Author’ Note: In this chapter, there is a lot of exposition and a very long flashback. That’s why no italics are used to describe the flashback in general. AND VOTE HERE.It's a little short, this chapter, but you'll get the next one earlier!

Episode 12: The World We Live In

Arthur’s POV

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“Let’s get out of here.” Yama said his face stoic. “Your lessons have to be postponed for another time.”

“Wait. I’m NOT going anywhere, until you explain what the hell is going on. Who were they? Why did you kill them? And how did you do… that?”

“Boy, not now. Let us get back to the cave-”

“No! You tell me right now. How many secrets have you kept from me? How many lies have you told straight to my face?”

“Not now! There could be more soldiers. There’s no time now. Once we get back to the cave, I’ll explain everything. I promise.”

“Very well. But if your explanation doesn’t make sense, I’m going to – hey, wait!” Yama had taken off after my said words.

The soldiers must have spooked him. But who were they? And why hadn’t I seen them on the island before?

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We reach the cave without any scares. After I get in, Yama shifts a large piece of rock over the entrance. We were safe for now. I don’t sit, but instead pace the corners of the cave. It helps me to think.

“You want an explanation. I understand your impatience. But I didn’t want to tell you because… you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Let me decide for myself, alright?”

He gives me an amused expression.

“Alright. But no interruptions. You’ll get all your answers in the end. Just listen carefully…

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I was a NEET. No job, no money, just smooching off my parents money. It all started in middle school, when I… why are you grimacing like that?

Well, I was severely bullied in middle school, and after that I lost the will to live. I stayed in my room for years, hiding away from the world. I found solace in the internet, anime, and… became a fat lazy slob. And things would have stayed the same, had my parents not died in an accident. After that, my uncle threw me out.

Imagine that. A man walking outside for the first time, with nothing but the clothes he was wearing. I knew nothing. At that time, regret was the only thing on my mind. I regretted wasting my life away. If only I had realized sooner. If only I had listened to my mother. If only I seen what I was going to become. They were the saddest words in the world. If only….

I kept on walking the whole day and ended up lost. You probably realize what happened next. I was mugged, and when the man realized that I didn’t have any money, he shot me. Eight times. I guess he liked to do his job thoroughly. So there I was… dying on the pavement like a sick dog, having wasted my life.

But I got a second chance. I was reborn. Reborn in a new world. Wait- Don’t be impatient. I said you will understand everything in the end,didn’t I?

So, with my memories intact, I was reborn in a world of swords and magic. My wish had been granted. And I promised to myself that I wasn’t going to let this life go waste. I would live my life my life without regrets. And I did. Yeah, I skipped a lot of exposition there, but bear with me. The point is, I lived a fruitful life and had a peaceful death.

But I was reborn again. A different world, with a steampunk vibe. This life was better than the last. And I died. But I was reborn, again.

Reborn. Died. Reborn. Died. Reborn. Died. The cycle was never ending. My memories became nothing but pain. All those people, never to see them again. Never to love them again. People became... unnecessary. They would leave me. I couldn’t take them with me. I would grow close, and suffer, as usual. I finally realized when I woke up one morning, crying for my previous life’s wife. After that, I decided to avoid entanglements completely.

The first thing I started researching whenever I was born was a way to remove my memories. But nothing worked. I could remember everything. Every time. I wasn’t normal. My mind had no limits.

Life after life I spent in agony. Sometimes, I tried to change. I would become a swordsman in one life, and a magician in the next. Sometimes a tyrant king and other times a dutiful cobbler. A thief, assassin, alchemist, inventor, blacksmith, cook, scientist, merchant, sailor, hunter, painter, musician, beggar, artist, doctor, teacher. If the job existed, I had done it.

After a lot of rebirths, the world that I lived in slowly started to unravel. It was small at first. Glass shattering, books falling, things like that. Then in grew weirder. Spells failed. Machines broke. Gravity disappeared at inopportune moment. The sky became red.

And one day, I woke up in a completely white space. And there, I met someone. Something. That was the day when I realized the truth.

The world I lived in was a lie.

I wasn’t reincarnated. I wasn’t given a second chance. No, what happened that day was far more probable.

They caged me in virtual reality.

It was so simple. After all, we are just the sum of our senses. Only the brain is essential. As long the brain is fed something, you’re alive. If your brain is dead, you’re dead. Keep feeding the brain, and you’re always alive. Forever.

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…well there it is. I see you still have some questions. What is it?”

“At this point, your story has raised more questions than it has answered. Let me get this straight: You got fatally wounded in the real world, but instead of letting you die, they put in a virtual reality game, to see if you could figure it out?”

“Maybe. And no, I don't know why they did this to me.”

“Maybe? What’s maybe about this?”

“Well, in the beginning, I assumed I was human. But now I know I am caught in virtual reality. Perhaps the memories of the real world are also fake. Perhaps all along, I am a program. A program to see how a NEET would react if reborn.”

“You’re saying that there’s no such thing as reality?”

“If a tree falls and there is no one to hear it, does it make a sound?”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means that our whole universe might, just might be a programming assignment for an advanced alien being; which he completed the night before. It means that we all might be simulations. It means since there is no way to know for sure, why worry unnecessarily?”

“But-”

“I get what you’re trying to say. And the answer is: I don’t know. After so many cycles of rebirth, I don’t know if I was born in the real world and became like this, or if I am just a program with false memories. I don’t know, and don’t want to know any more.”

