Dex stepped inside—and ducked just as a slipper flew over his head."And here she comes. ." Moments later a middle aged woman who seemed to be in her late 30s walks into view before Dex could reach the living room, another slipper in hand and hands on her hips. This was Dex's mom, who glares at him with an agitated expression on her beautiful face.
"Ah, mi'jo, you finally came home." She smiles and it definitely didn't reach her eyes. "So tell me, whats the time??" Dex gulps as he saw the calmness she exuded, this was a lie, this was the calm before the storm and he could bet all the money he had right now she had something planned for him. ""Mamá, it's 11:30, but espera—I've got an explanation!...Malo and I saw an old woman fainted on the ground when hanging out so we had to rush her to the Hospital."
He lies, keeping a poker face as he did so, while staring her in the eyes as well, and he knew she knew he was bullshitting. She stared at him. The clock ticked. Somewhere, a dog barked. Dex swore his sweat was louder. He was half-Mexican—his mom full, his dad a mystery she refused to discuss—but her chancla aim was 100% ancestral which she held tightly in her grasp. Also she mostly spoke spanish with him. He only knew some words though but he could understand perfectly when she spoke it though. So he mostly mixed English with mexican whenever he spoke to her out of habit. Anyways she was very strict and worried about him a tad too much.
The discipline was also there. But he was a stubborn guy, a troublemaker, mostly due to Malo who's been a bad influence since day one but he loved the thrill. There was only one way this could end. And it was-
Dex's mom immediately rushed towards him, her chancla still in hand, about to give him a good whooping. What's with mexican moms and their slippers used as weapons?! He ponders as he dodges the slipper thrown at him, immediately rushing towards the stairs. "Mamá, ¡Relajarse! I'm 18, you can't be treating me like this still!"
He exclaims as he bolts up the stairs, mom hot on his tail, cursing at him in heated Spanish. As Dex opens the door to his room, heart beating wildly, he immediately enters and just as he turns and was about to close the door, the chancla finds him, and greets him. Mom's last throw embraced his face, hitting him hard before the door closes making him fall hard on his ass.
'Fuck, she wins again...Victory Mamá. As usual' He grumbled, standing up as he heads towards his bed while rubbing his cheek. The phone rings as Dex raises an eyebrow and pulls it out of his pockets before picking it up and bringing it to his ear. He said nothing, and the other person on the line also said nothing. After a good minute, Dex smiles. "Malo, What's up. You got home safe?"
Dropping himself unto his soft bed he sighs as he puts the phone on loud speaker and begins to remove his jacket. This was just a stupid tradition from their Mission Impossible phase. Malo still took it seriously; Dex just liked the drama. It's stuck with them till now. Malo's voice could be heard a moment later. "Not like we're safe. Those mafia fucks have pyrokinetics. We need those pods tomorrow. You hit the bank, right? Pod's getting dropped at el tío's tomorrow."
Malo inquires in a serious tone. Dex raises a brow and nods, placing the jacket in the laundry basket as he sits up and stretches. "Yeah, your uncle's place right? Thanks again, I wouldn't want my Mamà, asking questions on how I got the money to buy the game." Dex stated with a smile as he sighs a bit. "Meet you at el escondite tomorrow?"
"Sure" Malo responds and hangs up a moment later.
Malo you motherfucker, if this uncle you talk about truly still lives there still, well, let's just say things will be complicated. Because the Vr Pod we ordered tonight were being delivered straight to the house tomorrow morning and Malo says his uncle was rarely at home. He had spare keys, so that house would be kind of a hideout/safe spot for us to play
Sighing, Dex shakes his head to clear the thoughts as he tries to sleep, shivering at memories from earlier today before falling asleep after a good hour had passed.
The next day, Dex eats his breakfast and leaves the house.
Reaching Malo's uncle's home, he knocks on the door and Malo opens it for him. As Dex steps in he raises a brow.
Malo's 'plan' had two flaws:
1. His uncle's house smelled like expired salsa and regret.
2. We were still technically trespassing.
But with a mafia pyrokinetic on our asses and my mom's chancla radar locked onto me, 'technically' was the least of our problems.
As Dex and Malo enter his Tío Ramón's dusty row house, Tío Ramón's house smelled like stale Modelo and regret. Malo beelined for the fridge—half-eaten tamales, a few loose cervezas—while Dex eyed the flickering Virgin Mary candle in the hallway. 'Great. Haunted and humid.'
And there, in one of the bedrooms, Dex's new Dreamscape pod was there, in all it's glory. Delivery labels plastered on the side of it. He smiles as he thanks Malo in his head for having them deliver it here.
Dex sighs and walks around it, grabbing the new headset as he stares at it with an expression of guilt. 2.5 million pesos—enough for Mamá's dream house, a degree, and a chance—gone. For a game.
