+23 Loser

'Huh!? Did I hear it wrong? Did she really say that? Didn't Axel and Rin got along quite well?'

I paused the voice message as quickly as I could , I thought that this message would be for Axel to play with her again. This was completely unexpected I couldn't even believe it was Yuki talking those things.

'The Yuki I knew wasn't the most friendly person ever but she wasn't this cold and ruthless towards anyone. Damn this is going to be awkward , I wanted the three of us team up for this beta-testing. But now I've to select one out of them.'

I noticed Axel didn't say anything on the line so I asked ,

"Hey Axel I really don't know what happened to her , she wasn't like this whenever we played."

"..."

"Hey say something."

Axel finally opened his mouth ,

"So I just have to get stronger to be on her side? That's easier than I thought."

×-×-×

'Puny loser huh , sure sounds like me.'

"Rin actually I also wanted to talk to you about teaming up too. You can team up- no you should team up with Yuki with your skills it wouldn't be hard for you to be on her level."

I already planned to leave Rin alone , I already knew the basics , controls and everything about games thanks to him.

'I was holding him back , I just realized after hearing from Yuki how good he is. Right now I will just be a baggage for him , I can't pull him down with me.'

"So Rin I would appreciate it if you would stop contacting me from now on , don't take it the wrong way I will definitely meet you again one day."

After few seconds of silence he finally replied ,

"Okay Axel I will start playing with Yuki from now on and wait for your return. Then take care and study hard."

'Beep Beep Beep'

That's was the last time I heard from him or atleast what I thought. After 15 days we met again at the online beta tester meeting , which introduced new beta version update which had pretty big impact on all the beta testers but for me it was a new chance.

×-×-×

'Deep down I knew this would happen someday , when Axel will recognize just how selfish and worthless his life had became. Let's wait for him to get his life on track , till then I'll just have to improve and be ready.'

Axel is a good friend he helped me many times during my hard times just by being there for me. Finally seeing him turning attention towards his own life makes me feel good.

"Damn I feel a mom who's son just graduated."

×-×-×

After hanging up I made a strict schedule to follow which would get me a good ranking , atleast good enough to get in 1000s. I planned to not attend any lectures and to study here instead , I added workouts to my schedule to maintain my health and with that my plan for next 13 day's was made.

Days went by I sat on my table 12 hours studying with some breaks in between the sessions and the day finally came. The day to visit my family 3 days before my OGT , I was prepared for my test and was revising my lessons.

It took half a day to reach Order#1 , Sector#1 I took the plane a night before the day of visit so that I would reach there by morning. After 9 hours of flight I was able to reach Order#1 without any problem.

I took a cab to Sector#1 which took another 2 hours , compared to Order#16- no you can't even compare them Order#1 was clean , well planned with good amenities available to everyone. Comparing #16 with #1 is insult to the later.

After the 2 hour cab ride I was able to reach my destination I stood out of the house and saw that their was nothing changed same colour , same garden and same people. This nostalgic feeling that I felt made comfortable , I could see some cars outside the house it looked like someone came to give a visit too.

There were some bodyguard near the door I was pretty sure we didn't hire any bodyguard's.

'Maybe Mom and Dad hired them or they could be with the guests.'

Keeping my thoughts to myself I entered the house and saw a family of three sitting on the couch of our living room. I couldn't see their faces as they were facing the opposite side. They were talking with my parents who were sitting on their opposite side. My parents noticed me and excused themselve from their conversation and walked towards me.

"Hi Mo-"

Before I could say anything my mom hugged me , I couldn't remember the last time I felt her warmth I hugged her back and thought ,

'Seriously why did I think I was alone when these guys were always there for me.'

After talking to them for few minutes , I went to my room in which I spent my childhood. The room looked colourless , empty even thought there was stiff I owned but still it looked empty no different than the one I owned now.

I browsed through all the stuff I had and remembered the memories attached to them. After browsing for minutes I found 'her' ribbon , a red coloured ribbon same as 'her' blood I saw that day. I quickly placed it back to the place it was before.

"I can't just let those memories hold me back."

Even though I said that it still affected me , I stopped browsing their and sat on the bed. The bed was still clean it looked like the room was cleaned everyday by the maids. Sitting on the bed I suddenly heard a knock on the door , it was my sister Rika.

"Mom's calling you for lunch , let's go together."

Even though she was 15 years old she acted immaturely but I and my parents knew that she only 'acted' Rika was actually pretty smart and quick-witted girl. Toss any question to her and she would easily find the answer to your question.

"Yeah let's go."

I checked if I forgot something in my room and left for lunch , it looked like the guests were also having lunch with us today. I took my seat at the dinner table and finally could see their face it was President of I.G. Group Rick , the famous fashion stylist Jin and pro gamer Finn.

'What the f*ck are these celebrities doing here!?'

Seeing my surprised face my dad got the hint of what I was thinking and introduce me to them.

"This is my son Axel he currently studying in Rails University for his final year."

"Hoh"

Finn sitting across me scoffed after hearing the university I attended. Finn the player who reigned on the top of the gaming industry atleast right now. He had chestnut brown hairs with black eyes with height nearly same as me.

'As expected the number 1 player and his pride.'

I greeted them ,

"Nice to meet you , I'm Axel."

Surprisingly to my greeting President Rick replied ,

"Yeah I've heard about you quite a lot from your dad and also thanks for applying for the beta testing."

'He knew? I didn't thought he would know that much about me.'

"Well that's our job as a beta testers we are going to get a custom item/skill for it anyways , so it doesn't hurt me at all. I hope you'll be ready for the custom item/skill I'm going to ask for."

"If it's reasonable we happily make it for you , that is if you survive till the end of beta-testing."

Rick speaking with that much confidence kind of scared me for what's coming. Continuing the conversation I started talking about the game balance system.

"I wanted to ask this for a while but what's with games balance system it's all over the place , I was able to kill level 150 with just 10-11 of my attack at level 100 , also the stats ranking could be improved-"

Cutting in while I was giving him suggestions annoyed Rick said ,

"Why don't we talk about this at the online beta testers meeting which will take place 5 days from now. You'll be getting the automated message today by evening it'll explain you all the contents of the meeting."

After speaking to Rick it looked like everyone was shocked seeing me initiating the conversation. Finn sitting besides Rick looked at me with a smirk on his face. Ignoring all the gazes on me I ate my lunch.

After that I spent my day talking with my parents about my life back at university and about the game , well mostly about the game. Before I knew 'Infinite' wasn't just a game for me , I talked about my friends Rin and Yuki.

'Their was so much to tell them , I really want to reflect on my actions for what I did back then.'

Just when I was about to leave I had something important to ask to my parents , since Rika was already sleeping this was the best time to ask them.

"Mom , dad can I move in back after my OGT?"

Just a second later tears flowed down their cheeks , nit just my mom but dad too. I hugged them to comfort them with her quavering voice she said ,

"W-We are r-really sorry for how we treated you back then , T-Thank you for forgiving us."

"Forgiving us? it was never your fault mom dad it was just me I was the one who made bad decisions and now I'm just reflecting on them."

'It looks like nowadays I really can't control my emotions.'

In the end seeing them I couldn't help but cry.