“But I still don’t understand. How did you get here? How did I get here? And what am I? Who were the soldiers? And you didn’t even answer the real question, how did you do that… magic?”

“Well, I told you that I met with something. That program was the Overseer A.I., the program in charge of running the world. He was affected by a virus or something, which is why my world was suffering… glitches. He explained me everything in detail, and gave me administrator privileges. So I ended up creating Hell. As for you, you might have suffered a fatal damage…”

….Father!......end of your life…The memories flash before my eyes. A man, dying in my arms. My father?

“…but didn’t die, and they put you here. Or perhaps you are a program like me. I can’t know for sure.”

“I am real. I am sure of it.” My father. No, the memories were real. I was real.

“Well, whatever makes you happy. As for the soldiers, they are humans.”

“Humans?”

“Yeah, humans. I ruined their experiment, so they want me to repair it back. They have been trying to capture me for some time now. They don’t actually die, so don’t worry. No, I expect they wake up from their machines. We, on the other hand are fully mortal. If we are programs, then dying is the same as being deleted. Even if we are real people, we wake up only to die. Remember our bodies? No, we have to stick together and survive. Death to the Players!”

He was more talkative than ever. By telling me his life story, a huge burden had been lifted off him.

“Death to the Players?”

“They are the Players. We are the NPCs. Therefore, Death to the Players. That’s the general sentiment around here.”

“Who else is around here?”

“The other people on the island I told you about. You’ll meet them soon enough. Don’t worry, they are all oddballs, but won’t bite.”

“That’s reassuring. Now explain the gun breaking.”

“Well, after you realize the truth, you can see the code itself, instead of the outer lies. For example, you sense this fire in front of you. I, however, see the truth, and thus can manipulate reality.”

“What truth?” I was getting exasperated.

“The truth that there is no fire. There is nothing around you except code. The walls, the food, the cave, the island – everything is code. And once you grasp this simple truth, you’ll able to bend the code to your will, like I did. ”

“Wait a second. You’re telling me that I can be Neo?”

“Who's Neo?”

No one watches the classics any more. Sad. I try to do as he says. There isn’t any fire, only code. Only code exists. The fire is a lie. I reach out and speak.

STOP.

Nothing happens.

“Your subconscious is still refusing the idea. Don’t worry, even I hadn’t gotten it wrong on my first try.”

“Well, even Neo couldn’t do it in the beginning. I’ll guess I’ll get the hang of it soon.”

“Now you’re making me curious. Who’s Neo?

“Well let me tell this story.. that will leave a bitter taste in your mouth in the end. It begins with police arriving, supposedly…..

>

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I remember the conversation I had with Yama, ages ago. The way to bend the code to your will. That’s what had happened, except on a much larger scale. Much larger. My pod had burned out trying to force my heart to stop beating. So it was extremely powerful, enough to affect the people in reality. Wow.

I think on that a while. Both virtual and reality were inextricably linked with each other. But only I understood how deep the connection went. I once believed I was a NPC. Perhaps I still am, in a game that aliens play, like Yama would say.

But that’s why I would never treat anyone differently. Whether the person was here or there it didn’t matter; they all were equal. They all were real to me. Yet, would others understand? What would anyone think, if they believed they were a program? Would they be different?

I shook myself out of the philosophical quandaries. There was a lead to follow.

The workshop was cluttered with the remains of the charred pod. But thanks to the modifications I had made, I had saved the data on my computer. It was time to check my suspicions. The visual data contained only video of the whole Arena. I clicked play and watched my fight.

At the end, before everything went black, I could hear someone shouting NO, in the unnatural Voice. Someone had bent the code. I reverse back and focus on the person.

A young girl, about 16 or 17. Black hair covering a pretty face. Cute. She wore a frilly flower dress, but I could see her carrying a sword in her hands. Strange. Next to her sat an old bald man, his face half hidden by the shadows. He had a cane in his hand. Wait.. from the distance I could also make out a gaudy ring on his forefinger. The details were undecipherable from the distance. So much for the investigation.

I play the video from the beginning, this time focusing on the pair, adjusting the volume so I can hear their words. After it was over, as usual, I had more questions than answers. But one chilling fact remained. The old man had called me Arthur. And no one knew that in the game. Who was this guy?

Questions adding up, with no answers in sight. Dammit. Now, I had to wait for the game to release until I could actually do something.

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A month later

“You ready, Arthur?”

“Yes. Let’s get the show started.”

“Arthur, diving in.”

A white world. And my mirror image staring back at me. A whole range of menus appear in front of me, showing the different choices I could make. Good. No pesky voice telling me what to do.

I make my choices, and make slight changes to my avatar. The hair a little longer, and the cheekbones a little narrow. It resembled how I used to look earlier, but even so I was sure nobody would recognize me. Besides, I was the pointy ears had totally changed my look.

Selected Name: Arthur

Selected Race: Altmer (High elf)

Selected Gender(locked):Male

Seleceted Birthsign: The Thief

Selected Starting City: Imperial City, Tamriel

Bonus Code: Ux6T0844

The Bonus was a special code for a unique item a player could choose once in the game. It was available for all those who had purchased the costlier version of the game in the beginning. A great advantage in the right hands.

After making sure of everything, I finally click on “Begin New Life.”

And I’m back.

Back to Main Page

The loading screen