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*Babel, Kush*
In the real world, life has become very different since the game was launched!
The busy streets full of young people, became rather empty, and the older people are either in their workplace or at their homes. However, those under 17 years old are nowhere to be seen either! Though, they are not eligible to participate in the game...
Robert Graham has not returned to his mansion for days, he's completely immersed in his own mission... But that wasn't the only reason.
He's avoiding his woman, Elena, who he has never seen as mad as she is these days!
Standing on the very top of his Scientific Research Institution building, with not just one but two cigarettes that get lighted on their own, and a look so deep and weary, he contemplates.
'... Was it not enough?
Knowing him, he'd read the rules before embarking in any mission.
Does his drive to know the truth, surpasses his will to live!! That can't be... he went through the programming after all. Is the fact that that woman brought him up in his childhood enough to preserve his humanity...?
There's a lot to process, I can't ask Axel for another favor, should I take him out of there myself? I know she'll ask me to do so the moment I step foot in that household...'
He lets out a long sigh, evacuating his lungs, but not his troubled mind.
"Damn you Levon, you left your father all alone in this world?
Howard is weak and traumatized, my companions are all dead, and Axel...' His look tightened even more; visible pain could be seen from his face...
Behind the curtains, Robert has already tried to push Levon to quit the game, the favor Axel has done for him happened when the two were last seen together.
The trap Levon fell in when he fought Toygar and the bunch, was actually set up by the two! Someway somehow, Axel distorted time for Levon in a way that made time pass 2times slower for him in comparison with other players!! This explains why he's still a 1star player while Toygar, and even Zephyr, are already nearing 3 stars!
All of that was done, so Levon's mental gets broken.
Robert was certain that such a confident self-absorbed genius like his son will lose his drive quickly when faced with such hardships and "virtual" reality checks. Coupled with Robert assuming he'll be aware of rule N°14, Levon would quit, or so he thought!
Things didn't go as planned on many levels, Levon ended up not losing a life, and he wasn't aware of the rule until this moment. And most of all, he did not lose his drive or will to find out about this truth!
However, Levon is currently experiencing serious realizations...
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*Apertio, Aedificium*
"Impossible! Wha... what does this mean? Am I reading this correctly!? it's weirdly worded...
...certain death both in the game and reality!! If we die here, we don't go back to the real world??
HOW IS THAT!!? HOW ARE WE NOT MADE AWARE...
No!
It's me who didn't read the rules fully!!
FUCKING DOOM!! WHY DID I NOT READ THEM YOU STUPID AMATEUR!!! " Levon is angered with himself yet again, amateur is the word he hated most at a certain time...
'...Is everyone aware of this rule? Kewa seemed oblivious to it!
Just what type of rule is this? No other virtual game I ever played or known had anything remotely close to this. But again, this is like nothing I ever known before...
What's the purpose though? Of ending our lives here, for a game!!! No matter what this "Truth" is, no way it should be worth all of our lives, all 39Millions of us!!!
Dr. X... Just what type of man is he? His motives only get more mysterious by the time, and I sense how far away I am from him with each discovery I make!
I don't know what to do now, but one thing that worked on my side was not losing a life yet, even after such defeat... Could Toygar be aware of it, and he purposefully chose not to take it? It's possible, but why would he?"
With each thought taking him to another, Levon's usual headache started!
He puts his hand and covers the right side of his face, and tries to calm down...
"...Alright, nothing has happened yet so I mustn't worry for now. At any case, I was planning to be cautious, this will only make me be even more cautious.
If I so see best, I can always quit when things come to a dead end. One good rule is that defeat in a duel doesn't necessarily lead to death, a player can announce his defeat and the opponent won't be able to harm them after that.
I must always keep that in mind, and use it to my advantage, that and not accepting any challenger coming my way.
It serves no good to put my life at risk in a situation where I am not sure I can win.
One thing I cannot wrap my mind about, is how did Dr. X manage to equate between reality and virtuality even in death! We are certain that a person dies when his cells & DNA cannot reproduce any further, or when his vital organs are severely damaged or ill-functioning. No matter how such virtual world is constructed, it's still at the end, virtual! Or else, why didn't Kewa die the moment I blew his head wide open?
What can possibly cause the real death of a player?
There must be something, I must find the answer to this...'
...
"Look who we got here, Levon Graham himself!"
Levon scarily backs up!!!
While he was engaged in his deep thinking, Levon lost sense of his surrounding! Another player is now standing right in front of him!!
This time, it looks like someone who actually knows him, he could tell from the smirk on their face.
"Did I scare you? I stood 5 seconds before I spoke and you didn't notice. It seems like you got a lot to think about, is it some new invention Mr. genius?" He asks, ironically.
"I am not looking to duel now, get lost." Levon replies firmly.
"Neither was I actually, what a nice coincidence!
I was just roaming the place, heading towards the underground Arena, and here I find you on my way." He replies.
'...Underground Arena?!' Levon wonders in his mind.
He starts walking, passing right by the scientist carelessly, with both his hands in his long leather coat's pockets.
'Should I ask him about it? I'm hesitant... but I might not have another chance to do so.' Levon thinks to himself.
Just before he could disappear in the dark, Graham opens his mouth. "Kier Rovanov!"
The man stops for a second without turning back, it's his name.
"... Have you read rule N°14?" he directly asks him.