Dear Diana,

Happy Birthday in advance! I know what you're thinking; "again?" ...Yes, I'm terribly sorry I can't make it to celebrate your 19th birthday with you in person. Work has been hectic and I can't even get a hint of sleep— uh... you don't care about that, hahaha...

Anyway! To compensate my absence, I've delivered to you a... drum roll please...

A video game! I know, super original. But before you think of throwing it away on sight, you should know that this particular one is very, very limited! Not everyone will be able to get their hands on this, and to be honest, I'm kind of proud for getting this before it ran out :-)

I know you love games. You're the only gamer in our family, too... well, besides me, but I can't call myself a gamer with my packed schedules everyday hahahaha.... and yes, you have many already but one more wouldn't hurt, right? The man who gave this to me was very enthusiastic to explain what it was about! Poor guy thought I was going to be the one to play this but what he doesn't know won't hurt him ':-D

It's a survival game! I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure you'll gain some extra knowledge, too! How nice, right? Have fun and learn at the same time! It's multiplayer, too!! Unfortunately, I can't play it. I'm too busy to even open the disk to see it for myself.

On the other hand, I promise I'll be back home by winter to pay you, mom and dad a visit. I'll put a pistol to my boss' head and demand for it, if I have to!!! >:-D  I hope you cut some slack for this ageing brother. I'm beginning to get back aches and I'm only 26 (T-T) When I get there, we'll play the game together, too! Just like when we were younger. I won't help you survive in that world since you'll have the upper-hand for playing it beforehand, so prepare your gamer skills till winter arrives!!

I hate you but cut the hate and replace it with a heart or whatever. I'll bring you your favourite chocolate with me when I return ^~^ enjoy it, okay?!?! You better!!! Maybe even introduce it to Juno!

Bye-bye, Cupcake! See you by spring <3

____

I sighed, and glanced over at the little cardboard box sitting idly on the dining table. He couldn't make it again. I'm turning nineteen for goodness sake! He missed my eighteenth birthday, so of course, I'm going to be salty.

"Come on, dear. I know it makes you sad, but hey! At least Yohan put the effort to send you something instead of nothing!" My mom tried to comfort, but I heaved out another sigh. "Ma, he wasn't there for my last birthday, either." I pointed out sourly.

She let out a defeated sigh, before placing a smile on her face, "Why don't you check out what's inside the box, hm? It's a video game, right?" She ushered and I nodded mutely, making my way over to the table and bringing the decent-sized, rectangular box into my arms. It's pretty light.

"I'll start on dinner soon, okay? I'm making your favourite spaghetti!" She beamed and I couldn't help but chuckle, my own smile making its way on my face, "I can't wait, ma! I'll be in my room. I'm going to try out this video game." I gestured towards the box in my hands and she nodded, shooing me away so she can begin working on dinner without any distractions.

"Woof." Coco, my German shepherd resounded, tail wagging as he sniffed at my hands holding the box in curiosity. I giggled at my baby and ushered him to follow me up, to which he happily complied with a chuff.

Climbing up the stairs, I shut the door behind me as I entered my room. I made a beeline to my little TV with my gaming console and made myself comfortable on the floor and at the foot of my bed where I leaned my back.

——💬——
Yo-Yohan💕

Diana:

I receive your gift 🙃🙃
[7:32pm]

Yo-Yohan💕:

Wait-

wat🧍🧍
[7:46pm]

Diana:

My bday already went

Did u really forget when
my bday is 😃🔪
[7:47pm]

Yo-Yohan💕:

Child- I sent my gift
for you months prior

tf 😭😭😭
[7:47pm]

Yo-Yohan💕:

Ik I wrote "happy bday
in advance" cuz I thought
you'd get it earlier😭😭😭

Blame the delivery service
[7:48pm]

Diana:

😐😑😐

Anyway

Why couldn't u come?
[7:48pm]

Yo-Yohan💕:

Ah...cupcake I literally
worked my ASS off
To try and clear up my
Schedule😞😞
[7:49pm]

Yo-Yohan💕:

And I did! I managed
to complete some extra
work but then something
came up last minute🥲🥲
[7:50pm]

Diana:

🙁

you missed my 18th
bday too tho 😒😔
[7:50pm]

Yo-Yohan💕:

And I wish I was there
every day!😭😭🥺🥺

When I cleared up my
schedule, I planned to
take you anywhere u wanted

We could do anything✨✨

literally. ANYTHING.😫🤌
🤌
[7:52pm]

Diana:

Okay.. it's okay hannie

Will u REALLY come back by
winter?? 🥺🥺
[7:52pm]

Yo-Yohan💕:

I had a long talk with my
manager.. so it's certain that
I can come by winter 😙😙

Enjoy the game, yeah?

