Chapter 13: Truth
The shattered remnants of the Infinite Blade lay at Gok's feet, scattered like broken glass. His heart pounded in his chest, not from fear, but from the overwhelming realization that everything he had known—everything he had fought for—was a lie.
Rat stood tall, his golden eyes glimmering in the wreckage of the arena. His words echoed in Gok's mind, each one unraveling the fabric of reality itself.
"You still don't understand, do you, Gok Sun Ji?" Rat's voice was colder now, almost like a whisper from the void itself. "This game you've been playing, this Ranker, is not a game at all. It's a real place—a world far, far away from Earth. A planet 12 billion light years from your home."
Gok's body froze, the shock of Rat's words paralyzing him. He couldn't process it. It didn't make sense. None of it did.
"What... what are you talking about?" Gok's voice was shaky, his grip tightening on the hilt of his broken blade.
"Don't you see? The truth has been in front of you this entire time. The players, the NPCs, the battles, the wars—everything you thought was a simulation, an illusion... It's real. Ranker is not a game. It's a planet, a living, breathing world. And we're all a part of it." Rat's smile widened as he spoke, his eyes gleaming with an unsettling intensity.
Gok could hardly comprehend what Rat was saying. His entire reality, the one he'd known, was crashing down around him.
"For eight years, Earth has had no idea about the existence of this world, this Ranker. And yet, here you are, playing your little game, unaware that you are not just interacting with NPCs or fellow players. You are interacting with real beings from real planets, each with their own agendas and wars. These beings—these races—you think they're just part of the game? No. They're real. And a war is coming, Gok. Not just a war between humans, but between all races. And Earth—your planet—has become the battleground."
Gok stumbled back, his mind reeling. Alien races? A war? How was this even possible? How had Earth never known?
Rat's tone shifted, growing darker. "For centuries, we—the 13 Zodiacs—have been preparing to defend Earth. But the truth is, even we, with all our power, cannot win this war alone. Except for you."
Gok's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, his voice low, laced with suspicion.
"You see, Gok, your power—that power you've been wielding—doesn't belong to you." Rat's eyes flickered with a golden light, his words dripping with menace. "The Infinite Blade, the very source of your strength, is not of your making. It is mine. You've been using my power, but you're too blind to realize it."
Before Gok could react, the pieces of the shattered Infinite Blade began to glow with an intense golden aura, radiating with a force he had never felt before. It began to reassemble itself in mid-air, reforming into its original shape—only now, the blade seemed to carry the same golden glow as Rat's eyes.
"YOURE POWER IS MINE," Rat said, his voice filled with a mix of triumph and amusement.
Gok's blood ran cold. This wasn't just a matter of control over the blade. This was about something far more sinister.
In a flash of instinct, Gok sent the Time Cube flying toward Rat. The moment the cube made contact, time around Rat froze. His movements halted mid-sentence, his form suspended in an eerie stillness.
"For now, I have to think for a while. This is too complicated." Gok muttered under his breath, his mind racing. The weight of Rat's revelations was too much to bear all at once. He needed time. He needed to understand what was happening and why.
Gok turned his back to the frozen figure of Rat, breathing deeply as he sought to process the truth.
But just as he began to steady his thoughts, something else caught his attention.
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The 9th Zodiac: Monkey
In the darkest corner of the shattered arena, a figure sat on a throne made of jagged stone. The air around him seemed to hum with a strange, primal energy.
The figure was large, his form covered in thick, dark fur. His eyes gleamed a fierce, blood-red, and from his back sprouted two additional arms, each twitching with unsettling intent. He wore no armor—only the raw, untamed power of a creature far beyond the realm of humans.
He gazed at Gok with a sinister smile, his eyes narrowing as he studied the young player before him.
"For a human like you... interesting," the Monkey Zodiac mused, his voice low and guttural, as though coming from deep within the earth itself.
Gok felt a chill run down his spine as the Monkey's eyes locked onto him. This was no mere opponent. This was a Zodiac, a being whose power and influence were far beyond anything Gok had encountered.
The Monkey Zodiac slowly stood from his throne, his multiple arms extending in a gesture that seemed almost casual, but the air around him crackled with dangerous energy.
"You think you can save your world? You think you can stop what's coming?" Monkey's smile widened into something more feral. "You are nothing but a tool, a pawn in the grand scheme of things. And soon, you'll realize that even your precious Infinite Blade is just a fraction of the true power of the Zodiacs."
As the words hung in the air, Gok couldn't help but wonder how much further the rabbit hole went. How many more Zodiacs were out there? How much more power was hidden in this strange, alien world?