Whispers of the Game

Timothy's wrath came to a close in less than a minute. Believing that Aurora had perished, he got proven differently. Thanks to Chiaki, he regained his humble personality and lowered Erembour's body to the floor.

He didn't kill him but was one step away from doing it. The most he had done was obliterate his arms and torture him with the exact pain Aurora had gone through. And Candel stood on the opposite side of the chamber, ensuring to stay away from their route. He was petrified but masked that nervousness behind his grave countenance.

"Y-You psychopath," Erembour stuttered in painful groans, "You assume you can come into my profession and mortify me in front of everyone like I'm a frantic god? Hah..., hahaha. You'll become as sorrowful as Katherine." Timothy glanced at the fallen Erembour, intimidatingly and desperate to tear him apart more but recognized that killing him would not be the most suitable approach to action. "I should remind you. You're the one who abhors the deities. If you want to make the gods pay for how they adopted human lives, then you're doing a more low-grade job than they ever did, tormenting and pushing people to suffer."

Timothy's comeback frustrated and drove him to whine, "You insolent fool! I haven't killed one person! I designed and developed a toxin to kill those divinities! This valueless brat was simply a test subject! She would break eventually!"

Timothy raised his jaw, his mouth quivering from the captivated hate inside his mind. Torque suddenly interrupted their back-to-back discussion, laughing in return, "Don't be stupid. Do you *really* think Aurora would've died?" everyone's eyes locked onto her in a coincidental moment, "When I came across Payne and his allies, I encountered the girl and Timothy's sister in the street. I gave them a "stimulant" that Dr. Heiran developed. If she were to consume the liquid in the flask, her disease would wither in the next three months. The most you did was put her through a nightmare." Torque exemplified while Chiaki and Tarot aided Aurora off the cross.

"What? Don't mess with me, Torrente." Torque chortled with open arms and shook her head in dissatisfaction, "Now, now, you little baby. Don't get too teary. Timothy, do you mind if I finish your job? I wanted to kill Erem-bore since the start. And he's in an ideal position for me to squash him like a bug." Timothy remained speechless. He shared Torque a glance from the edge of his face, "Do you think killing him would make us any better than him?"

Torque moaned in seized her forehead, "Whether it would or wouldn't, even you can agree he earned it. He tormented your chum like she was a doll. If we don't, he might try and do it again. Do you want that? Do you want to risk her life for the second time? There's only one cure Dr. Heiran developed, and after he dies and everyone entangled in this world leaves, the doctor won't have the technology he requires to assemble the medicine for the second time."

Timothy became lost in thoughts, becoming indecisive on Erembour's fate, "You can do whatever you want with him, as long as you know a way out of here." Torque reached out and held Timothy's shoulder, "Once *he* dies. The world will die with him, and our consciousness will return to our physical bodies. As for him, wherever he is in the overworld, he *will* die and decay wherever he's hiding."

Timothy couldn't come up with a solid judgment, knowing Torque wasn't reliable because of her rumors. But she supported them and brought them to Erembour. "Chiaki!" She turned in Timothy's direction, listening, "When the doctor saved you and studied your body. Did he show any indications of fraud?"

She blinked, bewildered, "I can't say for sure. He claimed I had no symptoms of infection the "game master" mentioned. I don't know anything about the technology in this dimension, but he seemed legit. Although, he could've easily fibbed me."

Timothy skimmed to the side, turned around from Torque, "That's all I needed to hear. Do whatever you want with him." Putting trust into Chiaki's statement, he rushed toward them while Torque watched him from behind, "I owe ya." Torque raised her foot, forcing Erembour to holler, and in the next second, the sound of spattering blood plugged the room. Torque mashed Erembour's head, and the next moment, the rackets of error filled the entire structure and the outside city.

Everyone's perspective turned black with a flick of a finger.

-

The sun's warmth and radiance formed in Timothy's clouded eyesight. He gradually opened his eyes to the haze and saw a clear blue sky observing him. His skin got touched by the wind like a slab of icy coldness. He quickly decided to stand up after waking up and realized that his friends were all around him.