I don't want to have an easy
competetion🤪🤪✨
[7:53pm]

Diana:

Bro what're u talking
about lmao

I always beat u in video
games💀💀
[7:54pm]

Yo-Yohan💕:

😀😀🔪🔪

shut up
[7:54pm]

Diana:

🤐🤐😂😂

no❤️
[7:55pm]

Yo-Yohan💕:

Smh🙄🙄

Go play the game dingus 😒
[7:56pm]

Diana:

And If I don't? 👀👀
[7:56pm]

Yo-Yohan💕:

I won't come back 😀😀
[7:56pm]

Diana:

I- 👁👄👁

Welp🤸‍♀️🤸‍♀️
[7:57pm]

Yo-Yohan💕:

That's what I thought😌💅
Shoo now
See you by Jan 🥰❤️
[7:58pm]

Diana:

Don't overwork urself 💆‍♀️
Then you'll really become
old like u said
[7:58pm]

Yo-Yohan💕:

😀😀🔫🔫🔫
[7:58pm]

Diana:

😬😬

Sry pls don't cancel
your trip here

🤐🤐
[7:59pm]

Yo-Yohan💕:

I gtg 🏃🏃

Night shoot 😴😴

Byeeeeeeee
[7:59pm]

Diana:
Ye ye ok🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

Byeee💕💕
[7:59pm]
[seen]

——💬——

I let out a sigh, putting my phone away and bringing the box to my lap. Beginning to unbox my birthday present, I grew confused.

A dirty-looking rectangular case sat comfortably on the pile of tissues stuffed in the box. It looked really old and the plastic covering the case was ripped and held light scratch-like marks.

"Woof! Woof!" Coco barked at the case in my hands. I looked up from the case, "what's wrong, bud?" I scratched his head as coco continued to growl slightly, "Looks sketchy, doesn't it?" I smiled softly before returning my gaze back on the case.

What the hell was he thinking? I brought the case into my hands and dusted off some of the dirt on the surface and turned it around. The backside stayed blank.

Weird.

No name of the developer or manufacturer. Just an obviously giant title at the front reading 'Escapade'

...

what a crappy title. And a crappy cover but he got me something other than air so I guess I can give it a try.

"One play wouldn't hurt..." I mumbled and opened the broken case and then inserted the disk into the tray of my console. "What do you think, baby?" I cooed at Coco, who plopped beside where I was going to sit to play through the game. He chuffed in response, tail irregularly hitting the ground as he laid on the ground.

I watch my screen load as it processed the disk. It took longer than I thought, too. Is it broken?? Just as I reached over to pull it out of the console, I jerked my eyes back towards the screen as it lit up a blinding white, hurting my eyes. A loud, distorted sound emanating from it all the while. Coco whined at my flinch, propping his head up in alarm.

"Diana? What was that?" I heard Ma ask out loud.

I peeked at the screen, watching as it blacked out completely before words appeared in a white, plain font.

"Uh, just the game, Ma. I'll lower the volume, sorry!" I call back, doing as I said in case another ear-piercing noise came out. Glancing at Coco watching me with wide puppy eyes, I smiled assuringly, giving the back of his ears a scratch, "It's okay, buddy. It's probably pretty old." I shrugged whilst my eyes trailed back to the screen.

I notice three different words line up over the other:
Play, new world, and settings. I click on play and pursed my lips as new words popped up. It doesn't even mention anything about Multiplayer... and if it does, my little brother, Juno is having a sleepover with his friends. He won't be back till tomorrow in the afternoon.

👾———👾
Hello player! Welcome to Escapade. Please enter your name on the following box below this text:

[_______________]

👾———👾

Just as I finished reading the text on the screen, a keyboard popped up at the bottom. It's giving me a sort of creepy vibe, to be completely honest....

