Into The Void

I ponder over the same day again and again, looking for a place for my selfish wish to belong. I wanted to be the light that tears apart your suffering, a light that can overturn destiny and unbind the knots of fate. However, my story is without a beginning or an end; instead, it is eternal, abstract, and a concept; that's how people will remember me. I will walk to the ends of the earth for you. I hope one day you can break free of this dream and intersect our parallel lines, bringing with you that ungranted wish and my cowardly actions. I just wish that my voice could reach you in time, but then again, who am I kidding? I have probably already used up all my wishes. 

All humans are the same when it comes to making wishes; if given the opportunity to wish for anything, everyone would have the same tangential method to gain happiness. We are all wishing around the conditions that are preventing our happiness, whether you actively think of this or not. This simple, ignorant thought process everyone uses is 'if this thing would happen or this one would change, then I would be happy.' This optimistic thinking that goes into making wishes eventually leads us down the road of corruption. Humans are limited creatures after all; neither our being nor our mind has the capacity to truly know the entire situation around us. We can never know what outcome will result from our actions, but we wish as if we did. This eventually allowed our wishful thinking to become purposeful ignorance. 

"I don't remember you. Who are you?" The nameless asked, not knowing where she was from or her own name. Her body was floating, floating seamlessly above a little round object in a tin box that was partially translucent. There wasn't anything particularly special about the object; it was just a plain-looking tin that was orbited by multiple golden balls of light. 

"You say you don't remember me, but I could never forget you." A slightly high-pitched voice answered mysteriously. 

The voice was presumably a girl, judging from the sound of their voice; however, there was no one else there except for the nameless individual. 

"We met long ago, in a distant world where all our wishes came true. A perfect world. A world that completely eliminated the concepts of violence, pain, and death. In a perpetual world that stopped the flow of time and fate, allowing all mistakes to be rewound and rewritten.

Back then, you and I were a singularity that lay at the pinnacle of the universe. However, despite how large of a role we played in our time living on earth, we still shared the one thing that most teenagers suffer from… the struggle to understand human connection." 

"A perfect world? Human connection?" The nameless asked, not knowing what she could be implying; however, at that same moment, a thought had struck her. It felt like it was yesterday—a boy and another girl laughing in a flower field. "They seemed to be so happy, and so was I." The nameless whispered, tears now streaming down her eyes, before another surge of memory engulfed her mind, flashing hell itself before her. 

The sky was dyed a burning red in the mist, and broken, crumbling buildings could be seen from miles away. The nameless saw a world where everything had come to an end. Blood flowed on the ground like water as a chilling sensation crawled over her entire body; it felt like the world had held its breath. There was a searing pain—a shockwave of agony—that rippled through her body. 

Time seemed to slow, and with each heartbeat, there was a thunderous echo in her ears. In her final moments, she looked up as her consciousness slowly began to fade away. However, what awaited her wasn't the blue sky, but rather a catastrophe. Hovering above her was armageddon; its body was gigantic, covering the whole sky with crystal masses. The mass began making sharp, laughing sounds, causing buildings nearby to swirl around it, burning like paper as they collapsed into the void. The monster seemed like it hated everything that mankind had made, demolishing everything with all its might.

"No, I can't die here. Let me leave, please." Tang-Ji called out before her eyes fluttered open; her breath was quick and uneven. She found herself being carried on Kazami's back. His expression was one of concern, his eyes searching hers for any sign of distress.

"You're awake," he murmured, relief washing over his features. "You were thrashing in your sleep, Tang-ji. I was worried."

She blinked, the remnants of the dream still haunting the edges of her consciousness. The forest around them was alive with the sounds of awakening life, a stark contrast to the nightmare that had just held her captive.

"Thanks, but can you put me down now?" She asked, trying to hide her embarrassment with a stern voice.

"Oh yeah, sure." He quickly lowered his body for her.

As Tang-Ji's feet touched the forest floor, her heartbeat gradually steadied, the reality of the situation grounding her. She mustered a weak smile, grateful for Kazami's presence. "It was just a dream," she reassured him, though the memory of the vivid nightmare still clung to her like a ghostly shadow.

"Where are we now?" She asked, looking around, half awake.

"We should be arriving at the teleporter about half an hour from now." 

"Hey, are you okay?" Ji-Soon asked, coming up behind them along with Kompto. 

However, before Tang-Ji could reply, Kazami cut in. "Yeah, she would have been fine if you didn't go overboard and completely disintegrate the forest." It was obvious that Kazami was still upset.

