White Online

*Creak*

The door of an extravagant mansion opened with a creak.

A somewhat average young man entered the mansion. If it weren't for his multiple earrings, nothing about him would really stand out.

A phone was pressed to the side of his head, and a voice rang through the speaker.

"Yeah, it's weird," Marvin agreed. He took off his jacket and tossed it to the side along with his shoes.

His friend spoke quickly, excitement almost oozing through the phone's speaker. Marvin had to pull the phone away from his ear slightly so his drums wouldn't burst.

''That update is fucking insane, though! Deal with your shit there, and let's sneak inside Stronglord already!''

Marvin grinned, ''We'll be fucked if we get caught... but fuck! Now I feel kinda stupid for getting thrown out of Stronglord! All good stuff is there.''

''It's fine… Apparently, NPCs will be fooled by disguises. We'll be fine as long as our player tags are green. If they turn orange, we're fucked!"

''Got it,'' Marvin nodded as he strolled toward the stairs. ''We just need to be lowkey.''

''Heh.'' He only heard his friend chuckling.

*Clank*

The phone was disconnected.

''Lowkey, my ass!'' Marvin huffed.

He could already imagine the chaos they would bring to the Colosseum.

''Marvin?'' From the living room's couch, the cold gaze of a stunning middle-aged woman was pointed toward him. ''Why aren't you in school?''

''Classes were canceled,'' Marvin said while he stuffed his phone deep into his back pocket, ''It's all because of that White Online update.''

Isabella looked surprised, 'I didn't expect everything to change so suddenly…'

''This time, I didn't skip!'' Marvin said smugly before taking his first step toward the stairs.

He stopped and turned as he heard hurried footsteps approaching him. Isabella appeared next to him and chopped him on the head.

''Oww!'' Marvin cried out, rubbing his aching head, ''Why did you hit me?''

''What do you mean by 'this time'?!'' Isabella asked sternly, her hands pressed to her hips.

Marvin paled and tried to shrug it off. He tried to look as innocent as possible, ''Hah… Hah… You must have misheard me.''

Thick veins sprouted in Isabella's forehead.

*Creak*

Before things could become more heated, the door opened, and Alice stepped in with a box in her hands.

''Heyo!'' She greeted the two and placed the box gently on the floor. She took off her jacket and shoes and tossed them to the side.

''Every class was canceled?'' Isabella looked surprised as she received nods from both of her children.

''Sis, what is in the box?'' Marvin asked.

The box was intriguing. It had no tags or words, it was just a plain white box.

''It's a secret!'' She said with a grin.

She moved her shoes to the shoe rack before picking up the box and running to the second floor. It was obvious the girl was excited about something.

Since Isaac had gone to his grandparents, the mansion had lost some of its luster. Alice especially had become rather gloomy and hadn't been her usual, boisterous self.

Isabella wasn't sure what had happened, but she was happy to see her daughter in such an excellent mood.

''Well… I'm off too!'' Marvin quickly ascended the stairs, trying to disappear before the memory of their conversation returned.

''Marvin!'' He only heard his mother's angry yell.

Marvin, however, had already disappeared. He would deal with the consequences later.

Once he reached the fourth floor, he went straight to his room.

On his bed, his VR helmet was patiently waiting.

When Marvin's fingertips touched the steel texture of the helmet, he felt vibrations coming from his pocket. He pulled out his phone and opened the message.

It was a message from his friend, Lionel. AKA, Lionsoul

[Lionel: Go check the stream from UponTime in StreamKing!]

''Hmm?'' Marvin stuffed his phone back into his pocket and walked over to his desk.

His laptop sat already open on the desk. His reflection shown back on the black screen.

Marvin tapped a button on the side and watched the blank screen spring to life. The home screen popped up, and he didn't waste any time navigating to the Internet Browser.

*Tap* *Tap* Tap*

The clacking of the laptop keys echoed in the room as Marvin's hands danced across the keyboard. Once he was done typing, he pressed enter.

The familiar sight of the StreamKing website appeared.

''What was that name..?'' Marvin had to pull his phone back out to check the message.

''UponTime…'' He typed the name in. The screen swiftly changed, and it took him a second to make out what was happening.

On the laptop screen, a stream was shown.

The view count was rapidly rising.

The chat was filled with harsh criticism.

''Why the hell are they so angry?'' Marvin turned his gaze to the stream and noticed that a battle was raging.

At first, his face showed no reaction. He was somewhat interested, being that the Colosseum was a place that he desperately wanted to visit.

He had seen many clips of the Colosseum, and it looked like a place where he and his friends would enjoy spending most of their time.

However, the next moment, his eyes widened in shock.

''Isaac…?'' He muttered his brother's name, staring at the screen in amazement.

On the screen, a white-haired youth was desperately trying to fight back against a well-equipped Knight. It was painfully obvious who was winning.

The Knight was a master at close quarter combat, but the white-haired youth held his own, even with a long-range class. It was a miracle that he'd lasted this long and was able to keep going.

Marvin glanced at the chat and clenched his fist when he started reading all of the mocking comments.

…

Somewhere in Snowstar.

Four young men were also watching the stream from different households.

They were the four friends of which Marvin played alongside in White Online.

All of them had their own laptops open and were staring at the same stream.

Their usual playful demeanor was long gone, and their brows were furrowed down in anger.

Lionel, AKA Lionsoul, stood up and cracked his knuckles before taking out his phone and messaging Marvin.

[Lionel: We'll see you in the Colosseum]

Derek, AKA IDontWantToBeAHealer, grabbed his VR helmet and laid down on the bed.

Before putting it on, he slid his phone from his pocket and sent a message to Marvin.

[Derek: Heading on now, see you in the Colosseum]

After sending the message, he covered his head with the VR helmet and entered World of White with an enraged look in his eyes.

Ins, AKA Foenix, was already lying on the bed with his VR helmet on his lap in another part of town.

On the other side of the bed, the laptop was still playing the live stream. Ins slammed the computer shut and lay down on the bed.

Like the two young men before him, he sent a message and entered the World of White directly after.

In the last household, Nico, AKA Gerberys, was already wearing his VR helmet. He didn't bother sending any messages to the others.

Nico had a wide grin on his face.

He knew his friends better than anyone! He could already guess what they were planning to do.

His face went still, and his grin froze as he entered the World of White.

…

Marvin glanced at the messages and stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

He lay on the bed with the large VR helmet. His furious countenance became emotionless, and like four other young men before him, he entered the World of White.

They had only one goal in mind.