Failure

Chapter 1

After washing up and changing into some old clothes, Zen started to clean up his room while humming some songs, evidently in a good mood.

After cleaning up the mess of his room that took him 2 hours, he went utside of his small apartment to get some fresh air and to get a haircut so that he wouldn't wander off from the human realm.

Sauntering outside, he saw the evening sky. The yellowish orange sky and the birds flying in the same direction as if returning to their home after a day of hard work. Parents coming to pick up their kids from the park nearby.

Seeing all this, a weird sense of nostalgia hit him. He remembered his time as a kid. His parent’s proud eyes when he made the first sand castle, then later when he created a bulb that worked with steam power in his school days.

As the days passed, their appreciation for him started fading and unknowingly they started disliking his hobby and passion. His younger sister, who was more involved with school and was good at studies, easily entered a prestigious college even when his family couldn't afford that college at all.

His days of getting scolded at everything he did started and finally, he left his home to live in that small apartment where he started isolating himself from the world.

His dream became to get recognized by his parents once again and make them realize that he could earn through his own hobby and passion too via hard work. He would show them one day and that day….finally approached.

Unknowingly tears trickled down through his eyes. These were the tears of sorrow, pain and all the sufferings he had went through and ………..relief. There was a sense of relief making his body fuzzy and wobbly.

There was this warm feeling rushing in his lower body. It was too warm…….and wet….?

He finally opened his eyes and looked down. A mutt was using him as his personal relief centre. Spraying his pee all over his legs.

“Oh sh- what are u doing johny…. O-oh I’m so sorry… I-I’ll clean it”

A woman who seemed to be in her late thirties came running and picked up the mutt while apologizing to Zen. She brought out a handkerchief and started cleaning Zen’s leg.

Zen stood there in daze for a while and then smiled wryly. He remembered being emotional didn’t suit him and that mutt just came to make him realize that. He stopped the lady who was apologizing for something she didn’t even do and told her that its fine and he could clean that on his own.

And just like that, his trip to the salon was postponed again, indefinitely.

Zen went back at his apartment and washed his lower body again, while changing into a trouser.

He looked at his computer’s open screen.

Zethor Online - The game which he was playing in his self made VR to test its functionality.

It was one of the games which was launched in 20XX and just 1 year after its release it has already become the world’s only game enjoyed by around 2.4 billion people and the number of people joining this game kept on increasing at a rapid pace.

The developers of the game boast about how this was the world’s only cross platform game which supported all devices, including mobile phones, laptop & computers and even VR.

Many people refuted the claim because a VR gaming machine wasn’t even launched at the time that they made this claim. But soon after everyone who refuted them kept their mouths closed.

Mystical Inc. – The Company which this game belonged to, launched the world’s first gaming VR. The product became the bestseller without much advertisement.

Zeroth Online blew up the stock market at a rate never seen before.

The game was supported by every device that could handle a normal game and was even supporting VR. People who asked which type of game it was- they received various answers.

And later the Developers themselves came to solve the problem. They called it an MMOAROG.

Massive Multiplayer Online Action RPG Otome and Galge.

This huge full form was still not enough to contain the actual content of the game.

This game was set in an open fantasy world where everything one can think of was possible-

Yes! From ingestion to excretion, from being an adventurer or choosing to climb the social ladder as a noble, from magic to swordsmanship- everything before, after and in between was possible in this game. The game boasted enough freedom for VR users that it even reproduced the taste buds of humans, to let them taste even fantasy food in the game.

For the people having diabetes and gastric problems, the VR version of the game became the heaven.

The game boasted the best artificial intelligence- The NPC in game were never treated as a NPC because of their perfect AI.

For bachelors who had given up hope on dating, the galge concept and the perfect second world like theme was akin to a blessing from God. They could finally forget the harsh reality and become an object of love to someone.

The game never favoured anyone. It all depended on the player's luck and skills about how far he could grow.

Some wild young people and middle aged people who were having a tough life at office and work became adventurers to let out their frustrations on poor in game monsters.

The game soon became another reality. Soon enough the currency in game became more valuable than even Kuwait’s dinar.

Most people wanted to try playing the game in VR but couldn’t afford a VR as the market was monopolized by Mystical .Inc.

Many large and small companies bought these VRs in bulk to get to know how to make it, but all the efforts considered to be futile.

But today, someone used a VR which wasn't created by Mystical .Inc. but by a young inventor in his mid twenties.

