Chương 8: Chapter 8
Life would have been different if they had stayed put. They could have been spending their time right now, sitting comfortably on their chairs, watching whatever new rubbish was on Netflix. They could be playing newly released triple-As in their consoles and computers. Maybe even ripping through the pages of new comics, mangas, and novels. A life of consumerism, something one could either perceive as passion or obsession. That's the life of an average geek, as happy and content as he or she could be.
There was no happiness here however, only regret and more tribulations. Mistakes were life's greatest pathogens, something that seemed to always be in rotation. These geeks should have stayed in their homes, not be surrounded by danger and fallen bones. But they were geeks nonetheless, they had always been the punching bags.
In their club room, Charlie and GI sat and stared at the walls. As silent as corpses, they dwelled upon the choices that led to this increasingly grim adventure. They didn't even know how long they had been sitting and thinking; it could have been hours, maybe even days. But the quietness proved temporary, as the door opened, Catherine coming in with excitement on her face. Said face soon turned into worry the moment she laid eyes upon the two shellshocked kids.
"You guys alright?" Catherine asked. "You two look like you've seen a puppy get run over by a car."
GI and Charlie shook their heads, but it was the American who managed to utter a reply. "We're good. Just a bit tired, that's all," Charlie lied. GI would have done the same too. Better to keep it a secret for now if you didn't want to be bombarded by questions from the other geeks. Telling them you just talked to the Nihilion would have raised some eyebrows.
"Amp's calling everyone to the baseball field," Catherine followed up. "His scouts have returned from their trip to Gamer's Den, and after hearing what they know, Amp's planning to make a move on the place."
Gamer's Den, GI thought. Amp had set his sights on the land of video games. The area dedicated to gamers where they could role-play as their favorite video game characters. It was once a hub for gaming culture and conventions, free from the presence of casuals and posers.
"Why are we movin'?" asked Charlie. "This seems too soon, don't you think?"
"Well, ever since we've killed two bosses, everyone's been pretty excited. Amp himself is hoping to finish this once and for all."
"He's bein' too hasty. He should calm down first and think about this."
"Wish that would have been the case, Charlie. But Amp's the boss. Meet us outside, okay?"
As Catherine left to call the others, Charlie and GI stood up, their legs attacked by pins and needles as they moved. The American geek noticed the somberness in the otaku's face. As her name suggested, the Great Idiot was life's greatest joke, a failure in fool's monty, the only constant in her life being bad luck and pain. Who knew that of all the people here, she was one of two whom the Nihilion paid a visit to?
"Don't let that monster get to you," Charlie said to GI.
The Japanese otaku shut her eyes as she spoke, "Is there ever an end to this, Charlie-kun?"
"Look at me," Charlie said, staring at GI's watery eyes. "A friend of mine once said, we can't choose whatever happens to us. We can't control fate or the things that happen. All we can do is to react and respond, and try to make somethin' out of it and learn to appreciate it. Everythin's goin' to be alright GI, let's just hang in there."
As they walked out of the academy, GI decided to strike a conversation to relieve herself of consternation. Talking with the American geek gave her comfort in these trying times. "The Nihilion spoke of a name. Some Jim Bron-something? Do you know who he is?" GI asked.
"You mean Jim Broughton?" answered Charlie.
"Yes him! Who is he?" GI asked again.
"Jim..." Charlie said with apprehensive eyes. He paused, gathering all his strength, like pushing a boulder as heavy as Sisyphus's just to give an answer. "Jim Broughton was a programmer who created this place. I knew him personally. He was a smart man and a good friend."
"Was?" GI asked again, upon hearing the tone in Charlie's voice.
"Jim perished three years ago. You see, he was the reason why the Escapist Dream went crazy back then. He tried to take control of the virtual reality world in order to create a universe where he could be with his dead family. Those bugs however, got out of his control and trapped us all. We had no choice but to destroy those bugs, and when Jim tried to stop us, we killed him in return."
"I... I am sorry to hear that."
"Don't be. It was a long time ago. And like I said, we cannot control what happens in our lives. All we could do is to learn, adapt, and move forward."
GI reassessed all the recent horrors she went through. While the American geek was right, GI also wished she didn't have to keep persevering. She too wished her bad experiences would finally cease. "Right now, Charlie-kun," GI said. "I hope this new mission will not end with me getting stripped or almost raped. I'm tired of it. I wanted to become a real anime character but I didn't want to suffer these ecchi stuff anime girls go through."
