Mysterious man

Passing through the transparent hologram barrier felt akin to passing through the surface of water, a sensation of fluidity without any wetness. The gate emitted a soft, ethereal blue glow as I took my steps forward.

Once I emerged on the other side, the view beyond the tunnel became vivid and sharply defined.

Before me, a vast expanse of land stretched for about 500 meters. In the distance, I could see a building called the Skyport, designed specifically for vehicles such as buses and personal vehicles to park and land on. The exterior of the Skyport was decorated with shimmering surfaces, constructed from a combination of transparent polymers and lightweight alloys. These materials provided durability and allowed natural light to filter through, giving the building a bright glow that illuminated the interior.

The Skyport building had a modern and futuristic look, with its sleek curves and sharp angles. It was situated on the edge of this floating island.

The cathedral itself was constructed on a floating island called Divine Singa. Surrounding the cathedral, there was a park, and along the streets, there were apartment buildings that reached a maximum height of around 300 meters. This height limit was set by the authorities to ensure that the buildings didn't obstruct the natural beauty of the floating island, as they were already close enough to touch the clouds above.

The street was decorated with vibrant neon lights in pink, green, and blue, displaying holographic advertisements and news. On my right hand, as I walked along the avenue leading to the Skyport, I noticed a community supermarket, a security guard base, and a hospital.

This avenue served as a central hub for the community on the Divine Light Island. It was designed to cater to the needs of civilians. The island had a population of approximately 330,000 registered citizens, and despite its compact size of around 30 kilometers, it felt spacious due to its thoughtful design and attention to detail.

All of these buildings were built from white and black carbon fiber, and the surface of the building looks so smooth and well-defined. In this modern age, most skyscrapers as well as many things were built using carbon fiber since humanity had found a way to produce carbon fiber in a cheap yet high quality to create many things that stood even the test of time.

At that moment, I continued to walk on the walking lane of the road that had both the pedestrian and a few average-looking hovering bikes roaming the big street with two opposite lanes. There was also a holographic sign floating just 1 meter above the road indicating the direction of pointing ahead and words indicating the bus station was ahead.

As for this floating island, it was a common sight in this world, after the floating island was built by a private company to their micromanagement in terms of government, example the church of Divine Light chose this particular floating island to be their headquarters for the cathedral, therefore all the citizen on this island must obey the law of the church of divine light.

The floating island was like a state, due to the war in the past era and climate change caused by the older generation of humanity on Tellus, only 1/3 of the entire planet's land was inhabited. Therefore, to save some space, the floating island was the right answer to that problem.

Meanwhile, the city was called a dome as the barrier protecting the city was a dome shape. There were different sectors in the dome that divided the city, so the floating island wouldn't be added to any other sector since it was considered a small city on its own.

Beneath this floating island was a giant circle structure that projected a blue light to support the floating island, built to be a safeguard in case the floating island fell toward the surface, this structure would reduce the speed at which the floating island fell onto the surface and made it safely landed on the surface without collision and said to also be charging the center energy core of the island to bounce back into the sky.

But I was sure that the energy core wouldn't run out of energy since the world government built the energy core to last forever unless it was destroyed by an outside force.

But this circular giant structure that acts as a safety feature for the floating island wouldn't one hundred percent guarantee a safe landing in case of an emergency since there were a total of three floating islands that were to be removed due to its old technology safety system, two of which had been shattered and scattered into the sky, only one floating island manage to be safely landed onto the surface in the history of Tellus.

I was walking on the sidewalk like many people who were heading to the Skyport or their workplace, there was a line of green lights aligned on the road on either side of the two ways road, this green line acting as wireless charging energy for the flying vehicle that didn't have an eternal battery.

Only high-end luxury vehicles and vehicles built for the elite are equipped with an eternal battery made from a special material that generates endless energy as long as it isn't destroyed by an outside force.

