by Rick Scar
Buckshot
Level: 115
Sky Thug
Level: 112
Coffee Maniac
Level: 112
Laughing Queen of Spades
Level: 110
Alien Body
Level: 108
“So, they’ve decided to show up at last.” Mollie closed the menu and stared at the rogue.
“They have. But why now?” Still looking at the strangers’ names, Will instantly noticed a title appear next to one of them:
Laughing Queen of Spades
Title: Queen
Level: 110
“Ah. Now I see why.”
Chapter 228. The Reapers
W ill was leaning on the balcony’s railing, pondering over what might happen next. It wasn’t the new players’ levels that amazed him; if it hadn’t been for his self-sacrifices and the other things he had done instead of focusing on the sole task of leveling up, he would have been at least Level 150 himself. The concerning part was that one of them was a queen, and that all of them had stepped out into the spotlight at once.
The Queen of Spades’ showing her title was definitely a strike against Mollie. A powerful strike, which had landed precisely on the day of the wedding that would open up the possibility of becoming the future queen. Considering the fact that Mollie wasn’t the first player to embark on this path, and that she certainly still had a long way to go before she would come into any real power, you have to wonder: does this girl bear a grudge against the RD leader?
“I can’t believe it,” Mollie said from behind Will. “What a bitch.”
Looking back at his furious friend, Raven asked, “Are you angry because you’ve been outdone or because you know who’s done it?”
After considering his question for a moment, Mollie replied, “Well, I’m not 100% sure, but I feel like I’m right.”
“What if you’re wrong? Aren’t you ashamed of calling a stranger that?” Will teased.
She lifted a hand, stopping him from saying anything else. “You know… I’m not. Better to be safe and flush this bitch out as quickly as possible.” She frowned.
“Oh. I see that’s your sore spot?”
“You have no idea how sore. No. I’d rather not talk about it. And let’s have our dance some other time. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course, not. Like I said, I’m a really bad dancer. Bye, and best of luck.”
Waving a hand at Mollie, who was already heading back into the reception hall, he turned back to the city lights. That will make tomorrow’s tournament even more interesting. I can’t wait.
***
Evening of the same day
Soul Crushers
The Arena
Crux, the Soul Crushers’ highest-level player, was committed to keeping his top spot within the clan, so he had spent most of his time either grinding or fighting in the arena. After practicing alone for a while (this was permitted while waiting for a challenge to be accepted), he gaped at the newly received challenge.
The player offering him a duel had Level 98.
Feeling totally bewildered, Crux checked the Gladiator Table – and his astonishment reached new heights.
What the hell’s going on? Who are all these guys?
Crux was unaware that he was not the only one being challenged. All the strongest players in the arena at that time had received similar invitations from…
Name: Scarab
Level: 84
Name: Rinaber
Level: 87
Name: Ori-Tori
Level: 90
Name: Janita
Level: 77
…and many others.
Thirty-two high-level players, whose names weren’t in the ratings, hit the arena like a tornado, ravaging it and leaving behind a trail of dead bodies belonging to the TOP clans’ best players.
***
Skydome Corp Headquarters
Penthouse Office
Two men were standing in the middle of a small room that was guarded by The Emperor, whose physical core had been placed there. Seven layers of mechanical and electronic defense systems, as well as two scores of modern traps had been set up all around him.
The core was a six-foot sphere of unknown, otherworldly material, which buzzed and blinked as it processed tonnes of information, figures and graphs that were flashing all around it. A player’s figure often appeared on the sphere’s surface.
“Will you tell us this time?” Crossing his arms, Glen scowled at the sphere. An AI supposedly created by our research team. But it’s a lie. A total fake. Why did it choose us two, of all people?
This happened six months before the release of Dark Gate.
Four years ago…
After wrapping up another meeting about the marketing campaign for the upcoming Dark Gate release, the two friends and business partners had locked themselves up in their office to discuss and adjust a new, lucrative contract with a game capsule maker, when all the lamps suddenly buzzed in synchronization and began flashing until they eventually faded. The distant wall with the projector was consumed by impenetrable darkness.
A glass of whiskey slipped out of Jacob’s hand. Turning slowly to his friend, he realized he wasn’t just seeing things; Glen was seeing it too.
That… that thing, dressed in a weird robe that seemed to be flapping in the wind, stepped out of a pitch-dark opening. Its breath was cold and created a vacuum, which sucked the oxygen from the room. Both men collapsed to the floor, clutching at their chests and holding their breath.
Once that… that door had closed, the air inside the room returned to normal. Breathing with relief, Glen and Jacob were about to stand, but the unexpected visitor wouldn’t let them and pressed them into the floor as if he had a giant, invisible, stone hand.
It was only then that the two billionaires, sprawled out on the floor, saw the thing that was hiding behind this human-like monster.
