The Reveal

Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz.

What the heck is that Tai thought to himself as he looked up at his headboard. The clock above him read 5:45 am and the window to his left was still nothing but dark outside, a few lights could be seen from houses on neighboring hills. Tai's home town of Little River was a hillside town located between the local city and mountain range. The population was smaller than that of a normal city but due to high foot traffic and tourists wanting to go hiking or skiing there was a blooming hotel business. Even some of the locals had gotten into the Bed and Breakfast business to make a little extra money on the weekends while offering places to stay for those would be adventure seekers.

Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz.

The noise that woke Tai had just gone off again as he fumbled to get to his feet. Finally out of bed and stumbling around the piles of clothes he left on his floor Tai made it to the side of the room and flipped the light switch.

"Bright...why, why so bright?!" Tai moaned as the iridescent bulbs lit up the room and blinded him momentarily. After a brief minute of adjusting his eyes to the bright light he could finally see again, what a mess he thought to himself as he looked around at his room.

The wall to the left where the window was had a poster for a first person-shooter game Tai liked to play on his gaming console, below that was a desk or what seemed like a desk. Energy drink cans, bottles of water, chip bags what a mess. The desk was covered with trash minus one completely clean area where he kept his gaming equipment. Keyboard, mouse and headset all neatly kept in an area on the desk in front of his monitor. One could really see where Tai's priorities lie.

Other than his desk and bed there were a few other pieces of furniture in the room including a television which judging by the layer of dust on it, hardly got used. Tai stumbled around his bed moving between piles of clothes and what seemed to be a pile of textbooks from his last semester of school. Finally reaching his headboard he grabbed his phone which was vibrating non-stop, the source of the constant buzzing that had woken him up to begin with.

"Do you realize what time it is man?!" Tai yelled into his phone after answering it. "Sir Reign, I'm going to need you to watch the way you talk to people" a soft almost elegant voice replied. Tai quickly took the phone away from his face to look at the caller ID, "Prof. James", his demeanor quickly changed, "I'm sorry Professor James I had no idea" he apologized and was completely red in the face.

"I'm no longer your professor Mr. Reign, no need to be formal, call me Jasmine or Ms. James. I need you to come to the campus today for a lecture I'm doing about following one's heart, do you think you can be here by 8?" the voice spoke quickly and precisely, clearly timing was of importance.

Professor Jasmine James was a local professor at Triumph University located in the neighboring city, Dawnfall. Triumph was the University that Tai had just graduated from and in fact had taken Prof. James' Business Management classes to fulfill his degree requirements.

At first Tai was shocked when he realized who it was that had called him, but he was now more relaxed and albeit a bit surprised, grateful that he had received her call. "Sure thing Jasmine! I'll get ready and head into the city immediately" he took her up on her request mainly out of intrigue and curiosity. The two exchanged pleasantries and ended their call.

I wonder what she wants me for, I haven't done anything since graduation aside from play video games Tai started to wonder what he could possibly be of help with. Suddenly stricken with fear he froze as he turned to head for a shower. What if, no she wouldn't would she? What if she's bringing me in to ridicule me for following my heart and playing video games? Tai hadn't thought about it in a negative manner until now. Nah there's no way she'd do that to me she loved me in her classes, right? He continued this back and forth for the next hour or so while getting ready and eventually hopped onto the tram into the city.

While still trying to determine the motive behind his invitation a digital ad played on the screen adjacent from him on the tram. Swords clashing, fires erupting, arrows flying through the sky, it caught Tai's attention. Hmm? some new action movie trailer he thought as he watched waiting to see what the product was. "Dynasty Empire" flashed across the screen then it faded to a character standing on a cliff overlooking a city before he jumped and dove straight down. The screen cut to black before showing the character running through the city shooting arrows at all sorts of creatures. The ad ended there, and the name appeared again followed by Red Sun Studios, the name of a game developer. Tai was so enthralled by the ad and got so lost in it that he hadn't realized the tram had pulled into the stop near the university.

"My apologies sir" a little old woman who was trying to squeeze by had just bumped into Tai with her groceries. "Oh no my apologies miss, silly me getting lost watching an ad while being in the way" he replied with sincerity and kindness as he looked around to realize where he was. He quickly side stepped another couple boarding the tram and slipped outside.

It felt weird being back on campus Tai thought. But more importantly what was that game he had just seen, "Dynasty Empire", he had never heard of it. Tai was curious about it, but that curiosity had to be subdued for the time being. Navigating through the campus he eventually found his way to Professor James' office. He knocked lightly a few times on the big old oak door, "Enter" he heard from inside. Slowly pushing the door till it opened Tai made his way into the office and closed the door behind him. Walls lined with shelves of textbooks and business models, file cabinets full of examples and interviews of top CEOs, an old oak desk sat in the middle of the room with an archway window behind it casting light down to whoever sat in the tall black felt chair. This office wasn't anything new to Tai, he had been here several times throughout his time as a student of Prof. James. However, there was something new that wasn't there before, in front of the desk were two folding chairs, one was always there but the second, that was new.

"Have a seat Mr. Reign" the soft voice of Prof. James could be heard coming from the connecting room, a kitchen for the staff. Tai made his way towards the desk and took a seat in the normal folding chair he was accustomed to using. "Will someone else be joining us Professor?" Tai asked out of curiosity. "Jasmine, Jasmine or Ms. James, how many times do I have to tell you that Mr. Reign?" Prof. James rounded the corner into her office holding a metallic blue coffee mug that read, Push Your Boundaries. "Ah yes, sorry Jasmine, it's just a bit weird I'll adjust" Tai stammered to say as he felt slightly uncomfortable calling his old Professor by her first name.

Jasmine made her way around the desk and took her seat. She was relatively young for a professor, only 29, she was a tad shorter than Tai standing at around five and a half feet, light complexion with flowing auburn hair, and blue eyes almost ice like. Tai looked at her and smiled, he had a crush on her from the very first time she walked into the classroom. "Smiling already and you don't even know why you're here. Some things never change do they Tai?" Jasmine spoke between sips of her tea. Tai blushed realizing he was probably caught staring at her.

"So what am I here for? When is the class you wanted me to be here for?" Tai said looking around the room trying to clear the red from his face. "There isn't a class Mr. Reign, there's something more" a stern and gravely male voice replied. Startled Tai looked around the room and caught a glimpse of someone entering the room from the kitchen. It was a moderately tall man, clad in a blue pinstriped business suit, a black fedora with white stripes, a beard that was well kept and trimmed, with bright green eyes resembling that of emeralds. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Reign, Ms. James has told me a lot about you" he said as he approached the second empty folding chair before taking a seat.

"Huh. Funny, she's told me nothing about you and I guess lying to me about my visit here was your idea?" Tai clearly irritated looked from Jasmine to this somewhat older fellow who had yet to introduce himself.

"Ah yes, that was my idea. I wasn't quite sure how you'd react to my proposal, so I had Ms. James find an alternative method to getting you. My name is Mr. Park, Jin Park to be more precise, you can call me Jin" he said as he reached into his suit and fished out what appeared to be a business card. Moving his hand over to to Tai, he noted that Mr. Park, or Jin, had a scar across his hand and a decent sized wedding band on his finger. Tai took the card and upon flipping it over was stunned. Was this whole thing set up from the beginning? He thought back to the tram ad for the game he had just seen, then looked back down at the card in his hand.

"Jin Park

CEO/Testing Recruiter

Red Sun Studios"