1 Sleep (Prologue 1)

An unknown, but beautiful world full of life, green, beautiful scenery, endless trees and wildlife, tall mountain ranges, and clear blue skies.

In the distance, a flaming meteor could be seen high up in the sky tearing through the sky as it is heading towards an obvious destination, the ground.

Upon closer inspection, the flaming meteor isn't actually a meteorite, but a small naked girl with long lavender hair.

As the small girl continues to fall and the floor is fast approaching, she continues to fall, ever in a graceful manner.

"I'm falllinnngggg!!"

Except she's panicking.

"WAAAHHHHHHHHHAHHAHHHAHH-"

Really panicking…

"-AHHHAHHHH-"

*Freeze frame*

Yup, that's me alright. You better believe it. So let's go with the whole "you're probably wondering how my ass got into this situation" bullcrap. Well, because I'd figured it's the best way to explain how and why I am currently a little girl falling from god knows where I'm guessing somewhere from orbit I think, falling at escape velocity if not greater, and is about to land face-first into the floor. Well, it all started... I don't know, let's say 3 days ago.

-Three days ago-

The beeping sound of a digital alarm clock startling a middle-aged man awake from his bed.

He gasps a little and opens his eyes. He pants a bit before he takes a breath and turns to shut off the alarm clock.

The clock shows 8:00 AM. as the man sighs back on his bed.

"Shit, one of those dreams again..." he mutters, the feeling of lethargy and grogginess evident in his voice.

He checks his phone to see if there are any noteworthy notifications.

Seeing as there's nothing that catches his attention to check on, the man reluctantly gets out of bed and sets his next destination: the bathroom.

My name is John Hellstein. I'm 30 years old. My current occupation is an otaku. Well, you can say it's actually my retirement job.

I looked into the mirror as I do every day and despite being a lazy sack of ass, I don't give off the vibes of a typical otaku at all. My body is fit and pretty well built. I have short black hair, brown eyes, unshaven beard, 6'1ft (186cm) tall, and muscular. Pretty gritty and brolic in nature compared to your standard otaku.

As for what I did before then, I wouldn't get into too many details about it for now. I am pretty much a nobody at this point anyways. A sad, broken nobody who's trying to find another purpose. And I gave that up as well.

As I finished freshening up in the bathroom while not forgetting to thoroughly wash my hands, as that has been a subconscious habit for a long time now, I went to my desk and turned on the computer. After it loads up, I check through my emails, anime, and manga series that I caught up on before loading up one of my favorite games I play practically every day to get my mind off of things and relax my nerves. An MMORPG called Epoch Fantasy Online. One of the very popular MMOs out there. After waiting a bit longer, the game finally loads up to my familiar game avatar.

What pops up is what someone would describe as a peerless beauty. An unbelievably beautiful, pure white skin girl. She has long hair in a twin-tail style that reaches her thighs. Her hair color is of an elegant alluring lavender color which makes it look almost ethereal. She has slightly long and pointed ears and smooth, seductive, and bewitching amethyst color gem-like eyes which were beautiful and mesmerizing to look at. Almost like you were staring at a beautiful nebula. They are shiny and look almost glowing which almost makes it look like her eyes were actually made out of gems. Her appearance is that of a young 20-year-old woman. She has a cute gentle yet seductive face that is gorgeous and very magnificent. She has a very alluring and perfect body that makes those photoshopped bodies of celebrities on magazine covers look bad. With a perfect C-cup-sized breast, she is the embodiment of an otherworldly goddess of beauty.

I sat back in my chair and sigh.

Looking at my game character used to get me going every time. But now, it just reminds me of a memory with my sister every time.

Of course, there are reasons why I made my game character like this. One of those reasons is, well, as a man, do you need any other reason? Well, it's not like I play as a female character every time but it just appeals to me more as I rather play an entire game staring at a hot girl's ass than a man's ass. But that was just one of those trivial reasons. The main reason was...

*Flashback*

"Big Brother, Epoch Fantasy Online just came out. You have to play with me!" A girl no older than 16 whines. She has long straight black hair that is neatly cut, white skin, and sleepy eyes. Like a Japanese-style beauty.

"Oh, can it wait until tomorrow? I have work that needs to be done." I replied back to my sister.

Like me, my sister also loves anime, manga, and games. We tend to watch anime and play video games together. I still do nowadays but less often as work is catching up. There are times when I don't get to see my sister that often due to work. This is the reason why she is so insistent on playing with me whenever I'm home.

"Oh come on, Big Bro! You can't miss out on this one. You HAVE to play with me! Besides... you know it won't be the same without you." She murmurs the last part in a quieter tone.

With a sigh, I said, "Violet, if I play, you promise you'll leave me alone until I finish all my work?"

"Ma~ybe," Viola teased.

"... *sigh* Vio?"

"Ye~s?" She responded.

"You and I both know that your definition of "ma~ybe" is "maybe not", I said.

Violet gave an innocent-looking smile. "Please?"

I look at my desk and contemplate for a moment.

Honestly, I much rather play video games with my sister than prepare for my next work.

