Two Years of Change

While they were on the road, Jay was shocked with the things he saw. Almost every building, may it be the simple looking ones or the high rise buildings, they were all destroyed in some degree and weird plants grew all around. Even the roads were cracked and Jay saw a lot of violet colored mush scattered all over the roads.

As for the people, Jay was surprised when he saw them. There were teenagers, adults, and even old men. The thing Jay was surprised about was that every person he saw had a weapon of their own. Some had knives, guns, and some even had swords.

"Wait... where are we right now? Are we still in the US?" Jay asked Jin as he continued looking around. He was also weirded out why the movement of the car was still really smooth even with all the cracks on the road.

"It's a bit hard to explain. You can take a look at this if you want, but I doubt all of your questions will be answered."

Jin took out his phone and fiddled with it for a while before handing it over to Jay.

"Feel free to read anything in there. Just don't look at my browser history."

Jay laughed inside when he heard Jin's reminder. The moment he saw what was on the phone, he was speechless.

What was on the phone was the daily news. But everything on it was crazy stuff. There were reports about portals that lead to other worlds, a recruitment ad for 'adventurers,' and so on.

"Shocking isn't it?" Jin suddenly spoke up as he saw Jay's reaction as he looked at the phone.

"Just what happened in the US during the two years I was in a coma?" Jay asked as he handed back the phone to Jin since he pretty much guessed that the rest of the stuff in the daily news were the same.

"It's not only the US, but the entirety of Earth."

When Jay heard this, he was having a lot of mixed feelings. It was true that this gave him an opportunity to look for something new in his life, but he was conflicted since won't his life return to the way it was back on Hellson's Dimension?

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Jay said to Jin as he looked at the window and gritted his teeth.

"Sure. What's on your mind this time Mr. Castle?"

"Those people on the streets, those weapons they have, what is it for?" Jay asked even though he knew that those people were probably going to kill some monsters or enter some portals.

"They're currently hunting. You saw the news about the portals right?"

Jay nodded and Jin continued speaking.

"Those portals lead to other worlds. When one enters, they could never return to Earth. And in just the same way, beings that get out of those portals could not return to their own world and they start going on a rampage here. And there are also some rare cases of these beings colonizing places and inhabiting it instead of just going on a rampage, killing and eating anything it sees."

After Jin said that, Jay sighed and wondered if he still made the right choice in returning to Earth. The remaining hour while they were on the way to IronSpark, it was silent. Jin did not bother Jay since he saw that Jay looked as if he was lost in his own thoughts.

"Dungeons and Towers of Fate... if only we could have stopped it sooner..." Jin thought to himself as he looked at Jay.

...

The driver stopped the car in front of a place that looked like a modern fortress. There was a high rise building that was completely black in color. Around it, a thick wall covered the perimeter and the only way in and out of the place was a large gate shaped like an archway.

"Sire, I am afraid I could not take you further." The driver said as he handed over Jin's black card back to him.

"Sure."

Jin told Jay to get off and said a few words to the driver before getting off himself.

"What is this place? My body is getting numb just by looking at it." Jay mumbled softly as he looked at the building in front of him. He was even wondering how could the people inside the building breath since there were no windows or anything.

"Welcome to IronSpark." Jin said as he led Jay through the archway. The moment the two of them stepped in, some kind of blue light covered the archway, covering the two of them.

"Access granted. Sir Rodrick is awaiting for your presence."

"This is the first time I saw some high-tech stuff like this besides the virtual reality gaming set." Jay thought to himself as he and Jin passed through the archway after the security check.

Just as Jay thought they would start walking towards the black building, Jin suddenly wore an earpiece and a golden watch. He then spoke up after doing so.

"Agent Jin requests teleportation to Sir Rodrick's office."

After a few seconds, the same robotic voice from the security check spoke up.

"Access granted."

A bluish light covered Jay and Jin as they got teleported somewhere else.

...

--- IronSpark Center

"Damn. I feel like I am in some kind of virtual reality game again." Jay thought to himself the moment he got teleported to this place that looked like a mansion of a rich guy instead of an office.

Jay and Jin were currently at the center of the room. On their right was a golden billiard table and a tall wine rack on the wall. On their left was a glass wall and a sliding door that was probably the entry and exit of the penthouse. On their back was like a living room that had two sofas and four couches circled around a coffee table. There was a wall mounted flat screen TV, gaming consoles, and a lot more stuff.

On their front was a dining and kitchen area.

"I'll be taking my leave here." Jin said as he walked away, exiting through the sliding door on their left.

Jay looked around and was wondering how much money was spent in order to build this place. While his thoughts were wandering in random directions, a chubby guy with bald head and was wearing a white tuxedo appeared behind him.

"Impressed with my lair? I spent half of my fortune just to build this."

Jay quickly turned and looked at the chubby guy behind him.

"Name's Rodrick Castle. I am the president of IronSpark Center, a place that acts as a command center for everything related to the portals popping up around the US."

"Castle?" Jay wondered if he was related to Rodrick in some way.

"You must be tired standing. Let's go take a seat over there." Rodrick said as he led Jay towards the couches at the back area.

...

"Let's get straight to business. Before I will ask you my questions, go ahead and ask your own questions." Rodrick said and snapped his fingers, causing some bottles of random beverages to appear on the coffee table.

"I just want to know everything that changes in the two years I was gone." Jay said and was wondering how much Earth has changed.

