To complete this game, we need to rely on Hasan. Meanwhile, Hasan seemed absolutely thrilled at the chance.
Facing Rima, who stood in front of him, Hasan declared with exaggerated confidence, "Step aside plebians, it's my time to shine." With that, he raised the collar of his shirt dramatically and took a seat at the computer table.
Rima scrunched her nose in mock disdain and retorted, "Huh!"
Hasan inserted a token into a small slot beneath the computer. The monitor was on, and a sentence appeared on the screen. Hasan sat in a chair, while I stood to his right and Rima to his left. We all read attentively. The screen displayed:
"Welcome to the land of Melrobark, abundant with peace and prosperity."
Hasan clicked "Next." The following screen read:
"The land of Melrobark consists of three small towns. These towns are called Rubiland, Lilibel, and Zelbrick. Your task is to cross each of these towns and meet the city mayor. Collect a green badge from the mayor to become a citizen of Melrobark. Once you collect the green badge, the game will end."
Hasan clicked "Next" again. This time, the screen displayed:
"Press to continue on the adventure of Rubiland."
When Hasan clicked "Press," a hat-wearing avatar of Hasan appeared on the screen. The avatar wielded a dagger in one hand, a small submachine gun in the other, and three bombs in the pockets of its pants. Above the avatar's head was a green bar labeled "HP." Hasan's avatar began moving forward.
The environment was eerily quiet. It was 2 PM in Rubiland, and all homes, shops, and establishments were closed. We noticed about twenty characters moving about the area. At first, none of them seemed threatening; they didn't have weapons, though they had green HP bars above their heads, just like Hasan's avatar. However, as soon as they spotted Hasan's avatar, knives and pistols materialized in their hands.
A few rushed toward him while others fired from a distance. Hasan skillfully dodged the bullets, taking out the closest attackers with his dagger and sniping the others from afar. He landed direct headshots on four enemies in quick succession. Within a minute, Hasan had crossed Rubiland, with his HP reduced to 80%.
Both Rima and I were astonished by Hasan's gaming prowess.
The screen now displays:
"Press to continue on the adventure of Lilibel."
Hasan clicked "Press" and entered the next area. The paths of Lilibel were winding and labyrinthine. It was 8 PM in the game, and the dimly lit roads were infested with sixteen zombies. The moment they spotted Hasan's avatar, they charged at him. Unlike the enemies in Rubiland, these zombies were unarmed.
Hasan immediately began shooting. He noticed that each zombie required three consecutive headshots to be defeated. He set aside his dagger and grabbed a bomb in one hand. Within two minutes, he had taken down ten zombies with precise shots and eliminated the remaining six with bombs.
But just as he started to relax, two zombies appeared from behind and bit Hasan's avatar on the neck. His HP began dropping rapidly, dwindling all the way to 0%, and the avatar died.
Without wasting a second, Hasan restarted the game. However, once again, he died at Lilibel. He tried two more times but failed on each attempt. Frustrated, he clenched his fists and slammed the table.
Meanwhile, I had been quietly observing Hasan's gameplay.
Suddenly, Rima spoke up. "Sakib, don't you think the room feels hotter now compared to when we first entered?"
Hearing her, I noticed it too. "You're right."
Hasan looked around and asked, "What's that screen over there?"
Rima glanced at it and said, "It says 34 degrees Celsius. Looks like it's displaying the room temperature."
Hasan frowned. "But the room wasn't this warm when we first came in."
I thought for a moment and said, "Rima, check your phone and see the temperature in Dhaka today."
Rima replied, "It says the outside temperature is 28 degrees."
I asked again, "How long have we been inside this room?"
"About 15 to 16 minutes," Rima replied.
"Then the rise in room temperature has no direct link to when we entered," I concluded.
Suddenly, I noticed something and said, "Hasan, check if the wire from that screen is connected to this computer's CPU."
Hasan inspected it and said, "Yes, it's connected."
"Quickly, check the processor's temperature on this PC."
Hasan checked and said, "The processor's temperature is also 34 degrees Celsius."
I asked, "How long have you been playing this game?"
"About 6-7 minutes," Hasan answered.
"Oh, now I get it," I said.
Rima asked, "What did you get?"
I explained, "This room's temperature system is linked to the computer. So as Hasan plays the game, the rise in the computer's temperature is simultaneously increasing the room's temperature. Over the last six minutes of gaming, the temperature has gone from 28 to 34 degrees. Do you see what this means?"
Rima responded, "Yes, I do now. It's increasing by one degree Celsius per minute."
Hearing this explanation, Hasan looked a bit scared. He resumed the game. I glanced at him and said, "The faster you finish this game, the better it will be for all of us."
Hearing this, Hasan focused back on the game. Just as he was about to start, I interrupted him, "Hasan, you did headshot four people in Rubiland, didn't you?"
"Oh!" Hasan exclaimed, seemingly catching on to my train of thought.
He said, "I think their heads are their weak points because I didn't headshot 16 enemies, and that exact number of zombies attacked me in Lilibel."
I realized that Hasan's brain works incredibly fast during gaming.
Hasan then attempted to headshot every single person in Rubiland. Although he missed two, it took more time to aim for headshots, around two minutes, raising the room temperature to 36 degrees Celsius. Hasan needed to finish the game quickly, or we'd all be cooked alive. Both Hasan and Rima were already drenched in sweat. Hasan's HP was down to 60%.
