Night is falling in the city of Tokyo, neon lights glowing from towering buildings, blanketing the streets in bright colors. In a small apartment in a suburban district, a 15 year old boy named Jo is engrossed in a computer screen, headset attached to his ears, fingers dancing nimbly on the keyboard. The real world seems lost to Jo - all that is real to him is the game he is playing.
But the tranquility does not last long.
"JO! WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE IF YOU JUST PLAY GAMES ALL DAY?!" his father shouted from the living room. His voice boomed, full of anger and frustration.
"I told you, Dad doesn't understand!" Jo retorted in a high tone, his eyes still glued to the screen.
The argument was inevitable. Words attacked each other, like bullets fired without control. Until finally, with shortness of breath and tears in his eyes, Jo ran out of the house, leaving the door slamming loudly behind him.
Jo's steps lead him to Shibuya, the city center that never sleeps. Among the bustling lights and the flow of people, he meets his friends: Ren, the strategist, Taka, the tech expert, and Mina, the brave girl who is also a true gamer.
"I can't stay at home anymore. This world... is too small for us," Jo said in a low but firm voice.
Ren nodded. "So, where are you going?"
Jo held a worn card in his pocket—the Queen Card that he had mysteriously found in the game he was playing. "I want to get out of this world. Not to die... but to live in a different world. A world where games become real."
Mina's small laugh died down as the night sky in Shibuya suddenly shook. A loud explosion shook the city center. Blinding light split the sky, and people screamed in panic.
"JO! RUN!" Taka shouted.
Jo ran as fast as he could, the sound of the explosion following behind him. Smoke and debris flew. But when he stopped and looked back... everything was silent.
There was no sound. There was no one.
Shibuya was now empty.
Shops were open without guards, traffic lights were still on but not a single vehicle was passing by. The usually busy streets were now like a ghost town.
Jo stood frozen in the middle of a large intersection.
"Ren...? Taka...? Mina...?"
There was no answer.
The world around him had changed. Not just quiet, but... strange. Digital lines vibrated at the edge of his vision. It was as if reality was beginning to disintegrate.
And he realized he was alone.
Alone in Shibuya.
Alone... in a world that was no longer the same as before.
Jo stood stiffly in the middle of Shibuya Crossing, which was usually filled with a sea of people. Now only the night wind whispered, carrying a strange smell like burning electrical smoke and scorched metal. The digital billboards kept flashing, but all displayed error messages. "Connection Lost." "404: World Not Found."
"HELLO?!" Jo shouted, her voice echoing wildly among the silent buildings. "REN? MINA? TAKA?!"
There was no answer. Only the echo and the sound of her heartbeat that sounded louder in her ears.
With a gasp, Jo started running. She walked through small alleys, along large streets, into shops, restaurants, underground stations. Everything was empty.
No cars, no sounds. Not even animals were visible. Tokyo had turned into an empty stage that was silent and tense.
"This must be a dream…" she whispered while pinching her own cheek, but the pain made her realize that this was real.
Her first thought was to go home. Maybe her father knew something. Maybe this was just some kind of emergency that she didn't understand yet.
Jo ran to her apartment. She climbed the stairs, the door was pushed open hard. "Dad?! DAD!" she shouted as she walked down the hall.
She entered the living room.
It was quiet.
But there was something odd: a cup of coffee was still steaming hot on the table. A cigarette butt was stuck in the ashtray, still emitting thin smoke. The chair had shifted slightly, as if someone had just gotten up and left.
"Dad?" Jo said more quietly, with a tone of fear.
She walked through every corner of the house. Her father's room was empty. The bathroom too. Even the sound of the clock ticking felt scary. Everything seemed abandoned… suddenly.
Panic began to creep into her body. She ran again—this time to her friends' houses. One by one.
Ren's house: empty. The door was open, the game console was still on, the screen hanging on the main menu.
Mina's house: the lights were on, the dinner plates were still on the table, the soup was still warm, but no one was there.
Taka's house: the computer was still running. The chat window opened, with the last message:
"Jo, I just found something. I think we should—"
The message was cut off.
Jo fell to the ground, breathing heavily, hands clutching her hair. "What happened…? Where is everyone…?"
