Game Over

STAGE THIRTY-TWO >> The Truth

This is a work of fiction. All of the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this story are all products of the author's imagination used in fictitious manner. Any resemblance to an actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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[TW: This part contains content that some might find disturbing, reader's discretion is advised]

Utterly bewildered by the turn of events, Yuki looked around and found no other players in the world. The scene quickly dissolved like paintings in the canvass, colors were mixing and the ink was melting like wax. Yuki tried to walk around, avoiding the falling debris, but even the ground was wet and the bricks felt like mud. Ahead of him was a raging fire.

Perplexed, Yuki tried to summon his pet. In guild wars, the use of pets was not allowed but it appears that no one was watching the rules now. Something was happening outside of the game world and he has to figure that out. Draco came out running towards him with its big sparkling eyes. This was the first time he had seen this creature uneasy.

"Do you know what's going on?"

Draco only shook his head. "So, you could understand me huh? Do you know the way out?"

Again, the pet nodded his head and flew ahead of him. Yuki follows the creature but has taken note that Draco's body seems to be half-transparent too. They stopped short in front of a tower on the east side of the guild fortress. Underneath, the little creature pointed down at a manhole. "This is the way?"

Draco didn't answer but he heard a soft whimper, almost like a whine. Yuki looked at him and saw tears rolling down his face. "Hey, don't cry."

"Yuki, please...don't leave me."

Hearing Akihiro's voice, Yuki's head shot up. It could've not been his imagination. Reaching out to his pet, the creature's image slowly faded until his hand could no longer touch it anymore. Those beady, twinkling eyes regarded him similarly to those familiar black orbs that speak to his soul.

Yuki thought that he must be hallucinating to hear Akihiro's voice out of nowhere. But as Draco turned into a whisp of smoke and disappeared in front of his eyes, Yuki felt nothing but remorse.

There was no time to grieve at the moment, Draco took him into this spot for a reason and he wouldn't let the sacrifice of his pet go to waste. With difficulty, Yuki pulled up the covering of the manhole but it was proven to be difficult. "Damn it," he muttered to himself. "Why does this manhole have to be ten times heavier than the ones in the real world?"

It has indeed taken him a long while before he could finally jump in. At first, all he could see was darkness and there was no guarantee that the ground he'd fall into would be as soft as a cushion. Nonetheless, he took the risk and let the obscurity that surrounded him consume him. To his astonishment, his feet fell flat on what he presumed to be a meadow.

Yuki was weirded out, looking around him, he found himself in the middle of a field.

When he looked above, all he could see was the dazzling jet-blue sky. There was no trace of the manhole or the previous apocalyptic stage that he was dealing with earlier. This was a totally different place now that makes him wonder for a bit if he was still in the game world. Seeing that he was still wearing his avatar, Yuki accepted that he was in fact still in "Incarnate".

"Hirano, Yuki."

The voice. Turning around he saw a figure standing several feet away from him, her silhouette wasn't difficult not to recognize. After all, he did spend a good amount of time watching her since she started to go missing, talking to someone in secret.