"I'm going to my bedroom, dad," Emily said.
She, her father, and her mother were having lunch in their mansion. The place was massive and styled like an ancient building, with many giant rooms and countless small ones.
It had been built on the site of a medieval palace that dated back several centuries. Still, this old stone structure, which even now retained its name, "Harmony Estate", had been remade from its foundations and looked like a modern fortress.
A new part had been built outwards from the original palace over all these years; the building looked like made from another world entirely. It was an architectural dreamland of domes, vaults, arches, and spires.
There ran wide flights of marble steps leading up to balconies or down into courts below. There were vast halls for receptions and banquets, while smaller chambers contained stately reception rooms where family members could entertain guests alone without being disturbed by other people's conversations.
This latter group included one great room whose ceiling soared high above them as they sat around the table eating hot dishes served on golden trays.
The dinner table the family was currently having their lunch at was massive. It extended across several tiles along the floor and was situated on a meter-tall red podium.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAll around the table, particularly on the southwest wall, there stood countless more chairs set aside for visitors who might drop in unannounced and a few additional seats were arranged against the opposite sidewall.
All told, there were at least a hundred dining positions altogether. On the ceilings, countless ancient chandeliers hung above those seats; each one held dozens of fake candles lightened up to brighten the massive room.
Richard, the head of the house, was an art collector, and he loved this ancient design that made his house so picturesque. In the center of the huge room, two large windows opened onto a view of the garden outside.
Through the glass were trees and shrubbery, flowers growing everywhere amid lawns carpeted with green grass. Birds sang here and there among the branches; some flew overhead in long arcs through the air. From time to time, squirrels darted past beneath the window ledges.
Emily gracefully stood from her chair. She was an elegant and beautiful young woman with dark hair worn loose about her shoulders. She wore a blue silk dress embroidered with silver thread.
Her face, though still somewhat childish looking, bore traces of maturity, as did her figure; although not yet fully grown, she possessed considerable charms.
Her emerald green eyes were enough to mesmerize any person who saw her gaze fixed upon him. When she spoke, it seemed almost impossible that such beauty should have come from within human flesh.
Yet, despite appearances, she had no difficulty attracting men, but she didn't enjoy the attention she received.
As soon as she reached the door, she paused momentarily before turning around towards the rest of her family, still seated behind her. Then, smiling sweetly, she made a curtsy and then stepped away toward her own quarters beyond the hall.
It didn't take very much for her to reach her chambers; once there, she went to her VR capsule. Despite her appearance, she was an avid gamer, and she enjoyed playing Bladehunt, a first-person shooter set in modern warfare and developed by the militaries.
The game had them all, from land fights to naval ones. The game didn't allow people to use their brain crystal power, as it had to be custom-made for every person playing, and that was why it was so popular.
It allowed people to fight equally with stronger individuals without losing because of their weak brain crystals. The game had been released two years prior, and it got constant updates from the militaries, who added weapons, vehicles, and many more.
Emily was a huge fan of the game and was also a high ranker. Though she had a little secret she could not reveal otherwise, people would call her a cheat.
As the young girl logged inside the game, the usual main screen appeared in front of her. She decided to have a quick match, which usually lasted thirty minutes, so she loaded her character, selected the lobby, and then went in.
She spawned inside a building, holding her faithful sniper rifle, which she bought after spending a lot of time and money inside the game.
Emily went inside a building and quickly rushed to the rooftop; she crouched and placed The Oculus on top of a short wall. She looked inside the scope and aimed at one of her targets and shot; she started feeling the thrill of the fight already.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAs she waited, she noticed another player coming closer to her position. She shot at him while the enemy approached the building, hitting him behind his eyes with an exploding bullet.
Then she looked at her surroundings and started shooting down anyone trying to get to her hiding spot. After killing another enemy player, she looked around carefully and noticed her team advancing unobstructed toward the enemy base.
After a minute, a massive screen with the word YOU WON appeared in front of her, and later, the leaderboard appeared. She had totaled 71 kills for her team, killing the entire enemy squad without even moving from her spot. On the first position, her nickname appeared, "Evil Eye."
Emily slowly removed her helmet and hung him on a hook built inside the capsule. She then took off her dress and threw it into the corner next to her bed, then picked up her comfy pajamas and sat at her computer chair.
"Let's see what happened today..."
"LAST NEWS: FRANT SUCCESSFULLY BREACHED HINIAN'S FRONT LINES!"
The headline, along with several other articles, was about the recent war between Frant and Hin. Emily clicked the article, scrolling down on her computer and reading the news related to the war with rapt attention.
"HINIAN FORCES SUFFER MAJOR LOSSES DUE TO FRANT'S SPECIAL FORCES: A NEW INDIVIDUAL HAS EMERGED FROM FRANT'S FORCES DURING THIS LAST WEEK. ACCORDING TO SOURCES CLOSE TO THE MILITARY, THIS INDIVIDUAL, WHOSE NAME HAS REMAINED HIDDEN, WAS SINGLE-HANDEDLY ABLE TO BEAT ENEMY FORCES ON THEIR SHORES. HIN WAS FORCED TO RETREAT BEHIND FIRIO CITY AND IS CURRENTLY DEFENDING THE CITY FROM FRANT'S ATTACK."
Emily read several articles, all talking about the recent war against Hin. The young woman was surprised by how much information was available online, especially regarding wars.
She continued browsing until she reached a picture taken by someone standing near a tank, showing a man in full battle armor walking beside a soldier wearing the same uniform.
After she was satisfied with the news, the young girl went to bed to rest her eyes, though, as she sat on the bed, an intense migraine hit her heavily. She knew why she suddenly got a migraine, she was going to have one of her visions, and judging by the pain she felt, she was going to see something important.