When she summoned a large, black coat, something changed within Lasiv. She appeared older, and more mature than before. With a subtle movement, she glanced in my direction, revealing a glimpse of her left cheek, graced by a beauty mole.
With a gentle smile, Lasiv spoke to me as I gazed at her exposed back, wide-eyed. "Close your eyes, your ears, and your mouth," she said softly. "If curiosity ever tempts you, remember that it's not worth it."
Without hesitation, I nodded in agreement. I chose to trust her implicitly, knowing that she had already proven herself to be reliable.
Lasiv's words carried a hint of urgency as she addressed the two rankers standing beside me, the woman in the black vest and white shirt, and the cowboy man.
"You two, if you wish to avoid certain death," she warned firmly.
To my surprise, both rankers nodded silently, their weariness evident in their eyes. They didn't question her instructions, perhaps understanding the gravity of the situation and longing for a swift escape from the dangerous circumstances that surrounded us.
Lasiv's teasing chuckle filled the air as she playfully remarked, "Just kidding! Get some rest, and when you wake up, you'll find yourself back in your own reality."
Confusion filled my mind as I tried to comprehend her words. Before I could inquire further, a melodic sound enveloped the surroundings, like an enchanting melody.
As I prepared to close my eyes as instructed, my gaze caught a glimpse of Lasiv snapping her fingers. With my half-opened eyes, I watched her figure for what seemed like the last time. The sound of her snapping fingers washed over me like a soothing lullaby, making me irresistibly drowsy. My body felt weightless, and I found myself leaning my head against the ground. The world around me blurred, and before I knew it, my eyes closed completely, and I slipped into unconsciousness. I was left with no understanding of what was to come or what Lasiv's true intentions were.
*
-Where am I?-
When I regained consciousness, I found myself in an unfamiliar place, questioning my surroundings. The last thing I remembered was succumbing to the sound of Lasiv's snap finger.
I couldn't help but feel a mix of frustration and admiration for her ability to deceive me until the very end. Despite my uncertainty, my primary concern was her safety.
However, my present state was perplexing. I existed in a space beyond anything I had ever imagined. There was a sense of weightlessness and a lack of physical form. It was as if my spirit had detached from my body, floating in a higher dimension. This experience felt undeniably real, even more so than my previous reality. It was akin to awakening from a dream and realizing that the dream itself was a mere illusion.
Could it be that my encounter with Lasiv and the demon lord was nothing more than a figment of my imagination? Was it all just a dream?
As I pondered my surroundings, I was amazed to see a gigantic cosmic tree in front of me. Its branches stretched endlessly, adorned with stars and galaxies, seemingly reaching into an infinite expanse. It felt as if this tree had existed since the beginning of time, with no clear end in sight.
I observed it further, I couldn't help but notice the resemblance between this cosmic tree and the iconic tree from The World of Dawn. It was as if they shared a connection, reminding me of the incredible adventures I had encountered in that VR world.
To my astonishment, as I gazed at the branches of the cosmic tree, it became apparent that they extended infinitely in all directions. No matter where I looked, I couldn't discern where the roots of this tree began. It was as if the tree existed without a definitive starting point as if its roots stretched on endlessly, hidden from sight.
While observing the endless expanse of the branches, I realized that even the top of the cosmic tree knew no bounds. It stretched infinitely, reaching toward an unseen horizon. There was no defined boundary or limit to its height as if it extended endlessly into the unknown.
[System: Your brain activity is abnormal.]
[System: Your life is being threatened and you are forced to log out.]
[System: Your reward is none since the demon lord is able to successfully destroy half of the tower.]
Don't fucking joke with me! None? This quest should at least offer me 1 billion coins, my life worth more than your fucking coins.
[System: The world of dawn is temporarily shutting down Eternia's server under restricted maintenance.]
Tried to calm myself down, I was glad to have survived, and I realized that I should be grateful.
Since I was forced to log out now, It became clear that the only logical explanation was that Lasiv and her companion had successfully defeated the Orc demon lord once and for all. It was in this realization that I understood that this experience in the VR world was not simply my imagination, but a genuine reality.
*
When I slowly regained consciousness, my senses awakened to a world starkly different from the intense VR game I had just experienced. My eyes fluttered open, As my eyelids gently parted, I found myself in a dimly illuminated room, the soft glow of the moon casting its light faintly through the window as the artificial sky was getting brighter.
Its gentle light indicated that the early hours of the morning had not yet reached 6 A.M.
