[Oneshot] Virtual Reality - Nino centric (Part 2)
(Part 1)
“Isn’t it interesting?” Aiba said, breaking the silence ever since Nino finished telling him of his adventures earlier. He and Ohno had gone back to the place where he first woke up. He figured this must be their home base, just like any games out there. Jun happened to arrived here, too. Now, they were sitting around a table. For some reason, the game seemed to be paused as daylight faded to night.
Nino somehow felt a little down having all the thoughts inside his head. Everything seemed fine to him at first; he found the hint he needed to leave this virtual universe by finding this ‘Heart Of The City’ that could lead to his exit to the real world. But when the fact that the universe he created was not as it seems, his hope was ruined.
The virtual world was vast: desert, river , ruins, and the wide open space he currently found himself in made him feel anxious what lies ahead.
Disappointed, he heaved one hard sigh.
“How on earth, Aiba? How on earth can I find it in this big universe?” Nino said, opened his arms wide as he spoke, not realizing Ohno was sitting next to him, pushing him off his chair. The man hissed in pain as he landed on his back. Still, instead of getting mad, Ohno laughed until the others couldn’t help laughing along.
“Things are not that hard compared to what you saw, Nino,” Aiba spoke again once their laughter stopped. “But unless you try, you won’t know.”
He looked at Aiba. For some reason, he envied at the character for his positivity. How could someone by optimistic no matter how tough their condition was? Nino couldn’t understand.
“Anyway Nino, you must be tired, aren’t you?” MJ asked, standing up from his seat, the other two following. Nino frowned.
“Where are you guys going?” he asked, sensing that the three were going somewhere. Instead of a proper answer, MJ shrugged.
“Have a good rest, Nino. Your strength is weakening. You need to take a rest before the next task. We’re somewhere near though, don’t worry about it.”
That was the only explanation he got from the man before they left him alone in the room where he first woke up that time he entered this world.
For the first time since he entered the world, Nino felt drained. It seemed that time passed in a blink of an eye that he didn’t notice how exhausted he was. His back hurt that he needed to lie down on something comfortable, which was impossible in this minimal room that offered nothing but a hard wooden bed. In the end, his exhaustion won over for he felt asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
It was a nice proper sleep until he was jerked awake by a rustling sound around him. In the darkness, he could see someone inside
the room, rummaging the stuff inside the room. His heart beating fast as the new stranger noticed him, their eyes met and from there Nino knew this is not a normal character.
The new stranger was tall and slender. He wore a long, black hooded robe, his face covered with the hood. As the man approached him, Nino could see his hideous face, his lips forming a mischievous smile.
“Nino,” the stranger whispered, sending a chill all over his body. “Finally, we met.”
“How did you know my name?” Nino asked, panic in his voice. “I don’t remember having you in my coding. Who are you?”
He tried to sound annoyed to cover his apprehension of seeing this stranger out of nowhere, but the stranger didn’t seem affected by it. In fact, he sat on his bed, smiling creepily at him.
“It doesn’t matter, does it? What matters is we have the same mission.” The stranger smiled at Nino’s confused face. “To kill Ayber Mask Key.”
Nino’s eyes widen in shocked. “Wait, what?”
“Doesn’t it frustrate you, Nino? When what you have developed changed almost everything? Don’t they annoy you, having them change their names as they pleased, giving you a reason that they evolved by themselves?”
Nino fell silent.
“Don’t tell me-“ the stranger chuckled scornfully. “-you fell for their tricks?”
“What do you expect then?” Nino retorted, anger starting to build inside him. “Everything about the game was never the same again. This is not the fault of the programming code that I’m working on!”
“Then what was it?”
“I don’t know!” Nino snapped. “Perhaps, it was bugs. Or virus. Or anything related to that. I just don’t know okay. I need to leave this place in order to find out what it is.”
Nino didn’t like the way the stranger look at him. His gaze wasn’t sincere; but full of threat and mischievous agenda. Yet, Nino couldn’t bring himself to call either one of the characters he knew earlier. He didn’t even know why he let the stranger influence him more.
“Believe me, Nino. Even if you find the Heart Of The City, I’m sure it is not your way to leave this world.”
“But the book said it was.”
Once again, the stranger chuckled. “After all of the things you see, do you still believe the book? It could be evolving too.”
Nino was speechless. He felt tricked. He felt cheated. Everything didn’t seem right to him anymore. For a moment of silence, he kept staring at the stranger, looking for some hint of lies in the man’s face. Perhaps he was too frustrated that he couldn’t find any and that was when he decided, perhaps, it’s not a bad thing to listen to the stranger’s suggestion.
“Why do I have to kill Ayber?” Nino asked, trying to gather more convincing proof.
“Isn’t it obvious? He’s the reason to all of this.”
“Excuse me?”
“He was the first part that was infected by the virus before it spread all over this place. He needed to be destroyed so that everything could be put in order again.”
At this point, Nino wasn’t even sure anymore who was his real helper. Part of him seemed to believe this stranger, but another part was telling him not to. He couldn’t decide, but every explanation from the hideous stranger started to make sense, every good deed from the three earlier seemed nothing to his own calculation. His fuming anger tripled when he remembered his own failure before he entered the world.
