It’s… dark… I can’t feel anything… where am I? What happened? All right, think back, what could have happened? I remember walking outside onto the street before… pain…
Riku continued to think back trying to piece together his consciousness. He couldn’t use any of his senses. As he existed in what could only described as limbo, he thought back onto the day prior.
Riku awoke the day before to the rousing of a man named Jeffery. The vigorous behemoth was responsible for scouting Riku for his position on the team. He approached the day with the same aggressiveness and responsibility that all coaches Riku met seemed to have. Jeffery had recently had his black hair cut to a clean buzz. He bore a suit that had the teams crest imprinted over the heart. A black dragon in the middle of flight, surrounded by gleaming lights in the endless void, this was the symbol that marked the members of the professional gaming team, The Dragon Stars.
“You know Jeffery, if we spent less time practicing, I might be able to procure some needed sleep. Then, you wouldn’t need to wake me up in the morning.” Riku said, a smile that didn’t reach his eyes plastering his dry lips.
“Please my young padawan, even if that was true, and its not.” He clarified. “This will be the last time I get to wake you up. So, get ready, we all expect great things from you today.” Jeffery’s deep voice was tinted with the slightest hint of sadness. It was barely noticeable, but for Riku, it stood out. Jeffery had been a great mentor for Riku. For the duration of his career, he had been assisted by the man, and while he didn’t feel bad about retiring. He did feel something for the man.
“Relax Jeff, its not like this is the last time we will see each other. Head on down, I’ll be ready in an hour.” Riku said before sending the now somewhat sour Jeffery out the door. He started this day the same way he did every day, he would wake up get himself into his gym cloths and begin his morning workout for thirty minutes before taking a quick shower. After looking into the mirror, he got a good look at himself. He was a short man, at least that’s what his old twitch chat used to tell him. There he stood, his 5’11 body and his masterfully sculpted muscles in the mirror. He was by no means a body builder but despite his slender frame, he still held a respectable body. Unfortunately for his looks, he had his beautiful black hair buzzed and his soft-featured face held small traces of acne. Fortunately for him however, he wasn’t paid to look good in life. He was paid to win for his team.
Staring into the mirror, he noticed a white head that began to stick out, as he leaned in to pop it, he began to think. This was going to be his seventh tournament. His first tournament had ended in disappointment. In the first round of the world championship, they had been completely destroyed by their opponents. His second ended in the semi-finals because he had made a rookie mistake that cost his team the game. He had regret that at first but soon, he learned from his mistakes and in every tournament he has participated in since then, he and his team have come out the victors. He didn’t take pride in what he had accomplished however. As he looked into the mirror, the only thing looking back on him was his own eyes. The only emotion he could find in that deadpan gaze, was defiance.
As a child, Riku had never been given much, but his parents had done their best to provide for him and his two little sisters. His sisters were angels, perfect little balls of pent-up energy and happiness. His mother was happy, and his father was providing well for the family.
There was a time before his sisters however, back before his sisters, his parents and him had been struggling with money. His father and mother were always fighting, and he often was insulted and beaten by his father for his mistakes. Riku tried his best to help but the more he tried the worse the situation got. He had overheard a conversation his parents were having. They were having money issues, and the argument was stemming over whether or not Riku would get to go to school. He stepped forward and told his parents not to worry about school. He instead said that he would help around the house and only asked that they give him access to a computer or phone.
In the end, his father had decided to allow it and Riku began his process of being home-schooled. His father and mother were always at work, helping to pay off debts. Riku in the meantime, spent his days learning. He would go scourer the internet, learning as much as he could. Eventually, he began learning how to make music at home. He had heard that many people could make money by sending videos to YouTube and he studied how to properly become a YouTuber. It took years before he finally began seeing results, but in time. He learned the algorithms and remained consistent with his uploads. His music became a hit and he began paying for his own food and rent.
He helped his mother and father pay off their debts and they both became self sufficient. His little sisters were happy and both his mother and father apologized for the way they treated and raised him. Riku was confused by this because back then, he thought that it was all his fault. That if only he had been better, his mother and father wouldn’t be fighting. In the end, he didn’t really feel anything when they apologized. He accepted their apology, however, by the time they offered schooling and the “love” they said they never showed him, He had promised to himself that he would never be dependent on someone else again.
