PROLOGUE: The Lost Diary
Month of Tammuz (Gr. Jun-Jul) , Year 20XX (n)
It was hot. I really hate the summer months.
Although my place was cozy, I can only see the setting sun. But for where am I? I don't know.
I can hear them say, "The decades of wars finally ended."
I know, thousands of lives have been slaughtered but thousands still remained.
They were free bathing in the sun while I am here counting the sun rays flashing by.
"Skip your meals! Sleep more often!"
It was not a propaganda. It was an order.
Clangs of metal bars resounded as a man in green camouflage was busy patrolling each cell.
I am hungry, but what can I do?
Yes, I can do something.
Yes, I will sleep.
***
Month of Kislev (Gr. Nov-Dec), Year 20XX (n+1)
So cold. I hate the cold! It was the end of the month and winter is coming.
I'm sure of it.
How do I know? I have my markings. ⌂⌂⌂⌂
I've drawn many of them countless times. When the sun woke up and the moon went to sleep, I always mark a stick on my own little notebook. Five days later, the sticks turned into a house. A month later, the house turned into a village of houses.
"Uhaaa, uhaaa!" I always hear them, several of them. A year had passed but not the cries and screams of hungry children.
"The government doesn't have enough cows to milk! Release the ads for pro-breast milk! Start the 'breast-to-feed' program!"
It was not a propaganda. It was another order.
And me? I can do nothing.
All I can do is sleep.
***
Month of Shevat (Gr. Jan-Feb), Year 20XX (n+2)
I know it's another year. I hope the winter will be over.
I feel cold, I feel hungry.
Yes, I admit it. I also don't understand it myself.
Whenever it was summer, I wish it was winter. But I really miss the sun whenever I see the falling snow over.
I always feel like crying when I see the snow.
Its life is sad. It falls down, but it doesn't know.
I just ate a bread. But I'm gonna sleep.
I hope tomorrow, the snow won't fall again.
***
Month of Nisan (Gr. Mar-Apr), Year 20XX (n+3)
Spring brings me a pleasant mood.
I hear the birds chirping and see some visiting me.
The wind blows gently and carries voices towards me.
"Wi-fi installation completed. Long distance network communications are up!"
But I don't care.
What is wi-fi anyways? Can I eat it? Can I enjoy it?
I remember what it is. But I remember more what I need.
Shelter, clothing, food and water. Those are the basic necessities for humans like me.
But food and water now are limited. The same as my pages and ink.
I better sleep.
***
Month of Tishrei (Gr. Sept-Oct), Year 20XX (n+4)
I heard that in the South, it rained heavily.
The acres of agricultural lands were flooded.
It's another year of famine.
Another year of hunger.
I hate the rain!
Not because it caused the flood but because the raindrops falling down reminded me of my tears falling whenever I am crying.
I hate the rain because the dark clouds remind me of my dark cold cell, the roaring thunder reminds me of my growing hunger and the flashing lightning reminds me of how my rations just flashed by.
I'm hungry, but I won't cry anymore.
I heard it once again, 'Breast-to-feed program' now at version 2.0.
I wonder how breast milk tastes like.
"Is it really that delicious and nutritious?"
I bet in my entire life I won't be able to taste it anymore.
Let this question be buried as a mystery in my memory.
I miss my mom.
Let me sleep.
***
Month of Elui (Gr. Aug-Sep), Year 20XX (n+5)
I heard it was a success! They developed a fasting pill.
Heavens! I can't believe it's real.
I'm so happy! I can't remember when was the last time I laugh this hard.
I barely talk. So, I decided to make friends now.
We got the fasting pill.
I donated a piece of bread I saved.
I know it was heavy for them. But I can't blame them.
I've seen them working very hard for the past few months.
I hope that piece of bread can satisfy their families.
I hope they can carry them.
I hope I'm as free as my tiny little red friends.
We never talked nor know each other.
But they always visit me, so they are my friends.
***
Month of Av (Gr. Jul-Aug), Year 20XX (n+6)
People officially said goodbye to hunger.
What is food? How does food taste like?
I can't remember anymore.
I'm lost. And I'm sad.
My friends? They never came back since the last time I gave them a piece of bread.
I hope they were not poisoned.
I hope they're still alive.
Anyway, since the fasting pill was invented, I never got bread rations anymore.
If I know it was the last time I'd taste the bread, I would've not shared it to anyone.
If I know it was the last, I really would've cherished it.
There is no medicine for regret.
Everyone knows it, and so does me.
***
Month of Av (Gr. Jul-Aug), Year 20XX (n+7)
Awful! It was very awful!
They gave us some liquid. I don't know what it is.
At first, I thought it was poison. But they said it was a nutritious concoction.
"Heh! Nutritious my ass!"
It was so bitter, spicy, sweet and everything.
And I heard some people called us guinea pigs!
Seriously I hate guinea pigs! If they did not exist, maybe we won't be also regarded guinea pigs.
Five times… I puked a total of five times and almost fainted.
"The heck with nutrition!"
I'd rather be given a ton of fasting pill than a cup of that stinky nutritious poisonous liquid.
I'm done… I'm dead…
I'm so dizzy...
I wanna go home.
***
Month of Tammuz (Gr. Jun-Jul), Year 20XX (n+8)
I'm sick. I feel like dying.
