[ Chapter IV (4): "THIS REALITY? IT HAS TO BE" ]
[ THIS IS A SIMULATION HUB SET IN A VIRTUAL WORLD AND DOES NOT REPRESENT REAL-LIFE ]
[ PLEASE PLAY IN MODERATION. TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS AND PLAY RESPONSIBLY ]
The ringing of the System's reminder to the Players, except to Arthur rang in the small videofeed that he is looking at occasionally; one that is floating on his side, as he then focuses on grinding, i.e. killing Vikings.
It is after all the tasked for today's Campaign, to kill the raiding Vikings that infiltrated the Kingdom. To kill, to purge, and to leave no one alive, which is quite difficult especially because he has less men, about half a less men compared to the Vikings which numbers about 250 canon fodders and 1 Hero.
Yes, he is back on the For Honor game to gain more Credits, so that he could reform the Lobby, to make it comfortable and for him to finally gain steady income through it, especially because he now has loyal fans— about 15 which includes the Flash, Barry Allen to his surprise.
[ "ᚠᛟᚱ ᚡᚨᛚᚺᚨ-!" ]
[ VIKING RAIDER LVL. 2 KILLED! ]
[ +28 EXPERIENCE TO PLAYER ]
Tired and not knowing how to continue, Arthur forces himself to fight back against the incoming tides of Vikings. Supposed NPCs, yet with personality and strategic mind. When he meant strategic, he meant them just going at him without care.
[ "WAAAAAAGHH!" ] He unsheath his Longsword from the throat of the man he just stabbed, before then using the hilt of it, plus the side of his fist to beat up a nearby screaming Viking. Causing the charge to falter, also for the man to domino the men behind him, to fall.
Seeing that he is about to be overwhelmed, and that there is no friendly allies nearby. He took this opportunity and grabbed a laying weapon nearby, a one-sided axe from a dead Viking. Dented, crude, and small compared to his sword.
Nonetheless it would be useful, so he grabbed it with his left hand, getting a feel on it before then using it to stab at the shield of one of the incoming Vikings.
Seeing it stick in the shield, he used this opportunity to then pull it back, causing the man holding the shield to scream and fall forward. A mistake, a blunder, one that he cashes in as he focus.
Taking the opportunity in hand, he then stabbed his sword deep into the underside of the man's skull out the top part, before then pulling his sword back to cut another.
[ VIKING RAIDER LVL. 3 KILLED! ]
[ +32 EXPERIENCE TO PLAYER ]
After about some time, Arthur got closer and closer to the castle wherein the Vikings are currently inhabiting.
The stronghold of some sorts where a hundred more Viking is stationed, plus the final boss of this Campaign— a Lvl. 3 Viking Hero, the highest he has ever seen in the Campaign; aside from the Monthly Mission that is.
This is the last hurdle of his before finally completing the Campaign, the last Stage. And in doing so he would have about enough Credits to upgrade his Lobby, to buy more spots for Players, and to entertain them who seems to be growing bored by time, even though they find the situation completely supernatural.
[ "WAAAAAAG-" ] Punching the teeth of one Viking later, he was then finally met with the raging boss of this place. The Viking Hero which is Lvl. 3, in comparison to that, 2 Lvl. 2 Heroes can cause problems, but are easy. But a Lvl. 3 Hero is akin to that of 3 Lvl. 2 Heroes, which is a challenge.
Pushing the door to the castle more open, he let his remaining Knights enter and fight the other Vikings. As he stares up at the Viking Hero in the balcony, someone which is apparently a double wielding axe type of Hero, as he also stares down at him.
Grunting to himself, he then steeled his nerves. Not wanting to die and reset the Stage, as after all, he is in a rush of some sorts, wanting to get back to the Lobby to implement the ideas that have been drowning in his head there. [ "Let's end this." ]
...
[ VIKING HERO LVL. 3 KILLED! ]
[ +600 EXPERIENCE TO PLAYER ]
[ PLAYER CHARACTER (FOR HONOR) LEVEL-UP! ]
[ CHARACTER KNIGHT HERO LVL. 9 ---> CHARACTER KNIGHT HERO LVL. 10 ]
Coughing to himself, Arthur bled before then succumbing to the pain, closing his eyes completely as he lay in the middle of the ballroom of some sorts.
Men both either from the Iron Legion (Knights), or Warborn (Vikings) Faction laying dead with a few on the former's side still alive, prevailing as they loot the enemies dead bodies.
Arthur on the other hand who's still alive couldn't help but wish that he is dead at the moment, as he lost one of his limbs from the fighting. Impatiently-patiently waiting for the System Reset to takeover and pull him out of this hell.
He waited and waited for few more minutes, before then finally the notification that he has been yearning for appeared in front of him. Causing him inwardly to cheer;
[ CONGRATULATIONS PLAYER, THE KNIGHT FACTION WON THE "SAVAGES FROM THE NORTH" CAMPAIGN ]
[ DOMINANT FACTION: KNIGHT ]
Not long after, a blue light from the System took over everything, first it was the weather, the structures, then the people. Before finally, it took over Arthur's Character that was on death's door.
[ "Finally!" ]
As he now wakes up in his original body, out of Character, now not suffering from wounds as his hands regenerate, all wounds disappearing as he shot up in a daze.
He glanced slightly and noticed the notification changing into the Campaign Reward, besides that is a floating videofeed of the Players— about 7 of them including the infamous Barry Allen, the Flash from his memory, as they chatter with one another.
