Disclaimer: ½ Prince and all its characters belong to Yu Wo

Chapter 1 A Beginning

"Hey Sis!" brother came running towards me with two boxes in his hands. "Look what I've got!"

"A box? What am I supposed to do with that?" I asked sardonically.

"You are such a grouch Xiao Lan," he said with a frown on his forehead. "And I sacrificed a lot just to buy these."

"What are those anyway?" I enquired, a little bit curious myself.

"Second Life!"

I looked at him, waiting for more.

"I said it's Second Life!"

"And?"

"I don't believe this! Where have you been?" he asked, clearly baffled about my reaction. "This game has been all over the news the past few weeks. And yet you don't know anything about it?

"Who can blame me?" I defended. "I had plenty of homework to finish."

He just shook his head and snorted. "That's your fault for not doing them earlier."

"Oh, shut up!" I responded. "Else, I won't cook meals for you."

I've been designated as caretaker of my younger twin, Yang Ming. Our parents had decided to go on another honeymoon. As far as I remember, they always say that when they want to shirk their responsibilities. Such irresponsible parents. I wish they would let us go on vacation too. Or maybe just me since my brother is such a brat anyway.

"Well, this game just came out. I was lucky I got a copy this early. The shop was packed full," brother continued talking. "You remember that game we used to play online?"

"Are you talking about 'The World'?"

"Yeah! That one."

"Oh, that wasn't much of a challenge," I shrugged carelessly.

.
"Eh? Who are you to say that?" Yang Ming said his face full of incredulity. "If it wasn't for your online husband, you wouldn't even reach level 2!"

"You are definitely not getting dinner tonight!" I yelled at him, furious that he pointed out the obvious. I knew it was not very sporting of me, but it was such a waste not to accept the help and the gifts. I stood up, grabbed one of the boxes, and stomped towards my room.

"I'll show you Yang Ming! I'll surpass you. I'll do whatever it takes!" I muttered angrily to myself.

"You can't be serious!" Yang Ming chased after me, still thinking of food. "I'm starving over here."

I ignored him and slammed the door to his face. I went straight to my bed and arranged my pillows. I opened the box eagerly and took out the contents.

Not bothering to read the manual, I stuffed the cartridge into the game helmet.

"This cartridge goes here...and...viola! Here I go Second Life," I said as I slipped on the helmet.

"Hey, Xiao Lan! The game has not started yet!" Yang Ming called out while banging on my door. All I heard was a garbling sound as I drifted into darkness.

"It looks like he's hiding really well. I have seen neither hide nor hair since that night."

"He won't be hiding for long." A dark chuckle echoed over the phone. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

At the sound of that creepy rhyme, the one at the other end of the line felt a chill, and shuddered.

I tend to write incredibly short chapter stories. That way, I can update frequently. It might get longer in future chapters.