They told us that if we participated in the study, we would get paid thousands. At first, I was thrilled by the announcement of free money. I mean, who wouldn’t?
Me and 11 other people sat and waited for the announcement that the scientist told us to wait for.
The scientist kept his credentials anonymous and mostly spoke to us through a loudspeaker in the corner of the room. Mysteriously, he would prefer to be called “the Flower Dev” and nobody knew why. I tried asking the staff, and they all had the same answer:
“I don’t know”, a young, beautiful woman in a black lab coat replied. “Not even we know why he wants to be named that”.
I shook my head in affirmation and started to make my way to the other people who were participating in the experiment. Still looking for answers, (due to the lack of explanation given by the staff) I thought that my colleagues might know; Therefore, I approached them.
I scanned the room, eyeing each one as my brain hummed with curiosity. We were all bald due to the conditions of the experiment, and almost everyone was wearing black jumpsuits. Almost everyone…
One member was wearing a white jumpsuit, and he did not look friendly. He looked like he could play as John Rambo. Gathering my courage, I walked towards the man. As I made my way towards him, he turned his face round to face me and suddenly I had the sudden urge to turn and run.
His face bore multiple long scars that made their way down his eyes, and to his chin. One eye seemed to be permanently closed, as if he had somehow blinded himself in the past.
His cold gaze melted my curiosity down to its last drop. I was simply frozen in place, unable to move. I gathered the last of my determination and courage into a single sentence. Luckily I had taken lessons on human nature and emotions so I knew how to appear calm in this situation.
“Hello Mister, I’ve got a few questions for you. If you don’t mind I just want some info about what we are in for, you know?”.
The horrible silence sent more shivers down my spine.
“Call me Fear”, he said in a cold, bone chilling but eerily quiet tone.
I gulped.
“Alright Fear, nice to meet yo—”
Fear suddenly pointed at his chest, where the name tag that he was given was pinned. It read “Fearless”.
“You called me Mister when my name was right there in front of you, “Hellflame”.
Struck by the rudeness of this “Fear” guy, I stayed quiet in case his impoliteness turned into anger. The fact that he had said my name out loud also caught me off guard.
“Just call me Hell, Fear”.
“Whatever”. Fear eyed me for what seemed like an eternity. Everyone in the room was now staring at Fear and I out of curiosity and interest.
Finally, he sighed.
“I have participated in this test before, and it isn’t all fun and rainbows. It will destroy you both physically and mentally, and if you aren’t dead, you are cursed to come back again”.
Dead silence. No one spoke or made a sound.
“It’s a game simulation!” Fear said, his voice rising catastrophically. The staff in the room were clearly terrified of Fear, due to the fact they all left the room after that outburst.
“They put you in a FRICKIN CHILDREN’S GAME AND KILL EACH OTHER! You have no chance of surviving whatsoever…I only survived because people died for me.”
The heavy metal door slammed shut as the last staff member hurried out of the room.
Surprisingly, Fear’s eyes began to fill with tears. I almost felt sorry for him. More surprisingly, someone spoke up in the midst of the tears.
“Um, what the hell do you mean by a ‘children’s game?’” He said in a shaky voice. Everyone now had focused their full attention to Fear instead of the locked iron door on the other side of the room. Clearly they were all intrigued and wanted to know more about what we are in for.
“You’ll see”, he replied.
“You’ll all see what hell truly is”. He muttered, tears rolling down his cheeks. I wondered what had happened to him and what he experienced in this so-called “children’s game”. More importantly, will we survive? Or end up either dead or mentally unstable like Fear.
I didn’t want to think about it anymore.
“M-maybe I shouldn’t have joined this experiment”. Someone in the room said.
Everyone muttered in response as the realisation of hopelessness and death hit them like a missile strike. I didn’t know what exactly they were thinking, but all I knew is that they were definitely rethinking their choices about participating; I know I was.
A woman from the corner of the room began to sob quietly, however still managed to drown out the muttering of everyone else in the room. A few moments later, others had also lost hope, and more and more people began to weep in hopelessness and fear.
The scientific term for this is called E̶̗̽ṃ̶̈́ò̷̼t̸̗̚ì̶̼o̶̝͒n̷̹̽ǎ̴͕ḽ̷̀ ̵̺͆C̴̩̈́ò̵̜n̶̨̆ẗ̶̙a̴̞͗g̵͂͜i̶̡͆ō̶̡n̴̲̚, and I could only watch as it spread expeditiously around the room.
