Prologue

The world message that appeared on the Alive and Sense gear was considered the number one hot topic on the web and worldwide news. Nothing escaped the media about the game of Growth or the world game tournament. Never in history were the world's diplomatic problems going to take place in a virtual reality setting. One could say that it was the dawn of new technological advances and the creation of a second world in a virtual world. A new world to conquer in a digital age. New technology to exploit that has never been touched before.

There was speculation on how the open land of Noriene would be divided. However, more and more people had bought the Embryo gear to take on the challenge of pioneering the new lands. Pro gamers from all over the world were recruited into a special task force to win for their country.

The deadline was set. The time for first battle royal will take place on the same day as the deadline for the first Yami Hikari game competition, June 11, 2055. After that, more people became interested in the game of Growth because of the world media buzz continuously going on. As a result, sales skyrocketed to the pinnacle for the Yami Hikari company, and an explosion of players continually rose.

"Welcome. Welcome! To the Eleventh-hour gaming webcast show. This is Brian Jackson and Jennifer Hong giving you live coverage on the up-to-date gaming news on the Eleventh Hour gaming broadcasting show," said a lightly colored-skinned male and a beautiful-looking Asian female wearing animal cosplay.

"What an interesting end to the Real World Quest: Alpha Division. This quest has created so many different stories and endings. First, we heard the news that the world of Norine's curse had been dispersed. There is no more threat. Supposedly the curse was that the spiritual dimensional tear was causing negative and dark energy to slowly be released exponentially in certain areas.

These areas increased dark activity around the area, creating more bloodshed," cutely replied

Jennifer." Supposedly the threat of high-ranking demons has been thwarted from crossing over. Rumors stated that if the deadline had not been accomplished, then the world in Noriene would have been in trouble."

"That sounds like a disaster, but at the same time, I would've loved to see another fight."

"I agree with you, Brian. What an epic scene it would have been. The only problem is that a couple of kingdoms might have fallen."

"That would put people in jeopardy if that were to happen. A couple of scenarios of the end of the world of Noriene would make a living in the game a lot more difficult than before. Our talk of today is what is really happening in the Real World Quest."

"Ah yes, that. I was surprised to see such videos from such a large number of players. Why don't we show a couple of them."

"That would be a great idea. The first video we will show you is from PeopleNation. Each of these videos has not been tampered with. Quite an interesting story to tell."

A video replaces the screen, and the screen turns black. Soft blue light enters and creates a soft atmospheric perspective. A young female who looks around eighteen enters an abandoned church with a group of friends. The church still looked partially refurbished, with a broken cross in the middle of the room. Soft giggling sounds of children could be heard in the background.

The closer the group of young adults came to the fallen cross, the louder and louder the children's voices became. Then, finally, a particular song with definite words could be heard in the children's voices.

"Ring around the rosy."

The voices of the children laughed. Strange small shadows appear around the cross, dancing around in circles. "A pocketful of posies."

The shadows kept dancing as more kept appearing around the cross. "Ashes. Ashes."

With fear in their voice, the young adults huddled together closer, thinking it would help keep the strange shadows away. Their whispers were loud with worry as they wondered if they were actually children or ghosts. They seem to hold onto small pouches as they watch the scene.

"We all fall down!" The shadows disappeared. The screen goes black, and screams of horror erupt. Silence follows after, and the scene changes to both Brian and Jennifer.

"That one gives you a strange shiver down your spine," Brian replied. His hands rubbed against each other as if trying to scrub something off. "Do you know the story of the Ring Around the Rosy rhyme?"

"Not exactly."

"Well, the nursery rhyme originated from the Great Plague of London in 1665 or even before the first outbreak hit England in the 1300s. The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in a shape of a ring on the skin. Pockets and pouches were filled with herbs due to the belief that the disease was transmitted by a bad smell. While the ashes to ashes represent the cremation of the dead body. The death rate was over sixty percent, and it was halted by the Great Fire of London in 1666 by killing the rats which carried the disease via water. There are other variations of the children's rhymes as well."