At that moment, I realized that I was no longer seeing through the lenses of my virtual reality glasses. The once vibrant display had turned into a deactivated black screen, allowing me to see the world unfiltered, as if through a normal pair of glasses. However, despite the familiar surroundings and the return to reality, a sense of unease lingered within me.
The familiar surroundings of my own reality. However, something felt off, my body felt heavy as if weighed down by an invisible force.
Panic set in as I tried to move, only to find my limbs unresponsive as if paralyzed. A surge of fear coursed through me, and I struggled to take a breath, my chest tightening in desperation. With great effort, I managed to draw in a deep breath, the rush of air filling my lungs and providing momentary relief. The sensation was both disorienting and invigorating, reminding me of the fragility and preciousness of life.
Then the air filled my lungs, my body slowly began to respond. First, a slight twitch in my finger, then a tremor in my hand. The paralysis gradually released its grip, allowing me to regain control over my body. Relief washed over me as I wiggled my fingers and flexed my muscles.
As I took in my surroundings, I became aware of the dampness on my skin. Sweat covered my body, evidence of the intense experience I had just emerged from. The sweat glistened on my forehead and trickled down my temples, mingling with the remnants of my fear and exertion.
In this moment of fully awakening, I cautiously flexed my right arm, a lingering doubt gnawing at me. In the game, I had suffered the loss of my right arm, and now I feared that reality had mirrored the virtual world. As I observed my own hand, a glimmer of relief washed over me. It was there, intact and unharmed.
With a mixture of tension and unease, I carefully removed the VR headset and placed it on the table.
Immediately, a flood of questions swirled within my mind as I stared down, contemplating the strange convergence of virtual and real, searching for answers with the information I limited had.
Why does the demon lord knows my name?
Who is Lasiv and her companion? Especially, the dark-skin man, Amandues, his shield could even withstand a powerful blast similar to a nuclear explosion.
I contemplate to myself "The war in the fourth dimension, Overseer narrator, archons, and Orc demon lord who was trying to killed me... I am sure of it, TWOD isn't just a game but if I tell people about this information, people will call me crazy and I might be interrogate by the world government, so it is better to be quiet about it and keep finding more information about these topics."
And what about the rankers who died in the game? If they truly became brain-dead, the news program across the Solar system would attack the world government.
Right, I should check the news about the shutdown server of Eternia, since the beginning of the game release, this was the first time a server ever got temporarily shut down. Intuitively, I knew that TWOD wasn't just a game; it meant that the world government was hiding a lot of things from the public.
In today's world, most people are preoccupied with celebrity gossip and seeking attention on social media. Few question what the world government does behind closed doors, especially since their victory in the Second Galactic War against the Velderik and Free Alliance Galactic Federations. People fear the potential actions of the world government lead by Genie, the father of peace on Tellus and even after his absent for almost 22 years, his form of elite government still exist which appears to be a tyrant disguised as a utopia. However, if you simply mind your own business, this could be considered a fool's paradise as entertainments and opportunity to be rich were at every corner.
I, too, was powerless against the world government and would rather played the role of a background character. I knew it was hypocritical of me to judge the majority of people for their actions and priorities when I did the same things as them. As long as you turned blind eyes to whatever the world government did, this world was truly a utopia.
As for TWOD, Eternia city was just one of many cities that hosted mostly players from Tellus, and it was also just a small city compared to other famous cities such as Star-Field and Blazing-Magie, though people could play at any desired city without any restriction and even cross to another planet server such as Mars freely, mostly Singa Sanctuary Contient's players dominate the Eternia city so I will check the news in Kangaroo sanctuary continent, sector 6 as right now there time zone might be in the afternoon so the news would caught up to them fast.
As I looked at the time on my tablet, I realized it was still early morning in Singa Sanctuary continent. I decided to check the latest news in Kangaroo sanctuary, curious to see if there were any updates on the incident in TWOD. My heart skipped a beat as I read the headline.
[Breaking News: The World Of Dawn's Tellus server temporarily shut down after millions of players and server maintainers were found unconscious.]
My palms started to sweat, and a sense of dread washed over me. The article mentioned an unknown explosion in the Eternia city of the western dimension, which had caused players to lose consciousness in real life. The gravity of the situation hit me like a ton of bricks.
The lives lost in the game were now lost in reality as well just as Lasiv mentioned....
Searching for answers, I turned to the game forum. The latest thread had exploded with nearly two billion users rushing to read it within minutes of its posting. The title alone sent chills down my spine.