If the companies looking for the formula and production method of VR found out about this, They’ll burn all their money to try to get the man in their company, or at least get the formula.

A smile spread across Zen’s face pondering over all this. Soon he would be in limelight.

'His parents will again look at him with proud eyes….his sister will look down in shame for calling him a trash…soon.'

"All the primary tests are done. Just one more final test and I can finally announce to the world about my invention."

Zen muttered and gulped down a whole can of coke.

Then without wasting any more time, he launched Zeroth online on his computer and prepared to enter the capsule. His self made capsule wasn't as comfortable as the capsules sold in the market, but it had all the basic and advanced function a VR should have.

With a wildly beating heart, Zen entered the capsule and the brackets of the capsule closed off at his command.

An interface appeared in front of his eyes.

[Would you like to login to Zeroth online? You can continue with the Final Quest (1).]

Zeroth online was the only game installed in his capsule and he immediately selected to continue with his final quest from chapter 1.

A female robotic voice echoed in his ears again.

[Player 'ZenPanty' has logged... Error.... Error....]

'What the...?'

Zen muttered as he suddenly saw the error notice on his interface. He didn't know what went wrong, but it was surely an disquieting situation.

"Ugh…..Open! Fucking open!"

He tried to open the capsule, but it wasn't working as well. Normally, there was an emergency exit button, but even that wasn't working.

[Error... Error...]

[Trying to log into Zerot– Error...]

[You are advised to leave the cap... Error... Error...]

Everything was just showing error and the desperation of Zen was growing every second. He didn't know what would happen if he didn't get out of the capsule, but his gut feeling was telling him that it wouldn't be something nice.

Suddenly, he felt a numb feeling in his mind. It was like all the functions of his body stopped and he was incapable of moving his hands and legs.

A restless feeling surrounded his panicky heart.

'What is going on...'

His mind was in a chaotic mess and his vision was changing every moment. He wasn't able to hear the robotic voice of the AI and see the interface.

He was losing more senses by every passing second and the last thought that occurred in his mind was.

'... I don't want to die so soon.'

'Mother... Father... Sister...'

'... It hurts so much.'

After that...he drowned in the abyss of darkness.

***

Zen woke up from the sound of some sort of chattering.

It was a language he hadn't heard before, but after a while he was able to understand what the conversation was about.

"We actually managed to capture the noble. Won't we get super rich if he just asks for an amount from his father?"

"Yeah, I heard his parents really care for him."

"I will soon be famous."

"Herd, you ain't planning to take all the credit, are you?"

Zen didn't understand what the conversation was about and unfamiliar words made him more confused.

Noble? Parents? Famous?

He didn't know what was going on. A corner of his mind was still heavy and it was hard to open his eyes. It was like he had no strength at all in his body.

After a while, the heavy feeling in his mind started fading away and his consciousness was forced back into him. Hastily, he opened his eyes and his vision swam, before it finally settled in.

"What... Where am I!?"

He was in a room that he had never seen before. It was dimly lit room made out of rock blocks. It looked more like some ancient relic than a room. It looked like prison, because Iron rails were in front of him, holding him inside and the walls were covered in moisture and fungus.

Zen wasn't able to understand what was going on and how he came here.

"Wasn't I trying to login to... Arrrgghhhhhhhh!"

He didn't have the time to think about his situation anymore as a sharp sense of pain suddenly vibrated inside his brain. It was so hurtful that tears trickled down his cheeks and he rolled along on the ground helplessly.

Multiple memories began to overlap inside his brain, all unfamiliar memories yet still strangely somewhat familiar.

At that moment, the people whose voice he heard before started escalating in his direction.

"Hey, why is he screaming?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe he's trying to do an act to trick us."

Zen wanted to open his eyes to see who were these people, but the pain was too much for him to focus on anything else.

Click!

A clicking sound rang out as the door made of iron bars was unbolted and opened.

A wild looking woman walked in with two other guys behind her.

The guys looked like some local thugs with weird haircut and piercings all over their faces. The woman looked like some tomboy in her late 20s.

She was wearing normal clothing above which her upper body was covered by a leather armour. She had short hair which were combed towards left side.

One of the guys came and kicked Zen in the abdomen, making him fall on his knees with his head down.

Zen, who finally figured out the situation due to the surge of memories in his mind, couldn’t help but curse the guy who kicked him.

“This f*cker!”