Despite the overwhelmingly disgusting sight, the people of Froozilla could not take their eyes off of the monstrosity that had been laid before their eyes by the mayor. This so-called "surprise" came as a shock to everyone, even to Maverick, Lim, and Moruel, who inadvertently felt a sickening feeling deep in their guts.
"Ahhh! What is that?!"
In its disgusting glory, stood before every person in Froozilla the sawn-off body parts of different monsters sewn together in a man's trunk. Its head was that of an Emtusa Praying Mantis while its arms were different from each other, being that of what seemed to be an octopus' tentacle while the other resembled a crab's pincer. On the other hand, ironically, both of its legs were not of the same origin as its left hind leg was that of a tiger and the other from a lion.
"That's a chimera!"
Lim caught a glimpse of something moving inside the man's belly while the other two had their eyes away from the sight.
"That's sick! Disgusting!"
Strangely, the horrendous sight kept them looking back at it every second they averted their gazes. It felt like they could not take their eyes off the monstrosity in front of everyone.
"I'm not supposed to be looking but I feel strange just by staring at it!"
Each of the townspeople has the same say about the spectacle at hand. Their earlier disgust was slowly washed over by fascination and soon they were feeling amazement from the "fine craft".
"Good evening, my beloved townsfolk!"
In a potbelly suit and a cane in hand, the captivating presence of the mayor encapsulated every negative reaction towards the "surprise", leaving everybody with a bright, welcoming smile on their faces.
"Mayor!" They collectively said, welcoming their beloved town's chief. "We love your surprise for us!"
"Yes, Mayor! We are deeply moved by your present for everyone!"
Confused by the mass's reactions towards the hideous surprise presented to the townspeople, the three proceeded to watch on the sidelines; blending with people to avoid unnecessary attention for themselves.
"Let's wait and see how this goes from here," Moruel was on edge, cautious out of all the three. "Be careful of your surroundings, you two."
Both Lim and Maverick were behind him, so he was unaware that both of them were completely gone and nowhere to be seen. Moruel realized but did not panic. He looked through the party window and saw that both of them were still alive.
"They are alive but they are not being shown on the map."
While busy thinking of what could have happened to Lim and Maverick, another bizarre event happened when the man's torso— specifically its belly, opened with emerging gnawing teeth and a long hissing tongue.
"Now, everyone! Offer what you can to our divine protector!"
All hailed the monstrosity like it was some kind of savior and the townspeople looked like a bunch of lunatic cult members. They began to take a knife for themselves, presented by the Mayor's handymen in cardboard boxes.
"There are enough knives for everyone to partake in this divine offering! Bless our town and bless its people!"
Accordingly, each townsfolk waited for their turn to finally have their hands on a knife, sweating as they stared at the sharp edge of the weapon.
"Fret not, my beloved townspeople! Do it for the glory of our providence!"
"All hail our divine ruler!"
And just like that, every person in the plaza was involved in a mass offering of blood and flesh where each of them had taken a part of themselves and served it to the monster in sight.
"This is sick! Totally sick!"
While Moruel was out there feeling all vexed by the atrocious event, a child who was missing an ear and was bleeding from it, spoke to him: "Mister, are you not gonna take part in the offering?"
As if unfazed by the wound on his ear whilst holding a knife in his hand, the boy horrifically smiled at Moruel as he offered the weapon in his hand.
"Do it for the glory of our protector."
"Uh, no, no!" A compelling vexation came over Moruel, losing his composure at the sight of the unhinged child. "This isn't right, even if this is a game!"
"A game? What is that? This is reality, mister." The child continued, then looked back. "Mayor! Mister right here refuses to partake in our protector's glorious nighttime festival!"
For a moment, none of it seemed like a game to Moruel. The child's odd expression, the chills Moruel felt run down his spine, and the voices of every townsfolk blabbering about Moruel's need to offer a part of him— all of it felt so surreal and overwhelming that nausea caused his vision to blur. But before he could lose his balance, Moruel hastened away from the plaza; running as far as he could from the cause of his anxiety.
