CHAPTER ONE: WHITE LIGHT

His eyes were red with dark circle expression and a clear hint of exhaustion, he sat close to the gaming monitor as he held and was lazily pressing his gamepad. He was playing the new edition MMORPG, Krater

His room small as he could stretch out his hand and touch it from where he sat, it was filled with fast food, snack bags and pizza boxes. There was also a pile of clothes to his left behind the door as he didn't have the luxury to own a closet or at least a wardrobe or a drawer where he could stash away his clothes.

He was completely focused on the game he had been playing game for 6 days straight without sleeping or moving from his chair.

Toudou was an 18 year old boy who lives by himself, he came to Japan from the United States to study and this was his final year. He has always lived a very private life and didn't have any friends, at least not ones he hangs out with, his only interest was focused on playing games, watching anime and reading manga, basically an otaku. He survives through his part time job as a salesman and through the help of Mikey's NGO.

6 days ago, he found out about a new MMORPG when he was coming back from school, some students were discussing about it and it piqued his interest. He worked overnight and earned the money to buy it later on and found the game to be quite interesting and addictive, it was very hard, a game that truly requires skills and talent, a game meant for solely pro gamers. The game is about surviving from scrap in a post-apocalyptic world, the player gains level by defeating bosses, fighting zombie type creatures and completing quests, a player can also level up with the right amount of coins. Since he never backs out from a challenge, he decided to play it with all he had.

Toudou became strong in no time and was titled "God of war" by other players. He became one of the most powerful players in the game. His experience and talent was nothing to joke about, he planned to dominate the entire game for a week before temporarily stopping because his final exams were coming up and he has been ditching school for the past week so he's got a lot of catching up to do. He was very intelligent to begin with so catching up will be no hard thing for him.

…

At night on the 7th day while he was playing, he decided to raid a dungeon one last time.

'Bang'

Clash

A window popped out on his screen,

[Congratulations! Apocalyptic bear of the haunted dungeon slayed]

[Clear time 2 minutes 12 seconds]

[New haunted dungeon clear record]

[New title obtained, 'Slayer of the haunted']

Of course other gamers saw this announcement too, but their screen had a different message from his.

[New time record set for the haunted dungeon]

[New time: 2 mins 12 sec]

[New record set by; Absolute]

Of course Absolute was toudou's character, he uses that name for no reason whatsoever.

As if used to it, people didn't react much to the notification, but others still talked about it.

'I wish I could team up with him.' A player told one of his teammate.

'I heard he's never teamed up with anyone.'

'He's not called the God of war for nothing.'

'It takes a monster to kill a monster.'

Thoughts like this appeared on players' minds that saw the announcement.

…

Back in the real world, toudou let out a sigh. This was going to be his last game for a while, he's already set the world record of being able to finish all dungeons of the game under the lowest time record.

Just when he was about to log out, he saw a pillar of white light shot from far away, due to the speed of his character, he was able to instantly go there to confirm, he thought it was a rogue boss of a hidden dungeon that got into town to wreak havoc.

But he was met with disappointment, the light dissipitated a few seconds after he arrived, he thought it was just a coincidence that the light appeared at the first village a character appears at the beginning of the game so he simply logged out and slept.

. . .

The next morning, after he prepared for school, as usual he was late and was scolded by their homeroom teacher, Miss Bai Mei. The only teacher who cared for him, she always scolded him to get him to mend his ways of ditching school. The others don't even like him. She helped him with the summary of some notes and even gave him extra lessons for free so he could catch up.

Miss Bai Mei was a young lady, only three years older than toudou, she was from a rich family so the education she got was nothing to joke about neither was her beauty, she was a subject of envy and lust for both women and men, even some teachers were after her, it was just by luck toudou became close to her. She started teaching not because she couldn't get a more 'noble' job but because she likes teaching.

After school, when toudou was going home, he heard some students' talking-to each other,

'Hey did you see the Pillar of light that appeared in the middle of the city last night?'

'Yeah I saw it on the news, I heard that it appeared for no reason and disappeared then appeared again, the place is now off limits.'

'Ehhh? Isn't that where hayasaka mall is, I was planning to go shopping there this weekend.'

Toudou ignored everything afterwards after hearing about the white light that appeared in town, he simply walked past them as dozens of thoughts were surfing through his head.

'Are these kids insane or what, how can they mistake a game and real life?'

He buried the thought down and headed home.

…

He arrived home and immediately turned on the TV after tossing away his bag on the pile of clothes behind the door. What he saw on the headline of the news shocked him to his core

"Strange Phenomenon As An Unknown Source Of Light Hayasaka Mall In Tokyo.''

'Wait, Hayasaka Mall, isn't that where I work?'

Realizing what this meant, he quickly jumped to his feet and dug through his mountain of clothes with the hope of finding something clean to escape from his school uniform or at least find not too dirty ones.

His effort was not for naught as he found a clean pair of black shorts and white T shirt…exactly what he wears 90% of the time.

After dressing up, he ran out of his room and went towards the room opposite his. As he came closer to the door, he increased his speed and when he was only a metre away from it, he stuck out his left foot and kicked the side of the door where the locked was mounted, forcing it to fly open, sending a few splinters flying.

'Daichii!!! Get your ass up! We're going to the mall!' Toudou shouted at the top of his lungs.

A man in his late twenties, wearing pajamas and a robe over it fell over from his bed. He blinked a couple of times so his sight would adjust to the illuminating light that's coming through the window toudou had just opened.

'You good for nothing, Are you drunk again?' Toudou sighed with disappointment.

'Oh god. What did I tell you about kicking my door down TD?' Daichi let out a huge sigh then got up to his feet.

His room wasn't as messy as toudou's as he was a clean person physically. Gambling, fraud, alcoholism. You name it, daichi's got it all but since he moved to Tokyo, he has been trying to set his life straight. He met toudou at a restaurant he formerly worked in, though daichi is relatively older than toudou, he's the only friend he has and in the two years they've been together, toudou has been there for him, constantly helping him to get over his bad habits.

'Shhhhh! Are you crazy?! Why are you calling me TD here? What if another player happened to be passing by? You know I want to stay anonymous. Anyway listen daichi, we've got no time to chat, get up we've got to go to the mall.'

'My bad totally, apologies. And why in the seven seas would i go to the mall right now, it's not even time for our shift yet.'

'Are you living under a rock? Where is your TV by the wa-, don't tell me you've gambled it off. Know what? I don't care, let's just go! I'll fill you in on the way.'

Before daichi had any chance to reply, toudou has already grabbed his arm and headed for the door.

'Wait I'm still in my pajamas!' Too bad for daichi, they were already on the street.

'What? I can't hear you! The wind is too strong!'