Blood painted the ground in red. Screams of terror and yells of bravery and shouts from commanders resounded in the air.

Sword clanging. Mallets bashing. Crackles of lightning. Roars of various creatures. Burning flames. Healing glows. Deathly blows.

Matthew sucked in more air into his lings as well as the atmosphere around him as he prepared himself.

Everywhere around him, on land, in the sky even underwater, every living creature there was fighting.

The strong who stood tall and mighty even the weak who braved the odds with high spirits. They clashed without mercy towards each other.

The beating wings of large birds, dragons, giant insects and even giant snake like creatures hovering high above the battlefield.

Even amongst these sounds, Matthew was focus on one thing and one thing only. He opened his eyes as he exhaled the deep breath he took earlier.

His eyes were filled with calmness, determination and confidence as he stared at his opponent standing in front of him.

His opponent was none other than the Scarlett King in his prime. A being that even threatened the heavens and hell itself. Someone truly worthy of being labelled as, powerful.

Yet, why was Matthew not even shaking while others might have fallen already?

Easy, because Matthew knew of his opponent's history.

After a brief exchange of stare between the two, finally Matthew spoke.

"Well, are you ready for this?" Matthew asked with a smirk.

"Prepare yourselves first, for you all shall submit to me after I win." The Scarlett King replied with grin also.

"Is that so?" Matthew lowered his body and extended arms and legs into a battle stance. "Then you also better be ready to lose soon."

"Hmph" The Scarlett King scoffed with a smirk. "Very well." Then he also entered battle mode.

The two stared at each other once again for a moment, before leaping straight into each other.

Their clash shook the entire battlefield even the hearts of those around them.

Electronic beeping constantly filled the room where three people stood close to each other. All three of them stared at the 3D holographic model on the high-tech table.

"Is this the final model?" Asked the cyborg whose body was fully plated with metal armour.

"Y-yes sir, I believe that this is the best model that we can come up with." Answered the man who stood to the right of the cyborg.

“What do you think, Xero?” The woman with reddish black hair asked the cyborg.

“It should be good enough to do the job. You may start the next process, I shall be heading back to the castle now. Take your time on this project, we expect you to carry it out successfully.” The cyborg turned around to leave.

After the cyborg had left the dark room, the two let out sighs as they rested their tense bodies on the hologram table, slightly distorting the 3D image.

“Hah…” The woman exhaled again. “We should get going.”

“Yeah… No time to spare. Let’s get started.” The man tapped on the holographic console and sent a file.

…..

A few months later.

On a cloudy evening, a highschool boy cycled on a stretch of road. His golden yellow hair flowed backwards as the wind blew past his speeding figure. His eyes were light blue stapled on an average face. His figure was that of an average teenager who rarely does workouts.

He arrived at the front gate of his home which looked like an expensive bungalow. He pushed his bike inside as the gate opened and parked it in the open garage. He then went to the front door and unlocked the door with his key.

As he swung the door open, he shouted.”I’m home!” As to show that he had returned safely.

“Ah! Matt, I didn’t expect you to be home this early.” Said a woman with brownish hair in her late thirties while carrying a basket of clothes.

“The guys all wanted to head home early. Many of them already had plans tonight with their family.” Matthew answered while taking off his shoes.

“Oh… Sorry sweetie, but I’m afraid that your uncle and I are a bit busy.” Matthew’s aunt said in a regretful voice.

“That’s okay aunt Claire.”

“Don’t worry Matt, I promise that we’ll find some free time to spend together.”

“I’d like that.”

“Well, you go on ahead. I’ll prepare dinner after I finish hanging the laundry.” Said Claire.

“Okay aunt.”

In his room, it’s walls were filled with video game posters, but other than that, his room was pretty neat and tidy. Probably his aunt had already cleaned it for him because he did not remember leaving it like that.

‘Thanks aunt’ Matthew said in his heart.

Matthew took off his school uniform and bag, threw them on the chair by his desk. He leapt on his bed and fiddled with his phone. He caught up with the messages left by his friends. Most of the messages were about their plans for the vacation, until someone suddenly brought up the topic about their summer assignment. The poor guy was immediately replied with curses and swears.

Mathew only laughed at his friends’ attitude. But then again, thinking about the assignment.

“Why am I paired up with ‘her’ of all people?” Matthew said to himself. He recalled what happened earlier at school.

…..

End of school, naturally the students were all busy chatting about their plans for the rest of the day, but on this occasion, the rest of the holiday. The entire class was like a beehive with almost everyone talking to each other.

CLAP! CLAP!

The teacher clapped her hands twice to get the student’ attention. After the class had calmed down a little, the teacher started speaking.

