In the end, Astre parted with Blaze, only two turns before his apartment street. At some point, he started to sweat that she really was going to mob him to prevent him from going to the tournament.

Still, he never thought that his self-proclaimed nemesis was living so close to him. Putting in his keycard next to his scanner, the door to his apartment opened. In the last few years, a lot of new electrical lock companies popped up on the market. Just the raw variety was making those devices more secure.

Entering in, he sat in front of his desk and launched his PC. Noticing he had two new notification, he opened both of them. Reading over the first one, his eyes went wide. He received a transfer of twelve thousand dollars to his account from a particular idol company. Rich people really were loose with money.

He shook his head and wondered whatever he could borrow a million from her. Maybe she would agree in exchange for his head. Chuckling, he looked over to the next screen, as he read it over a bitter smile appeared on his face.

Hi, Cheery here!

Firstly I want to apologize for the second half of this message. Usually, I would ignore those propositions, but it seems like a good deal.

Well then, for the good half, some more information, maybe not good for your peace of mind but you should still know. The twelve Star of Genesis are going to partake in the tournament.

The reason why Astre felt bitter about this was the fact the twelve were honestly the strongest players in the game before they quit. Both combat wise and influential wise. For whatever reason, they disappeared after the fifth expansion two years ago. There was a rumor they got invited into some kind of beta test, but it didn't have any proof to back it up.

They were the first to get to total level 20 skills and the first to break the level 5 skill barrier. If they were in the tournament, it would mean it would become that much harder. Astre hoped that during their break, the community caught up, but he was doubtful that was the case. Shaking his head, he turned back to the message.

The part I don't really want to include here is a proposition. I only added it because it seemed fair, so please don't get angry. Draq of the Star of Genesis is making a team of old friends. He apparently got two other members of Stars into it. I think they know the nature of the tournament, which is kind of unfair, in my opinion, but onto the proposition.

He is offering to pay you for joining his team. Fifty thousand just for joining and additional one hundred thousand in case you win. Quite crazy, isn't it? Anyway, give it some thought. He also has sent over some files, so I will include it in. I have no idea what it is. Are you in some secret pedophile ring?

I will be waiting for your answer. If you don't answer, I will take it as a no. To both questions.

Your best informant!

Cherry (I don't deal with kinks so tell that to Draq if you meet him)

Astre stared at the message for who knew how long. He read it over a few times, but he couldn't believe it. With a trembling finger, he opened the file and coughed in surprise. Calming himself down, he looked at it again. His mind was in turmoil.

It was a photo of a park next to his old family house. On it, eight-year-old Astre, Kendrick back then, and a bunch of kids were playing together. It was a weird feeling. After his mom's death, he moved to a different place, since his father couldn't pay the rent alone. It was only two hours away, but it was easier to transfer to a closer school, so he never saw them again. He barely remembered a few of their names anyway.

He wondered why would Draq even have this. Did he stalk him, was this some blackmail? It was a very bad one then. Then an idea entered his head. There was a chance that Draq wanted to meet him there, and that one of Astre's old friends was one of the twelve stars or their companion.

He shook his head if that was true; he could maybe gain something from meeting him there. If not, he would waste two hours getting there and back.

He looked at the time when he received the message. It has only been an hour since Cheery wrote to him. He felt stupid, but he got up. He didn't know what else he could do anyway. Going there could bring back some memories too, not that he needed any more conviction. Putting his hood on, he left the room and closed the door behind him.

Getting off the bus, he complained internally as tariff increased again. He wondered what the hell the city government does. They raise taxes every other day, fund building some luxury malls and attractions. Then when someone needs one-thousandth of one of those budgets to survive, they die.

He shook his head, he could complain all he wanted, but that wouldn't change anything. Looking around, he tried to remember the way. The streets seemed completely unfamiliar, he could recognize some of the buildings, but most of the road seemed to have undertaken complete renovation.

In the end, he checked his phone for the way. Walking the unfamiliar half street reminded him all the more that after his mother's death, everything changed. If he failed this time too, everything would be gone. Shaking his head, he clapped his face. He was close to his objective.

Turning one more street, he stopped in front of an empty plot of land. It had 'For Sale' sign embedded into it with some contact number. After complete take over of VR schools, it seemed outside playgrounds were next.

Looking around inquisitively, Astre sighed when he didn't see anyone. Not that he didn't expect this. Still, he laughed at himself. "Well, this was one big waste of time."

He turned around and noticed a vending machine standing next to the empty lot. It probably was part of the no longer existing park. Shrugging his shoulders, he went over and bought himself a can of cold coffee. Pulling out his phone, he responded to his friend with double no and sat down.

