The Wall Between Us

Juven City mornings in autumn are pretty annoying. The cold made Elen, who just arrived home two hours ago after carrying out her night shift schedule at the hospital, made her unable to sleep. Apart from being too tired, also because she was still annoyed with the Head of the Emergency Department who arbitrarily changed her night shift schedule, which should have been tomorrow, to yesterday.

Still curled up in the thick blanket, Elen felt her cellphone vibrate. The girl immediately opened the blanket until her head was exposed and began to feel the mattress around her. Finding her tiny, pink cellphone, the screen was flickering brightly.

Elen’s face was immediately excited when an ID named Xavier appeared as a caller.

“Hi, Xav,” said Elen shyly.

“You don’t sleep?” asked Xavier on the other side. Elen snorted, making Xavier chuckle.

“I can’t sleep because of fatigue,”

“No need to grumble, whatever your job is must be tough, but I’m sure, because you’re so serious about it, you must really love this job, right?”

Elen’s face flushed red, she stared at her cellphone screen for a moment, as if she was staring at Xavier’s face which she couldn’t even imagine.

“Somehow,” Elen whispered softly, “suddenly I thought I wanted to hear your real voice, instead we both use this voice manipulator, Xav,”

Xavier chuckled again. “You will be addicted after hearing my beautiful voice later. So, better not.”

Elen laughed. “Well, we can’t do that anyway, it’s against the contract within Escavia.”

There was a moment of silence. Until then slowly Xavier broke the silence, “I’m not asking you to online today.”

Elen is disappointed. “Why?”

“I’ll going out for some bussiness today, Yura.”

“Huh,” Elen sighed, “sucks! You made an opportunity for Ansel to contact me, right?”

“You’re his partner, don’t you remember our plan?” Xavier asked in a soft tone.

Elen chuckled. “Yes, Xav, okay!”

Xavier laughed. “Well, you still have to sleep even if it’s only for a while, don’t let yourself be too exerted.”

“Yes, Lord Knight!” Elen chuckled. Making Xavier on the other side also chuckled.

“I might find it difficult to access contact via voice call, so is it okay for us to go off first this day?”

Xavier’s question disappointed Elen a little, but she finally answered yes, with a heavy heart.

After Xavier hung up the phone, Elen looked at the ceiling of the room and just threw away her special VW (Virtual World) Escavia phone.

It’s been almost two months, and she thought maybe she was getting addicted to this Xavier. Does she love Xavier? But even to imagine his face, Elen couldn’t.

Suddenly his red cellphone vibrates, the real one. There is a chat message from Kim. Elen’s face brightened again.

But after reading Kim’s message, which said he will going out of town with her two best friends, Tony and Adrian, Elen frowned again in disappointment.

“And they all in busy day!” Elen snorted in annoyance.

“Irene also has a shooting schedule with Eric out of town. Oh, okay!” Elen pulled back the blanket until it covered her whole body.

***

The BlackHeart Coffee Shop, as usual, is always busy during office breaks and school and campus hours. Elen took off her coat and walked into the bar table. She sat down and immediately ordered a cup of warm caramel macchiato at Faren Hall, one of the baristas at BlackHeart who had been close to her since she had been a regular at the shop for nearly five years.

“You look tired, Elen. Is your job okay?” Faren handed Elen a small white cup.

Elen accepted the cup with a grim face as she shook her head. “My schedule is increasing, Faren. Somehow I’m tired of living in this world,”

Faren chuckled. “You said to be a doctor were your dream since childhood.”

“Yes,” Elen put her cup back on the bar table after taking a sip of its contents, “but if they keep pushing me like this, it can kill me slowly. The new head of the hospital is really annoying!”

Faren laughed even louder, making several visitors stare at him. Elen herself only threw an annoyed look at the 24-year-old young man, feeling that Faren was laughing at his misfortune.

“By the way,” Faren lowered his voice, “have there been any developments regarding your relationship with Kim?”

