36 Is this the Real Life?

Both Alina and Alex found it hard to look at each other, with everything that they had seen today.

The encounter that they had with Lord Gallius earlier was something that made the two still awkward right now.

Asteria's infuriating comments did not help matters either.

"Sigh."

"...…"

Even though both of them were being held back by their emotions, Alex knew that he had to ignore these minor inconveniences for the more important matters.

"You seem to be taking it well." Alex commented drily as he tried not to stare too much at Alina's face.

"Well, what can I do? I know that the afro guy is 100% not lying to me, so I have no choice but to accept that as the truth..." Alina replied with a downcast expression on her face.

Alex was about to nod when he suddenly paused, as he felt something wrong with what he heard.

"Wait…" Alex felt that something was weird when he heard Alina's reply. "How are you sure that the afro guy is not lying to you? I heard that the afro guy is the WEO President. For him to reach that position, he has to be an extremely good liar. I doubt that even you can detect him lying to you. So how are you 100% sure that he was not lying?"

"Eh?" This time, it was Alina's turn to be flustered as her face showed some semblance of panic. "I just know that he is not lying, that is it."

"Oh really." Although Alex was fairly young, he already had a good mentor that taught him about cold reading, which basically allows Alex to glean information about a person just by looking at that person's facial expressions and their body language.

Using this cold reading, Alex was sure that he can, 40% of the time, somehow determine that someone is lying.

This kind of cold-reading was at the amateur level, so Alex was not relying on it all the time.

Heck, Alex's cold reading was not even working at all against Asteria!

But all the telltale signs on Alina's face made is obvious to Alex that Alina was hiding something from him right now.

"You should have kept your face hidden." Alex said as she gave Alina a withering look. "Now that I saw your face, I am sure that you are lying right now."

"...…"

************

"…" Asteria sighed, knowing that she had placed herself in a corner right now.

She did not expect that someone like Alex can actually force her to talk just because she slipped with some of her words.

Alina also noticed that Alex has some knowledge in cold reading, which just made her situation worse.

"I should have not removed the mask earlier…" Alina thought wryly as she gave Alex a weary smile.

"Should I tell him that I can see Asteria? Won't that just complicate the situation?" Alina tsked, realizing that she was in a dilemma right now.

Alina cannot just not answer, as it will just make Alex more suspicious.

As such, the only way Alina can get out of this was by handling the matter smoothly.

Before Alex could obtain the answer that he wanted to get, Alina decided to sharpen her gaze as she put her mask back on her face.

"Why are you even interested on asking about my lie-detection techniques?" Alina hissed back, as she was obviously steering the conversation away. "Shouldn't we discuss about more important things?"

"Hmmm…" Alex might be sometimes pushy, but he knew when he should retreat, and this time is one of those times.

"Okay, okay, I will not inquire further about that." Alex replied, raising his arms in a surrender. "Let's just talk about 'more important stuff'."

Alina frowned, not liking that somewhat sarcastic tone that Alex had, but since he promised to not pester Alina anymore, she decided to not pester him too.

**************

"So what do you think should we do now?" Alex asked Alina, as both of them talked in subdued voices. Even if there are no bugs in their current place, they would not want their voice to be heard by anyone walking nearby.

"In my opinion, I think we should leave, right now." Alina replied, with tension apparent on her body. "I do not like to say this, but now that I know the truth, I realized that the afro guy and Lord Ergo are just playing with me. They will not honor my request. They will come to kill you."

"That's the conclusion that I reached earlier too." Alex replied wistfully as he gave Alina an apologetic look. "But I think they are only after me. After all, I am the anomaly here."

"You of course will be their priority." Alina replied as she stared at the window of the comfort room with a vacant look on her face.

"After all, you have plans that will mess up the whole Simulated Esper World."

"....."

***************

30 minutes earlier.

When Alex and Lord Gallius started to talk, Lord Gallius gave Alex the 'truth' that he was talking about.

According to the him, their world, the Esper World, is actually just a Simulation, a virtual world.

Everything in this world, all the plants, the animals, the people, and the objects, they are all simulations, all created from virtual reality.

The soil, the weather, the air, and the water, all of them were created from virtual reality.

Even the laws and Esper Abilities in this world all came from the whims of the virtual reality.

There is nothing that is not virtual in this world, as all of them were created by highly advanced technology.

When Alex heard Lord Gallius saying these things, his first instinct it to not believe him.

"Do you think just because you are kind to me right now that I will believe you?" Alex grumbled at that time as he gave Lord Gallius a wary look. "I may be slow sometimes, but that does not mean that you can fool me."

"Well, how do you think you should believe me?" Lord Gallius replied as he raised his arms smugly.

"Show me something right now that can prove what you just said." Alex replied as he tensed his body, ready for any signs of attacks.

