Damon accepted the rewards with a sense of pride but it didn't last long. As he headed toward another store, something odd caught his attention. He opened his profile screen, his gaze narrowing on a strange detail.
'What the fuck! Where's my EXP?' Damon muttered, his brows furrowing.
The beginning of Damon's stats currently looked like this.
{Player: The Dark One
Level: 0
EXP: 0/100 {FROZEN}
BP: 2000/2000}
At first, Damon assumed that the frozen tag was there because he hadn't earned any EXP yet. But after completed two missions with EXP rewards, he was confused as to why the bar was still empty. Unfortunately, there wasn't anyone in the game he could report to. The System only assigned permanent AI guides after players had completed the Arken Trials, which hadn't been unlocked yet. For now, he was on his own.
With rising frustration, Damon headed to a quiet alley to escape the eyes in the market. When he was certain that he was alone, he unveiled the Chaos Rings on his wrists. He wanted to be sure they weren't behind his current problem. Last time he asked a question, the Rings answered him with a subtle sign. Damon was hoping he could communicate with the Rings just like before.
"Did you freeze my EXP?" he demanded, his voice low but filled with anger.
Anyone who saw him now would think him crazy talking to a piece of equipment but The Rings had proven to Damon that they have a mind of their own when they tried taking over his body when he first equipped them.
Unlike what Damon was hoping for, the Rings didn't do anything.
"Answer me!" he growled, his fists clenching. "Or I swear, I'll let a beast kill me!" Damon threatened, hoping that would wake the silent Rings up.
According to the System's message, the Rings' survival was tied to Damon's. If Damon's Avatar was to die, the Rings would cease to exist for another 10,000 years and Damon had a feeling the Rings didn't want to be cleared out by the System.
Another reason for the threat was that in all VR games, the most important thing a player needed to thrive was EXP. Without EXP, to level up would be impossible. Damon would rather start all over than continue playing with a curse that prevented him from getting stronger.
How else was he going to dominate the game like he had boasted to Elena?
For a moment, there was nothing but silence. Then, Sensing the seriousness in Damon, the rings on his arms suddenly started to glow with an ominous red hue.
"Great, so it's not you," he muttered, though it brought little relief. The problem wasn't solved.
"Hang on." Damon squinted his eyes on the holographic square in front of him. Underneath EXP, there was another bar. One in a much lower font. He hadn't noticed it until now. "What's BP supposed to be?" he wondered.
Damon's urge to abandon the game was growing stronger. Starting over felt like the only viable solution, but even that carried risks. He couldn't shake the thought that reporting his situation to the Game Devs might expose the existence of the Chaos Rings.
If they found out he possessed a Chaos-grade equipment, they would surely take it from him Damon was still trying to think of a solution when a piercing scream pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Arrrghhhh!!"
Normally, he would've stayed put, but there was a loud commotion after the scream. He got up from the sandy ground he was sitting on and got out to see Players running in every direction, panic etched on their faces. Multiple flashes of golden light kept occurring signifying that players were logging out.
'What's going on?'
Damon left the secluded alley and hurried to meet the first player he saw. He was a red-haired teenager in steel-grade armor. He was taller than Damon. The boy looked pale, his eyes darting around nervously.
"Hey bro, what's going on?" Damon asked with a straight face.
"Haven't you heard? P-p-players aren't resurrecting!" the young man said with a shaky voice, his eyes searching about.
"What?" Damon's expression hardened. "What do you mean players aren't resurrecting?"
"I mean…" The boy swallowed, his voice barely above a whisper. "When your HP hits zero, you don't just die in the game. You die for real, man."
Immediately those words reached Damon's ears, a chill ran down his spine. For someone who was usually calm-headed, Damon could feel terror build up in him.
"That explains why everyone is logging out," Damon whispered to himself.
"Don't!" the player warned, gripping Damon's shoulder. "There's something wrong with this game and it's not just the Resurrection Zone. What if logging out kills you too?" he swallowed.
Damon shook him off, forcing a chuckle. "Relax. There's got to be a logical explanation. The Game Devs are in the real world. That's where I'm going. You should do the same."
Damon snapped his fingers and the main menu hologram appeared. He reached for the Log Out button and tapped it.
{Player will exit Rivia in 5...4…3...2...1... Log Out Successful}
Damon opened his eyes and found himself back in his room. He stared at the white ceiling for about a minute before moving from the bed. He was already used to the weird, numbing feeling that comes after playing VR Games. He sat up then flexed his fingers, before getting up. The first thing he reached for was his phone.
"What in the actual fuck?"
Damon entered the Hell's Foundation online forum and couldn't believe what his eyes were showing him.
-Something is wrong with the game y'all.
-That's no game. That's a killing machine.
-Please help! My brother and I logged in together. We got attacked by a pack of wolves out in the forest and his HP bar got depleted. Why won't he wake up?
-Why are the Game Devs not responding?
Damon kept scrolling down the long display of messages from players all around the world and one thing was constant- players who died in the game also died in real life.
"Damon!!" Elena called out, rushing into his room.
She ran to him and hugged him tenderly.
"Are you okay? are you hurt?" There was worry and concern all over her. The tears that had gathered in her eyes threatened to fall out any second.
"I'm fine, Elena. Really," Damon assured but Elena didn't want to let go of him. "What makes you think I'm not?"
"They are talking about it on the news, Damon. That game you've been excited about." Elena released him from her embrace and locked eyes wit him. "Promise me you won't go back, Damon. Promise me I won't lose you to whatever is killing those people."
Damon was a little shocked to know Elena was aware of the situation. If it was true that in-game death led to death in real life, Damon didn't need anyone to tell him not to log back into the game. Whether it was just a glitch or not, Damon wasn't going to risk his life and hurt the one person he cared about in the world by dying.
"I promise. You're not going to lose me, Elena," Damon said softly as he cupped her face in his palms. "I'm not going anywhere."
{< Really? >}
Damon jolted when he heard a voice in the room.
"Did you hear that?" Damon asked Elena, looking around.
"Hear what?" she replied, wiping the tears off her cheeks.
Damon didn't say anything. He Picked up his phone and checked, but the voice didn't come from there.
"Never mind." He waved it off, thinking it was probably frm the TV downstairs.
{< Pathetic >}
The voice called out again, and this time, louder.
"Arrgh!" Damon grabbed his head in pain. There was no mistaking it. The voice was in his head.
"Damon, what's wrong?" Elena asked, her concern turning to fear.
{< Did you fools really think that logging out would save you? >}