"What just happened? I feel like I've been snoozing for more than a day." Tarot called, holding his forehead, "I hope nobody swiped my peaches." Everyone with him woke up too, and each appeared moderately exhausted and frail. "We're back in the real world. Back at the pedestal."

Cassidy and Tarot raised their arms in the air after Chiaki's announcement, "Woo! I can finally see the light again!" Timothy hurriedly dashed toward Aurora and hunkered down next to her somnolent body, "Hey, Kate. Can you hear me?" She didn't respond, but a flask rolled from her pockets into Timothy's standpoint, puzzling him.

"That's the cure Torque gave us when we met her in the avenue after running away from those rapists," Trinity informed him and neared him, "She should drink it..." Timothy nodded, agreeing with her, and slightly raised Aurora's head and allowed her to consume it.

"It'll take some time for her to regain her consciousness." A familiar voice called out to them, and a feminine body emerged from digital-like particles, revealing a quirky woman.

She had fluffy, orange hair tied into a ponytail and amber eyes, holding a unique phone in her right hand. She had a white t-shirt with an orange jacket and sapphire blue jeans, "Do we know you?"

The woman peeked at them unamusingly, putting the phone into her pouch and tucked her hip to the side, "Kinda. Actually, you do. Torque." Like a tumbleweed rolling through the desert, their bodies became encircled by whistling quietness, seeing her standing in front of them in an entirely different body. "Torque?! B-But you look *so* different!" Cassidy screamed in astonishment with broadened eyes, "We're not in the game anymore. You've heard my name before. It's Amber."

She walked between Timothy and Trinity, squatting next to them and peering at Aurora's body, "You came out of thin air. I thought you entered Cyber Refuge the same way we did." Ayuka assumed, sitting on the foundation in a weakened state. "Cyber Refuge is the name of a phone game. I used my ability to join the videogame through my phone and assemble a different avatar, unlike my real-world body. I took on a role of a "unique" character to move through that virtual world. Either way, now that Aurora's cured, there's something you swore to do, Ayuka."

Amber straightened and yanked her view onto Ayuka, who struggled to keep eye contact, "Promise? Promised what?" Timothy repeatedly tossed looks between Amber and Ayuka, "I was the one who got infected by Erembour's bacteria. And since it isn't curable, I will most likely be gone soon." Like a flash of electricity zapping Timothy's body, he became rigid and voiceless, shivering in dread. "W-What? Ayuka, why didn't you tell us?!" Cassidy inquired, stepping forward, comprehending she was once Timothy's partner, "I didn't tell you because you'd lose your way and concentrate on my condition instead of Aurora. I wanted her to recover, so I masked my infection from you."

However, Amber instantly raised her arms, shutting her eyes to latch everyone's gaze onto her, "Okay, that's all folks! The end of trivia! But, no, seriously. You don't need to fear the infection anymore. The Cyber Refuge — the game underneath Erembour's control — it's all linked to his consciousness. If he loses it, in this dilemma, dies, it'll erase itself. You're not infected anymore, but there are still signs of it stuck in your body. You should rest. But you don't need to worry about dying." Everyone's eyes became squiggly, and Ayuka roared angrily, "What?! Why the hell would you want me to admit something like that if it's nonessential!"

Amber folded her arms, snickering and forming a feline face, "Because I love drama and people's reactions!" She chuckled, seeing everyone looking at her unamusingly, "Hehe... No, not funny?" Nobody reacted and resumed following Amber's silly face, "I bet you killed those individuals with your terrible jokes than your own ability." Chiaki's grave expression made Amber uncomfortable, "Aw, come on. You damage my morale with those boring comebacks." Timothy stepped beside Amber with Tarot and tapped her shoulders, "Uhh... What?" In an instant, they heaved her up and dazed her, "Off you go." They tossed her in the air, hearing her adorable screams fading away the further she flew until she finally splashed into the ocean. "Let's hustle up and bring Aurora back to madam Della."

Everyone agreed with Timothy.