"That's a very dark song for a child to sing."

"Yes, it is."

"Where was this video filmed anyways?"

"Where do you think?"

"I don't know." Jennifer shrugged.

"London, England. The story of this rundown church was that it was once an orphanage. The Orphanage was burned down in the Great Fire of London. A church was built on top of it. Supposedly it hasn't been ten years since the church has also been abandoned."

"Creepy." Jennifer shuddered.

"Yes, it is." Brian nodded, agreeing with what she said.

"What was the quest even about?"

"I heard they had to walk through the church for a good hour with pouches full of posies and some random trinkets. Supposedly each pouch was different with sweet smelling herbs."

"I see." Jennifer went quiet for a moment, thinking over what Brian was saying. "It feels like someone had made a small clip of a supernatural horror film."

"Well, if you don't believe it, how about we try another tape? This one gets weirder and weirder."

The scene once again changes to black, and a different opening scene is present. This time the scene around them was a young Asian man that looked like he was a mix of two different cultures with black hair. He is seen walking by himself, entering a playground. He goes around each area where he dropped a stone with writing inscribed on it. As the young man continued, he placed the stones in designated areas.

At first, only one white cat appeared following the young man. Then, as he continued to go through the playground area, more cats followed. Finally, the young man was swarmed by a different variety of cats. The loud screams of cats meowing could be heard as they continued singing their song. The wind blew more viciously as black silhouette shadows appeared, pacing around the young man like a hyena.

A large cat fight between the black silhouettes and the cats began. It was truly a strange sight to see. The cats were going through the black shadows creating large holes, while the young man was chanting. It was a chaotic display of cats, black shadows, and the young man's voice, each interloping with one another. All the cats fled back into the woods when the final word was said. Even the black shadows were gone. The scene once again changes to black.

"Wow," said Jennifer. No words could describe the strange scene before her.

"I know, right? This truly is an odd sight to see."

"Where did all those cats come from? I think there were more than fifty of them present."

"I don't know, but they all scattered at the end of the verse."

"Don't you think the cats were protecting that young man?"

"Yes, I do believe so."

"This is the second time shadow people appear in the videos. We have about ten or more of these shadow people appearing in other videos we have received. A couple of them also had strange orbs flying around like flies."

"The Real World Quest is becoming stranger and stranger."

"Even though in a good ninety-five percent of the real world quests nothing happens, but the rare five percent supposedly something happened."

"Wow. I didn't expect such a number. Where are each of these places even taking place anyway?"

"To be more exact, it's not just one place. It seems to be around the world. Major capitals, cities, and sometimes even out in the country."

"What are the hotspot locations of these videos taking place?"

"It seems most of these videos are taken in highly populated areas. There are a rare few where the quest takes place out in the country."

"I see. Then what do you think about the new update? Some big tournaments will be going on the same date as the Yami Hikari's event. I wonder if they will work together or do their own separate thing."

"Wait." Brian went quiet while reading his message on a personal cell phone. "I can't believe this. We have a new update right this moment as we speak. Both the tournament will be held together with the Yami Hikari's event. Apparently, this tournament is only a prelude to their main event."

"So it's not the main event? Can they even do that?"

"It's their game, so why wouldn't they be able to?"

Both Brian and Jennifer were surprised at what they had just learned.

"Then what do you think will happen in the Yami Hikari event?" asked Jennifer.

"The only news I know is that the event will take place in ten countries: the USA. China. India. Indonesia. Brazil. Pakistan. Nigeria. Russia. England. Japan."

"That's quite a lot of different places."

"Well, having so many people in one place is difficult. I wonder what kind of event they would be hosting besides the tournament. I'm not sure. All we can do is wait."

"Yes. That would be the way to go, wouldn't it?"

Brian nodded his head. "Thank you for viewing the Eleventh-hour gaming webcast show. I hope you have a wonderful evening! We'll see you again at our next show. Both Brian and Jennifer waved goodbye, and the screen faded to black.