Elen’s face immediately turned red, but she nodded shyly. Faren chuckled. “Then, just get married, you two! What lacks in trying it? You’re a doctor, and he is a young lecturer, both of you are well established.”

“But,” Elen lowered her head, fiddling with her macchiato with a spoon, “Kim is always busy. Well, you know, he’s a hard worker. Very focuseddifferent from me.”

“The three of them are the same type, but I think Kim is much more rigid when it comes to work. To the point of forgetting his surroundings.” Faren smiles.

“As for Tony, I have known him since he was a child, I really appreciate him, when he achieves his dream of becoming a civil servant in Tax Deputy Office. Yes, he will definitely live it happily.“ Elen put down her spoon and looked at Faren. Faren nodded.

“Maybe among the three of them it is only our Adrian who looks more relaxed,”

“Yes,” Elen put down her cup again after finishing all the caramel macchiato in it, “he only has to watch and receive reports from you about this shop.”

Faren chuckled. “It’s not that easy, Elen. It took a long time before he could make BlackHeart this big and famous. You know that he’s been twice stuck in bankrup? ”

Elen nodded. She then took her chin on her hand while looking at the television in the cafe, the news broadcast.

“By the way,” Elen glanced at Faren, who is still engrossed in taking notes this week to be tidied up by the shop admin. “That Adrian, is he out of town with Tony and Kim?”

Faren looked at her in surprise. “It’s surprise me that you ask about Adrian. Usually you just ignore it when you come here and often don’t find him,”

Elen snorted. “Because Kim said yesterday, that Adrian was a bit lazy taking part in their school reunion at the villa in other city today, but Tony kept insisting. Indeed, your boss is a bit hard to understand.”

Faren chuckled. “But, actually he’s very kind, you know! Otherwise, how come we all feel comfortable working with him for 5 years?”

Elen stuck out her tongue. “That’s because he pays you quite a lot,” making Faren burst into laughter.

Elen turned her gaze back to the television, just when there was news of another bank fraud case. More and more victims.

“It’s terrible lately, even saving in a bank is not safe. Meanwhile, at home, I’m afraid that the money will be stolen too.” Faren also looked at the television with a serious face.

Elen gave Faren a quick glance, then looked back at the television. When the news was immediately replaced with news that had been worrying her for a week.

The news about some former Escavia Virtual World (VW) players who were found dead after losing the online game, or caught breaking contracts so that those players had to be disqualified from Escavia.

The guess is because of depression, because they started to lose the barrier between the real world and the virtual world that was built in Escavia so beautifully and could spoil any player there.

Elen sighed, one of the conditions for a player was not to reveal themself being a citizen of Escavia to anyone.

However, Elen leaked the secret only to Irene. Luckily, the smart system couldn’t track her into committing the offense because she had already reached the Top Player stage, and is now a Queen in one of the countries in Escavia.

“Poor them, Escavia should have been banned so that not many people get addicted to these strange games. Real life as beautiful as this, how can they could still be so happy in a fake world like virtual.” Faren grumbled.

Elen stared at him silently annoyed, feeling offended. However, she held herself from answering anything, because she didn’t want Faren to suspect that she was a player in Escavia.

“But,” Elen replied, “a case like this I’m sure there is another trigger behind it. It can’t be just depression, because you can’t tell the difference between the real and the virtual world, someone can be as anarchic as it ends his life,”

Faren interrupted, “It could be, my brother who is a psychologist, he accepts a lot of young people who are addicted to online games now. They start to forget about eating, resting, and studying because of things like that. It even makes their emotions bigger, more temperament, something like that. ”

Elen snorted. “Escavia is not an online game like that,”

Faren chuckled. “At least, it offers a wonderful world for those who are lonely in the real world to enjoy the beautiful life in it, right? But, after all, life in the virtual is not real.”

Elen said nothing, but shifted her gaze again from Faren to the television, while thinking, ‘Damn it, Faren! Saying we’re lonely!’

