"Darren, how did it go? Did the investor agree?" Darren closed the front door of his house as his mother eagerly awaited the answer from her son, who had just returned from meeting one of the investors. "Failed again?"
Darren nodded slightly, making his mother sigh. It wasn't the first time Darren had failed. This might be the third time he failed to convince an investor about the hotel business he wanted to build.
Some of them believed that this kind of business might not generate profit for several years. Building a hotel would require a lot of money and time. Plus, the global economy was still unstable after the COVID-19 pandemic a few years ago.
"I've told you, you should just get a job. What's the point of starting a business? You don't even know if it'll work out or not. Honestly, who would believe a hotel business is promising in this kind of economy? Earning a stable income is already a blessing. Why aim for something so unrealistic?" This time, it was Darren who sighed as he listened to his mother's nagging.
It wasn't the first time she doubted Darren's optimism about this business idea. She had also once questioned his decision to study business instead of engineering.
In their modest home located in a narrow alley, Darren had grown used to hearing his mother complain about life choices she deemed wrong.
Darren pushed open the door to his room, letting the sound of his mother's voice get muffled by the quietness inside. He felt safe there. Even though it was small, that room shielded him from the constant criticism that made him uncomfortable.
A knock on the door made Darren glance over. His mother was standing at the door, holding the knob. "Something from Richard on the table."
Darren's gaze shifted to the small box from Richard on his desk. He walked over to it and pulled out his chair before sitting down.
Inside the box was a flash drive Richard had mentioned before. Darren immediately took out his phone from his shirt pocket to call Richard and ask about it.
Leaning back in his chair, Darren powered up his laptop by pressing the top-right button on his keyboard.
"This is the flash drive you mentioned?" Darren asked as soon as Richard picked up.
"Oh, you opened the package? Try installing it on your laptop. I just finished the game yesterday." Darren tapped the speaker button on his phone so he could hear Richard more clearly.
"I just turned on my laptop. I might try the game while I'm still job hunting," Darren replied.
"Go for it. It should help kill your boredom." Darren plugged the flash drive into his laptop. Usually, Richard would recommend a game for him to download from one of their go-to websites.
This was the first time Richard had sent him a physical flash drive to install something.
"Did the game developers purposely make this game unavailable to the public?" Darren asked as he waited for the installation.
"They're having issues with the server, so not everyone is allowed to try it yet. I might recommend they increase server capacity so it can be launched globally."
Done! The game Richard recommended was now installed on Darren's laptop. He glanced at the wall clock—it was 4 PM. That gave him two to three hours before dinner.
"I've installed it. I'll try it out for a bit," he said before ending the call.
Darren double-clicked with his mouse, staring at the game's title screen.
The Prince: Build Country From Scratch
"Wait, I have to build a country? From the beginning?" Darren thought as the game loaded.
Suddenly, a loud thump struck his head, disorienting him. It felt like he was hit by something heavy. His head spun, and he couldn't stay conscious.
Slowly, everything turned black. The laptop screen in front of him faded away. Darren panicked, but his body wouldn't move. He was trapped in a void with nothing visible.
"What the hell is this?!"
****
"Help..." A faint voice disturbed Darren, who was barely conscious. "Help..."
He felt his eyes adjusting to a drastic change. At first, there was only darkness. Now, he could feel light hitting his closed eyelids.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. A clear blue sky appeared, filled with clouds shaped like cotton candy. His body couldn't move freely—his hands and feet were tied.
Darren glanced downward and saw his hands bound with rope as he lay on the green grass.
He immediately sat up. There was nothing but endless lush grass around him, waist-high, making it difficult to spot anyone nearby.
"Is anyone here?!" Darren shouted as loudly as he could. His eyes scanned the grassland, confused about how he ended up in a place with no houses or people. "Hello?!"
"Your Highness!" someone shouted, though Darren couldn't see them. "We're here!"
"Who is that?!" Darren called out while struggling to free his tied hands. It was hard, but he managed to loosen the rope enough to free his hands.
"Prince Darren! Everyone's dead now!" Darren couldn't tell where the voice was coming from. His mind was a mess, and he didn't understand how he ended up in this place.
The last thing he remembered was calling Richard before starting the game.
Darren worked on freeing his legs, but this rope was much tighter. It was tough, but he eventually broke free.
"How many people are still alive?!" Darren called out after getting up.
"Two more, Your Highness!" Darren looked around the vast field.
It was too big to tell where the voice came from. In front of him were majestic mountains, and behind him stood a dense forest.
"Hey? Where is everyone?!" Darren kept calling, hoping someone else was here in this hopeless grassland.
"Prince Darren!" the voice came again from Darren's right. He quickly moved in that direction, pushing through the tall grass, not caring if there were snakes that might bite him.
Darren froze when he saw others just like him. His body weakened—several people were tied up, just like he had been. Most looked unconscious, except for one person at the far end.
Someone was alive! Darren wasn't trapped here alone.