Virtual Reality Industries, or VRI, was currently the leading virtual reality hardware development company in the market. In the past decade, VRI had mass-produced hundreds of thousands of VR hardware and earned hundreds of billions of dollars. Their products were known for being safe, durable, and easy to use. Almost all VR game developers have used VRI’s hardwares as the development environment for their products. Other VR hardware companies could only look up with envy to the prestige of VRI.

Today was the 31st of March, 2100. In a room in the VRI’s main branch building, almost 50 people were seated together, facing a small platform. On top of the platform was a table curving inward with seats behind and microphones on top.

This room was VRI’s public conference hall. The people in the seated in the room were journalists and news writers. VRI’s owner and president, Cain Lopez, had set this event for an announcement, and like flies, the media had flocked in interest.

It was 9:30 am when a door near the platform opened and a group of people surrounded by black suited guards entered. The leading person was a middle-aged man with graying hair. He was none other than Cain Lopez. Following right behind him was a youth with similar facial features.

Cain took the central seat behind the table, and the youth sat to his right. To his left was a young lady in her late twenties, assumed to be his secretary. She was carrying a thin stack of papers attached to a clipboard.

Earlier, the crowd in the room were noisy as they discussed and tried to guess what the announcement would be. As soon as Cain and his group entered the room, the noise gradually died down.

“I thank you all for coming today on such short notice.”

It was a standard opening line. The journalists and news writers focused their eyes and ears on Cain, waiting for the big announcement.

“I will get to the point and keep this short. A few weeks ago, I have formally disowned my eldest son, Lawrence. Starting today, I announce that my official successor is none other than my second son, Lemuel Lopez.”

As he said that, he turned to the youth to his right and smiled ‘warmly’. Lemuel nodded at his father, then bowed to the crowd.

Camera flashes brightened the room as the crowd burst into a frenzy. Almost none could hold themselves back to question what had happened for this sudden change.

Almost everyone knew Lawrence Lopez. He was an honors student with high athletic ability. He was also very talented in business and management. It had been a given that he would follow his father’s footsteps and become the next president of VRI.

But, today, his own father had announced that the successor would be the younger brother. Not only that, he was also disowned.

It didn’t take long before this news spread like wildfire.

April 1, 2100

Vincent Santos had just woken up. He stood up mechanically and went to the bathroom to wash his face. He was living in a small apartment with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room, although he rarely uses the kitchen as he eats out most of the time.

After taking a shower and changing clothes, he left the apartment at around seven and walked to his work place. His work at a fast food store starts at eight. He didn’t ride the bus to save money, and walking would just take about thirty minutes.

When he was halfway there, he suddenly stopped, turned to face a wall and hit his head on it. He had just remembered something.

“You’re fired!”

His boss’ words echoed in his ears. Last night, he got into a fight with a drunk customer who was trying to hit on a female co-worker. After teaching the drunkard a lesson, he was found out by his boss and scolded. When he tried to reason out the cause of his actions, the boss got mad and fired him. His co-worker apologized, but it wouldn’t bring his job back.

He walked to a different direction and arrived at a small playground for children. He sat on one of the cute animal rides then pulled out a cigarette which he placed between his lips. With mechanical movements, he took out a lighter and tried to light up the cigarette, only to find out that it was empty.

Slightly annoyed, he threw the lighter into the distance which accidentally hit the head of one person in a group of hoodlums walking by.

“What the heck is your problem, b*tch?!”

The hoodlum said as he marched into the playground followed by three others. Seeing this, Vincent only sighed and stood up. He then ignored the group and walked away to buy a lighter.

“F*cker!”

Angered, the hoodlum ran toward Vincent and tried to kick his exposed back. Suddenly, Vincent turned and caught his leg then lifted it up causing him to lose his balance. The hoodlum fell on his back with a loud thud. His raised leg was pushed down to his face making his scream in agony. A popping sound was heard as his hip dislocated.

“Kill this b*tch!”

The three others ran toward Vincent and threw punches and kicks at him. Vincent sighed as he dodged. He threw a punch and hit one of the attackers right on the solar plexus. He caught the arm of one who tried to punch him from behind and dislocated the arm. The last guy who threw a kick received a knee on his balls.

“Idiots.”

Vincent checked their pockets and found a lighter which he used to light his cigarette.

“Thanks.”

With just that, he walked away while slipping the lighter he took into his pocket. As he left the park and walked by the roadside, he received a phone call.

“Hello?”

Hearing the voice on the other end, Vincent’s eyes widened in surprise. He then took off running with a destination in mind.

Same day…

Kristine Versoza was in a bad mood. She was working in a small cafe. It was almost evening, and the customers were steadily increasing. This amount of traffic was higher than average.

The reason was simple. It was the sign outside the store: Maid Day.

Kristine and her fellow waitresses were required to wear an anime-themed maid cosplay uniform. This was a plan made by the eccentric owner to increase their sales.

“Kris… Kris… there’s a weird guy outside staring at you…”

One of Kristine’s co-worker said as she pointed outside of the store with her gaze. Kristine looked outside, and there standing under a street lamp near the cafe’s entrance was a man wearing a dark gray winter coat and wide-brimmed hat. He was also wearing a face mask.

“…Doesn’t he feel hot?”

It was already summer, and the nights aren’t as cool as they were. Seeing the man with the strange attire, it was Kristine who started to feel hot.

She ignored the strange man and focused on her work. Every now and then she would feel lewd gazes at her. They were, of course, from some of the customers.

