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Chapter 306: UNICORN’s Plans

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Just how many “Siva” have they all seen by now?

The emotionally violent and sometimes acting as a normal teenager, the “Destroyer” who they met in the Walled City of Aarun and had been hanging out with all this time…

Second is the Siva they saw in Dragona and in the Cellar Dungeons who can make them bow down using the in-game feature called [Resonance]…

And then this Rex who says he was a different “Siva” that they are yet to see appear in Terroa.

The third existence obviously brought endless worry for Matt.

Because from the sound of [Rex]’s words, then it seems that the last version was the ultimate form of [Siva] who was both a God and a Mortal.

If so…. then who is the one they saw in Dragona and the emotional ‘Siva’ they encountered in the Cellar Dungeons of Apus Epirus?

If he wasn’t ‘yet’ the ultimate form, then what is?

Such a thought was making Matt shiver. If he did choose to 100% believe what Rex is saying, then just imagining the scale of mystery that surrounds RPG: Terroa alone is enough to cause any novel and movie writers in the world to have headaches.

Although he wasn’t there, the all-knowing Fuma had long deliberated to them the legends and the fantastical lores of RPG: Terroa.

At one point, they all learned that there are indeed the existences of Gods that had established a few religious groups with eccentric features inside the game. There was the Goddess of Love, Freya…

…God of Discord, Fenrir

…God of Prosperity, Avon

…Goddess of Peace and Unity, Elizabeth

…Goddess of Light and Darkness, Medusa

…God of Creation, Janus

…and then there was the existence of a legend of a being that brought forth immeasurable fear and dread to the hearts of people; that although he is spoken to as a God, he was treated as a bane.

He was the God of Death, Mefisto.

Ever since the controversial events that occurred in the War of Two Powers in Eastern Continent of Espada that led to the destruction of the Mooran Fortress guarding Xiargoal-6 Mining City, the existence of this so called “Rogue”, Mefisto, had long been linked into the “God of Death” that existed in the legends… all because they have the same name.

Many articles regarding this issue had long spread far and wide across the net. And as professional adventurers themselves, Volt and his crew had long since treated these articles important.

The Sylphiadora Guild and the Titan Goliath Guild who had been the victims of this NPC’s evil plans, had joined forces and is, until now, searching for this NPC’s whereabouts.

In the Continent of Espada, the Sylphs and TGG are but two of the First Rate Organizations in The East that are below the mammoth existence of “The Union”.

In terms of power and size of organization, they, individually, sized around 30% to 40% of the total size and strength The Union possesses.

But ever since the War of Two Powers, they have combined into a powerhouse organization called the “Titan Sylphs” that lorded just a little bit below The Union and garnered respect and admiration from the players that roamed The East.

The Titan Sylphs are the leading powers that are hunting down this Mefisto.

Since then until now, it hasn’t been two months.

In under these two months’ time, many things had changed in Terroa and they are the leading labels when it comes to this new era.

Ever since then, they had not participated in any of the power struggles and MOD-hunts in the game, and just focused on tracking down Mefisto.

And by that regard, it was a question whether they have learned of what happened in Dragona and in Alexandria… especially the former.

If so, then the only things that’s stopping the Titan Sylphs is the fact that whether they can teleport to Alexandria and meet Siva, The Destroyer, that they had once invited to join their movement, or not.

And in all of these, it all boils down to one single fact: it all has something to do with Siva.

Siva, The Destroyer, was in the center of almost all and every mysterious changes that’s occurring right now in RPG: Terroa.

*****

Thinking about all this, Matt couldn’t help but think that perhaps….. everything he’s hearing right now from this [Rex] is in fact the truth: that, perhaps, the World Government does have everything to do with his tragic circumstances.

But all the same, if he does chose to believe in it, then it only ends up worsening his initial fear: that being a ‘confidant’ of the very person that’s in the center of these troubled waters will not just bring a tidal-storm to him alone, but a calamity to his entire family.………..and so he can’t help but feel conflicted again.

“Am I just pure talk after all?”

“Wait, in the first place… what made you so very important to the World Government, [Rex]?”

Rex, looked up to Matt and couldn’t help but smile bitterly at his conflicted expression. He knew that what he was asking for is too large a burden to an ordinary person like Matthew; and that seeing this expression from Matt told him that he was aware of the storm he had to face.

