While Eggi was finishing his snack, Pras took the given gear to his room on the 2nd floor of the housing unit in this 10 stories apartment complex.

Pras’ room was small with a window facing towards the unit’s backyard. His bed was on the left side of the room, facing the door. Books and clothes cabinets were on the right side and a computer desk was located between the cabinets and the bed. Two posters hung on the wall; logo of Intermilan FC and the render of a F-15EX fighter.

He stood motionless as his eyes gaze at the fighter jet, the plane he chose in last week’s match. Eggi was right, about how desperate the fight was. A lonely eagle was left against a F-22 Raptor and a SU-37 Terminator.

Pras couldn’t really remember the details of how he could pull a difficult manoeuvre to take down his two adversaries. He recalled that his mind was clear at that time though his memories are hazy. Yet, at that time her voice was heard again, the voice from his past.

It was rather amusing to him that trying his best to remember what happened had caused another surge of memory, an even more distant one. He, a little kid, gazed in awe towards the sky where a group F-15EX flew in formation to commemorate his nation’s Independence Day. Proud, mighty, and free - those were the images etched in his mind about those eagles.

“Eagle II, eh?” Pras chuckled as he put the gears on his desk.

His eyes glanced at a white-bellied tubby orange cat sleeping lazily on his bed. Pras poked the cat - named Galung - just to make sure it was truly asleep, not dead. Galung twiched ever so slightly, confirming that it still drew breath.

Pras, having started the game and devices installation, greeted his parents in their room and told them he would take Eggi to the nearest station. When he returned downstairs, he found his friend was done with the snacks and keenly watching the two hounds in joy. From afar, of course.

“I never thought pitbulls could look cute,” Eggi said in amusement. “What’s his name? And the other one?”

“Bozter is the mix of german shepherd and retriever, kind of a maniac. The bully is Danzo. This one’s kinda docile and a bit of an idiot though properly trained.” Pras shrugged as he gave the two hounds a sliced cucumber as snacks for being good boys. “Can’t say much about other people’s dogs though.”

“Your family bought them?”

“All of our pets were strays. Perhaps abandoned.”

Eggi let out a long sigh as they walked out from the unit. “I’m not into having cats or dogs. But, damn… people should be responsible when they decide to have one.”

Pras smirked cynically. “Yeah, but people be people. Whether it was words, actions, or belongings… they don’t want to be held responsible by the effects of those.”

“Never thought I would hear some wise cracking stuff from you during a lazy day like this,” Eggi crackled.

“Oh, shut up.”

Pras and Eggi walked from the low rise apartment residence area where Pras lived towards the nearest  LRT station, Anyarisa. As it has always been in the coastal area of Indonesian archipelago, including the Gulf of Jakarta area where Kota Seribu was built, half to ten is already relatively hot. At least the strong wind, the trees, and canopies had helped them combat the strong sunshine.

The journey took about 15 minutes. During that time, Eggi was enthusiastic in talking about Zurefgar. He also said that in order to be eligible to join Clashing Realms, there is an event held for new players where they must reach level 80 before March without dying more than 5 times and without the help of high levelled characters.

“That won’t be a problem,” Pras commented. “Aren’t low level monsters and quests easy?”

Eggi swung his right index finger like a wiper. “Not this one. This game follows the style of rather classic old school MMOs where anything can kill you.”

“Especially other players?”

“Depends, but monsters are dangerous. I heard Fathan got his ass kicked by a boar or something when he just started.”

Pras crossed his arms, commenting, “Let me guess, he picked something like a thief or rogue class. He tried to backstab the thing but accidentally aggro-ed another similar creature and got in trouble?”

As Eggi frowned, Pras knew he got it all correct.

“Are you a psychic or something?”

Pras smirked lightly, “Based on observations, my friend, observations.”

He then frowned as he changed topic swiftly, “Then again, why did you choose Zurefgar? I heard there are only four games remaining in Clashing Realms. One of them is that famous game; Raegantz Online.”

“We’re not really into the pretty boys vibe in Raegantz, nor are we really that interested in the Servaenillian World. On the other hand, Valhalla Field is almost defeated.” Eggi shrugged. With a mischievous smile, he concluded, “As for Zurefgar… perhaps you could see it after you try.”

The two youngsters parted ways when Eggi took the train northwards to the Damar Kecil area, a place where normal houses were built on land. Something of a luxury in this city.