“So-“ the stranger started again. “Have you decide?”
Nino nodded.
“Good.” Slowly, the stranger pulled out a small carved knife from his robe. “You need to kill him by your own hand.”
Nino didn’t have an answer to that. Watching this, the stranger decided to continued, “He can only be killed by this knife.” The stranger waved the knife in front of Nino’s face. “I can give you this, but I want something in return.”
“What?”
“The diamond.” The stranger answered. In his hand, the knife glinted, as if trying to tell him it was all ready for some blood. “Barter system. You gave me the diamond. I’ll give you this knife. It’s fair and square, isn’t it?”
Nino didn’t care. He just refused to care. He had only one thing in his mind: to leave this world and fix all the mess. Evolved huh, he thought. It seems like irreparable.
He did have the doubt. Yet, his anger, his frustration conquer his mind. As much as he wanted to consider for more option, he felt like a force was controlling his movement. Slowly, he pulled out the book from his bag near him, pulling out the big shiny diamond off the cover cover, then handed it to the stranger.
He didn’t realized how the stranger started to smile victoriously. He was controlled by his anger and the fact that he had been brainwashed by the stranger only made him blinded by everything.
He didn’t bother to take a final look at the stranger leaving the room. His mind was full of anger, impatient to finish this off.
But before he could think of a strategy, the stranger came back, stopping halfway from entering the room.
“Sorry for not introducing myself earlier,” the stranger said, peeking from the outside wall into the room. “My name is Apollyon. Remember that.”
*
When the sun rose, Aiba came alone to greet Nino.
The room was dark. Aiba knocked softly on the doorjamb. “Nino,” Aiba called in the dark. Nothing stirred. “Nino, are you awake?” he tried again. He went in, turned on the laser on his costume to illuminate the room, and found it empty. Frowning, he made his way out the room, only to see Nino sitting alone at the bench near the room.
Aiba had a bad feeling watching how the player looked so down. Of course, Nino didn’t show a lot of interest at the beginning when he the first time he entered the world, but the guy now seemed to have lost his enthusiasm. He kept staring at the ground, his feet kicking up the dirt floor. He observed the man for a few moments when he noticed him gripping a knife so hard, his knuckles were white.
Aiba felt his blood drained. “Nino-“
“I have to kill you, don’t I?” Nino cut him, slowly raising his head to look up at the man. He stood and approached Aiba, who took a few steps back every time Nino came closer.
“What are you talking about, Nino? I don’t-“
“Don’t tell me you don’t understand a thing, Aiba!” Nino raged, kicking aside few small stones in his way. “Stop making that innocent face, pretending to know nothing when you’re the reason behind everything!”
“What-“
“You’re the reason to everything evolving by itself, aren’t you?” Nino cut him again, his voice raising a pitch. “You were infected with the virus, and you infected every thing else. Matsumoto. Ohno. This fucking universe. Everything. You’re the one who turned everything upside down!”
“Nino! Hear me out.”
“No!” Nino snapped, furious. His eyes red with anger, his body shook in fury.
“I know my third task now, Aiba,” Nino said, hissing hatefully as he made a few steps towards the man. His determination scared Aiba. Every moved he made was properly plan that Aiba couldn’t defend himself. Aiba knew something bad had happened and he knew that it would happen again.
He was right.
His instinct was telling him to dodge down when he saw Nino moved his hand, waving the knife in front of his face. It didn’t hit him, still it sent him a rush.
Nino was enraged. His face written with all sort of hatred, frustration and anger that Aiba sure something had possessed the man.
“Stop, Nino!” he yelled, but Nino ignored him. His hand blocked Nino’s when he the knife the second time. Aiba felt a sting on his cheek and something trickling down his face. He wiped with his hand. Blood. Nino had managed to swipe his cheek with the knife. Nino smirked before he moved to attack him again.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Nino,” Aiba said. Still, Nino didn’t show any sign of stopping. Instead, he attacked him again, this time much more aggressive, left Aiba with no choice. He ran, flipping in the air before he took out his shuriken* and threw it, hitting Nino’s hand.
Nino yelped, letting go of the knife. To Aiba’s surprised, the blade turned rusty as if it had been made centuries ago. But Nino’s enraged didn’t stop there. He ran towards the ninja, knocking him to the ground and straddled him over his chest. Nino grabbed Aiba’s neck in both hands to strangle to him.
“I’m sorry, Aiba. But if your death is my way out, I won’t feel regret killing you.”
He struggled, his lungs begging for air. His arms were trapped under Nino’s knees, and for a lanky man, he was too heavy. He opened his mouth to tell Nino that whatever ideas that he had were wrong, He could only make gasping noises.
Jun’s shriek never sounded so good. Nino heard footsteps rushing toward them, Jun and Ohno screaming at Nino to stop and one of them managed to push him off just in time. Aiba gasped, his lungs burning from the lack of air and he gulped in, Ohno telling him to breathe in slowly as not to pass out. He noticed that Jun had pinned Nino against the wall with his arm.