“All right everyone~ Now I know you are all happy and excited about the upcoming vacation, right?”

“YEEEAAAAHH!!” The students shouted in unison.

“Well, I hope that you all will enjoy the vacation.” The teacher said in such a cheerful voice. “However, I would like to assign all of you for a summer project!” She clasped her hands close to her face, acting cute.

Meanwhile the students-

“WHAAAAAAATTTTT!!??” Were very shocked by this.

“Why teacher, why?”

“Nooooo!!”

“My plans!”

“My vacation!”

Complaints were shot by the students simultaneously.

“Now, now, please calm down. This was the principal’s idea.” The teacher gestured with her hands up and down. “I already have an alternative to make this easier for you. YOu shall be doing this in pairs!”

“Huh?” Almost everyone said at once.

“Yes, in pairs. Not only is it easier to do the assignment, you can also finish it sooner and it’ll be more fun to do with someone else.”

“Well, that’s not bad I guess.”

“I don’t really mind either way.”

“I’ll take option three, don’t it at all.”

“Say that to the teacher why don’t you?”

“Are you crazy? No way with that tiger.”

“I can hear you, you know?”

“Erk! Forgive me!”

A more positive thought bubbled up in their minds in overall. The teacher contiued.

“Well then, I already have the list ready, no changing pairs. If you do, then both pairs will immediately be failed.”

“Erk!”

“Okay, now I’m going to read the list. First is David and Felix.” Theteacher started reading the list she made.

“Alright!”

“Albert and Damia. Chloe and Eli. Hataru and Kenji...” And the list went on.

Until finally, “And last but not least, Matthew and Rose. Alright is there anyone that I missed?” She took a glance at her students. “No? Well then, we are done here. Goodbye everyone~ Hope you have a great vacation~” The teacher waved as she exited the class.

“Thank you teacher!”

As soon as the teacher walked out of the classroom, the students immediately shot up from their seats and began to disperse. However, one remains seated.

Matthew was as if stuck in a dilemma.

"Did I hear that correctly?" He asked himself. "I am paired up with Rose?"

He was worried about his pair for the assignment his teacher just gave.

'She may be one of the top of the class, but she's kinda scary and is really serious about work. It may be difficult to deal with her.' Matthew thought to himself.

"Ahem."

"Hm? Oh…"

While worrying about his pair, the subject of matter appeared in front of him.

"Oh, h-hey Rose." Matthew greeted with a slightly stuttering voice.

"Hey uhh, look, I just want to assess a few things about the assignment." Rose stood with her arms crossed.

"O-oh, what is it?" Matthew did his best to control his voice.

"..." Rose fell silent for a moment before inhaling to speak. "To determine where we should meet up to discuss about the assignment."

"Oh, well I'm fine with anywhere or anytime really. I don't have any plans yet."

"Oh is that so? Then how about the park, tomorrow?" She raised a finger in suggestion.

"Yeah, that sounds- Wait, tomorrow?!" Matthew shot up from his chair and slammed on the table in shock.

Rose jumped back a little.

"Don't you think it's a bit too early?"

"Well… The sooner we are done, the more vacation we can enjoy right?"

"Well…"

"And besides, you were the one said anytime is fine."

"Right…"

"Well then it's settled. See you tomorrow." Rose turned around and quickly exited the classroom without listening to Matthew's pleads for her to wait.

"Hah… I guess I 'do' have something to do tomorrow."

…..

Matthew took a shower and changed his clothes before heading down stairs to the dining room. From the stairs, he could already smell the delicious aroma that came from the kitchen.

When he arrived at the doorway, Matthew saw his aunt placing the plates filled with spaghetti with some bolognese sauce.

“Wow aunt, spaghetti for dinner? Nice.” Matthew said as he entered the dining room.

“Ah Matt, just in time. Come, let’s eat together.” Claire pulled out a chair and sat on it.

“Thank you for the food!”

They both chowed down on the seemingly delicious content on the plate. Matthew opened up a chat with his aunt.

“So aunt, is uncle still at work?”

“Yup, you know how his work is as a deputy officer of the company is.”

“Must be a lot. I can’t imagine how much work he had to do.”

“Well that goes for me as well. I gotta go back to the office later to settle a few things.”

“Oh really? So you are not going to be home tonight?” Matthew asked.

“Afraid not and I don’t know when either of us will be home.”

“That’s okay. I can take care of myself. Besides, I already have something to do tomorrow.”

“What would that be?” Claire asked.

“Just some assignment that our teacher had us do in pairs.”

“Oh an assignment… Wait, did you say in pairs?” His aunt’s expression suddenly became extra bright, which made Matthew shudder.