"Hey man, give me a break, would you? I said I'm sorry. That jerk deserved it, though." Ji-Soon grunted, throwing spiteful glances ahead of him. Just a couple of metres ahead was Deker, striding ahead with Ukiyo, who was leading the way to the teleporter. Deker suddenly raised his hand and gave Ji-Soon a middle finger without looking back, further adding fuel to the fire. 

"That's enough out of you, stupid," Junyo yelled from the back of the line. "We would have been at the second Delve by now if it weren't for your massive ego."

Deker looked back at his partner, unimpressed. "Shut up, mate; I get it already. Stop your yapping." Deker retorted before turning back to face Ukiyo. "Hey NPC girl, how much longer until we get there?"

"With the pace we're at, we should be arriving in approximately thirty-four minutes." She replied apathetically.

"Pffft… AYE!!!" Decker called out to the back, "Walk quicker, will you?"

Junyo sighed heavily, as if he were nearing his limit with his friend's antics. Junyo increased his pace to match Kazami's and leaned in. "Hey, I'm very sorry for my friend's actions. Please don't hold it against him." Junyo came in closer to whisper, "He's a bit of a retard." His eyes motioned towards Deker.

Kazami's amusement was clear, and the banter continued as they walked through the forest. "Heh!" he chuckled. "Don't worry about it; I won't hold it against you. But that's an entirely different story for the guy in the back there. The one that should have the most common sense out of all of us." Kazami muttered, glancing towards Ji-Soon, who was trailing apologetically behind.

"Yeah, yeah, you can yell at me more when we get to safety." Ji-Soon said it defeatedly. Looking to change the topic, he began to start talking again. "So… Your Leere Kazami... can it really be conjured into any sword you could imagine?"

Kazami continued onward. "Yeah, it can, but there is still a limit. It will only work if I've seen the weapon multiple times."

"Oh, I see." Ji-Soon nodded, still looking somewhat unconvinced by his friend's answer.

Kazami frowned. "Okay, what is it now? I can tell when you want something when you give me that expression you always show."

"No, no, it's nothing like that." Ji-Soon panicked, tracing over his vision to activate the command for his pop-up menu. Within a second of scrolling, he suddenly spun his index finger around, causing the menu UI to turn over towards Kazami, who stood confused about what his friend was doing.

"Uhh… What am I supposed to be looking at?"

The menu screen was displaying Ji-Soon's Leere stats. 

"Huh? Why do your defensive and attack stats have question marks underneath them?" Kazami asked.

"Hmmmm… to be honest, I'm not quite sure. Probably because I don't have any of those stats on this Leere, but that's besides the point. Tell me, are all three of your Leere stats identical?"

"Huh? Why does that matter?" Kazami asked, looking perplexed.

"Because if all three of your stats are high at the same level, then your Leere is considered a special type."

Tang-Ji tapped Kazami softly on his shoulder and leaned in. "A special type? What is that?" She whispered softly.

"A special Leere, huh? I haven't heard about that ever since the beta." Kazami mumbled to himself. "I heard only a few were chosen out at the time."

"You're curious too, right?" Ji-Soon paused, looking at Tang-Ji as if he knew what she was asking. "Shizukesa-san… everyone has specific traits; that's what makes people so unique and so distinguishable from each other. These characteristics of an individual directly correlate to their mindset and beliefs. In other words, it all comes down to how strong your 'will' is."

"Will?" Tang-Ji asked, perplexed by what Ji-Soon was talking about. 

"Yep, the game is designed to favour those with strong emotions," Ji-Soon answered.

"Righttt… about that…." Kazami interrupted Ji-Soon's explanation. "Doesn't it feel weird for you guys? Like, how does a Leere really work? We know that the SSD is capable of tapping into all of our senses, essentially taking our consciousness into a meta-verse type of world. But don't you guys ever wonder how they are able to know everything about us?"

"Maybe it requires time? Like how computers normally take time to upload data. Our brain has electronic chemical signals that process information. Maybe that's the reason for that announcement earlier. Kyushu probably wanted us to fight amongst ourselves to keep everyone in the game longer." Junyo suggested. "And all of this is—" Junyo stopped abruptly, coming to a realisation.

Kazami and Tang-Ji looked at him in confusion, eager to hear the rest of his sentence. "To what?" They said it in unison.

