the door. Suddenly, Rain remembered something important.
“Where are my clothes!?” he shouted as he scrambled after her, his body still hurting. Outside the door was a short corridor with a set of stairs at the end. Rose was already about to go down the stairs.
“In the closet, obviously. I took the liberty to wash them and also buy you some new ones. It will also be deducted, of course.”
Hearing those words, Rain wondered how much will be left of his pay while scowling at Rose’s back as she walked down the stairs.