Eternal Kingdom

The more he waited, the more suffocated he felt. It's like that someone was holding and gripping his heart tight. Every minute felt like hours and every hour felt like years. Crazy thoughts appeared one after another, and he felt his body cold and shivered by it. If there is a god or a lord out there please save my sister, take mine instead, she suffered enough pain already, just take mine, please, I beg of you, please save my sister, as his tears fell to the ground.

Six hours passed in that silent hallway and chilling cold crawled through the place. Suddenly, the ICU light finally came off and the door was opened. Yuri was s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e to any sound at the moment, and when he heard the door opened, he turned his head. He saw a doctor came out and he stared at him with his puffed eyes, trying to figure out his expression inside those white masks.

"Mr. Yuri?"

"Yes! What's the results doctor!" His voice sounded gruff.

"The results were great Mr. Yuri. Her condition is now stabilized, but unfortunately, she's now in a coma because of the shock in her spinal cord."

Yuri was stunned by the revelation, his jumbled mind tried hard to process the information, seconds passed, he took a deep breath and asked, "What's the cause doctor?"

"It's her disease Mr. Yuri. Her disease flared up. Although she's in the last process of her recovery, the piled up stress from going through countless treatments were the real reason that she's in this state right now."

"B-But she's never said anything about that, doctor. Whenever I asked her about her treatments she always said that it was fine..."

"It's understandable Mr. Yuri, she just didn't want you to worry."

"And for how long she will be in a coma doctor?"

"After our diagnosis and careful examinations, we estimated that her comatose state will be up for at least eight to nine hours, and chances of her good recovery were quite high, so expect a good news tomorrow Mr. Yuri."

Yuri sighed a relief, and said, "Yes, thank you, doctor, and can I meet her?"

"I'm very sorry about this but you can't meet her yet Mr. Yuri. We still need to apply more medical procedures to appease her state. If you don't have any more question left, I will take my leave first Mr. Yuri."

"Ah! Yes! Thank you, doctor, please take care of Lillie for me."

"I will Mr. Yuri, have a good night Mr. Yuri."

"Yes. You too doctor."

Yuri sighed a relief once more and dropped his exhausted body near Felix. At least she's fine he thought in his mind. He turned his head and saw that Felix still have his head hung low, he understands his best friend feelings and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"She's fine."

"Uh-huh...Huh? She's fine? SHE'S FINE! HAHAHA!"

"Calm down, Its a hospital for god sake."

A smile was plastered over his face, he watched Felix celebration and for some reason, he felt warmth in his heart.

The night passed and replaced by the warm sunlight. Yuri and Felix were asleep across each other claiming two whole benches for themselves just outside the ICU. The sight was not the ideal sight for a CEO and his associate, even when people saw them nobody would think that a billionaire would sleep in cold metal benches.

Sounds of a broom swept through the floor woke Yuri up. His hair was a mess and his eyes were puffed by the tears he shed that night. He looked around his surroundings and saw Felix sleeping like a log in the bench across him. He gathered his thoughts and tried to process it, one deep breath after another, released by a sigh of relief after. I need to find out Lillie conditions now.

"Wake up! Wake up, Felix!"

Still half asleep, Felix saw Yuri standing in front of him, and said, "Good...Morning..."

"Just wake up already, we need to find out about Lillie."

"Uh...HUH! Yeah! Let's go!"

The two navigated through the hospital hallways trying to find the reception desk. The hospital was all the same everywhere, the same white walls, the same white tiles, and the same white lighting as if the place was not depressing enough. The two arrived at the reception desk, greeted by two nurses that on standby. Yuri filled up his information and inquired about her sister condition and possibly her location. He saw the two nurses were shocked by his identity after he filled his information because at first glance he was nowhere near the image of a billionaire.

One of the nurses gave Yuri the details about her sister conditions and told him that she was getting better and can wake up at any minutes now. He was elated by the findings and asked enthusiastically about her location, which is located on the fourth floor, VIP Room number 3. He can't thank her enough for that so he bowed his head ninety degrees sharp at the nurses, while the nurses were fl.u.s.tered by the CEO actions, and told him that it was their job.

Yuri and Felix said their goodbye towards the two nurses and be on their ways towards the fourth floor. After the short encounter, the nurses were gossipping with each other, they praised Yuri and Felix and dreamed if someday they would meet or even marry someone of their caliber. Yuri heard a little about the two nurses conversations and just decided to shook his head, while Felix, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear hearing that.

On the fourth floor, the two walked a little until they finally found Lillie room. Yuri took a deep breath to calm his mind before grabbing the door handle. He opened the door slowly, while his minds were bombarded with thoughts one after another. He saw in the room decorated with white wallpapers and brown carpeted floor, her sister was lying down on the beds, her little face was slowly regaining its color. Yuri followed by Felix walked closer to her. He was choked by the sight, and regret filled his eye. If only I have known sooner, maybe this will not happen, were the only words in his minds.

He grabbed his sister pale hands, trying to warm her up, while Felix decided to give the sibling's some time alone and walked outside the room. Just the two of them alone in the room, it was silent and serene at the same time.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry that I have let you down and neglected you in my duties...I'm sorry..."

Yuri buried his head within Lillie pale hands. His mumble was his heartfelt feelings towards her, no matter what will happen to him, her sister was his number one priorities. One memory flashed after another, he remembered her smile when she was sixteen receiving his gift at her birthday, he remembered the time when they were laughing at Felix when he was dumped, again and again, he also remembered when she cried watching bad movies being bad.

"Please...Don't leave me alone..."