He didn't know how long he spent looking at the dark sky, wondering about all the wrong and stupid stuff. He didn't have doubts about what he was supposed to do. He still feared failure, and admitting it to himself was painful. He didn't want to fail, no matter what, he wanted to do something more, prepare more, but there was nothing he could think of.

Why was it easy to pretend in front of others, but when he was faced with his own despair alone, it was so hard. He crushed the full can in his palm. He jumped up as the fluid inside spread on his hand and clothes. Cursing, he threw the aluminum can into a trashcan and pulled out tissues from his pocket.

"Kendrick?" he heard behind him.

Jumping on his toes, Astre turned around. His hood that barely held on his head falling own.

"Ah! It's you! I thought I recognized the voice!" stated the person in front of him. He was a tall man with brown hair and matching eyes. Astre was forced to look up at the nearly head taller man. "Wait, are you crying? Something happened?"

Astre quickly wiped his eyes, "No, nothing, sorry, I just..." He couldn't find words for what he wanted to say. He didn't know what he wanted to say. Looking at the unfamiliar man, that clearly recognized him, he wondered who it was.

"Well, if you don't want to talk about it, it's fine. Still, man! I totally didn't expect to meet you here!" remarked the tall man. "Especially after receiving that rejection from your informant friend. What the hell does he mean by 'I won't report you to the police for the time being.' anyway!?"

Astre's eyes widened with each word, "Draq? You are Draq!?" He yelped surprised.

"Huh, oh yeah! I guess you wouldn't know it!" the man said, grinning. "Yep, that's me! Your best friend!"

Astre looked confused. He didn't remember having any best friends though he didn't remember much at all from before the move.

As the man, supposed Draq, noticed Astre's confusion, the smile on his face slowly fell down. "Wait, you don't remember me!?" He shouted, visibly hurt.

He shook his head, and his ashen hair got on his face, he needed a hair cut.

"Some best friend," a feminine voice chuckled from behind the vending machine. A raven-haired woman left showed herself. She wore oval glasses that oddly fitted her long braided hair. A long naval skirt waved around as she moved and pulled on her navel jacket to protect from cold wind. "Your hair is practically white now. Playing games stresses you that much?"

Astre looked at her surprised as recognition struck him, "Jenny!?"

"Wait! You remember her, but no me!?" the tall man screamed, defeated.

"Oh, so you remember me," she asserted, but she didn't smile. "Though, I wonder why you never even contacted me. Especially after promising you would do so."

"I'm sorry at that time, I..." Astre apologized, but he couldn't find much more to say but excuses. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about me. It was bad on my part too. I could have called or something. I knew you were moving to an unfamiliar environment after losing your close one," she responded, somewhat silently.

"Anyway! Enough of this soppiness!" declared the tall man standing on the side. "It's me! Tom! Please remember!"

Astre looked at the man intently, he remembered Tom, he thought so at least. The Tom in his memories was completely different though. "Wasn't Tom like a super small and kind kid, he didn't look like a total brute like you."

Tom?'s face wore a complicated expression. "Wait, so you do remember me! I grew up! You know! Hormones and stuff!"

Jenny, on the other hand, after realizing what Astre said, burst into a maniacal laugh. "A brute! Hahaha!"

"Oi! Don't laugh! Help me here!" begged maybe-Tom as he looked at unconvinced Astre.

"Don't worry, he is Tom, the kid that always followed you around everywhere and hid behind your back," said Jenny, still chuckling.

"Thanks! But couldn't you have worded it any better!?" Tom screamed.

"I see if you say so. Well, then, Tom. Happy to see you again. You grew up into a man as you said you would," remarked Astre stretching his hand in greeting.

"Kendrick!" shouted Tom as he ignored the hand and bear-hugged his friend.

"Well, that's sweet and all but can we get to the business. I'm cold and want to go back into bed," then Jenny thought for a while. "Didn't he already reject the offer anyway. Okay, goodnight Kendrick, it was nice seeing you. Tom, let's go back home."

Tom let him go and looked betrayed at the woman, "He didn't know it was us though! Now he will surely join us! Right?" He spoke, looking back at his friend.

Astre looked at the man, "So you are an item now? Good job, Tom, you always said you liked her."

"Ah, we met a year ago at WGames. We work together on..."

"TOM!" she interrupted him. "You can't just go telling people around about company secrets. If I didn't control you, the whole world would know already."

"But it's Kendrick! He won't tell anyone! I'm surprised they didn't invite him to the project already," Tom counter-argument, in his own way.

"They did invite me for something," stated Astre. "I rejected it because they didn't offer enough. I earn more by selling in-game items."

