Steve opened his eyes as darkness shrouded his entire body. Followed by the sound of whirring machine and vacuumed air, bright white line traced over the corner of his vision and a world of light basked him before it sank back into the darkness.

"...as I thought, the difference between Virtual Body and Real Body is affecting my senses."

The youth struggled and left the white casket known as FDG. He also noticed he was naked but it was expected. After all, the capsule was filled with gel which was in fact, nano machines. The byproduct of extremely advanced science where it could even remove deadly cancers from the body. But these nano machines were used to sustain Steve's body when he dived into VS for a long time instead.

Enduring the dizziness and the upset sense of balance, Steve stood still and taking a deep breath. He inhaled, then exhaled. Closing his eyes, tracing over the body he had not used for no less than five days.

Presuming the rich experiences he had for a few days in the augmented space, it was almost laughable how Steve felt very refreshed when he obtained the feeling over his room. The precious comfort zone which helped easing his mind from all the tragedies and misfortunes that had befallen upon him for his entire life.

"...Hm. As expected, I feel most relaxed in this place."

But first—his gaze turned sharp and a glint appeared. It was as if he tried to summon his true self by crushing a card with his hand but Steve instead exclaimed...

"Shower!!"

......

............

..................

After he was done with his longest record for being under the shower, Steve relaxed himself at the living room. Eating many food via delivery orders and once he stuffed himself, the youth muttered.

"...I wonder if there's really nothing that can beat grilled Rusca...... I'm really getting addicted to its flavor huh....?"

Steve sighed. His thought wandering over the highest-grade of meat which he nearly brought to extinction. The meat juice flowing from the flesh. The tender texture which melted once bitten... However, it didn't take long for his imagination to be broken off once the doorbell rang. Lazily going to the front door, Steve opened it... and was stunned the moment he saw who was at the doorsteps.

"...S... Steve......?"

It was Angelica. Steve’s older sister and also one of those who shunned his broken self.

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"............"

"............"

Today is a strange day, Steve honestly commented in his mind. It was more than strange when a woman who excommunicated him was sitting on the sofa, showing an anxious expression as if she wanted to say something but not permitted to. For the youth, he simply wanted her to leave and never coming back again.

In fact, no one ever told him how she had fared. And he had no reason to ask her. Why would I worry about a bitch like her? Steve had not even realized that he was no longer scared of interacting with humans and instead saw them as insects in his eyes.

"U-umm...... Steve!!" –with a high pitch and unbecoming tone of voice, the woman called out.

"......what?"

He gave her a sidelong glance. His politeness was nowhere to be seen and there was venom in his word. The woman named Angelica cringed yet hesitantly turned her heels. Facing the youth head on, she said

"...H-happy birthday...!"

"...Hm... well, I'm not happy with your presence here. Now scram."

Steve instantly shot down her congratulations. He witnessed Angelica becoming crestfallen and yet the woman whose height was shorter than her youngest brother attempted to strike a conversation again.

"How... how do you like my present?"

"I hate it."

"B-but you are using it right...? Is the machine working fine....?"

"If you think it is working for your own selfish purpose then it doesn't."

"E-even so...! You are playing it right!?"

Playing...? Steve immediately remembered the days he went through in Daedalus. Could that hell where he was despised by the world be something worth it to play? Would the denial and rejection he felt may as well be put in the boundary of ‘Playing’……?

Steve frowned deeply. He did not have any reason to touch that world no matter how artificial it was. But an empty hope given by a certain someone enticed him to the point of blinding him. The light he thought as something which could have freed him was nothing but a bait to lure him down into the abyss. And Steve, thanked to his stupidity, took the bait wholeheartedly.

He was tricked. He was tricked by this woman standing in front of him all along.

"...S...Steve...?" –Angelica's voice brought him back to reality. But it wasn't long for him to answer her earlier question in a form he wanted.

Looking down at the petite woman, the youth smugly smiled. A sense of foreboding arose within Angelica's heart, which she wasn't sure on how to put up with it. However, she had a bad feeling.

"Why don't you just try playing it by your own self? That damn game you made."

"Ugh—!?"

Now this. Steve became really annoyed as he could not understand Angelica's intention for trying to interact and yet having no proper response when talked back. She was not even trying to hide her chaotic composure and she was easily found out for developing BWO.

In fact, Steve had already suspected it. The moment he entered the game which changed his life, the youth noticed there was a subtle similarity in the AIs' behavior. And it originated from his meeting with Veenia whom he believed as an AI implemented with a script directly made by his older sister.

He noticed this same pattern in Alice because he was Angelica's little brother. The youth had seen countless inventions she had created. The youth had already lived with her for years until the fallout of his family.

And he loathed the fact that he was actually playing in her palm for all this time. After all—it was none other than Angelica who wished to drive Steve down the path of no-return no matter how indirectly it was.

Steve glared at Angelica. His brown hair swayed and his pupils which seemed to gleam in the shades of his bangs were giving a murderous gaze to Angelica.

"It was you right? The one who developed this game?"

"...that.... Is......."

The woman trembled. Her younger brother had seen through the farce she made despite it being for his sake. Angelica's eyes swam around. Her palms were sweating and she was ridden with guilt.

"Do you think I'm happy now? Do you think I like the game you made? Do you think I have become someone you imagined me to be?"

Angelica was a prodigy. Just like Jose who was her younger brother. They both excelled in one aspect to the point of having no weakness. The eldest sister was a genius who finished her college no less than three years. And the eldest brother was a gifted athlete who won international martial arts contests and sports competitions repeatedly. They were even valued by the country as important assets to be supported and nurtured for.

