by I. Felix
He went through his skill list and nothing seemed very useful, except for the Detoxify, which he had no skill points for. The database was greyed out, which meant he couldn't find any information for it. He knew he would need XP to get a skill point and put it on the Detoxify, that was his only chance. But how would he do that? He could risk and drink the potions to see the effects but what if he died right away?
"Well, I'm just super anxious, ain't I?" he said, aloud, really feeling like Alice in Wonderland, where she had no idea what was happening and just rolled with it. He grabbed the black potion first. "Coke, here I come," he said, shrugging and chugging it all down before he could think much about it.
It did taste like Coke, he was sure his brain was playing tricks on him, but the effects also started happening immediately. He'd never seen anything like that. He couldn't see anything, his vision got pink, and in a weird way, yellow, on top of the pink. Everything became foggy and started shaking as if an Earthquake was happening inside his brains. Also, the right part of his vision was all taken by small squares of different stats. He could see Poisoning, Confusion, Nausea, and a bunch of other stats that he couldn't discern.
"NO TURNING BACK," he heard himself screaming as loud as he could even though he didn't mean to do it. He got the pink potion in one hand and the green potion in the other. He knew he wouldn't be strong enough to drink one first and the other second, he would have to chug it down at the same time, so he opened his mouth as wide as he could, put the two bottles opening on there, and felt it almost as if he was drowning on the beach, the liquid invading his mouth. He did his best to swallow it without spitting, remembering his college days, because if he did that, he would be disqualified. He was already feeling like he would die, so it didn't make a difference to be suffocating with the potions.
He couldn't even tell the effects of the other two potions, for he fell to the ground, fainting, and he only remembered thinking that, this time, not even Oliver could save him.
Chapter 18 - Suicide
When Blake opened his eyes, he was sure he would be in the Purgatory, or in the tutorial part, or even in the Castle, but he was actually in another floating platform. He was sure it wasn't the same platform as before because it was much smaller, it had no tables, and only Control was there, in front of him, waiting for him to wake up. Blake also noticed that his HP was less than 10% but he was still alive.
"How you were able to do it is a mystery to me," Control said. "Those potions should have killed someone your level in seconds, however, here you are, still standing."
"So, I didn't die?" Blake asked, sitting up. He was feeling a little hungover, like if he had drunk too much the night before, but that was about it. He didn't feel the pain, the dizziness, nausea. All the squares with the different stats had disappeared.
"I can't begin to process why. Someone your level should have died."
"I have double the HP of someone my level," Blake whispered, trying to block the memories from his brain. It had been too much for him, hurt too bad. He was feeling like someone that just had been through severe trauma.
"Oh. That explains a lot. This test was made for you to survive using your skills. However, you just drank it and hoped for the best," Control said with a smile on his face. Blake also smirked and chuckled.
"That's me. That's Blake's style. So, did I pass? Can I go to the next floor?" he asked, imagining already what kind of thing he would have to face next. He didn't feel prepared.
Blake never liked to admit his weakness. He was the class clown, the funny guy at the office, the one that was always joking around, even with his pessimism and sometimes bad mood. He was the perfect duo with Arche, who was also a pessimist and a nihilist, even though he definitely wasn't sarcastic and as playful as Blake.
Blake didn't like to be serious and admit when he had had enough. And he reached that stage. Now he saw why that Tournament was crazy hard. It was too much. If the floor challenges didn't kill him, he was certain he would end up begging to leave. It was too hard on the body, too traumatic. He remembered how bad he felt dying on that desert, and how much those potions hurt.
Like if reading his thoughts, Control asked:
"Do you wish to proceed or would you like to give up?"
"I will never give up," Blake said even though he really wished he could. He wished with every fiber of his being. But he wouldn't give up. Not now.
"The last floor is the hardest one. If you pass the fourth challenge, you proceed to an Arena, where you'll fight all the other competitors that made it so far. I can guarantee you that won't be many. Many contestants have died or given up already. Are you sure you wish to proceed?"
"Yes, I told you already!" Blake exclaimed.
"So, it shall be done," Control said and a portal appeared in front of Blake. He didn't have stamina or anything to worry about but he was feeling so tired he could barely process what he was doing.
He stepped forward on the portal, to whatever was waiting for him on the other side.
Everything went white for a second and when things started going back to his vision, he could hardly believe what was happening.
He was at his old apartment, at his home, again.
He looked around and saw it. The dirty clothes everywhere, the cup noodles, his old computer.
However, the things that still showed he was in a game appeared: the bars of Mana and HP, the symbols, his name, level, XP. Also, Control appeared in front of him and he couldn't move again, just as it happened in the tutorial part of the challenges.
"Welcome to your old reality," Control said. Blake was feeling so shocked that he couldn't say anything, he could only look around, feeling his heart thundering inside his chest.
"Control... what?"