"Huh? That much?" remarked Jenny, surprised. "I'm sure that position at WGames is more stable."

"I need more money short term, I asked them if they would help me get a loan and they rejected me too," told Astre. Sighing, he added, "That's also why I can't join you. I need to win the tournament."

"Why?" asked Tom, surprised.

"I need the money for first place," answered Astre.

"That's a lot of money to need," stated Jenny.

"Yes, so what you offered won't be enough," declared Astre.

"Well, we can't offer a million, we already had to negotiate the reward for people that joined us in case we win. We wouldn't be receiving the million as we are part of WGames too," said Tom, his face seemed to say that he was torn apart by something.

"Don't say too much," Jenny warned her man. "Sorry, Kendrick, but as you are not part of the team, we can't say any details," explained Jenny.

"It's fine, I wouldn't want you to lose your jobs for me," replied Astre his shoulders dropping slightly. "It was nice seeing you. You are the only one still calling me Kendrick. Though I feel more like Astre nowadays anyway. Let's do our best in the tournament."

Astre tried to turn away, but two strong hands grabbed him by the shoulders, "I'm not accepting this!"

"Let him go," demanded Jenny.

"But..."

"He is an adult too, he has the right not to tell us about his problems," emphasized the woman.

Tom stared in silence into Astre's eyes. Looking for something, anything. The ashen haired man smile at his friend. Taking the hands off his shoulder gently, he spoke, "Thanks. You didn't change Tom. You are still kind."

Tom's arms fallen to his sides as his friend turned around and disappeared in the darkness of the night.

Astre walked on autopilot. He knew that if he talked back then, then they would help him, well Tom would, but that would mean potentially risking their jobs. He couldn't destroy others' life. There was no point in thinking about it. He just needed to win the tournament, and everything would be fine.

Somehow he ended up at a street he sometimes has seen in his dreams. For a second, he blinked and thought he saw a happy family of four eating dinner in the window, but the house was empty. It seemed it had been abandoned for a long time. The windows were boarded, and the walls had some graffiti over it.

Astre wondered if his father has seen it. He remembered panting those walls when he was small. Well, panting was overstatement as his father made sure to correct each stroke he made with the brush without complaining.

Shaking his head, he kept walking, he came all this way, and he was long past time to visit anyway. Within the next ten minutes, he walked past metal gates leading to the cemetery.

He didn't come here for over a year now. He always focused on getting the best loot that would sell for the highest price. There was a lot of enjoyment in going for the mightiest beast alone, but doing it for eighteen hours a day was tiring. He wondered if he could have made more money if he was good at programming or had a head for business.

If he did something productive instead of playing games before his sister showed symptoms two years ago, maybe he would have already saved her. Maybe his father thought like that too. He hasn't considered those things before. Intensive grinding took your mind off such things. Mayhap he has been escaping from thinking about it.

He opened his bank account app on his phone as he wandered through the graveyard. He had three hundred forty thousand saved there. Yet despite his monthly earning, no one would give him a loan higher than two hundred thousand, unless it was a mortgage. Living off a game was a job with significant risks, they said. With the numbers, he was pulling, he somewhat doubted it. Though if a new game took the number one MMO spot, it would take him a while to get adjusted there.

He did conserve on everything he could, yet the sum was still too low. If his father didn't throw him out of his house after he said he would earn money in-game, he could have saved on rent too. Not that he blamed him. For his dad, it probably seemed like his son gave up when Astre rejected his offer to work at the factory with him.

Astre stopped in front of a row of tombstones. One of them with his mother's name written on it in golden letters, 'Anna Arch.' It was a dull gray stone slab, after spending all their money on hospital fees they couldn't afford much back then. Still, it was kept pristine clean. Probably by his grandfather from his mother's side, who lived close and his father. His grandmother died a heart attack in summer after getting a heat stroke when he was four. His father's parents died before he was born, so he never got to know them.

There wasn't anything to sit on but the ground, and so he did. Looking at the grave, he wondered about what to say to his mother, or rather, he tried to, but his mind was empty. He stared at the tombstone for what seemed like hours. He felt tired, he didn't want to admit it, but he was tired. He did what he could, but there were no results to show. Simply looking at the grave, slowly, his mind seemed to shut down, and his eyes closed.

"Astre!" a loud voice rang out.

A young boy crawled out of his bed. Changing his clothes, he rubbed his tired eyes. He went to sleep early yesterday, but it seemed like it wasn't enough. Maybe he played too much games, he saw on TV it was bad for whatever reason.

"Breakfast!" the voice screamed again.

The boy ran to the door, then stopped. Just as he grabbed the doorknob. Something was wrong. He discarded it as he was hungry, and thinking wasn't on his chore list anyway and ran to the kitchen.