It saved Rex further explanation and in fact, if Matt had readily agreed to him on the spot, he would have been disappointed at him.

This clearly shows that Rex had chosen the right person and made the right choice in Matt.

“Because I hold the [secret] that Project Salvation was made for in the first place.”

“What do you mean?”

Matt was honestly confused. What secret?

“I can’t tell you what this secret is but I can tell you with full confidence that Project Salvation, or in a more familiar name, RPG: Terroa, was initiated not with the goal of creating a recreational game but with a more sinister and deeper plot. To make you understand the immensity of this baneful [secret], let me ask you then…… why do you think there is a universal rule that punishes you whenever you spoke to an NPC as an NPC?”

“…”

Matt was speechless. This was a question that’s been fully accepted to be pointlessly asked by the entire player-base of RPG: Terroa since no one, not even the makers of the game, could answer it.

There are countless numbers of smart people who tried to pry and open this secret box but no matter how much time and effort they invested, there was no feasibly acceptable answer to this mystery.

And now that he thought about it, there are so many other mysterious rules that had no concrete backing that’s been openly accepted in Terroa.

…..such as how was it possible that [Players] can make a family in the virtual world of Terroa?

There have been many ex-cons and former drug addicts in the real world that found a ‘new life’ in Terroa, sought new horizons, becoming upright men and women, establishing their own family and playing the game as if they were living a different life in it.

(A/N: please, I don’t mean any harm to anyone in this statement… I am merely stating the features and miracles that VR worlds can create in this)

…..or such as the main feature of RPG: Terroa itself: the “90% reality” tagline that promoted this title to the world and established itself.

How is this world so very real to the senses?

And in this regard, Matt also thought of something that Fuma had shown him and Thorn in private…

*****

“Look at this.”

“What is it?” (Thorn)

“It’s a small portion of the fight between Cramer and Siva that I’ve recorded with my personal eye-drone.”

It was short 5-minute video. In it was a small part of the duel between Cramer and Siva. Of course, Fuma had already edited it. He was only showing them a small portion a few tens of seconds before Siva’s nigh-miraculous win.

In the ‘part’ he wanted to show them, it was the part where Siva and Cramer had already received a few hundred punches at each other.

Then they parted after exchanging another round of punches and this time, they didn’t launch any other punches for a while.

Siva brushed his face of something using his sleeve while Cramer laughed and spoke: [He…… hehe… (Haaahh) hahahaha… I… I am… I am really not wrong… abo— about you…] (A/N: please refer to Vol. 6 Chapter 37)

After a few seconds, the portion Fuma wanted to show them ended, and so he asked the two, “Did you notice anything?”

Thorn and Volt exchanged glances, shrug their shoulders, then looked at Fuma, confused.

Fuma used his right index to lift his glasses and then he said, “Okay, now, I’m going to show you another video taken by another eye-drone. Same angle, same scene, but the only difference is that I MAXed out the world-rendering settings for this drone. Watch carefully.”

Fuma played another video below the first video he played to them earlier.

It was the same scene where after Cramer and Siva had exchanged many blows, they parted and did not attack each other again… swallowing large pant-mouthfuls of air, obviously mentally drained.

Cramer was smiling, speaking, [He…… hehe… (Haaahh) hahahaha… I… I am… I am really not wrong… abo— about you…]

Siva used his sleeve to brush his mouth and then the last moments of the duel began.

Before the fight ended, Fuma paused the video and asked them, “So, did you see it?”

Volt was still confused but Thorn was frowning.

“Replay that again. Stop. Volt look at Cramer.”

Volt looked at he saw him bruised and bleeding in the mouth. He looked at Thorn and asked, “What is the difference?”

Thorn didn’t answer and showed him the same moment from the first video.

Volt’s jaws dropped.

On the second video with the maxed out world-rendering settings where the pain and visual bars are maxed out, making the feel of the world at the so called 90% nigh-reality rendering, everything is real-like… and for Cramer, though, it was obvious that he was in the [Gamer] settings while Siva…

*****

As Matt recalled about this, he looked at Rex and thought about the ‘pain’ he said he had been feeling ever since he entered this game.

Every member of the [Core] of The Company is aware of that now and they all have differing mindsets about this matter.

