"This way!" Ken shouted. Grabbing Dave's hand, they went to hide on a big post across the entrance to Mr. Huts' fried chicken restaurant, fronting the entrance door of Phobos Tower.
They sat on the ground, hugging their guns and catching their breaths.
"That was close.." Ken sighed.
"No, that was insane! How can this happen?!" Brent exclaimed, his sweat dripping from his red face. "This is getting dangerous."
"I had a hunch that this thing might happen soon because of what the game master announced during the opening but I did not know it will be this soon. I just didn't expect the hacker to catch us off guard. And now here we are finding ourselves in a dire situation where we could really lose our lives. Anyways, it will be better if we meet with the Orion guys." Dave said.
"Yeah, you have a point. Having him on our side makes this group unbeatable..."
"I know right.." Dave muttered. "This kind of thing is 'that guy's' thing. That guy's quite remarkable."
"You're right. He was with the other group, though. Anyways, what do we do now? Our transport vehicle was rammed by those monstrous wolves, ready to devour anyone... and we have them roaming around the area." Ken said. "If we go search for the others, we still have to get through them. We can't go on searching for the others easily. Besides, we don't have enough ammos.."
"I dunno. Things happened so fast. After the GM announced the start of the game, everything went into chaos. The wolves suddenly appeared and started to ruin everything in sight."
"Not to mention, we lost some of the participants on the way..."
"Yeah.. I wonder if we could have helped them.."
"The enemy was so powerful, that can't be helped. We don't stand a chance if we strike blindly." Ken muttered. "Though I felt sorry for those lives we lost. they didn't expect this expo to be like this, horrible... I mean, this was supposed to be a great event. But now, it has become a slaughter." He sat on the floor and opened an icon on his watch, scanning the whole area, trying to change the topic. "As we can see, we're surrounded here by those gigantic wolves...they swarm across the street."
"Lycans, Ken," Dave interrupted with a convincing look.
"And there he goes again with his naming sense.." Brent sighed.
"Lycans,, anyway...they're as big as an SUV but move fast like cheetahs. How do we suppose to beat those guys?" Ken said.
"Hunt.." Dave muttered.
"Hunt? Like we aim to kill those guys? That's insane, dude.." Ken said, brushing his head.
"Hunting them might be absurd. But I guess that's the only way we can escape from this situation." Brent sighed. "Besides, if we don't fight, our lives will just go to waste."
"We're in front of the palace now... As the map suggests, we can take advantage of this situation.." Dave said. "And get the thing that we needed."
"65-story tall building fully armed inside-out, filled with wolves and I dunno, Androids perhaps, high-end security system and the latest equipment from GS Tech...plus secret weapons constructed by Scorpio...with their latest programmed techs." Ken exclaimed. "And we're facing them head-on with a few bullets at hand and scrap weapons against the massive shots from gigantic muzzles." Ken paused with a deep sigh. "I think this would be easy..." his eyes twitched.
They rested their backs against the wall and took a deep sigh, gathering their thoughts.
"You think we can do it?"
"There is no way I'm gonna run from it. If it was him, he'll storm the palace and come out victorious, you know. Just like how he always does." Dave said. "He'll get the key in no time. With no sweat, not to mention..."
"That's just like him, but, Dave.." Ken said. "We're a league away from that guy.." he said in a remorseful voice.
"No," Dave said with a frown. His friends were shocked and looked at him, their worries are starting to cool down. "I promised to walk beside him a long time ago. He's not that far, he just went off ahead. And I believed in all the hard work we manage to do all these years to make ourselves better. He's not that kind of a guy to shame a friend, you know that. He's just an idiot who needs saving."
"You bet..." Brent sighed. "We were no one during elementary days until he came to our circle."
"That made a big difference in our lives, ne, Brent?" Ken said. "That idiot made a difference."
"I know. I, too, was changed because of his stupidity."
"Now that you said it, how did you three come to be so close to each other?"
"We were classmates since nursery but I didn't know we were in the same neighborhood. Cassandra, too, lived nearby unknowingly. It was during the Christmas season when the first Christmas party in our neighborhood became a tradition. I'm still 10 years old back then, we recently moved from another city. Every household came with a feast so my mom participated. We gathered in the plaza to have fun. But.." Dave sighed. "...it was not fun for me. I was bullied by the other kids who lived near our street since I have my consciousness. They used to follow me before and after school just to hurt me or get my money almost every day just because I'm chubby..."
