[In which a professional tester has to chase after a half-player, half-NPC child in the first Holographic RPG ever before its launching...]
"So you're some kind of spy, right?" Axelloire asked in a soft, innocent voice, a magical book flying in orbi...
Fen felt like he was suffocating. His stomach was stuffed with junk food, heat and sweat blocking his pores, and the recycled moist air within the room was starting to get heavy. But Fen still had work to do and he could not afford a break. His week had ended up being entirely dedicated to testing and reviewing new coming games. To anyone else, it would seem like "work" was only an excuse for Fen to be geeky and waste time on games, but...
Fen hated games.
The same way a business man can dislike his work, Fen hated his own job. The reason why he even applied as a tester and game reviewer in the first place was because of his accumulating debts, which caused him to drop out of college. Thankfully (or sadly), Fen soon rose in popularity. It started after having tested a random computer game; his advices had been so helpful that the company had eventually started gaining thousands of fans. Ever since, Fen had been receiving a lot of job requests and, strangely, never felt able to refuse any (except for the extreme cases, like adult games). He would test them all, from fan games to professional companies, and give each their adequate reviews.
But, truthfully, games bored Fen.
Living alone in a dirty microscopic apartment where fresh air was the rarest treasure, the male had a hard time making good first impressions to his neighbours. Some thought he was a killer, others a creepy stalker, and some even thought he was a kidnapper with dead bodies laying around in his apartment. It was not unusual for Fen to receive the visit of policemen from time to time because of a worried old woman. Though, the officers would always eventually find someone more suspicious than him living in the same shady building. Soon, an actual stalker, a psychotic teen, a brief stealer and a pedophile were caught thanks to Fen attracting the most suspiciousness to everyone except the police. Even though the policemen eventually understood that Fen was not a criminal, they would still tag along at every cautious call, knowing that they would probably really catch someone wrong-willed in that building.
There was also the landlord. At the thought of the perverted man, Fen found himself losing tracks of his game. 'That old pig is not worth my thoughts' he told himself with a roll of the eyes. The landlord was different from the other residents. Since Fen was the quietest and rarest one to see of all the ones living in his building, the old man would usually try to make him pay more than the others, thinking that the male would be naive enough to believe him. At least, it was not as bad as the first impression he left on Fen. The first time they met, he got spanked by a rough hand, the old man having thought he was a boy toy. Of course, Fen was not ugly and his hairstyle was pretty unusual, but he was far from being dirtied. If it weren't for that apartment being the cheapest one around, the young tester would have flipped the landlord off and went to look for a different place to live in. But life was a survival game, in the end.
"That's why everything is so boring," he thought, the sounds of clicking filling the heavy air. A few minutes later, concluding his game, his stomach started grumbling. Fen sighed and decided to stop ignoring his needs, eventually taking off his casque and getting up from his chair. Though, he wobbled from being seated for too long and tripped on a pile of clothes. Alerted, he unconsciously caught himself in his fall by griping on a random mirror.
CRACK!
Fen's reflection was cut clumsily by cracks, blood dripping down his hand. The male let out a sigh and looked up at the broken material. He eventually found himself staring at his shattered reflection, analyzing his abnormal, almost mystical beauty getting ugly by cracks and dark circles. The pale skin was destroyed, the almond eyes were now unequal, the hair was still as messed and long as before, and the thin limbs were broken.
"Seems like broken mirrors show better reflections than new ones," Fen let out absentmindedly as he stood up and walked off to his first aid kit. He sat on what was presumably a (very hard) bed and opened the box. Carefully, he started patting an alcohol-drenched cotton on his bloodied palm, the cut stinging terribly. Fen grimaced but found himself patient enough to repress hisses and groans. Once cleaned up, he bandaged the wound and grabbed a new pack of instant noodles. After having started some water to boil and poured the right amount, he plopped down on his bed and crossed his arms behind his head. His clean hand mindlessly tangled itself in his own dark hair as he stared at the injured one.
"This is wrong," he said out loud and stretched his arm, covering the light emitted by the bulb with his palm, "everything feels wrong..." He lowered his hand and kissed his knuckles, closing his eyes. 'Maybe I'm just uncomfortable because I still don't have all the answers...' He thought.
Suddenly, two different ringing sounds made him jolt. His phone and the noodles were calling out for his attention and, obviously, Fen went to fetch the noodles first. It was only after he was placed and ready to eat that he took the call, but since it had stopped ringing, he called back.
"An unknown number..." He thought and, surprisingly, he fell on a mechanical message.
"Welcome to 'Orb Games Corporation's' telephonic line. If you have any glitches, game troubles, or reports to make, please press '1', if you want to talk to an operator, please press '2', if you have a meeting arranged with 'Orb Games Corporation', please press '3', if—" growing lazy, Fen hung up. He set his phone down and sighed.
"Probably just another job," he thought as he started slurping on his noodles. The "Orb Games Corporation"... Suddenly, Fen felt his food go down the wrong way and started coughing. Why would he get called by the creators of Blue Orbs?!
Blue Orbs, the most popular role play game lately. Of course, to Fen's eyes, it was just the usual; a fantasy world with different character types and bosses to fight with high levels, PVPs, guilds and all the usual. But he had to admit that the game was very well done, very easy to use, and pretty enjoyable.
"This is not normal," Fen blurt out between two bites. Firstly, the game was already created. Why would they need a tester for a game that is already known across the entire country? Finally, Fen was indeed pretty popular for being one of the best professional gamers in the programming community (he is very subtile and barely any gamer nor outsider know him, only game creators learn about him through links and contacts), but Fen was only a 'Noob' in Blue Orbs. He had only played for a few hours to test it out before growing bored, not interested in games unrelated to work at all.
Fen decided to push the thoughts aside and gulped down the rest of his improvised lunch before grabbing his coat.
"Fresh air, fresh air..." He let out as he got up and, for the first time for too long, walked out of his apartment.
Fen the Hermit walked out of his apartment!
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Hello! This is my first work as Cadavresk, Blue Orbs!
I am very glad that you chose to read this story and I promise you to do my best to not disappoint you! I have already prepared the multiple chapters to come, so you do not have to worry about the updates!
If I ever forget to upload, do not worry!
Yes, B.O is my original story, along with the covers and upcoming drawings! (Except if I receive Fanarts, but that is still a dream for now...!)
And finally, before letting you go on with your life (or reading), last message!
Blue Orbs is a trilogy, so it has two other volumes!
Oh god! I forgot the most important!
Some of the themes can be triggering or make you feel uncomfortable! Also note that; There Is Homosexuality in this story! Please stay open minded at all time! (I was pacing and wondering if I should warn people about it, but I didn't want to disappoint some of my readers... At least now it's warned...!)
I hope you enjoyed! GG, Good Life, my dear readers!