Still, the video was only known to the three of them and Fuma knew the weights and pros if he so try to tell this to the others.

Matt felt that this [Rex] was in fact telling him the truth all this time and this put more pressure to his senses.

He lifted the cup and found it to have been empty for some reason. And yet, he felt thirsty for some odd reason as well.

He knew then that he had become nervous.

Putting down the cup to the saucer in the small table in front of them, he said, “This [secret] you are telling me… paired with the story of what had happened to you in Sweetzerland, you’re telling me that it was a secret that concerns the world as a whole, is that it?”

“Yes.”

Matt gulped, “And the reason why you’re asking me to get that thing away from you, regardless of whether I can or cannot do it, is because it will nonetheless affect the world, whether I am successful or not, is that it?”

Rex smiled, “Yep.”

“Why? I mean, how will this thing affect the outcome? What is the difference of the result of succeeding if they will happen with or without my intervention?”

Matt is thinking now on the terms of him, finding the object. It was an optimistic thinking and [Rex] liked it… whether Matt would say yes or no.

He explained, “The difference is that if that thing is securely away from me, then the [Siva] I told you about, once he awakens, will be a reasonable existence that you can talk things to and negotiate the fate of the worlds with. But if that thing is with me, especially at the wrong time, then you can be sure that it will destroy Terroa.”

“…”

Matt was silently thinking if he’d make another cup of blend when [Rex] went inside the house and brought a pitcher of water and a glass back with him.

[Rex] didn’t have an expectant look in him as he was, in fact, just calmly sitting there, looking at the changes on Matt’s expressions.

Matt asked, “What’s in it when this [Siva] you’re talking about awakens in Terroa and destroys it?”

“Good question. What do you think will happen?”

“Basing on past events, is it going to a Game Over for everyone?”

“Yes. And?”

“Huh? And? There’s still an ‘and’?”

“Of course, recall Siva’s self-proclaimed title?”

“You called yourself ‘The Destroyer’. I thought the reason why you disregarded the Dragon Hunter title back in Hagonoy is because you just officially want that title.”

“Yes. And I mean it literally. More like, I was a title that [Siva] only wants for himself and nothing else.”

When Matt heard him say ‘I’ in there, he knew that this [Rex] was referring to all of it as the ‘Rex’ and ‘Siva’ they’ve been hanging out with was all just a small part of his entire being.

To be exact, those two are but one part of three, with the three being him altogether.

You can say that this [Rex] is telling him that every persona of him that they’ve encountered were all but merely his ‘Avatars’, but without these avatars knowing that he’s aware of their every actions, and that they still thought they are the real him.

.….and when it’s spoken of to as ‘they’, he means it as the “Rex” that they all thought of before as “Dex”; as well as the ‘Siva’ they’ve all seen appear in the Cellar Dungeons; both of them merely his Avatars.

Then wouldn’t that make:

Rex and his game avatar, Siva = one part;

The ‘Siva’ in the Cellar Dungeons = another part;

And the [Siva] this [Rex] said is still yet to appear, the third and ultimate form?

…with all these three parts being him, [Rex], and nothing and nobody else more?

………….and the bottom line being that this [Rex] is the ultimate singularity of all other versions of Rex and Siva…

After all, this [Rex] said that the ‘Rex’ and ‘Siva’ they’ve been hanging with is him, without all the [memories] of what happened to him in Terroa during the time of his accident.

[Rex] explained, “Just think about that title as the very thing I wanted you to keep away from me. It’s the bane of both Terroa and the real world; and it’s the [key] that will enable that [Siva] to bring his abilities to the real world.”

“WHAT?!! An avatar can do that?” Matt was really chocked by this and he spoke the very thought that ran through his mind. “Just what is this [Siva] going to destroy here, then?”

“It is part of the [secret] I don’t wanna tell you.”

“Meh…”

“Hah. I told you, didn’t I? The World Government’s plan is centered in the Terran Universe, but Pegasus’s plans centered further than that and accumulated in Terroa…. which me and Samantha had stopped at the nick of time. But the World Government, in order to not let the entire Project Salvation go to waste, re-initiated their proposed original plan, and masked it by creating RPG: Terroa as a virtual online game; in turn, also giving Pegasus his tiny chance to re-create Mefisto using Lucifer as the blueprint and inject him again back to the Terran Universe as the leader of the alien armada of the LAGRAM Alliance… he is the same Mefisto you all saw in Dragona and the War of Two Powers.”