The monster had crimson skin, and its veins were flashing through the skin on its front paws and face like pink bolts of lightning. Growing from its neck was a high, skin-stretched bone-collar that was covered in the same thin, branching bolts. It had three eyes, all without pupils, arranged in a horizontal row across its forehead. Its large nostrils, which were much larger than a human’s, were sunk back into its skull, and it had no mouth. The fabric of its robe looked like it was alive, wriggling and rolling like a smoothly moving predator. It was semi-transparent and allowed them to see the creature’s body, which was illuminated from the inside with flashes of pink lightning.
Stepping aside, the monster put its arm on the six-foot sphere. It was a captivating sight: the most advanced technology on earth in action. Amazed at how this thing worked, the two men felt their minds sinking into contemplation, as if they were being dipped into some kind of information bath. But the amount of information was too much for an unprepared human brain to handle; their heads were soon bursting with pain.
“You are so weak,” the visitor’s rattling voice said. He had broken into their minds like a master of his craft. “But I have no choice. Listen to me and remember my words, you, inferior race. I speak for the civilization of Reapers. I am here to assign an important mission to you. This-,” it slid a hand over the sphere, “will choose the Messengers of the Universe from your race. The process is simple. This smart machine knows how to present this story in the most appropriate form for your species. But there are two conditions. Firstly, you should not disclose the truth to anyone. Your civilization is too primitive to know the real meaning of the Messenger selection and training process.”
This rattling voice, which was completely devoid of any emotion, drilled into their heads, bringing with it an acute pain. “Secondly, the process will last for six eclipse phases of Da’Amara, or ten of your puny planet’s years.” After pausing for a few seconds to let the inferior creatures wrap their heads around its words, the visitor continued: “The Emperor will need some time to collect information. It wi
ll choose the place and time for the challenge. You will be at his disposal. My mission is now over.”
The voice vanished into the vacuum. Standing up on shaky legs, the two men stared at each other and swallowed, too scared to speak.
Before long, The Emperor took command, setting the place and the date. To conceal the true nature of the selection process from the rest of humanity, the smart machine had its human assistants spread rumors about their advanced AI, brilliant scientists, and new VR technology.
***
The Emperor ignored the two men, just like it always did. Rather than answering, it sent the information straight into their minds, making them go pale with the torrent of incoming data.
After completing this transmission, the strange device returned to its calculations and dismissed the visitors. They left the room on wobbly legs and, after making their way through the security checkpoints and past the traps, which took half an hour, arrived back at the penthouse.
“Oh, that’s total…” Glen cursed the machine for a full minute before flopping to his desk. “I understand why it’s doing that, but it’s too fast. It’s been less than a year since it began!”
“The reward it’s promised is really attractive. Lots of players are going to want it.” Jacob uncorked another bottle of whiskey. He had only been an occasional drinker before meeting that alien, but ever since then he had been drinking more and more alcohol. “We don’t have much choice, anyway. We’ve got to do it… for humanity to survive.”
“You know…” Glen put his head down on the cool desk like a tired teenager in math class. “You know, I don’t really remember much from that day. But do you think that humanity is ready for what awaits us once this is all over?”
“We don’t have much choice,” Jacob said again, his heavy voice resounding through the luxurious apartment. The thud of his empty glass on the table’s surface put an end to the friends’ attempt to guess the hidden meaning behind all of this. “We don’t know their goals, but we know what they can do. That… that round thing…”
Lifting his somewhat misty gaze at the player list in the air, he drawled: “Let’s do it, shall we? Fifty percent sensitivity! This game is played by kids, but that piece of metal doesn’t care. I wish I knew how it got the UN’s approval.” Twitching his shoulders, Jacob glared at where, enclosed in thick walls, The Emperor continued to work on its unknown creators’ program.
Chapter 229. The Mysterious Brotherhood
T he next morning began with an outright weird message from the devs.
Starting from today, the minimal sensitivity level required to play Ascension is set at 50%. While it’s true that our product is just a game, our broader mission is to push boundaries.
As many our players already know, Ascension is more than just an exciting adventure; it puts players through stressful situations that are based on their real-world memories. By interacting with the human brain, our AI can train it like a coach would train a professional athlete. This method has been approved by the UN and the healthcare authorities in all of the countries we operate in.
We recommend that you carefully consider whether you will be comfortable playing under these conditions. This sensitivity level can be a painful experience, particularly for children.
As a humble compensation for a small part of that pain, we have prepared some gifts and bonuses to be claimed by children and adults alike. Follow the link for more information.
Thank you for staying with us.
Sincerely,
Skydome Corp
Staring at this message as he finished his milk, Will clicked on the link and saw a list of wearable items, resources, and quests offered as bonuses. Why would the devs do this now?
He wasn’t the only one asking this question. The media had attacked this strange message just like a school of piranhas descends on a carcass, gnawing at it and pulling it apart into tiny bits, but the devs kept their traditional silence by ignoring all calls for comments.