How this eternal battery works is still unknown to the public since the world government claimed that humanity wasn't ready for this technology as a whole, only the vehicle, infrastructure, and many projects and things built by the world government equipped with this eternal battery to assure continuation in the usage of necessary technology in case if the apocalypse event ever happened.

I thought this technology was still limited and the unknown materialized use to build the eternal battery was very rare that the world government wouldn't announce the trick behind it to the entire solar system since some of the nations and organizations in the space federation might destroy the peace and cooperation treaty and invaded earth to stole this new technology.

Therefore it would be best to let the entire solar system know they had the technology to make the eternal battery to make the space federation especially the Velderik federation located on Saturn's moon, Titan, fear the world government after they knew the discovery of the eternal battery by the world government.

This news made the Velderik federation stop their funding of space pirates till now and even allow the world government to build their space station on Titan to ensure that the space pirates wouldn't land on Titan.

As for the space pirates, it was another story. Right now I focused on walking to the Skyport of this island that most of the pedestrians were heading to as well.

I took my attention away from the Skyport as soon as I spotted a group of people cosplaying as a creepy angel that wore a black robe reaching their feet and a hood covering their heads as well as a mask filled with red paint and a red halo stick onto their head, there were four of them walking alongside each other on the opposite path of me and they were walking toward my way.

These people's sense of fashion was getting out of hand!

My heart beating so fast as they were approaching me while I took a step forward as well and tried to maintain a neutral expression.

A moment later, they just walked passed me like they didn't even notice me. I felt a heavy weight being lifted from my chest as I walked further away from them, and they were behind me. When I slightly turned to look at their back, I spotted a logo of a black wing on the back of their hood then I turned to look at the road ahead of me once again.

I took a deep breath and thought to myself how silly it was that I felt scared of these people, but honestly, they seemed like shady people working for a cult, but there was no proof to back that up, so it would be a waste of time to just speculating thing base on my guts feeling.

Added on to that, I have had a rough morning which was probably the reason why my self-awareness was off the roof today caused me to be overly anxious, and the explosion in the game affected real life as well as facing a bunch of idiotic bullies, what a great way to start a day!

Immediately as these creepy cosplayers walked passed me, the advertisement holographic projecting in front of the building aligning the street began to show a man in his black suit with a red tie and short black hair appearing on the display.

Behind him were multiple screens showing footage of many people being unconscious, having a nosebleed, and blood leaking from their eyes while wearing the VR headset. Some of these unconscious people appeared to be laid down on their beds, while others sat on a couch or chair.

A masculine voice could be heard from the giant holographic display as people patiently stopped their movement to gaze at the display.

"My name is Nasir, as most of you might know this morning I have sad news for the entire humanity throughout the solar system. This is a tragedy for everyone not just humanity on Tellus."

The handsome man with a quiff and slick black hair continued his report with a deep voice "This incident is a serious problem for the entire solar system not just on Tellus, the most popular VR game that is said to be transcending even reality now already have even more negative impact on the player than the claim of the world government!"

Then he pointed at the screen behind him filled with the victim who wore a VR headset with blood covering their face.

The news reporter continued "These unconscious players who people called rankers have been found in a critical stage, their brain has been damaged, and all of this is due to the explosion in The world of dawn. How can a game impact real-life players? Is the chip in the VR headset created to harm players by the world government from the beginning? If so, Now the rage of the family members of these victims is asking the world government to take full responsibility."

His voice was filled with determination and rage, while banging the table before him and pointed at the camera.

He continued "In fact my family members, son and daughter have been caught in the explosion within TWOD and been found soaked with blood, leaking from their eyes and ears, unconsciously in the living room. Now I ask the world government! How long are you going to pretend to be a perfect government for the entire humanity? Take responsibility!"

Suddenly, the news reporter burst into tears and the holographic display went off. I was in a daze for a moment, questioning what I just watched. It felt so unreal for someone to directly speak against the world government openly to the public, this news reporter had some ball.

