"The game was a mediocre one in the beginning," Grace told them while dining together.
They were curious when they learned that Grace was one of the pioneer players of 'Cradle'.
"Although it was one of the first few games that took full advantage of the VR technology, there was nothing that set it apart from the others. There were few hardcore players that kept it alive but it was nothing but a mild-mannered time-waster; something you do when there is nothing else. I played because it was relaxing. Most levels are just exploration-centric almost as if the game was made to beta test this new technology."
"If that was so, why did we experience pain and extreme psychological pressure?" John asked.
"I was just getting to that. You were right. That was our question too. Why did a game that was as idyllic as 'Cradle' have this brutally realistic sensory response feature? It didn't have it before. Was it an update? Why was it not announced?"
Grace drank water before she continued. She looked at the faces of her audience and was amused that all of them are looking raptly at her although the other boy, Vince, has that comically mesmerized look.
"It wasn't such a big deal before because there was nothing in the game that really made you experience extreme sensory overload - I'm talking about traumatic pain. Until the so-called glitch stages. There was one such game event that caused worldwide concern: The Eruption. It was so realistic and caused massive panic because all the players who were present in that event either fainted in their VR machines or had heart attacks. Most of those were disconnected from the game permanently."
She paused to let that sink in and to accommodate a question or two.
"Why were they called glitch stages?" asked John.
"It was for lack of a better term for them. They appeared to be randomly generated and did not appear to have any contextual connection with the main game. It was these stages that launched 'Cradle' from it's 'B' game status to God level. Thrill seekers and adventurers flocked by the thousands. These glitches represented the ultimate challenge. It was a chance to experience the thrill of the hunt and the sense of danger not found in any other game."
"Interesting. Terrifying but interesting," John was oddly contemplative and Ora looked at him closely.
"Your choice of words are interesting and terrifying in their own way," Grace exclaimed.
"Huh?" John looked at her sharply.
"You know what's more interesting and terrifying? A hacker tried to decode the game. Wanna know what he found out? The game log was blank after the eruption. It has remained blank ever since. Like the game is no longer tethered to a game script. What's terrifying is that it continues to evolve. Even the older, simpler level now exhibits the same feature as the glitch ones."
They were all silent. Grace knew what they wanted to ask.
"There were a few reported deaths of players although it was almost as if somebody is doing a real life cover up. Mainstream media is quick to report but nothing is revealed except they died while hooked up to the VR machines. They were classified as isolated and completely unrelated to the game. The players know better. However, humans are really strange creatures. This only added to the already sky-high popularity of the game."
"These so-called glitch stages, do they offer rewards?" It was Ora who asked the question this time and it was John who looked at her closely.
"I don't know if I could tell you this," Grace said evasively.
"Rai…" Ora called their game guide.
"Yes?" Said the sprite. She hovered over Grace and Zone.
"Welcome to the real game, The Runner and the Chained Bride," she greeted them.
"You know our question, can you answer it?" asked Ora.
"You already know my answer to that, why do you insist on this idiotic exercise?" said the sprite to the party's dismay.
"I should have known that but since the game, as Grace said, is evolving, I hoped that your limitations might have a loophole somewhere."
"Why yes, there is, but that was not for me to tell you. Congratulations on arriving at the conclusion yourselves," Rai delightedly informed them.
"I get it. Can you point us to the direction that can give us the answers?" Ora glared at Grace but the latter remained impassive.
"Everything evolves," she said and vanished as quickly as she arrived.
"That's really annoying," said Ash.
"Is she telling us to level up again?" Vince asked no one in particular.
"Maybe...why don't we try it? Have we entered a glitch stage before?" mused John.
"The Ozone Disco felt like a glitch stage," Vince reminded them.
"Where we got the Scroll of Beginning. There was nothing unusual about our rewards. Nothing worth keeping a secret anyway," John turned to Grace.
"The glitch stages are sometimes called God Portals by the hardcore gamers. Within each is a quest of the highest difficulty that even the most elite have not yet been able to conquer . Professional guilds are being paid to mine them. Being involved in this might just as easily cost you your lives in the real world as it is here. I am not keeping it a secret for my amusement," Grace hotly revealed.
