Saturday, 6th of January, was a typical day in the semi floating city of Kota Seribu where nothing would likely change the life of an 11th grader like Pras. Yet, in this supposedly peaceful semester break, there were two things that were unusual for this short wavy-haired teenager. 

The first was the calm sky despite being in the torrential rainy season. Thus, Pras was forced to walk the two dogs his family kept as pets. The tall and light brown skinned teenager begrudgingly performed the duty. Pras had to admit the gentle morning breeze of this tropical archipelago had carried his worries from the past back to slumber deep within his heart.

Another anomaly presented itself when he returned home at 9 am, in the form of his rather new classmate, Eggi. The shorter yet handsome pale brown skinned teenager sat comfortably at the sofa in the living room.

With a sly smirk, Eggi greeted, “Welcome. Feel free to make yourself at home.”

“This is my home,” Pras sighed as he drove the two hounds towards the small yard of their house unit - which is only available for units placed at the ground floor - and tied them there. He couldn’t risk the two hounds licking at Eggi due to the latter's religious belief. 

Pras carefully eyed Eggi, who was eating some rice flour traditional snack glazed with brown sugar named kue lupis - definitely given by Pras’ parents who had always been keen to have his friends come over.

Then his eyes wandered at the curiously large backpack Eggi had brought. That thing was more mysterious than Eggi’s sudden appearance this morning. He asked, “Running away from home? Please don’t involve my parents with your problem.”

“Why would I...” Eggi halted his own surprised response. Then, his sharp visage turned serious. “My only problem is to convince someone to fulfil his promise.”

Pras snorted. He sat across Eggi and cleaned up his half-rim spectacles. “Did you truly believe that you guys were actually useful in last week’s flight simulator arcade match? The victory was mine alone. You guys should lick my boots for that.”

“So?” Eggi snapped back with a rather unamused tone. His squared shaped spectacles shifted as he frowned and continued, “The bet was not about who brought the victory, but rather about if we help you win or participate that match.”

“You guys were not helping at all.”

“But at least we made you eligible for that match. Live up to your name, man.”

As he shifted on the sofa, Pras groaned, “What does my name have to do with this?”

“You said that Prasetya meant loyalty in sanskrit, kawi,or whatever language that was. You gotta be loyal to your own promises.”

“I could be lying.”

“I checked that online that time, it was the true meaning. Also…,” Eggi let out a long sigh. “You could have just lost on purpose. All four of us were down. You were the only one who left to fight two more advanced fighters. Even if you gave up, no one would notice. But you didn’t.”

Pras turned his gaze away from his friend, trying to find a reason. He sighed and closed his eyes. Images of the recent event played clearly in his mind.

He had spent the semester break playing some sort of arcade fighter plane game at an arcade centre in a shopping mall when he accidentally caught the attention of some regulars who wanted to recruit him to their team or whatever.

It was not that he didn’t care, but he was rather afraid. 

You better off yourself, trash.

Those long buried words and what happened after echoed in Pras’s memories whenever someone brought up the idea of ‘team’.

Unable to completely refuse the offer, Pras had made a bet with those people from the arcade centre; if he had lost, he'd have to join them. However, he was required to bring his own team for the match. His friends agreed to help him with one condition; if he won, he would have to play a VRMMORPG, Chronicles of Zurefgar, with them.

But, that was not all. Eggi and the others were aiming to join Clashing Realms - a competition between VRMMORPG titles in the form of all out war. The word competition itself could almost make Pras puke from disgust.

Yet, somehow he couldn’t help but try his best despite the fact that the final part of the match was a fight against all odds. Pras almost gave up until his friends actually cheered on him. Something that was supposedly normal felt different for him. It triggered the voice far from his memories. Though connected with the events of his uneasy past, yet felt sweet and warm.

Fight on, live on.

Finally, he replied, “I haven’t bought nor downloaded the game, okay. And I don't have the equipment. Can’t we just play RTS or something?”

“That’s why I brought these.” Eggi patted his backpack then pulled out several items. “Here, I copied the files to this portable SSD. And here’s a visualizer spectacle, complete with the glove. Also, Zurefgar is free up until level 20 and the full version is currently half off.”

“You know I don’t have the money for this,” Pras lied. He stockpiled quite a lot of savings which he planned to invest when he reached the age of 17 in a few months.

“These things are second hand from my friend. But, I never used it ever since she gave it to me. I just straight up bought a new one when we decided to play Zurefgar. So, just take it.”

“She?” His friend’s explanation of the item gave a sharp icy stab on Pras’ heart. “You mean that childhood friend of yours?”

“Mana is not my only childhood friend, okay?” Eggi shook his head. Then, he admitted, “But, yeah… this was from Mana. She gave it shortly after her parent’s accident.”

“Shouldn’t you keep it? It’s a gift.”

“She wanted to throw it away anyway,” Eggi shrugged. “It’s mine now, and I have all the freedom to give it to someone else.”

Pras couldn’t reply. As many unknown feelings blended furiously inside him, his eyes solemnly stared at one of the devices Eggi had brought - which looks like the combination of an old school VR device with over the ear headphones.

“So?” Eggi pressed on. His eyes were gleaming with enthusiasm.

Pras shook his head, “Can’t promise you anything, especially about joining that Clashing Realms thing.”

The young man was expecting a rather pushy reply from his friend. But, what he saw had put him at ease. Eggi was smiling, not in the form of mockery but rather an accepting one. As if it was him that was put at ease by Pras’s answer.

“You don’t need to promise us anything other than fulfilling your part of the bargain by trying the game.”

Do not worry, one day you will find those who could accept you just the way you are.

A voice from a distant memory awakened from its deep slumber beneath the bitter pain of Pras’s past. With it, a sudden surge of warm emotion had rendered Pras helpless.

“Why would you do all this?” he asked with a voice he struggled to keep steady.

“You mean joining Clashing Realms?” Eggi leaned on the sofa. “Obvious isn’t it? Though I knew this might sound weird coming from me, since I am the ‘transfer student’, but... we are almost 12th graders. There is little time left before we would need to prepare for exams and university. After we graduate, we would go our own separate ways. There is no better time for it. Perhaps there will be a similar event in the future. But... we may not ALL be there like we are now, right?”

That was not the answer of the true question Pras had asked, yet a welcome one. He had never thought about it from Eggi’s perspective. A transfer student who returned from overseas might have a problem finding close friends in a few months. People flocked to Eggi due to his status, intelligence, and rather handsome face. Yet, now Pras remembered how Eggi didn't seem to completely fit in until he started hanging out with Pras and the gang.

A small part of his heart asked whether this is the salvation that he seeks due to his sins as the perpetrator and victim of betrayals.

Though most of him was still bound by his pain and guilt, Pras at least could feel thankful about this surprise visit. “Thanks, I guess.”

“We’ll be waiting in Zurefgar.”