Jason, Marcus, Sophia, and Eleanor emerged from the forest nearly simultaneously, each of them holding a glowing crystal in their hands. Their clothes were dirtied, their faces smeared with grime, and their breathing was heavy, but there was a collective sense of accomplishment as they trudged toward the carriage.
Liam sat casually atop the carriage, his arms resting on his knees. His gaze flicked toward the group as they approached, but his mind kept drifting to Sera, who was seated inside the carriage. Something about her presence lingered in his thoughts, nagging at him in ways he didn't fully understand. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he leapt down and strode toward the group.
"You all good?" Liam asked, his eyes scanning their faces.
Jason held up his crystal first, grinning. "Mission accomplished."
Sophia followed, her lips curved into a faint smile as she showed hers. Eleanor simply nodded, holding up her crystal as confirmation.
When Liam's gaze landed on Marcus, his expression shifted slightly. "Say, Marcus," he said, raising an eyebrow, "why is yours duller than the rest?"
Marcus's eyes widened, and he immediately raised his crystal in defiance. "You motherfucker!" he bellowed, stomping toward Liam. "Do you know what I went through to get this damn thing? I chased a farting rabbit through half the forest, got laughed at, nearly choked on its stink, and you dare question my crystal?!"
Liam smirked, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright, calm down. I was just asking."
"Just asking, my ass!" Marcus snapped. "Next time, you go chase the farting rabbit, and I'll sit here looking pretty!"
Sophia covered her mouth to stifle a laugh, and Jason couldn't resist snickering. Even Eleanor allowed a faint smirk to cross her usually stoic face.
"Enough," Liam said, waving a hand. "Let's focus on the task at hand. Bring the crystals to your foreheads."
The group exchanged wary glances but did as instructed. Slowly, they raised the glowing stones to their foreheads. The moment the crystals made contact with their skin, a warm sensation spread through their bodies.
[Ding]
[System Online]
The notification rang clearly in their minds, startling them. Even Liam, who hadn't ventured into the forest, saw the same message flash before him.
"Finally," Jason muttered, rubbing his temple.
Marcus immediately started fumbling with the interface that had appeared in his vision. "Let's see here…" he mumbled, scrolling through the options. His eyes lit up when he saw the logout button.
"See you guys back in reality!" Marcus exclaimed as he clicked it.
A second later, another notification popped up.
[Ding]
[Error]
Marcus froze, his triumphant grin melting into confusion. "What the fuck?" he muttered. He jabbed at the logout button again, but the same error message appeared. "No, no, no. This has to be some kind of bug."
"What's wrong?" Sophia asked, her voice tight with concern.
Marcus turned to face the group, his expression grim. "The logout option. It's not working."
Jason quickly checked his own system, and his face paled. "He's right. It's giving me the same error."
Sophia and Eleanor exchanged anxious glances before inspecting their own interfaces. The same result.
"Shit," Eleanor muttered under her breath.
Sophia slumped against a nearby tree, her legs giving out as the weight of the situation crashed down on her. "Are we even sure this is a game?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "What if we've actually been teleported to another world?"
The others turned to her, their expressions mirroring her unease.
Sophia continued, her voice gaining a frantic edge. "Think about it. Nobody had heard about this game before Nexus Corp contacted us. What if it was all a lie? What if they've been working on some sort of teleportation machine and we're the guinea pigs?"
Liam frowned, his jaw tightening. "That doesn't make any sense either. Why would they send us to another planet? What's the purpose of all this?"
Sophia buried her face in her hands. "I don't know! But it explains why everything feels so… real. The smells, the pain, the emotions—none of it feels like a simulation."
Marcus leaned against the carriage, his arms crossed. "If this is some kind of experiment, then why bother giving us a system?"
"Maybe the system is their way of monitoring us," Eleanor suggested, her tone even but somber. "Tracking our progress. Measuring how we adapt to this world."
A heavy silence settled over the group as they processed her words. For the first time, the possibility that they might be trapped—not just in a game, but in an entirely different world—felt all too real.