Chapter 97: The Real State Of The World

"What are you talking about?"

I turned around to see Simon in his white lab coat, shaking his head at me. I was happy to see him, but if he was interrupting a game to talk to me, it wasn't good news.

"Okay, Dave, I like that you bring all goody to shoes now with the women, but you can't let your self get cuckold like this! It not good for business."

"Who's business? And I don't own these women! I can't stop them if they want to seek out other relationships!"

"No, that's not how it works!"

"What do you mean that's not how it works? What aren't you telling me? What is going on out there that makes any difference in here?"

"I can't tell you!"

"Oh, and why not? Aren't we friends? Aren't you trying to help me save these girls?"

"That's the point of it all..."

"... The point... No, you don't mean... Are people watching us, Simon?"

My eyes burned into Simon, but he looked away. No, you had got to be kidding me. People were watching the things that happened? The things we did, the things I did with these girls?

"What the fuck is going on, Simon?"

Simon let out a deep sigh and looked at me. He waved his hand, and a bench appeared that he sat down on, waving me over. I didn't want to, but I didn't want to stand either.

My head was spinning with everything I had just figured out. Whose idea was this all? The way Simon said that it was the plan, said that they planned for us to all get lost and go through hardships, but why was it allowed?

I walked to the bench, glancing at Kyrina before I sat down, at the fat end of the court. I was on edge now because I knew that Simon had been lying to me. He also has been leading me for the pleasure of whoever was watching.

"Ok, I have us under lock and key right now so that we can talk freely. First of all, I am sorry, Dave. I know you don't believe me right now, but I was forced to narrate these situations and guild you for the sake of the viewers, but I want you to know that none of the intimate scenes are ever shared, and the feed is cut. Off by AIRC."

"Who is that?"

"Not who, but what. AIRC stands for Artificially Intelligent Reborn Computer, its a system that prevents hackers and monitors all feeds to prevent restricted content from being leaked."

"If it's so good, then why can you get in here?"

"I built it, so it has codes in the systems that allow me certain access and privileges outside of the Game Masters."

"Why is this being broadcast? And why does it matter about the women at my party?"

"Since this all happened, and you were sent in, the world has changed dramatically. The virus ran its course, but before it did, a mutation was caused to affect the adults. We lost one-third of the world population and almost all the world leaders. Reborn is rising to take control of the world by hosting the feeds for the game worldwide. All of this has happened over the last month."

"One-third of the people are dead? How is the world even functioning still?"

"Reborn isn't just some gaming company, sure they created this game, but they have been around for a long time. I have been doing some research on the company, and they have been around funding different organizations for the last sixty years. They have been setting up this plan."

What was going on?

"They are the ones that caused the diseases, Dave! When the people started to die along with the world leaders, they already had people worldwide. Dave, they control everything now. I could be killed for telling you this information!"

"Then why are you here, Simon?"

"To warn you, the remaining world thinks this whole sticking with the one girl is cute for now, but they have come to expect you to be the hero that saves all the girls and not ignores the new ones. I know this is all fucked up, but when you get back to the ship, you had better start making more connections."

"So, that's it? I'm just another tv star that risks his life for real on a guided course? What happens if I refuse?"

"The world doesn't see it that way anymore, your all characters in a game that people watch on all outlets, and you aren't the only ones being watched. When the virus was killing people, Reborn put almost one hundred thousand kids into the game. Up to eight games run at a time, so only ten percent of the players are in the games. The rest is God's that make up less than one percent."

"... What happens to rest?"

"Frozen, just like these people, and you if you don't listen. I'm serious, Dave, trust me or not, but I need you. Everyone else has settled into this, and they are okay with it, but I know you not! Hold on, we aren't the only ones against this, but we have no way of doing anything about it yet."

"So I'm just supposed to push Kyrina to the side when I get back?"

"I have given you many boosts to help with this, so figure it out. We are working on this end, the other option is to go into time out forever, and you might as well be dead. There are a lot of guys with far lower standards than you in the freezer. Think about the big picture here, Dave."

I didn't want to admit it, but he was right; what was I going to do if I got frozen? Nothing, I wouldn't know the difference. I would be locked in a code forever, while who knows what happened to the girls, could I let that happen?

"Fine, I get it, but what now do I do about Irellia and Kyrin?"

"Irellia was one of fate's first followers and his only in the end because he became so focus on you. Kyrin, on the other hand, was the lead of these girls that are with you now, and he used them as shields and lost the Mini-Game. That was the same one you won and freed all of them, but he was stuck with Kyrina, so he was dragged along when he shouldn't have."

"So then," but a quick hand wave-cut me off by Simon.

"I've stayed too long and told you too much; remember that and tell no one, or it's game over for all of us, understand?"

"Yeah."

"Good luck, and I sorry for all of this, but you the one that can stop this, so don't stop fighting!"