彙河う • READY, PLAYER, START!
[ CHAPTER 05 ; UKIYO. ]
best read in dark mode / black.
let's see if you can make a good choice.

PLAYERS ONLINE : #3, #5
ALL OTHER PLAYERS ARE OFFLINE !
Player Log : #1, #2, #3, #5, #6
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C O N T I N U E - F R O M - S A V E D ?
[ you cannot go back to the past ! ]
YES | NO

LOGGING IN . . . COMPLETED !

[ FIRST PERSON POV ! ]
PLAYERS : Yaya (#5), Fang (#3)
LOCATION : Rintis City - District 7

Yaya's been in there for half an hour now.

I slowly sink into her chair. I've seen this process come around a few times, but never this extensive. The last round she won, it took about 24 minutes straight. So why exactly is she taking so long? How unnatural of her.

I swivel around, my eyes landing on the same screen everytime. Yaya disliked the light. It's an odd habit she's been born with. Despite liking everything that's of the color pink, she despises the color white most. We're not so different.

Unlike me, her ability corresponds to that. Born with different eyes, her parents had sent her away to a foster home, where she grew up oppressed.

Since then, she's never opened her eyes.

I never got to see her real eyes too. She's always going around with those googles on her head.

She was the last member to join our team. Before her, there had to be someone else... but I'm not sure if I remember. These days, I'm lacking sleep. There's been attacks on almost every platform we have, except physical.

With the digital world being one of them, back then, we found Yaya as we were on patrol. She had accidentally stumbled into this same place, running away from a villain that's been pursuing her for the last 10 minutes.

The only reason why we accepted her was because of her easygoing nature. She's capable of making quick decisions, though she easily puts hope in strangers she doesn't know.

That was the exact same mistake she did, 2 years ago.

Ying pleaded for her to stay. As a leader of the group, I can't possibly guarantee the safety of our team as it grows bigger, expanding. They say that the more people you have, the harder it is to control them, and the easier it gets for arrest.

It's been about 35 minutes since Yaya had been in there. I've moved her body safely to the bed on the side of the wall, taking control of her space.

Out of everyone here, I understand her powers the most. Mines have to do with the darkness, hers with her natural habit. Without anyone to guide us both, we tend to rely on each other.

And if Yaya loses this one.. then...

I shake my head. There's no time for negative thoughts. It's better off to hope instead of regret. After all, Yaya was the one who begged for this position, although she knew the risks she's taking.

It's ironic. Being a hero for her friends.

Friends who dragged her into this darkness.

I can only helplessly stare at the monitor in front of me, as clashing, blinding light overpowers each other. Pink against red, marking the colors of their users. It's been long ago since we discovered the hacker behind the screen.

Alas, we never really had the time or thought to address them. They probably process the same power as Yaya does, which is the ability to move conciousness.

That will be an explanation for another time.

For now, I'm focused on Yaya. If she's able to defeat the gamemaster, then we'd be fine. If she doesn't, then I'll be forced to resort to our last beacon of hope.

In which I'm going in there to fight too.

I've never been experienced in that field. But I trust in Yaya completely. The pill in my hand, with Yaya's initials engraved on it, was specifically tailored for this purpose. She was somehow able to seep her ability into a physical form.

Meaning that some of her conciousness, a small piece that holds her together, is in this very medication. It's thinner and smaller than my thumb.

So far, no signals. Maybe Yaya's doing good.

Or maybe not. I grip the pill closely in my palm. Yaya's pink light was starting to dim now. Whatever signal we discussed back then doesn't matter now. I gulp the pill down my throat, wash it with a large sip of water, and wait.

It happened faster than I thought. Down the rabbit hole I went, spiraling hard, as my body crashes onto something that felt like concrete. It hurts like a toad.

"FANG!" I hear Yaya, and I quickly raise to my feet, looking all around me to find her. She's nowhere to be seen, in all the threads of gold, green and pink. What happened to the red? Nevermind that.

These string-like, carbonated fillers are the physical embodiment of codes. They're utterly uncountable, made to represent the imagination of its user. In this case, it would mean Yaya's mind.

It smells like nothing here. Just an empty void of colors.

"What are you doing here?" Yaya's voice echoes around me again, and I turn. Where is she? "You're 2 minutes too early!"

I yell back, starting to sprint. "2 minutes?! You've been in here for who-knows-how-long, everyone's worried!" My voice cracks as I pant, running through the system and the shilouette of buildings.

I grit my teeth, leaping into the air as a sudden boulder emerges from the ground, cracking through the wall. If I could describe it, then it looked worse than Gopal's chickenpox manifestation.

"What the hell.." I mutter under my breath and bounce against the wall, using the balls of my feet to propel me to the other side.

Yaya winces, "Sorry Fang. Hope you're okay."

"I don't get where I'm at right now." My hands stick onto the surface of the walls, and I crawl upwards, landing onto the dark tiles. I could see countless other architectures like this, at a distance. "Mind explaining it to me?"

A large boom came from one of the corners, its dark smoke lifting up to the sky. Activating the jet machine attached to the soles of my boots, I advance high into the air, overseeing the city-like map.

"This is my mind." I can hear her voice clearer now. I burst through the cloudless horizon, heading towards the problem source. "I need you to help me with whatever virus is attacking me."

"Virus?" I snort. So that's what those ugly things are.

"I know they don't match your fashion styl-"

"Focus." I tell her, voice stern. She responds with silence, as pieces and bits suddenly rained from the sky. Punching them out of my way to get rid of the debris, I get closer to the so-called virus.

From the peaks, I can see a rather dull, brown-colored deformity appear, taller than the buildings itself. With holes opening and closing on its skin, steam evaporated from its entire body.

"What the hell." Can't Yaya visualize these viruses better? They look like crap montrosities instead of actual plague-like wannabes. "You've got to be kidding me."

To my surprise, there wasn't just one. "Hol-" I bite my tongue, holding the profanity in. It isn't the time to be singing out my fate. All I can do is fight these mudpies without accidentally triggering the awakening of my ability.

If that happens, then Yaya knows what to do.

Out of everyone here, I have the most intricate ability. Though it might be imperfect, it is the closest version of its completion. However, without absolute control, then I'd lose myself.

Back to the present. None of my blades would puncture through the said beasts' skin, only merely scratching it. Tough, rock-hard shell covers every inch of its body.

The only solution is to sting it deep from the insides. Meaning that I'll have to use a sliver of my abilities, sending a shadow down there.

But can I? Can I control my alter ego?

The place starts to rumble, sending shivers down my body. Yaya's loud scream resonates through the entire place, followed by a pained cry. "A-Ah!"

Crap. I don't know what I'm supposed to do now.

At the same time, these viruses are starting to get bigger, small minions conjoining themselves like tissues regenerating itself. Explosions erupted all over the city, to the point that I had to jump back.

If I keep on staying here, I'll get destroyed too, along with Yaya's conciousness. But if I don't, then they would possibly override her abilities and corrupt the system.

As a leader, have I failed? Think, Fang. Think.

>> CHOOSE YOUR DECISION!
[ your choice affects everything ! ]
a) Stay here, continue fighting off virus.
b) Forcefully charge out of the place, save Yaya.
c) Use abilities to kill virus, try and save Yaya.
d) Pull oneself out of the server, save Fang.

>> COMMENT HERE.
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