Having decided that this was a good point to bring his friend Curtis into the game, Will called him immediately. As he looked at his old phone, which was a model that didn’t support holographic images, he considered getting a new one… and perhaps also moving closer to his sister’s school.
After explaining the situation to Curtis and offering to pay his start-up expenses, Will left his friend to sleep on his sudden offer.
As he climbed into his capsule, Will was still immersed in thought, and it took him some time to realize that the place where he had been transported to by the usual flash of light was not the palace, and that there were other players surrounding him.
They were the Soul Crushers. Light Terror stepped ahead, waving a hand at Will. About twenty clan members formed a dense crowd around the two of them.
Staring at Pak silently, Raven waited for him to explain his clanmates’ odd behavior. But he gestured for Will to wait. The two of them were soon joined by a vampire.
“Anister? I think I’m missing something here.” Will indicated the space around them.
“Please, forgive me. That’s just for our safety.”
“Your safety from me?”
“Oh, no, of course not. From bad surprises like any other players arriving unexpectedly.”
“Do I look like someone who would have a problem with that?” Raven arched a brow skeptically.
“I’m telling you it’s for our safety. Well, whatever. Let’s discuss why we came to meet you, shall we?”
Spotting the familiar inn behind the other players’ backs, Will nodded at it, inviting Night to join him.
“Okay.” The whole crowd started toward the local pub.
“So? Start talking.”
“Just a moment.” Touching the necklace that was dangling from his neck over the armor, Pak activated a spell that put a magic barrier around the three of them.
“Guys, I’m getting really tired of this. I’ve got lots of other things to do.” Wincing at their spy game, Raven tossed a cracker into this mouth and stared at the Soul Crushers’ leader.
“Do you know about the new players?” Night asked.
“Like hell I’d miss anything like that. They took the top spots.”
Honestly, though, I might have missed them, if it hadn’t been for Mollie.
“No. The other new players.” Glancing at Pak, Night sent Will a link.
The video showed unknown players fighting in the arena. Each of the strangers had Level 75 or higher.
“Wow. I totally missed these ones.” Will peered at the rapid duels, each ending with a new player’s victory. Once he reached the end of the video, he looked back at the other two men.
“Now look at this.”
The next link took him to another video from the arena. Each of the thirty-seven new players were standing there. In front of them were the five newly-fledged TOP players, who had dethroned Raven.
The Queen of Spades was speaking. She was a short woman, who looked very confident. Shining on top of her red hair was a small tiara made of gold and scattered with lots of small red jewels, which were gleaming in the spotlight like drops of blood on white marble.
She’s spent a lot of time editing her character. The queen was dressed in a floor-length, blood-red gown, which had a mantle that was made of an unknown animal’s skin and lined with black fur. Her shoulders were left bare.
“Hello, my dear subjects. Ahahaha. Oh, it feels so wonderful to look down at all of you. Right, Kingmaker?” Her lips curved up into a predatory smirk, but the man standing by her side, whose nickname was Coffee Addict, put a hand on her shoulder. The queen frowned but continued in a different voice. “Well. To hell with introductions. All of you! From a noob chasing their first hare to a pro on an epic quest. We are the Brotherhood of Enlighteners. It’s not the name I would have chosen, but…”
She was interrupted by a dry cough from behind her. With an unchanged face, she continued, “What was I talking about? Ah, yes. We are the ones who know the tru
th about what Ascension is. We can show you that it’s not just a game! We can give you the answers, and tell you the truth…”
She went on, but Will was no longer listening. He turned to Night. “That’s really interesting, I admit. A bunch of weird players proclaiming themselves to be some sort of cult. But I still don’t get it. Why did you want me to see this?”
Instead of answering, Night jabbed a finger into the air, to where his player window usually was. Will heaved a sigh and kept watching the video. Finally, he saw why the vampire wanted to talk to him so urgently. It must have been because of Sarah’s article about heroic potential getting published; it was mentioned by the queen.
After watching the whole video, he looked up at the other men. “So what?”
“Pak told me about your sensitivity level, man. It’s… abnormal.”
“Hey, man.” Will frowned at Pak. “What the hell? I don’t remember asking you to tell everyone.”
“Sorry, Will. But this information is really important to our clan. I haven’t told you before, but our clan mainly consists of individuals with disabilities, including military veterans. Those who are already living with great pain, both physically and mentally. A few other people and I are volunteering for a charity that helps them adapt to this virtual world. Our mission is to let them see that they still can fight, survive, and make money in this game world.”
Will listened silently, without interrupting his friend’s excited speech. “You haven’t told me before. Why?”
“Don’t you know?”
“Because of the money?”
“Yeah. I know about your family.”
“Guys.” Anister stopped them. “I understand this is important to you, but you’d be better off discussing it between the two of you, over a cup of coffee. Now, Raven, please tell me about your sensitivity level. I promise I won’t let anyone else know.”