“Let me go!” Nino yelled, struggling to break free from Jun. “I need to get out of here!”
“Killing Aiba won’t solve your problem, Nino! What the hell is wrong with you?"
“He’s the reason!” Nino said, pointing an accusation towards the man. “Unless he’s dead, I will be stuck in here forever with all these hideous creatures.”
Everyone fell silent, frowning at the statement.
“What happened, Nino?” Ohno softly spoke, his soft gaze on the man. “Were there any parts in the code you wrote said that you’re supposed to kill Ayber in order for you to win?”
“No,” Nino replied softly, hesitating. Yet, he continued sternly. “But none of this too.”
“Are you sure?” Ohno asked, still being calm. “Isn’t the game you’ve created supposed to look for the ancient treasure, running aimlessly with a helper to reach the goal?”
“Yes, but-“
“Is there any part of this game you wrote supposed to be bugs trying to catch any of the player or the helper?”
Nino fell silent. A lot of possibilities suddenly revolved around his head. He wiped the sweat dripping down his face from all the exertion in trying to kill Aiba.
Breaking free from Ohno’s grip, Aiba got up and made his way to Nino. “Your third task, Nino, is for you to look for the Heart of the City.” He spoke, standing a couple of steps from Nino. “Look at me. Look into my eyes and remember the only hint you had found inside the book.”
Nino obeyed. At first, it seemed pointless, not to mention awkward, looking into Aiba’s eyes until he remembered the symbol inside the book. Nino’s eyes widen in realization: the strange pattern in the man’s eyes.
“Wait. You’re the Heart of the City?” he asked, shocked. “How-“
“No one knows. I have to agree though that this place have evolved more than necessary, but you should remember that among the characters you’ve created, I am the only one who appeared every time the player is instructed to save the game upon exiting and also when you reset.”
Nino gasped. Aiba was right. He had put all those code inside one character, so that it could be much easier for him to make a correction if there was any mistake in the future.
Why couldn’t he remember it?
“If you kill Aiba,” Jun said. “It would stop the whole game, Nino. Weren’t those three codes crucial to the game? It was so powerful that it could revived us too if we die in the middle of the game.”
Jun was right. Yet, something still nagged his mind.
“How am I supposed to win the game if Aiba is the Heart of the City? I thought it was the door between the universe?”
Aiba chuckled. “By presenting me the Big Book, along with the diamond attached to it. Then I will grant any of your wishes, including your exit.”
Here, Aiba noticed the panic on Nino’s face.
“Where’s the book, Nino?” he asked, cautiously. Nothing could beat his fear when Nino took out the book, a large hole on the book cover where the large diamond used to be.
“Where’s the diamond?” Jun asked, something that Aiba couldn’t bring himself to ask. But Nino remained silent, making Jun start to lose his temper. He rushed to the man, grip him by his arms, shaking him vigorously that Nino whined pain. “Seriously! Where’s the diamond?”
“I gave it to a guy.”
“What?”
“He said his name was Apollyon. In exchange for the knife, I needed to give him the diamond.”
“That is the most powerful diamond in this world, Nino!” Ohno yelled, staggered by the new fact. Nino looked at him confused.
“How so?”
“Of course, you didn’t know.” Ohno said, trying to calm down. “For god’s sake, Nino. Remember what the missing piece from the book told you about The Heart of the City? It’s the door between the universe. The diamond is the key to unlock it and has the power to transport you back to your real world.”
“No way-“
“Once you give the diamond to Aiba, he will use the power from the diamond to help you escape this world. Of course, your code has given Aiba all the power to reset or exit the game. But in this world, science or your technology alone isn’t enough to make it work. Now that the diamond has fallen into the wrong hands, I’m sure, this world won’t survive another day.”
Nino gasped. What the hell have I put myself into?
And all of sudden, he remembered everything. He had worked the programming for the first level. He was supposed to collect as many treasures as he could, reaching the 5000 total of coins and treasure the most. By the end of the level, he was to get a book as a reward. A book with a diamond attached to it. He had found it, but why didn’t he remember writing the code?
In the second level, it was supposed to be just the same. He needed to run, finding all the treasure while he could before he ran out of time. It was all about the treasure and the coins. Reaching the goal, he would receive the missing page from the book. That’s it. No exact weapon needed to reach the-
Wait, He thought. Something else clicked.
He never wrote anything related to the bugs. Not even Apollyon.
It was then he heard a buzzing sound coming closer. They turned their heard in time to see an enormous group of bugs, the one he saw in the second level flying towards their way.
It felt like everything was in slow motion. He saw how Jun pulled out his small bazooka from his gear, shooting all sort of light towards the group through the window without shutters. By his side, Ohno transformed into a cyborg, shooting a large ball of fire towards their enemy, giving some time for Aiba to take Nino outside through the back of the shack and up onto their horse, escaping the chaos.
He saw everything, how some of the bugs were shot down, still it was not enough for them to win. Just when he thought that both Jun and Ohno had succeeded, another large group of bugs appeared from another direction.
They fought, just like true warriors, and that was the moment when Nino actually hope he didn’t make the mistake by trusting a stranger who he met the night before.
