Virtual Reality : Dystopian Tales Online

011.4 | Bug Bites

When Adrian Foster was born, the first thing that he concluded of is that he is different.

The world is remarkably clear to him.

The smell of antiseptic mixed with blood, the feeling of n***d flesh, the brightness of the world, and the eyes of his mother who gazed at him as if he is the loveliest thing in her world - everything is playing in his eyes in a high definition.

It is sure strange. He has no idea about the world but also he seems to grasp it. He is a newborn, a star that was formed after many cycles, floating in the universe surrounded by void. He might not know where he came from before or why he suddenly appeared here, but Adrian is sure he is alive.

He is a sentient living being.

His difference, of course, is also detected by his parents. The child is just born, but the way he looked around seems like an adult in a strange place. He didn't cry or so some silly smile. Adrian is still observing the surroundings with the best that he can.

After a month of observation and analysis, the Fosters received a report stating that Adrian is born with an evolved brain with over a hundred percent capacity, which means that his whole grey matter is working at its maximum. He is the first human being who achieved the so-called 'ideal brain'.

Anyone knowing their child is the best among the best would be happy. Adrian will receive praise every day from both of his parents, relatives, and other people related to them. They know that Adrian could comprehend them so none of them dared to look stupid and acted like they are referring to the baby in an equivalent position.

It wasn't bad. The people around the Fosters are good and educated. They only inquired about the baby's safety and conferred them blessings. Nobody asked if they would address the child to an institution to develop its brain or make the child a scientist so he will be useful in the federation.

All of these traits have been long gone, and people are primarily giving their children the necessities and freedom to live.

Everything seems perfect. Life is longer so people are enjoying their life with ease. The Fosters, as one of the prominent families in the federation, could be said to be living more in an advantage. They are already contented and happy so the addition of a new family member made it more lively.

It's just that happiness only lasted for a month.

One day, Adrian has to return to the hospital to receive his necessary vaccines. However, when the needle was inserted, the baby suddenly froze then started convulsing. He was delivered to the emergency room then suddenly had fallen into a five-day coma.

The medicine has not been injected yet so they could not have it as the fault of the reaction. And if ever it did, the vaccines had already undergone many tests and experiments to the point where allergic reaction rarely happens. So, what caused the aggressive reaction?

Many experts checked on his conditions and found out that it is the side effect of his ideal brain. They explained the thought process of people depended on the capacity of the brain. The more significant part of the brain works, the greater efficiency an individual could work. The brain manipulates the body, and the greater control one has, the more flexible the person will become.

Adrian, had it at the maximum.

The setback in this ability is he could perceive things slower than usual. His thought process is so quick, almost a hundred percent over an average brain, that one second to average people could be at least ten minutes for him. This means that the pain that he would receive will also be longer and more painful than normal people.

The so-called 'like bitten by an ant' of the injection is equal to having his limbs twisted. No wonder he will react like that.

So, when he got wounded in the game, the pain of dying overwhelmed his senses. The pain in his head is too much that he thought he would be a goner. The wounds and scratches pulsed in his body as if he has been pierced a hundred times with a flaming red knife over and over again. This feeling... is death anything more different?

However, there is no fierce reaction like before. He had been used to this pain for so long that he could now hold it in. Still, pain is pain and he is a living being. Reactions like getting pale and feeling sluggish would still manifest.

Xavier used his maximum healing to quickly close Clover's wounds. He knows his condition pretty well, so he didn't waste time and performed his all. He counted every second that counts with a solemn face and shaking heart. He would wipe the subconscious tears and sweat away to produce him a bit better.

This is the reason why Frass is extremely protective of Clover. He would not allow this person to perform anything reckless. Even the food Clover eats has to be checked. A mere stomach ache is equal to have his guts operated without anesthesia.

Colds and coughs also exert a similar effect. A simple fever must have felt like a week suffering from raging fever. Unluckily, his body constitution did not allow him to live healthy. Yet, the person never hears and has always done something that always carried out him a bad end.

As a family, Frass doesn't want that to happen.

Yet, Clover is the person who passionately enjoys trouble.

If he could use a motorbike, he will not sit in a car. If he could jump on a hill without injuries, he would not use a parachute. If he can climb a cliff without a harness, then why bother bearing one? His innocent look is just a facade on what he can do.

He had mellowed down when he grew up but he still tends to make people worry. He had been on house arrest due to some incident that happened many years ago. All he does the whole day is play games. If he gets bored, he will sneak out sometimes to exercise.

It didn't take so long before Clover is back to his pristine state. Xavier supported the person to stand. Clover bobbed his head to clear the dizzying thoughts. He looked up and found Frass coming over. Behind him is Aries who is only a few steps late and Shin sneaking looks at the large beetle. It seems that they tried luring it away before coming over.

Frass is the first one to check on Clover's state. His actions were brisk and somewhat aggressive-looking, but Clover could feel the gentle touches as if the person is anxious of him feeling pain. Clover heaved a sigh as he slapped Frass away.

"I'm alright," he said. "Don't worry."

Frass did not refute. He just stared at Clover for a few seconds then grumpily walked to the side. Aries does not have any idea why Frass is acting like that so he just proceeded in front of Clover to check his state. It has been a long time since he saw Clover beaten up like that.

"That thing is very strong ah," Aries commented. "Even your strongest attack did not leave a scratch on its shell."