“Uhh yes…” Matthew answered nervously.

“Is it a boy or a girl?”

‘I knew it!’ He shouted inside.

“A girl…”

“Waaahhh! My nephew has a girlfriend now!”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“I’m so proud of you!”

“Like I said she’s not my girlfriend.” Matthew’s replies were flat.

“Where are you going to meet her?”

“At the park, why?”

“Invite her here.”

“PUFF! Uhuk! Uhuk! What, why?” Matthew was very surprised by Claire’s words.

“It’s summer, it’s hot outside. It is much cooler in our house isn’t it?”

“That doesn’t explain your intention!”

“Oh~ I have no intentions at all. I just want both you and her to be safe and cool inside our home.”

“...”

“Okay then, I’ll be going now. Take care of the dishes for me would you?” Claire stood up. “Please take care of the house while we are gone.” And she quickly left while leaving behind a few giggles.

Matthew stared in the direction that she just left and sighed. “Fine aunt…” He did not want to upset his aunt who took care of him since he was little.

After he finished washing the dishes, he reached for his phone inside his pocket. “Guess I gotta tell her about the change of plans.”

‘I don’t have Rose’s number, but I’m pretty sure I can find it in the class’s group.’

He scrolled through the list of people in his class and found the one he wanted. He dialed in the number and put his phone beside his ear.

Truuuttt… Truuuttt...

The phone rang, waiting for the receiver to answer.

Matthew gulped. He was nervous.

After a while, the call was answered.

“Hello, this is Rose.”

Matthew quickly addressed himself. “Ah hello Rose, it’s Matt-”

“Sorry I can’t come to the phone right now. Leave a message.”

“Oh, it’s just a voicemail. Well, whatever. Listen, I want to make a change of plans. Instead of going to the park, how about we meet up at my house? D-don’t get me wrong. It’s just that my uncle and aunt won’t be home so they asked me to take care of the house. If you agree, call me back or text me or something. Uhh that’s it I guess, bye.”

Tuut!

Matthew ended the call quickly.

“Yeah, text me or something… Why didn’t I think of that? Ugh whatever, I should send my address to her.”

With the technology nowadays, he didn’t have to write down his address, all he had to do was just send his current location via a mapping app to Rose. With that done, he went upstairs.

Upon reaching the next floor, he suddenly received a notification. He checked it out.

“A new game is on sale right now! Only 500 000 copies! Free one day shipment! First comes first serve!” Matthew read aloud what the notification said. “...”

Without even thinking much longer, he tapped on the notification which brought him to a certain website. There was an ad of the game being played. After watching the ad, he instantly tapped on the buy button at the bottom of the screen.

PRICE: USD 1999.99

“Not bad.” He proceeded to the next process.

SUCCESSFULLY BOUGHT!

Matthew had just bought the game. He was very excited and couldn't wait any longer.

“While I wait for that…” Matthew entered his room and closed the door behind him.

He pulled out the chair by desk and sat on it. He turned on his desktop that was under the desk. The monitor lit up. Matthew put on his headphones and his activity started.

“Hey, is everyone ready?” He spoke to his friends that were online at the moment. “Alright, let’s go!”

Matthew proceeded to play games for who knows how long.

The next morning.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

His alarm clock beeped so loudly that it disturbed Matthew’s sleep. He lightly slammed his fist on the clock that finally shut up. Matthew covered himself back up under his blanket.

Suddenly his ringtone went off.

“Huh? Who would call me this earl-” His words were cut off when he saw the name of the caller displayed on the screen of his phone. “ROSE?!”

He shot up from bed and quickly answered the phone. “He… Hello?”

“Did you just wake up?” Rose’s voice was transmitted through the speaker.

“Ehhh of course not.” Matthew answered with a shaky tone.

“Really? Cause I already called you a bunch of times before.”

“Eh, re-really? I didn’t notice.”

“Because you were asleep, right?”

Matthew could feel the tension in her voice. He gave in. “Hah… Yes, sorry about that. Where are you now? At the park?”

“Open the gate already. It’s hot out here.”

“Yo-you’re already here?!”

“Yes, now please hurry.” Rose ended the call. There was clearly a dissatisfied tone behind it.

“Crap! She’s already here!” Matthew instantly sped out from his room to allow her entry.

…..

Matthew sat with his face down in front of Rose who was right across the table in the living room. He did not yet dare to make eye contact with her.

She probably noticed this situation. Rose sighed.

“Look, I’m not mad, okay? Let’s just hurry up and do the assignment.” She said.

