'You're logged in' 
'This is your 522th login'

Suho booted up his gaming session with the gaming lens. He went into the gaming park, built by the game developer, JSJ1 Corp. He equipped his inventory slots with some weapons, potions and changed his outfits into a white robe with a leather bag pack, putting his important possessions inside it. 

The gaming park was built specially for the AR game they developed, the Lens. The massive multiple augmented reality role-playing game attracted thousands of fans during its launch. The game let the players use all of their whole body to play and in game screen will appear on the AR lens. 

However, continuous scrutiny from the society and the government were prevalent, after reports of the gamers caught in various dangerous situations. JSJ1 Corp decided to built a theme park solely to provide spaces for the gamers. They can play the game only inside the park. 

Suho entered a building, looked like a shopping mall, inside the theme park.

'Zone Guardian credentials detected'

Zone Guardian; a rank similar to moderator, looking over the zone rules. Suho is Zone Guardian for the Marketplace, the place he just entered. The Marketplace is a fight free zone, posing as one of the main gathering places for the players. 

He quickly entered a café, which he worked a part time manager. He secured a job inside the theme park after proving his excellence in gaming and also in real life too, he was a branch manager for a café chain. The in game café was a place which the players could hang out and have an actual meal, paid with in game currency, but the price was somewhat similar with the real world. 

His warrior outfit automatically changed into a barista outfit and he made his way to his working area. His day passed by like usual, checking out the whole café operations, occasionally serving the players and most importantly, making sure that the peace within the zone he was guarding was kept. 

Ting!

Bells chiming, as customers came in and out from the café but Suho heard it differently. He sensed some tension among the customers. 

Ting! 

The crowd inside the café silenced and everyone plastered their look on the man who's going into the place. The tall and slender man was clad in black skinny outfit with fiery red hair. It was Sehun, the current highest level player, The Master. 

He quickly took his place at the serving counter, where Suho was replacing an absent worker. The other players swiftly leaving the place, Sehun was that intimidating. His looked nonchalant with the movements around him, he was used with it. 

Sehun was known as one of the most aggressive players, he could fight 20 players or finish a mastery level quest in a day, without rest. He was also one of the earliest players and he massively contributed for the development of the game, especially for PvP mode. As token of appreciation, the developer company provided him a special route to quickly increase his level, in which he rejected the offer, citing unfairness towards other players. The only thing he accepted was unlimited pass for the theme park so he could go and play the game any time he wanted. 

'Give me the strongest liquor you have,' asked Sehun.

Shaking his head, Suho chuckled, 'You're walking inside a café not a bar. I could only serve you the best coffee or maybe you'd like a cup of bubble tea?' 

Sehun looked at him shockingly, he realized that he went into a different place he used to hang out. He took another look around the place and further confirmed his mistake. He sighed. 'I must took a wrong turn,' Sehun whispered to himself. His face grunted and he swiftly opened a map showing the places in the theme park. 

'Looks like it's the first time you're here. Did you lost your way? The bar is on the Southern Marketplace,' Suho looked at him, confused with his appearance. The person in front of him wasn't a normal player. Everyone could be The Master but not everyone could put up with the challenge to gain the title. Suho once aimed for it but he came to conclusion that his current title suited him the most. The Master was a title given for the players who finished all the quests including mastery level quests and at least won 10 times for the monthly PvP tournament league. Sehun topped the Master Hall of Fame few times too.

'Here's a bubble tea,' Suho handed it to him. 

'I didn't order it,' Sehun refused. He took a sight of the drink in haste and glanced at his phone. Real life items were restricted and only a few personal belongings were allowed. Players were encouraged to pack lightly and required to keep their unused belonging inside the lockers provided. 

'You're literally the best player in this game. It's an honour for me to have you here. Drink it, it's on the house,' Suho persuaded him. 'Maybe take a breather outside too. Your vitals are decreasing.' A hint of worry showed in his voice. 

As a Zone Guardian, Suho could see other players stats too, so he could respond to emergencies appropriately. He could heal players that caught in a fight within his zone and had enough credentials to ban players who breaks the rule. Decreasing vitals meant the players were under attack or the players' health was not in good condition. The latter were always advised to leave the park to rest because it was detrimental to their health if they continue playing the game. 