Most of the pedestrians who also halted to gaze up at the holographic that once showed an image of the news reporter, now went blank after he finished his speech.

They exchanged a glance of disbelief and shock, and at the same time, chattering began to be heard all around me relating to the topic of the dangers of the virtual game that now could inflict real damage to the users. Some even question if they should continue to log into TWOD.

I took a deep breath to clear my head and continued walking, trying not to think about the negative event that happened this early morning and block off the sound surrounding me.

For a few minutes, I walked passed many people and buildings and crossed multiple streets until I arrived in front of a spacious park in front of a big glassy building which was the Skyport.

There was a big fountain located before the entrance of the Skyport. There were tall trees and fields of grass for people to enjoy their early morning with joggling routines and also a basketball and tennis pitch.

Near a large circular foundation in front of the Skyport entrance, I spotted a man playing the violin with a blissful smile on his face. His sunglasses concealed his eyes, and he had wavy, silky white hair that partially covered his eyebrows. He wore a white shirt and black trousers, and as a fan of classical music, I was intrigued by his performance.

The music emanating from his violin was perfectly balanced and smooth, indicating the countless hours he must have spent practicing. His fingers danced effortlessly across the strings, hitting each note with precision and grace.

As more people gathered to watch, the music grew louder and more intense, showcasing his ability to play a masterpiece. It was evident that this man was not an ordinary violinist; his skill indicated that he was a professional.

Finally, he played an exciting and vibrant final note before bowing with a smile of gratitude. Some of the onlookers reached for their tablets and began sending him virtual coins, expressing their appreciation for his talent.

With his energetic and charming voice, he thanked everyone, saying, "Thank you, everyone, thank you!"

For a brief moment, all the troubles of the morning were forgotten. What struck me as peculiar was that he had not displayed a holographic QR code for digital payments. It seemed that he was performing solely to gain attention, not monetary rewards.

As the applause died down, the spectators dispersed one by one, making their way into the Skyport building. Since there was nothing more to see, I continued on my walk toward the bus station within the Skyport. However, just as I took a few steps, a voice called out to me, causing me to pause.

"Hey, you. You look like a musician. I can tell by the way you watched my performance with your discerning eyes."

Turning around, I noticed that he stood slightly shorter than my eyebrows, with a height of around 1.74 meters tall.

Taken aback by his sudden conversation, I managed to reply, "So, you don't close your eyes while playing?"

He smiled and asked, "Does closing my eyes affect my ability to play?"

Stuttering, I responded, "No... I mean, it's just unusual to see a violinist playing with sunglasses on."

"Ahh, I see. I have a rare eye condition, so I often hide it from the public," he explained with a melodious yet teasing voice, accompanied by a smirk.

His demeanor reminded me of Lasiv, exuding hidden confidence. But what was his purpose in striking up a conversation with me?

"It makes sense that you wear sunglasses. In any case, I'm in a rush, so I must be going," I replied, ready to resume my walk. However, he reached out and touched my shoulder, once again delaying my departure.

"Wait a second, I'll read a tarot card for you, free of charge, since you're a musician like me."

Tarot card reading? It seemed like he might try to scam me, insisting on payment after the reading, claiming I had bad luck, and offering a solution for a fee. I was accustomed to such scams and had no time for them.

As if reading my thoughts, he said with an ominous smile, "It's free, and do you really think I'm that destitute? I might be a prince from another dome."

I couldn't help but faintly smile at his words. Was he delusional or simply joking? I couldn't quite tell. But I decided to see what he was truly after.

"You're quite the amusing character, but don't waste my time," I replied sternly.

At that moment, I didn't feel particularly friendly or approachable.

His smirk remained as he pulled out a deck of cards from his trouser pocket and shuffled them with the skill of a great gambler. He then split the deck in half, concealing the card symbols and showing only the word "Tarrot" on the back of the cards.