***

Elen threw herself on the bed and grumbled, still annoyed by the way Faren looked at Escavia. Hey, of course she’s offended! after all, she was indeed one of the players in Escavia. Besides that, she is one of the Top Player in Queen class.

Escavia had been keeping her alive for the past year, as she relaxed a little from work. Although she also admittedly somewhat, she was quite lonely. Even from her childhood time.

His father who is a prosecutor is very busy, even rarely comes home. He is just like Kim, hardworking and can be said to be a workaholic. That’s why Ben, Elen’s Pala, likes Kim and hopes that Kim can become his son-in-law soon, because he sees Kim who looks like himself.

While Melanie, Elen’s Mama, a Professor at the college where Kim teaches, Juven Universiteit. Both of her busy parents made Elen feel that she did not have quality time with her parents from a young age. Especially to be able to feel their love.

Thus, she ventured into locking herself in room, playing games or writing and reading, instead of going out to play with her peers. Well, maybe only Tony and Irene, her best friends who are still left from elementary school until she’s 26 years old now.

Tony is two years older than Elen, and Irene was the same age as her. In the past, before she and her parents moved frequently due to his father’s assignment, she was neighbors with that Tony and Irene Muller. From birth to 12 years of age. They go to school together until the elementary school level. However, they never went to same school again since graduating from elementary school.

“Yes, yes. I’m really lonely this time,” Elen grumbled. She then reached for his pink cellphone. It’s lonely without Xavier.

She felt, perhaps right, that she was happier with her life as Yura in Escavia than Elen in the real life who was lonely and very tired of her job as a doctor, even though that was her goal from childhood. To be precise, she became a doctor because his parents often brainwashed her that being a doctor was perfect for the happiness of her life.

Elen sighed, she then sat back down and immediately grabbed her tab. Logged into Escavia and was immediately greeted by its King, Ansel.

Ansel: Hi, my Queen,

Yura:

Ansel: Hello, why are you silent?

Yura: Has Your Majesty fulfilled my request to investigate the case of a player who recently committed suicide due to permanent logout or being kicked from Escavia?

Ansel:

Yura: ????

Ansel: Ah yes, but there isn’t much information yet. Didn’t Xavier give you any new information?

Yura:

Elen thought for a moment, she remembered the secret plan she had put together with Xavier to persuade Ansel, as one of the Kings of Escavia, to use his power to track the movement of the problem and several players related to the recent suicides of former players.

Ansel was very stiff, he was afraid to take a step or just looking safe. However, with the power he had, Ansel had access to trace people’s IDs in Escavia, especially in his own kingdom. But until a week has passed, there hasn’t been any movement from Ansel, to check the ID of the people, whether they are the ones who committed suicide or not.

Ansel: I’m just scared, we gotta kick it for a wrong step,

Yura: You have access, Your Majesty. You’re our King. Am I the only one who can access the household matters of the Palace as a Queen. I also haven’t collected new values ​​so I can increase my access level and get some additional authority as Queen. My job in the real world is quite troublesome,

Ansel: I will try to send our diplomats to neighboring countries to discuss this,

Yura: Why don’t you have the Kings gathering? Your access is great, your value is even higher among those Kings,

Ansel:

Yura: Okay, I know, you don’t want to be kicked,

Ansel: Queen Yura,

There was a long silence, Elen frowned while waiting for Ansel to reply back.

Ansel: I’m sorry. But I promise I will soon get information about the IDs of some of the former players who committed suicide, and hopefully not from our people. Oh yes, I thought,

Silence returned, when Ansel suddenly stopped their private chat.

Yura: Hello?