*
Both Jun and Ohno succeeded. Aiba manage to bring Nino to a hidden place before the other two appeared an hour later.
Nino felt devastated. He was sure he had brought this destruction to himself. He looked at each one in turn. their serious faces soften. He fell on his knees, feeling he weakened by his frustration, anger and desperation..
“Nino-“
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do we.” Jun replied. “But blaming yourself now is not the right thing to do.”
“What is Apollyon then?” Nino suddenly asked, making the three characters to look at him. “He never exist in my plan, yet why is he here?”
He saw the three characters shrugged, unable to give an answer. But before he could ask more, Jun answered, “Don’t ask me where I know about it, but if my assumption is right, that guy is a destroyer.” Jun paused, clarified when he saw Nino frowned in confusion. “It is his name. Apollyon is a Greek name for a destroyer. His existence here is questionable though. We don’t know the reason.”
A virus.
Perhaps it was a virus that had entered into this world and messing up the whole system. Nino couldn’t bring himself to tell the others about it. It was useless information now. His frustration took over him. He shook his head in desperation.
“You could have told me earlier. All this information. About the Heart of the City most importantly-” Nino said. A hint of giving up was heard in his tone. “I could have make it right. I could go home much earlier than wasting time here. I could fix all the errors exist here!”
“Where’s the fun then?” Aiba replied, slightly pouting while mumbling his next words. “And apparently, I am supposed to be that idiot character you have created, to even think to tell you brilliant ideas.”
“That’s not related at all!”
“Of course it is!”
Nino fell silent. The fact that he was running out time before those bugs could find their hidden place and the fact that he didn't notice all of his mistakes earlier hurt him. A game creator should know, should recognize his own game. He had the chance to live inside the world he created, yet he couldn't recognize it either.
“We evolved, yes we did. But respecting the code you have wrote, Nino, we are not supposed to spoil the solution. You, the player, have to find it by yourself. And we, as what you had created, should only assist you to the end,” Jun explained, trying to break the tense in the atmosphere. Though judging from the look on Nino's face, Jun knew perfectly he had failed.
Once again, silence wrapped them, driving them into their own deep thoughts. They were running out time. Their world is running out of time, for god only knew how guilty Nino felt for being the reason to his own destruction.
There was only one thing he needed: fix the problem existed in this virtual world by leaving here. But there's nothing he could do, considering the fact that he was tricked to trade the key to his own escape for useless information. As a result, here he was, stuck in a virtual world, counting time to the destruction of the universe he was in now.
“But I really believe in you, Nino,” Aiba suddenly spoke, startling Nino. “And I still believe you're the savior to this world. To us.”
Nino could hear sincerity in the way the man spoke. Still, he couldn't stop feeling guilty over the things that happened. How could he, the creator to the game, was tricked by a malicious bug, or virus to be exact? How could he have been so stupid to believe that the enemy was trying to help him? It was a game for goddamn sake. It was supposed to be an unharm challenge. Yet, why?
For once, he took a look at both Jun and Ohno, two characters that existed for the sake of the task continuity. Ohno who always looked sleepy and absentminded yet fluid and active in every move his made exist in his code. That guy who had save him from the bugs that fly as far towards the middle of the river to harm them. And MJ-II, Jun who has this too sharp facial features for a Japanese character but was brilliant and professionally handled all those weird weapon he carried along. These two characters started to build an attachment towards him. He trusted them.
And there was Aiba who was too nice to be a warrior. He stayed, helped him to start the game, giving him the idea and made him face all those challenges. Despite all the tantrums he threw towards the man earlier, Aiba stayed, took him somewhere safer for the sake of his existence. Loyal, even though he had tried to kill him once. All because of that code he had wrote for the main character: clumsy, idiot yet loyal and naive no matter how much damage he received in the end.
Gathering his strength, he pushed himself to stand, pushing away all the frustration and anger with a determination to make it right for them again. He was their creator. He had a responsibility to keep them alive.
“I need the exit, Aiba.” Nino said calmly, but determined. “This is not the end. I want to fix this and I know I can do it. But in order to do that, I need to get out of here.”
He knew they would understand this. After all the betrayal, Nino knew he didn't deserve their trust. But that was the same moment when he realized how important these three in his life now. They taught him some values in life- to keep on trying and never give up. And all of sudden, he knew they had became someone who he wanted to protect.
“There might be another way, Nino,” Aiba said, but Nino noticed the other two gave uneasy looks between themselves. “There will be some parts of this world that would fail but you need to believe me when I said there's a way.”
There will be some parts of this world that would fail, was repeating inside his head. Aiba’s words, while it did give him some hope, felt ominous. Watching the sadness in the other two eyes almost confirmed it, but he couldn’t ask why and how.
“Don’t worry about it, Nino,” Ohno had said. No matter how hard Nino tried to push it away, he could hear sadness in the way Ohno spoke. Only Aiba looked hopeful and cheery, grabbing Nino in a reassuring hug.
“Yes. You shouldn’t worry about it. Even before you had asked, this is what I already had in mind.”
