Play For Me

3

Ray woke up at six in the morning. He went to the bathroom and came out wearing his uniform. Nothing had changed except the time that continued to pass. He was still sleepy when he packed his textbooks, exactly the same as yesterday. After counting his textbooks, Ray took his bag and went downstairs for breakfast.

His mother greeted him as soon as Ray stepped on the last step, "Last night you seemed to sleep soundly that you didn't feel hungry at all."

Ray didn't respond to his mother's sarcasm. Don't blame him. He had just killed someone, that's why he lost his appetite.

"Wait—"

His mother who was pouring fried rice onto a plate turned around. "What's wrong?"

Ray looked at his mother with knitted eyebrows. "What happened last night?"

His mother continued pouring fried rice. "I'll tell you the truth after you get home from school."

Ray's forehead wrinkled complicatedly. "I don't understand."

His shoulders felt like they were being pulled by a galloping horse when he remembered all the strange events he experienced yesterday.

His mother quickly changed jobs. Now she was pouring water for two people. "Let's have breakfast, it's almost half past six."

Ray stared at his mother's back as she was washing her hands. "How long are you planning to hide it if I don't find out?"

His mother turned around, looking Ray straight in the eye while drying her hands with a cloth. "If I say 'after school', then 'after school'."

Ray swallowed hard. His hand reached for the spoon, immediately eating breakfast of fried rice with scrambled eggs. When he saw his hand holding a spoon, Ray remembered that it was the same hand that had stabbed a sword into someone's heart. In the middle of chewing, he felt unbearably nauseous.

"Sorry, I only had a little breakfast today." Ray put down his spoon and stood up from the chair.

"What's wrong?" His mother looked up following Ray's movements.

Ray put his bag around his neck. "I'll tell you after school."

His mother stopped chewing, watching her only child leave and close the door of the house.

Ray took a deep breath so that he wouldn't spit out the food he had already taken in.

The sky was clear without clouds. Warm sunlight poured down on Ray's body. Ray's steps stopped when he arrived at the place where he met the cloaked woman.

"She went crazy when I said I won the game. Does that mean she's happy or does she hope I die?" Ray muttered.

"Looking for ... me?"

Ray spontaneously turned to the narrow alley on his left. The cloaked woman was standing there, only showing her upper body. It was like seeing a ghost in broad daylight. Without saying much, Ray took a thousand steps to escape from the woman.

"Take it easy, son. There's still fifteen minutes left to go." The school security guard greeted Ray who was breathing heavily as he entered the gate.

Ray smiled. "Yes, sir. I was avoiding a wild animal on the road."

The security guard frowned. "What wild animal?"

Ray stuttered in response.

Arya pushed Ray's shoulder from behind. "Where were you last night? The three of us were waiting for you but your username didn't show up on the front page of the game."