"Damon, what's wrong?" Elena asked, her concern
turning to fear.
{< Did you fools really think that logging out
would save you? >}
"There's a voice in my head," Damon replied,
struggling to endure the ache. "It hurts!"
Damon took deep breaths with one hand holding his
forehead and the other holding his phone. He tried to focus his aching eyes on
the screen. Just like he thought, the mind intrusion wasn't happening to him
alone.
-Did you guys hear that too?
-Are we still in the game? I think the System just
spoke to me
Damon fought the pain while leaving the bed to go
downstairs. The sounds coming from the TV seemed to make Damon hurt even more.
"Please turn the TV off," Damon requested, massaging
his eyes.
Without a second of thought, Elena reached for the TV
remote and pressed the off button. The pain lessened after a few minutes, but
something told Damon that it wasn't over yet. With each passing second, Elena's
worry for Damon increased. She sat beside Damon, holding his hand.
"Water. Can you get me a cup of water?"
Elena got up and bolted to the kitchen. Considering
everything she had heard on the news and the numerous social media posts she
had seen the past twenty minutes, Elena couldn't help but be terrified of the
game's influence on one of the two people she cared the most about.
{< Silence, Mortals! >}
The voice in Damon's head returned, but this time, he
didn't feel any pain like before. Damon stayed silent to listen to who ever was
talking in his mind.
{< I can hear your meaningless thoughts and they
disgust me. Be quiet and listen!! I won't give a second warning! >}
{< By logging into what you know as 'Hell's
Foundation', you trespassed into my world, Rivia. Your petty minds cannot begin
to phantom the consequences of your actions, but by now, you should've realized
that Hell's Foundation is more than the Game you expected. Henceforth, every
time you fall asleep, your minds shall be sent to Rivia and you will suffer for
your sacrilege. Die in Rivia and I will personally remove your spirit from your
body. Do whatever it takes to survive and maybe you won't die so early >}
Damon entered
the note app on his phone and started to record the speaker's words exactly as
he heard them. Even though the person talking wasn't making any sense, Damon
didn't want to forget any of it.
{< There is one who has my interest, and for him, I
show you this kindness; The Arkenstone is a jewel hidden in the depths of Rivia.
Find it and you shall earn my forgiveness and your freedom. Without the
Arkenstone, there is no escape from Rivia! Hell's Foundation made you invade my
world so I have ceased control of it. The Game will be your salvation. And your
doom! >}
Damon couldn't believe what he was hearing. None of
the players could. Elena returned with a cup of water as he had requested, but
he dropped it on a stool. His focus was on the voice in his head.
{< Mortals, I am God Nerahk! Do not
provoke me more than you already have! >}
That was the
last word that came to Damon's mind. There was silence afterwards.
"I'm sorry, Elena but I don't think I can keep my
promise to stay away from the game," Damon muttered slowly.
"What do you mean? You'll die if you don't," Elena
protested, squeezing his right arm. "Please."
Damon turned to Elena and held her hands, "I don't
want to, but I have to."
It wasn't easy explaining all that the voice in his
head, who claimed to be a God, told him to Elena but Damon tried. At first,
Elena was in conflict that the game had affected Damon's sanity but considering
the complaints constantly flooding the internet, she had no choice to believe
him.
"This can't be happening." Elena cried, resting her
head on Damon's shoulder.
Damon was a huge fan of VR Games. Over the years, he
had found joy in surpassing the odds against him. After his parents died, playing
VR Games helped him heal, but there was no way he was going to lose his second
life to a cursed game. He was just 18 years old. Damon hadn't experienced an
iota of the true pleasures of life. The pleasures he was denied when he was a
slave.
"Don't worry, Elena. Nothing is going to take me away
from you. I promise," Damon assured with a confident voice as he caressed her
arm.
Elena raised her head to look him in the eyes. There
wasn't a trace of fear in them.
"How can you be so sure? The other players online say the
game is very dangerous." Tears started to fill her eyes, but Damon pulled her
into his embrace. "Please don't give me false hope."
"Stop crying. Don't you trust me?" Damon gave her a
kiss on her forehead. "I will do whatever it takes to be free of the game."
'The other players don't have what I own and can't do
what I can. I've been through too much pain to die now!' Damon thought to
himself.
Damon spent the rest of the day watching movies with
Elena. He had better things to do, but Elena mattered more to him. He needed to
calm her worried heart. With Elena's father constantly out at sea, Damon was
all she had. He couldn't blame her for being so worried about him. Heaven knows
if she was in his shoes, he would.
For the first time, Damon was happy Elena wasn't a fan
of VR Games and his numerous attempts to initiate her into the fold had failed.
A couple of hours after binge-watching a couple of rom-coms
in Elena's room, she fell asleep. Damon tucked her in and waited till she was
deep in sleep before quietly switching off the TV. He left to his room, but not
to sleep.
Damon wore his earpiece to listen to the Government's
response to the game. Since someone posted about it an hour ago, Damon had
become convinced that if he fell asleep, he would be sent back to Rivia. Sleep
was inevitable, but before going back there, Damon was going to gather as much
info as he could about the game.
[A/N: The information below will explain the influence
of Hell's Foundation on the world. Read it!]
Just as Damon expected, the American government took
the matter seriously. All governments did. The maker of the game, Alaric King,
released a public statement claiming innocence over the death of Players. He
was backed up by the Game's designers and Beta Testers who had proof that it wasn't
the game they developed that went online. Rivia isn't the VR world Hell's
Foundation was designed to take the players to when they log in. The developers
of Hell's Foundation had no idea what Rivia is and the threats players would
face in it.
An estimate of 850 Million people from across the
globe had logged into Hell's Foundation. 12 Hours had passed since its launch
and in that time, 753,691 players had lost their lives to the horrors of Rivia.
With each minute, the numbers increased.
The President of the United States had even ordered
Alaric Inventions to shut the Game down, but the developers couldn't. Ceazer,
one of the most advanced Artificial Intelligence on the planet was integrated
into Hell's Foundation. As long as the internet remained active, so would the
Game. Then again, there was no guaranty that destroying the Game would free the
players. It could result in their collective death.
It made sense how Players enter Rivia by logging into
Hell's Foundation using the VR bracelets, but Scientists couldn't explain how
the minds of players enter Rivia without the bracelets while asleep. 10% of the
world's population was enslaved by a Game science couldn't control. No one
wanted to believe there was actually a God out there who was punishing the
Players for invading his word, but that was the only theory that made any
sense.
The more Damon listened to the news, the clearer the
truth was to him.
'The only way to be free of the game is to find the
Arkenstone.'rrrrhh