Virtual Reality : Dystopian Tales Online

014.2 | The Conference

"You might be wondering why we are gathered here today..." Adrian paused. "No, I'm pretty certain you all are aware of the reason of this meeting. Let's go directly to the issue."

Adrian prepared no presentation or speech to initiate the meeting. To note it exactly, he has no time to prepare. The clothes that he's wearing clearly reflected that he wasn't in a good condition. Even by the vague register of the hologram caught a couple of tubes attached on his wrist.

As yet, the person himself hasn't seemed to bother about it. He delivered the other players a look of someone in-charge. He didn't possess the oppressive presence, but his existence is enough in getting everyone's attention. Nobody chattered the moment he started talking to show their respect.

"It must have been long overdue, but my name is Adrian Foster," he said.

It didn't take a second for the crowd to express their surprise. Words of inquiries were asked in whispers but nobody dared to voice it out. The other guild leaders displayed the same reaction. Even though they had known each other for about a decade, Clover's real identity is a mystery.

After all, he has no obligation to divulge them his name.

It is a matter of privacy, and Clover is relatively good in handling it. He might have exposed his appearance, but he remained anonymous. Now that everyone knows his identity, it would be easy to establish a connection since there is only one Foster who is on this age in the federation.

They said that he won't reach the age of eighteen.

The youngest child that would've died due to selective evolution.

However, not all believed on his words. Even though the name Foster is comparatively rare, there are, however, people retaining this name especially those branched families that are equated by generation. They might have only a single digit percentage relatedness from the main blood, but they are still considered as family.

Seeing the commotion, Adrian cleared his throat. He doesn't want to delve deeper about his identity since it wasn't the objective of the meeting. To shut the people up, he showed his current hospitalization document as evidence. Frass is surprised by his sudden move.

"What are you doing?" Frass wanted to stop Adrian but Xavier obstructed him. "Don't stop me."

"Just let him clear himself," Xavier sighed exhaustedly. "You can't protect him all the time."

Adrian ignored Frass and openly admitted, "Yes, I am the Foster you are thinking about. Over here is the guarantee. Yes, I am related to Tristan Foster. In fact I am his son and this one here," he pointed Frass. "Is my father's younger brother."

Only few people are aware of their uncle-nephew relationship. Everyone somewhat knows Frass in real life since his name has been included to the excellent student and their venture for future business. They just never see his connection with Clover. They merely thought that Frass was just Clover's close friend.

This new information is more shocking than the recent news. They are more surprised as compared to the sudden changes the world is facing. After accepting the truth, a murky idea entered their minds. Clover is the son of the game creator. Is it possible that him succeeding the top position is a privilege conferred to him?

Wouldn't that biased?

This line of thought is easy to come up since the other guild leaders also grasped this point. But unlike their subordinates, they quickly erased the thought. They had experienced the fierce environment of the first server. The Clover in that time is completely different now. It could be asserted that the difference is to the point of wondering if the two persons are the same.

Alexander (Allen) verbally announces his thoughts. "Don't even think about it."

"Think about what?" Damian (Melon) backed up.

"If you think that Clover gained his position because of nepotism then you are wrong," Alexander said.

Roderick (Rios) beside him nodded. He chuckled, "If they think that it is nepotism then they should challenge Clover now."

"There's no need to get hung up on it," Adrian just shrugged the issue it. "Think whatever you want to think, I don't really care. In addition, we are not here to talk about me. We are here to talk about us."

One of the top ten players recognized the hospitalization document Adrian showed then asked offhandedly, "You're in a hospital? Are you alright now?"

"I'm fine," Adrian closed the document. "I just woke up."

"It seems like our guild leader is enjoying some good sleep, ah. That will speed up your recovery."

"Well, if you think getting comatose for two days is a good sleep then I guess that's alright."

Everyone: ...

Alexander cursed under his breathe while Damian spitted out the drink he's having. Frass shook his head as if he is tired dealing of this s**t while Xavier could merely tiredly smile. Aries cleared his throat to save the situation and said, "That's enough. Let's go to the main topic, shall we?"

Adrian nodded accordingly. "I am sure all of us have seen what happened to some people earlier. And that is something very unexpected."

They had seen the bizarre game happened to that art school. The affected players are even still in the hospital under observation. They barely got some time to enter the meeting thanks to Frass intervening the operation. Adrian looked at Alexander, Xavier, and specially Damian.

"Are your eyes? Did you get it back?" Adrian asked.

Damian nodded. "I almost thought that I'm going to lose it. But I am fine now."

"That's good," he shifted the attention to the other two. "You guys fought with the creature. What do you think about it? Is there anything significant?"

