Epitaph

Chapter One

The sound of light clicking and tapping of keys continued to echo throughout the room. The students of World Religions 101 tried to listen to the sound of their teacher's voice as it echoed through the speakers of their class-issued laptops. In the back of the room nearest to the window, a young man sat avidly typing away at the keys with an enthusiastic spark to his eyes. His hand swiveled against the mouse as the pointer shifted from pictures of monsters to ghouls and all those in between. The earbuds in his ears echoed a tune similar to one that could be found in a medieval setting instead of the monotonous drawl that his classmates were subjected to. He nearly let out a joyous yell upon coming across a beast that looked like a strange combination between different animals.

"A chimera," he muttered with wonder before jumping as a window opened on his computer.

Anna Williams is requesting a video chat.

Accept Reject

He sighed in relief before glancing around at his classmates hoping that no one caught on. They continued to remain oblivious and some were even snoozing away. Rolling his eyes and accepting the chat, the window opened wider to reveal a young woman standing passively amidst the chaos of a laboratory. Several of the attendants, few that he remembered from childhood, were racing about like chickens with their heads cut off. Their voices nearly blew out his ear drum and he cringed as Anna turned only to bark at them all to be quiet. With an exasperated sigh, she rubbed her temples and narrowed her eyes in his direction.

"Seeing as you were able to answer, that must mean you connect to a VPN while in class. Right Keisuke?" The accusation in her tone only served to bring out nervousness in his expression. He could feel her eyes boring holes into his head even from here. "But I'm not here to harass you about your work ethic this time, [Resonance] is going to be opening soon and we need to do a systems check beforehand." Resonance? Keisuke nearly knocked his chair down after rising up and shutting down the laptop, effectively hanging up in Anna's face. Grabbing his satchel and racing to the door unaware that his instructor noticed and yelled for him to do the following night's homework. Grinning over his shoulder and waving goodbye, he took to the halls racing onto the street.

The wind blew through his hair as he darted in and out of crowds, few yelps of surprise and irritated growls followed him but his excitement overlooked all reason. The city that he lived in was always busy and it seemed as if anyone would be grumpy even if someone brushed past them. As he boarded the nearest bus, he pulled up the news feed on his phone and the corners of his mouth turned up. There was a broadcast of several video game enthusiasts crowded outside of a local marketer. They were ranting about something but he couldn't hear their voices over the reporter speaking.

It is pandemonium outside of [Nanahwa Gaming] as several young men and women whom camped outside for three weeks straight are excited to receive their copy of Resonance, the VMMORPG once thought of in infamy created by EXTOL Corporation.

EXTOL, Keisuke thought as he closed down the feed and stuffed his phone into his pocket. He wondered how Anna was holding up with the press more than likely swarming her office. Getting off the bus at the Sunset District and securing his satchel, he took the backroads. Climbing gates and ducking under small spaces to crawl through, he could hear the screeching of wheels and the excited yammering of camera crews. He had to be close. As he climbed over the last gate, he found himself greeted with several rows of cars from different news stations. There were reporters arguing with one another and camera crews trying to film everything or get a better shot. The security personnel were busy asking them to leave to no avail.

Keisuke grumbled as he checked his phone.

3:20 PM reflected back at him. That meant it had been at least twenty minutes since Anna contacted him. There was no way that this blockade was going to end that quickly. He felt a tap to his shoulder and nearly jumped only to feel a familiar pat to the top of his head. "Come along, Keisuke," the voice told him and he felt a growing warmth in his chest. Mister Roland! The man walked into the sea of reporters and Keisuke followed closely behind taking notice of the hush as Roland passed through. The older man didn't give the growing silence and instead passed on a light smile to Keisuke who tried earnestly to return it. "Today is a big day, we wouldn't want you to be late."