"Shin, can you apprise me where that creature came from?" Clover asked.

Shin had seen the list of all the corresponding characters in the game including the NPCs and monsters. He could tell where these creatures are placed and what are their weaknesses. Naturally, the weaknesses listed are limited since the developers know about Shin's ability to remember things. They even banned him to get access to the list of codes considering this guy might change something.

"It's not on the list," Shin replied.

"It is not?" Leon did not doubt Shin's answer. "Then it means it is a new beast."

Clover pondered over then shook his head to disagree.

"That's impossible. Even though this is a beta test, it will merely give bugs on certain functions. It won't bear out new monsters and NPC."

Following the similar logic, it should not also generate a new area like this. Carter said in the meeting that some parts of the maps have black spots on them. He thought those black spots are just missing parts of the map or some functions are not working well.

Leon and Xavier said everything in this world is too natural.

Clover now understood it. He took a look around him and observed properly. His eyes dilated, recording even the most minuscule amount of movement the scenery in front of him is taking. His concentration made the world in his perspective run slow again.

The light that he assumed is the sun is warm.

The plants and the trees are breathing, as well as the assorted animals resting unto them that are producing incomprehensible compositions.

The wind moved the crowns of the trees into a wave sending out the scent of moist soil and grass.

The forest is alive.

Clover asked, "Where are we?"

A deafening sound caused a disturbance once again. Birds flew out from their nests while land animals dispersed quickly. The ground started shaking which seems to be getting stronger as the one making the ruckus is getting closer. The trees are being toppled one by one that slowly exposed the body of the large beetle.

It seems to be angry for getting fooled by a lure.

"It looks angrier now," Aries stated the obvious. "Should we start running?"

"Do you think we could still escape from it?" Clover asked.

"I'll protect you," Aries smiled confidently.

"Who needs your protection?" Frass walked over and stood between the two pushing Aries a bit further. "Xavier and I are still here."

Clover neglected them both and strode before the twins.

"I can protect myself." He rejected the idea.

The other members had already seen the similar scenario many times, so they merely glanced at them then looked away. It is Jase who is surprised. Isn't Clover the strongest player in this game? Why are there many people who wanted to protect him? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Clover stood as the vanguard of the group. Frass, Aries, and Shin followed behind. Leon and Lexa took hold of the back position while Jase and Xavier surrounded the sides. The twins are in the center with Marlene taking out a violin and Marcus setting up his strongest g*n.

Clover crouched down to pick up some rocks then played them on his hands. He tosses it up and catches it. On the third toss, he captured it in a tight clench then threw it towards the beetle like a baseball. The force of the throw is strong it broke through the air.

The small rock strikes the beetle in a stump that is then followed by the carried over debris brought by the late force due to the quick transit of the rock. One rock is not enough. Before the beetle could recover from the impact, Clover released five more rocks that all hit the beetle's horn and face.

The surroundings instantly fell to ruin.

Marcus placed the barrel of the g*n and focused the caliber in the direction of the beetle. The area has been saturated with dust, so it is not visible, yet, Marcus did not hesitate to pull the trigger. A almighty bang rang into their ears that is then followed by the recoil force. They braced themselves as they waited for the result of the shot.

It took a while before all the clouds of dust settled. Clover peaked his ears to listen for movements. Thumping sounds of something walking sounded which is followed by a booming thundering noise accompanied by the ground shaking. The beetle walked out from the clouds unharmed and is rushing towards them at an astonishing speed!

It is too late for them to react!

Clover subconsciously raised his arms to block. He has been expecting by the contact when suddenly a dull-colored barrier appeared. His initial reaction is to swiftly glance towards Frass to see if he activated a barrier. But Frass' surprised expression revealed that he didn't do it.

So, who constructed the barrier?

Clover traced the source of the barrier by looking at the center. A thin thread of translucent blue mana is getting poured upwards from the top of the marble slate that caught him earlier. In addition, the carved words on the marble slate are also getting filled up by the similar color of blue.

He read it under his breath.

Aries is the closest and was able to catch Clover's phrase.

"Did you ask something?"

Clover looked at him.

"What?" Aries followed Clover's previous line of sight and saw the slate of marble filled with words.

[HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF A FALSE LEGEND?]

"Why this phrase sounds familiar?" Aries asked.

"Of course, that is-"

The beetle discovered the existence of the barrier and didn't like it, so it started bursting it. The barrier doesn't look sturdy from the start so it took only another hit to shatter the barrier like a glass getting broken. Clover already ordered the other players to disperse once the barrier got broken.

The beetle could not suddenly stop due to inertia, so it wasn't able to follow the escaping players. Instead, it went ahead to the slate of marble. The impact caused a larger c***k that almost sliced it into half. The beetle remained in place since its horns got planted to the rock.

Unexpectedly, a spark from the marble covered the beetle that frayed it instantly. The current did not stop there. Flashes of electricity madly leaped around the area. The players did not have the time to react as they all have fallen to the same state. Their body shook for a while before they collapsed.

The electricity continued to spread until it reached the deepest part of the system. Suddenly, loud blaring noise accompanied by a red alarm filled the entirety with the game. Someone wanted to ask about the sudden warning when the system announced a force ejection notice then started counting from five to down.

Who knows what happened next but surely in just a few seconds the primary system blinked twice before yielding its continuous power once.