Nino didn’t like hearing this.
( Part 3)
“Isn’t it interesting?” Aiba said, breaking the silence ever since Nino finished telling him of his adventures earlier. He and Ohno had gone back to the place where he first woke up. He figured this must be their home base, just like any games out there. Jun happened to arrived here, too. Now, they were sitting around a table. For some reason, the game seemed to be paused as daylight faded to night.
Nino somehow felt a little down having all the thoughts inside his head. Everything seemed fine to him at first; he found the hint he needed to leave this virtual universe by finding this ‘Heart Of The City’ that could lead to his exit to the real world. But when the fact that the universe he created was not as it seems, his hope was ruined.
The virtual world was vast: desert, river , ruins, and the wide open space he currently found himself in made him feel anxious what lies ahead.
Disappointed, he heaved one hard sigh.
“How on earth, Aiba? How on earth can I find it in this big universe?” Nino said, opened his arms wide as he spoke, not realizing Ohno was sitting next to him, pushing him off his chair. The man hissed in pain as he landed on his back. Still, instead of getting mad, Ohno laughed until the others couldn’t help laughing along.
“Things are not that hard compared to what you saw, Nino,” Aiba spoke again once their laughter stopped. “But unless you try, you won’t know.”
He looked at Aiba. For some reason, he envied at the character for his positivity. How could someone by optimistic no matter how tough their condition was? Nino couldn’t understand.
“Anyway Nino, you must be tired, aren’t you?” MJ asked, standing up from his seat, the other two following. Nino frowned.
“Where are you guys going?” he asked, sensing that the three were going somewhere. Instead of a proper answer, MJ shrugged.
“Have a good rest, Nino. Your strength is weakening. You need to take a rest before the next task. We’re somewhere near though, don’t worry about it.”
That was the only explanation he got from the man before they left him alone in the room where he first woke up that time he entered this world.
For the first time since he entered the world, Nino felt drained. It seemed that time passed in a blink of an eye that he didn’t notice how exhausted he was. His back hurt that he needed to lie down on something comfortable, which was impossible in this minimal room that offered nothing but a hard wooden bed. In the end, his exhaustion won over for he felt asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
It was a nice proper sleep until he was jerked awake by a rustling sound around him. In the darkness, he could see someone inside
the room, rummaging the stuff inside the room. His heart beating fast as the new stranger noticed him, their eyes met and from there Nino knew this is not a normal character.
The new stranger was tall and slender. He wore a long, black hooded robe, his face covered with the hood. As the man approached him, Nino could see his hideous face, his lips forming a mischievous smile.
“Nino,” the stranger whispered, sending a chill all over his body. “Finally, we met.”
“How did you know my name?” Nino asked, panic in his voice. “I don’t remember having you in my coding. Who are you?”
He tried to sound annoyed to cover his apprehension of seeing this stranger out of nowhere, but the stranger didn’t seem affected by it. In fact, he sat on his bed, smiling creepily at him.
“It doesn’t matter, does it? What matters is we have the same mission.” The stranger smiled at Nino’s confused face. “To kill Ayber Mask Key.”
Nino’s eyes widen in shocked. “Wait, what?”
“Doesn’t it frustrate you, Nino? When what you have developed changed almost everything? Don’t they annoy you, having them change their names as they pleased, giving you a reason that they evolved by themselves?”
Nino fell silent.
“Don’t tell me-“ the stranger chuckled scornfully. “-you fell for their tricks?”
“What do you expect then?” Nino retorted, anger starting to build inside him. “Everything about the game was never the same again. This is not the fault of the programming code that I’m working on!”
“Then what was it?”
“I don’t know!” Nino snapped. “Perhaps, it was bugs. Or virus. Or anything related to that. I just don’t know okay. I need to leave this place in order to find out what it is.”
Nino didn’t like the way the stranger look at him. His gaze wasn’t sincere; but full of threat and mischievous agenda. Yet, Nino couldn’t bring himself to call either one of the characters he knew earlier. He didn’t even know why he let the stranger influence him more.
“Believe me, Nino. Even if you find the Heart Of The City, I’m sure it is not your way to leave this world.”
“But the book said it was.”
Once again, the stranger chuckled. “After all of the things you see, do you still believe the book? It could be evolving too.”
Nino was speechless. He felt tricked. He felt cheated. Everything didn’t seem right to him anymore. For a moment of silence, he kept staring at the stranger, looking for some hint of lies in the man’s face. Perhaps he was too frustrated that he couldn’t find any and that was when he decided, perhaps, it’s not a bad thing to listen to the stranger’s suggestion.
“Why do I have to kill Ayber?” Nino asked, trying to gather more convincing proof.
“Isn’t it obvious? He’s the reason to all of this.”
“Excuse me?”
“He was the first part that was infected by the virus before it spread all over this place. He needed to be destroyed so that everything could be put in order again.”
At this point, Nino wasn’t even sure anymore who was his real helper. Part of him seemed to believe this stranger, but another part was telling him not to. He couldn’t decide, but every explanation from the hideous stranger started to make sense, every good deed from the three earlier seemed nothing to his own calculation. His fuming anger tripled when he remembered his own failure before he entered the world.
