Chapter 1
“I still can’t believe it! We made it to the finals Kev!”
Rachel screamed as she dragged her best friend, Kevin, out of the arcade.
“Of course, we made it, I’m the captain of the team after all,” Kevin smirked and Rachel ruffled his hair," shut up.”
Kevin rolled his eyes and puffed his cheeks, “stop it, I am not a baby.”
She laughed as they turned into a corner that led to their secret gaming bunker, which was as a matter of fact, Kevin’s basement.
Kevin folded his arms and walked ahead of her. She knew he was annoyed. He hated being teased by people at the arcade because he did not look his age and was not 'man enough ' for them. To them, he had to have a full beard, more muscles and a thicker face to look like a twenty-year old.
It made him insecure. He wished he could change his scrawny bone physique and deepen his voice. If only he could turn his straight grey hair curly and change the color of his eyes. His eyes were grey too. People often called him a freak because he had both grey hair and eyes.
Rachel on the other hand was twenty-one and had lovely blue eyes accompanied by brown curly afro and glowing dark skin.
“I wonder what game we’re going to play for the final competition,”Rachel said as they walked into Kevin’s apartment.
It wasn’t too big but it had the right amount of space.
Posters of various games and paintings of gamepads were hung on the walls.
“I’ve got no idea, but I sure hope it isn’t gryphon’s and gargoyles.” He shuddered at the thought of the popular game from the series Riverdale.
“Of course not, dummy.”They were at the basement now, and Kevin set up the tv, so they could play NBA2K26.
“Basketball, again?” Rachel cried as she selected her team.
“Don’t be such a crybaby, you’re just scared of losing again.”
“Get ready to eat those words buddy,” Rachel smiled and so the game had begun.
It was thirty minutes into the game and Kevin was down by thirty points.“I still don’t understand how you’re winning. You’re clearly chea-“
His sentence was cutoff by the sound of the doorbell.
“Go get it, so I can figure out how you’re cheating, “Kevin grumbled to Rachel and snatched the controller from her.
“Okay, loser,” she snickered and ran off. After some seconds, Rachel returned with a package.
“Weird, no one was at the door but someone delivered this. Were you expecting anything?”
Kevin shook his head as he took the package from her and opened it.
“It’s a game. Probably the one we’ll be playing at the championship tournament.”
“Nice, set it up and let’s play.”
Kevin installed the game on the PlayStation and the tv screen lit up, followed by a loud chime.
~Welcome players to the land of Dystopia, please choose your character. ~
“Dystopia, that’s an odd name for a game,” Rachel frowned as they selected their characters.
She chose a wizard, mostly because she was fond of merlin and harry potter, while Kevin chose fighter because he was great at hand-to-hand combat.
"At least its better than the legend of sheep butt,” Kevin snorted.
Rachel rolled her eyes at his remark, “you mean 'Ram’s Bottom'.”
“Same thing, smarty pants.”
After choosing their characters, a new message notification popped up.
~PLEASE CLICK ON THE GREEN BUTTON BELOW TO READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF PLAYING THIS GAME; AND THE RED BUTTON TO SKIP.~
Kevin ignored the message and clicked on the red button.
~ARE YOU READY TO VENTURE INTO AN UNKNOWN LAND AND BRING PEACE TO THE LAND OF DYSTOPIA BY DEFEATING THE GAMES MASTER?
YES NO
Rachel and Kevin exchanged glances as the both selected yes.
The music from the game increased as the light in the basement flickered.
Rachel had the urge to run but could not stand, rather she found herself and Kevin leaning towards the tv.
It was almost as though they were being pulled into the tv.
A large force pushed the duo into the tv, leaving nothing but an empty basement behind.