When he turned sixteen, he moved into his own apartment and started streaming, his experience with YouTube having taught him how to entertain the masses. It was at this time in Riku’s life, that he first ran into the game that would decide the next ten years of his life, Gods and Kings. It was a world famous Role Playing Game with its own leveling system. You were placed into the world of Dinevold.
What separated Gods and Kings from the many other games on the market at the time was the sheer number of possibilities granted to their players. Players were scattered across the world and would fight to impress the gods of the world. In this massive player vs player game, those who proved themselves, were granted the title of “King” after you attained this auspicious title, you would gain access to a tournament that was held between all the kings of the continent. Only players who had become king’s could participate in the world tournament and it would require a team of three. Whomever won the tournament would be granted a permanent cosmetic attachment for their avatar. After the rewards were distributed, the world would reset, and all would restart from the beginning with new characters.
At first, Riku had only played the game as an escape from his life. As bubbly as his sisters were, he didn’t like dealing with his mother and father anymore. It wasn’t that he didn’t love them per say. It was just so awkward dealing with them now. They seemed to feel guilty about him and the atmosphere always ended up feeling awkward. He would commonly bring his family gifts home but besides that, he spent most of his time in the game. It was his escape. In life, Riku had forced himself to deal with money, work, and people who wanted to take advantage of his young age, but in the game, he could do what he wanted. It all started with his first stream. He did all kinds of things and lost count of the times he was forced to remake his avatar. After some time, he reached the rank of king for the first time. He would then challenge himself to certain limitations. He would reach the rank of king without using magic. Then without Items. Then he reached the rank without running. He finally decided to reach king in record time. Eventually, he was scouted by Jeffery for the team he was creating for the “War of Kings” as the tournament was called. After accepting the position, Riku stopped streaming and began practicing.
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Eventually, even this haven became no more than a prison. He now, only played the game because it made him a ridiculous amount of money, after this tournament however, he would have enough to retire. He didn’t know what he would do when he did. Not many people retired at the age of 27. As he looked into the mirror however, and saw his own eyes. He wondered to himself why he had pushed himself to come this far. Was it pride? Anger? Or maybe, it was just all he knew how to do anymore.
He was ripped from his own thoughts by Jeffery doing rollcall. He quickly got himself dressed before racing to the door. After he finished dawning his equipment, he ran to the door and grabbed the handle. He laid his hand around the cold metal of the door nob, but he froze. He heard a small chime noise that sounded like crystals being knocked together.
What’s that sound? He thought, before he heard the same sound again, only this time, it was joined by words.
”I wonder?” the snakelike voice resonated with him and he felt as though he was being watched. This voice left his body with a feeling of unnatural fear. As the voice spoke the room around him almost felt as though it began to distort. Reality seemed like it glitched for a moment before everything returned to normal. Riku began searching around the room frantically, “Who’s there?” he asked to the air.
“It’s Jeffery,’ a voice came from behind the still closed door, “and you need to stop showing up late for rollcall.’
“Was that you Jeffery?” Riku asked before opening the door. Standing before him was Jeffery with a confused look on his face.
“Was what me?” Jeffery asked still looking on Riku with a somewhat confused face.
“That voice, was that not you?” Riku asked again, somewhat skeptical.
“I just came because your late. I don’t know what voice you are…” Jeffery trailed off as he looked at Riku with daggers in his eyes, “Ah I get it, don’t play such games with me young man, now come, its time for warm ups.”
“I wasn’t…” “Apapapapa” Riku said before Jeffery cut him off “I’ll be hearin none of it, now lets get to practice.”
Riku’s nerves were still a little frayed by the voice he heard, but when Jeffery came to pick you up, you had to go whether you wanted to or not. As he walk down the stairs, he began getting his head back into the game and all was well as they began practice. They continued practicing for an hour before stopping. After they finished, him and his team were guided by Jeffery to a bus. This would take them to the last Tournament Riku would participate in before his retirement. He felt a level of emotion looking at the vehicle that brought promise of the three other teams to the forefront. The seating was quite comfortable and all was going well.
On the way to the tournament, Riku was caught off-guard by another chiming sound. This time it was coupled with the words, “A King has been Chosen.” Reality “glitched” again and this time, he was sure something was up. He jumped out of his chair and began frantically ripping the room apart with his gaze.
“Yo Riku, what’s up man?” asked Raimond with a look of worry on his face. Raimond was the support of the team and one of those that Riku trusted most.
“Did you not hear that!” Riku was sweating profusely, he didn’t know what that voice was but whatever it was, it sent chills down his spine. It felt like it was touching upon something he couldn’t even fathom. And whatever it was, he wanted no part of it.
“Hear what?” Raimond questioned, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, are you ok?”
“I’m fine, did no one hear that voice?” Riku’s nerves were screaming at him that something was wrong but as he looked, he only saw worry and confusion on the members of his team. Riku had met many people who had tried to take advantage of him before. Because of this, he felt confident in his ability to read people.
“No…” Nigel said with a look that almost questioned Riku’s sanity. “Are your nerves messing with your head before the big tournament?”
Were his nerves just playing tricks on him, was he just hearing things? That didn’t make sense. He had never felt this nervous before…
Riku was caught off-kilter by a hand that came over his forehead, he almost struck whatever had dared to touch him but caught himself, realizing just who the hand belonged to. Raimond had put his hand to his forehead and began testing for heat, “Good god man, your burning up!” Raimond said with his brows furrowed. “I think something is wrong.”
Riku stood there, stunned for a second. Aside from the nagging feeling that he was being watched by something, and some heat the seemed to be building in his chest, he felt fine. What was going on?
“Should we pull you out and get a replacement in?’ Nigel said, “I would prefer if you were there to play but if you can’t then we will need to get Johnson.”
This pulled Riku out from his own head, he took one quick look at Nigel and said, “I’m fine, its my last day, I will still be able to play. Sorry for worrying you guys.” As he sat back down, the others in his team looked onto him with confusion and worry, shortly thereafter, there worries were squashed as Riku began going over their strategy for the game.
This tournament was a fantastic showing, Riku’s team completely decimated the competition and in no time at all were walking home with their fifth world trophy in hand. After the game, interviews were scheduled to be held but before they headed over, the team stopped to get some food. They held a toast for Riku and his team wished him well on his retirement. As they got up to leave, Riku stumbled, his head spinning like a top.
“I knew it, you aren’t feeling well,” Raimund said. “Hey man, are you sure your ok?”
It was just that, it was strange, ever since they had won, Riku had slowly began to feel his body’s temperature rise, he felt hot, and the more he walked the more dizzy he felt. “I think you might have been right Raimund, I think I might have some kind of flue.”
“In that case” Jeffery cut in, “Why don’t you get on the bus and head home early?”
“You know I can’t do that Jeffery” Riku said with diluted eyes.
“Sure you can, those vultures just want a piece of the man who lead his team to victory in not one, but five separate tournaments. If they have a problem with it, then they will have me to talk to about it.” Jeffery banged his clenched fist against his chest. A slight tremble told Riku of the worry he was hiding behind his smiling face.
As Riku looked towards his two teammates, they both nodded and the first smile Riku had given in a while broke onto his face. “Maybe I will then, thanks guys.”
Riku got onto the bus an began to rest. Before he knew it, he was home. He got out of his bus and began the small walk toward his house. His body slowly began to feel better, for what felt like his very first time, he began to look around the world and thought about the wonders it held, for the first time in his life, he felt at peace. He promised to himself that he would spend his days in retirement seeing the wonders that this world held. He was taken from his feelings of peace by a familiar chime however. As soon as he heard it, a piece of knowledge came to him, and he knew that whatever he was experiencing, it was no sickness.
“For my choice, I chose you.” The now somewhat familiar snakelike voice said to him. Riku, stunned for a moment by an unnatural fear, frantically searched around before he heard a small buzzing, sound. He recognized it as a plane and as he looked up, he witnessed a... truck?!?!, suspended in air by the flying vehicle, was a truck, held aloft by wires. He was confused for a second before he heard a sound of snapping wires in the distance. After this, the bus began to enlarge, he stood there, stunned for a second, he realized that the truck was falling… straight towards him. He immediately got ready to run but before he could move, his body began to heat to the point it felt like it had begun to enflame. This was far worse than before, he felt like he was on fire. He fell and tried to move, but his body felt trapped, like it was covered in some blanket that burned his skin from his bones. He only managed to look up one last time at the falling bus before he heard the voice once more.
“I” it said as the bus continued to enlarge.
“Choose” it continued louder on the second word,
“YOU!!!” as the last word was heard his body shuddered. His soul felt like it would be shattered under the pressure of the voice. Everything fell black.