Chapter 1

“Riiinngg”

That sound signified only one thing it meant that school was over and it was time for us students to start heading home, despite that many of us decided to stay on campus whether for after class activities, pass the time hanging out with friends or if you are like me to finish the day's homework.

As I was heading over to my usual spot many of the kids around me were off looking into what looked like empty space but they were no doubt looking at their AR window screens, even though there were many students here the school was not as lively as it was in the past probably due to the fact most communicated via their own chat room so no one eavesdropped on their conversations or at least that's what they say.

Passing by the groups of huddled teenagers many moved out of my path this was an everyday occurrence for me apparently some less than savory rumors were going around about me though I didn't pay much attention to them since this is the only life I know.

- - -

When I got to my usual spot to my surprise someone was already there sleeping no less. It was a boy from one of my classes. I think his name was Bennie or something like that. I thought I should wake him since it wouldn't be good if he got locked in the school overnight.

I gently shook his body back and forth. He began lifting his eyelids when he finally began waking up from his stupor and got a look at my face. He seemed a little surprised that I was the one to wake him up.

“Um thank you for waking me, your name was Aaron right?”

“No problem uh do you mind if you scoot over a bit?”

“Oh yeah go right ahead this is your spot after all.” He replied a bit nervously, what kind of rumors are spreading about me? What did he mean by “my spot” was I some kind of dog going around marking my territory. He sat up and moved over to a side of the concrete ledge to create some space for me to sit down.

- - -

Now usually I would stay here until I finished my homework but today was different having someone to sit next to made it hard to concentrate on the work at hand especially when that someone kept glancing over at me.

“Hey um, is it true that you don't play OverWorld Online? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it's just everyone plays it these days so I always wondered if you had a reason to not play.” He began talking after some time of awkward silence.

“I wouldn't say I have a noble reason as to why I don't play, it's just that I don't have many friends so Solo play seems kinda boring. Is there a reason why you're asking?”

“No real reason I was just wondering if maybe you'd like to try it out with me since I was thinking of starting over with a different character and no one else in this school seems to want to go on the journey with me.”

He surprised me with his answer, not the fact that he invited me but he didn't seem to make his own conclusion. Most would just give and say something like “But you probably dont want me bothering you.”

“Sure i'll play, just add me on the network so I can find you once I connect when I get home.”

“Wait, really I was fully expecting for you to turn me down.”

“I mean I have no reason to not play with you and it seems like fun. All I need to do is buy and download the game onto my AR device right?”

“Alright then I’ll send a message once I get on tonight, Is any time after 5 fine with you?”

“Yeah that's fine but doesn't that mean we only have 1-2 hours before dinner?”

“That's fine, that's what the acceleration system is for, remember?”

“Acceleration System?”

“Wait you don't know about it, it's a system that lets you experience more in a short amount of time, for example in OVO 1 hour in real world time is around 12 hours in game. It's really helpful when you are running late on an assignment.”

“That's a little hard to believe, why am I only hearing about this now?”

“Well it was exclusive to testers until recently now that all tests have been run it is now freely available and games have started implementing the system for players to be able to play for longer periods of time.”

“Alright then I’ll await your invitation later tonight. I'm going to stay here till I finish my homework. Do you have anywhere you need to be?”

“Ah! I completely forget I had to get the ingredients for tonight's dinner I better hurry see ya later Aaron Oh right I haven't even introduced myself names Benjee but most people call me Ben”

“Alright then see you later Ben.”

“Yup! See you later.”

As he hurried to the school entrance I quickly remembered he never got my friend ID.