Finally, in Lilibel, only two zombies appeared. Eliminating them was child's play for Hasan. Within just 20 seconds, he crossed Lilibel without losing any HP. This brought a small smile to his face.
Suddenly, a new screen appeared on the monitor with the message:
"Bad luck!! You can't proceed to the area of Zelbrick."
Hasan clasped his head in frustration, unsure what to do next.
Out of nowhere, I exclaimed, "Oh! Damn! Why didn't I think of this before?"
Hasan asked, "What happened?"
"I just remembered something crucial," I said.
"What is it?" Hasan asked.
"Where did the zombies in the second round come from?"
"From Rubiland, because I failed to headshot two of them."
"Exactly! But when you go to Zelbrick, where will the enemies come from, since you eliminated everyone in the previous rounds?"
"If there are no enemies, I should win. Why isn't that happening?" Hasan questioned.
"Have you ever heard of a gaming area without any enemies, people, or creatures?"
"Oh! So, you're suggesting that if there are no enemies or life forms in a gaming area, the area itself loses its reason to exist?"
"Exactly!"
"But I've killed all the enemies. Doesn't that mean the game should be over?"
"In a regular game, yes. But in this game, the initial condition was that you must cross all three areas: Rubiland, Lilibel, and Zelbrick. Whether you kill the enemies or not doesn't matter. Since you can't enter Zelbrick, you can't finish the game."
"Oh! Now I get it," Hasan said, finally understanding.
Without wasting time, Hasan restarted the game. This time, he purposely avoided headshooting three people in Rubiland. In Lilibel, three zombies appeared. Hasan quickly killed two and left the last one half-alive before running for the exit. A while later, the half-dead zombie could be seen chasing him from a distance. As Hasan reached the gate of Zelbrick, the zombie suddenly disappeared.
These two rounds took Hasan about three minutes to complete, raising the room temperature to 39 degrees Celsius. We were all struggling in the heat. Rima looked like she was on the verge of heatstroke. Sweat dripped into Hasan's eyes, making it hard for him to see. Taking a tissue from me, he wiped his forehead and prepared for the final round.
Finally, the monitor displayed, "Press to continue on the adventure of Zelbrick."
I saw a skeleton cloaked in black, holding a long scythe.
Both Hasan and I exclaimed together, "It's an Undead!"
I said, "But Undeads can't be killed. Even if you kill them, they revive again."
Hasan replied, "I have no intention of killing it. If I can just distract it long enough to reach the mayor, that's enough."
I nodded, "True. Smart move. If you'd kept those two zombies alive earlier, we'd be in serious trouble by now."
Suddenly, Hasan remembered that fire works well against the Undead. And he still had three bombs. The moment he realized this, the Undead swung its scythe at Hasan, aiming for his head. Hasan crouched instantly and shot at its legs with his submachine gun. As soon as the Undead collapsed to the ground, Hasan threw a bomb at it and dashed away.
Within two seconds, the Undead revived and appeared right in front of Hasan. Hasan stopped running and hurled a dagger at it, but the creature deflected it with its long scythe. Maintaining a safe distance, Hasan kept firing at it.
Meanwhile, I shouted, "Shit! It knows how to teleport!"
At the same time, Rima was suffering terribly from the heat—the temperature had risen to 41 degrees Celsius. She couldn't even speak anymore. Hasan needed to finish the game quickly. He had two bombs left. Firing continuously at the Undead, he suddenly realized it teleported behind him and swung its scythe violently at his head. Hasan couldn't fully dodge this attack, and his HP dropped to 40%.
The Undead teleported again and attacked Hasan's neck. This time too, he couldn't avoid it completely, reducing his HP to 20%. When the Undead tried to teleport and strike again, Hasan dodged at the last moment, shooting at it and confidently declaring, "I'm a professional gamer. The same attack won't work on me twice."
I was amazed. Despite the unbearable heat, how could he keep his cool and play so well?
I asked, "How did you manage to dodge that Undead's attack?"
Hasan explained, "In games like these, enemies always follow a certain attack pattern. I figured out that after teleporting, the Undead only targeted the area around my head. Since I knew where it would attack, dodging it was a piece of cake for me."
"Even if I knew that, I wouldn't be able to dodge like you. You're truly a top-tier gamer."
I rarely compliment anyone, so hearing this from me gave Hasan even more confidence. He thought there must be a limit to how far the Undead could teleport. Hasan decided to test this theory by setting timers on two bombs—one for two seconds and the other for four seconds. As he kept firing and moving away, the Undead teleported behind him, aiming for his head again. Right at that moment, the bomb lying under its feet exploded.
"Checkmate!" Hasan exclaimed as he threw the second bomb upward and started running.
The Undead collapsed to the ground. Two seconds later, as it revived again, Hasan's second bomb detonated right on it. This time, the damage was more severe, and it took four full seconds to revive. In those six seconds, Hasan ran closer to the save point. He noticed the Undead was back on its feet but wasn't teleporting toward him. Hasan realized that for it to catch him, it would need to teleport three times consecutively, which it could no longer do. It also couldn't cover such a long distance in one teleport.
It took Hasan three full minutes to escape from just one Undead. By then, the room temperature had risen to 44 degrees Celsius. All three of us were sweating profusely—our sweat was even blurring our vision. Wiping the sweat off his face, Hasan picked up the controller again. He reached the safe point and found the mayor waiting ahead. When Hasan approached him, the mayor appeared furious. Hasan asked for the green badge, but the mayor handed him a red one instead.