Even with Rose’s reassurance, Matthew still did not dare to look at her in the eyes. However, they still continued with their discussion.

After almost an hour…

GRUU~

A loud grumble came from Matthew's stomach. This interrupted their discussion.

Still not making eye contact, Matthew said. "Sorry, I haven't had breakfast yet."

"Hah… Just go grab a quick one." Rose said.

"Eh, are you sure?" Matthew asked, lifting his head a bit.

"Yeah, yeah, it'll be annoying to hear it while we're discussing." Rose waved her hand in dismissal.

"Oh, o-okay. Umm do you want anything too?" Matthew asked while standing up.

"No thanks, I already had mine."

"Okay then, I'll be quick-"

DING! DONG!

The doorbell suddenly rang.

"Eh, I'll go check it out real quick." Matthew walked outside after saying so.

A minute later, Matthew was back in a rush while carrying a bot in his hands.

Rose was surprised by Matthew's behaviour and asked. "What is that?"

"Forgive me Rose, but I'm afraid the discussion will have to wait a little." He said as he busily opened the box and took out its contents.

"Eh, why?"

"It's here!" Matthew shoved the poster of the new game he had just bought last night.

'I know it said one-day shipment, but this is just way too quick. Not that it matters. I can play it now!'

"What is this? A game?" Rose took the poster into her hands.

"Yes."

"Hey, what about the discussion?"

"Like I said, it will have to wait."

"What about your breakfast?"

"It will also have to wait."

"Hah?!" Rose exclaimed in surprise.

"Just a few minutes okay?" Matthew pleaded to her.

"..." Rose seemed very conflicted as she scratched her head. "Fine, just a few minutes."

"YEAY!"

"What am I doing…" Rose sighed.

It did not take long for Matthew to set up the console specially made for the game. The console had a weird design compared to most other consoles.

But that did not matter to Matthew. He sat comfortably on the floor by the console and turned it on.

The console slowly lit up to life.

A thought suddenly crossed Matthew's mind. He looked over his shoulder at Rose who was reading through the reference books. He felt bad to leave her out like that, especially after already upsetting her so far.

He took a deep breath. "Rose, do you wanna watch?" He asked.

"Eh?" She surely was shocked.

'Maybe I shouldn't have asked…'

"Umm… Sure." Rose moved to sit close to Matthew.

Matthew moved over a bit to give her some room. Then his eyes were locked on the screen.

The logo of the company working on the game showed up on the television that was connected.

CRIMSON GAMES

A scene of mountains, deserts, snow, ocean, forests, spooky grave yards played on the television in one smooth flow of the camera zooming it until it stopped at an open field of grass. Then a young woman in a suit showed up from the corner of the screen.

"Hello there fellow Hunter! Looks like it's a good day to be hunting don't you think?" The woman said.

"Before we start, do you mind telling me your name?"

A box popped up on the screen. Matthew filled it up with his name.

As soon as he was about to hit enter, something happened.

KZzzZk…

The screen suddenly showed a white noise and audio too.

"Aww man!" Matthew slapped his forehead.

"Kukuku… Looks like we'll be doing the discussion after all." Rose chuckled.

"Ugh… What's the problem?" Matthew reached out toward the console and pressed the boot button again and again but there was no response.

He was getting annoyed and frustrated. He pressed one last time, harder.

Suddenly the console let out a spark which made Matthew jump back a little. Then it emitted a blinding blue light.

"Get cover!" Matthew shouted.

"What's happening?" Rose asked.

Both of them were enveloped in the light and did not know what happened next.

…..

"Uhhn…" Matthew slowly opened his eyes and sat up straight.

"What happened…?" He scratched the back of his aching head. "Oh yeah, I was playing a game and then… A weird light…" His thoughts were stopped upon seeing a butterfly fly by in front of him.

He stood up and looked around him and slowly came to realise.

"I am… Outside?" All he saw was an open grass field with forests and mountains visible in the distance.

He was clueless of what happened. His mind was a mess after what had just happened. As such thoughts went by, he remembered something.

"What about Rose? Is she here?" He looked around for his pair. It did not take too long to find a figure with pink hair and blue clothes laying on open grass. "Ah, there she is."

Matthew jogged over to her position and kneeled down beside her. He observed her condition.

"She seems unhurt, thankfully." Matthew sighed of relief.

"Now, what to do now…" He took another glance of his surroundings.

'I have no idea what happened. We are in the middle of nowhere. We should look for help, but where do we go?' Matthew thought carefully, however, he lacked such brains to do so.

'Maybe Rose knows what to do?'

He stared at Rose who was still asleep on the ground. He hesitated, but he shook her lightly to wake her up.

