Chapter 56: Shocking News and Return!
"The concept of nation disappears! A united federation takes its place!"
Not long after the Indian prime minister's message, an article appeared on all news platforms across the world.
Who wrote the article was unknown, as its writer was anonymous, but it explained what the decision meant for people across the world.
Out of the seventeen states, the European countries had the highest representation since they had the most number of nuclear states, while the biggest beneficiary of the federation was South Africa, as it gained control of the entire African continent.
Despite being the sole considered superpower of the planet, the USA's status in the federation was equal to that of other nations that included small countries like Belarus, Kazakhstan, etc., and it was surprising to all the elites across the world.
At the end of the article, the anonymous writer asked a question, "Why did these seventeen states decide to form a federation, and why did other nations agree to the proposal?"
Others might not know the reason behind the nation's decision, but Aakesh knew. It was all because of H-Power. Aakesh couldn't help but feel a wave of anger in his heart toward the H-Power for manipulating the Earth like this, but at the same time, he also felt slightly grateful toward them.
If not for H-Power, the nations would have gone to war in fear of the unknown. Forget the existence of the federation; in an age of nuclear weapons, the population would have disappeared.
After putting down their phones, Abhijit and the others looked at each other's faces with shocked expressions. Just a moment earlier, they were preparing for civil service, but now it wasn't certain whether that exam would exist or not.
Not long after, a plethora of articles and breaking news dominated the pages of every news portal. State politics dominated the scene, as no state could accept the sudden change. India becoming a part of the federation took many rights away from the state.
Protests happened across the countries, but the national government seemed to be in no mood to be peaceful, so they brutally cracked on the demonstrations, ending it in only a few hours, with a casualty of 28 people from different states, while the number of injured crossed the five hundred mark.
It was an unprecedented day in the history of the country, as the concept of the state dissolved that day, and India became the sole government format at the national and state level, representing India in the federation.
***
Aakesh returned to his house. His father had also returned from work, and he was sitting in front of the TV, watching the news.
When Aakesh entered the living room, the father smiled and called him to sit next to him on the sofa.
Aakesh nodded and sat next to his father. At the moment, the scene of police attacking the protesters was playing on the news.
"Tell me, are these things related to the game?" The father suddenly asked while his eyes were fixated on the TV.
"Why are you asking this?" Aakesh asked in surprise.
"It's just my gut feeling," The father looked at Aakesh and replied with a smile.
When he looked at his father's face, he got the feeling that his father was confident of the game behind the sudden situation in the world.
Aakesh then changed the topic and conversed about other things.
Time flew by, and hours passed in the blink of an eye.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
The alarm rang as the hour and minute hands in the clock formed a straight line in the morning.
Aakesh soon woke up. He rubbed his eyes and switched the alarm off. He stretched his hands, and yesterday's vacation helped him mentally.
Time flew by, and Aakesh came down the stairs for his breakfast.
His father and mother were having a deep conversation, but when they saw Aakesh, they stopped and called him.
Not long after, the housemaid came and served breakfast to the family.
The breakfast happened peacefully, with no one trying to disturb others. After it was over, the mother looked at Aakesh and asked about his upcoming meeting with Shachi.
They were going to meet on Sunday, which was tomorrow. Shachi was the reason; Aakesh could solve the illusion, so he accepted to meet her even when his mother told him that it wasn't necessary. He wanted to thank her. Even though it wasn't her help, Aakesh was conscientious.
***
Aakesh undressed and placed all his clothes on the bed. He then unlocked the device after completing the authentication.
[Welcome, player Ikshvaku!]
The familiar, gentle female voice rang in Aakesh's ears. He then stepped forward and stepped into the pool.
As he lay down, his eyes began to turn heavy, and soon in no time, he found himself in Purple City.
Aakesh's eyes seemed determined today, as yesterday's events once again showed him that if he failed to achieve the goals, what would happen to the world?
Now that Aakesh had unlocked the class, his level wouldn't be dormant anymore. He could now level up without any worries. At the same time, after that, he also gained some new benefits and some new rules unlocked for him.
Before reaching Level 10, the death penalty was log-out for a fixed amount of time, and once that number reached three, the log-out was for the remaining day.
But after Level 10, there was no such condition anymore. Every death in Panagea would now cost XP, and the higher the number of deaths, the exponentially the XP cost would grow.
The first death in a day would cost 100 XP, the second 200 XP, the third 400 XP, and so on.
There was no limit to the growth, so deaths inside Panagea became even more costly.