White Online

Isaac's eyelids fluttered open, and several blinks later, he opened them entirely and sat up on the bed.

He pressed a button on the side of the headgear and set it back in the box that lay on the floor beside him.

He stood up and carried the box to the wardrobe, where he hid it away.

*Bam*

He closed the doors after hiding the headset and returned to his bed. However, before reaching his destination, he heard a knock on the door.

*Knock* *Knock*

After several knocks, the door opened, and Madison's head peeked. At first, she made sure that her grandson was dressed and awake.

''I thought I heard a noise,'' She said and opened the door to let herself in.

''Ah,'' Isaac glanced at the wardrobe and nodded, ''Yes, I am done playing for today.''

''Good…'' Madison moved strands of her hair over the ear and said, ''What an update.''

Isaac scratched his hair and touched the bed frame, ''Indeed.''

He still felt slightly awkward around his grandparents, but he was getting better at showing his emotions toward someone he wasn't familiar with.

Madison smiled and remembered something that she felt should be mentioned, ''Right… Umm, Malcolm will return soon, so I will start making dinner. It should be ready in about…''

She didn't have her wristwatch and had to look at the clock on the wall.

''At around 8 P.M.''

''Alright.'' Isaac saw that he had approximately an hour to wait.

Madison put her hands behind her back and turned to walk out the door, ''Well… See you there?''

She turned her head and looked at the young man, her eyes searching for an answer.

''Yes,'' Isaac replied.

Madison smiled and was about to leave the room. However, she remembered another crucial thing.

She kept the door open and said, ''Tomorrow… My friend's granddaughter will come to visit, and she would like to meet you.''

''Oh?'' Isaac grabbed the TV Remote from his nearby desk and said with an apologetic face, ''I already promised to grandfather I'd go hunting with him. I'm sorry.''

''Eh?'' Madison looked surprised, and her eyebrow twitched in anger, ''Did he force you?''

''Ah, no.'' Isaac shook his head, ''Of course not, I wanted to.''

After saying it, he thought, 'I can't miss this chance to use a real hunting rifle.'

He thought that it might be perfect training for him. He could get a true feel for a gun and maybe learn how to maximize his efficiency with the Mosin-Nagant.

She wanted to believe him, but growing concern welled up inside her. None of the younger generations had taken any liking toward hunting.

Instead, they were more interested in partying. That already affected the older generations' way of thinking. Because of them, they saw the younger generation in a bad light.

''Alright…'' Madison said quietly and planned to have a lengthy conversation with her husband.

She left the room and closed the door behind her.

Isaac remembered after she left, ''Right… He told me not to tell her… Well, I think it will be fine.'' He shrugged, no idea what kind of storm he stirred inside this household of Whitelock's.

''Let's see what the update did to the world,'' He sat down on the soft, cushioned pad and turned on the television.

The blank screen lit up, and after changing channels, he found what he was looking for. The News Channel.

Isaac adjusted himself to a comfier position and patiently waited for the commercials to end.

On TV, a handsome middle-aged man with a well-groomed beard appeared. He was holding stacks of papers with many different kinds of pictures on them taken from social media.

He placed the stacks of papers on the desk in front of him.

That intro took 5 seconds alone. It didn't seem that the man was in a hurry to start.

''Ladies and gentlemen,'' He opened his mouth and began to speak in a calm tone, ''We have been talking about the hit game, White Online, for an entire day, and we have decided to give another piece of interesting news.''

''Our News Agency has managed to get in contact with world's…'' He paused for a moment, letting viewers wait in agony, until he continued again, ''Number one player.''

Isaac's jaw dropped, remembering the ranking list, ''Number… One… Player?''

The handsome middle-aged man continued with a calm smile, ''Everyone, please welcome the world's number one Player, Lord Kalzer!''

The screen was split in half. The middle-aged man was sitting with a false calm on the left side. Clear beads of sweat were forming above his brow.

On the right half of the screen, a masked man appeared.

A black hood covered most of his head with a mask covering his jaw, mouth, nose, and cheeks. However, his eyes and forehead were visible, even with the hood on.

Even with very few of the man's features visible, it could be seen that he was a relatively young man. If Isaac had to guess, he'd place the man at around twenty.

Behind the youth, a spacious room showed everyone that he should have been relatively wealthy. On the walls, countless posters were nailed up. Most of them had some Godly or historical figure on them.

Isaac managed to notice pictures of Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, and Hermes. However, these pictures were purely imaginative.

No one truly knew what they looked like in the game. Not yet, at least.

Under the image of the youth, a name popped up.

[Lord Kalzer]

He remained quiet, calmly looking at the middle-aged man, who cleared his throat and tried to keep up his act of professionalism.

''Lord Kalzer,'' He smiled, ''You are widely recognized as the Top Player of White Online. How do you feel about reaching such a prestigious position?''

''Nothing,'' Lord Kalzer's crispy voice was heard through the audio.

''Ah…'' The middle-aged man didn't expect such a simple answer, ''Alright… Umm.''

He quickly shuffled through the papers in his hands, trying to find another question as fast as possible.

''What was your reaction when you saw your name in the top 1 spot for the very first time?''

''Wow,'' Lord Kalzer's voice was dull, almost emotionless in the way that he'd said it. The middle-aged man wiped his sweat and saw that his co-workers were pointing at the clock.

They made motions with their hands and told him to get the young man to speak. They only had so much time available with him on the air!

'Fuck!' He cursed inwardly and asked the first question that came to mind. He blurted it out without thinking about what exactly it was that he was asking.

''Do you hold a Legacy already?''

The man instantly regretted asking such a stupid question, and he immediately flinched when he saw his coworkers smacking their foreheads. He was under the gun and had to make up something on the spot!

What did they expect?!

Lord Kalzer sat silently, staring at the News anchor that had asked the question. Only one word left the young man's lips and was heard through every television that was tuned in.

"Bye."

The screen went blank, leaving a stunned crowd behind. The only thing left on the channel was the News anchor staring dumbly ahead.