"To gain access to everyone's private life." Ji-Soon interrupted, finishing Junyo's thought. "Maybe he is selecting high-power individuals to gain access to their memories, so he can blackmail people or something. "

"That's absurd." Kazami dismissed. "It would have been more logical if he targeted the wealthy—perhaps to eliminate inhibitors in his work line, or maybe he wants to take down rival companies. But in this case, creating a prison in a video game would primarily attract gamers. Doing all of this for money is a waste of time. And let's assume he cared more about quantity than quality and just wanted as many people as possible. What's the point of having all that information on randoms if he's going to become the most wanted man on the planet? Isn't the whole point of theft is to not get caught? At this point, there is no doubt that this incident is being broadcast globally every day right now." Kazami continued, denying all of their speculation. 

As the conversation shifted to the peculiar nature of Leere, Kompto, who had been silently walking behind them, interjected.

"I couldn't help but listen to your conversation. Kazami, was it?" Kompto walked slightly ahead to get a better look at him. "You said something about how it was a stupid idea to trap only random people in the game. While I do agree with what you said, I also somewhat agree with what Ji-Soon and Junyo have said. I have something to point out that could potentially provide more insight. You're probably closer to cracking the code behind Kyushsu's true motive than me, so I'll tell you all what I know." Kompto began to trace his vision to activate the pop-up menu before pointing his finger towards the digital clock at the bottom left of the menu screen. 

"See this?" Kazami titled his head. "Don't you guys find it strange how there's roughly a 12-hour difference in time zones? How is that even possible?" Kompto's enquiry lingered in the air. 

"I recently purchased the SSD before the holidays so I could spend all my time on it. It took so long to install the massive pod in my small apartment, so I ended up immersing myself in it for longer than I thought. I knew it would have been bad if I were to stay in the game for too long and end up missing my job in the morning. So I decided to add a real-time clock into my pod using a few tweaks in the main system. That was when I noticed our time zone.

However, after realising that something wasn't right, I tried to log out, and, as you guessed, I couldn't get out. Nothing worked, not even the emergency voice command that is primarily used to force quit."

'Making any changes to such advanced technology is no joke; this guy is the real deal. That ain't just some knowledge that you can learn from reading a book. ' Ji-Soon thought to himself, debating whether or not to ask about his occupation. "So that was why you decided to lay low and wait for players in that forest." Ji-Soon continued, choosing not to pry into his private life.

"Yeah, I was hoping that it was just a system error until I heard that announcement. So I decided to collect more info on the monsters in this game to at least have some data to know what I'm dealing with." Kompto explained.

Tang-Ji formed a grim expression as she thought back to Kyushu's words. 

She had been particularly quiet but soon found herself drawn into the conversation. 

"Hey… Sir…" Tang-Ji turned towards the tall man with the dark complexion. "What do you think is happening to our real bodies in the real world while we're here? Are they just lying in that place? Unconscious? If that's so, then how long can we really stay like that until bodies—" Tang-Ji mumbled her last few words; she was too afraid to say them out loud; however, everyone knew exactly what she wanted to say.

The questions reverberated through the group's minds, creating a collective uncertainty about the mechanics of their existence in this digital realm. Kazami was stunned; he didn't know what to think anymore. 

'At this point, the truth might be even more simple than we thought.' Kazami thought to himself. "The World Seed," he said, as if revealing the missing piece of the puzzle. "The sole reason for every gamer in the world to participate in the tournament. It's an AI supercomputer, the best in the world, invented by Kyushu. It can generate infinite data in a quantum world, create entire worlds with a completely different time zone and set of laws, and bring them into reality through nanites."

"But we can't be sure it's the World Seed, since we've never really seen it in action before. It was only shown through advertising." Junyo suggested.

Ji-Soon picked up on Kazami's revelation. "If that's true, then all the information and thought processes in our brains are probably uploaded into a computer of some sort. A supercomputer is capable of accessing not just memories but also thoughts and emotions."

"Hmmmm," Kazami mumbled. "The only thing I can think of besides the World Seed is Minerva." He looked at Kompto who stared at him blankly, the name seeming not to register. "Oh, right, you aren't from Japan. Minerva is the world's most powerful supercomputer; it's based in Kyoto."

Kompto nodded. "Would that fit the description of the computer running this game?"

"No. Minerva's strong, but nowhere near strong enough to process the information extracted from millions of human minds. It stores data in drones, so I guess it might be possible if they keep adding more drones," Kazami explained.

"Something like that would require time, of course, but at this point, no ordinary computer could handle that much data... except for one—the World Seed," Ji-Soon added. "It makes sense! The World Seed was designed with the sole purpose of creating virtual worlds, while Minerva was made to store data!"

Kompto nodded, impressed by their deductions. However, he still felt a missing piece in the puzzle—a lingering question about Kyushu's true intentions.

