Paxton chuckled as the sensation of his head being tugged overwhelmed him.
'Shit'. He thought to himself as his gaze drifted to sleep. It was like an addictive was calling for him, cascading sweet whispers into his brain, pushing him off his edge.
It was uncomfortable and yet, sweet. To the point that he was ready to let go.
"How….How are you still awake?"
The familiar voice of the Player sent a wave of thrill that nearly sent him off. He repeated his earlier question, surprise etched in his voice.
Paxton looked up with a sleepy gaze, his sight a hazy blur. 'Oh well….' He thought as he felt himself losing touch with reality.
It felt like drifting into a dream, only that, this would be more realistic than his reality.
As his eyes closed shut and his breath evened, his head fell limply to his side while his body remained fixed on the wall, his hands folded and his legs crossed.
Don stared in bewilderment, his head spinning with reasons for this occurrence, but unable to figure one out, he left the room. His gaze never left Paxton until he closed the door behind them.
This was the way players were created. The Server connects to their consciousness through the server link where their test is created from their subconscious.
The bodies of the Challengers laid in wait for their owners, as a test that spelt death began.
Paxton felt his senses drift into sleep, and just as he was about to as well, a loud Artificial Intelligence voice echoed in his ears.
[....INTERFACE LOADING….]
[WELCOME TO THE SERVER]
****
BOOM!
The ground shook from the brunt of the bombs that had laid waste to the once-forgotten city as cries of pain and anguish mixed in with the loud explosions and collisions, turning into a mixture of horror and chaos.
At that moment, a man in a soldier's uniform screamed out as he pushed his fellow soldier away, nearly dodging a bomb that landed on the same spot before exploding into bits of matter and dirt.
'Wha–?' The yellow-haired boy struggled to stand to his feet as loud sirens echoed in his ear.
His body was left in disarray, and his senses were in an even worse state.
'What? What is going on?!' he asked himself in confusion as he struggled to his feet, only to remain on his knees.
The dirt and mud left a bitter aftertaste as he was stuck in disarray.
The loud explosions continued, followed by the loud cries of humans for help, and worse still? Gruesome snarls and growls echoed in the chaos that was brewing.
It was total madness. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a man in a uniform jumping in front of him as a long talon pierced into the man's very being.
He watched as the man's body jerked into a lifeless pulse before it was flung away like a piece of dirt.
His eyes dilated in fear as he watched a barricade of stones crushed under the weight of gruesome creatures, living things that weren't meant to be living.
He had no clue what they were. Heck, he had no idea where he was, but the constant explosions, the loud cries and even bestial screams were too vivid.
His head was flooded with too much information, and the pain formed an eerie sound that pierced through his cochlea.
"AWWWWW". He screamed in the middle of it all, unable to even get himself to his senses.
"Get up! Soldier!" A voice pierced through the loud sirens that echoed in his ears, but he couldn't hear anything. His eyes served as his only means of understanding his situation as a Bulky soldier grabbed him by his arm.
"Get him to the infirmary! We can not lose any more to the Solack Slaves!"
Two more rushed to his side and pulled him up, hastening their steps as they lowered their body to avoid foreign projectiles while they headed to the infirmary.
"Hang in there soldiers! This is for the empire! Don't let those slaves get the better of you!"
His voice was like a subtle echo, attempting time again and again to anchor the young amber-haired boy to reality, but the boy was too far gone.
He was limply carried off, his gaze scanning the battlefield for an answer, but all he saw was blood, carnage, dead bodies and dead monstrosities. His gaze flickered as he lost touch with his senses, and he fell into a coma.
****
Like a movie scene in a drama, his gaze flickered open as he watched himself being dragged into a tent where medics rushed to his aid nearly instantly.
It was like a dream, a blurry one. No, maybe not a dream but a nightmare. The voices sounded like a whisper to him as he was placed on a bed and administered first aid.
Each time his gaze opened, the loud siren noise that rang in his ears diminished and the voices of the people gathered became a little bit clearer.
This occurred for a bit until he was lost in the drowsiness and gave in to sleep.
'Hah…What is happening?'
As he lost himself to the soft pillows of sleep, a voice rang in his ear, not just any voice but his. He found himself stuck in a darkness, seeking answers that were already there. It didn't take long though, as he finally got the opportunity to relax amidst the sounds and recall what he had come here for.
'Test Of Humanity!'.
"AWWH"
Paxton sprung from the patient bed like a spring roll, his voice trembling as he heaved greatly while his eyes scanned his environment.
His gaze flickered time after time until a nurse rushed up to him with a brilliant smile.
"Sergeant Paxton. You're finally awake".
'Sergeant?' Paxton thought in surprise as the sounds of voices and moans of pain pierced through his ear.
He grunted in pain for a bit, his ears slowly getting used to the vibrations around him.
He looked up at the nurse again.
"Where am I? What is going on?"
The last thing he recalled was entering a white room where he was preparing for the Test Of Humanity to become a player.
So, how was he rushed off here?
'Was I? Was I taken into the battlefield?' He wondered as he furrowed his brow in contemplation.
'That doesn't make sense, the other Metropolitan cities would never attack Gametopia'.
"Sergeant Paxton? Don't you remember? We have been on the frontlines for a bit over five months now".
"What?!" he cried out in shock, as a stuffy sensation grew in his chest with each beating of his heart.
'What is she talking about?! I should be in Gametopia for the Test….Or?' He paused at that moment, his thoughts slowly reeling in as he recalled the debriefing and the encounter with Player Don.
'Am I…inside the server?'
The Server creates a test in the challenger's subconsciousness by linking with it.
'So…my subconscious is at war?'
He chuckled lightly as he rubbed his temples.
"Are you okay, Sergeant Paxton? Should I call your Lieutenant?" The nurse asked, her tone laced with worry as her gaze flickered while she stared at him. She seemed to be searching for something around him or within him, out of fear that he could have possessed worse injuries.
"I'm fine, nurse. Please, can you just explain to me what we're doing here? I don't seem to recall anything since I woke up" Paxton asked with a sigh.
'I best get information out of her while I can, if I'm right about this….then we're supposed to solve this crisis in one way or the other to get back to reality…..though, how exactly do I do that?'.
The Player Association didn't exactly fill them in on how they could achieve their goal, but within the next second, all his questions were going to be answered.
[WELCOME CHALLENGER PAXTON ZEN]