*****
“Please step into the launching room for the experiment to commence”. The loudspeaker in the corner of the room behind us gave us instructions in a robotic, tranquil tone.
Everyone wore terrified expressions on their faces. I took a quick glance at Fear, and the tears on his cheeks had all dried up. The fact that Fear looked mighty and strong on the outside, but just like the rest of us on the inside, made the experiment look way more dangerous than it was supposed to be.
I was regretting every single action I did. From walking with the group, to joining the experiment in the first place. For all I know, I may not survive the experiment or even call myself sane after it if I miraculously do survive.
We entered a large, empty box of a room with no furniture. The entire room was painted white from the floor up, and a large wooden circle (not surprisingly painted white) rested in the middle of the room.
“Everyone please take your seats so I can explain what this experiment is all about”. The voice of the loudspeaker erupted, but this time somewhere in the room they were currently in. It seemed that the speakers were everywhere around the building so that the Flower Dev could give us instructions.
I looked at my jumpsuit, which had blended in with the surrounding environment just like the others. Everybody else gazed at one another, an expression of fear and a hint of curiosity reflected on each person. Fear’s eyes were wide with horror and trauma.
“I will now explain the overview of Experiment SuperNova8001, please stay seated on the wooden slab in the middle of the room while I speak. Anyone who wanders around the room without instruction will be kept in Chamber 2, where the bodies from previous subjects met their fate from the last experiment.”
A woman let out a choked, anguished sob, another man gasped quietly.
The Flower Dev continued: “Now that we have that out of the way, I shall explain what the experiment is all about and what we hope to achieve.
I’d like to begin by wishing you all the best of luck for this. It isn’t easy at all as you could lose your humanity or sanity; you can also lose your life which is more common. This experiment has been commenced many times and the previous ones are almost certainly still in progress right as we speak.”
No one made a single sound. The aura of the room had shifted into an evil, nefarious one. It was an aura that screamed of nothing more than malice and fear.
“The wooden slab you are all standing on is going to transport all of you into a different world; a game simulation. However, you will each split up and be in different servers; think of it as a battle arena for each person.”
“B-battle arena?!” A teenage girl with the tag “Storm” blurted out. “Explain you sick jerk!”
The room was back to being quiet again, just the sound of silence filled the air with such monstrous force.
Suddenly, roaring, maniacal laughter boomed throughout the entire room, startling everyone instantly. Judging from the look of Storm’s face, all her bravado had vanished.
“Oh yes, you will get to fight. Your task is to kill your enemies in your server, and that’s all there is to it…except…”
The Flower Dev paused. His voice grew eerily calm and composed.
“Except your enemies are the people who have participated in this experiment previously. They are the poor people who didn’t survive the experiment and are cursed to walk the servers forever. You are to kill them all and clean up your server; however, some of these forgotten souls have grown both in strength and intelligence. Be wary of those, as they almost always have the upper hand in battle against new players like you.”
“The weapons you will use depend on which Path you choose. 12 large rectangle stone floors surround each server; each one has their own unique arsenal of powers. Be aware that once you choose your Path you can take powers from other Paths.”
“You might be wondering how you get powers from a stone floor. Once you claim your Path, there will be a generator in the middle that generates money. With the right amount, you can buy walls and powers to build your base and protect you from enemies. When you buy walls, they will be built instantaneously. You have the ability to walk, run, dash but not fly.
“W-what about these dumb name tags.” I said, pointing at my chest with the tag “Hellflame” inscribed in my left breast.
“Using your normal names would be boring, so we gave you those. Not too shabby eh?”
No one wanted to answer that; I really couldn’t blame them. Most of the names everyone had were not too bad at all; my own name was a bit cringe but aside from that the name “Hellflame” had a nice ring to it.
“And oh, I almost forgot to mention.” The Flower Dev said in an ironic, sorry tone.
“If you complete what you are assigned to do and come back alive, we will give you power ups more powerful than the Paths themselves. Look at the odd one out of your group!”
Everyone locked their eyes at Fearless.