"It is real," Alexander said. "The body is real. I could feel the warmth, their skin... It seems that they undoubtedly existed."

"I agree," Xavier supported Alexander's claim. "That thing is as alive as us."

"But they are not us," Adrian added. "That creature is not us and will never become us. They are not of this world..."

Adrian paused. "No, that's incorrect."

They noticed the discomfort in his expression. Frass immediately stood up and come to his side. They could touch each other, but he could not assist him in the real life. The hospital Adrian staying is different from where Xavier was delivered.

"What's the problem?" Frass asked.

"I'm fine," Adrian clasped his head.

The hologram clearly projected his state. They could see his lips paling to the point where no red can be seen. Everyone suddenly become anxious, wanted to reach out and help. But the barrier brought by the virtual world did not allow them to make a move.

"Where are your nurses? What are they doing right now?" Frass erupted.

He is terribly distressed. He wanted to teleport beside Adrian. The person just woke up from a comatose. His relapses suddenly become frequent these days that made him unable to sleep well. Xavier is also started to get worried that he wanted to join with Frass in bridging the distance.

"I'm dizzy, just dizzy" Adrian seems to have pressed something from the corner.

Some hands or movements coming from other people can be sometimes caught around Adrian's periphery. The sickly patient paused from talking for a while taking some medicine. They witnessed Adrian frowned painfully as if he had been injected something so dreadful. However, it provided him relief. He is still pale, but at least blood can be seen reddening his cheeks.

"I apologized for that," Adrian said after a minute of break. He chuckled lightly, "I thought I'm going to sleep again. That would be disrespectful."

No, really, it wasn't. They are more worried now that they are straining a patient. Adrian acted like it didn't happened and proceeded by saying, "Where did I last ended?"

Shin, who has been silent the whole time, responded, "You were saying that the creatures are not from this world... you said that no, that statement is wrong."

"Ah yes," Adrian nodded. "Clearly we are foreign entities in this world."

His statement made everything more baffling. Roderick recited Adrian's words in a slower pace, but he did not quite understand it. The other players also did the same. They analyzed Adrian's words and thought that it wasn't right.

Someone from the crowd is obviously lost and therefore loudly asked, "Are you trying to say that we are visitors in this world?"

"Exactly," Adrian is very generous with his praises and said, "You're smart."

No, he wasn't exactly smart. Everyone is thinking the same as him. It wasn't even declarative. He is clearly asking if he is hearing the correct thing. Adrian could see the astonishment in their eyes and could not help but to laugh lightly. The trivial peal of laughter somehow made people entranced.

Adrian owned the features of the generation's ideal standard of beauty. Even though he is looking frail with his set-up, it did not hinder his charm. He even looked more pleasant this time. The smile hanging on his lips brought out some sense of beauty that could not be easily explained.

Aries is totally not pleased with this. "Hey, why are you laughing? Are you just joking right now?"

"I don't know how to joke, ah," Adrian flashed him a grin. "I am telling the truth."

"Then elaborate it," Aries sounded haughty. "There's no need for intermission."

"Ahem," Xavier cleared his throat. "So, what are you trying to say?"

"It's simple," Adrian narrowed his eyes while looking at them. "Did you guys not notice anything?"

He placed his hand on the back of his neck. "How about you try touching your nape? You will understand what I mean."

They followed Adrian's instruction with doubts in their heart. They reached out on their necks to examine what's up. That's when they felt something. With faces suffused with shock, they stroked their necks with two hands. An object is placed in there.

Unknowingly, they have been wearing the nerve gear without perceiving it!

This reality struck them a blow. It is unusual for one hundred people to not detect the nerve gear still attached in their napes. Well, they are bathing each day, changing clothes, facing the mirror - yet, they did not see an object larger than their palms connected to their necks.

It is as if it is concealed.

"Did you fathom what I was trying to say?" Adrian raised an eyebrow. He looked at Leon from the crowd. "Leon, what can you say? At what percentage do you think I'm right?"

Leon thought for a while then shook his head. "There's no need to ask. We are indeed not from this world."

Leon now understands what happened to him and Shin. The sudden malfunction of their mental abilities informed him clearly that they have transferred worlds. The reason of the lag is due to the late transmission of their abilities. Once the transfer completed, they retrieved it without worries.

Only the people with mental abilities are affected since it wasn't visible.

The crowd started asking questions in chorus. Their voices are asking if they were really able to cross dimensions or if there is any way to return to their world. Someone suggested that they could remove the nerve gears on their neck, so they can be transported back to which Adrian instantly warned.

"Just by extracting it, you lost the ticket or returning," he solemnly said. "You will die."