Alex was more inclined to believe that what Lord Gallius was doing right now was just a way to distract Alex, to make him more vulnerable to sneak attacks.

Lord Gallius saw the vigilance in Alex's face, and he realized what he was worried about.

"Oh do not worry about me distracting you. I have not stooped to that level yet. " Lord Gallius said as he gave a smug smile to Alex.

Alex's eyes then widened as he saw something unbelievable.

One second earlier, and Lord Gallius was looking all real. But the next moment, he started to change. Lord Gallius' body started to break down, with him disintegrrating into strings of codes and letters.

Alex was no computer programmer, but he knew computer codes when he can see one.

Since Alex was sure that Lord Gallius cannot do what he did with just his Esper Ability, then for Lord Gallius to be someone created from data is highly plausible.

At that point, Alex chose to partially believe Lord Gallius. Only partially believe, as Alex knew that he still has to talk with Lord Gallius more to believe him.

Alex's mind flashed, as he tried to think of the appropriate action right now.

After a minute of intense silence, Alex let out a sigh as he relaxed his body.

"Ok, I will partially believe you for now. Only partially." Alex mumbled as Lord Gallius reformed his body back. "I will only believe you more later. As for now, I have two questions for you."

"Ask away." Lord Gallius replied with the confident look back on his face. From the way that Lord Gallius looked right now, he seems to be fairly confident that Alex will believe him later.

Alex chose not the be irritated by that fact as he said,

"If this world really is a virtual world, then why does this world also have another virtual world?" Alex asked this question, as he remembered having a virtual match with Lord Gallius earlier.

If this world really is a virtual world, then how is it possible for Alex to have a virtual match with Lord Gallius earlier?

Is the concept of a virtual reality inside a virtual reality even possible?

When Alex raised this question, Lord Gallius only laughed, as he answered his question jubilantly.

"Even if we are in a virtual world, our current technology is enough for us to create our own virtual reality too. But just like what you see, because we are in a virtual world, the virtual reality that we can create was also limited too."

"… That's all that you will say right?" Alex replied as Lord Gallius did not follow up his answer.

"Of course, that is the only answer that I can give you." Lord Gallius smugly replied as he crossed his arms. "Ask you second question then."

"...."

By this point, Alex knew that if he continued on delving more questions on the topic of virtual world within a virtual world, he and Lord Gallius will waste time.

Its time for Alex to ask the more important question.

That question was obviously about the people living in this world, of course.

"Are you real? I mean, are all of you real?" Alex muttered, remembering the codes that made up Lord Gallius' body earlier. "Or are you all just something that could be treated as objects?"

Lord Gallius looked slightly uncomfortable as he heard Alex's question, but he was able to answer it with clarity.

"Initially all of us here in this world are just coded programs." Lord Gallius replied quickly.

"Initially?" With Alex's hearing, there is no way that he can miss the emphasis that Lord Gallius placed on the first word on his sentence.

"As long as the people in this world train their power, there will come a point that we will become a comparable to a real person." Lord Gallius said as he pressed his fingers on his temple. "Of course, there are few people in this world that has reached that point though."

"!!!"

Alex's eyes widened as he realized what Lord Gallius meant.

"You are talking about being a Star Esper, right?" Alex mumbled ignoring Lord Gallius' triumphant smile.

"It all fits…" Alex cupped his chin as he paced around the room.

"All the people in this world were all simulations too, but some of them has Esper Abilities. They can train these abilities, and those who reach the Star Esper Level will somehow transcend their status as just simulations."

"Exactly." Lord Gallius replied clapping his hands while looking at Alex with satisfaction.

"Once someone becomes a Star Esper, they will gain access of this world's codes, and they will also gain control of their own body's code, just like what I did earlier." Lord Gallius once more broke his body down at that time to prove his point. "That, from what I know, is the meaning of the transcendence that you are talking about earlier."

By this point, Alex forgot the suspicions that he had against Lord Gallius.

Alex's mind whirled as he tried to understand the consequences of what Lord Gallius said.

"If you and the other Star Espers can take control of your own codes, then shouldn't it be possible for you to leave this virtual world?" Alex said as he looked above him. More specifically at the sky. "I think you and the other Star Espers can do that."

"That is the purpose of this world." Lord Gallius said as he let out a sigh. "From what I know, this world's goal is to produce numerous Star Espers, who will then leave this world towards the Real World. There at the Real World, these Star Espers will be used to advance the Real World's technology and power."

"Then why aren't you leaving?" Alex asked as he tilted his head. Seconds later, and Alex gritted his teeth as he got the answer. "Don't tell me…"

"We cannot leave because of that bastard." Lord Gallius bellowed with anger apparent in his features. "That f**king World Diagram is preventing us from leaving! It even restricted our freedom in this world! This place should be the place where I shine! Instead it became my cage!"