“He now has all of the powerups since he has participated in this experiment many times before, and you can do the same. All you have to do is collect your prize money once you come back, and go back to the simulation again.”
I already knew that that wasn’t an option. If I do survive I am not coming back to this place ever. Judging from the muttering and mumbling of the people around me, they thought the same exact thing.
“So, what exactly are these special abilities?” Storm said, reaching up to her hair to play with it nervously, but then realising she had no hair left.
No wonder why Fear wore different clothing and was mentally unstable. He’s like a cursed VIP in this experiment.
“You will be given an infinite amount of cash every single time you come back to the simulation. This means you won’t have to wait and collect your cash to get powers and walls; instead you can get them instantly.”
The room seemed to glimmer with an ounce of hope as all of us began to mumble to each other; but then in disappointment as they realised that they had to come back to do the experiment again (if they completed it the first time) in order to receive these special abilities.
“The next special ability is what we call “Void Shield”. This ability grants the user a beautiful purple shield of the Void, which kindly provides you with 100% more health”.
I was shocked to see that Storm’s eyes had lit up at the final 3 words that were emitted from the loudspeaker. Could she actually be willing to take hold of these powers just like Fearless did? Not to mention, come back to this dangerous experiment?
Likewise, why did Fearless come back “many many times” before? Didn’t he know when to quit the first time?
Thousands of questions, and not a single answer to any of them. I could only guess.
“The final special ability is probably the strongest of all. So listen closely everyone”.
You can already guess that Storm didn’t need to be told twice. She was eyeing the loudspeaker with intense concentration.
“We call it Legendary. It’s a gauntlet that zaps anything it touches to ash. It doesn’t stop there though, if you punch the ground before you, it evaporates any person near you within a 2 metre diameter.”
Everyone eyed each other warily. This time no one spoke or mumbled a word.
Storm was smiling hysterically, her eyes full of wonder and keen interest. I did not like that look at all. It was the look of pure malice and unquenchable thirst for power; her bright amber eyes made her seem more wild and feral than she actually looked.
I then turned to Fearless, who was staring at Storm in an uncanny way. Maybe even he didn’t like the slightly nefarious and wild look on Storm’s face.
“What’s so amusing, Storm?” Fearless said in his low but bone chilling voice.
Storm turned to look at Fearless, still retaining that look on her face.
“Oh oh! Is the special Batman VIP with all the special abilities mad at me? Well suck it up pretty bo—”
Her sentence was cut short as Fearless threw his massive fist at Storm’s face. Storm easily blocked it with the palm of her left hand and simply chuckled.
Fearless’s eyes widened with surprise like everybody else in the room had. Forcing his surprise down his mind, he threw another punch aimed at her chest. Storm quickly let go of his hand from the previous punch, and grabbed his arm with both hands at mid punch.
With a quick pull, she twisted his arm and Fearless let out a yelp of pain. Storm ended it with a quick jab with her knee in his crotch.
Groaning in pain, Fearless fell to the ground, clutching his broken arm and glaring furiously at Storm, who was now smiling more wildly than ever before.
“That was rude. You interrupted me, Batman”.
Before any of us could react and process what had just happened, the loudspeaker bellowed:
“LET Experiment SuperNova8001 BEGIN!”
The floor below us opened into a black void, and we all fell through the void screaming all the way.
*****
I remember only seeing white as I took my first step in the game simulation. Some sort of temporary, blue shield was wrapped around me. Surprisingly, my body didn’t hurt, and that was a pretty long fall from Earth to this game simulation. As I adjusted to the light, I took a look at my surroundings.
Houses of different colours were either fully built or still in progress all around me. Those must be the Paths the Flower Dev spoke of, and it seemed they were occupied by those “lost players”.
A shiver of fear and adrenaline ran down my spine. I had to get out of the open quickly. To add more pressure, the blue shield around me began to dim slowly.
I darted to the nearest empty Path I could find, which was thankfully just metres away from where I was originally standing. As I came to a stop, I stood to observe the almost dull door frame in front of me. It was completely grey, except for two words which were etched on the top in red.
“Death Eye”.
I didn’t care what powers this Path had or why it was called “Death Eye”. I was vulnerable in the open, and I couldn’t take any chances. Not even standing still for 5 seconds.
Without thinking, I dashed into the door frame hoping for some change other than a rectangular concrete floor with a dull door frame.