The maid outfit had a short skirt which revealed her underwear. The underwear was also part of the uniform, so there was nothing to worry about. The only problem was whenever she leans forward to clean the tables or to take orders, someone from the opposite table would try to cope a feel on her butt.

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This infuriated her, but she kept on telling herself to cool down. The boss had promised an extra bonus to their salary for this event. If she caused a ruckus now, she might get a deduction instead.

Hours passed by quickly and it was now closing time. The customers left with satisfied expressions. Outside, the strange man had finally disappeared.

Kristine helped clean up the store until all the others had left. She was the last to leave. With a spare key that the owner had entrusted to her, she locked down the store and left through a back door. As she turned around, a figure appeared before her eyes. She opened her mouth to scream, but a hand blocked her mouth.

“Shh! Calm down!”

The man she had seen outside earlier had appeared in the back alley behind the store. He pushed her against a wall and covered her mouth so she couldn’t run away or scream.

“It’s me!”

Due to her panic, she didn’t hear the man’s word. His hand loosened a little and she took this opportunity to bite his hand. As her teeth bored into his skin, he yelped in pain and retracted his hand.

She swung her bag and hit him right on the head causing him to stumble and fall back. With all her force she ran to the alley’s exit.

“Help! Help!”

Unable to gather enough force in her voice, her call for help was barely enough to alert any people outside of the alley.

She heard footsteps quickly approaching behind her and tears started to gather in her eyes as she thought of all the horrifying things the man might do to her.

Suddenly, someone entered through the alley’s exit. She didn’t get a good look at his face, but she ran straight to him and he caught her in his arms.

“Help me!”

The footsteps stopped right behind her, and her shoulders shook. Was this man also with him? Did she just run into her own doom? She closed her eyes, finally given up.

“What were… you doing?”

She heard the out of breath voice come from in front of her and it sounded somewhat familiar. She also noticed that the he was drenched in sweat and his chest heaving up and down, trying to catch his breath.

“I don’t know… She just suddenly ran away.”

The man behind answered, and his voice struck Kristine like a lightning bold. She finally noticed that his voice was very familiar. Slowly, she turned her head to look at the man who had chased her.

Night of the same day…

Inside a small apartment room, three figures sat in silence on the floor around a small round coffee table. One of them was Kristine who had just recovered from the shock she received earlier.

One man was half naked. He was slightly tanned, and his body had a few scars on the back and chest. His shirt was currently hanged on a clothesline outside on the apartment’s balcony. He was none other than Vincent.

The last person was a young man with a bright smile on his face. In his hands was a wide-brimmed hat and face-mask. He was the person who stood outside Kristine’s workplace and ambushed her on the alley. He was also the person who called Vincent. If the media was here, they would immediately recognize him.

He was Lawrence Lopez, the disowned son of Cain Lopez, owner and president of VRI.

A few weeks ago, he decided to run away from home. Although his father had invested a lot of effort in his growth, the truth was he was unhappy with his current life. He wanted freedom.

In middle school, he attended a private school for the first time. His father wanted him to be home-tutored. Lawrence managed to change his father’s mind by pleading to his mother, who in turn convinced his father.

There, he met Kristine. They quickly became friends, and then in high school, they got to know Vincent through a minor neighborhood squabble. He was then added into their group of two and became three.

After high school graduation, they went their separate ways. Vincent abandoned his old home to live in the city. Kristine’s guardian, her aunt had married and left for another country, so she was left alone and had to earn her own money. Lawrence was the heir of a multi-billion company.

Until he convinced his younger brother to take over for him. Lemuel had always been jealous of Lawrence. He wanted the company for himself. Lawrence knew this and used this fact to gain his freedom. With Lemuel’s help, he erased the trails of his escape and gained his most wanted freedom, and Lemuel in turn became the company’s successor. Both sides win. Better yet, he was even disowned by his furious father, losing all responsibilities he hold toward his family.

“I saw the news last night.”

Vincent broke the silence. He looked at Lawrence with a gaze asking for an explanation.

“I ran away from home, easy as that.”

“The media is in an uproar, though.”

“I don’t care about that.”

Suddenly, a loud sound was heard as Kristine hit the table with her hand.

“Why did you have to suddenly appear like that!? And even in that strange appearance to boot!”

“I wanted to surprise you, guys! And I had to hide my identity. If someone saw me, this whole place would be flooded by the media.”

Kristine could only stare at him in resentment. His reasoning was logical, and it was her who jumped to conclusions, but during that situation, it was inevitable. As if remembering something, she stared at the half-naked Vincent and fired her anger on him.

“And you! Why are you naked?!”

“My shirt’s wet.”

“Why?!”

“I ran all the way here from the other side of the city.”

“Why?!”

“To save money.”

Lawrence laughed at their exchange.

“This reminds me of the old days.”

“It isn’t that far in the past. It was just four years ago since we graduated.”

Lawrence was still only 20 years old. He had enrolled in middle school two years earlier than his peers. This was because of his outstanding academic abilities. Vincent was 22 while Kristine would turn 22 on August this year.

The three sat in silence, reminiscing their past.

“So, what are your plans now?”

Kristine asked Lawrence. He didn’t just run away without thinking, did he?

After hearing her question, Lawrence smiled brightly and raised his chest proudly.

“I’m glad you ask!”

He then stood up and looked at both Kristine and Lawrence.

“Quit your jobs!”

His words shocked Kristine. Vincent had a blank face.

“Let’s play…”

He then raised his hand and pointed a finger straight up.

“…Heaven Conquerors!”