But I'm a coward. I still want to live.
It was exactly one year. They were feeding us with different colored solutions.
Some were acceptable, but most are F%#*T@$!!!
I hope I won't die.
And I hope it really was not poisonous.
I don't know. But I really feel something bad will happen to me if the taste test continues.
The boy last month, I can't see him.
Neither the girl two months ago.
Even the old granny sitting two tables in front of me.
What is happening? Did they die? I'm scared.
It's so hard to sleep.
I hope time would freeze and during the taste test tomorrow, I hope the time would skip.
***
Month of Cheshvan (Gr. Oct-Nov), Year 20XX (n+9)
It's real! Our numbers are really dwindling.
I observed it.
Hundreds…
No! Thousands…
I don't know. Maybe more.
But it's not only me who observed it.
My four tablemates. We were happy chatting last month.
This time, they were gone.
Where are they? I hope they're fine.
I wanna ask the warden. But I can't!
Damn this stupid tongue!
I can't speak my thoughts. My tongue is heavily tied.
Never mind, the tasting procedure finished.
They said the solution was a success.
For the first time in forever, we were fed a sumptuous meal.
I may be eating happily, but inwardly I'm so wary.
***
Month of Av (Gr. Jul-Aug), Year 20XX (n+10)
This day, I wish I was the sun.
Even though it rises and set, still it burns bright every day.
I don't know why. I have a feeling I won't see the sun anymore.
I miss the snow, I miss the rain.
I hope my tiny little friends would visit me again.
Just this once… I prayed.
I am a prisoner.
They told us to prepare.
We are the last batch.
I don't know why or how I deserve this life.
I'm just a normal guy caught in the middle of the war.
I miss you mom! I miss you dad!
They told us to survive.
They told us to strive.
We were briefed about the game.
Many of us have died. Lost their lives due to repeated deaths.
Many of us lost their sanity. The brain short-circuited and cannot distinguish between reality and virtual reality.
Some are still standing strong. Spending their lives like a living dead.
Lying in the prison called capsule.
Eating and drinking through the equipment called tubes.
They said it is for a cause. They said it is for peace and prosperity.
They said it is for humanity.
For happiness and for peace.
I spoke what I wanted to say. But I'm powerless to change my fate.
I protested, but I'm just a prisoner.
If there's a next time in life, I wish I would be free.
I want my voice to be heard.
I want to express my feelings through my words.
I want my actions to match my words.
I am a prisoner.
I am an orphan.
I am deaf.
I am me.
They are now calling me. I want to say goodbye to the rising sun and bade farewell to the setting moon.
To the countless stars in the night sky playing hide-and-seek with the clouds,
To the winds and the dust roaming free up above,
To the bars and the clangs waking me up every time,
And to you, my ink, paper and pen,
When you see my friends, the little ants,
Please grant me my wish and tell them my name.
I am Code ***** ******.
My book pages are spent, so was my ink, and so was my life in this cell.
------------------------
Tears welled down the prisoner's eyes falling hard on his name written on the dirty-white page.
He was afraid to be a subject. He was afraid of the possibility of death.
But what can he do?
His name was called, but he cannot hear them.
He was weeping. It was the first cry after 10 years and maybe the last after the first.
He was now lying on a capsule with a solemn face devoid of emotion.
He belonged to the last batch of the 'living dead'.
Two years in online prison. That was his sentence.
He closed his eyes as the glass roof encased his body.
That was his tragic beginning.
Welcome to WORD ART ONLINE!
***
10 years. It took 10 years for the economy to flourish and the world to retain its peace.
The war had just ended. One can say that everyone had almost the same starting point.
Right after the people's mood and the economy stabilized, the prosperous private organization, United League of Amicable Members (ULAM), released a news that shocked the continent.
'A new virtual reality (VR) game will be released!'
The game aims to simulate a world where peace can be achieved through words, where life struggles can be achieved through words, where happiness can be achieved through words and where hurting and killing can be achieved through words.
On that sunny afternoon, in several homes' television appeared the most mind-boggling, tongue twisting trailer for ULAM's VR game.
Everyone's eyes widened!
Everyone's heart shuddered!
Everyone's faces flushed red! No one knows why though.
And everyone entered a state of epiphany!
WORD…
ART…
ONLINE…
"Heh? That sounds familiar, isn't it?" Jingco racked his brains to figure out the origin of the name. But since he cannot remember, he just decided to...
LET IT GO!!!
LET IT GO!!!
... He can't hold it back anymore anyways…
And so, he rushed to the bathroom…
PRFFFTT!… an ear-piercing fart resounded the neighborhood as Jingco started too poop.
The fart was unheard of, however, as people started murmuring and shouting,
WAO!!! ULAM!!!
***
In the dark, cold room laid a worn-out pocketbook.
Except for a single person, Heaven knows if he's alive or dead, no one knows its existence. No one knows what was written inside.
"Evacuate and burn the military camp!"
It was not a propaganda. It was an order.
The secret operation in the camp was terminated. And so was the poor little book's pitiful life.
Pages were spent as the secrets were written.
One summer day, the diary was finally completed.
How long do letters live? How long do books exist?
No one knows. But the diary knew its fate.
As the letters turned to ashes, so as the memories in it were cremated and burned forever.
The book painstakingly written for 10 years, flew as ashes on that one single day.
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