The two arrived at the rendezvous. Since they were going to attack Gamer's Den, Amp had gathered the right people for the job: gamers. There were almost a hundred of them, dressed in FPS fatigues, fantasy armors and cloaks, sci-fi armors too. The only person who stood out was Cal. "That literary geek's coming too, huh?" Charlie asked.
"Oh yes, Cal-sama will be here," replied GI. "I don't know if you know this, but Cal's one of the strongest geeks here so he needs to be in this mission."
"What are his powers anyway? And what level is he to be this... powerful?"
"Cal-sama is unique in that he can bend reality by quoting literature and writing things down in his notebook. He's able to achieve this since he's Level 40."
"How about Amp?"
"He's actually only level 20. He's only been in the Escapist Dream for like half-a-year so he hasn't leveled up much. But it's not his level why people chose him as leader. Even with a low level, Amp's still the most dangerous because of his training and intellect."
Amp was talking with his scouts when he heard GI's voice. Her voice was enough to make his blood boil, making him march towards the two with anger ready to burst. "What are you doing here?" Amp asked GI.
GI said nothing as Amp confronted her. All she did was do her trademark bow of submission and shame. Charlie was surprised by Amp's appearance, but he tried to defend GI's presence, saying, "Look man, we just came here to help."
"I know you will," Amp said. "But her? The Great Idiot doesn't belong here. She's bad fucking luck."
"Why would you say that?! Dude, come on!"
"I'm not going to be arguing with you! Not right now! Listen, the last time she came with us to the Library, we lost many people! Hell, we've lost more even before that!"
Charlie was about to respond, ready to pour his thoughts on this stupidity, when GI stopped him. "It's okay," the otaku girl said. "I can just leave. It's not a big problem, Charlie-kun. There's no need for this mission to be stalled because of me."
GI then turned and walked away, not even giving a glance back, not wanting Charlie to see her tears. Charlie was not only disgusted with what Amp did; he was appalled by this whole deodand treatment. Even Catherine couldn't do anything but watch as she went away. There would always be these selfish things that would make Charlie lose faith in humanity.
The reason for such disappointments was hatred – a characteristic too embedded in people. Many loath it, some like Jesus and Buddha warned of its dangers. But if there's one thing humans were good at, it was in hating each other. They would always have their reasons, either it be religion, politics, race, or just plain foolishness. It was far easier to just cancel someone and wish him or her all the bad things, than accept, forgive, or forget. The hatred GI was experiencing was a prime example of this.
A yellow portal then materialized in front of the geeks. It had no vacuum, just a hole in the fabric of space. In a steady march, the gamers went in. "You see that?" Amp told Charlie. "Gamer's Den must have been different during your time. But nowadays, that place exists in its own pocket dimension. This makes it more dangerous to visit compared to the other areas."
Charlie kept quiet though. He just watched as the gamers entered, before Catherine and Cal went in as well. "You ever wondered why they called me Amp?" the gamer continued.
"Why's that I wonder?" Charlie finally said sardonically. Amp's galling persisted, like he didn't want to destroy the new alliance they'd just made. Charlie initially didn't want to talk to Amp, but he decided not to allow hatred take control of him too.
"Amp's not actually my name. It's an acronym for a username I once used back in my MOBA gaming days," Amp explained.
"Hmmm… Good to know," Charlie again, sarcastically said. He cared not an ounce on whatever Amp wanted to tell.
When Charlie went through the portal, what came before him was pure shock and confusion. No area in the Escapist Dream had been destroyed as much as Gamer's Den. Back in his days it used to be a sandbox, separated by different areas, each inspired by settings from many video game genres. Describing it now was hard.
"May the odds be ever in our favor," Cal remarked.
It was like someone took Grand Theft Auto-style cities, Mass Effect-designed spaceships, Skyrim-inspired snowy mountains, before putting them inside a box. The box was then violently shaken like a snow globe, turning and mixing everything inside. Hence why Gamer's Den appeared with modern skyscrapers, Medieval villages and castles, futuristic space stations and various vehicles, crashed and piled upon one another, creating a desolate post-apocalyptic scene.