"This is soo not in my alley, anymore," Vince pushed his plate away and got up. He paced nervously while still keeping tabs of the conversation.
"Mine them for what?" John pressed.
"If you got past a God Portal, your menu will have something like Maharlika Blood Crystals or MBC."
Everyone opened their inventory and true enough, in small red letters: Maharlika Blood Crystals 32.4S.
"We can't do anything with them that might be why nobody noticed them before or even if someone did, it didn't seem that important," John explained.
"If you knew what they could do, you'd shit your pants," Grace said solemnly.
"Wetpants might," Ash interjected.
"Alright, Grace, what can they do?" Surprisingly, it was Zone who asked the question this time.
"Mine and your life is already in danger just speaking about it. The biggest crime lords are trading for it in the black market like it costs 100 times its weight in gold. It has become the rarest and most powerful commodity known only to the .1 percent of the wealthiest and the dirtiest," Grace spoke like it was the hardest thing for her to do.
"Before we proceed, there is something I want to clarify, first," John interrupted.
"You said 'mine'. How do they do it?" John had a sinking feeling in his stomach.
The numbers in their menu kept flashing in his mind.
32.4!
"John, what is it?" asked Ora but he just shook his head.
"How do they 'mine' the portals, Grace?" he repeated.
"No one have fully entered these stages because beyond the initial point, there is a locked gate that no one has ever managed to unlock...but the area before the gates are full of monsters. They exterminate the monsters and these leave behind MBCs. One MBC per monster. The crystals get equally divided among the party." Grace was confused about John's reaction to her question.
John was ashen faced and was obviously sick. His face showed conflicting emotions. He began to cry.
"Are you okay, John?" Ora squeezed John's shoulder.
John breathed deeply and nodded. He motioned for Grace to continue.
"Where was I?" Grace asked Zone.
"You were about to tell us what these crystals do and why they will get us killed," Zone said in level tone but Grace sensed that her friend was mad at her.
"I am sorry, Zone, I did not create the world. I just try to live in it," she said sadly.
"The church was a God Portal, wasn't it?" asked Zone in the same monotone.
"Yes. One of the most hidden. There are countless stages such as that one that these raiders haven't seen yet," Grace admitted.
"Did you want to mine that one, Grace?" Zone accused.
"God, NO! Besides, there were no monsters there. You saw for yourself," she said.
"Have you ever gone in one of those raids?" Zone was afraid of the answer.
"No. I haven't. Why do you ask?" Then her eyes suddenly grew wider.
"NO! Is that why John was crying?!" she turned to John.
"Rai," invoked John.
"Yes, John," answered the summoned sprite.
"How many people died in the Ozone Disco Tragedy?" asked John.
"162. Is that all?"
"Yes, Rai. Thank you."
With that, she vanished into thin air.
The silence between them was almost palpable. Their faces showed horror beyond understanding.
"Tell us those were NPCs!" Vince said to John.
"You felt it too…"John weakly answered.
"Go on, Grace. Nothing can shock us anymore than that," Ora calmly urged Grace.
"I honestly didn't know," she was crying.
"We know, honey...no one is blaming you. Now finish the story about those accursed crystals," Ora insisted.
"You knew about them too," John breathed out.
"I had my suspicions but everything was just conjecture," Ora answered without a trace of guile and John breathed a sigh of relief.
"As you may have already guessed by now, YES, mysteriously, these MBCs can be taken out in the real world," Grace decided to leave her previous life and cast her lot with this group.
What she realized has shaken her to the core. She spilled everything she knew without hesitation.
"These are substances that can mysteriously imbue somebody with supernatural powers. With enough amount, a person can be upgraded to perform much better than the average human."
"You mean like steroids?" Vince asked incredulously.
"If steroids can make you lift a ton, unaided," Grace said simply.
"Or make you shoot energy beams."
Ora remembered her training with the Claw and her stomach clenched.
"I understand when you said we were in danger. But how will the raiders know if no one tells them?" John asked her.
"You are right. You might be safe for now but sooner or later, somebody might notice. You are naive if you thought that no one spies on every group that enters the game. Besides, you have announced your presence in the clumsiest way possible," said Grace.
"How was that?"
"You killed a raider party in your first week."