“So-“ the stranger started again. “Have you decide?”
Nino nodded.
“Good.” Slowly, the stranger pulled out a small carved knife from his robe. “You need to kill him by your own hand.”
Nino didn’t have an answer to that. Watching this, the stranger decided to continued, “He can only be killed by this knife.” The stranger waved the knife in front of Nino’s face. “I can give you this, but I want something in return.”
“What?”
“The diamond.” The stranger answered. In his hand, the knife glinted, as if trying to tell him it was all ready for some blood. “Barter system. You gave me the diamond. I’ll give you this knife. It’s fair and square, isn’t it?”
Nino didn’t care. He just refused to care. He had only one thing in his mind: to leave this world and fix all the mess. Evolved huh, he thought. It seems like irreparable.
He did have the doubt. Yet, his anger, his frustration conquer his mind. As much as he wanted to consider for more option, he felt like a force was controlling his movement. Slowly, he pulled out the book from his bag near him, pulling out the big shiny diamond off the cover cover, then handed it to the stranger.
He didn’t realized how the stranger started to smile victoriously. He was controlled by his anger and the fact that he had been brainwashed by the stranger only made him blinded by everything.
He didn’t bother to take a final look at the stranger leaving the room. His mind was full of anger, impatient to finish this off.
But before he could think of a strategy, the stranger came back, stopping halfway from entering the room.
“Sorry for not introducing myself earlier,” the stranger said, peeking from the outside wall into the room. “My name is Apollyon. Remember that.”
*
When the sun rose, Aiba came alone to greet Nino.
The room was dark. Aiba knocked softly on the doorjamb. “Nino,” Aiba called in the dark. Nothing stirred. “Nino, are you awake?” he tried again. He went in, turned on the laser on his costume to illuminate the room, and found it empty. Frowning, he made his way out the room, only to see Nino sitting alone at the bench near the room.
Aiba had a bad feeling watching how the player looked so down. Of course, Nino didn’t show a lot of interest at the beginning when he the first time he entered the world, but the guy now seemed to have lost his enthusiasm. He kept staring at the ground, his feet kicking up the dirt floor. He observed the man for a few moments when he noticed him gripping a knife so hard, his knuckles were white.
Aiba felt his blood drained. “Nino-“
“I have to kill you, don’t I?” Nino cut him, slowly raising his head to look up at the man. He stood and approached Aiba, who took a few steps back every time Nino came closer.
“What are you talking about, Nino? I don’t-“
“Don’t tell me you don’t understand a thing, Aiba!” Nino raged, kicking aside few small stones in his way. “Stop making that innocent face, pretending to know nothing when you’re the reason behind everything!”
“What-“
“You’re the reason to everything evolving by itself, aren’t you?” Nino cut him again, his voice raising a pitch. “You were infected with the virus, and you infected every thing else. Matsumoto. Ohno. This fucking universe. Everything. You’re the one who turned everything upside down!”
“Nino! Hear me out.”
“No!” Nino snapped, furious. His eyes red with anger, his body shook in fury.
“I know my third task now, Aiba,” Nino said, hissing hatefully as he made a few steps towards the man. His determination scared Aiba. Every moved he made was properly plan that Aiba couldn’t defend himself. Aiba knew something bad had happened and he knew that it would happen again.
He was right.
His instinct was telling him to dodge down when he saw Nino moved his hand, waving the knife in front of his face. It didn’t hit him, still it sent him a rush.
Nino was enraged. His face written with all sort of hatred, frustration and anger that Aiba sure something had possessed the man.
“Stop, Nino!” he yelled, but Nino ignored him. His hand blocked Nino’s when he the knife the second time. Aiba felt a sting on his cheek and something trickling down his face. He wiped with his hand. Blood. Nino had managed to swipe his cheek with the knife. Nino smirked before he moved to attack him again.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Nino,” Aiba said. Still, Nino didn’t show any sign of stopping. Instead, he attacked him again, this time much more aggressive, left Aiba with no choice. He ran, flipping in the air before he took out his shuriken* and threw it, hitting Nino’s hand.
Nino yelped, letting go of the knife. To Aiba’s surprised, the blade turned rusty as if it had been made centuries ago. But Nino’s enraged didn’t stop there. He ran towards the ninja, knocking him to the ground and straddled him over his chest. Nino grabbed Aiba’s neck in both hands to strangle to him.
“I’m sorry, Aiba. But if your death is my way out, I won’t feel regret killing you.”
He struggled, his lungs begging for air. His arms were trapped under Nino’s knees, and for a lanky man, he was too heavy. He opened his mouth to tell Nino that whatever ideas that he had were wrong, He could only make gasping noises.
Jun’s shriek never sounded so good. Nino heard footsteps rushing toward them, Jun and Ohno screaming at Nino to stop and one of them managed to push him off just in time. Aiba gasped, his lungs burning from the lack of air and he gulped in, Ohno telling him to breathe in slowly as not to pass out. He noticed that Jun had pinned Nino against the wall with his arm.