...Worth it. , Then again this 2.5 mil wasn't from a legal source.
Malo walks in and seeing Dex's expression, he smiles confidently and places a palm on Dex's shoulder. His other hand held a beer which he cracked open with his teeth and takes an unhealthy amount of gulps out of it.
"Cálmate, guey. Tío's in Cancún getting scammed by a timeshare mamacita. We got months."
Dex scoffs and replies. "Yeah, and the Lucianos? They got flamethrower hands"
Malo grins: "Then quit bitching and log in."
A few moments later, Malo returns to his own room to log in as well. Dex closes the door and locks it behind him, who knows when the Luciano's might locate them? No one. Better be safe than dead. As Dex wears the Dream suit which came with the Pod and headset, he inhales deeply staring hesitantly at the pod, a luxury he never thought he would ever touch in this lifetime. His mom's voice then lingers in his mind as he steps closer to the pod. . "¿Otro juego? ¡Niño, te voy a matar!"
He mutters: "Lo siento, Mamá… pero I need this."
With that, he steps inside the Pod and takes a seat, wearing the headset and exhales deeply. Time to log into hell.
Upon activation, Dex hears a smooth voiced feminine AI in his head [Welcome to Dreamscape Online, Player.] The AI's voice slithered into his skull, sweet as poisoned honey. His synapses itched—like someone had dipped his brain in champagne bubbles—then nothing.
Slowly opening his eyes, he finds himself in an endlessly white glowing room, and then, a system window appears in his minds eyes. Showing him a list of races he should choose first. 'Huh? Race?' He tilts his head. He has heard about choosing your own race before and knew a thing or two about what happens after you choose it. Choosing a Race meant you would be sent to the world or server of the race you chose. And each race also had a main storyline of its own players needed to follow. Honestly he didn't give two fucks about the games storyline whichever the race was. What he cared about leveling up and reaching level 50 then gaining his irl powers.
Some say level 50 was the final level because of this. But that wasn't exactly true, you could continue to level up after level 50 but because of the irl power people gain, they simply see level 50 as some kind of important fresh start so they idolise it. Scanning through the races, he scrolls with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Human? Boring. Elf? Too pretty-boy. Dwarf? I'm already 5'10—hard pass. Cyber-Human? Now we're talking. Hacking perks, neon veins, and a city where the rules were optional?' "Sí, por favor."
After choosing, A new window appears.
[Cyber human chosen! Please customise your character!
Body build: Lean build
Hair colour: Silver
Eye colour: Ice blue
height: 6,2
Gender: Male/female. (Male chosen)
Dick size: 8 inch
Cyber body customization: Only right arm. [Set to robotic. Default weapons installed. Hidden knife]
Dex knew why the last option existed. Basically in dreamscape players could engage in sexual intercourse with each other or even the NPC's after reaching certain favourability level with them. This was also part of the reasons why dreamscape was so popular. After filling in the details, he logs into the game and immediately after logging in, Dex's system
screen flickered to life, Neo-Tokyo Prime's neon skyline burning through his retinas. The air smelled like ozone and cheap ramen— way too real for a game.
His HUD flashed:
[WELCOME, USER: DEX_MX]
[SERVER: NEO-TOKYO PRIME (CYBER-HUMAN SPAWN)]
[WARNING: BOUNTY DETECTED (10,000 CR)]
"Shit." He'd expected the Lucianos to hunt him IRL—not here.
A pop-up appeared, glitching violently:
[SYSTEM ALERT: PRIVATE MESSAGE]
FROM: V_VIRUS (Luciano Syndicate | Level 61 | Hacker-Class)
"Hola, guapo. Stealing from my family? Cute. Don't worry—I won't crash your game… yet. ;)"
The message dissolved, leaving Dex's screen smeared with digital bloodstains for three unnerving seconds before resetting.
'Hold on—I forgot to change my username!' His stomach dropped. Too late. The Lucianos already knew his tag. And if "V_Virus" was who he thought…
Valentina. The Don's silent, sharp-eyed daughter. The one who'd watched, unblinking, as he and Malo begged for the loan, before they stole it... The one who never spoke.
A shadow moved in Dex's peripheral vision.
Slowly, a figure materialized stunning and alluring figure —ice-blonde, leather-clad, the Luciano crest glowing crimson on her jacket.
Valentina's avatar tilted her head, neon reflections dancing across her smirk.
"Hola again," she purred. "Let's play."
[SYSTEM ALERT: PLAYER V_VIRUS HAS INITIATED PVP MODE.]
[WARNING: LEVEL DISPARITY DETECTED (61 vs. 1)]
[REWARD FOR KILL: 10,000 CR + BOUNTY BONUS]
Dex's cybernetic fingers twitched.
He had no weapons.
No skills.
And a single thought screaming through his skull:
"Malo, you motherf—"