The tension in the air could easily be cut through with a knife. Everyone in room 306 held their breath as they watched the three technicians carefully installing the custom-made pod. After what felt like hours of sweating and fidgeting, the technicians signaled that they had finished their work.

Everyone thought that the time had come for John to finally be able to put on the headset which will allow him to play the game; however, Leonard quickly stepped forward and put on the headset on his own head instead.

"I'm going to personally test this to make sure everything is fine. This headset is designed specially to take extra care about the wearer's mental and physical health. It monitors brainwaves every second 24 hours a day, and anytime when it detects an abnormality it will immediately shut down to avoid any damage to the wearer.

Although it has already been tried and tested numerous times, I'm going to give it another little test just to make sure." Informed Leonard while fixing the headset on and calmly sitting down on the sofa beside John's bed. He then closed his eyes and pushed a button on the headset, turning it on.

Dr. Richard and nurse Sandra glanced at each other nervously before turning their attention back towards Leonard, while the three technicians took out tablets and started tinkering with them discussing something with each other in low voices.

After about 10 minutes Leonard opened up his eyes with a smile on his face, before quickly turning serious again and asking the three technicians, "So, what's the verdict?"

For the next 3 or so minutes a conversation between Leonard and the three technicians took place which was impossible to follow for Dr. Richard and the two nurses. It felt like they were speaking their own language and Dr. Richard wished that the universal language software was operating right now.

Seeing their lost expressions, Leonard chuckled and said. "There's no need to worry at all. Everything seems to be going perfectly. Now, shall we put it on John?" Leonard was practically bouncing with excitement as he asked the last question.

Dr. Richard nodded and the atmosphere became tense and excited again. Meanwhile, the technicians had set up a TV on the right side of John's bed, explaining that the video feed of whatever John does while in the game will be shown here.

Leonard then took a different headset that a technician handed to him, explaining that he will be personally going into a space created specifically for John, where he will explain to him about the game and answer any questions he may have. A technician also handed a headset to Dr. Richard while Leonard added, "Dr. Richard, if you could also join us please so that you can answer any questions that John may have about his health and his past."

Dr. Richard readily agreed and both Leonard and him put on their headsets. A technician pushed on a button on Dr. Richard's headset and asked him to close his eyes.

A bright light enveloped him and he found himself to be in decent-sized room, with a comfortable looking single bed, a couch on the left side and a desk on the right, with a laptop on top. Even though Richard knew that he was in a virtual world, he was completely surprised by how real everything looked! He even touched the walls and the bed and it really did feel as if he were touching the real thing.

Seeing his amazed expression, Leonard wore a satisfied smile while explaining, "This is an area we designed specifically for John. He can come here whenever he is tired of the game, or when he dies in-game. He can rest here and that laptop, although virtual, is just like any other laptop so John will be able to easily surf the internet for extra information on the game, or be able to read books or watch movies to pass his time."

Richard felt happy hearing this and nodded in a satisfied manner, while Leonard spoke up again, "And now, for the guest of honor!"

A bright light appeared suddenly and then slowly started receding, taking the shape of a person. Slowly, the light disappeared, revealing John standing right in front of them. Dr. Richard smiled and opened his mouth to introduce himself when suddenly John fell backwards and started moving away from them, a frightened expression on his face.

"Wh...What do you want? Please don't hurt me! I didn't do anything wrong!" John shouted, with tears in his eyes.

Both Leonard and Dr. Richard were at a complete loss on what just happened...

John's POV:

It's been far too long in here. This endless darkness has enveloped me for week? months? years? decades? centuries?... I have no idea. It feels like an eternity.

I can't even do anything, I tried to feel if I had a body with which I could move around but after a long time trying to feel something, I ended up with nothing. It must just be my soul in here I guess.

As far as I can tell, there's only me in here. I have never seen another person or heard someone. Sometimes I do hear distant voices, but when I shout out to them I get no response. I'm not even sure if the voices are real, or if they are just whispers I hear inside my mind.

I hope it's just inside my head, because even though I'm tired of being alone, it's still better then being here with someone else. If someone else were here I would just get beaten as usual.

Humans are bad.

At first I thought it was just my parents, because surely not everyone in the world would be like them.

But I found out the truth.

Over the years watching from the windows of my house, I saw so many people getting in fights, doing drugs and stealing things, and then they would laugh among themselves.

It's better I'm alone here, even though it has been extremely boring with nothing to do, at least I'm safe. I no longer have to go through my parent's 'experiments' as they called them, or try to run away from them when they would get drunk and start beating me for no reason.

Being alone is much better.

Wait... what is that?

Is that light?!

Yes!

Light is slowly pushing away this darkness!

I can now see something in the light... Looks like a room... WAIT! Is that a person??

NOOOO!

Are my parents forcing me to come out of my safe place??

I don't want to go!

I struggled with all my strength but as usual I was too weak. The light kept growing and I kept going close to the person.

There's two of them now! It must be my parents! Please! I didn't do anything wrong!

I kept advancing slowly despite my struggles, before finally appearing in front of the people inside the room.

It wasn't my parents, but two men I had never seen before.

'Good! It's not my parents, hopefully I won't get hurt now?'

But the man on the right suddenly smiled and came forward slightly. I know what happens next! Father always used to smile before coming closer and then started to hit me! This man is the same!

I tried stepping back but fell down. Backing away I shouted, "Wh...what do you want? Please don't hurt me! I didn't do anything wrong!"

Why did I even bother with the shout? It's not like anyone ever listens to me....

------

Author's note: Sorry, short chapter again.

As always, any feedback is welcome. Thanks for reading!