“Let me go!” Nino yelled, struggling to break free from Jun. “I need to get out of here!”
“Killing Aiba won’t solve your problem, Nino! What the hell is wrong with you?"
“He’s the reason!” Nino said, pointing an accusation towards the man. “Unless he’s dead, I will be stuck in here forever with all these hideous creatures.”
Everyone fell silent, frowning at the statement.
“What happened, Nino?” Ohno softly spoke, his soft gaze on the man. “Were there any parts in the code you wrote said that you’re supposed to kill Ayber in order for you to win?”
“No,” Nino replied softly, hesitating. Yet, he continued sternly. “But none of this too.”
“Are you sure?” Ohno asked, still being calm. “Isn’t the game you’ve created supposed to look for the ancient treasure, running aimlessly with a helper to reach the goal?”
“Yes, but-“
“Is there any part of this game you wrote supposed to be bugs trying to catch any of the player or the helper?”
Nino fell silent. A lot of possibilities suddenly revolved around his head. He wiped the sweat dripping down his face from all the exertion in trying to kill Aiba.
Breaking free from Ohno’s grip, Aiba got up and made his way to Nino. “Your third task, Nino, is for you to look for the Heart of the City.” He spoke, standing a couple of steps from Nino. “Look at me. Look into my eyes and remember the only hint you had found inside the book.”
Nino obeyed. At first, it seemed pointless, not to mention awkward, looking into Aiba’s eyes until he remembered the symbol inside the book. Nino’s eyes widen in realization: the strange pattern in the man’s eyes.
“Wait. You’re the Heart of the City?” he asked, shocked. “How-“
“No one knows. I have to agree though that this place have evolved more than necessary, but you should remember that among the characters you’ve created, I am the only one who appeared every time the player is instructed to save the game upon exiting and also when you reset.”
Nino gasped. Aiba was right. He had put all those code inside one character, so that it could be much easier for him to make a correction if there was any mistake in the future.
Why couldn’t he remember it?
“If you kill Aiba,” Jun said. “It would stop the whole game, Nino. Weren’t those three codes crucial to the game? It was so powerful that it could revived us too if we die in the middle of the game.”
Jun was right. Yet, something still nagged his mind.
“How am I supposed to win the game if Aiba is the Heart of the City? I thought it was the door between the universe?”
Aiba chuckled. “By presenting me the Big Book, along with the diamond attached to it. Then I will grant any of your wishes, including your exit.”
Here, Aiba noticed the panic on Nino’s face.
“Where’s the book, Nino?” he asked, cautiously. Nothing could beat his fear when Nino took out the book, a large hole on the book cover where the large diamond used to be.
“Where’s the diamond?” Jun asked, something that Aiba couldn’t bring himself to ask. But Nino remained silent, making Jun start to lose his temper. He rushed to the man, grip him by his arms, shaking him vigorously that Nino whined pain. “Seriously! Where’s the diamond?”
“I gave it to a guy.”
“What?”
“He said his name was Apollyon. In exchange for the knife, I needed to give him the diamond.”
“That is the most powerful diamond in this world, Nino!” Ohno yelled, staggered by the new fact. Nino looked at him confused.
“How so?”
“Of course, you didn’t know.” Ohno said, trying to calm down. “For god’s sake, Nino. Remember what the missing piece from the book told you about The Heart of the City? It’s the door between the universe. The diamond is the key to unlock it and has the power to transport you back to your real world.”
“No way-“
“Once you give the diamond to Aiba, he will use the power from the diamond to help you escape this world. Of course, your code has given Aiba all the power to reset or exit the game. But in this world, science or your technology alone isn’t enough to make it work. Now that the diamond has fallen into the wrong hands, I’m sure, this world won’t survive another day.”
Nino gasped. What the hell have I put myself into?
And all of sudden, he remembered everything. He had worked the programming for the first level. He was supposed to collect as many treasures as he could, reaching the 5000 total of coins and treasure the most. By the end of the level, he was to get a book as a reward. A book with a diamond attached to it. He had found it, but why didn’t he remember writing the code?
In the second level, it was supposed to be just the same. He needed to run, finding all the treasure while he could before he ran out of time. It was all about the treasure and the coins. Reaching the goal, he would receive the missing page from the book. That’s it. No exact weapon needed to reach the-
Wait, He thought. Something else clicked.
He never wrote anything related to the bugs. Not even Apollyon.
It was then he heard a buzzing sound coming closer. They turned their heard in time to see an enormous group of bugs, the one he saw in the second level flying towards their way.
It felt like everything was in slow motion. He saw how Jun pulled out his small bazooka from his gear, shooting all sort of light towards the group through the window without shutters. By his side, Ohno transformed into a cyborg, shooting a large ball of fire towards their enemy, giving some time for Aiba to take Nino outside through the back of the shack and up onto their horse, escaping the chaos.
He saw everything, how some of the bugs were shot down, still it was not enough for them to win. Just when he thought that both Jun and Ohno had succeeded, another large group of bugs appeared from another direction.
They fought, just like true warriors, and that was the moment when Nino actually hope he didn’t make the mistake by trusting a stranger who he met the night before.