Oh, and I mustn’t forget those two words inscribed into the top of the door frame and now, in my head.
“ D̶̥͘ȇ̶͈ả̷͇t̸̜̏h̴̞͛ ̷̳̂e̷̢̎ẙ̴͚ě̵͓ ”
****
For the first 5 seconds, my eyes were showing me images on how to play this game simulation. It was surprisingly the calmest thing I’ve seen ever since signing up for this crap.
Everything around me slowed into a tranquil sort of atmosphere. My vision focused onto the generator in the middle of the concrete floor.
Suddenly, bright green letters popped up in front of my “lifeless” eyes:
{TOUCH THE GENERATOR TO COLLECT YOUR MONEY}
{USE THE MONEY TO BUILD WALLS AND BUY POWERS}
{ENJOY!}
If this were a game that didn’t threaten my existence, my mind would have taken in those words more easily than normal; but in this case, my head swam with dark but iridescent thoughts as scattered as oxygen particles in a pair of lungs. The words given to me in that eerily calm atmosphere were like the carbon dioxide particles; mixed up with the other ones.
My eyes shot open instantly as I regained my consciousness. The calm, tranquil trance I was in seemed to all be in my head, but somehow part of the game as well. Could this happen to me again if I ever claimed a Path again in the future?
There wouldn’t be a future for me if I just stood there like an idiot, still mulling about things I can think about later.
I ran to the generator and practically slapped it. Sure enough, the number 200 came up in green on my right shoulder. So that’s where the wallet was.
I assumed it was 200 dollars in cash (obviously) so I ran around the concrete floor in search of things to buy.
At the back, there was a slot in the ground for the insertion of money. I took at look at the writing next to it:
“POWERS”
“250”
“Bingo” I said out loud as I touched the slot in the ground.
My hand shot back as a jolt of electricity surged through my arm. I let out a welp of pain as I stumbled back, the words “INVALID AMOUNT OF CASH” had illuminated in front of me like a holographic image, which then disappeared after flashing for a few seconds.
I felt like an idiot. I knew damn well I didn’t have enough cash and yet I touched it.
Regaining my concentration on this “game”, I got up to the generator and collected more cash, which added an extra $2,000 to my “wallet”.
I touched that same slot again, and it made a satisfying beep noise as a black mat instantaneously appeared on the fraction of the floor in front of me.
On that mat were two more slots on either side of it.
I walked over to examine the two slots that had just appeared so suddenly. This game simulation is actually quite impressive if it wasn’t threatening to kill you. Right now, I actually need powers to defend myself rather than play and muck around.
In fact, it’s kind of a miracle how I haven’t encountered any enemies yet. Of course, I didn’t want to jinx it. That’s the last thing I wanted to happen.
I kneeled down onto the mat to read what kind of powers the slots had to offer. My eyes fell on the slot on the left:
“GUNBAI”
“500”
“I’ll take that, thanks”.
I touched the slot and the same beep noise from before had rung. A box about the same height as I was had materialised in the place of the left slot.
It was shaded in a gradient red colour with the word “GUNABAI” written in the middle. I stepped forward and touched it.
The weapon in my hands was ice cold to the touch, but that wasn’t what left me in shock at that moment. The sheer size of it was staggering! If I measured it, I’m certain it would have been at least 20 centimetres more than I was. Admiring the size was also not the thing that left me flabbergasted either; the fact that it appeared in my hands so gently and not even feeling the weight isn’t the reason either.
It was due to the fact that I felt a strong grip on my shoulder.
“Don’t move, newbie”.
My eyes widened in fear and my breathing instantly became irregular. My heart was thudding like a timpani drum in my chest. The voice was all too similar as I’d heard it very recently. One thing was for sure, the tone did not sound friendly at all.
Is this where it ends? Me getting my first power and then getting killed off so soon?
No.
I refuse to die here like the other countless people have. I refuse to perish like this!
Something in my head clicked, and something else in my stomach told me it was determination.
I said to myself it was nothing but the will to keep living, and the will to n̷̥̋e̷̳͘v̵̻̒e̵̩̿ṛ̷̉ ̷̬̃g̵̢̕i̶̘̋v̴̹̆ẹ̴̓ ̴̜̏u̴͈͠p̴͍͌.