A bearded bedraggled man, wearing a ripped coat and tattered slacks, surprised the gang, asking "Have you seen my friend Gavin? He's an English bloke. Lovely feller. My best friend. Please..."
But the company of gamers ignored him and went there way, though now more cautious for anyone or anything else that might surprise them. "W-What's the plan?" Charlie asked Amp nervously.
Amp was quiet at first, before facing Charlie with an unsure look. "The only thing we could do so far, was to scout every corner of this place, and take note of areas that might be dangerous."
"Well, did you find anyone? Grunts maybe? What about the boss?"
"Surprisingly, every building, nook and cranny, was empty. However, there is one place here we have not yet touched, and we believe this is where our enemies are probably hiding, since everything else is empty."
The group cautiously marched towards the place Amp spoke of. There was an eeriness here similar to the Library. No wind ran through, just thick grey smoke. No stars nor even the presence of a sky, just a carpet of indigo above. White noise filled their ears, amplifying tension that made everything worse.
Amp then pointed Charlie to a large mansion surrounded by trees. It was a dilapidated U-shaped building, two-stories tall, covered with vines and moss. White skim coat colored its walls, and its front lawn and entrance were overgrown with chaparrals. It had a humanoid statue, broken so much it was hard to make out who it was. The moment Charlie read the label "Spencer Mansion" though, his face whitened as a marble bust.
"Welcome to another episode of 'My Hell'," Amp remarked. Charlie's fingers twitched, his cilia bristled. A cold sensation ran through his back, his chest collapsed as if drowning. Why this of all places?
The fear weighed him down, but Charlie had to do this. He had to swallow his fear and do it to save everyone. He would not let himself disappoint them.
"What are you doing?" Amp asked when he saw Charlie move towards the mansion.
"Let's not waste time," replied Charlie. "We have the boss trapped in there, so let's get this over with."
Amp only replied with laughter. The young geek was perplexed, slightly embarrassed even, extinguishing his fears. "Why?" Charlie asked.
"Work smart, not hard," Amp answered. "We've learned from our fight in the Library that treading towards where the boss is, is suicide. And so we've decided for a more practical approach."
The gamers aimed their weapons, from their miniguns, plasma rifles, magical staffs, and rocket launchers. Charlie then hit the ground as they emptied all of their arsenals at the mansion. The windows and the doors didn't stand a chance. The pillars broke apart, making the roof collapse. The attack was so quick and powerful, debris were pulverized before they even hit the ground. After several minutes of shooting, nothing remained of the mansion besides powdered concrete.
The group waited for several minutes to check whether the boss was dead or not, although many knew a boss would never go down this easily. And their fears proved true as a large black rectangular screen, as large as a cinema's, appeared floating above them. The gamers then reloaded and prepared themselves.
Suddenly, the black screen changed, a blue "loading" bar appearing in the middle. Big purple letters spelling "DudeAssassin" popped up, with the word "offline" on the bottom. In the center was a wide video player, and a group chat could be seen on the right. All around, from top to bottom, were words like "Donate", "Buy My Merch", and "Click Here For My Only Fans", all neon and bright.
There was no doubt in Charlie that what he was seeing was a video livestream, specifically one used back then for gaming like Twitch. But what in the world was it doing here? What new absurd and outlandish situation did the Escapist Dream throw at them now?
The word "offline" suddenly changed to "online". A smiling fair-skinned man in his early 20s appeared, wearing an oversized red bull cap with the logo of the Chicago Bulls. His hair was purple, wavy, well-keratined, and thin pliant headphones were strapped on his head. In front of him was a flat circular microphone. He wore a black t-shirt with a picture of Elliot Page carrying a bow and arrow, with the words "The Last of Us Part II DID NOTHING WRONG!" at the bottom. He was inside his bedroom filled with action figures and posters about various video game titles.
To the surprise of the geeks, the man on the screen then raised his arms and gave an excited grin. He greeted his audience, saying, "Gooooood morning my Dude Army! It's yo boy DudeAssassin back with another livestream this Saturday. Hope that you guys are safe at your homes and are having a nice day. Today, I'll be playing a game called Escapist Dream. It's about a group of geeks who got trapped inside a murderous virtual reality world, and their mission right now is to escape. Remember to share this livestream to your friends and family, and don't forget to hit that donation button right over there!"