"So why allow us to continue playing this game?" Kompto asked, voicing his concerns. "It would have been easier to imprison us until our eventual demise. Putting us in a game with weapons based on our emotions just doesn't make sense. If his true objective isn't to get intel on all of the high-power individuals in the world, then what could it be?

Kazami added his own piece to the puzzle, mentioning the rumoured sentience of the World Seed and its ability to grant wishes. Junyo, however, dismissed the notion, "That's crazy talk; that stuff only happens in sci-fi movies where the plot becomes so convoluted that they needed to introduce some magic shit to cover up for their bad writing."

As they walked deeper into the forest, the group was left with a complex web of theories and questions, each member contemplating their existence in this game that seemed to defy the boundaries of reality. The enigma of the World Seed and its connection to their consciousness lingered, leaving them with an unsettling mix of curiosity and apprehension. However, those lingering feelings suddenly came to a halt when Ukiyo called out.

"We're here." Ukiyo pointed towards a water fountain up ahead. The fountain was a work of art, ornately carved out of solid stone and lined with glimmering gold. The fountain was three tiers tall, and at the top stood two young women, smoothly carved from the finest stone. They held up a floating sphere in their palms. They seemed graceful but sad; parts of their faces were cast in shadow by the long, hooded gown they wore. The group admired its craftsmanship together, all but Ukiyo wearing the same awestruck expression

Ukiyo walked up to the fountain, admiring the statue that stood high above the rest of the world. She looked down at a small stone plaque carved into the base of the structure and touched her hands gently to it. "We pay our humblest respects to the child of light, who guided our sorry souls to salvation. Let this fountain be a reminder of how her shattered soul saved ours," Ukiyo clicked her tongue. She pushed in the plaque, the old, polished stone making a creaking sound as it moved.

Without warning, the ground around them began to shake, and the statue on top of the fountain began to dissolve into thin air, becoming tiny shards of rainbow crystals blowing in the wind. The fountain itself followed suit shortly after, as its rigid structure began to slowly fold in on itself at the centre, leaving a pool of glowing purple liquid. Eventually, the liquid began to drain, sinking lower and lower into the ground until all that remained was a pit where the fountain had once been, its walls lined with unlit torches and a spiralling cobblestone staircase.

Ukiyo looked down into the abyss, satisfied with the result. "Come on. Let us continue onwards," she called bluntly. She reached out to Deker, who stood just behind her, and began dragging him by his ear towards the entrance of the delve.

"Ow, OW!" Deker slapped Ukiyo's arm off of his head. "What the hell are you doing, you NPC bitch?! Ya don't need to friggin' drag me along! I know where we're going! It's kinda the only remarkable thing in this whole place!" He pointed at the entrance.

Junyo ran up to Deker, wondering what the commotion was. "Woah, you guys found the entrance." He looked at Deker, who was rubbing his ear. "Jeez, you had me worried there. Guess you finally got put in your place," Junyo laughed. 

Deker glared at him. "Not… funny," he grumbled. 

"What's the big rush, Ukiyo?" Kazami asked, concerned. "We can always leave tomorrow. I'm sure some of us are tired from the trip. Plus, it's getting dark anyway. It'd be safer if we left in the morning," he said, pointing at the setting sun. 

"I disagree. I believe it would be better to make haste while we still have light," Ukiyo replied. "Who knows what kind of strong monsters Kyushu would have left around an area of significance such as this? It is the only thing allowing us entry into the next delve after all."

Kazami thought about it for a few seconds but was interrupted by a large hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see that it was Kompto. "I think we should go with Ukiyo's suggestion. We can't deny that Kyushu is cunning, so he could have very well set a trap for anyone lucky enough to survive the initial massacre," he said softly.

Kazami looked back at Ukiyo and nodded. "Lead the way then, Ukiyo."

Ukiyo turned back to face the mouth of the delve and began making her way down the steps, with the others trailing behind her in a single file. The torches lining the wall, as if in response to their presence, suddenly lit up with a stunning blue flame. Tang-Ji stared down into the centre of the stairwell, and the darkness of the abyss stared back, causing her to recoil and back into the wall.

Slowly, the light from the entrance disappeared as the fountain reformed itself above them.

"It's dark," Tang-Ji mumbled, her thoughts still racing with disarray as each step seemed to dissolve into the shadows below. Even with the blue lamps positioned along the staircase, she couldn't help but wonder if the deceptive radiance was guiding her into another perpetual night. She looked around at the others to see if anybody else was scared out of their minds like her until her eyes landed on Emiko, who had been uncharacteristically quiet for the last few hours.