With a battle cry, I swung my gunbai around and smashed my perpetrator square in the face. The man stumbled back clutching his head, blood bucketed down the side of his head.
“Fearless?” I exclaimed aloud.
“I–I thought the Flower Dev said “one person to each server?”.
“That’s bullcrap”, Fearless roared.
I took a few steps back from him as he got back onto his feet. Trying to calm myself, I noticed a health bar hovering over Fearless’s head. From where I was standing it seemed to be 90% full, and I was certain it was making itself back up to 100%.
Realising that I hadn’t taken a good look at Fearless enough, I noticed that he had the unmistakable purple orb around him that was none other than the Void Shield power up.
Another thought crossed my head. It is very likely he has the Legendary power up as well. In desperation, I tried to turn and run only resulting in stumbling backwards and falling to the ground.
I lifted the gunbai up in Fearless’s direction, who was now making his way toward me step by step.
Fearless grinned widely and evilly.
“Ah, my first kill of the day is a puny little runt”. He growled playfully, still maintaining that malicious grin.
He was getting closer. I had to think of something quick. I inhaled deeply then exhaled to calm myself on the spot. It wasn’t easy as you can judge due to the situation I was in, but I’ve taken lessons on this many times before.
“So you haven’t lost your sanity at all? It was all a lie to get us all worked up before the experiment?” I asked.
“Spot on, Flame”.
For some reason, I didn’t like the name “Flame” at all. It fueled me with some kind of anger that I had never experienced before. It also boosted my confidence greatly. I looked up into the sky for the first time since entering this simulation.
In all red, blocky letters, the words “Fearless is the richest player in the server” was hovering in the sky way above us.
“You have infinite cash too?”
“Of course I do”. Fearless said.
My heart was still beating heavily in my chest. I couldn’t keep talking small talk to buy time, I had to bring out a larger subject.
“Let me get this straight, you made yourself look like a poor, troubled guy who had gone insane to strike fear into everyone’s hearts before we started this “game”. In other words, you work for the Flower Dev too. Oh! And to put it more simply, you’re just a dirty liar.”
Fearless’s grin grew massively wider.
“Spot on again, Flame! Hooray, you cracked the case! Want to know some more info?”
I slowly nodded, still clutching the weapon in both hands and using it as a barrier in between us.
“There is no prize money! And there is no going back either. You’re trapped here like everyone else here is! FOREVER!.”
The world around me swirled and swam irregularly as my head began to hurt more than ever before. The gunbai grew heavier by the second and I fell to my knees. My eyes began to fill with tears.
“It–it can’t be!”. I murmured, tears streaming down my cheeks. Just when I thought I had a chance of surviving this thing, all hope had been crushed just like that in an instant.
Fearless tipped his head back and emitted a booming roar of maniacal laughter. A golden gauntlet had materialised on his hand which I knew was the unmistakable gauntlet of Legendary.
The gauntlet shimmered in the light of the “sun”. It also whirred mechanically as white light of its own sizzled out like sausages in a pan.
“Now you die here, without killing off a single player. You didn’t even die in glory, your flame got extinguished too easily.”
Before he could strike me with Legendary, the all too similar booming voice of the Flower Dev echoed throughout the entire arena:
“ATTENTION all players playing experiment SuperNova8001”.
Fearless stopped mid punch and turned his head left and right, obviously bewildered. I, too, looked around confused.
“This message is being broadcasted live throughout each and every server in this experiment. A new feature has been added to the game simulation: Exiting this experiment is now impossible and all of you are now stranded in this game simulation forever. This includes all VIP’s and other staff members who are in it as of now. Good luck and have fun everyone!”
My heart felt as if someone had shoved a wooden stake into it. My throat went dry and nothing around me seemed real anymore; everything was just as blurry as a shower door drenched with water.
Fearless’s legs shook and fell under pressure and he fell to his knees just like I did. The gauntlet disappeared from his hand and he reached up to his face, eyes full of terror.
“Wha-what?” He managed.
“The-there must be some kind of mistake, right? They wouldn’t leave me here. I did so much for them. This can’t b—”
A variety of coloured projectiles launched and zoomed from a purple coloured Path just left from where I was. They all made different sounds as they smashed and exploded into Fearless, who dreadfully screamed in agony as he writhed in flames and other substances of different colours. His Void Shield cracked and simmered in the pressure and heat from whatever had hit him.
