Chapter 150: The Code Pt 2

Suddenly, I was in the coffee shop from the past life Fate had tortured me in. I immediately began to look for Chelsea or Victoria as I called her here, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Dave."

My eyes snapped forward at the sound of Mr. Datum's voice, and I was startled to find him there. I had just seen him before coming here, but he hadn't been there when I started to look for Chelsea. His hood was down, and he still wore the same Game Masters robe.

Then I looked down at my own hand, and it was a normal human one. After giving my body a once over and seeing that I was back in that old body, I looked back to Mr.Datum.

"So, what happens now? You were the old man who took me to the cave and then gave me the new System Simon had promised. The same Simon that is a frozen block of flesh."

"The Simon you have been talking to is an imposter and not the same one that either of us thought. The founders put the real one in charge of the Harem project. Simon was also given overseer rights in the mini-games project and still is watching over as we speak. Somehow someone else got into his System and made a copy of his Avatar. I want to apologize on behalf of Reborn; the System was designed to prevent something like this from happening."

"Okay, so I believe you. At what point do you take the System back?"

"We can't. That was the gamble to get the hacker. If you hadn't been one hundred percent convinced, something could have gone wrong. We have been closing in on him, but catching him was proving to be nearly impossible. As you know, we couldn't see him when he visited you, but we started to get an idea when different things started to happen in your games. The problem was that the board didn't see them as problems and decided that a bug here or there wasn't a priority in the bigger picture of things."

"Then, what you told me in the cave is true? I cant be frozen anymore?"

"Not only that, but your current "Harem" can't be frozen either. No, this was a calculated decision; we have decided that the System would not hurt the game, and in fact, make it better!"

"For who?"

"You, of course! The entire point of the game is to make it the best for every player! That is the reason we still take part in monitoring the games and the players in them to make sure no one is mistreated."

Ya, that was what I wanted to hear, I was on cooperative auto-pilot mode on the outside, but that last line was the proof I needed. I wouldn't ask any more about the real-world or Simon; it would all just be lies. Make sure that no one is mistreated? Like Aquina and Sandra? Delilah? IONA?!

It took everything I had learned in all of my lifetimes at this moment to keep cool. On the outside, I was cool casual Dave, but I was a rage of emotions inside. 

"All right then, so I go back and keep playing now, right? What about this System? How does the Harem System work?"

I decided to keep pushing at what I had already been driving at to seem more interested in the System rather than ask anything that would make me seem uncompliant. If I kept only asking about the System, then maybe they would just take me for the stupid person I was made out to be. 

"I can't really tell you much since it was the hacker that had made it; it was also the reason we had to let you take it as is. Tequila will understand and explain how to use the System after you leave here. You also will be taking the pistol back with you, so finishing this game should prove rather easy for you and your party."

"Okay, everything seems in order. I just have one question, since there are so many girls..."

"Again, tequila will explain while the world loads back up, she has been updated with new parameters to handle the new System since it will be different than the ones you received before. This one will always be permanent and will allow you to keep player buffs and other abilities depending on your party's members. The last thing, keep being great; you are helping the girls of the game to places where they can play the game!"

And with the word "game," I was in darkness.

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[Third person view of Mr. Datum]

A humanoid figure cloaked in a darkness appeared beside Mr. Datum the moment Dave was gone. The figure was so black it was hard to look at like it could swallow you like the light if you stared too long. Mr. Datum wasn't surprised by a Founder appearing now; after all, they had sent him.

"Are you sure this was wise? We have no idea how much Simon told him!"

"Patience, Simon is dead in the real world now, right?"

"Yes, as you ordered."

"Then, there is no need to worry. Truthfully, I think the System will prove to be quite entertaining. I will enjoy the next games he plays in; the System's creator is also the creator of this mini-game, after all. Keep watch out there, the world will be descending into chaos, but while they continue to watch, we must keep them entertained and distracted from the real goal."

With that last comment, The Founder left. 

"The real goal..."

The real goal was to take revenge on the world to get their first Massive Multi-player Online game banned and torn apart for a mysterious in-game event that saw hundreds of kids dead in the real world. This event happened over 100 years ago in 2043, but the same founders were still alive here in the game, waiting.

One hundred years later, they have come back to take revenge on the world and make them pay for the humiliation each of the 12 board members suffered. Now, the world was cut off from each other. All signals in the world have been routed to Reborn, and they are left watching and unknowing. In 6 months, the world will erupt with over 15000 nuclear warheads ranging from 15 to 15000 KT. 

In 4 months, the REB-AUTO probe would be launched into space, leaving the rest of humanity to its fate. Even if humanity survived, it would never be the same. 

While earth would die, Reborn would continue forever in space.