Young Man

Inside a room filled with historical objects, a young man with short black hair stood in the middle of the room.

His back was straight, his arms behind his back making a diamond shape, and his legs were together like a pair of chopsticks.

He was standing in the most basic position taught to every single civilian that has gone to boot camp before, the position of parade rest.

This young man was currently wearing a military-like uniform that was pure black with nothing but an insignia colored in red, black and gold near the chest where his heart beats.

And standing a few feet away from him was an old man wearing a uniform stacked with ribbons and medals, and sitting on his shoulders was silver stars, five of them. His face was sharp, his aura was domineering, and his current expression was not a happy one.

"Are you sure about this…?"

The old man spoke, his voice was hoarse but energetic.

"Yes, sir," replied the young man.

Hearing the resolution within his tone, the old man sighed.

"Pity… truly a pity…"

His mumbling was heard by the young man.

"Sir, the last four years that I have sacrificed to served the corps, I will never forget."

"You are only 21 years old, and knowing you, you will definitely live a long, long life. With so much time ahead of you, you are bound to forget it later."

The young man whose face had been calm and professional since the beginning changed. He smiled.

"I may have forgotten everything about boot camp only a week after I had graduated, but this… this is an entirely different story. If I happen to forget such experiences, then my comrades would beat me until I can remember."

"Beat who? You? Hahahaha…"

As if he had just heard this world's funniest joke, the old man burst with laughter, shaking the air within the room.

"Right, I still haven't asked you for your plans after leaving. What do you plan on doing once you get out, which happens to be today?"

"Before I joined the corps, I was a naive little kid with no views in life. All I would do is go to school, go home, play games, sleep, and repeat. My entire life... wasted just like that. And after I had joined the corps, all of that changed. It was either training, training, or more training. I kind of missed living a useless life, but that mindset was quickly changed once I got transferred to this unit."

His smile turned into a bitter smile.

"Let alone returning home, I have not seen the face of my family or even speak to them for the past four years. They have probably forgotten about me by now, but that's fine too. Once I leave this room, I will catch up on the time that I had missed with my family while serving the corps, and college, of course. I kind of miss going to school, you see…"

The young man chatted nonstop and the old man could only stare at him with wide eyes and a loose jaw.

Who the hell was this young man in front of him right now? He has never seen him talk more than a sentence ever since he had met him, let alone hear so much about his personal life! Is this the same man that whether they like it or not, had his image engraved into the soul of every person that has come in contact with him, be it friend or foe?

"Just when I thought you will not be able to shock me anymore, you throw this shit in my face just before leaving? Is this the real you?"

"Just because one is not willing to show his real wealth does not make him poor," replied the young man.

"Is that so…"

The old man closed his eyes to think.

After a moment, he opens his eyes and takes out a black box.

Placing it on the desk in front of him, he said, "Your badge, I will keep it for that one day you decide to return to us… This is something I have never done before, but you deserve this special treatment."

The young man stared at the black box for a second before shaking his head, "No way in hell," he chuckled while taking off the insignia on his chest before placing it on the table.

The old man looked at the insignia and then at the black box.

Regret and disappointment flickered within his eyes, clearly saddened by his decision.

If the young man had placed the insignia inside the black box instead of placing it on the desk, then he could have held onto that thin line called hope.

"Sir, is there anything else before I step outside of this room? My flight is in an hour, you see."

The old man did not reply, instead, he shook his head.

The young man nodded, then he snapped out of his parade rest and into the position of attention, another basic military position.

Raising his right hand, he saluted the old man inside the room.

Both of them knew that saluting without a cover while inside a building was wrong, but the young man did it regardless, and the old man silently watched.

After another moment, the old man stood up, swinging the rows of ribbons on his chest left and right and saluted back.

Neither of them spoke and stood like that while fiercely gazing into each other's eyes for a good minute.

The old man finally rested his hand, and the young man followed.

The young man then took a step back and turned around before walking towards the door.

Watching the young man disappear from the room, the old man sighed, "With him gone, this will be a massive step back for our corps… for humanity…"

The young man had long left the building and left for the airport to catch his flight back to America, where his family has been living in for the past 14 years since they had immigrated from China.

Gazing through the windows inside the airplane, the young man silently bid farewell to Russia, the place he has been stationed for half of his time in service.

Once the land could no longer be seen, the young man turned on the T.V inside this first classroom.

A beautiful woman appeared on the screen with some sort of device that he was unfamiliar with.

"Welcome to SLO, also known as 'Second Life Online', the hottest VRMMO currently around the globe with over 500 million players worldwide! Here, in SLO, you can live another life, hence the title! Here, in SLO, NPCs think like real humans, move like real humans, and have their own will like real humans! Come and join the still growing community of 500 million inside the massive and unknown world of SLO, and live the life that you have always dreamed of--- your second life!"

The young man mumbled to himself, "VRMMO… The last time I touched any games was with a keyboard and mouse… Has technology skyrocketed that much while I was cut off from the world?"