Then, in her jacket pocket, she felt something vibrate. She pulled it out: the card. The Queen Card. It glowed brighter now than before, as if responding to something.
Jo's gaze fell on the card.
And for the first time, she realized… this might not be a coincidence.
The light from the Queen Card in Jo's hand grew brighter. Its gleam danced between Jo's fingers like a breath of life. Jo stared at it in confusion.
"What is this... why is it shining?" he muttered, turning the card over and over again, hoping to find some kind of explanation.
Confusion turned into hunger and thirst. Jo started walking again towards Shibuya, his eyes still alert, his heart still beating fast. The city remained silent like a ghost town.
On the way, he saw a mini market with its lights still on. The automatic door opened as he approached, welcoming him with a distinctive electronic sound. There was no guard. There was no sound of the bell to signal entry.
Jo entered slowly, like a thief.
But there was nothing he could steal if there was no owner, right?
He took a bottle of cold drink, opened the cap without hesitation, and drank it straight in front of the refrigerator.
"If this is a dream... at least it's a little bit of a pleasant dream," he said softly with a dry laugh.
Suddenly, the television above the cashier turned on by itself. The screen started out as just gray static, then changed to a symbol: an arrow pointing out of the convenience store.
Jo stopped drinking. His gaze was glued to the screen.
"A clue...?" he whispered, feeling doubtful but also curious.
He walked outside, following the arrow.
Once outside, the night sky above Shibuya was suddenly split by a strange light. A bright beam of light shot down from the sky to a point in the center of Shibuya's intersection. It wasn't the usual white—it was a mix of blue, purple, and red that spun slowly like a vortex of energy.
Jo stared in awe. A small hope sparked in his chest.
"Maybe... there's someone there... something... an answer..."
He immediately ran towards the center of the light.
When he reached the large intersection, everything remained silent. There was no one there. Only the sound of electricity whizzing from the mysterious light hanging in the air.
Then suddenly... a strange voice sounded from all directions, like an echo speaking directly into his head.
"Welcome to the game."
"Before you start, please register."
"Find one of the poles at this intersection. There is a device to register."
Jo turned quickly, tracing every corner.
And sure enough, on one of the traffic light poles, there was a cellphone hanging, glowing with a bright green light. The screen displayed a message:
"Tap to register."
Jo walked slowly, hands shaking. When his index finger almost touched the screen, he took a deep breath.
Whether this was a dream, a virtual world, or reality...
One thing he knew was that the game had begun.
Jo stood in front of the registration device, a cellphone hanging on a lamppost at the now empty and cold Shibuya intersection. The cellphone screen kept flashing with the words:
"Tap to register."
His fingers trembled. His head was filled with questions.
"Is this a trap? What kind of game is going on? Why me? Is this the real world… or just an unfinished nightmare?"
Hesitation and fear held him back. Jo finally sat on the sidewalk, his body tired, his mind tangled, and his spirit slowly eroding. He stared at the cellphone screen with a blank stare.
Silent.
But not long after, the voice came again. Louder, clearer, more piercing into his mind.
"For players, please register immediately. The game will start soon."
"For new players who have not registered… you only have one day left to live."
"To extend your life, join the game. Win. And get additional life time according to the difficulty level and type of game."
The voice echoed, like a hard slap that woke Jo from the emptiness.
His eyes widened. "One day...?" he whispered, his breath coming in short gasps.
Suddenly it all became clear. This wasn't just a game.
His life was at stake.
If he didn't register, he would die. Not from a monster, not from a gunshot, but because his life time would run out.
"Crazy… This is crazy…" Jo stood up slowly, staring at the phone with a mixture of fear and determination.
In his head, only one thing was now the focus of his thoughts:
"I want to live."
He raised his hand.
A light touch and the screen responded instantly.
"Registration Accepted."
"New Player: Jo."
"Remaining life time: 21 hours 58 minutes."
Jo swallowed. In that instant, he realized: there was no turning back. This wasn't just a game. This was a fight for life.
The screen then changed, displaying the words:
"Waiting for first game instructions…"
The lights at the Shibuya intersection began to flicker. The air turned colder. The wind seemed to carry a whisper, and the street suddenly vibrated subtly, as if something was… awakening.
Jo gripped her Queen tightly.
The game had begun.
And her life was now determined by victory.