Chapter 19: Star Horizon's Shady Business
There is nothing more fulfilling than when one achieves something they have been working towards for years. Jin Lin should have been feeling that way when he finally woke up from what felt like a long dream but that's not what happened.
When he opened his eyes he found himself in some sort of confinement that closely resembled the gaming capsule the instructor showed to them the other day. It was attached to the wall with the only source of light being a green beam flashing inside the capsule.
Jin Lin's eyes scanned his surroundings through the glass but the entire place was inky dark giving off an eerie feeling. He tried to move his hands so he could open the capsule and get out but he found that he couldn't move his hands.
Feeling a little nervous he tried again but all his attempts were futile. Seeing that it was like nailing jelly to a tree, he finally stopped. He exhaled and tried to calm himself down but the unsettling feeling in his body rose exponentially making him very uncomfortable.
His body temperature suddenly rose sharply accompanied by the need to vomit. An unfathomable excruciating pain spread through his veins making him grimace. It was like hot lava was being injected directly into his veins burning his flesh. The heat spread from his abdomen extending to the rest of his body which was soon covered in a cold sweat.
Being subjected to such endless torture he begged for death but death wouldn't come. He bit down on his bottom lip till it bled trying to distract himself from the insufferable pain.
He didn't know how long passed when the darkroom suddenly became bright as the sound of footsteps echoed in the air. The surface of the glass was blurred with the fog from the water vapour in his breath condensing on the surface.
It was because of this that he couldn't see clearly what was happening outside. The sad thing was that he couldn't even reach out to wipe away the mist. He could only helplessly watch as he dealt with the pain.
From what he could make out, there were occupied capsules opposite him with the occupants knocked out. Between his capsule and the one opposite his there was a passageway about the size of an aisle in a grocery store.
The pain left his mind in a haze that he failed to deduce the situation. Questions like why was he disconnected from the game or were there others not sleeping but playing the game should have crossed his mind? But who would think about that when you are being roasted from the inside out like a juicy piece of pork on the 4th of July barbecue?
The sounds of footsteps grew closer stopping in front of the opposite capsule. A man in a hazmat suit appeared in Jin Lin's sight with a clipboard. He watched silently as the man pressed a button on his earpiece and said, "Subject 187K disintegrated... reconstruction failed. Send clean up crew."
The hazmat suit wearing man scanned his identity card switching off the capsule. Jin Lin began to panic internally. He knew Star Horizon was shady but he had no idea it was some hardcore type of shady that even drug cartels wouldn't want to be involved in despite being the shadiest of them all.
The words disintegrated and reconstruction failed echoed in his mind as he endured through the agony. This meant death, someone was dead but wasn't this a game.
Jin Lin couldn't make sense of it all neither did he have enough time to think it through because the man in the hazmat suit suddenly turned to face him with the only sound coming from his wheezy breathing sounds.
The man stood there watching the pain-stricken Jin Lin with interest. Their gazes locked together for a long time as though engaging in an intense staredown.
The man slowly raised his hand and pressed the button on the earpiece with his probing gaze still fixed on Jin Lin. "Subject 219k woke up early..... administer the sedative," he said to the person on the other side of the line.
Jin Lin suddenly felt dizzy as a familiar mist filled the capsule. His eyes slowly drooped with his head leaning to the side. He didn't want to pass out but the pain gradually lessened so he could only sleep. His line of sight fell into darkness with his eyes shutting completely.
The man stopped watching him as the clean up crew showed up. The capsule opposite Jin Lin's was dislodged from the wall and placed on a trolley large enough to fit the capsule.
Jin Lin was slightly lucid at this moment and saw them open the capsule. The man dipped his hand inside the capsule as though looking for something. A smile appeared on the man's face before he took his arm out of the capsule.
The once clean black glove was now covered in slime with a faint green crystal in his hand. Words like auction and medicinal were spoken but unfortunately, Jin Lin couldn't stay awake any longer falling into the dark abyss with no strength to fight.
He remained in this state for a very long time that is until something unusual happened. Amidst the darkness, a line of words appeared.
Hello, Subject 219K_
Welcome to Equino_
I am your system support Liuliu_
Here to give you the best experience_
It seemed after five years his journey had finally begun but he suddenly wasn't looking forward to it anymore. If only he knew that this was only the beginning of a nightmarish play that only legends could dominate.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone