I see no light. I feel no energy, from within and without. Everything hurts, my body.

My senses, they're dull.

*Beep *beep *beep *beep *beep *beep

What is that sound?

I can hear them, I want to see where it came from, but why can't I open my eyes?

"Proceed to…"

A sound of a man? What is going on?

"Hurry!!"

*Beep *beep *beep *beep *beep *beep

I can't breathe.

*Bzzt*

I-It hurts.

*Ziiiing *Bzzt

The amount of pain surging through my body right now... is immense, but I can finally breathe again.

*Beep … *Beep … *Beep

"... Administering medicine…"

I feel lightheaded, and so sleepy. My eyes are already closed, and sleep is the thing that I was going to do, but when I did, it felt only like a minute, and now… I can open my eyes.

"Sanitize this."

Only half-open, but I can see it, the bright light… and the green-clothed men.

They're doing something to my body, but I can't see it.

"Sir, the patient is conscious."

"..."

"... Increase the dosage."

The man walked up and look at me in the eye, "Don't worry, everything is going to be fine."

His voice soothes my anxiety.

When my eyes closed again, it felt only like a minute yet again. Suddenly, I found myself staring at a wall in a white room.

I couldn't move my eyes, it's like, I don't have the stamina to move them.

I feel warmth in my hand. Delicate yet strong, and it's calming me.

"Ma'am, sir, there is something I would like to discuss with you concerning…"

I hear footsteps, walking away.

Soon, I was able to blink my eyes and rotates them, but there is no one around.

Time passes and I found myself in a wheelchair heading towards an airport. As soon as I blink, the environment change, it's the house that I lived in since birth.

Home.

Nothing's changed.

An ordinary two-story house. Inside, passing the living room on the right and dining room on the left, just on the other side of the pathway, I was brought through the stairs into the second floor.

Into my room.

I didn't remember it was this clean. Usually, there's some tortilla chips and other bunch of snacks lying around.

Can't see them anymore.

It was quite the struggle to bring me over to my bed, but mom helped my dad with it, and my body is now resting properly on the comfort of the sheets.

"Go make something, I'll keep him company."

He nodded and left soon after.

Mom… and Dad.

I never thought that I would see them again. Have I truly come back to life? Or is this just an illusion post-death?

Mom sat beside me, gave me a peck on the cheek, and rustle my hair slightly.

She didn't say anything, but I can see a tear in her eye. The mixed expression on her face, both joy and sadness.

Time passes, I'm still unable to speak nor do I can move. Mom fed me, bath my body, and stayed by my side all day, every day.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

It hurts to see her in pain.

She gazed at the empty sky, it was then my mind cleared itself, I mustered all my strength to let out these words, "I'm here… Mom."

Her eyes sparked, opened so wide, she looked at me in shock. I wish I can smile, because hers is the only thing I want to see right now.

She quickly hugged me, dad soon came and mother told him what happened. He did the same and hugged me in full force. Not as hard as mom though.

"Thank god…"

He whimpers as his tears dripped onto my clothes and once again, mom got mad at him. Giving an hour lecture in front of me, but both of their faces are nowhere near someone that is fighting. With a bright smile of relief, they were happy.

Days and weeks passed, I was able to regain my consciousness and able to move my body albeit slightly stiff.

"Easy now, you're not fully recovered yet. Just stay in bed, okay? Do you want anything? Oh right, there's that game you've been talking about so much… Here."

A Virtual-Reality MMORPG, the latest game from the developer that I'm a fan of.

The game is called Akrea, and it's the only game that puts "Next-Generation" to a whole other level. Limitless possibilities, no boundaries. Players can do many things in it, and not only that, with the new currency introduced last year, people can earn money in-game without becoming a content-creator or a streamer.

"Mom, you can't play that without the console..."

"Wait what?! Ahaha, what a blunder. I'm sorry, Lin. I'm… going to buy it right now, okay? Don't go anywhere."

I lifted my arm, "Wait!"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Can you just… stay here instead?"

"..." she blankly stares at me in surprise, "Of course, but don't you want to hurry and play the game? You've been waiting for it like... 6 years now?"

She remembers, "8 actually."

"Right."

I grabbed her hand and smiled. This time, I wanted to do things right and start it with an apology, but I feel like I shouldn't.

I don't deserve her forgiveness, at least, not in the state that I am in right now.

Saying sorry won't solve anything, the word itself is an empty husk.

I rested my head and look out the window. The cheerful birds chirping, but I couldn't hear them. Somehow, this window kind of represents my life. It's the wall that proves to me that I'm blind. I can see what's on the other side, but I chose not to care about it at all.

I couldn't hear what mom tried to convey to me before all this happened.

"..."

"I love you, mom…"

"... Dad too."

I feel warmth in my hand, the same as that time in the hospital. It soothes me to the core.

Then several months pass.

I recovered completely, but my body has not. Despite only having soup, porridge, and veggies. I'm still as plumpy as a barrel.

Mother was okay with it, dad too. They accepted me as I am, but I'm not.

I take my ass up and went on a run. Not quite a speedy run, but at least, I'm moving my body around. Soaking the fresh air of the morning breeze, soaked myself with sweat, I burn my fat on a stove called the sun.

*Pant *Pant

Mom asked me if I wanted a company, and I said no… I don't want her to see me in this pathetic state, but maybe that in itself was a mistake since Mom run quite a popular gym. She might be able to help me more than myself could.

*Pant *Pant

"A-All right, all right, need to take a…"

Breather.

I stopped at the park, sitting on a bench, and then brushes my forehead from the sweat, "Phew, that was something."

For the last few weeks I managed to get to the point where I can do jogging and a light exercise, it was amazing. Reminds me of my childhood, I used to run around like crazy when I was a kid. "Hah, who would've thought that I'd be such a pathetic weeb though."

I rested my neck on the bench, and sighed, "Where did it all go wrong?"

My expression hardened as further as I pondered about it, until I finally shake it off.

"It's in the past. No point thinking about it now, can't change anything about it."

All of a sudden…

"Hey, hey, look at that…" somebody whispering, behind the fountain. A group of high school girls it seems. I couldn't see them clearly but there's quite a number of them.

"Bwahaha, what a pig. Don't tell me he came here to work out?"

"Wahahaha, that'd real funny."

"Come on, stop talking about boring stuff."

"Oh right, did you know? That one flaming sword dude actually beat that Burial Flame chick 5-0, won a total about $10 million in the finals I heard."

"WHAT?! No way, my goddess lost?!"

"Haha, looks like Akrea is gonna get bigger and bigger with all these tournaments popping around, huh?"

I was about to ignore them but this topic interests me. I was determined to change myself but it should be okay to catch on the news and keep me updated.

"Well I mean, the PVP update changed the game so much and it's a lot more fun now."

"You should play it too, the new DLC gonna come out like, in two months now."

"Ooh, oooh, ohh! I heard that it's bigger than the game itself. They gonna add a bunch of things and restore some of the cut-content!"

"Ugh… and here I thought I could farm Kanal Graveyard in peace until I reach level 30, can't believe it's going to be stormed by the newbies soon."

"Haha, like hell it is, I'm sure they're gonna nerve the hell out of that place. And there's a level cap to be worried about. Anyway, we should…"

The more I listen, the more I became curious. However, suddenly I remember the face of my mother when I was in bed. I don't want to see her in that expression anymore.

I rose from my seat. Even though I was met with another laughter, it didn't damage my mental resolve. So, I continued my journey, to become healthy. Making mom and dad proud to have me as their son.

Though, one day when I got home, feeling energetic from my morning jog. Mom and dad made a surprise present for me and my complete recovery.

As soon as I stepped into my room.

"Tada!!" they said.

And I stood there with my jaw fell to the floor, "W-Why are you guys…"

"Hehe…" while blushing, dad scratches his head, making mom said what he wanted to said instead, "Thanks to your father here working so hard, he bought you the console to play that game!"

"Wh-What?!"

A large futuristic Capsule. It filled a ⅙ space of my room. A subtle metallic base color, neon surrounding the glass lid, and not only that, there is no cable connected to the console at all. I can't recall that the console was even like this.

"Hehe. I didn't know which one that you like, I mean, I could ask you on that one but that would ruin the surprise. So, I just bought the most expensive one. Think you like it?"

"What?"

"Do you… like the black color?"

"What?"

"I mean, there is…"

"What?"

"Uhh… Lin?"

"What? What? What?"

I can only gasp at his stupidity. The resolve that I've built has not yet shattered, but now that this happens…

It looks like I have to change my plan in life a little bit. He already bought something ridiculous, the price tag on this.

A prove of their sincerity, there is no way I can refuse it if it's like this. I walked towards the GOAT with my arm wide open, "Stupid Dad…" I hugged him, instantly burst into tears, a whole lot of emotion going through my heart, "Thank you."

Mom pets me on the head and went into the mix, us three hugging and laughing.

This is the start, the change for me and this family. My family.