Strange Beginning (II)

The computer hums softly, turning on and lighting up the room. His curiosity piqued. He searched the Growth website for answers in-between putting on his clothes. I wonder if there is anything about this subject online, he thought while turning on his computer.

The first place he went to was the homepage of the game. A special announcement was posted for everyone to read in bold letters.

To the players of Growth

.

We are proud to announce that the Massive Real Live World Quest has been initiated worldwide since everyone departed from the world. During the whole week, the game will undergo a new upgrade and update. In addition, some players have received a special package for a new world quest: Alpha Division. For the players who have not received the quest, you can help out the players who have received the quest to speed up the completion of the quest. We hope you enjoy the quest and see you all again inside the world of Norine.

Let the infinity cycle begin anew.

Underneath in bold letters in red were words.

125 out of 3333 quests completed.

06 days 05 hours 45 minutes left till completion.

Was this all the information that they have? Kiyro thought. He clicked to the forum to see what the people said.

Growth > Forum > Real World Hidden Quest Alpha: Containment

Moderator Rock: A thread has been created for the large volume of questions on this quest. Please do not spam and create similar threads. All comments that do not have to do with the quest will be deleted.

Solomon: Thanks. This is so much easier to find information relating to this quest. I was wondering if anyone already has one.

Sava: I do. I just completed it thirty minutes ago with my friend in Texas. There's nothing special about it but just placing some rune stones in a designated spot. Even I can carve these little doodles on the stones. I don't see the purpose of this quest. It's too strange.

Quen: What do the rune stones look like? Does it look like the Elder Futhark alphabet?

Sava: Elder Futhark? Do you mean those pictographic symbols?

Quen: Yes. Each rune was an ideographic or pictographic symbol of some cosmological principle or power, and to write a rune was to invoke and direct the force for which it stood. So in pretense, the word "rune" means both "letter" and "secret" or "mystery." Its original meaning likely means "hushed message." Each rune has a name that hints on the line of its philosophical and magical significance. The runic alphabets are called the Elder Futhark.

Sava: I see. I looked up what you meant, but the pictographic symbols on the little stones are not the Elder Futhark alphabet. It just looks like some kind of doodle to me.

Kizz: I placed the rune stones near an abandoned house. Nothing happened. Though I did get some game money added to my avatar. Pretty neat.

Tori: Game money, is that it?

Lami: No. I got an equipment item for my character.

Dren: Real money for me.

Jess: You jest. Real money?

Dren: Yep.

Seo: Does anyone want to party up? I live in South Dakota.

Ed: Is that even a good idea to party up. That sounds really dangerous.

Gold: Hey guys, check out the website for Eleventh-hour Game online. It's a new broadcast on up-to-date games. There is a talk show about the latest games. The hot topic is The Growth's World quest at this moment. There's already a pre-recording of it online for everyone to see. They just started, and it's already become popular worldwide. It's definitely something worth looking into.

Ed: Okay, thanks. I'll check it out.

Kiyro continued to scroll through the forum, but no new information was shown. Instead, there were more shoutouts to check out the Eleventh Game online webcasting show. Luckily for him, his sister has connected the old TV with his computer allowing him to watch internet videos when he transfers it to the TV in the living room. Clicking over to the web bar Kiyro searched through the search engine to find what he was looking for.

On top of the list was the Eleventh-hour Game Online Webcasting show. He clicked through it to see what was playing. A trumpet-like sound could be heard blaring its horn, welcoming him to the website; four dies rolled towards him in front of the homepage. The first slowly rolls into a number one, each following after another. Each one has a star instead of a dot.

"Welcome. Welcome. To the Eleventh Hour Game Online Webcasting show. We are proud to present the latest gaming news of the future. Enjoy your stay as you tour around the site. Please remember that each roll of the dice has different web links to different shows. Right now, the hottest trending news is on roll number eight, Growth's World Quest," said a cute female voice.

A miniature cartoony version of a human appeared on the screen directing him around the website. "We also have hot new clips on gameplay. Just change the dice to a one, three, one, and finally, a one totaling the number 6 for more information."

"So which roll cast would you like to go to?" The miniature person stated with glee and winked. For a split second, Kiyro couldn't help but think it was adorable.

He scrolled over the dice and changed the numbers of the dice to a total of eight. The first one is three and the last two into two. The screen faded black and opened up to three main videos. The first one is entitled Growth's Real World World Quest, the second The elusive Seed, and finally, Angel's Request.

Each one already hitting over a hundred million views.

"I think this would be better watching it on a large screen than the small computer I have," Kiyro stated. He clicked on the tab and transferred it to his TV in the living room.

He got up and took his mouse to the living room with his Alive gear. Walking to the living room, he made himself comfortable on the sofa. The TV was already on when he got there; it had automatically turned on when he transferred over the windows. So instead, Kiyro changed the channel connected to his computer to watch. Anna was already on the sofa eating a bucket of ice cream.