"Oh, what the heck!" I finally gave in.

"Yay!" Violet cheered.

I turned on my PC and loaded up the game. The game just came out a couple of days ago yet I already heard great things about it as it quickly captures the hearts of many MMORPG players.

"Oh and Bro? Can you make your character a girl for this one?" She asked.

"Uh, why?" I asked, a dubious look on my face.

"Well, I heard this game will have a lot of content and a long storyline. So I want to go on this adventure with you as my Big Sister!"

"Um, again why?" I asked curiously.

"Come on, Bro! Be Big Sis with me for once! And besides, I heard this game puts a lot of work into female designs, customizations, and lots of cosmetic choices. It'll be fun!" She said with evident desire.

"*sigh* fine." I comply with yet another one of her wishes.

Well, it's not like I mind all that much anyway. If I am attracted to cute girls, why not play as one so I can look at one all day. And the wide variety of designs in the game doesn't sound all that bad either. It's a good way for me to kill time... rather than mobs.

"Yay! Thank you, Big Sis- I mean, Big Bro! Now I can go on a fun adventure with my Big Sis, explore the world, raid lots of unique dungeons, and slay monsters!" Violet continues on.

I gave a chuckle. Truthfully, I am also looking forward to this as well. Yeah, this is just what I need to relieve stress from work.

*End of flashback*

I sat there on my chair staring at my screen as I had yet another flashback for whatever 4-digit number amount of times now.

Nothing is happening as I continue to sit there and do nothing.

"Well, if my life's not moving forward, might as well this game at least," I muttered and finally started getting into the game as I usually do.

This game was the only thing besides anime and novels that acted as an escape from reality. The sense of freedom Epoch Fantasy Online gives really appeals to me. Sometimes I just wished my life was more like this. Like my game character just having fun soaring through the air completely free, unburdened, and being able to do whatever the hell she wants with nothing capable of chaining her to the ground. The very meaning of freedom and carefree in a magical world unbound and unchained by limited strength and mortality.

Soaring even beyond worlds and through the stars as I've always taken a liking to space. The only thing more beautiful than anything on Earth, are things outside of Earth. The stars, the galaxies, the cosmos… out there is where true freedom lies yet we are chained here on this floating rock due to our limited mortality, flaws, powerlessness, and shortcomings as a mortal race.

Can't lift our feet off the ground for more than ten seconds without a wingsuit while a plane ticket can only get you so high in the air and a rocket can only get you so far in space. We can only do so much yet so little. Just like my entire life…

I closed my eyes and opened them again, snapping myself out of my delusions knowing that it's utterly pointless to keep dreaming about something impossible and out of reach. Knowing that I have no choice but to continue to face the music of reality one way or another.

So with that, I didn't play for long. I was just not in the mood this morning at all.

"Shit, that dream killed my mood. Not like that's anything new." And besides, my mood was killed long ago. Now it's just the dreams every single day.

I logged off and decided to head to the liquor store as I was out on booze. When I drink, there's a chance I don't get any of those damn dreams at night, just a painful hangover which I rather have. Plus, it helps to forget.

I got dressed and headed to the kitchen. I'm also low on groceries. Maybe I'll stop by for it as well.

• • •

I walked into the usual liquor store and the man at the clerk's desk greets me. The clerk is around in his early-40s with scruffy hair and beard.

"Hey, John. How's life?" The clerk asked.

"Still alive, unfortunately," I gave a dismissive reply. "How about you, Chris?"

Chris gave a shrug and smiled indicating that he meant "same old same old". We knew each other as I've been a regular here for years. Says a lot about my drinking problems.

I continue to walk towards the usual hard liquor shelf making my choice of what to get for this run.

As I was doing that, the door suddenly burst open and a man started shouting while holding a pistol in his hand.

"Everybody down on the ground now!" The robber shouted, making sure the whole store heard.

Inside the store, there were only a total of 6 people currently present. John, Chris, the robber, another man who was just browsing the beer aisle, and a woman and her child that looked no older than an 8-year-old girl.

The robber himself was wearing a black hoodie and looked to be around his mid-20s with an unshaven beard.

The man at the beer aisle got down on his stomach while the woman and her child who was near the clerk's desk both got down in a sitting-huddle-up position hugging her child in her arms. Both can be heard whimpering.

"Get the hell down!" The robber once again shouted.

Seeing that people moved to the ground, the robber turned toward the clerk.

"Hands where I can see them!" He shouted at the clerk.

He moves closer to the clerk's desk.

"Open the register!" The robber commanded.

As the clerk was working his cash register, the robber looked down on his right towards the woman and her child. He noticed her purse. Thinking he could use her purse to hold the money from the cash register along with it, he shouted at the woman.

"Your purse! Now!" The robber commanded.

Instead of following his commands, the woman and her child just whimper louder. She was too scared to think straight and instead just held her child tighter.

"Did you not hear me? I said hand over your purse NOW!" The robber shouted again as he unsteadily aimed his gun at the woman.

As tension rises as high as the sky, a man's voice was heard from a farther aisle at the end.

"You're aiming at the wrong target," I spoke up while still looking at the liquor bottle in my hand.