I gasped loudly as a glowing, heavenly white rope wrapped around my legs and pulled me into the darkness.
*****
The nightmares I had were horrible. I dreamt of the heart shattering screams of Fearless as he wriggled and writhed in the flames and substances of various colours that had hit him. The moans and cries of the deceased who played the game before reached out to me from the void underneath the arena of the game.
They beckoned me to join them in the abyss which they called home, arms reaching out trying to grab me from the only bit of land I would ever see again; floating in the endless nothingness that seemed to stretch on forever.
“Come join us!” They hissed.
“This is your new home now, so you may as well make it feel that way!”
“That’s right Flam—”
I jolted awake, drenched in a cold sweat with the name I hated still echoing vigorously in my brain. Why did I hate being called Flame anyway? I was never called that before, so why did I dislike it now?
And is that the smell of…
“Food.” I said aloud as I reached for the darkness in search of the sweet aroma of what smelt like pumpkin soup.
Instead, the sharp end of a blade was gently held at my neck.
“Back up, Flame.” The gentle voice of a woman said from the darkness in front of me.
“Flame?” I snarled, grabbing the blade of the sword in front of me and stabbing it into the wall right next to me. The woman gasped, and before I could pull the blade out and do some damage, a figure with the build of a tall, muscular man ran up to me and slashed me in the face with his own blade before hitting me in the stomach with the hilt of his sword.
I groaned and crumbled to the floor in pain.
“Pro doesn’t let anyone touch Lulu”. The unusually high pitched voice of my male attacker said pompously.
“Oh leave him alone, Pro. He’s just trying to defend himself. For God’s sake let the poor thing have some food.”
“Pro accepts’’. He replied to her. The lights came on in the Path room I was in. It was fairly similar to my Path, but with walls, stairs that led to a second floor, and two Path power generators (similar to my gunbai generator, but purple).
I didn’t bother reading the Path power names as I was too hungry to care.
“Call me Lulu”. She said, handing me a bowl of hot pumpkin soup. It was satisfyingly warm to the touch, and I figured the taste would be even more satisfying.
“Thank you, Lulu. But don’t ever call me Flame again. I don’t know why, but I hate it; and it makes me aggressive for some reason. I’m sorry, just call me Hell.
Lulu pondered this for a moment and sat down on the money generator in front of me.
“Go on, eat your soup”.
I took a gulp, then gagged and spat it all out on the floor in front of me.
“Bleugh! What is this?” The soup tasted like burnt cucumbers, additionally, it also left a sour, stale taste in my tongue that destroyed my appetite completely.
Lulu giggled.
“Sorry about that, we cook our food using fireballs.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“So what about Pro?” I said, pointing at him.
“Why does he talk like a robot?”
Lulu clasped her hands together and sighed. Her eyes glinted a miraculous, pretty sky blue in the Path lights. Now that I began to focus more, I saw that she was beautifully angelic and attractive. Her wavy, natural red hair flowed against her shoulders like a red silken waterfall. Her blue eyes met mine and I looked away, blushing like crazy. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw her eyes drop to the ground also; but I could have imagined it.
“He used to be an average player trapped in the arena for years. He’s one of the oldest actually, hence why he knows his combos of various Path powers; he knows how they all work and how much damage each power does. Overtime, he gained intelligence and he met me, whom he started to protect”.
Pro grinned widely and revealed two rows of disgusting yellowish brown teeth.
“What about the fact that I get so mad over my own player name? And what about that combo Pro used on Fearless? What powers are inside it and how can I learn to do that? What are all the Path names calle-“
Lulu raised her finger to my lips.
“Shhhh, it’s time for you to go to bed. It’s been a rough day hasn’t it?”
She was right, today was insanely crazy. I ended up laying on the floor beside the cash generator with nothing but the sound of Pro’s loud snoring filling the air. Lulu went upstairs to get some shut eye.
It’s hard sleeping on a concrete floor, and as I’m writing this the sounds of Fearless’s wails of agony rumble in my head. So many questions unanswered; is Fearless even dead or did he survive the deadly barrage of powers? What if he’s right outside this Path right now watching me as I sleep?
I don’t think I’m going to sleep the night.