"I never knew you were that kind of a kid before, Dave."
"Yeah.. it was news to us. Now you look like the bully yourself." Ken smirked.
"Shut up, Ken.." Dave's face turned sour. "Well, it was that way until he saw me that day. During the party, the bullies went after me and brought me to a disserted house near the riverbank, just way directly down the plaza, and battered me all the way they wanted."
"Cruel..."
"You're right. But, little did I know he followed us and fought for me." Dave said, drawing a smile on his glim face. "He ran to the center of the fight, drawing attention to himself. In the end, he was the one who was most beaten."
"Cool, so did they beat the guys?" Ken asked. "He's so good at fighting in the video games and all.."
"Unfortunately, no..." Dave laughed under his breath. "...hhh.. he was a pathetic actor and a dull fighter in the real life. If that was inside the VR, he could have beaten the pulp on those guys in an instant but we're in the real world at that time and I didn't know he was into VR games. We ended up being hurt together."
"That didn't change anything then.."
"I doubt. It might have not been in the bullies' case but for me, that changed everything. I just didn't find a friend, I found a partner, I found a brother. His words still echo in my mind whenever I feel down and helpless. 'Many people are more hurt than you do. So stop jerking idiot! Stand up, you can do it. You're not alone', that's what he said and he offered his hand. I can't believe I was sermoned by an idiot, ha!" Dave's voice started to falter. "We started going to school together after that. Sometimes I fetch him at his house, I mean, most of the time I fetch him to go to school... haha. He often wakes up late. Anyway, when we see the bullies, we ran away until we lost them on our tails, that was pretty lame though, I know. But it was fun. And, after a short while, Cassandra came and became our boss and we stopped running. The bullies ran instead. She's become our knight in shining armor...and"
"Don't get too emotional, Dave," Ken said. "It's not time to get teary-eyed at this moment."
"I agree. But, I understand why Cassy is the boss and the knight though,..."
"I know right... haha.." Dave smile. "Anyway, since then I was able to stand on my feet. He gave me something I don't have before, and those are confidence to face trials and Friends I can rely on. I know this is not the time we talk about the past and we need to get hold of our situation. At all costs, I need to see him. I need to know the truth from him."
"Just so you know, we're not here just to fuel your issues, okay? We're here because of a friend."
"I know. I'm doing this for that same friend as well..." Dave said.
"So what's the plan?" Brent asked.
"Storm the palace. Get the key.." Dave muttered, loading his gun. "And don't die."
"That's what I thought.." Ken said with a sigh, drawing a smile on his lips. "Why did I even ask?"
"I know right?..." Brent added.
"Then," Dave sighed "let's get this started.."
...
They found themselves in the lobby of Phobos on a shootout battle with an automatic computer programmed 20mm machinegun shooting 60 bullets per minute and an automatic grenade launcher aiming in every direction, sweeping every step they made forward. That lead them to no choice but to stay behind a post that was being battered with bullets.
"This is unfair!" Dave screamed and return fire with his 9mm rifle, shooting like a madman. "We can't even manage a shot! Damn it!"
"Calm down, Dave. We won't have the chance to destroy those guns if we don't have a clear picture of the situation." Brent explained.
"I know. I'm calm enough to think of a plan, Brent. All we have to do is to get rid of those guns to get through that door and reach the treasure room."
"Easy to say but we don't have enough ammo to fight any longer, Dave," Ken said. "And besides, Androids are coming this way.."
"I know that too... But we have to try something somehow or else.."
"Or else our fight was futile," Brent said. "We won't reach the treasure room in this rate."
"Can we consider backing down and asking for help?" Ken exclaimed.
"No. I won't look cool in front of him if we won't get this done ourselves." Dave insisted.
"Me too. I can't show him my face if that's the case." Brent added.
"I know but.." Ken's eyes were filled with worries.
"We just have to move a little forward, right?" Dave said illuminating his friends' conviction. "We're almost there.. just a few more steps and..."
The guns suddenly stopped firing and a chugging noise engulf the whole lobby.
"Time for them to reload, huh?"
"Maybe we can take advantage of this situation," Brent said.
"But, we don't know how long it will take them to reload their guns..." Ken complained. "What if the moment we rushed towards them is the moment when they've finished reloading?! It will be a GG for us!" he added.
"You have a point. But, we don't have another chance to do this, right? We need to strike the iron while it's hot..." Dave said.
"We don't have enough cards to play... can we still last until we reach the goal?!" Ken said.
"Then, maybe we can lend a hand.." a high-pitched voice startled them from behind.
Dave and the others turned around slowly, wearing a confused expressions.
A man stood in front of them wearing a white PE shirt with a blue collar with a logo pinned on it matched with a fatigue-colored pants smiling with glee. His hair is wavy brown and his eyes looked like a hazelnut with the same color. They were surprised to see the total opposite of what they thought. To their surprise, Dave didn't notice that his jaw was literary dropping as he stared at the stranger.
"Don't get confused, but I bet, surprised is the right term.." the man giggled. "I was already used to those expressions so, I guess I'll let it pass..." he held his ax on his shoulder and held Dave's hand using his left hand as big as a plate. "I know you're not used to seeing big guys like me with this kind of voice, but, still, nice to meet you.."
"Ahh, no...you're like a football player," Dave muttered. His eyes can't stop flickering at the sight of a 6-foot bulk build teenager holding a shotgun with bunches of grenades and bullets hanging on his torso with a falsetto speaking voice. "Ahh, I'm sorry about that. I just.."
"I know...I have played football for 2 years and now I'm on a hockey team. Anyway, this is not the right time to meddle with these things, right?" the man smiled. "I'm Ivan."
"Based on your uniform, you're from QATSU..." Brent said.
"Yeah. I'm from QATSU and I came here to offer a hand. I saw you struggle from the entrance so I willingly followed your track. You wanted to get the key from the treasure room, right?" Ivan said.
"Yeah. That's the goal of this game. What else should we do if not get it?" Ken replied.
"Then, let me help you. This game is quite my forte." Ivan said.
"What do you mean?" Dave asked.
"I guess you haven't noticed but, this game.." Ivan sighed and kneeled to see Dave eye to eye. "This is like Contra in any way you look at it."
"Contra?"
"Hai. Look at the structure of the building." Ivan said. They took a step back and looked around the area they're in."The enemy guns looked familiar as well."
"We haven't really looked onto it.."
"So that is why you're having a hard time." Ivan replied. He tapped his watch and a holographic monitor appeared, showing a 3D map of Phobos. "this is basically the interior of Phobos now. It is filled with guns of different types and sizes and we need to defeat the boss before we can get to the treasure room."
"In other words, we need to pass many more guns like the ones we're having trouble with now to get the damn key?" Brent exclaimed.
"No other options but to do that."
"Then, that just leaves us no chance to get through.." Ken complained.
"No, that's where I came in handy." Ivan's eyes flicker with enthusiasm. Dave and the others looked at him with more confusion. "I have finished the game several times and my shortest time was 3 minutes before I --"
"3 minutes?!"
"Yeah, and I have defeated the boss..."
"That's impossible if we calculate the loading time and—"
"I know it's impossible when you really follow the map but..."
"Did you use a cheat?!" Brent exclaimed.
"That's the greatest option we have. If we get this done, we'll have a chance to get outta here faster and meet with the others. They might have a plan on how to deal with the situation by now, knowing Yuri, he might have one."
"You're right. We need to meet with the others as quickly as we can. If the GM is not bluffing, then, we only have a few more hours to remain sane..." Brent said.
"And if that's the case, then we only have a few hours to finish the game and get out from here," Ken exclaimed.
"You're right. And besides, the GM allowed the use of cheats..."
"When did he say it?"
"That's the thing, he did not say it's forbidden. That is why we'll take advantage of that."
"You have a point."
"De, what are we supposed to do now?"
"Just get inside the circle and I will send us in front of the last boss..." Ivan muttered
"Going directly to the last boss, huh?" Ken murmured. "Not to mention we're using a portal.."
"This is our last resort. But I wanna know how did you get a town portal, okay?"
"Hai..." Ivan nodded and gave them a cheerful smile. "Ja, it's time!" He activated an item on his treasury and they all vanished like a bubble.