Ready Player Go! [✔️]

14

After the bright light disappeared, the group found themselves in a vast open space, standing on an entire sea of water.

Adding onto their unfamiliar surroundings, a being in the form of a star suddenly appeared to greet the seven.

"The seven of you have come a long way from where you started. You all went from rags to riches like it was nothing. The seven of you decided to clan up to form Kingdom Kome's Dream Team. You acquired the first two keys together, and even after what you endured afterwards, you still stayed together and not only acquired the third key, but also made it here to the end of the game. Initially, your goals were to just have fun playing the game with friends, even after you began your real journey. But I must ask one of you a question. Zhong Chenle, what was the reasoning behind your decision to destroy the contract?"

"Well... Running KK was never my goal, even after we started collecting the keys. And that didn't change for me once Sicheng told us about the end prize. All I ever wanted was to play the game and make some lifelong friends along the way. In the end, my lifelong friends were right in front of me the whole time, and they're the reason I'm so happy now. I just want to be happy and stay with my friends for as long as he can"

"Is this how you truly feel? Answer me this. If you were given the choice to run Kingdom Kome with your friends at your side, would you?"

"This is how I truly feel, without a doubt. And if I was given that choice, then I would definitely accept the offer without hesitation. I would rather run the game surrounded by the people that I know and love than to run it alone"

"Zhong Chenle, leader of Team Dream, you and your team have passed. Here is your just reward"

The star began to glimmer and shine before them, and then shifted into the form of a glowing gold Easter Egg.

"Take this egg. Once you do, the game will be over and the seven of you will have won"

The egg whispered to the group.

Even though they could hear a loud crash from inside the warehouse, indicating Sicheng's arrival, they all ignored it and Chenle carefully took the egg.

A tiny progression bar appeared above the egg, indicating that he had to hold it for a few more seconds for the game to process their victory.

In that time, they continued to hear the commotion outside as the people who came to help began to panic.

Kun peaked out from their shipping crate, only to find Sicheng moving through a crowd of people with a gun in hand. He quickly closed the crate's doors, and picked up a bat from within the room.

He patiently waited for Sicheng to barge in before he swung the bat, knocking the gun out of his hand and breaking his wrist. He swung it once more to hit him in his chest, but Sicheng grabbed the bat with his good hand and hit Kun in his head.

Miraculously, Kun wasn't knocked unconscious or killed, but he definitely couldn't get up after tumbling down the stairs. Sicheng took the bat with him to attack the seven boys, but froze when he saw Chenle's gloves glow a bright gold.

The progression bar had been completely filled, and confetti rained from the skies within the game, before the egg suddenly faded away into tiny particles.

Right after, their connections were completely terminated and they were automatically logged out of the game. They removed their headsets, all of them just as confused as Sicheng.

"What...just happened?"

"...I programmed the entire game to reset itself once someone actually won the real ending. Once the reset is complete, just about everything will return to how it was before the game ended. All of the NPCs will return, but players will have to start over from square one... And the egg will reappear in Team Dream's headquarters, but only in the form of a hologram... No one, not even you, can take the egg or the proof that they were the ones to complete the game away from them now Sicheng"

Kun explained, seated against the crate's walls.

Sicheng was still angry of course, but he saw no point in continuing if he couldn't take the egg anymore.

"...Fine. You win. I quit"

He finally gave up and dropped the bat.

Right as he dropped it, law enforcements finally appeared and Sicheng surrendered to be taken into custody without putting up a fight.

Right after, a swarm of paramedics and ambulances appeared as well to tend to the injured. The seven boys all joined Kun in the ambulance that he would travel in.

In that moment, the fact that they had just won the biggest game in their era didn't matter to them. They wanted nothing more than to make sure that their dear friend was alright.