Before the train door closed, Eggi let out a wide grin and stretched out his arms as if asking for an air fist bump. “As I said earlier, we are waiting for you in Zurefgar.”

Pras left his friend hanging. He just stared lazily at Eggi until the train door closed, then snickered maliciously happy as he walked home.

Despite having installed the devices and the game, Pras didn’t bother more than making an account. Being grateful was not enough to overcome other worries that stopped him from going further.

 The gears were once Mana’s also made him kind of hesitate. Since their fateful meeting on the first day they entered highschool, that long haired girl’s image lingered in his mind and bothered him at every chance. It just felt awkward for him to use something that had belonged to her.

Thus, Pras chose to spend the remainder of his day playing an RTS game, taking a break only for lunch, prayer, and dinner. The long gaming hour caused him to take shower a bit later than usual, which in turn sparked a ruckus between him and his older siblings - a sister and a brother - about who should take shower first.

The menacing wail from their mother stopped the fight and decided that the eldest sister got the first turn. The two younger brothers decided to bring their grudge - mostly because their sister was taking too long in the shower - to dinner and made it quite ‘lively’. 

The whole thing that happened today was more taxing than Pras realised and he fell asleep just after helping his mother with the dishes.

His dream was not a kind one. It was mixed with echoes from his past. Empty promises, toxicity, betrayals, identities being spread, ambitions, a scholarship taken away, and a loud horn of an incoming truck. Then, suddenly the blurred visage of a girl stood before him and said those same words that saved him. Kind words telling him to fight on and live on. With that, Pras was pulled out from his nightmare.

He struggled to check the clock on his smartphone as Galung was meow-ing in protest near the door. Disappointingly, it was still 11 pm on the same day.

“Ugh, Galung, next time you should ask to get out before I go to sleep, okay?” Pras grunted as he opened the door for the cat. 

Pras stared at Galung with the clear intent of waiting for a ‘thank you’ meow from the cat. But it never came, irking Pras even more. “Cursed cat, I should've named you Ajum.”

Before closing the door, he could hear the sound of TV playing a football match from below. Probably his elder brother and father watching the EPL. Pras had considered joining, but his foul mood had forced him back to bed.

Though he tried, Pras couldn’t return to sleep. Emotions swirled rigorously inside him like waves crashing at the meeting of several oceans. He tried playing games to calm himself but couldn’t settle on one. 

This recurring restlessness was a long time symptom of his past guilt.

Then, for God knows how long, he just stared blankly at the Chronicles of Zurefgar icon on his desktop. Eggi’s words and the bet he made earlier rang once more in his mind.

“Couldn’t get worse, I guess,” Pras sighed desperately as he clicked the icon and entered his account name and password. 

When the dark screen prompted him to wear the gloves and visualizer, Pras hesitated once more. His heart raced just from the thought of Mana having once worn these gears. It took him a while to calm himself and finally equipped the gears.

Since it would be his first time entering a game utilising the Advanced Virtual Reality System, the game asked him to stand before a mirror while scanning his own face and body with the glove.

“AdVRSe ready, standby for diving in.”

Pras gulped having heard the announcement. He proceeded to turn off the lights in his room and lie on the bed. A deep breath was drawn before he finally gave command, “Dive in: Chronicles of Zurefgar.”

“Confirmed… diving in five… four… three… two… one….”

At that moment, Pras was no longer in his room. He was overcome with nausea as he seemed to be thrown down through a huge tunnelling vortex with bright light at its end. Though, as expected, he was greeted with total darkness at the end.

Not long after, a raspy old voice spoke, “It has a rather simple meaning… a place where we stand….”

“Is this an intro cinematic?” Pras sighed. “Skip… command skip… skip cinematic… what was the correct word again in the manual?”

During Pras’s lazy attempt to get the command,  soft tribal drums were heard from the distance as the darkness changed with the view of a setting sun at a vast savannah. A figure seemingly like an old hulking green orc walked limply, dragging his axe. Greying hair, blood, and scars had been a clear sign of the orc’s weariness.

Pras’s interest was on the verge of being captured by the introduction as he accidentally recalled the right words. “... oh, it should start with; command on… skip.”

A pang of regret hit the teenager when the image before him blurred into darkness once more. In moments of weakness he told himself, “Well… I’ll just look at it next time or on the internet.”