He locked his phone inside a charging drawer and took a seat. Then he took a small nap and tried to remember what happened last night.

He reminisced the glow of his computer screen, casting a soft, eerie light across his dimly lit room as he hunched over his desk, fingers flying across the keyboard with practiced precision. It was well past midnight, but Kiryu was too engrossed in his gameplay to notice the passage of time. He had been up late every night for the past week, tirelessly tinkering away at his favorite video game, Pitch Black Void.

The game in question was a space simulation unlike any other, a sprawling epic that seamlessly blended elements of first-person shooters, X4, role-playing games, simulations, heavy sci-fi and sandbox exploration.

And the most beautiful feature of it all, was the 1 to 1 scale depiction of the entire known universe inside the game.

It was a game that had captured Kiryu's imagination from the moment he first laid eyes on its trailers and after it came out, he had spent countless hours immersed in its vast virtual universe.

Last night however, Kiryu wasn't content to simply play the game. No, last night he was on a mission to make modifications on it. He already completed the vanilla features and campaign of the game that he got bored of it. Then he found out about the vast potential of the game when it is modded. Pushing the boundaries of what was possible within its digital confines and the vision of its developers.

First he went to watch every video instructions on Yutube, to know how to start modifying the game. Then he went to online forums and community of fellow modders, asking their insights and tutelage. It took him several weeks to learn of it all before his first successful mod that modifies the reactions of NPCs to players' actions.

Then decided to make it bigger.

With each line of code he wrote, scripts he edited and each tweak he made to the game's mechanics, he felt a sense of exhilaration unlike anything he had ever experienced. It became his only joy after working overtime to be able to buy more assets and programs to assist him in his new hobby.

Finally, after few months of painstaking effort, he finally completed it all last night. After that, he remembered the feeling when he just leaned back in his chair with a satisfied sigh, his eyes scanning the screen before him. Adoring the creations he had made. Most of the modifications he had made were subtle but significant, enhancing the game's already impressive features and adding a new layer of depth to its gameplay and universe.

The NPCs were much more realistic, he added new factions, new technology trees, fixed the vanilla bugs, new system to automatically add star systems that was not previously known by modern astronomers, new weapons, new updates to its UI, new game mechanics, new rules by combining the real Newtonian physics, his favorite hard sci-fi features and finally improving it's game engine to become capable of handling what he added in the game.

Some of the people he would chat in forums would laugh at how he literally made a new game. Then he would catch their attention when he released a video of his gameplay which got him several hundreds of request to make his mod public. He still haven’t decided if he wanted to as he only desire to enjoy his own creation.

Always filled a sense of pride everytime Kiryu launched the game with his mod. Eager to see his handiwork in action after he got home from work. He remembered the familiar feeling of seeing the loading screen faded away, he found himself once again transported to the far reaches of space, the twinkling stars stretching out before him in all their celestial glory.

Fortunately for him, his save file was still compatible to his modifications. As such, he was able to test and feel the things he added in the game without the need to progress much. He was already a shipping magnate that could be considered powerful enough to topple a sovereign state in the galactic board. Not to mention his great interconnected subsidiary companies that caused most of the star systems to be dependent on his shipping empire.

Then after feeling satisfied of what he had achieved, he decided to start a new life while still in control of his shipping empire. He took a small M-size, mining ship and went back to a remote corner of the galactic board. Somewhere he would have the time and space to test more of his mods that he still haven’t checked. And he found his own corner in the the asteroid belt of Sol System, the birthplace of mankind in the game.

As he mulled over on what he wanted to do next, he remembered that he actually added another thing.

A ship of his dreams.

He could still summon it through console command to feel it's presence. He originally added this on the game as a blueprint which his company could build but he forgot to leave the blueprint on his wharf. But due to excitement to see it with personally, he decided to cheat the system and summon it instead. He typed the necessary codes and impatiently pressed the Enter button. Then he also remembered the sudden bending of space around him.