"This challenge will show you how your old life has been after you left. The company has it stored and now it's playing in his brain, showing you what happened the day after you were gone. Your challenge is to watch it all without interrupting the transimition."
Blake was already feeling tears in his eyes, so he didn't know if he could do it, but he nodded. Control smiled one last time, snapped his fingers, and Blake's body disappeared, like if he was Shadow Hiding. He couldn't talk, move, or interfere in the scene. Just watch. Control disappeared and the world around them continued moving. Blake had no idea how many days he had been inside the game, and he couldn't even begin to calculate it. He had no idea if the time inside of the game was the same as in real life, and he had no way to tell.
The first thing that happened when the movie started was that his parents opened the door.
He had never been close to his parents. They had divorced when he was little. They hardly ever talked to him or visited. He had moved away for college and they were very distant.
Even so, his mom was crying, desolated.
She was a beautiful woman in her 60s. She had dark hair, blue eyes, and a petite body. Blake felt his heart sinking when he saw her face. He wanted to believe that that movie wasn't real, it was just actors or something, but deep down he knew it wasn't. He knew that the company now owned everything about his life on Earth including his image rights, and he knew that being as sadistic and as crazy for views as they were, they had a special part of the broadcasting where they accompanied the pain of the families that "lost their kids to the game". Blake never watched that. He only wanted to see the good part. However, it was insanely popular. People liked to watch pain and suffering.
His mom seemed to have lost her joy. She looked smaller, older, she didn't put make-up on, and she looked like she had been crying for days.
His dad was the same. He never thought that his dad cared for him, but he also looked wrecked. He didn't look like he had been crying. However, his beard was big, he had dark circles under his eyes, and his blond hair, the one that Blake inherited, was untangled like he had forgotten how to comb it.
"Why would he do that? He didn't tell us anything," his mom cried. Her name was Theresa. "I should
have checked on him more often. He had a brilliant job, he had friends... he had us!"
"He chose to go, it was his choice. We can hate him for it. Or we can respect him. We can still watch him, too..." his dad, Andy, said but his voice was devasted like he didn't believe his own words.
"He could have played every game he wanted, why would he give up his body, his life? Do you think he was struggling? Is there something I should have done before he went?!" Theresa asked and started crying again.
Blake was actively crying, he felt the tears running down his face, even though he had no visible body.
They hugged and both of them started sobbing.
"Can we talk to him at least?" Theresa whispered. Andy nodded. "But it will hurt too much to know I'll never be able to hug my baby again."
After that, the scene changed. He was watching his things in his office. All of his colleagues were wearing black. The office felt like a burial ground. No one was talking, no one was laughing, and the girl that was always polite with him, always smiling and coming by his table to say hello, was cleaning his things. Something Blake would never have imagined. He always thought no one really liked him, that his job would replace him in no time, and that people would not miss him.
Then, the scene changed again, and they were in Arche's mom's living room. There was one picture of both of them after a soccer match. They were kids, around 12 years old. Blake had his arm on Arche's shoulder and they were both smiling, sweaty, with their faces red. People were mourning for them. Blake realized they wouldn't have a body to bury. He was in a coma inside a company that owned every right of his Earth's life. They could still watch his broadcasting and talk to him through the chat, but they would never see him again. He hadn't thought about all the people of his life.
"I'll miss him so much," his auntie cried aloud.
"Is there anything we could have done to prevent this? To make him feel loved? To make him feel worthy to stay on Earth?" his grandma asked.
"I'm so angry that he did that. He abandoned us. He traded his life for one virtual reality. I'm so angry," his favorite cousin, Natalia, said and started crying, hugging his mom. His mom couldn't say anything but she started crying again.
Even the dog that lived in his parent's house, his dog when he was little, seemed sad. It was a border collie called Ann. She was laying down, looking at the scene, looking absolutely miserable.
Blake cried his eyes out. He would have asked to leave that scene. It was worse than all the pain he felt in the other challenges. It hurt much more. It hurt inside his chest and no potion, nothing could do anything for it to stop.
He didn't ask to leave because he couldn't formulate words, he could only cry and hug himself, feeling the most lonely he had ever felt in his life.
Chapter 19 - The Arena
When it all stopped and he went back to the dark platform with Control, he felt different types of emotion. Sadness, so much sadness that it dominated him, that stopped him from moving, from thinking straight. Anger, hate for them to record that, for the company to broadcast his family's pain to the biggest broadcasting platform in the world, the one that was watched by millions of people, hate at himself. He didn't think that he would be missed. He only thought about the new adventures he would go on. And to stop the pain of depression. Anger at Control or whoever planned that floor. That was ultimate torture of the highest degree.
He wanted to smash Control's face, kill him, even though it might not even be his fault. He also wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. He wanted to hug his mom and apologize. He wanted to be a kid again, not worrying about anything.
He shook his head. He needed to cultivate the anger, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to fight.
"Are you ready to advance to the next floor?" Control asked. Blake raised his stained face.