Everyone become silent. The death threat made them shiver.

"How are we going to die?"

"Very easy," Adrian answered. "You will be slaughtered with this world in many possible ways. And by the situation that we are present, the creatures that can be initially found in the game crossed together with us. It is not how you will be killed. It is, how you will going to last?"

It wasn't pleasant to receive such an answer. It only made them worried. Aries knocked on the table to capture Adrian's attention.

"You look so confident in mentioning those words. Do you, perhaps, have any solution to this problem?" Aries asked.

Adrian shrugged. "I am not quite sure on how we could return to our world, but I can guarantee that we could at least fight with those creatures running amok."

"But how?" Alexander countered.

"Well, if the creatures from the game crossed in this world... don't you think that our game characters also..."

Adrian pointed on his neck. "... we have this, our console."

What he said is eminently reasonable. They suddenly felt thrilled after the worry brought by death. If they could recover their game characters then their rate of survival would be high. Once they can secure their lives, they could start investigating the way to come back.

"You are certain with this?" Damian suddenly queried Adrian in a low voice. "What if we can't do it."

"No need to worry. Your cousin and Xavier did it," Adrian supported his claim.

Damian raised an eyebrow and looked at the mentioned players. "They did?"

"They were able to traverse a distance quickly that can't be done by average people," Adrian recalled the scene from the game. "You, too. No matter how athletic you are, it is impossible to face the creature with normal reflexes. My assumption is that you've activated a passive skill."

Speed and strength are usually passive skills. There is no need to activate them to work. As long as the character performs a certain action, the passive skill will work. Damian thought about it and realized that he indeed felt an outburst of ability.

"let's talk about the objective of this meeting," Adrian opened a white board interface. He wrote out the some words neatly, showing his good penmanship.

"I will act as the central leader. If there are any opposition, please raise your hand. We will conduct an election to make it fair."

Nobody raised their hand. Not even Jung, that is typically opposed on everything. Adrian nodded, "Thank you for the trust. I will promise to do my job right."

He had written three bullet phrases on the whiteboard. The following is:

1. Contact the administrators.

2. Investigate any ways to return home.

3. Execute the plan.

"For the first item, I have been contacting the administrators since a few days ago. But I haven't received any responses. I planned on going to their office to see them but sadly I fell asleep for seven days..."

Since the incident, he hasn't woken up. After waking up, he went out without permission and was sent back. He relapsed the next day and woke up today. It's normal for him to not have any time to contact the higher ups.

"Since everyone is here, I would like to request people to go to the office with me. Maybe about five days from now. Who would like to volunteer?"

The Sora party instantly extended their hands up. A few players from the crowd joined in with only Alexander and Damian from the guild leaders. Overall, there are fifteen people going to the office.

"I will pass this time," Roderick said. "But we could help for the second agenda. We are reserved soldiers by the military and have more access on the portals. I could help gather data."

"I will do the same," Jung added. "We will try to find ways on how to recover our game characters while looking at these portals."

Adrian appreciated their words. "This is enough for the first phase. I will write out a more concrete plan and distribute it to everyone once I'm done. As for now, we only have to take good care for our safety."

Someone from the crowd raised a hand, "We are not from this world, right? How about our families? Are we safe to stay at home?"

"That's nothing to worry about," Adrian reassured. "This world is a dimension the same with ours, however, just a level higher. I want to remind you that everything in this world is real. Your parents, your pets... they are real."

"Regard them like how you treat them in our dimension. Do not be rude or act stupid. In this world, we are the inferior species. Live properly but carefully."

The moment Adrian realized that they crossed the dimension, he immediately called the twins and seized them in his side. He wasn't afraid of the twin's parents but somehow some memory evoked his emotions. It is better to have them in his side to make sure that they are safe.

"If you are not sure, you can go and group yourselves to stay in one place. Just do what you believe suit you better."

Adrian added more words and more questions are getting answered. After three hours, all the players finally gained a foothold. Finalizing everything, Adrian ended the conference. The players logged of one by one until the remaining people are the guild leaders and a few subordinates.

"I will go ahead first. Let's see each other again," Jung and Roderick left after saying their greeting.

"See ya in five days," Alexander went out.

"It must be hard for you. Please take some rest. We will help if there are any problem. Good bye," Damian stated his concerns before leaving.

Adrian saw that there are still people waiting, so he kicked them out leaving him alone in the large court room. He slouched unto the chair while looking in the air in daze. Alone, he muttered, "... why do you still want to return to that world, though..."

He heaved a deep sigh. For now, he has to take some good rest.

Later, devise the plan to survive.