Matt had joined a few of the dots and said, “So in other words, the original plan of both Pegasus and the UNICORN is not yet totally ruined four years ago; and that even though they have differing goals which you haven’t told me about, they still won’t allow the destruction of Terroa no matter what.”

“Yes.”

“But I’m still confused with a few things. Like, if you want me to keep that thing you wanted me to search for away from you, but having that thing will make you stop Pegasus and his evil plans on his tool, Mefisto, then aren’t the destruction of Terroa solve all of our problems? As I see it, with or without that thing, you… the [Siva] that you’re taking about, are still capable of destroying the game world of Terroa and stopping his evil plans, so isn’t that still okay?”

“Yes and no.” [Rex] shook his head sideways, “I told you about the thing because the difference is that it is a [key] that will enable [Siva] to bring his all-destroying might to the real world. Yes, we can just let [Siva] destroy Terroa but I can’t let that happen no matter what. Because in the process, I will also lose all the things I am trying to protect.”

“You mean Baron?!” Matt was shocked. “How is he going to be affected by the destruction of the game world of Terroa?”

[Rex] displayed a complicated look of pain and of helplessness, sighing, “Because Baron is in DNI-Therapy and [Siva]’s destruction protocol deletes everything without distinction. It will ignore all of the safety features of the NLD console and make you all feel the pain as I did, then delete all of the data on every player avatar that will be affected. It is Baron’s guillotine. Once a DNI Therapy patient suffers that kind of mental pain, he will definitely die or if he survives, there is a permanent damage on his brain.”

“My God…. this is more complicated than I can even imagine it to be.” As he grabbed his head and gasped, no matter how cool the garden was in [Rex]’s garage, Matt still removed his upper rider’s gear to show his wet shirt from sweat. “And here I can see that that’s not all, is it?”

“Yes.” [Rex] said full of hope. Matt saw this and he furrowed his brow to the furthest it can as he prompted for him to explain. Rex clenched his teeth and he began tearing up again. “I thought back then that I won’t be seeing her anymore but I was really shocked to discover that Samantha is still alive…… in Terroa… her soul is in Terroa!”

Rex was shaking and he was really weeping. It’s really hard to imagine this crying Rex is the same [Rex] that displayed a mysterious murderous will earlier when he invited Matthew in.

This was a [Rex] that he said he was once been; a teenager in love with a woman.

How would Matt know just how shocked this [Rex] had been when he saw Samantha when he first entered the Northern Continent of Tiara?

How would Matt know that all the changes that is now happening in the game all started at that very exact moment when [he] saw Sam again?

……because it was the very first signs of [Rex], the very [Siva] that Gabriel hated, actually starting his awakening process.

It all started with him and Samantha is the trigger.

Now, even though [Rex] knew that coming into being right now poised troubles and problems on his avatars’ goals, if he could save Sam’s soul in the very same time and manner that he could save Baron, then he would endure the trouble of him coming into being just so he could increase the chances of him seeing Samantha again.

Matt realized something, “So all of this, including your request of me keeping that thing away from you is not a permanent solution but just a brief respite in order for you to bid for more time?”

[Rex], with tears, chuckled and nodded with vigor and gratitude, “Yes. That thing will eventually land back to me sooner or later but with you, I can at least buy more time for me to save everything.”

Matt thought about something, “But how are you going to do it? I mean… how is it possible that Samantha is alive in Terroa? If I understood your story correctly, she should have died back then when you entered Terroa, millions of years in its past… and not in the game world of Terroa but in the real world at that.”

“No. She is alive in Terroa. I’ve seen her.”

“How?”

“I don’t know the specifics yet of how she came there but I saw her here but she died to save me from Mefisto’s and Pegasus’s men who infiltrated Terroa… telling me to search for her…”

“Search for her? Even though she died? How?”

“Time Travel.”

“WHAT THE F*CK?!!!”

[Rex] chuckled at Matt’s ‘normal’ reaction, sniffing and wiping his tears, “It may not be possible in the real world, but it is possible in Terroa…. thru the so called H-Ranked Quests.”

.

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H-Ranked Quests finally revealed…

The ‘secrets’ of Terroa deepens further!!!

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