In another world

"What's up with that jerk? Don't tell me he's still in bed!" Kayla screamed as she matched up the stairs. "I'm gonna be late because of him! What is he still doing wrapping his ass in bed?"

On getting to the door of Max's room, without a knock, she pushed the door open.

"Max!!!" Her commanding voice thundered. Her voice immediately came to a halt as she spotted her brother lying on the floor just beside his bed.

"Oh now, he sleeps on the floor. How lazy," She scoffed and made her way towards him.

"He slept with V.R. googles on?"

She crouched beside him and stretched her hands to take the goggles of his eyes. Surprisingly it wouldn't come off. She was quick to spot the cause. Black vines strangely sticking out of the goggles connected themselves to his head. A kind of fear she had never experienced suddenly rushed over her.

"Max," Her voice came softly this time as she violently shook her brother. Her eyes widened in fear and she quickly got on her feet, taking slow steps backwards.

"How? What is going on?!" She was confused. The next thing, she found herself running out of the room and down the stairs, calling out to her mum. Something she had never done even when she had nightmares. Witnessing something strange happen to her brother was far more terrifying than a nightmare.

*. *. *.

Since they had gotten to the hospital, the teenage girl sat in a corner of the reception hall dressed in school uniform with her bag beside her.

Kayla continuously stared into space, her purple eyes wet with tears. The veins sticking into Max's head flashed several times before her eyes. What was that? How did it even happen? Certainly, that was strange. What could it even mean?

She racked her brain with expectations of an answer but nothing was forthcoming. It was the first time she had seen something of such nature.

After a long time, the door of Max's assigned room opened and the doctor walked out. Before her mother could even move towards the doctor, Kayla had run in front of him with teary eyes.

"What's going on doctor?" Came her cracked voice.

"Well, Miss and Madam, from our test results, the vines have made their way into his brain. Strange how it happened but it is what it is. Sad to say but this case is beyond us. We had received patients who were also suffering from this earlier this morning but have not been able to make anything of it. We decided to give him a try but it seems there are no differences between all cases. Therefore, we can do nothing to help. I'm very sorry."

With that, the doctor walked away.

Mrs Addison dropped to the ground as if her whole life had shattered right before her eyes.

"No, this cannot be happening," She shook her head as she muttered to herself.

*. *. *.

The demon smiled.

"This is not just a game. It is a world entirely different from yours."

His great sword was lifted into the air and brought down at an amazing speed that surprisingly hit the tree where Max had been a few seconds ago.

"Burn in hell."

As soon as the demon heard those words that came out like a whisper, he felt something drive through the back of his head till it found its way out through his forehead. His eyes lifted themselves to see the bloody tip of a sword.

He held his head in pain as he moved about staggeringly, carelessly swinging his sword about.

"No! I almost made it!" He screamed as he forcefully pulled at his horns in pain.

In a matter of seconds, his body exploded into flames that disappeared as quickly as they appeared. Max moved with the aid of the other sword in his hand towards the other one which laid on the ground on which Apollyon had exploded.

As he reached for it, he noticed a blood-red gem beside it. He picked up his sword and the gem, filled with curiosity. A notification popped before his eyes accompanied by the voice of the system.

[ Core of Apollyon, the flame demon of the game verse. To once again strengthen its power, the core has stored its owner and till it is strong enough, the flame demon will be released. ]

[ Shadow_Demon, do you wish to tame the flame demon? ]

' Yes,' Max responded.

[ Analyzing core...]

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

[ Analysis complete ]

[ Data has been stored ]

[ Unique skills: Lava synthesis, Fire boundary, Fire sealing, Fire Aura, Regeneration ]

[ Lava synthesis - allows user to create lava in the form of any object as wished. ]

[ Fire boundary - allows user to create a wall of impenetrable fire ]

[ Fire sealing - allows fire to pass through any form of defense ]

[ Fire Aura - grants user the aura of a flame user. User is unaffected by flames ]

[ Regeneration - allows user to regrow and heal any part of his body ]

[ Host can control abilities of the flame demon as core has been absorbed ].

Other notifications soon followed.

[ 10/10 Players defeated ]

[ Quest completed ]

[ A reward of 200 gems have been granted to your account ]

[ A spot in the world ranking has been earned ]

[ Analyzing Shadow_Demon's data...]

Player Name : [ Shadow_Demon ]

Rank. : [ Mortal being ]

[ No. 5224 ]

Number of kills : [ 10 ]

Special skills : [ Tamer of the flame demon ]

[ Evolution into the ranking of ' Supreme Beings ' will take place once you cross the ranking of 3000s ]

' What a long way I have to go,' Max thought.

[ With the help of the system, power-ups will go at a faster pace than other players. ]

"This is so cool," Max exclaimed.

[ Game duration: 00:00:00 ]

[ Game round has elapsed and will begin in the next 18 hours ]

[ Portal activated ]

[ Destination: The Great City ]

A misty portal similar to the one he had earlier gone through at the start of the game appeared in front of him.

Max stared at the portal for a while. He was getting tired already but his curiosity always got the best of him. He was eager to see the great city just for some time before he would leave the game as he had school the next day. He moved into the portal with excitement flushing over him. His sight was once again greeted by darkness since the game began.

[ Destination has been reached ]

The light hit his eyes and the colour of his surroundings reached them. He noticed he had healed. The streets were filled with many people moving around, shopping, and dining. The beautiful street lights and style of buildings crowned the beauty of the streets making it a pleasant sight to the eyes.

The smell of food wafted across the air from the several restaurants around, making Max's stomach churn. As regards the flame demon's words, did it mean in this world everything was real and not really an ordinary game? His mouth watered and he decided to go to the nearest restaurant. The structure of the building was more of a Japanese style, beautiful and traditional.

As soon as he entered the restaurant, he was welcomed by two beautiful ladies who were dressed in Japanese attire. They were mesmerized by his beauty. Even people who were seated, eating their meals couldn't help but stare in his direction. They were stunned by his beauty, or so he thought.

The ladies soon led him to a table and one of them handed him a menu.

"We have the best delicacies. Both Japanese cuisines, western dishes, and any other delicacies you can think of from the human world," She said with a broad smile.

Max nodded. His eyes skimmed through the menu. If there was anything he wanted to try out, it was Japanese food. Despite he had never been to the country, he had taken a liking to everything about it from what he had read in books and seen online.

Without much delay, he settled for the popular Japanese ramen.

"That'll be for 10 gems," The ladies chorused.

' Shit! How could I think all these were free!' He thought.

[ Do you wish to spend 10 gems? ]

' Sadly yes,' He replied.

The device on the wrist of the lady who had handed him the menu beeped.

"Thanks for stopping by," She smiled before leaving with the other lady to get his request.

Chopsticks posed a great deal of difficulty for him but on a successful note, he was able to make his way through the sumptuous meal.

' So this is what heaven tastes like,' He thought. His taste buds worked just as well as they did back on Earth.

As soon as he was done eating, he finally decided to go home.

' Computer I wish to exit the game.'

[ Your request cannot be processed ]

[ Players have been denied exit till lives have been exhausted leading to the end of the game course ]

" What!" Max found himself exclaiming to the hearing of others.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you enjoyed the story so far, please support by voting with power stones and leaving your thoughts on the book.