In contrast, Steve had nothing. He was not smart, he was not strong and he had a fragile spirit. He had fallen a few times. He had seen hell both In Earth and in Daedalus. He was compared with his siblings by his parents and relatives. He was spoken ill behind his back. He was beaten up by his older brother physically and he was cruelly destroyed by the world his older sister had created mentally.

To be a nobody and yet was rejected by everything he once held dear so unreasonably… What else other than anger could have existed?

"...Don't fuck with me. I'm no longer your plaything. I'm no longer your sibling."

Steve turned his heels. He headed back to his room as the shocked Angelica reached out a hand.

"W-wait! Steve!! Please listen to me!! I have a reason—"

"And what kind of excuse should I hear from someone who is ashamed for having a trash as her sibling?"

".......!"

Yes. Angelica might have repressed those memories. That tragic day where a scene of carnage was displayed. She might have even forgotten about it in order to rid herself off the guilt. To cast away the sin she made the moment she realized she could not understand why Steve's spirit was broken.

As a family, she said it. She announced it. Right in front of her siblings. Right in front of her parents. Right in front of Steve who had lost his light.

"Pathetic. You're a humiliation to this family, Steve! Such a useless trash who don't even have the courage to speak is lower than an insect!! You don't even have any right to live as a human!! Get out...! Get out off my sight!!! From now on, you are no longer my little brother!!"

At that time—Steve was hoping Angelica could show him kindness. He wished her to show him that humanity isn't as bad as he thought. He wanted to be understood.

Yet what he received... was an excommunication by his eldest sister. A senseless beating by his eldest brother. A well of tear by his mother. And a glare full of disappointment by his father.

No one in this household was his ally. No one even tried to know why he broke down. All they said was because they didn't understand anything. Because they didn't know what he thought at the moment. And because they never noticed that they had trampled his wish without even realizing it.

"What a bunch of ruffian... you never even noticed that someone was hurt just because you all are living right now."

Venomous words escaped Steve's mouth. He opened the door to his room and entered it. He did not listen to Angelica's voice. He wasn't even trying to notice her. But as the door was closed... he glanced at the woman who was supposed to be his older sister.

"Do you think I did not hear you back there? Do you think I have forgotten that day?"

Angelica exasperated. Was it an illusion? Was it just a hallucination? The youth who melded in with the darkness flashed a streak of golden from his eyes. Those pupils which were supposed to be dark as night. Light less without any will or desire...

For some reasons, they were gleaming in golden with a tint of crimson before vanishing completely into the darkness.

"See for yourself. The mistake you have done using your own eyes."

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"Ha...! Hi ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa!! Priceless! Such a sight to behold!!"

"Hmph... I feel unsatisfied knowing that you stole the line I most wanted to say."

"Does it even matter...? This is our body. What I do is equal to what you do, Steve...!"

"Still, my mood hasn't brightened up fully. I want to play without having any interference."

"It's not like you have a true heart to feel, Partner... and we know how much she betrayed us."

Quietly, Steve nodded.

It was probably a small wish Angelica sought for coming back to this house. It was probably a small desire to start everything from zero because she was regretful of her actions. But time would never permit such desire in a flowing history where no repetition could occur. It was too selfish and arrogant for her thinking that the past could be relived by using a game based on reality.

Within his room, now Steve was yet again... Alone. But it was relaxing for a mini lamp which projected stars and the Milky Way through creative designs was on. The youth had spent approximately six hours to clean up the mess as the kaleidoscope of the starry sky painted the interior of the room. He threw away all the family photo albums in his closet and cleaned his room from unnecessary objects unrelated to his objective.

For the youth desired to scrap all emotional attachments he might have with his family, he began by disposing off those which contained deep relations with his past self. There was no need for him to have them and he deemed them to be worthless. Completely having no value as he threw the third last item from his high school period into the trash bin.

Then he noticed the keepsakes he placed next to the wall. Across the bed. Near the FDG. The objects which triggered his change the moment they lost their values were lying on the floor completely scattered.

"Hmph. All of these are an eyesore."

"Indeed they are. But do you think you want to throw away That Thing as well...?"

"...it's fine. It's just a letter that won't reach anyone. I don't doubt it's worthlessness other than becoming fertilizer for plants."

"I do not disagree with your opinion. What about this equipment for that game too?"

Steve's hand grabbed the envelope containing a letter he had never read. Shoving it together into the pile of rubbish. The youth had no remorse even if it was it was the last letter of a fool who was no longer around this country. And he had no reason to play along a game where he needed to have an opponent strong enough to beat him in his field...

There was no one that could defeat Steve in this 'game' until this point. Though times have passed, he also knew that practically no person could ever recognize it nowadays. An obvious fate for unpopular games though the youth once thought of it as more than one at some point. It was considered as a sport too but Steve saw it as something else when he hadn't lost his heart.

What Steve needed now is vengeance. What he desires is to uncover the clues. What he wants... is clearing an unsettled business related to a certain noble and his shameless lackeys before he proceeded further into the dark path.

Anything that could interrupt him would be thrown away. Anything that could distract him from exacting his revenge would be erased. Anything, including anyone who knew not a single thing about despair and hopelessness yet still desiring to save an empty hope.

As promised, the youth proceeded into the darkness. He craved for nothing but destruction and he loathed everything without exception. Meanwhile, a maiden was struggling in a world which was a figment of imagination. She struggled and she would encounter a crossroad inevitably. What choice will she pick?