PRELUDE: IMPOSSIBLE?

Lightning bolts raining randomly in the whole area. They had never encountered this kind of large-scale attack. No time to rest. No time to think. With the lightning bolts constantly dropping on them, energy orbs were constantly being shot too. This wasn't normal. That was not what they had expected or envisioned. Of course, they could not guess that the game admins tweaked the difficulty at the last moment. The boss or now the bosses of the last world were unbeatable. What was the end game? They couldn't even fathom. All the worlds they overcame tested them on a specific issue or trait to cultivate. But this trial was simply brutal. They didn't see a way out. When they all logged in to the final world; World 22, also known as THE WORLD'S END, they were welcomed with a silent and comforting void. A white space stretching as their eyes could see. Randy and his party had worked out several plans. They had spent close to a week preparing for this challenge. It was the challenge that would open them a large door to a future of unending success. The game information sent by the administrators had told them almost nothing. They were only informed of the presence of one boss known as the TRIUNE. Nothing else apart from that name was given. Neither its health points, magic points or attacks. But as resourceful as they were they did some digging behind the meaning of the word or name; TRIUNE. Triune, of Latin origin, meaning three in one. It is especially used to describe the Christian trinity; The Triune God. That was their head start and obviously their doom. They had to face an entity which will be a mimicry of a divine being. They couldn't even fathom how that boss was programmed. They came up with several contingencies based on the previous bosses they had encountered. They laid out a group formation centred around party members having healing abilities. But all their plans were shattered the moment they logged in. When all of the players materialized, Triune didn't waste time (they had not even sensed him or seen him) and welcomed them with an attack known as the twin dimension, splitting the party into two. Randy, Dazna and some other participants were maintained in the white world to face Triune, while the 'golden boy' and others were splintered to a superimposed dimension with another divine entity to face off. That entity was presented as METATRON; the archangel of empowerment, the divine scribe, the youth. He held a book that looked like a grimoire. And from it, he read, he chanted, he ordered. And just as triune, he launched large-scale attacks. As if it wasn't sufficient, the superimposition of the two dimensions created a greater problem. The two dimensions were virtually one. How so? The attack of the two bosses could reach any challenger but the challenger could only attack the boss to which its dimension is anchored to. This resulted in both parties being attacked massively by both bosses simultaneously. With the lightning bolts and energy orbs, Randy's party was demolished. The attacks seemed haphazard but the reverse was also true. The trick was easy. Dodging the energy orbs resulted in you getting hit by a lightning bolt. And each hit was an instant kill. You could survive (despite having taken heavy damages) if you were equipped with a durable shield.

"Is this how it shall end?" Randy smiled at Dazna.

"Well, our fate is in the hands of God," Dazna responded, laughing at their situation.

"What do you sense?"

"We are only 3 remaining. All the others have been toast."

"And how is goldy fairing?"

"He isn't moving. He should have raised a shield like yours."

"But his won't last long."

"Yeah. His shadow colour gives him tremendous offensive skills but the defence doesn't compare to yours."

"Yeah. My black colour is something else but it won't last long too."

"There is only one way out."

"Don't tell me you want to—" Randy paused. He knew the only way to survive was to pull 'goldy' to their dimension. The only way was to phase through the dimensions and meet 'goldy', then phase back to the original dimension. But how can you phase through a dimension generated by beings whose thoughts transcend human thinking?

"They have been programmed by that one-eyed dweeb. He always hides the solution in plain sight." Dazna groaned. She knew the gamble this time around had very high stakes.

"So, what do you need?"

"I need you to keep up with their attacks. Strengthen your shadow shield to the maximum. I will use the vibration caused by Metatron's attack as a base point to emulate his frequency and phase to his dimension."

"But there is one huge issue."

"Which one?"

"How will you protect yourself? The instant you arrive at his lair, you are cooked."

"I trust goldy will figure out something. Anyhow, here we go."

Randy did as told and held on. Dazna using her red-coloured shadow, heightened her senses to their peak. She was in the domain of the gods and could faintly feel their frequency of vibration. When Metatron's crystal spear touched the shield, she used the impact and instantly swapped dimensions. In a split of a femtosecond, the golden boy covered her with his shadow but she had already lost a hand and a leg. With her second colour, green, she regenerated her limbs. None had foreseen the trap. None had imagined that the bosses had made it possible for Dazna to feel their frequency. None could see that they wanted Dazna separated from Randy. Immediately Dazna was shielded by the golden shadow, Triune merged the two dimensions and Metatron immediately dived towards their position. When he laid his hand on their shield, it crumbled like a sand castle. Without thinking, Randy undid his shield and dove towards Dazna. A huge mistake that definitely sealed their loss. Dazna and her closest partner got impaled by Metatron's spears. Randy received multiple lightning bolts before being pierced with several crystal spears. Despite all that damage, he kept moving towards her. And as he fell near her, he had lost both hands and one leg. Dazna was sliced into two but still breathing, though barely. Both lay close to each other heavily bleeding and coughing blood.

"I think we are in a pinch babe." Randy coughed.

"A pinch indeed" Dazna faintly smiled. "Do you remember how it all started? How we started?"

"What a question. It…" Randy reminisced.

It all started with a dream fuelled by an extreme desire for change. Which then escalated into a test project and then evolved into a high-end enterprise with the fate of a nation at stake. This is the story of a nation in which the leaders took the gamble of entrusting their nation's future to their youth. This is the story of a country that pulled its future to the present, creating as a result a singularity, opening a door that was supposed to remain closed.