Ansel: Ah sorry, my work was a little troublesome today, oh yes I will continue,

Ansel:

Ansel: I thought, shouldn’t we get married so we can get the Crown Prince? I see, there are many players who have entered the Top Player lately, after we get the value from the marriage, we can appoint a Crown Prince, and several princes and princesses from the players on the list. Other countries have done it, and only our country has not done that,

Yura: (Elen sighs, Ansel again offers to marry her legally in Escavia)

Ansel: Queen, you and I became Queen and King because our value is the highest among all the Top Player in this country. Or do you intend to have a marriage with another player?

Elen is surprised, she hurriedly types an answer.

Yura: With whom do think?

Ansel: Xavier, maybe? I didn’t know that you and him might be in touch via private chat or even behind my back on voice calls, even though you always refused to ask me to voice calls right?

Yura: Why are you suspicious of my own Personal Guard? After all, he helped us a lot in keeping tabs on some of the naughty players in this country,

Ansel: I plan to make him Prime Minister because he has enough value to get that position, but the condition is that you have to marry me first, Queen. I wanted to make sure you really didn’t have any more contact with Xavier.

Yura:

Ansel: You’re silent again, right? Well, just think about it carefully. However, with the presence of the Crown Prince, we can further increase the value of both of us and our country. Besides that, if one or both of us experience a kick out or logout, the country that we have built will still stand with the Crown Prince who can take over directly.

Yura:

Ansel: I think more about the future of the country we’ve painstakingly built for nearly a year since we became this Queen and King, rather than thinking about my own feelings. This feeling we don’t need to take to the real world,

Yura: I know, let me think first. Legal marriage in Escavia can limit my access to other players, makes me have to follow some new rules, and taking care of this is very complicated. I’m tired enough of my real world life, Your Majesty. I just wanna have fun with Escavia,

Ansel: Then you’re wrong, because Escavia is so much more complicated than our real life which is filled with lots of fakes and loneliness. I value myself much more here than I do in the real world.

This time Elen smiled because he agreed with Ansel’s opinion.

Ansel: I’m off first, my job starts calling.

[Ansel offline]

Elen grumbled. She immediately logged out and turned off the tab. Elen reached for her pink cellphone, but couldn’t find a single message or call from Xavier. The only player in Escavia who gave her access to be able to voice calls with him, of course, via a special cellphone that only Top Players could have. And of course, they have to use a voice manipulator application to disguise the original voice of each player when they make a voice call.

***

Irene read with a serious face, today’s newspaper. About the case that happened to the former Escavia player. Irene’s mind immediately went to her best friend, Elen. Of course she’s worried, because she knew since childhood Elen was crazy to play games, and always felt that Elen loved the online world more than her life in the real world.

However, even though Elen’s closeness to Kim is enough to make Elen able to enjoy happiness in the real world again, Elen still feels at home playing in Escavia.

“Irene?” Eric’s soft voice made Irene’s gloomy face immediately brightened. Eric always seemed to glow in her eyes. Eric’s blonde hair and blue irises could really bewitch anyone, despite his handsome white, tall, and long-nosed model.

“Ah yes, are you ready to try on some clothes before the photo shoot?” Irene put down her newspaper and stood up smiling, to which Eric replied with a nod and a bright smile.

When about to take her bag on the sofa, before following Eric walking into the changing room, Irene found her orange cellphone vibrating. Tony sent a message.

“We were in an accident. Heavy rain made the roads slippery. Fortunately it only slipped, but Kim injured. He’s at the wheel. Adrian and I are currently waiting for him at Juven Hospital, after the clinic where we got first aid referred Kim here. Tell Elen, okay? I called her cellphone many times, but there was no response. Maybe she’s sleeping. ”

Irene immediately covered her mouth with her hand in shock. Her face was pale. She quickly called Elen, many times too, but her friend didn’t pick up. Irene grumbled, she was annoyed that the contract shoot this time really couldn’t be left behind. She hopes that Elen can immediately go to Juven Hospital and make sure that Kim is not seriously injured.

After this photo shoot’s over, she plans to immediately go to Juven Hospital, without going home or going to the office first, to immediately see Kim’s condition.