'Next stop, Renton station.' The train announcer spoke as I sat looking out of the window, watching the world pass me by.
I stood up from my seat and tucked my phone away into my trouser pocket and approached the train doors. Thankfully, the train wasn't busy this time of day, as it was a weekday, and most were either at work or had something better to do than travel to a small town as this.
Exiting the train, I walked through the platform and into the station, leaving straight through the entrance and onto the main street.
'Today was my parent's usual day off. I remember feeling annoyed as a child that the only day off they had was a weekday when I was usually at school. But now I'm older, I can't help but think that they didn't want to deal with a kid's problems.' I recalled the time from the past that I had thought that I had completely forgotten, and I trod the all too familiar path I used to take to get home each day.
Walking through the streets of my old hometown I started to recall more memories that I had thought I had forgotten, some sweet, some sour. However, each of them I wanted to never experience again, and coming here today had made me relive things I thought were long forgotten.
The old high street soon turned into rows of houses, ranging from different ages and states of condition. Until I arrived at nice buildings that looked like they belonged to richer families.
Stopping at a certain house, I looked at the two-story building with a neatly maintained garden. Unhinging the gate, I walked up the path towards the front door and knocked.
Waiting for a minute or so for an answer. At first, I heard nothing and was prepared to turn and leave. However, I started to hear footsteps approaching and I started to feel butterflies in my stomach.
When the door opened, I expected to see either my mum or dad, but I saw a young woman with tanned skin. "Hello?" she spoke in an accent that wasn't from this country.
"Hello, is Mister and Misses Verde home?" I asked, feeling the once flittering butterflies die one by one.
"I'm sorry, they are not home at the moment." She replied, slightly guarded at the sudden visitor.
"I see. Well, could you let them know that their son came to visit?" I said as I turned around and started to make my way down the path, not caring that the young girl seemed to be surprised and didn't know what to say.
'As I thought, it was a waste of time.' I decided to head home, as Renton wasn't exactly a place where you could have a nice day out, there wasn't anything here.
I could have gone to see Aunty Jean, but I knew that she was busy most days with her voluntary work. She didn't have to work anymore since her late husband passed, he was from a wealthy family, and she inherited his wealth. But she wasn't the type to sit and do nothing, so she worked with young homeless people in the nearby town. Needless to say, she wouldn't be home at the moment.
Walking back through the high street, my mind started to fall back into memories after memories and by the time I arrived back at the train station, I realised that most of my memories were lonely, with myself being alone. I never had many friends growing up. I was the rich kid that most people knew growing up, and I knew that the kids would use me for that, so I kept to myself.
Buying my ticket and walking through the ticket barrier, I entered the platform and sat on a bench. Looking up at the train times, I saw that the next one was in an hour.
Pulling my phone out, with a sigh and began to browse through the 'Realms' forum, which had blown up in the past few days. 'It seems that things will get even more busy soon.' Judging by the amount of people talking about the game, it was obvious that people would start playing the game en masse, which would align with my memories.
"Abel? Is that you?" A woman's voice called out to me as I was buying something from a vending machine.
Looking up, I saw a beautiful red-headed woman a few years younger than me. I looked at her and didn't recognise her. "Yes, that's me," I replied, a little off-guard as I looked at the young woman who looked at me with a smile on her lips.
"It's me, Lilly." She said, seeing my obviously oblivious face.
The face of a young, lone girl sitting in the back of the schoolyard on her own came to my mind, as her name pulled out a deep memory from inside me.
She came from a poor family and the other kids would pick on her for it. Of course, the thick rimmed glasses she wore were also a target of ridicule. She was a few years younger than me, and I couldn't help also feeling somewhat negative feelings for her. However, for me I felt jealous more than anything simply because the kids were so open with their hostilities towards her, instead of trying to suck up to her because she was rich. That, and she had the one thing I had never had, a loving home and as a kid, that was something I yearned for the most.
"I remember you, how have you been?" I asked, as I pulled myself free from the bitter memory. She wore business suit, so it was safe to assume that she landed herself a decent job.
"I've been good thanks. How about you? Visiting your family?" She asked seeming genuinely curious. Her blue eyes met mine as her soft smile stayed on her lips.
"I've been good as well. And that was the plan, but they weren't home." I simply replied as I retrieved the bottle of fizzy drink that had dropped from the vending machine.
"Ah, I see." She said, feeling a little awkward, as it was a known fact that I don't get on with my parents.
"So, are you off to work?" I asked, to push the awkwardness away.
"Yes, well no." She answered, as she shifted with nerves. "I have an interview in the city today. I haven't had much luck with jobs since graduating from university." She said with a dry smile.
"Ah, you're going my way then," I said, avoiding the obvious minefield of job hunting. And judging by her response, she had stepped on a few mines in the process.
"You live in the city then?" she asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity and childlike wonder lust.
Until our train arrived, we spent the time talking. I told her about the crazy things I had seen happening in the city, and what areas to avoid. And she, told me all about her time at a rural university and several stories that I couldn't help but notice that there wasn't anyone else in her stories, other than her odd family members.
"So, what are you doing these days?" She asked as he was sitting on the train, with the countryside whipping past the windows.
"Ah, well I recently changed jobs. I recently joined a new accountancy firm as a junior accountant." I answered. It was a lie, but not completely, I did have a degree in accounting and my previous job was something similar.
"Wow. That sounds impressive. What made you leave your old job?" She asked, her tone held only curiosity as she looked at me like I was some great storyteller.