"The DATOF incident. Just a few weeks after it happened, the 'Cataclysm' happened. The Cataclysm is what we named the year when the DATOF incident happened and the things that happened after it." Rodrick gestured Jay to drink anything he wanted. He first drank some cola before continuing to speak.

"During the Cataclysm, just like the name suggests, cataclysmic events happened almost every day. Earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, and even meteor showers happened across the whole world, sparing no people or country. Earth's population almost got wiped out and almost everything got wiped from existence. But do you know the weirdest thing about all of this?" Rodrick paused for a bit and wanted to hear a random answer from Jay.

"I'm guessing it is something related to the DATOF incident's victims who were in a coma."

"Correct. For some reason, a large dome shaped barrier appears around the DATOF victims whenever something endangers their life. Just like falling from a building, getting hit by a meteor, or getting sucked into a tornado. Do you know how I became the president of IronSpark?"

"You were the first one to tell everyone about this and you used our bodies, the DATOF victims, as a way to survive."

"Yes, indeed." Rodrick had a wide grin on his face as if he was boasting about this. He then continued after drinking his cola again.

"After the Cataclysm, there was the year of Rejuvenation. During the Rejuvenation year, most of the survivors like me tried our best to rebuild what we've lost. We gathered the victims of the DATOF incident since they were our shields. During this year, we also noticed strange things changing around us. Even though Earth was nearly wiped out from the Cataclysm, it slowly reformed into a new and strange planet. We don't know how much the Earth changed, may it be its geography or whatever, because every satellite we have were destroyed during the Cataclysm. So right now, I am not sure if we are still in the US or not."

Jay was shocked when he heard this. To summarize what Rodrick told him, the Cataclysm destroyed everything they knew about the Earth and the Rejuvenation year was when everything was slowly rebuilt into something new.

"Then what about the portals that leads to other worlds?" Jay asked.

"The portals only appeared just the past month. In truth is, most of us almost shat our pants when those monsters came out from the portals. But in the end, they are still mindless brutes. We humans have existed since history started, or whatever those history teachers taught us in school. We humans are smarter and can always improvise, adapt, and overcome every situation thrown at us by whoever controls the cosmos, may it be some god or devil."

Rodrick gave Jay some time to let all of the stuff he said sink in. After a few moments, he already managed to drink ten liters of cola and started asking his questions.

"Is it fine if I call you Jay? You can also just call me by my first name if we talking in private." Rodrick said and asked Jay.

Jay nodded his head and just drank random stuff. He was hoping there was some kind of brainwashing drink so that he could forget everything about Hellson's Dimension since everything was still pretty clear in his mind.

"Jay, I don't understand something. Just like you, my daughter was a DATOF victim, but when she woke up, she was trembling in fear. Even now, she is still terrified of something and barely even talks to me. But when you woke up, you are still acting normally. Why?"

"May I ask what her name was in the game?" Jay asked since he might recognize Rodrick's daughter.

"Cidney. It might be better if you see this." Rodrick took out a tablet and showed Jay a picture. It looked like a status screen of a player.

"Cidney Castle. She was a Tier 4 Assassin and was residing at a place called the Golden Moon Academy. I don't really care about the rest of the crap written here, but do you recognize her?"

It took Jay a couple of seconds before recognizing Cidney. Wasn't she the one who threatened to kill him when he accidentally slept at the girls dorm at the Golden Moon Academy?

"I recognize her. But if she is staying at that place, I don't get it. How did she die?" Jay mumbled softly and immediately caught the attention of Rodrick.

"What do you mean she died?" Rodrick suddenly asked in a chilly tone as he dropped the tablet on the coffee table.

"There might be a misunderstanding here Rodrick. Do you know how the DATOF victims wake up from their coma?" Jay asked and Rodrick calmed down.

"No. In truth is, no one knows. Everyone who woke up from their coma lost their memories about the game. As for you, since you said you recognize my daughter's character in the game, it means you haven't lost your memories. Is this correct?" Rodrick said as he looked directly into Jay's eyes to check if he will speak honestly or not.

"Yes. And the only way someone wakes up is if they die at the game."

"I see. Then how come? Why do you still have your memories about the game intact?" Rodrick asked Jay.

Jay knew he couldn't say that he killed himself since it could not explain why his memories was still intact. So he decided to make a bluff.

"I finished the game by defeating the last boss."

"Then why are the rest of the DATOF victims still in a coma?" Rodrick asked again and did not see any signs of Jay lying for some reason.

"I... don't know. I'm sorry Rodrick." Jay said and hoped Rodrick would change the topic already.

Rodrick suddenly remained silent for a few minutes as he kept looking at Jay and chugging down bottles of cola. Then after drinking around 20 bottles of cola, he spoke up again.

"Do you have anything on your mind that may help us return Earth to the way it was? Or maybe a way to fight back against the fuckers that invaded our planet?"

"Not really. But I may be able to do something for the DATOF victims who woke up." Jay said and used this as an excuse since he wanted to see for himself what happened to those who woke up.

"Really? Then, could you do something for my daughter?" Rodrick suddenly got excited and picked up his tablet.

"Cidney, come downstairs. I want you to meet someone."

While Rodrick was talking to his daughter over the tablet, Jay slouched on the couch and started to reminisce about his experience back at Hellson's Dimension. Since he could not forget about it, he decided to just try to find something that may help him in the future days to come in this newly reformed planet.