Is this really a Game?!

“Reign, why are you crying?” The woman looks worriedly at Reign as she enters his room before crouching next to his bed. She gently wipes the tears from his cheeks as she flashes a smile.

“Don’t tell me you are this sad because you need to go back to the university today?” The woman laughs lightly as she looks at Reign lovingly. She flicks his forehead as she goes back towards the door.

“Come on, your dad is waiting for you downstairs, he wants us to have breakfast together before we leave for the airport.”

As she leaves the room Reign simply stares blankly at the door. He looks down at his hands before getting up from the bed. Looking at himself in the mirror he can see his short brown hair and his muscular body, he looked different compared to his current appearance.

He suddenly turns his head around as he grabs his phone from the nightstand next to his bed. He checks the date before the phone suddenly drops to the ground. He knew what day this was, this was the last day he had seen his parents alive.

“What’s happening, I was in the hideout with Shadow and the others, why am I here now?” Reign mutters as he looks down at his chest. He puts his right hand over it as he remembers his final memories before he had lost consciousness.

“I remember, we were looking for that bastard when I felt a sudden pain in my chest, he got me didn’t he?” Reign suddenly sits down on his bed and slowly starts getting dressed.

“Is this an illusion, a dream?” He thinks to himself as he slowly leaves the room. The hallway on the second floor of his house was the same as he always remembered. The pictures of his family were hung on the walls while his father’s awards and many trophies were in a glass case right next to the stairs.

He slowly goes down the stairs as he could feel his chest tighten with every step he took. It has been a long time since he had last seen his father, they used to call each other when he was in university, sometimes they would have a video call when his mother was around and talk a bit, all three of them together, sometimes Shadow would be there and Shadow’s parents as well.

He enters the dining room and stops, frozen in place as he looked at the man who was his idol for his whole life. The jet black hair that hung down to his sharp, intimidating eyes glistened from the sunlight that poured out from the window. His powerful muscles bulging out from his shirt that looked like it would rip apart at any moment, his rough hands, full of calluses, he was the same as he remembered.

“You finally decided to join us huh, sit down Reign.” His father gives him a playful smirk as he points towards a chair with his fork. Reign slowly walks toward the chair as he continues staring at his father who was currently reading the news from a tablet that was put on the table.

His mother came out of the kitchen as she puts their breakfast on the table. It was simple, some scrambled eggs, sourdough bread, boiled potatoes, and a salad. They all start eating slowly while keeping silent. None of them liked talking during a meal so they usually kept their conversations for after breakfast.

His mom would always have some tea ready right after breakfast was done and they would simply talk while watching the morning news in the living room. Reign liked their little tradition, even if his father would seem strict at the first glance the truth was that he was quite the opposite. He was always there for him when needed, the first heartbreak Reign had his father simply barged in his room before forcing him to go on a short trip with him.

The trip, their conversation, and the view at the end made everything easier for him. His father always knew a way to get his spirits up. When he first lost a fight his father simply laughed at him. For a whole week, he would make jokes that irritated Reign immensely, when he finally snapped his father simply looked at him with a gleeful smile as he asked, “Finally over it huh?”

It was a weird way of helping that the man had, but it was effective, that much was certain, at least for Reign. Finally, breakfast was finished and they all went to the living room, none of them talked yet, a strange atmosphere was in the air as Reign say down on the sofa while clenching his hands. The TV was on and right now they were glued to the news that was being shown on it.

He glanced at his parents as he sat still on the sofa while sipping the hot tea. He remembered this day, they barely spoke the whole day and only said some words to each other at the airport before he left for his flight. It was one of his biggest regrets.

“Mom, dad.”

“Hmm, yeah Reign?” His dad asks as he looks towards him.

“You know, I , it’s just.” Reign scratches his head as he stutters while speaking. He looks at his father and mother before glancing down on the ground.

“I love you guys, thank you for always being there for me.” He smiles sadly as he looks at his parents while tears well up in his eyes again.

“Reign.”

“But I can’t stay, I’m, I’m afraid that I won’t want to leave if I stay any longer, those guys still need me you know?” He smiles meekly as his lips tremble while tears fall down his cheeks. With a shaky voice, he continues.

“Thank you.” He tells his parents one last time as he slowly gets up from his seat under their confused gazes.

“Reign what do you-”

“Get out, I know you’re there.” Reign suddenly says.

“Reign, what’s the matter with you.”

“You’re gone, I know that I, I can’t change that, no matter how much I wish I could.” Reign shakes his head slowly while speaking with a shaky voice.

His parents suddenly stop and sit down as their unfocused eyes look at the TV. The world seems to have come to a standstill as Reign looks at them.

Clap, Clap

Suddenly a series of claps could be heard behind him. He slowly turns around as he looks at the person that was there. A perfect copy of him was leaning against the wall of the living room while looking at him with a slight smile.

“That was fast, I thought you would need much longer.” The dark Reign says while walking towards Reign, he passes him before stopping right behind his parents.

“Are you sure you don’t want to continue, talk with them a bit more, hug them, maybe-”

“Enough!” Reign suddenly shouts as he stares at the copy with anger,

“I do have to thank you for letting me see them again, even if all of this is fake, but it’s enough.”

“Aww, poor little Reign, to actually even thank me, well you’re welcome.”

“What happened in the hideout, don’t look at me with that expression, I know you were able to see it.”

“Hahaha, well of course I was, nothing special, the old bastard simply put a hex inside your body.” The dark Reign shrugs his shoulders as he explains.

“A hex?”

“Yup, old magic, you can call it a curse of sorts, once it’s put in the body the user and the victim will have their lives entwined, if one of them dies, so does the other.”

“Can it be removed?”

“Well of course it can, dear Reign, and guess what, I know how to remove it, there are a couple of different ways, and I, luckily for you, know all of them.” The dark copy smiles proudly as he looks at Reign before extending his hand.

“Come on, you already saw through some memories right, me and you, we’re the same, two sides of the same coin, take my hand, accept the power and let me deal with the old man for you.” ．

Reign looks at the copy before shifting his sight to the extended hand, he looks down on his hand before slowly extending it forward as well. Their hands make contact as their surroundings shake, Reign could feel the incredible power coming from the copy’s body as they shook hands.

Suddenly Reign smiles at the copy before pulling his hand back with full force, the unexpected move from him surprises the copy before he screams in pain as his arm was brutally torn from his body.

“This much should be enough to deal with that right?” Reign asks him with a smile as he holds the torn-off arm. The arm suddenly starts twisting and changing shapes before it turns to pitch-black mana that enters Reign’s body.

“I’ll see you later.” Reign turns around as he waves off the copy that was grimacing in pain. Soon he was out of sight from the copy that lets out a small sigh of disappointment.

“Really, give me a break man, this is so unfair.” The copy says as its arm regenerates in mere seconds. He looks in the direction where Reign left as he scratches his head.