But before he could gaze upon his great price, he heard an alarm on his scanner. Incoming boarding pods was heading towards his mining ship. He was confused on the identities of his attackers and immediately scanned the boarding pods. But he didn't need to, as more ships appeared on his holodisplay. Dozens of ships with peculiar shape of non-uniform set of armor on top of their hulls.

Their sleek black ships descending upon Kiryu's own humble mining vessel with deadly intent. But in all of the chaotic design of their armors, he saw one thing that was marked on their ships.

A pink skull with a cartoonish snake wriggling on its sockets.

A pirate insignia.

Then he remembered that he actually disabled his ship's PDCs to avoid attacking the new ship that he was about to summon previously. But before he could even turn it back on to mount a proper defense, his own ship's hull was penetrated by boarding pods.

And the attackers immediately subdued him and locked him on to his own ship's brig. A very ironic break as he was getting into the groove of the game, which pulled Kiryu back to reality with a jolt. Then he cursed under his breath, realizing with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he had to be up for work in just a few short hours.

Reluctantly tearing himself away from the game, Kiryu saved his progress and shut down his computer, the glow of the screen fading to black as he slumped back in his chair, exhaustion washing over him like a tidal wave.

Then he woke up after hearing the alarm from his almost fully charged phone. He checked the status bar and found it's already 85%. He took a glance to the train platform and found his train still haven't arrive.

He had barely closed his eyes when the shrill of station's announcement of a train shattered the stillness of the room, dragging him back to consciousness with a groan of protest. Rubbing his bleary eyes, Kiryu stumbled out of his chair and began the arduous process of getting ready. He unplugged his phone from the booth and slowly walked towards the coming train.

But his mind kept drifting back to the game he had been playing the night before. The thought of leaving it behind, even temporarily, filled him with a sense of unease, a nagging feeling that he was missing out on something important.

Kiryu found himself standing on the now-bustling platform, a sense of déjà vu washing over him as he stared up at transparent crystal ceiling of the station. A cloudy sky could be seen overhead. It seemed like only yesterday that he had been walking this same path, jobless and uncertain about the future just a year ago. But here he was again, on his seventh job since being laid off from his last one, the cycle of uncertainty repeating itself like a cruel twist of fate.

He couldn't help but laugh bitterly at the irony of it all, the absurdity of a world that seemed determined to grind him down at every turn.

Lost in thought, Kiryu realized with a start that he had smoked through the entire box of cigarettes without even realizing it. Tossing the empty pack into the nearby trash bin, he sighed and glanced at the electronic display board, noting with relief that his train had finally arrived as the dull roar of the crowd filling his ears. Kiryu couldn't help but wonder if there would ever be an end to the endless cycle of disappointment and disillusionment.

The familiar chime of the arriving train echoed through the station, signaling the start of another chaotic rush hour commute. He watched the doors slide open, the crowded interior of the train beckoning to him like a distant oasis in the desert.

Then felt something wrong with his body. First he felt like the world was ringing loudly. Right after, his body felt so light that he had trouble in standing upright. Then his legs started to fail him as his mind was ransack with stinging pain.

Gritting his teeth against the sudden wave of dizziness that washed over him, Kiryu clung to the nearest chair for support, his vision swimming as he struggled to stay upright. Every fiber of his being screamed for him to get on that train, to push through the pain and exhaustion and make it to go to work on time. But his body had other plans.

With a weak cry of frustration, Kiryu felt his legs give out beneath him, his muscles trembling with the effort of keeping himself standing. He stumbled forward, reaching out desperately for the closing doors of the train, but it was no use. In an instant, his strength failed him, and he collapsed to the floor in a heap.

Panic surged through Kiryu's veins as he felt a sudden sharp pain lancing through his chest, his breath coming in short, ragged gasps. He tried to call out for help, but all that escaped his lips was a choked gurgle as he felt something warm and wet filling his mouth.

Then, with a sickening lurch, Kiryu coughed up a spatter of blood, the metallic taste coating his tongue as darkness closed in around him. His vision blurred and dimmed, the world spinning out of control as he fought to stay conscious.

But it was a losing battle.

And then, as if mercifully, everything went black.