[For the first time in mankind's history, the World of Dawn server shuts down. I have footage of the Eternia Tower explosion. Don't forget to share.]
Intrigued and filled with trepidation, I clicked on the thread. The first thing that caught my eye was a pinned comment that included video footage. I clicked play, and my eyes widened as I witnessed the chaos.
The video showed a summoning rift within the tower, filled with rankers. Suddenly, an explosion of white and red sparks erupted from the other side of the market, causing the tower to crumble and the ceiling to collapse. The camera shook as the debris came crashing towards the recorder, and then everything went blank. All that remained was a glimpse of rankers disintegrating into blue particles, fading away, while the citizens burned alive, their NPC human-like flesh melting away and erased into nothingness within the blink of an eye.
It was possible to record in-game footage if the area was not restricted such as the tower unless you were on a quest, so at that time when I was fighting with the demon lord, I couldn't record anything since I was on a quest.
Judging from the footage, it seems like thousands of rankers had been caught up in the explosion including the NPC citizens.
The air became heavy as I imagined Lasiv and her companion also was there, but I hoped they made it out alive since they were pretty powerful and their ability hinted that they might not be ordinary humans.
Then I read the comment that related to the footage :
[Genjutsu123 : Fuck, because of this I can't log into the game, please make the server on Tellus back online.]
[Byeol298 : Aren't the Eternia city in TWOD indestructible and Non-pvp-area?]
[Klein_Edgy_Lord1 : The NPC character's death is brutal, their agony face before the disaster strikes looks so real filled with emotion.]
[Ela378: I heard the people who died in this event don't wake up yet, they are probably stuck in the game lol.]
[Noobmaster_Elo321 replied to Ela378: Hey, this sounds like an old anime I watched, hopefully, they conquered the 100th floor haha, and returned back to real life, also I hope I can stuck in the game and married an elf "Lol".]
Some of these disgusting trollers, are they taking all of this as a joke?
Probably because they did not experience it, these rankers and humans were probably the monsters in the eyes of the citizens of TWOD and they might be right.
Then I scrolled down and read various more comments hoping to find the information about the people who didn't wake up.
Suddenly I found one comment that had a link to it.
[KingOfTroll: Click on this link to see the footage of the people who don't wake up even after the game server temporarily shuts down. (LINK)]
It could be just a baiting link but nonetheless, my curiosity took over and I clicked on the link and immediately a footage being played on the holographic display.
*
(In the footage, a woman who appeared to be around 40 years old pounded on a door with one hand, clutching a plate of small cakes in the other. It seemed as though she was attempting to celebrate an early morning birthday, but received no response. The person recording, presumably her son, urged her to step aside so he could try to guess the door's password. After several failed attempts, he finally managed to unlock it.
Upon entering, they were greeted by a softly lit room adorned with various provocative anime girl posters and holographic projections in the corners. On the bed, a teenage boy, approximately 18 to 19 years old, lay with a virtual reality headset on.
His mother cried out and rushed to shake his body, but he remained unresponsive. The recorder, likely his older brother, noticed blood trickling from his nose and swiftly removed the VR headset. To their shock, they discovered his eyes were also bleeding, though his heartbeat still persisted. The mother wailed in distress, urging the recorder to call for an ambulance, and the footage abruptly ended.)
*
What had just happened? Were the individuals who died in the game truly experiencing brain death? Would they might as well be declared dead at this point by the world government?
Unsatisfied with the answers I had received, I exited the forum and began searching for the latest videos concerning people who had lost consciousness while gaming in TWOD. Footage showed numerous individuals who failed to wake up, experiencing nosebleeds while still wearing their VR headsets.
Lasiv hadn't lied to me. She must have been aware of something that I didn't know about this reality. The Sourceron, the Demon Lord, the mentioned divine judgment, and the unfamiliar magical rune—these elements seemed far beyond my current understanding. However, armed with advanced AI tools, I believed I could unravel these mysteries swiftly.
Opening the OAI app on my holographic display, I was prompted by the AI to state what information I desired. Yet, a sense of unease washed over me. It felt as though delving into this realm of knowledge would forever alter the world I once knew.
Overwhelmed by anxiety, I closed the app and leaned back against the chair, shutting my eyes. Taking a deep breath, I sought to regain my composure in the face of these overwhelming circumstances.
I told myself, "Einsamer, forget everything you saw this morning. It was just a nightmare. Now, wake up to this beautiful reality."
As I opened my eyes, I gently slapped myself, forced a smile, and started singing cheerfully to distract myself from thinking about what happened in TWOD.