'Thanks for the advice. I'll take this,' Sehun replied. 

Suho nodded to him as Sehun walked out of the café. He did his work quickly because his shift was ending. 

Suddenly, he saw something lit up on the counter. It was a phone and there was a call coming in. Suho hesitated to answer the call but he thought it might be the owner searching for it. It didn't show any caller identification. He picked up the phone and slide his finger on the screen to answer the call. 

'Sehun, this is the last warning. Give that item to me or I'll kill you for real. Meet me at The Pit tomorrow, 3AM sharp,' the caller said and ended the call without listening to the response from the other side. 

Suho stood for a while, feeling disturbed. One side of him wanted to let it pass, but the role he's playing made him think twice. Real world conversations via mobile phones were untapped unlike in-game conversations. It was exempted from game moderations, which prevent excessive use of rude remarks, profanities or even attempts to hack the system. Threats like this was not unusual in-game and the developers regarded it as usual brawl. 

Another thing that was worrying him was the place of the meeting. The Pit was the most dangerous place for players. It was situated in the Wilderness, the place where almost no rules applied except the basic rules and regulations. Non playable characters (NPC) would automatically attack players and they were very dangerous. Dangerous NPC aside, the place was full of Bandits and Pirates, nicknames for notorious PvP focused players. Often killing and looting unsuspected or lost players who wandered in the Wilderness. 

'But he's the Master, dangerous deals are not a secret between high levelled players,' Suho thought. He made such deals before too, prior his current title, he was the Scavenger, second highest player rank in the game. Players would make a deal for anything, and usually the losing party's items were taken completely by the winner. Players who focused on PvP fights always packed light, afraid of losing too many items in their inventory. 

Suho took a peek on his watch and quickly made his way to the café office to clock out from his shift. He made sure to hold on to Sehun's phone and try to search for Sehun outside, hoping he would bump into him. It was not long after Sehun left the café. He was limping when Suho saw him, he should not be far away if his condition did not get better. 

'What if he comes back later when he couldn't find the phone on his own?, the thought made him turned back to the café and decided to wait for Sehun there. He had some questions too. Luckily it was his off day at the café branch outside, he could do his paperwork inside the theme park café. 

- 

Hours passed but there wasn't any sight of the taller man. He saw tons of messages came and a few missed calls from unknown numbers. He decided to not take a peek at the phone again, respecting Sehun's privacy. 

It was already 6pm and the sky was getting darker. He packed his items and made his way back to go out from the theme park after bidding good byes to his coworkers. The café would not close anyway and shifts changed few times when he was waiting. The theme park opened 24 hours every day and players could buy seasonal passes depending on their rank and memberships. 

His batista outfit changed back to his warrior outfit together with all of his inventory that has been hidden while he was working. He fondled on the phone he believed was Sehun's. The phone was blue in color and looked like new. 'Must be the latest model,' his hunch telling him.  He put the phone inside his leather bag pack while reminding himself to leave it at the lost and found office. 

Out of sudden, a screen appeared in front of him. He was startled because he already checked all tasks he had to do that day. The screen showed jumbled letters slowly arranging themselves to form sentences. 

YOU HAVE A NEW QUEST

QUEST DETAILS:
* Locate Master Sehun *
* Eradicate threats in The Pit *
* Eliminate unwanted bugs *

QUEST MUST BE ACCEPTED. 
QUEST REJECT OPTION DISABLED. 
OPEN THE DEVICE IN YOUR POCKET FOR DETAILS.

Suho was beyond petrified. He did not know about this quest and reject option disabled was unheard of. The option could be chosen with a heap of money required to pay but it was never a problem for Suho, he had more than enough to do it few times. The screen kept flashing. 

BOUNDARY LIMITATION LIFTED
ARMOURY LIMITATION LIFTED
SKILL LIMITATION LIFTED
INVENTORY LIMITATION LIFTED

He was dizzy when the screen in front of him kept flashing new sentences. He was a seasoned player and from his knowledge, only developers and founding players could get such credentials. The next screen made him fell down in shock. 

YOU ARE NOW THE MASTER

A shadow kept watching him from afar.