Mei Lian's Terrible Mistake

Mei Lian froze in place. She stood still like a statue as the seconds slipped by, it was as though time itself had stopped.

There was only one emotion in her heart.

Rage.

Her hands trembled violently as she held the box which contained the VR headset that had essentially bankrupted her and put her in massive credit card debt.

"Breathe… breathe… NO SCREW THIS! THAT SON OF A BITCH!" Mei Lian tried to calm herself down but quickly began to spiral.

As if possessed, she ripped open the box violently and saw a silver-grey helmet that looked as though it was made from plastic.

Mei Lian had seen pictures of VR headsets before and could tell at a glance that the materials used to create this headset were at best… extremely cheap.

Ridiculous.

Completely and utterly ridiculous.

Her brother had wasted all of her money on this piece of junk?! Was he crazy?

And what was even worse was the fact that she probably would never get her money back.

If she reported the fraud, then there was a real chance that her brother would be arrested and may even be sent to juvenile prison.

No… she needed answers.

She needed to know why the hell he had decided to steal all of her money.

Three years.

Three. Freaking. Years.

All of those long shifts, the unfair treatment by her senior colleagues and new boss. All of her efforts were now gone.

The more she thought about it... the angrier Mei Lian felt.

Mei Lian roughly grabbed the VR headset and rushed up the stairs.

She was so focused on confronting her brother that she did not notice that the power button on the side of the device had mysteriously switched on.

"MEI JIANYU WAKE THE FUCK UP!" Mei Lian screamed as she flung open the door leading to her brother's bedroom and stormed over to his bed.

She ripped the blanket off his body and punched her brother right in the stomach with as much force as she could muster.

"Oww…sis? What are you doing?" Mei Jianyu groaned in pain as he woke up to a sharp pain in his belly and a loud voice screaming in his ear.

"Did…DID YOU DRAIN ALL OF MY BANK ACCOUNTS YESTERDAY TO PAY FOR THIS STUPID PIECE OF JUNK?" Mei Lian shouted angrily as any thought of calmly confronting her brother disappeared as she stared at his sleepy face.

Mei Jianyu froze for a moment as he spotted the familiar looking VR device held in his older sister's hand.

He was not an idiot and knew that his sister would eventually find out but as he stared at the device… he could not stop a small smile from flashing across his face.

That was his ticket.

If he could be part of the beta wave to the new world then he would have an enormous advantage when compared to those who entered later.

With a few exceptions, the majority of the most powerful individuals from earth were those who had arrived in the first couple of waves.

Unfortunately, the smile that briefly surfaced on his face was noticed by his big sister who interpreted it as though he was mocking her.

"Are… are you seriously smiling right now?" Mei Lian asked in disbelief.

"ALL OF MY MONEY IS GONE AND YOU'RE SMILING? YOU HEARTLESS…."

Mei Lian's body shook as she felt so upset that it was becoming difficult to breathe properly.

How could her brother have done this?

"Sis… I know this looks bad…" Mei Jianyu carefully chose his words as he reached out his hand and tried to take the device.

"But trust me… what I bought is going to be an opportunity that most people would kill to get. That device is the key to our future."

"Our family's lives depend on that device. Trust me. I know that I'm not making much sense but believe me… I would never have stolen your money without a purpose."

"Oh really?" Mei Lian sarcastically replied as she stepped back and pulled the VR device out of reach of her brother's grasping hand.

"The lives of our family depend on you playing some stupid game called 'Azrean Online'? I saw the damn website yesterday and it looked like a scam."

"You're lucky that I don't report you to the police."

Mei Jianyu paused for a moment as he considered telling his sister the truth. Somehow, he had managed to return to the past after dying at the hands of one of the demon generals.

He had knowledge of the summoning waves, the hidden pieces and the classes that would perform the best in the later stages of the invasion.

If he could use even ten percent of what he had remembered, then becoming a top ranker would not be a dream but rather… a reality.

Mei Jianyu opened his mouth to speak but paused when he saw the blinking blue light on the side of the device.

The summoning had already begun!

"Wait… sister! Give me that now!" Mei Jianyu leaped up from the bed and ran towards Mei Lian. He needed to use the device and teleport to Azrean.

"Are you insane?" Mei Lian could not believe that her brother had not just sprouted out some bullshit excuse about saving the family but was also trying to grab the headset.

She stumbled backwards as her brother crashed into her body and tried to rip the headset out of her hands.

Mei Jianyu may have been a male, but he was a skinny and short teenager, so his strength was slightly weaker than his older sister.

Mei Lian pushed him violently and her brother fell back towards the bed with a heavy thump. He immediately got up from the mattress and rushed towards her again to snatch the headset.

He was like a man possessed.

"Why are you doing this?! I just don't understand… Are you taking drugs or something?" Mei Lian asked in confusion as she wrestled with her brother who was still trying to grab the VR device.

Mei Lian felt the adrenaline pumping through her veins as she once again pushed away her brother and stared at him with a mixture of confusion and frustration.

She had lost all of her money, and her brother was only focused on the stupid headset that he had bought using her stolen funds.

Mei Jianyu realised that his strategy of snatching the device forcefully wasn't working and held up his hands in surrender.

"Sister please… trust me… I need that device now. It turned on and I need to enter the game this weekend before the beta period ends," Mei Jianyu calmly explained.

"You won't believe me but… that device will teleport me to another world where I can gradually build up my strength so that I can protect you."

Mei Lian looked at her brother as if seeing a stranger. Now instead of rage, she felt more concerned than anything else.

His voice did not seem as though he was lying.

He seemed to genuinely believe the delusion that the VR headset was some kind of gateway or portal to another world.

Had her brother lost his mind? Was he unable to tell what was reality anymore?

"Mei Jianyu… I think maybe we should take you to see a doctor," Mei Lian hesitantly spoke as her tone softened considerably.

"Travelling to another world? That only happens in fantasy novels… I know you may think it is real but… look…"

"WAIT STOP!" Mei Jianyu shouted in horror as he watched his sister place the helmet on her head before he could react.

"See nothing happ…" Mei Lian's words abruptly stopped as her body vanished from the room.

There was a loud thump as the VR headset fell to the ground smoking.

The blue light on the side of the device dimmed and a large crack appeared right in the middle of the helmet.

Mei Lian was nowhere to be seen.

.

.

.

.

(The Void Realm)

Nothingness.

Mei Lian looked around in confusion as she felt as though she was floating in an ocean and yet there was no water nearby.

In fact, that was not much of anything. She only saw a never-ending white hallway with no landmarks, pieces of furniture or objects of note.

Had the helmet activated?

"Log out!" Mei Lian shouted as she tried to access the screen to leave the game.

Her voice echoed through the void but there was no response.

"Log out! Exit now! Show main menu!" Mei Lian yelled out other phrases from the top of her head, but nothing changed.

"Hello?! Anyone?"

Mei Lian felt a surge of panic but then quickly calmed down. Her brother was right next to her when she put on the helmet, and he could probably shut down the device manually.

All she had to do was wait.

Seconds turned to minutes which turned to hours as Mei Lian felt as though she had been waiting for a lifetime.

Why was her brother taking so long? Get her out of this hell!

Suddenly a large wall of text appeared in the air. The letters of the text were carved out in a magnificent shade of gold and formed a classic videogame phrase.

[Choose Your Class]

[Combatant] [Non-combatant]