"Hey, Rose, wake up."

Rose's eyes were suddenly wide open. Matthew was pulled by the collar and shook violently by Rose.

“What happened? Where am I? How did this happen? How long was I out?”

“R-Rose, calm down!” Matthew tried to calm her down, but she just would not listen. “Grh!”

Matthew threw off Rose’s hands that were grabbing him away. Then, he firmly grabbed hold of her by both her shoulders.

“Rose, look at me! You need to calm down!” Matthew who couldn’t even look at her before now locked his eyes with Rose’s. “You can’t panic now. If you do, it’ll only make it worse. Calm down. Take deep breaths.”

Matthew slowly loosened his grip. Rose who was hyperventilating a second ago also collected herself.

“Are you okay now?” Matthew asked Rose.

“Ah uh um y… Yes.” Rose fidgeted and turned away from him.

“Ha… Good, now, I don’t exactly know what happened or how it happened; but it seems that we’ve somehow been transported and left here.”

“It… It seems so.”

“Now, before anything, we should find help soon. Or at least someplace safe. Do you have any ideas?” Matthew got straight to business.

“I… I…” Rose did not say more.

Matthew thought that she might still be traumatized. Her face was really red, she could be having a fever after this event. Matthew knew he couldn’t rely on her while her condition was like this.

He straightened his back to look around again. He was hoping to see a village or city anywhere. He prayed deeply.

His prayer was answered.

He saw smoke floating up to the sky over in the distance.

‘Someone must be there!’ He thought.

“Rose, I see some smoke in over there. There has to be someone there. Come on.” Matthew prompted Rose to stand up.

However, Rose was still sitting down. As if she was scared. Matthew did not think long before he held out his hand to Rose.

Rose glanced at his hand and then his face.

“Come on.” Matthew said again.

A gust of wind suddenly blew by. Rose was somehow reminded of an old past. Tears welled up in her eyes as she grabbed Matthew’s hand.

Seeing her like this, Matthew felt empathy for her.

‘Even though she’s hot headed and serious, inside her is still a defenseless girl. I may have gotten her caught in this, I need to protect her.’

…..

Night falls.

Matthew and Rose were still walking through the forest. Aside from their tired pants, they were only surrounded by the sounds of crickets, frogs and gusts of wind. Thankfully enough, the moonlight shone brightly from the sky, illuminating their surroundings, allowing them to see.

“Ha… Ha… Ha… Matt, can we… Rest for a bit?” Rose asked while panting.

“Oh, okay.” Matthew who seemed fine agreed with her.

Rose sat down by a large tree to catch her breath, while Matthew stood guard.

“Hey, how are you not tired yet?” Rose asked.

“I don’t know. I just don’t yet I guess.” Matthew answered short.

“How is that an answer?”

“I don’t know.”

Truth be told, Matthew always had a lot of stamina. Even in a marathon, he rarely gets tired. He was always getting the top places in any such events if he participated. As if he was gifted with such.

“How are you holding up?” Matthew asked.

“Just tired… And my feet hurt.”

“Understandable. By the way, it looks like we won’t be doing the assignment anytime soon.”

“It’s your fault.”

“But I didn't know what happened, and neither do you. So why blame this on me?” Matthew retorted.

“Just because.” Rose let out a little chuckle.

“Huh…” Matthew sighed. However, this was what he wanted.

He wanted to loosen some of the tension that Rose was experiencing. Having a little laugh once in a while would work.

A few minutes had passed. Matthew took a glance in the general direction of the smoke that they had been following. The smoke was still there thankfully. He thought it was time to move.

He looked at Rose already making her way towards him.. “Shall we get going now?”

“Yes.” Rose replied.

“Alright, let’s-” Before he could finish his sentence, his instincts were suddenly warning him of danger. However, the warning was not directed at him, but rather…

“Rose! Watch out!” Matthew shouted as he sprinted towards her.

From the darkness of the forest, something jumped out at Rose.

In the nick of time, Matthew also leapt at Rose and grabbed her by the waist. Just barely dodging whatever jumped at them.

“Aah!” “Grh!” Rose and Matthew landed hard on the ground.

“Are you okay Rose?” Matthew asked as he slowly got up from Rose.

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you. What was that?” Rose peeked over Matthew’s shoulder to get a look at what jumped at them.

Matthew also turned around to look. What they saw made their bodies stiff.

It was a creature with the features of a wolf, but its size was almost three times larger than one. It also had striped horns on its head. Its fur was glistening silver grey that slightly shone under the moonlight. It growled while locked in a cold stare with Matthew.

For some reason, Matthew also stared at the beast. As if he was ready to fight it.