Data Reset

"Uhhh… How should I say this..."

The homeroom teacher for Xiao Yun's class scratched her head awkwardly as she tried to give her announcement.

"Well… Due to Requiem Online release yesterday, more than half of the students and teachers are absent today, and the principal has decided that the school will be closed until the start of next week."

"Yes!"

"Woohoo!"

"That's 5 days of no school!"

The students rejoiced at the announcement, and the homeroom teacher made a bittersweet face.

The only student in the classroom of 10 current students out of 30 that was not celebrating the unexpected announcement was Xiao Yun.

School was the only thing that could replace his boredom during the day, without it, what was he supposed to do for the next five days?

The homeroom teacher noticed the displeasure in his expression despite it looking casual and normal as usual. "I'm sorry, Xiao Yun. I know you like school, but this is the principal's decision, and we are not the only school closing down for the week because of Requiem Online."

He nodded in response.

The class was dismissed soon after, and the students went straight home to play Requiem Online with their friends.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yun also went straight home.

The first thing he did when he returned was to go straight to sleep.

After sleeping until the sun began to descend, Xiao Yun finally wakes up, and he goes into the empty room.

Staring at his mother in the framed picture, Xiao Yun begins talking to her again.

"Mother, school has been canceled for the week because of some game… Is this really how the other side of the world works?" he sighed, sounding like an old man experiencing a new world.

"Now what am I supposed to do? Other than school, I only did missions for the past year…"

"Now that I have finished all of your missions, and school is canceled for the week, what can I do to occupy my boredom?"

He silently pondered in front of his mother, but nothing came to mind.

Bizz.

Suddenly, the phone in his pants vibrated, and he opened it to see that Fatty Chen had just texted him.

(Are you sure you don't want to play the game? This game is unrealistically...realistic!)

He shook his head at the text message, and he began typing.

(You really skipped school for this?)

Bzz.

(Speaking of school, how is it?)

(The principal canceled school for the week because more than half of the school's population was absent today, teachers included.)

(Seriously? That's great news! Now I can play Requiem Online all day!)

(You had planned on doing that regardless if the school was closed or not…)

Fatty Chen's last message before disappearing was a laughing emoji followed by a goodbye.

(It's time for me to get back to grinding, see ya.)

Xiao Yun closed his phone and returned to looking at his mother.

"What should I do now that you're gone…?" he suddenly asked her with a pained expression.

Xiao Yun continued to enclose himself inside that room until it was dark outside, before finally leaving to eat dinner that was just cup noodles.

After dinner, he went to shower, then straight to his room.

Because there was no longer anymore missions for him to do during the night, nor was there any school to attend to tomorrow, Xiao Yun could only stare at his ceiling from his bed in boredom.

It was at times like this that he wishes he had a hobby, but because of the environment he grew up in since he was a toddler, there was nothing that he found interesting in things that normal people would usually enjoy as a hobby.

However, that did not mean Xiao Yun did not try to look for things that he would enjoy.

In fact, he has tried out many different things, like sports, reading, and even art.

But in the end, the only thing he could find enjoyment in was what many normal people would despise— that thing being school.

In school, there is this indescribable atmosphere that he did not necessarily like, but found interesting.

As someone who grew up in the darkness, the colorful atmosphere in school made his heart beat nervously when he first started; it was a feeling that he did not understand at that time, but he slowly came to comprehend it.

Many minutes passed, but Xiao Yun continued to lay on his bed without moving.

He would usually be outside doing missions at this time, but he could only lay there now that there was no longer any more missions.

It was only until midnight did he finally leave the bed.

Walking to the closet, he opened it to retrieve a bracelet; it was the same bracelet that Julian Davis had been using during his mission!

Before he burned the entire place down, out of pure curiosity, and maybe because of Fatty Chen's influence, he snatched the bracelet from Julian Davis's dead body.

He wanted to know what kind of game could possibly make even the top assassin to become so vulnerable.

And oddly enough, out of all the things he has tried before to find a hobby, Xiao Yun has never tried any video games.

Why?

It was simple; it was just not appealing in his eyes.

—How do I use this thing?

Xiao Yun wore the bracelet on his wrist and quietly played around with it, but nothing has happened even after many minutes, making him wonder if it was broken.

He opened his cell phone and texted Fatty Chen.

(Hey, how do you use this bracelet thing?)

And unexpectedly, only three seconds after his message was sent, Fatty Chen had already replied.

Bzz.

(You got the game, too? Please tell me that you got the game!)

(Yes, I have the bracelet that you have been mentioning about.)

(This is great! Now we can play together!)

(We can talk about that after I learn how to use this thing first.)

(Right. All you have to do is put the GR-Alpha on either of your wrists, then close your eyes and say out loud 'Requiem Online!')

—GR-Alpha?

Xiao Yun figured that was what the device was called.

(Okay. I will try it now.)

(Give me a text when you leave the Island of the Beginning, so we can play together.)

(Okay.)

Xiao Yun left his phone beside him on the bed before doing exactly what Fatty Chen had instructed.

"Requiem Online!" he said out loud, and the normal-looking bracelet suddenly vibrated.

A red-colored glow suddenly emitted from the bracelet, and before Xiao Yun could see the glow disappear, his vision blacked out.

Xiao Yun had fallen into a state that was similar to sleeping.

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Xiao Yun silently watched as the timer tick inside this dark space with nothing else besides the timer.

He couldn't move his body, but he could control his vision whenever he tried to move his head.

It felt weird at first, but he quickly got used to it.

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Xiao Yun didn't care about the security system that would delete Julian Davis' data; it was not like he planned on using a dead man's data that could cause unnecessary trouble, anyway.

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