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A twitch, Yuri felt a sensation on his hand. The fingers on Lillie's hands moved a little as if responding to her brother's plea. Yuri was startled, he turned his head to look at Lillie's face, tears have flowed down to her cheeks. The sound's of her cries filled up the room, she let go all of her emotions into her tears. He saw her sister sobbed and hugged her tightly, his tears can't hold any longer and drop to her sister's clothes.

"I'm-I'm sorry...I will never leave..."

For two minutes they embraced each other as if the other's would be gone if they let go. Yuri was the first to let go of his embrace, he wiped the tears on her sister's face and smiled after. He was glad and thankful at the same time, he also saw Felix standing behind the door peeking inside when they embraced earlier.

Yuri finally saw her sister smile after he wiped her tears. He etched this memory deep into his heart.

Not long after, the doctors and the nurses arrived at the room. They checked up Lillie once more to confirm she had a good recovery from her coma. Yuri just watched silently on the side, his face was serious observing all the procedures. Anticipation filled his thought. Minutes passed, he saw the doctor and the nurses finished with their check-ups.

The doctor walked to him and asked to speak in private. Yuri complied and followed the doctor just outside the VIP Room.

"What's the results doctor?"

"Mr. Yuri, her condition is fine, perfect rather, but, the effects of her treatments from all those years is now at its critical stages. I suggest to let Ms. Lillie stay at the hospital accompanied by our nurses to further complete her recuperation process."

"And, how long will that be doctor?"

"Approximately three months for treatments and another one months for recuperation, but don't worry Mr. Yuri, she will be handled with the best doctor and nurses here in our hospital."

After some time of consideration, Yuri answered, "...Okay. I agree, doctor. Anything for her sake."

The doctor nodded and said, "You're a good brother Mr. Yuri. I will tell her the situation then."

"No, doctor, let me tell her that."

Once more he took a deep breath, he composed the words he's about to say in his minds. He entered the room once more and greeted with the sound of laughter, in there he saw his sister were smiling and laughing provided by the stories Felix made. Finally, he can put a smile on his face and approached her.

Yuri grabbed his fragile sister's hands, he rubbed it gently while looking deep into her eyes. This is for your sake Lillie, this was the line he supposed to say and that same words still lingered around his mind. He tried to speak but nothing came out.

"What is it?" Lillie asked.

He let out an awkward smile and in his mind was a battlefield. How can he tell her sister that just woken up another bad news, but, he was determined if it was for her sake of living the normal life, whatever the sacrifice he will comply and fulfill it the best as he can.

He gathered his courage and said, "Lillie, I know it's a hard decision, but, it is for your sake. To complete your recovery you need to stay in the hospital for at least three months...And...I already agreed to that, and I hope you understand my decisions."

"B-but...Okay..."

Her head hung low, she tried to accept the situation but from her voice, a hidden sadness contained within. Yuri rubbed her head gently and tried to console her, he also felt the pain in his heart like it has been stabbed by a countless knife, knowing the fact that he will see her less than the usual.

"Don't be sad Lillie, it's not like you won't see me even you're at the hospital. I can still visit you remember." He said with a smile.

"Every day...Promise me you visit every day..." She mumbled.

"Promise! And also, if you fully concentrate on your recovery and treatments, I will give you your most d.e.s.i.r.ed gift."

Her jade eyes sparkled and said, "A gift? Then I want a beautiful kingdom built by your own hand! If you're cheating I'm gonna marry big brother Felix!"

Felix that was just standing peacefully shocked by the statements Lillie gave and his back turned cold. He can't move his head even if he wanted to, this was because the cold murderous glare Yuri emitted. You're dead if you move or talk a single sentence that kinds of feels.

Finished with his death glare, Yuri asked, "Uh....Real life or in the game?"

"Game, of course, you can't build a kingdom in a cramped real world." She answered playfully.

"You're right...Okay, promise!"

Yuri and his sister made a promise once more, sealed by both of their pinky fingers.

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The new day arrived replacing the hectic yesterday. The day is Sunday, in the month of October and their house was now missing a person leaving only Yuri on his own. The first thing he does was to exercise his body on the gym upstairs, just enough to warm up his body. He also didn't forget to visit her sister this morning, to check up on her and also give her energy for her treatments. Done with his daily routine, he sat alone on the couch in their house. He daydreamed for about ten minutes until he remembered his other promise.

He walked to his bedroom, nothing fancy in there, it's just like any normal room with a king sized bed, a tv, and a closet, except for a capsule-like object in the edge of his room. This was the device to access the dive system.

Yuri approached the dive capsule, and examined it, the device was silver in color and designed just like a capsule bed like the one in a capsule hotel in Japan. Several buttons that say on and off and a hole that fits a card can be found on the side. The device also included with a headpiece that looked like a helmet, intended to process brain input of the user.

Yuri figured out the mechanism of the device and turned it on, and inserted the card that he got from his sister. This card was actually a game card issued by the game company, without it, you can't access the game no matter what, and also make the dive capsule a bit useless on its own.

He entered it and tried to be as comfortable as he can, and finally, put on the headpiece.

Tring

Tring

Tring

The opening song comes out with its opening trailer for the game. It lasted for several seconds until he arrived at the title screen. One text after another came out in front of his eyes.

Avatar's Found.

Enter Emperor's Dynasty

[Yes] - [No]

Yuri took a breath and said yes in his mind.

Woosh

The screen changes again, replaced by vast plains, mountains, and a town in a distance, with the occasional monsters roar, can also be heard from where he stands. He can't believe his eyes, is this real? he thought, just like his eyes he also can't believe that he felt the winds brushed part his hair, and that sensation was as real as he can get just like the real world.