1 The Star

It was a cold and windy night in December. A tired young man arrived home after having the last set of Exams for this semester.

Just like the usual Filipino Family in this era. His Mother, Father, and Grandma were watching the news on the television. They often do this to wait for him so that they would be able to eat dinner together.

Knock! Knock!

"Oh! Pedro is here! Let's eat." His Mother stood when she saw him knock on the door.

"I'm home!" He smiled.

"Oi brat! Stop smiling and go wash your hands! I am hungry already." His grandma scolded while raising her fist as if wanting to hit Pedro.

"I will, Grandma!" He rushed to the bathroom and washed his hands.

"Grandma looked like she is in a bad mood, today. Why do I feel like I am going to get scolded by both father and grandma again?" He sighed, "Aaah... Several days of no sleep, I want to relax and have some fun at the least. I hope father and grandma will not scold me tonight."

After washing his hands, he headed to the dining area and joined his family in the dining table.

'The calm before the storm...' He sighed deep inside.

He led the prayer before their meal. Afterward, they take turns getting food, allowing his grandma to take her portions first. Before his father could even take a bite, He looked towards Pedro and asked,

"How were your exams today?"

'Waaa~ Here we go!' Pedro felt troubled deep inside.

"I think I did good, father. There were some tricky parts, as usual. Fortunately, I checked those parts and was able to correct my previous answers."

"Good. But don't get too relaxed. The results are yet to come. If you fail in even one of your exams... I'll take those 'distractions' off from you! Are we clear?"

"Yes, father." He nodded in response.

"Why do you need to wait for the results? Take him away from these VR Games! Let him accompany you in the company and observe so that he can learn the ins and outs of it." His grandma added.

"Ma... Please don't be harsh to Pedro. He's just a second-year college student. Let him have some time to relax and enjoy his youth. He is still young after all." His mother defended him.

'Phew! Fortunately, the mother is always here to support and defend me!' Pedro sighed inwardly.

"Young?" His grandmother looked at him with a doubting look, "Him? When your father was 19 years old, He already started working as a part-time service crew in the restaurant owned by my friend, just to be able to save money for his tuition fee. And... You're telling me he is young?"

"Don't worry mother, father, grandma... I'll always do my best to make you proud. I'll make sure that my hobby of playing games won't affect my studies. After all, I am very thankful for everything you do for me. And only through achieving good results can I only repay your hard work!"

His mother felt happy and was teary-eyed after hearing what he said. As for her grandma...

"Ha! You can't fool me with your sweet words. Go wash the dishes after we eat. I might get happy, at the least!"

"Sure, grandma." Pedro forced out a smile.

In the end, he washed the dishes after their dinner, even though they have a maid. Washing the dishes made her grandma, at the least, to smirk.

After he washed the dishes, he was about to go up and return to his room when his father called him. His father was watching the news on the television.

"Pedro, come here and have a look." His father was sitting on a sofa and pointed to the television.

Their living room was wide. Attached to the wall was a fifty-inch curved TV. A few meters away from it was long enough to sit three to four people. Two separate, single-seater, sofas were located closer to the TV and in line with a glass center table.

Pedro walked towards one of the single-seater sofas and took a seat. He shifted his attention towards the television.

"Dorothy, Based on the statement given by the Presidential Spokesperson, Will the government support this game called, Bearth Online, that was about to be released in two days?" A news anchor asked the on-site reporter, that was doing live coverage outside the Congress.

"Yes, Lino. You see, everyone was shocked by this statement from the Presidential spokesperson. We all know that since the existence of VR Helmets and the Virtual Reality games in the early 2030s, the congress, itself, passed several laws to avoid the negative effects it may bring to the people, especially the young ones. I asked some of the Congressman earlier about this matter and they only said that as long as it follows our laws and that it would benefit many people, then they saw no reason not to support the plans of our President."

"I see... Did you get any information about why was the President, and it seems like even the congress, is supporting this game?"

"Well, we tried to ask some of the Congressman about that, but all of them kept saying to wait for the announcement to be maid by the Presidential spokesperson, himself."

"Alright, Thanks, Dorothy!"

"No Problem Lino! This Dorothy Shosun, BTN News~"

After that part of the news, His father shifted his gaze towards him.

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"Do you know that game?" His father asked.

"Yes, father. I heard from some of its closed beta phase players that the game was something unusual. Unlike the usual VR games that had a role-playing mechanics, it had a sandbox mechanic that made it look like another 'reality'. In the end, the closed beta phase players remarked the game as a very difficult one. They said that out of the whole month of the closed beta phase, the top players considered were only able to reach level five. Moreover, according to one of the closed beta phase players, the game was so hard, that killing monsters was never an option. Instead, the top players were able to reach level five by doing 'labor' tasks or quests from NPCs."

Pedro got carried away after his father asked something to him about a game. Halfway through his explanation, his father shifted back his gaze to the TV.

"I am not interested in the contents of the game. Do you know anything about it that can make our government act like this towards it?"

"Ah! I'm sorry father but..." He paused for a second trying to brainstorm about the information that he read about the game.

"If there's nothing, you may go."

"Wait... Father, If it is about something outside the contents of the game itself, then... It might be about the new gaming equipment that is to be first used in VR games. The VR Box."

"VR box? Is it a box-shaped version of your VR helmet?"

"No father. It is a refrigerator looking bed. There was not that much information about it. The closed beta phase players only said that it works the same as a VR Helmet. However, compared to VR Helmets, A VR Box consumes a lot more electricity. Hence, some of the players coming from middle-class families quit the game halfway because their monthly electricity bill was already twice their regular monthly bill, after only a week of using it."

"Hmm... I see. Thank you for your time, son. You can go now."

"Okay, father. Goodnight."

"Goodnight!"

Pedro left his father and went to his room. While he was walking back, he was curious as to why his father was suddenly interested in that game. Since he was afraid of his father and he doesn't want to get scolded, he simply answered his questions and left when he had the chance.

'He won't play the game, right?' He mocked inside.

He went back to his room and took a bath. Several minutes later, he was already finished with his matters and went to bed. Fortunately, VR games can be played during sleep.

He took his VR helmet and plugged a cord in it. The other end of the cord was plugged into a socket near his bed. The VR helmet activated and he laid down in the bed.

[Would you like to start the game engine?]

"Yes!"

Slowly, his consciousness started to fade. Seconds later, he woke up in a small and empty cube room.

[Game engine run, successful!]

[Welcome back to Dragona Online!]

[Logging in!]

Seconds later, a different virtual scene started to materialize around him. He appeared inside a huge room and he was standing in front of a throne and looked like a King. Beside the throne stood two red flags that had yellow writing in it.

"ARES"

"No one is around? Did they go out already?" He accessed his player interface and learned that only five of them in their guild that was online.

...

Annie: Guild Leader, You there?

One of the five members online chatted in the guild chat.

Mr.Dark (IGN of Pedro): Yes, Why?

Annie: Let's farm some monsters? Are you free?

Mr.Dark: Yeah sure. I'll be on my way.

...

Pedro joined Annie and the rest to form a party of five. They farmed some monsters in a nearby monster spawning area.

"Gui~Gui~Guild Master!!! Isn't that a Hidden Dungeon??"

Annie who was holding a staff wore an astounded look. She pointed into a warp which was about 300 m away from their party.

"Jackpot!" Pedro rejoiced. "Good eyes Annie! Everyone, let's go!"