Tokyo, Japan. One of the largest megacities on Earth.
It was the year 2022.
Inside a dark room of a multistory apartment. A lone figure could be seen seated in a black padded gaming chair with a headset on his head, slouched backward in his seat. He appeared relax, but excitement and even a hint of tiredness was present in his eyes, likely due to a long gaming session.
In front of him were three large monitors. The middle one was squared while the two monitors on each side were curved. They were all connected together, creating one large screen, an ideal setup for the current generation. One screen was too little, while having multiple just created a hassle to deal with.
Next to the man were several gaming consoles all presently hooked into a flat-screen tv, ready to turn on at a moment's notice. In fact, one of them was the newest released model from Sony, the PlayStation 5. This man stalked shops the day it released and was lucky enough to get one. It stood erect over the other consoles, acting like a miniature PC, slick and white in color. It presently was glowing blue, meaning that it was in use. Even all of the cords were out of sight, making the gaming setup appealing to the eyes.
As for the man himself, he was in his mid twenties. Scruffy black hair, peeling in several directions. He used to live in America for most of his life until he decided to take Japan's harsh college entrance exams, and passed with flying colors, allowing him to study abroad before settling down in Japan shortly after. He landed a well-paying job, and acted "filial" toward his parents, even going as far as paying their way to move into his place. Unlike other Japanese, he was mixed, half American, half Japanese, thanks to his parents.
One of the man's key defining features were his eyes. They weren't brown or black like most folks. His irises had a golden hue to it. No matter how many optometrists the man visited, they couldn't find the cause for these golden irises. They even traced his family history, and found out that he was the only one with these eyes, no other family member had them. While mutations weren't that uncommon, the doctors determined that to be the case, and the man simply moved on with his life. Little did the man know that these eyes had something lying in wait for him. All it needed was a trigger.
Nonetheless, the place was entirely his, and rightfully owned. He didn't pay rent; He outright bought the whole apartment. He even had sublets, renting the spare rooms out to several tenants. This, combined with his well-paying job, is allowing the man to live a comfortable life. He didn't need his parents here. He was completely fine on his own, but he enjoyed being near family.
Presently, the man, still slouched in his chair, observed the lit screen before him. He had just finished playing a game, and it was currently rolling the credits.
The credits were bright and colorful. At a slow place that matched the rolling of the credits, it displayed several images of the many game characters the game showed throughout playing it. It was like a collage.
As the credits continued rolling, the man sighed, and stretched his arms outward, still holding onto his controller. A sigh of victory for having spent over two-hundred hours trying to clear all of its content.
"Over two-hundred hours later, this marks the end of the first half of the story...Lots of loose ends were tied, but I still have many questions left unanswered. ", The man said, his lips curved upward into a smile.
As the man enjoyed the soft music that accompanied the rolling credits, a knock suddenly came from his door. He still had his headset on, so he shifted it down his neck, and turned his chair toward the door after hearing a couple knocks. Opening the door, a figure arrived. The figure smiled as they greeted the man.
"Naoto-niichan, dinner's almost ready. Did you finally beat your game?", The cheerful figure asked. It belonged to a girl. The man's younger sister, to be specific. It wasn't just his parents he assisted flying over to Japan, his younger sister also came with them, and is actively attending university here, just as he once did. To Japan's standards, she had just become an adult at twenty-years old. The man, who she addressed as "Naoto", nodded his head.
"Sure did. I'll follow you shortly after. Apparently there's a teaser at the end. I know you haven't beaten it yet, but are you interested in watching it, Natsuki-chan? The company just made its new game engine, and it will showcase it.", Naoto asked his sister. Her eyes lit up the moment he asked.
"Can I!?", The girl happily chirped. She didn't care that it was the last scene. She had played these games alongside Naoto, so they both more or less knew what was going to happen. The girl called Natsuki just hadn't played the game Naoto had beaten.
"Haha!", Naoto responded, laughing. "If that's the case, then come on in."
My eyes were greeted by sudden brightness as Natsuki swung the door the rest of the way. I had to rub my eyes to get re-adjusted to the newly lit room. Natsuki frowned, as my room was rather dimly lit. I liked this atmosphere when gaming.
"Geez, it's too dark in here as usual, you even have the air running too...", Natsuki complained. She even had to rub her eyes a little bit. Once she was close enough, I could see her looks. Long, bright black hair that flew down rather loosely beyond her shoulders. Black eyes, and had cute red-frame glasses around her eyes. She looked much more introverted than I did. Despite that, she had several friends at her university, and enjoyed hanging out with them. But that didn't stop her love for video games. Guess it runs in the family, haha!
For what Natsuki is presently wearing, it was a baggy, dark-grey sweatshirt that had covered half of her hands, let alone her arms. Underneath was a simple pink t-shirt and jeans.
I, on the other hand, wore a simple black t-shirt that wasn't branded, and also wore some blue jeans. This girl before me was my sister, Natsuki, and likewise, my name is Naoto, her brother.
Seeing my sister wear such a casual setup, I chuckled again.
"You aren't going to get a boyfriend looking like that, Natsuki-chan. You have no charm like this.", I retorted.
Hearing me say that, Natsuki puffed her cheeks out and pouted.
"Hmph, I don't need those sleaze bags. The last few mixers were total busts. I'm starting to think I have the wrong group of friends at school. Besides..."