He nearly slipped when he turned around to enter the room. "No running around the house!" spoke the voice as its owner left its cooking utensils and walked to the boy. "Are you alright, Astre?"

Astre looked up at the woman in front of him. His mother looked at him, worried. She had long brown hair and lovely eyes of unknown color. "Hmph?" the boy thought about something confused. "Who is Astre?"

"What do you mean, Kendrick?" asked his mother.

"Nothing, mom!" replied the boy. "What's for breakfast!?"

"Sunny-side up eggs," his mom chirped to which the boy released a cry of happiness.

Sitting up, he waited, but suddenly, a loud sound of breaking glass resounded in the room. Turning around, he saw his mom lying on the ground. He shouted for his dad in fear, but soon he realized his dad was out with his little sister. He ran over to his mom, but she seemed to be sleeping. Scared he remembered school, they told them to call somewhere in such a situation. He picked up his house phone and pushed in the number he remembered.

Kendrick woke up. He heard someone moving around outside of his room, looking at the clock, he realized that it was already seven in the morning. Opening his eyes wide, he quickly got up and ran out of his room.

His mother was carrying laundry on her own again. He quickly ran up to his mom and took the basket from her. It was huge for his small body, but not too heavy.

"Mom! You can't be doing this! What if you get sick again!?" the young boy berated his mom.

"You should have slept some more," replied his mom, she looked thin and pale. Yet she still did all those things. "It's Saturday."

"You should too! Dad said so!" The boy didn't relent.

"My son is growing up so fast!" declared his mom hugging him. "Somehow, it makes me sad. I'm sorry."

"Don't get sick again then, please," asked the boy weakly. Shaking his head, he added with confidence. "Well, will you watch me then? So I don't crea... wrinkle them again."

His mom nodded.

Kendrick sat in a chair, looking at a red light above a big metal door. The chair was uncomfortable, and he was already sitting here for some hours.

His mom wouldn't wake up today when he tried calling her for breakfast. He called his father, and he phoned the hospital right away.

Was it his fault? Did he fail watching over his mom? Dad told him to help as much as he could, but his mom would always try to do some work behind his back. He told her he didn't want her to get sick, but she did it anyway.

"Dad?" Astre spoke for the first time since both of them came to the hospital.

"Yes?" his father answered in a tired voice.

"Did I didn't do enough?"

"No, son," stated his father put his hand over his should. "You did a lot, much more than me."

"Don't lie. Mom always says you work yourself to the bone in the factory," said the boy, somewhat angry.

Then the red light went off.

Kendrick found himself in a white room. If it could be called that. It didn't seem to have any walls. Instead, it seemed like never-ending whiteness.

"Oh, what are you doing here? You shouldn't sleep outside." stated a voice behind him.

Turning around, the eight-year-old boy saw a brown-haired young woman. She seemed to be the same age as his teacher, around twenty. Brown hair flowed freely along her shoulders as she held her white dress crouching next to him. She seemed very familiar for some reason.

He looked at her green eyes. They seemed to shine like emeralds filled with kindness. For some reason looking at them brought him warmth. He wanted to look at them forever.

"Outside?" the boy said, confused. "I'm Kendrick, do you know mom? She looks a bit like you. Ah! But you are prettier!"

The lady giggled as she touched his head. For some reason, the touch felt very nice. Comforting even.

"It seems you are working too hard again," spoke the lady.

"Hmm? I need too, my mom is sick!" declared the boy. "Do you know where she is?" He looked around nervously.

The woman hugged him, "It's fine. Everything will be fine. She watches over you every day."

The boy looked confused, but the hug felt nice.

"You are pushing yourself very hard for your sister. I'm proud of you, but you shouldn't try and carry everything yourself. Ask others for help."

"Sister? She is only complaining and not carrying about mom at all," Kendrick told, not understanding. His sister was fine when he last saw her.

"It's normal behavior when one is four years old, so don't say that," remarked the woman sternly. "It's you that is weird, honestly. What am I supposed to do with you?"

"Sorry," he instantly apologized. Somehow he couldn't imagine not apologizing when he heard that voice.

"Now, I know that when you wake up, you will do everything you can to do to help your sister, but remember you don't need to do everything alone," said the woman.

Kendrick was confused. For some reason, the woman got smaller and smaller. Soon he was nearly head taller than her.

"To think my son would become such a handsome man!" the woman spoke joyfully touching his face. "Still, it seems you grayed early like your father. It fits you. Now it's time to wake up. If you don't sleep in a warm bed, you will catch cold."

Everything was slowly consumed by whiteness, then just before everything disappeared, Astre pronounced, "Mom?"