It's just a game

A young man -18 of age to be precise- with average looks and ragged worker clothes and messy hair, indicating his rough daily routine of the physical labor he does at multiple construction sites, sat alone in his house as his little sister hasn't returned from her middle school and mother still working at the grocery store.

"hah... finally. I can rest a little before lily comes home" said Roan the young man.

"RING, RING"

"RING, RING"

"Click"

"hello?"

"Roan? it's me your friend from highschool Jacob."

"hey, Jacob."

"listen buddy, I know I have been pestering you about this for a while now but..."

"nope, I'm hanging."

"wait! it's really important and you may get a lot of money from it."

that sentence stopped Roan from pressing the end call Button, and imediatly replied..."go on."

"Haha! I knew you would lesson when I mentioned money."

"Don't push your luck pal." Roan sounded a bit pissed, as this wasn't the first time Jacob did his shenanigans.

"you know the game I told you about? the survival one."

"yes."

"well apparently someone did a quest in it, and low and behold he got $1000 as a reward"

"that's bull*"

"nope, bro. it really happened, if you are still not sure see the local news"

and Roan in fact did that, as he turned on his family's only barley working T.V, and switched to the news channel.

__________

".....and you are saying you received a thousand dollars from the bryton gaming company?" the host asked a teenager.

"yes, I did. in fact I can't believe it myself. but I did receive a check for the exact number mentioned in the game store, as I traded the points I earned from the quest into real money"

__________

"see? I told you"

"you bastard timed this up. huh?" Roan hissed back.

"hehe, guilty. still, what fo you think? in middle school you used to dominate any VR game you try. why not give this one a shot?"

"..... fine but I had my VR pod sold before highschool."

"don't worry bro, I got you covered. just come to our entertainment cafe. we installed a few VR pods last week"

"sure I will go tomorrow morning as I am beat today."

"sure, okay. see you tomorrow"

"bye"

after hanging up his outdated nokia phone. Roan started to prepare dinner, nothing fancy just heating some leftover hotpot and boiling some third rate rice.

"Clack!"

"I'm home!" the voice of a girl was heard in the background.

"I'm in the kitchen!" Roan shouted.

"good evening, big brother!" wearing a school uniform, a young girl with above average looks, giddily said to Roan.

"you're late again lily. we told you not to work as a janetor for the school and just focus on your studies!"

"how can I, when big brother and mom are always working yourselfs too much!"

knowing his little sister's unparalleled power of always retorting with the best reply, he gave up. sparing himself the headache "hah... just get changed and help me set the table. mom's shift already ended by now, she's probably half way home."

"Okay"

after setting the table the siblings sat down at the table with thier mother whom just arrived.

"mom, lily is working as a part-time janetor again." Roan suddenly dropped a bomb on his sister.

"big brother!" lily was a bit angry at her over caring big brother.

there, the middle aged woman who was sharing the table with the siblings remained quite for a minute and said "lily, you can continue supporting your family as a part-timer..."

"yes!" lily shouted, as if not tired at all from school and her 'activity' after that.

"but the moment your grades get lower, even by one point, I'll forbid you from part-timing."

"argh, okay" the little sister said dejectedly

after having dinner with his family, Roan went to bed without telling them about his plan tomorrow morning, intending to bring a huge surprise if he succeeded, or sparing them the feeling of hope only for a let down.

__________

waking up refreshed from a good night sleep, he washed his face and started preparing the table while his mother made breakfast, of course after he woke up his little sister that was bafflingly a super heavy sleeper.

after breakfast every member of this small family went to either thier work place or school, for lily.

of course that's what Roan led them to believe as he took a sudden turn a few blocks to the nearest internet cafe.

"Bro! you really came!" Jacob said snickering at Roan when he saw him.

"as much as I love to. I can't wast my time disfiguring your face today as I want to get this over with" Roan imediatly replied back at his best friend.

"whew, thank god. I didn't want to lose my handsome face and look like y... argh!" Jacob was cut off as he held his stomach in pain.

"one punch to the gut on the other hand will only take a few seconds." Roan said grinning." now hurry up before you get a second one"

"O-okay bro... just calm down" Jacob said still feeling the brunt of the surprise attack.

"so The game will ask you a few questions and demand some information on your medical records as a precaution. I took the liberty and gave them everything they need." Jacob said as he led Roan to the VR pod section of the cafe.

"and?...." Roan replied as it wasn't the first time Jacob did such a thing.

"there is still some things only you can or rather must answer. here I reserved this pod just for you for three hours"

"you know I had to call in sick for a few places just for this right?" Roan said as he was getting into the pod.

"relax bro. you will not regret it, I give you my word." Jacob said praodly.

"since when could your word be trusted?" Roan said before the pod's hatch closed.

__________

<system online>

<configuration of player ID ongoing>

<please state player ID>

"the detective"

<analysing voice of the player.....>

<player ID 'the detective' has been confirmed>

<welcome to 'Deadwood mental hospital' 'the detective'>

'what a weird name for a survival game...'

<system needs to ask the player if he has any trouble with axtreme amounts of fear or has any problems with gore and blood scenes>

"..."

<system waiting for an answer...>

"no problem" Roan replied before thinking how the monsters in this survival game could be very realistic, after all it has been a few years since he last played in full dive VR, I mean who knows how much the visuals have improved?

<system recived all information on the player 'the detective' already, system checking medical records and birth certificate for age...>

'the hell? why does this game needs so much informa... shit this is a horror game. Jacob that bastard, I shouldn't have trusted him.'

<information has been checked, player 'the detective' is deemed qualified to play the game>

<have fun player🤗, and try to stay alive☠️>

'that sounded omnimous' Roan thought before fading away in the void he was in.