"You bet. And also fuck you. And you all," Blake said, showing the middle finger to an invisible camera. "I don't know if you're recording it already but how dare you."
He didn't care about Control's surprised face. He just stepped on the portal that appeared in front of him.
The last floor was an open floor, like if he had reached the top of a building. It had an arena in the middle and a giant fall.
No one was there but him.
Only Control, that appeared in the middle of the arena.
"Am I the only contestant that got here?" Blake asked.
"Maybe yes. Maybe no. But you're your biggest contest against yourself. So, you'll fight against me."
"I thought I would fight with whoever got to climb till here."
"Yes. You'll fight against yourself. You got here. The other contestants don't matter if you can't win over your own body, emotions, and desire, do they?"
"Whatever. So, I need to fight you?"
"Yes. Me... and you," he said and transformed himself from a joker to...
Blake's copy. Everything was identical. From the height, the body, the blond hair, the thieves' clothes, including the dark mask covering part of his face. The dark purple dagger, and the sarcastic smirk. The only difference was the eyes. That copy had white eyes, almost as if it was blind.
"This is very freaky but whatever," Blake shrugged.
"Hiding behind a joke again, I see. Typical Blake. Worthless, weak. Always hiding behind humor," Control, or the other Blake, said. It was very weird to hear his own voice coming from outside of himself.
"What? So you'll be a physical representation of my own insecurities? That's great. I'd love to slash my own insecurities and you're giving me this opportunity in a quite literal way," Blake said and smiled. The copy was going to say something else but Blake was very angry. Much angrier than he thought he could be.
He disappeared and reappeared behind the copy with a piercing attack. It was the Shadow Hiding combined with its blow, that came from the shadows. The copy looked surprised and also disappeared. Blake looked at his sides, trying to figure out where he was when the same slashing blow came from nowhere. He felt his HP decreasing and the pain rising. His copy laughed and hid in the shadows again.
"Who knew I was so annoying?" he asked aloud and also activated the Shadow Hiding. He needed time to think about what he would do. He needed to give the copy a definitive ending, so it wouldn't keep hiding and appearing again to haunt him with ghost blows. Now he knew how his enemies felt, and it was pretty amazing to know he had such cool abilities, but also annoying when they were used against himself.
He looked at the inventory tab and it wasn't greyed out, which meant he could use something to help. Of course, this something would be Oliver. He wondered if the copy would also have an Oliver copy, and he hoped not. He couldn't deal with the power of two Olivers.
He summoned Oliver and, as soon as he appeared, the copy appeared to give it a blow. Oliver seemed confused for a second but as almost second nature, he attacked the copy, who disappeared before taking too much damage.
"Displace," Blake murmured and he knew Oliver would hear because they were soulbond. So, Oliver did it. It looked like his body was still there but Blake knew it was only a kind of puppet and that the real Oliver was hidden somewhere, waiting. The copy fell for it and attacked Oliver, who appeared at the same time coming from up and attacked the copy. The HP of the copy decreased but he had too much HP for him to take a significant blow. The thing that had saved Blake before was now the thing that was preventing him from winning. Oh, the irony.
The copy disappeared again but Oliver stood there. This time, they waited but nothing happened. The copy had learned and Blake was sure this strategy wouldn't work. He had too much HP, which regenerated with time, and it would take like one hundred tries to get this to finish his HP, and even so he wasn't sure if it would work. So, he knew he needed something that the copy didn't have, and it needed to be something VERY BIG.
He looked at his inventory.
And he almost laughed aloud when he saw what he had.
He had the potions that Arche had given him. That was the key. S
omething the copy didn't have because it didn't come from Blake himself but from his friends.
He knew that shit could blow up everything there if used in the right way.
The only problem was that it would blow up him together with it, which probably meant he would lose the challenge.
"Not after everything I went through. Not after the torture," he told himself, formulating a plan in his brain.
He appeared again and immediately the copy stroked him with a blow. Blake didn't even move, even though the pain hit him and made him lose 3% of his HP. He rushed to mount Oliver and, this time, the copy hit him with the double blows, which were super fast attacks that hit him twice instead of only once. His HP decreased fast 10% more but he knew that was it. The copy disappeared again.
When it reappeared, all the copy had time to notice was a bomb falling from the sky.
Everything exploded.
It was very loud, the fire going up. Blake watched his and Oliver's body exploding too but they had displaced themselves to the floor of the Tower. There was no way on Earth (nor on the game) that the copy would have resisted such a blow.
Everything went white for a second and, in the next second, Blake was back in the castle, this time in a different room. He was in front of a throne, where the NPC that he saw before was sitting. There were a bunch of NPCs behind him, cheering, and it looked like a party.
"Blake Nill, you won the Tournment, and, for that, I congratulate you. Here's your Prize. You've honored yourself and this Castle. You're a Powerful Player, and you deserve it. May my blessing be with you."
"50x Miracle Medicine," the notification popped up, showing what he had got.