"Arff! Arff!!" Even Coco is starting to think it's a weird game. Hah...

But it is simply asking for my name. So I saw no harm in typing it in. Let's write a dumb name. I grinned as I typed in, 'Sedlyfe'. Pressing enter, I flinched as the screen turned glitchy.

👾———👾

.-- .-. --- -. --. / .- -. ... .-- . .-.

Please type in YOUR NAME, player. You will need it so other players can play with you!

...

...

• • •

Hello player! Welcome to Escapade. Please enter your name on the following box below this text:

[_______________]

👾———👾

I frowned. This isn't normal, is it? Were all old games like this? Did they just know it's not a real name? Surely this isn't some scam that collects your personal information to hack your devices, right??

"Grrrrr..."

It's in a disk, though... what could it possibly take from just my name? Yohan wouldn't just take anything for anyone, right? Plus, the man that gave this to him was apparently, really excited to explain how it works. I'll let it be for now...

With one hand, I gave Coco light pets to calm him down.

👾———👾

Diana, what a lovely name!
Let's team you up so you have company while you survive the wilderness.

Who would you like to team up with?
We have:
Ɔ°０r*尺 ..Ｕ'₱'—Ｐ../° է''£..∂.

. . .

Terribly Sorry, Diana. It seems that there is no teammate available for you, at the moment.

Would you still like to proceed with the game on your own, anyway?

[ƳҼՏ]                                     [ƝƠ]

👾———👾

"What the fraggle rock?" I murmured. This game is broken, clearly. What happens if I press 'no'? Will it just go back to welcoming me?

I clicked onto the 'no' button for the fun of it and flinched at a static shock on my finger, making me drop my console in the process.

... Ow?!??!?

I looked up at the screen with wide eyes, noticing that I pressed 'yes' instead. That shock really hurt, though!!

"ARFF!!" Coco began to full-out bark at the screen, up on his legs with a defensive stance.

"What the— Oh coconuts-" I began but the sudden brightness emanating from the screen hurt my eyes, blinding me momentarily as I looked away.

👾———👾

Wish you all the best, Diana! Enjoy the game.

👾———👾

"What the f—?!"

I screamed in shock, feeling my body go weightless and float while the brightlight urged my eyes closed from the penetrating white colour.

"What in the world are you doing up there, Diana? I'm coming up."

I heard my mom's voice distantly call out for me. But the background noise of kitchen equipment and dishes bustling downstairs suddenly faded out. Even the barks sounded distant until I heard nothing and instead, I heard the quick flow of wind passing by my ears.

I shot my eyes open in a panic. My stomach did a gut-wrenching flip and my hair flailed in the air like crazy in the wind. My limbs swiped at the air, trying to grab for something solid.

I was falling.

I was falling from the sky?!?!

The first sight my eyes set soon was the bright blue sky, filled with some fluffy clouds. After the bright blue sky soon followed green leaves hanging from tall branches of a tree from the corner of my eyes.

Then I hit the ground.

I let out a weak groan, not prepared for the sudden burn igniting at the whole of my back and head. The fall was super high, but all I managed to get was a headache and a purple back.

And that doesn't make any sense at all.

Nor does me falling from the sky in the first place, but all I could really register at the moment, was my heavy breathing. I was locked into a panicked frenzy.

As I sat up, all I could see from where I laid was a dense forest surrounding my figure. The ground was covered in piles of fallen leaves from the giant, towering trees. I sat up, stumbling on myself as I hurriedly got to my feet, spinning in a circle to identify my location.

Nothing made sense and I felt my eyes tear up at the fear and shock running through my very being. Where I am and how I got here is a giant question mark, a mystery puzzle I'm unable to join together to give me a solution nor an answer.

I sobbed, it's what I could do at that very moment. One fact I knew for sure, was that I was completely alone in this wild setting. The sun sat over-head and strong with its heat and blinding light but was effectively blocked by the forest's canopies. I stumbled closer to a tree trunk, deciding to keep my back to it as I leaned on it.

That way, there would be absolutely nothing behind my back to get me, except my front - where I could see it. My throat vibrated as I wailed, and my cheeks were stained with my tears, some dirt sticking glued as my dirty hands furiously wiped at them.