*
Both Jun and Ohno succeeded. Aiba manage to bring Nino to a hidden place before the other two appeared an hour later.
Nino felt devastated. He was sure he had brought this destruction to himself. He looked at each one in turn. their serious faces soften. He fell on his knees, feeling he weakened by his frustration, anger and desperation..
“Nino-“
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do we.” Jun replied. “But blaming yourself now is not the right thing to do.”
“What is Apollyon then?” Nino suddenly asked, making the three characters to look at him. “He never exist in my plan, yet why is he here?”
He saw the three characters shrugged, unable to give an answer. But before he could ask more, Jun answered, “Don’t ask me where I know about it, but if my assumption is right, that guy is a destroyer.” Jun paused, clarified when he saw Nino frowned in confusion. “It is his name. Apollyon is a Greek name for a destroyer. His existence here is questionable though. We don’t know the reason.”
A virus.
Perhaps it was a virus that had entered into this world and messing up the whole system. Nino couldn’t bring himself to tell the others about it. It was useless information now. His frustration took over him. He shook his head in desperation.
“You could have told me earlier. All this information. About the Heart of the City most importantly-” Nino said. A hint of giving up was heard in his tone. “I could have make it right. I could go home much earlier than wasting time here. I could fix all the errors exist here!”
“Where’s the fun then?” Aiba replied, slightly pouting while mumbling his next words. “And apparently, I am supposed to be that idiot character you have created, to even think to tell you brilliant ideas.”
“That’s not related at all!”
“Of course it is!”
Nino fell silent. The fact that he was running out time before those bugs could find their hidden place and the fact that he didn't notice all of his mistakes earlier hurt him. A game creator should know, should recognize his own game. He had the chance to live inside the world he created, yet he couldn't recognize it either.
“We evolved, yes we did. But respecting the code you have wrote, Nino, we are not supposed to spoil the solution. You, the player, have to find it by yourself. And we, as what you had created, should only assist you to the end,” Jun explained, trying to break the tense in the atmosphere. Though judging from the look on Nino's face, Jun knew perfectly he had failed.
Once again, silence wrapped them, driving them into their own deep thoughts. They were running out time. Their world is running out of time, for god only knew how guilty Nino felt for being the reason to his own destruction.
There was only one thing he needed: fix the problem existed in this virtual world by leaving here. But there's nothing he could do, considering the fact that he was tricked to trade the key to his own escape for useless information. As a result, here he was, stuck in a virtual world, counting time to the destruction of the universe he was in now.
“But I really believe in you, Nino,” Aiba suddenly spoke, startling Nino. “And I still believe you're the savior to this world. To us.”
Nino could hear sincerity in the way the man spoke. Still, he couldn't stop feeling guilty over the things that happened. How could he, the creator to the game, was tricked by a malicious bug, or virus to be exact? How could he have been so stupid to believe that the enemy was trying to help him? It was a game for goddamn sake. It was supposed to be an unharm challenge. Yet, why?
For once, he took a look at both Jun and Ohno, two characters that existed for the sake of the task continuity. Ohno who always looked sleepy and absentminded yet fluid and active in every move his made exist in his code. That guy who had save him from the bugs that fly as far towards the middle of the river to harm them. And MJ-II, Jun who has this too sharp facial features for a Japanese character but was brilliant and professionally handled all those weird weapon he carried along. These two characters started to build an attachment towards him. He trusted them.
And there was Aiba who was too nice to be a warrior. He stayed, helped him to start the game, giving him the idea and made him face all those challenges. Despite all the tantrums he threw towards the man earlier, Aiba stayed, took him somewhere safer for the sake of his existence. Loyal, even though he had tried to kill him once. All because of that code he had wrote for the main character: clumsy, idiot yet loyal and naive no matter how much damage he received in the end.
Gathering his strength, he pushed himself to stand, pushing away all the frustration and anger with a determination to make it right for them again. He was their creator. He had a responsibility to keep them alive.
“I need the exit, Aiba.” Nino said calmly, but determined. “This is not the end. I want to fix this and I know I can do it. But in order to do that, I need to get out of here.”
He knew they would understand this. After all the betrayal, Nino knew he didn't deserve their trust. But that was the same moment when he realized how important these three in his life now. They taught him some values in life- to keep on trying and never give up. And all of sudden, he knew they had became someone who he wanted to protect.
“There might be another way, Nino,” Aiba said, but Nino noticed the other two gave uneasy looks between themselves. “There will be some parts of this world that would fail but you need to believe me when I said there's a way.”
There will be some parts of this world that would fail, was repeating inside his head. Aiba’s words, while it did give him some hope, felt ominous. Watching the sadness in the other two eyes almost confirmed it, but he couldn’t ask why and how.
“Don’t worry about it, Nino,” Ohno had said. No matter how hard Nino tried to push it away, he could hear sadness in the way Ohno spoke. Only Aiba looked hopeful and cheery, grabbing Nino in a reassuring hug.
“Yes. You shouldn’t worry about it. Even before you had asked, this is what I already had in mind.”
Nino didn’t like hearing this.
( Part 3)