"Besides...?", I asked back, curious.
I saw Natsuki approach me while remaining behind my chair, and wrapped her arms around me for a hug.
"I've got you, Naoto-niichan! You are much more dependable than those asshats.", Natsuki replied, revealing a wide grin across her lips.
The moment I heard that, I spun my chair around and stared at Natsuki right in the eyes, which startled her. I then raised my spare hand that wasn't currently holding onto my controller, and did a quick flick of my finger. Natsuki felt a fast sting strike her forehead.
"How many times do I have to remind you to not curse like that? I bet those boys run away from you. Such an unruly sister.", I retorted again.
"Boo, you're no fun--?", Natsuki tried respond back, only to get distracted by my monitors. It seemed the credits have now finished rolling, only to transition into a white screen...
"Look, Nii-chan, it looks like its starting."
"Yeah, quiet now.", I answered back to Natsuki. Both of us turned quiet.
Once the screen finished its next transition, letters slowly started to appear.
"The Legend of Heroes: Trails Into Reverie, is finished for the present...",Natsuki uttered softly, seeing the text appear on screen.
It then transitioned once more into another to white screen.
"To be continued in the near future...Thank you for playing.", Natsuki said again, excitement appearing in her eyes.
This screen lasted for a couple moments before it began to fade away.
What replaced this white was a vast and open grassy field. The grass could be seen fluttering in the soft wind that was blowing. It was very crisp, which surprised us both.
The words "The Legend of Heroes: Trails Into Reverie" appeared over the field for a brief moment before the text vanished. The camera then moved, only to reveal a figure. Or more specifically, the figure's lap, who was currently wearing a frilly purple dress with black gloves over their hands.
If one had a close look at this figure's arms, it could be seen separated into two different joints, like a doll's.
This figure could be seen holding a red book of sorts, titled "Scrap Book". Opening it, the book revealed only two pages. On these two pages included pictures that were taken with several different people in each one, likely who this figure got to know during their travels.
In the bottom left corner, red text could be seen written as, "Lapis's Diary".
The figure smiled and looked at these photos for a moment, reminiscing. After that, the figure closed the book, causing the camera to pan upward, which revealed the rest of the figure. It appeared to be a girl with vibrant silver hair. Two white rose flowers were stuck in the purple headpiece that came with the purple dress she was wearing. She even had a pink bow over her chest, making her appear very cute.
Then, with her book now closed, the girl lifted her head up, and slowly opened her eyes. Something unusual appeared, the girl's eyes were heterochromatic. One sky blue. One yellow. The left and right eyes respectively. The girl didn't seemed bothered by her eyes one bit. Instead, she smiled, and enjoyed a nice breeze that greeted her.
The girl rested like this for a moment in silence until an energetic voice called out to the girl. This second voice also belonged to a girl. Yelling from afar further into the field, the camera found them, and revealed two figures beside her. The second girl wasn't alone. Two men accompanied her. She waved her arm at the frilly-dressed girl while calling out to her.
"LP, ya better hurry up or we're gonna leave ya behind~!", The other girl yelled out. The name she had just spoken appeared to be the same name written on the book's cover. "Lapis". LP for short.
Hearing this, Lapis smiled once more and yelled out to the second girl.
"Yeah, I'm coming!", Lapis happily answered.
Lapis then got up, putting away her book. Once she stood up, she appeared quite small compared to the other three in the distance. Despite that, the other girl continued waving at Lapis, and Lapis eventually rejoined the group.
After that, the screen paneled upward, moving away into the skies above. The sunlight shone brightly for a moment. The screen then faded into black, ending the scene.
The entire motion of this scene was smooth as butter and very vibrant. Excitement appeared in both of our eyes.
"That was really smooth, it's a shame only this much was shown. It ended so quickly.", I said to Natsuki.
"I know right? I have yet to start Reverie myself but it felt like I was watching an anime! I can't wait to start it myself."
"Well now that I'm done, I can lend you my copy. I already have the next entry installed so you're free to start it."
"Really!?", Natsuki replied in anticipation.
However, at this time, we heard an angry voice reach our ears.
"Natsuki-chan, if you're done notifying Naoto-kun, then get your ass back here and help set the table!", An angry middle-aged voice yelled out, coming from our mother.
"Oof...Don't want to make Kaa-chan angry. Since you're done now, you'll follow after me soon right?", Natsuki asked.
"Yeah, just need to create my clear data save and I'll be on over.", I replied, causing Natsuki to smile. She then walked toward the door and waved her hand at me before vanishing into the hallway.
I then turned toward my screen once more, only to see it turn black. In the next moment, the Trails logo appeared on the bottom right.
It was red in text.
Seeing this drew my attention.
"Weird, for the logo to be red, does that mean the next game is going to take a serious turn?', I wondered to myself.
Text started to appear on screen, each letter shown was also red in color.
[You have reached clear save data for beating the Legend of Heroes: Trails Into Reverie]
[Would you like to continue?]
Seeing this appear, I became confused.
"It isn't directly prompting me to save my file?", I asked.
I became hesitant seeing this appear. I had to save my data or else I won't get any bonuses on the next game if it had any. But at the same time, I grew more curious, wondering what the game was trying to do now.
So I selected Yes.
That was the last thing I remember before my consciousness faded and my vision went black.
[Gamer Naoto has been invited by the Gamer System]
[We welcome you]