What the heck was going on? Was this a dream? But if it is, then how come everything seemed so real and vivid? How was I aware? Is this a lucid dream? But I felt pain. At that statement, my eyes shot down to my bruising knees. I brought down my hand to touch it, and flinched at the burst of pain it caused.

I took deep, shaky breaths to calm myself. I stared at my black shirt against my stomach, something that made sense. I held my gaze there and continued to gulp down air, getting my big girl pants on, finally. I thought through the moments that had just occurred. Bright lights piercing me eyes from the screen. I was playing the game.

Escapade.

I gasped. Am I in the game? But that's impossible! I can't be in a game.

"Hello..?" I weakly called out, hoping to hear some sort of sign of civilisation. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm in a didly doodlecrack forest.

I paused. Now that I took a better look at the trees surrounding me, they seemed more semi-realistic than really normal. This forest isn't any ordinary forest, that was an immediate conclusion I made as I took a closer look at them.

Some were birch wood trees, other were spruce. Mostly oak wood trees covered the landscape. Exotic flowers coloured the ground closer to the tree roots and the floor was covered in all sorts of coloured tree leaves. Red, orange, green, yellow... you name it. Then the sky was unusually blue. It was a sky blue like any other, but anyone who regularly loses their reality in staring at the sky from time to time would notice the slightest purplish color mixing in with the sky like a gradient. It was a beautiful picture, to be fair, but unusual nonetheless.

I looked back at where I stood and pursed my lips. If I don't start venturing around this place, or at least build myself a little shade to spend the night, then I won't know what would happen. I sniffled, already finished with my crying fit and took my first few steps into the denser surrounding, wincing a little as some tree roots stuck out of the ground and scratched at my ankles after every few steps I took. Yep. Definitely not a dream.

Am I the only one here? How do I scavenge for food without a weapon? Where do I spend the night? Surely not out in the open like this. That's a sleep to my death. I know I always boast about wanting to cease from existence but not yet... well, not like this.

Not in some dumb game.

Should I be calling it dumb in my place, right now? Can it here my thoughts?? This game will surely kill me if I call it more names...I shuddered.

Noooo nono, Diana, do not go to that trail of thoughts—

Speaking of trails...

I paused in front of an unusually coloured rock just before my foot. A blue rock? What is this nonsense?

Did someone paint this?

Looking around at my surroundings in caution, my brows furrowed when my eyes landed on another rock just ahead of this blue one. Pink rock.

...Nice.

I let out an uneasy sigh. We all know that in movies, the dumb character always ends up in some crap when they follow something that doesn't make sense. It's a big red flag.

So to conclude, I'm following the trail of colourful rocks. The fall from the sky should've ended me then but it didn't, so whats to say the end of this trial will? They hold quite pretty colours, honestly. At least I'll see all the colours of the rainbow before I walk into my death bed if it actually is a death trap.

....Yay. Fun.

I cock a brow up in question as the trail ends with a giant pile in one circle, outlined by what I could assume was chalk. I looked up and gasped.

My mind had drifted to all sorts of possibilities when I followed this rainbow path so I never heard the sound of running water because before me was a gorgeous sight of blue, shimmering water of a river. Then following right after it, was a giant lake. I ran to the water body, letting out a scoff of disbelief.

Fishes. So many fishes. So so many fishes swam about in the river and eventually drifted deeper into the water at the lake. What is this place? I straightened up from my crouching position and looked back to notice a giant stack of wood planks piled in one corner beside baby trees, to the left of the river.

I raise a brow at that sight, "Planks?" I mumble out loud and trudge my way towards the stack of wood. They were neatly piled over each other and wrapped securely with a thick rope.

A small note stuck pinned at the top of the wood and I picked it up, feeling wary and curious. It was slightly dirty with dirt stains splattered over the blank, white material.

My mouth fell open as I registered the single word written on the white piece of paper.

I looked up at the sky in bewilderment and disbelief, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME, RIGHT NOW?!?!" I screamed, shock and anger brewing within my guts towards this stupid, sorry excuse of a game.

You hear me, game?!

You
Son
Of
A...
A MOTHERLESS GOAT

_______________________________

New story, new drawings, new plot ;)

Welcome! 🥴✨

Ps. Wrote this chapter way before Soulmates of Seven was put on Hiatus 😍👍✨

~ Ada