Even if the game had not yet started, the screen was filled with donations, the largest being $500. Charlie meanwhile, was filled with new shivers. This was a boss alright; he's got the same wackiness as the Harem King. The problem now was how were they even going to fight against this living videostream madness.
Amp was the only one unfazed. He came forward and yelled, "Hey idiot! You gonna start your sexy camshow or what?!"
DudeAssassin giggled before replying, "Look at here, guys! Seems one of our enemies is already itching for a fight. Give me some time to practice the controls first and we will now begin."
A keyboard being typed could be heard together with the clicking of a mouse. The guy typed fast, his fingers effortlessly gliding across every keys. His mouse slid at every angle and corner with sharpness.
What made this boss so blood-curdling was how normal yet how indifferent he was. His attention was only on his viewers. He didn't care for the geeks he was about to face. For him, they were nothing more than video game characters in this game he was playing.
Charlie and Amp noticed a silhouette slowly approaching them. It turned out to be GI, seemingly stiff, like she was fighting against her own body. The moment Charlie saw GI's pale and terrified face, combined with her robotic shambling, the geek was quickly beset with fear.
"Charlie…" GI muttered tearfully. "Tasukete!"
"W-What happened?!" screamed Charlie. "What have you done to her?!"
"Dios mio…" Catherine too, fretted.
"Look at that, my Dude Army!" DudeAssassin said. "Looks like these characters didn't like what I've done. That only means we are doing good so far."
Amp on the other hand, did not have the same trepidation as Charlie and Catherine. He just scoffed, turned to his gamers, and raised his hand. The gamers then aimed their weapons at the Great Idiot without hesitation.
"What are you doin'?!" Charlie yelled at Amp.
"Can't you see she's compromised!" Amp replied. "I told her to stay away but this idiot just doesn't know how to follow a simple fucking direction! Now she got herself captured."
"Don't do it, Amp!" Catherine also pleaded. "Let's think about this first!"
Before Amp could reply, GI's left hand suddenly burned with yellow aura. The otaku panicked as the aura exuded from her hand towards the three. It almost hit Charlie but Amp shielded him with his body.
Amp yelled a loud inhuman cry as the aura went inside him. DudeAssassin jumped from his seat with a look of surprise on his face. "Holy shit! Did you guys see that! My plan worked! Now time to discard this bitch cause we now have a new character we'll be playing."
GI then went limp and fell to the ground. Charlie meanwhile, checked up on Amp. "Y-You alright buddy?" Charlie asked.
Amp slowly turned, seemingly trying to fight for control over his movement. It was the FBI agent this time who became stiff. "I… I can't hold it!" Amp cried. "He used Corvo Attano's possession on me! I can't control my body anymore! Run! Get away from me!"
"Before we begin, a word from our sponsor," DudeAssassin declared as Charlie and the gamers froze, not knowing what to do. The Boss Music from Dark Souls had once again filled their ears. "This playthrough is sponsored by Gamer Gal Bathwater. The official energy drink for simps and chads everywhere! Made from real actual slut juice, this energy drink has all the essential vitamins to bonk your head to do better and play harder. This drink comes in many flavors from apple, strawberry, lychee, and my personal favorite, watermelon. First 10 buyers get 20% discount and a chance to win this unwashed t-shirt worn by Gamer Gal herself!"
The group chat then went rowdy. The audience, which the streamer affectionately called his "Dude Army", began posting comments of both support and idol worship – some being borderline insane:
"I love you DudeAssassin! I've been a fan of you since your first 1 million subs!"
"Give a shout out to my boys in Preston, Idaho, DudeAssassin!"
"DudeAssassin! I love you man! I'm ready to divorce my wife and disown my children if that means I can be with you!"
"Oh man! Gamer Gal is the bomb! I need that t-shirt now so I can put it in a blender and inject it straight into my bloodstream."
"The girl who got possessed looks cute. Will smash."
"The guy wearing Solaire's armor looks far more gorgeous. Will grind."
"Ha! GAY!"
"I once saw my mom kissing my school bully on our couch last summer. Turns out they've been sleeping with each other for over a year now. I am so fucked up , I don't know what to do. Should I get therapy or should I drink this bottle of bleach? Will post a poll later."
"I love butts. They make life better."
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