"Well, my boss purposely kept people from progressing in their careers so he could take all the glory. It took me a few years to realise I was just getting used." I replied as I unscrewed the lid of my fizzy drink. The hiss of the carbonation was an audible full stop.
"What a horrid man." She said the polite version that was running through my mind.
A small silence filled the small train booth we were sitting in until she said something that nearly made me spit my drink out of my mouth and dye the upholstery a different colour.
"Can I have your number?" she asked so innocently as if she didn't know what she was saying.
However, I barely managed to swallow the liquid in my mouth that slightly foamed up from my sudden motion. I coughed after I managed to down the liquid.
"Are you ok?" Lilly asked, slightly concerned from my sudden coughing fit.
"…I'm fine, just surprised is all," I explained, but she didn't seem to understand why I was so surprised.
I decided to move past it, and instead, I asked for her phone and put my number inside it as a new contact. She looked at my number with a small smile on her face, until she realised that she just asked a man for their number and became red with embarrassment. I almost laughed at how delayed her reaction was.
"T-This is only if I need help in the city." She quickly responded, coming up with any excuse that she could think of.
"Sure, ok," I said with a smile as I went along with her excuse.
The awkwardness soon left, and we sat comfortably talking about anything and everything. Before we knew it, we arrived at our destination.
"Good luck with your interview," I said as we exited the station and stood at the crosswalk.
"Thanks. If I get the job, we'll have to go for dinner." She replied, not realising that she said something that once again that could be misunderstood.
"Sure, I'll be sure to take you to the best places." I decided to just go with it. Plus, I wouldn't mind having company for dinner, once in a while.
"I'd like that." She said as she waved at me, then turned around and walked down the street.
Walking down my side of the street, I pulled my phone out and sent a text to Aunty Jean to tell her that I tried but was met with their new housekeeper and ultimately returned home without meeting my parents.
Of course, I didn't have to give her a full report, but I knew that I wouldn't hear the end of it if I didn't at least inform her of what happened. 'Sometimes I think she confuses me of her own son.' I sighed to myself as I put my phone away in my pocket and began to walk home.
I decided that I would sleep in my own bed tonight, as it's been a while since I had a proper rest in something other than suspension fluid.
I stopped at a convenience store and picked up some food for dinner and some other things I was lacking and some alcohol, as tonight, I felt in the mood to drink, which was a rare occasion to start with.
Biting into a chocolate bar, I logged back into the online forum and passed the time while I was waiting for a bus. I could see several people posting posts asking to buy items or information. It was around this time when you could start to make real world money from the game, as people saw it as a race to compete with others, a typical symptom of a gamer. Of course, the amount they were offering wasn't enough for me to start selling information. For now, I'll focus on myself and wait for the moment when I could start earning a staggering amount for a small amount of information. And once players arrived in Novrad, that would be the perfect time to take advantage.
By the time I put my keys in my front door, I was completely done with travelling, both physically and mentally. I wanted nothing more than to collapse onto my bed and sleep, but I needed to cook some dinner. Well, I say cook, more like heating up the ready meal I bought, in the oven, but technicity is the killer of imagination. And soon rolled off my bed and trudged over to the kitchenet.
Once it was all said and done, I sat down to eat my piping hot, bland food. Switched on the TV, for a little background noise, I was shocked to see that there was a news article on 'Realms'. The article was about its explosive popularity and the mysteries surrounding the developers and that anyone was yet to come forward and claim ownership.
I remembered hearing about a similar article in my previous life, it was one of the reasons why I got into 'Realms' to begin with, chasing the possibility to get rich quick plan. However, at the time, I was stuck in a life draining job that made anything other than work, feel like an impossibility.
Finishing my food and cleaning the dishes, I had a quick shower before settling in bed for the night. 'I never knew how comfortable my bed was until now.' Was the thought in my mind as my eyes became heavy and eventually took me to the land of nod.
The next morning, I woke up with a jolt. I didn't realise that I had fallen asleep and was slightly confused to wake up in the bedroom that felt like I haven't been in for weeks.
Getting out of bed and having a quick shower, I then opened the fridge door and discovered that it was empty. With a sigh, I threw on my coat, put my shoes on and collected my keys, phone and wallet then left my apartment to go to the café on the end of my street. I used to frequent the café a lot, however, as someone who used to save everything I earnt, I would only buy myself a takeaway coffee, so I was unsure what their food tasted like.
As I entered the small café, I noticed that it wasn't that busy and thought to myself that it was the perfect time for breakfast, as I didn't like to be surrounded by people as I ate.
Sitting at an empty table, I ordered a healthy plate of bacon and eggs with a big mug of coffee. I watched the busy people pass by the window as I yawned the sleep out of me.
A few minutes past before a hot plate of food was placed in front of me, and I couldn't stop myself from chowing down. 'This isn't that great.' I thought as I put the first mouthful into my mouth, but it was hot and filled my stomach, so I didn't complain and continued to eat the food that I now saw as nothing but fuel.
'I really should focus on increasing my level and skill proficiency. Now that I didn't have the guilty feeling of ignoring Auntie's request.' Sitting with a full belly, I nursed the mug of coffee as I started to plan what I needed to be doing.
'At a guess, I have at most a month in game before players will get to Novrad en masse that is. I'm sure that some players will arrive faster than that.' After paying for my meal, I left the café and headed over to the capsule café, to begin my new venture of grinding until my mind was mush.