"Hey, isn't that Moruel?"
Lim and Maverick saw the escaping Moruel and quickly followed suit.
"Moruel! Moruel," the two called, "hey, moruel!"
Moruel's head cleared once he realized how far he had run away from the plaza. He heard the voices of his friends and turned around to see the two running after him.
Completely out of breath, Moruel clutched his chest and motioned the two to wait for him to catch his breath.
"Are you okay?"
Under a lamp post, they shared the bright light. Beside them was a bench that could have them sit all three, but they chose to stay standing.
"Yeah," Moruel replied.
"What happened, dude?"
"Those people are nuts! They kept blabbering about giving offerings to the chimera and they started cutting a part of them! They were smiling through the pain! What's worse is that it all seemed real! Like none of this is a game!"
Moruel remembered the kid's words—that none of it was being part of a game. Everything he saw and felt was a part of the reality he was in.
"I sensed this ever since setting foot in this town. I just couldn't put it into words because it might have been my imagination."
Maverick sat down at the bench, spreading his arms and legs to occupy as much space as he could.
"Should we just log off? It's not like we should keep on playing. There are other games out there where we can have fun."
"But aren't we doing this for Maverick so he could get some money to buy Ethernal?"
"Guys," Maverick called out to the two of them. "We can always switch games to play. If this is too much for both of you or even one of you, we can play other games."
One's own selfish desire isn't what should keep the three of them together but the bond that will form stronger through core memories and excitement that comes from playing games together. What comes first is the benefit of all three of them rather than the interest of one of them.
"Are you sure?" Moruel asked, feeling bad about the decision that was about to come to a conclusion. "I'm sorry... Suddenly, everything about this game felt so surreal for a second and I am here catching my breath."
"Honestly, I played this game solely because I wanna experience the virtual world. The money that comes with it is just a bonus, so don't feel bad about anything. A new game is still an experience, after all."
With that, they all decided to stop playing the beta version of Ethereal and logged off immediately without ever going back to see or understand what was happening. What the deal with Froozilla was will never be known...
***
On the internet, big news about the first eliminated boss in 'Hard Mode' brought waves to the Ethereal community.
[Apparently, it took one and a half hours for the raid team to defeat the first boss of the game!]
In the scorching land of fire and chaos where divinities and monsters would bring about destruction, a group of adventurers had teamed up to take down the first boss of the game mode.
The arduous battle against the first boss that took almost two hours in real time had been recorded and spread across the internet for every Entrant to see. May it serve as an encouraging sample to strive better and do well against all odds.
"Have you seen the video that's been circulating on the internet?"
Moruel pulled out his phone after putting down his backpack on his chair. He sat in between Maverick and Lim.
"That one where they killed the first boss of the Hard Mode? That shit was insane."
"No, though that fight was incredible." Moruel started browsing through his phone, intending to show what he meant. "This one."
Upon pressing full screen and tilting his phone to the side while Maverick and Lim leaned closer to him, the video played and all pairs of eyes were locked in.
"It's pitch black..."
With almost zero visibility in complete darkness wherein the heavy pressure of water resonated within the void, a roaring growl of what sounded to be a monster vibrated on the water surrounding everything.
"What's that sound?!"
Through the voice communicator, helpless screams for salvation drowned in the sucking cry of an unknown monster who was pulling every Entrant away from each other and tearing their equipment to pieces, eventually rendering them unable to breathe underwater.
"It's a... it's a sea dragon!"
"Gildan!"
"Argh!!! It hurts! Ahhhh!!!"
And the video strangely transitioned to a sea biome where NPCs and Entrants can freely breathe without the need for sea gadgets.
"It's pretty..." Maverick omitted his words, captivated by the enthralling scenery underwater.
"Is this Ethereal? If so, what mode is this?"
"Impossible Mode." Moruel did not need to add unnecessary words to his reply.
"Impossible Mode..."
Maverick's love for the ocean suddenly sparked, fanning the dying flames of passion rooted deep within his childhood memories.
"Let's play this! Let's explore the underwater world!"
~