101 Avatars
1. It All Started with That Hoho Game

Five years ago that night, not a single person would have guessed that such an event would happen.

About 7 years ago, two genius scientists created a phenomenal game that was widely reported in various mass media as a game that brought human civilization to a new era.

An era called the virtual era where people can actually enter and feel the sensation directly from the game through their five senses rather than through the keyboard keys of a computer screen.  Hero of Hope game or abbreviated as Hoho Game, that is the name of the game.

A game that was originally created in Korea by a genius scientist from Indonesia and a genius scientist from Korea.  It did not take until two months since its creation, the game was successfully entered in the Indonesian market.

The game is quite interesting because we can feel the real fighting experience in the virtual world through 99 Avatars that we can choose freely as our game characters.  We can also freely replace our avatar with another avatar at any time.  However, the more often one of the avatars was played, the more the avatar's fighting power would evolve to become more powerful.

Then came the honorary title to the people who managed to make one of the avatars evolve to be the most powerful among other avatars of the same kind owned by other players.  That honorary title was called Ranker.

And as the owner of Avatar Number 1, Freeze, the greatest among the other players, my first brother, Faridh, holds the Ranker title.  The smaller the number of an avatar, the greater its ability.  However, this was accompanied by the increasing difficulty of the avatar being controlled.

When the player's body chooses an avatar that is beyond his ability to play, then the system will automatically reject it.  However, sometimes many rogue players use hackers to trick the system into playing smaller numbered avatars than they could otherwise play.  As a result, they suffered injuries and were forced to be rushed to the hospital.

Therefore, it is not meant to be arrogant, but as the owner of the Ranker title for the greatest avatar as well as the most difficult to control, doesn't that mean my brother Faridh is the greatest player in the Hoho game?

At least that's what I was proud of from my first brother until the night of the disaster five years ago came.

That night, I innocently asked my brother to fight with the Number 8 Avatar Ranker, Healer, out of annoyance with my friends at school who were overly praising the prowess of that Number 8 Avatar Ranker.  What is great, obviously my brother is the greatest, I thought.

However, not even the two Rankers had been met, suddenly the electricity in our room was where my brother, Faridh, was inside his gaming capsule to connect to the gaming system, he said, it suddenly became unstable and there were small sparks of electric flames everywhere.

In an instant, the room darkened.  And at that moment with my own eyes, I witnessed the incident.  Avatar Freeze suddenly came out of the computer screen and became real.  Then the cursed avatar killed my brother, Faridh, very sadistically.

If only on that day, I had not been provoked by the words of my friends who were overly praising Ranker Avatar Number 8, surely that night Kak Faridh did not need to play Hoho Game, he said, moreover, Kak Faridh was busy in preparing for his university entrance exam.  And we also do not need to be involved in the night of the Hoho Game disaster.

A disastrous night in which the 99 avatars of Hoho Game suddenly exit the game and spread throughout the capital Jakarta and kill each player who happens to activate their respective avatars in the night that goes with the people around them.

If so, Brother Faridh would definitely still be alive today.

However, even after five years have passed, I still have not been able to forget the incident.  I'm determined to unravel the mystery behind the disastrous night of the Hoho Game in our city.  That is why, now I entered the Virtual Physics major at the best university in Jakarta.

“Adrian, breakfast time.  Do not get busy with computer screens only.”  Shouts Brother Syifa, then disperse my daydream.  I followed her to get out of my room and go downstairs for breakfast.

She is Syifa's sister, my second brother.  With the death of Brother Adrian, now only the two of us who live shoulder to shoulder to shoulder to survive.  Both of our parents divorced and left us to achieve their own goals.  Only remittances from those who sometimes come every month to meet the needs of our lives.

My father is a virtual physics scientist who is currently doing his research in Canada.  My mother is an archaeologist currently busy with ancient artifacts in northern Africa.

I smiled kindly in front of my sister.

“Duh, Adrian, why are you staring at Brother while grinning like that?  If you want your pocket money added, then Big Brother can not grant it.”  Said my sister tightly.

Well, even now, my family is no longer complete, but I can still feel happiness as long as my sister, Syifa, is fine.

“Today is Brother's first patrol, right?  The spirit of Brother.  If it was Brother, surely the sculptors would have been frightened.  Hehehehe.”  My candlestick to my brother that looks ready with his police uniform.

“Duh, Adrian.  Again you are mocking Brother.  I myself also know that the character of Big Brother is a tomboy and there are no feminim-feminimnya, so until now Brother can not also get a girlfriend.  That I know, but listening to it right out of your mouth, makes Brother slightly hurt.”  Suddenly my sister's face turned mellow upon hearing my joke.

I also felt guilty because it was not what Kak Syifa thought the purpose of my words.  Because to me, my brother Syifa is no less cool than my brother Faridh.  She was a strong-minded woman and had a high sense of justice.  And with his own efforts, he was able to realize his ideals to become a policewoman he desired.

“No, Sister Syifa.  That's not what I meant.  Look, anu, a strong and strong woman also has her own charm in front of men.  For me, it is precisely the type of woman like Kak Syifa who is much more attractive than the types of spoiled pretentious women who always want to attract the attention of the man.”  I quickly denied Sister Syifa's misunderstanding of my words just now.

“Hehehe.  My sister Adrian is indeed a good sister.”  Said Sister Syifa accompanied by her sincere laughter while rubbing my hair.

I smiled at my sister too.  I hope this happy atmosphere can last forever.

We also finished breakfast.  Because today, my lecture began at 3 pm, I only drove Kak Syifa's departure in front of the door and then re-occupied myself in front of my computer screen.

In fact, there was not a single hunch that day, that Kak Syifa would also be a victim of the avatar Hoho Game who had never again showed his activity for the past five years.