When everybody turned towards the sound of the voice, they noticed a man still standing facing the hard liquor shelf. His eyes remain on the bottle in his hand.

The robber didn't notice him before, probably due to tunnel vision. He now aims his gun at me. His aim unsteadily.

"What the fuck did you just say?" The robber said.

"I said you were aiming at the wrong target. Though, you're aiming at the right one now." I responded to the robber. My eyes still reading off the liquor bottle in my hand making it look like the robber's presence means less than what's in front of me.

The robber started walking closer to where I was. His gun's still aiming at my back.

"Didn't you hear me, asshole? I said on the ground." The robber said angrily.

I shook my head and gave a sigh. I put the liquor bottle back on the shelf and turned around, facing the robber. The robber was only about a meter away from me. His gun is now pointing at the center of my chest.

"Or what? You gonna shoot me? If you are planning on shooting me, hurry up and shoot." I replied.

The robber, now agitated, gave a confused look but didn't respond to my question.

To everyone else, he's a scary robber with a gun that can end a life in a blink of an eye. But to me, he just looks like a kid who's still new at what he's doing.

I took a step closer to the robber.

"Didn't you hear me, kid? I said shoot me." I said calmly to the robber.

While I was calm, the robber was clearly not as I can see that he was getting more and more agitated by the second.

"Alright, kid. I want you to take a deep breath, put both hands on the gun, and shoot." I told the robber.

The robber took a second to process what he heard. He then followed none of my directions and instead did the opposite of all three… which was getting more agitated, his aim got more unsteadily, and he still did not shoot.

"Come on, kid! What's the problem? I said shoot damn it!" Losing patience, I shouted at the robber. The sudden shout startled him a bit.

"W-wait I-" The robber now doesn't know what to do or what is happening as he starts to tremble where he stood.

"Listen, kid. That is not a dick you're holding. That's a gun. The only difference is all you have to do is pull the fucking trigger! Now pull!" I continue to shout at the robber.

"Y-you're fuckin' crazy!" The robber said.

"No, I'm teaching you how to shoot a fucking gun! Now hurry up and shoot me! Come on! Shoot me!" I was shouting louder at the robber.

The robber now clearly lost in knowing what to do just continues to stand there shaking.

"What's wrong? You never took a life before? God damn it! It's just 5 pounds of pressure! Just pull the damn trigger already! Shoot me! C'mon!!" I'm now screaming at the robber.

After seeing that it's going nowhere. I finally had enough of this shit.

"Tch, if you're not gonna shoot me," With lightning speed, I grabbed the robber's wrist with my right hand moving it to the left, and at the same exact time, my left hand grabbed the barrel of the gun and twisted it to the other direction out of the robber's hand. Like that, I disarmed the robber swiftly and smoothly. With the gun now in my hand, I slap the side of the gun on the robber's nose, causing him to stagger back while holding his nose in pain. I then gave him one hard punch to his face, his body flew straight to the floor and was knocked out before he hit the ground. "then fuck off!" I said.

After seeing that the robber was out cold, I ejected the magazine and the chambered round in the gun and tossed it on the ground like it was not some kind of a lethal weapon but like an empty energy bar wrapper.

'Shit, thanks to all this bullshit happening, I forgot which bottle I wanted to get.' I thought while peeved at the event.

Everybody in the store was staring wide-eyed at me from where they were. They couldn't believe what just unfolded in front of their eyes.

With another sigh, I turned around and decided to grab the bottle I put back earlier and walk towards the clerk. I took out my money and placed it on the counter.

"Still alive, unfortunately…" I said to Chris.

Chris didn't respond and just continued to stare at me with a dumbfounded look. With the bottle in hand, I walked out of the liquor store.

• • •

"I'm home!" I made it home and announced myself as I shut the front door of my house. Nothing but an empty house responded back to me. It's hard to truly call it a home when a home was supposed to offer warmth yet this one does the opposite.

I gave another sigh. I know I tend to sigh a lot. It makes me look depressed. And yet, it perfectly described me.

'I need a drink after what happened today.'

How I handled the situation back there was indeed risky and fucking insane, but I did it intentionally. I didn't mind if I was shot and my life ended there. I was actually hoping he'd shoot me and send me home for real. Not like I really have anything going for me at this point.

I also noticed that the robber was still green at what he does so I figured that'll even the odds of my crazy risky tactic. Like a gamble, make it fun before I die. And hell, maybe I would have been reincarnated in another world with a life better than this one like those novels I read. Eh, I'm dreaming again.

At the lounge table, I stared dejectedly at the three objects on it: the bottle of liquor, a gun, and a picture of a girl. One foreboding feeling anyone would expect from these objects being seen together is: you have a better chance at mixing oil and water than these...

But after a long minute of useless contemplation and lamenting, I finally gave another sigh and spoke, "I'll just leave it up to my drunk self to decide. If I wake up in the morning, then he too is a coward."

Without any other thoughts, I popped open the liquor bottle and poured it into a glass on a table. I gave one last somber glance at the picture. "Cheers, Sis," I said as I drank.