He doesn't have a clock connecting to the DC Universe, or even a sense of day or night in this place. In this game-like world. So he doesn't know if it's day or night for those residence of DC Earth.
But something has been piquing his interest, the Players seems to not care about time, as there is always about a few in there no matter what; which is weird.
Because before going into the Campaign, he was sure he added the Exit feature for the Players, so that they wouldn't be stuck in there loitering and suffering just like him. But to his surprise, they rarely left.
It has been 2 days, he thinks. Feels like it, he rushed in the Campaign causing it to end than normal, causing him to die and repeat a few Stages also. But, why the hell aren't they leaving, especially because UTOPIA is still now baren with no features at all except for the Exit Function and the 12 Hour Gaming Function. [ "Why does it feel like they aren't leaving?" ]
He questions himself before then watching the videofeed in front of him, now idle, he could now have the time to investigate why.
...
[ "This is life!" ] Mr. Anderson, an old-man, the oldest of the current Players in UTOPIA. His hair greying, his bones old and fragile, his features wrinkled.
That was supposed to be the case, but surprisingly since he gotten that weird notification about a game of some sorts.
The one that took him into heaven, or the closest thing to that, which caused him, who has never been happy that long, to experience joy that he has never experienced in his long life.
As in this place he doesn't have to worry about neighbors fighting, children playing pranks to his old house, or even gunshots in the middle of the night. As in this place, he could lay back and chill around.
So does the other 14 Players, as they take this weirdly god-given gift and abuse it, use it when they can. As they quickly found out, that when in here, their original body would be in sleep mode.
In deep sleep mode really, without care about insomnia, problems, mental or physical, as when they click the UTOPIA App, they would sleep on command.
Their souls on the other hand, would then disappear into somewhere else, into space, wherein they could socialize with one another and turn off from the world.
No gadgets, no-nothing. As the grumpy old Mr. Anderson known for his foul mood due to insomnia and being alone, is now akin to that of an angel at the moment, to his fellow Players, as he joyfully shares his life stories and problems to them.
[ "In Boravia you see, this is the case..." ] He talks in his local dialect which is weirdly enough, understood by the people around him as either English, French, or whatever language they are most proficient with.
As even though the mouth doesn't match the words, they could still understand him. This old-man kept talking, as he watches the other Players nod at him in response, seemingly understanding the old veteran.
[ "Wow, so-so that's really what's happening Boravia, huh..." ] Barry Allen, the blonde haired kid with unkempt hair and appearance nod, seemingly understanding more-and-more of the situation around his fellow Players.
You see, they have been here for about a day and 13 hours in total, he has been counting. And in that time, Barry decided to act and find out the reason why they are all here, in this situation, in this place...
But no matter how much he investigates, like a detective, he can't seem to find out anything at all. As other than clicking a weird notification that appeared out of nowhere, either from a cellphone, computer, tablet, or laptop, they have nothing in common to share about.
As all 15 of them, yes 15, and all which are called Players have vastly different history, appearances, and path in life. He being from Central City, USA.
Ms. Laurent over there is from Paris, France; from what he learnt about her, someone in the fashion industry that is stressed out all the time, taking this opportunity to unwind.
Mr. Kuznetsov, the bear-looking man is from Krasnoyarsk, Russia; a single father of two, working odd jobs to support his family, currently widowed, and oftentimes ask others for tips and tricks.
Mrs. Quezon, named after a city in the Philippines is from after all, Quezon, Philippines; she's the mother of the group, someone that seems to have great experiences in taking care of children, so she actively gives advices.
That is just 3 out of the 14 other Players that Barry shares this place... One that they now actively call as Paradise, wherein they unwind from the real-world, and go oftentimes before sleeping.
As for confidentially and safety of each other. They only decided to give each other their surnames, he going by Mr. Allen to them. But the more he spent time with them, the more he wants to tell them his name and not just his story...
The more he think of that, the more he deter from doing so. He doesn't want to get hurt in the future, as he doesn't know what would happen if he did give his name... Give some time, and he would eventually do.
About to speak up and give his opinion about the story of Mr. Anderson, quite personal, but also quite thought provoking. A story about his time in the military and the tragedy he seen others do.
But before he could do, the automation from the System rang inside his head again. A floating hologram floating in front of him, as so the other active Players. The same thing again and again, every hour; something about this place not being real.
But to them, they ignored that, as in here after all, even though they couldn't feel hunger or physical pains, they could still connect to one another which is as real as it gets. [ "Why does this appear all the time?" ]
Barry quetions, as he then stares at the eyes of the other Players which is just as oblivious as him. [ "Beatz me." ] Ms. Laurent spoke up, in her accent and dialect which translated to English for Barry.
They all unanimously shrug their shoulders and continued speaking with one another, sharing stories, playing tag, or even just enjoying the calm which this place gives...
Before then waking up to experience the cruelty of the "real" world again.
Or in the case of Barry, after the 12 hour gaming limit hit, causing him to be forcefully ejected from the Paradise. Before then doing this again tomorrow, when the gaming limit resets.
But before that, he would first enjoy his time, with his friends. As he smiles at them, showing them his fist, inviting them to a game; [ "Rock, paper, scissors. Anyone?" ]
[ ——— ] [ ——— ] [ ——— ] [ ——— ]
[ 05/22/2025 ]
[ 05/23/2025 ]