Emiko was more guarded than usual and held her hands together, one in the other, fidgeting with them. She was also looking around, albeit more nervously. Suddenly, she looked up and met Tang-Ji's gaze, causing her to panic for a split second. Composing herself, she put on her usual cheeky smile and waltzed up to Tang-Ji, now walking besides her.

"Soooo… I saw you talking to the boys earlier." Her tone radiated valley girl, irritating and too playful for her own good. "What's the deal? You like any of them?" This caused Tang-Ji to immediately become flustered, her face turning a bright shade of red. Emiko smirked; her teasing had caused exactly the reaction she was looking for.

Tang-Ji did not respond, instead choosing to remain silent and attempt to hide her face. "Come onnnn, Tang-Jiiiiii~. You can tell me; I won't reveal your secret."

"I- I don't like any of them in that way," she murmured nervously, her voice somewhat muffled behind her arms.

Emiko grinned. "In what way? I never said you had to like them in a romantic way." She chuckled softly as she continued teasing Tang-Ji. "Let me guess… Is it… Ji-Soon? He seems reliable; I mean, he is on the student council. And he is quite the looker. Ooh, ooh, or maybe you're more into blonde guys like Deker." She imitated dry-reaching as she mentioned his name. "No judgement, but in terms of personality, he has a pretty shitty one. Although, I guess having blonde hair and blue eyes is kinda hot. He seems really into fitness too, so I'd bet he's toned under his clothing too."

Tang-Ji shook her head profusely.

"Hmmmm… How about Junyo?" She added it after some consideration. "I mean… he is pretty boring in terms of guys, but he kinda gives me a mysterious vibe, you know. But… I did hear that guys who seem boring tend to be wild in bed." She teased, winking. "It can't be Kompto, Right?! Unless... you're actually into older men." Emiko raised an eyebrow.

Tang-Ji remained dismissive, and it was clear that Emiko was getting frustrated. "Ugh. Who do you like the most, then?" She huffed, pouting and placing her hands on her hips.

Tang-Ji's face flushed red once more. "U-um. Well, I guess if I had to say... " Emiko listened eagerly, leaning in closer. "I'd say Kazami is the one I feel most safe with, I- I guess…" Her voice trembled from embarrassment, embarrassment which she tried to hide again. It was too late; Emiko had already seen how flustered she was and began laughing. 

"You feel safe with him, eh? Ooooohh, so it IS Kazami!" Emiko jeered. "I can see why; he's pretty smart, and he's athletic too. He'd totally be your type!" Tang-Ji whined, her head tucked behind her arms, and continued walking. Emiko directed her gaze to Kazami, who was talking to Ji-Soon, as if to analyse him.

"So how did you manage to escape the starting town, Ji-Soon? It was pretty chaotic back there," Kazami asked.

A smug expression made its way onto Ji-Soon's face. "Well, I used a hidden pathway that I saw in someone's playthrough of the beta. Pretty cool, right?"

"Lucky. We had to run like hell through the chaos. Eventually, Tang-Ji and I ended up at this creepy, haunted mansion."

Emiko shuddered. "Glad that wasn't me. I can't do horror."

"Speaking of the mansion, remember that letter we found, Kazami?" Tang-Ji pulled up her inventory, scrolling through until she found the letter, and presented it to the rest of the group. "I was wondering if any of you knew anything about it."

Ji-Soon stopped and skimmed the letter's contents. "Red Hood? What's a Red Hood?" He muttered. "And what's that writing at the bottom?"

"I think it's a signature. Like how people sign their letters to let the person they're sending it to know who wrote it. I think it says 'Sabastion Wicky', whoever that is," Kazami answered.

Kompto's ears pricked up. "Where did you get that letter?!" He yelled, now fully turning around.

"U-Um... from the haunted mansion in the snow?" Tang-Ji replied, surprised by the sudden outburst. "I found it in a player's bag."

Kompto's expression became painful. "Give me the letter. Now." Kompto's tone had shifted. He was wholly serious. 

"Why? Do you know something about it?" Kazami said, getting serious as well. 

"I don't want to have to use force," Kompto replied, preparing himself for a fight. "Give. Me. The. Letter." 

Kazami answered by positioning himself into a fighting stance as well. Tension filled the air, and the world became silent and still as the pair stared each other down.

However, the staredown was cut short by shrill screams coming from the front of the line. The sounds were coming from Deker, Junyo, and Ukiyo, who were being swallowed by bright white light. Before anybody could move or react, the light rose higher within the stairwell, enveloping the entire party in a sea of light. Now, the stairwell was empty, those once within it had vanished into thin air.