“I'm slowly getting it now…”
"Am I reading this right? One person has to fight?"
At the far end of the lobby, silver doors slid away. The kiosk presented another message.
Proceed to the next floor to commence the trials.
"How do we know this isn't a trap?" The detective questioned, stiffly gliding around his holster. “We have to be careful here.”
"Who fucking cares? Michael's in danger, and we're finding him!" The lightning lady bolted towards the elevator.
"What's her deal?"
No one uttered a single word until Jansen spoke up. "Not sure what you're talking about, Uncle. That's how she is."
"What does that even mean?" The group followed Allyson, leaving Vargas flabbergasted. "Nnrggh, kids these days are so damn confusing."
Arena 1 - The Firewall
The confined space was a vast square. Alloy orange coated the walls, ceilings, and floors. Its venue added no noticeable structures, presenting itself as an empty room. Beneath the center of the room, the carrier brought them up before disappearing below.
"There's nothing here," Marie stated, dropping her fisticuffs to her hips.
"It's too quiet," The professor proclaimed, cautiously spinning around to assess the area.
"Welcome to the HonJok Frontier where you will partake in various journeys of the System Master’s creation. Do you wish to proceed?"
Everyone pointed their heads to the ceiling but showed no other physical presence.
"Uhhh, sure?"
"Are you asking a question or confirming your participation?"
"We're participating, no matter what!" Vargas affirmed, dropping his cigarette like a pin and crushing it with his left boot.
"Very well… let us begin. Arena 1 shall go underway."
Without warning, five windows were on different levels. Two on the left and three on the right silently exposed a rectangular prism cage launching towards the center.
"Look out!!!"
Marie shoved her teacher out of reach. Mr. Richter stumbled several steps before realizing what had transpired.
Cages emerged and captured the Private Investigators.
The iron chains returned to their windows. Forceful impacts smashed the backs of the imprisoned. They then all slid down.
"Hey!! Everyone ok?!"
Marie felt the entire zone was a never-ending road. Everything felt deaf to her. She delivered a frustrated blow to the cage with her left fist. "Shit…"
Julia used the cursor to erase the bars around her. It failed miserably. “Umm… can anyone hear me?”
Jansen gripped the bars in front of him and intently stared below. “... …”
Detective Vargas took two steps back, lifted his bent right leg, puffed his chest, leaned back slightly, and released a forceful heel kick. His cage rattled, so he attempted again, but to no avail. “Nrgh.”
Allyson sheathed her Jingum to her left hip. She crossed her ankles before dropping down in the middle of the cage. Hunching forward, she rested her chin on the base of her left palm. “Well, damn, we’re fucked…”
“Guys! Are you alright?!” The faculty member hollered, straining his neck. The lack of acknowledgment frightened him. “Can you hear me?!”
The wall in front of him virtualized a holographic prompt.
You are witnessing suspicious activity on the network. Prevent the traffic from penetrating the firewall.
Before the teacher could blink, a clicking sound came from behind. An ivory piranha emerged with razor-sharp hooks lodged on the left side of its mouth. It was erratically swimming around.
Then its sights locked on him.
Mr. Richter extended his left armor gauntlet, generating a high concentration of silver ether. Once visible, he fired a projectile. The impact only pushed the phish back—no discernible scratches. The creature resumed diving in the direction of the professor.
“Strings! Quick analysis!”
Target identified. Initiating analysis. Progress: 0%...2%
With a slight bend on his knees, he prepared another concentrated windy orb. The piranha gradually paddled faster.
Progress: 98%... 100%
“Almost there,” the influx of energy on his left palm started to shine.
Warning! Do not contact the physical object!
Mr. Richter leaped left and rolled once before kneeling right. When he looked up, the phish redirected its position and found its victim. The emerald-armored man maintained his position, leaned back a few inches, and released a sudden burst of ventilation. The creature flew up, spiraling into a gyro. The faculty jumped on both boots and squatted lowly with scorching steam emitting around his hands.
VROOM!!!
The teacher flew towards the enemy. He tapped the side of his visor.
Sword mode switch.
The emerald-armored left gauntlet transformed its green metallurgic shards into a sharp saber. Mr. Richter crossed the weapon to his right before slicing the phish in half.
As he accelerated downward, the backside of his Gears opened two rectangular holes, bringing out boomerang-shaped objects. The teacher barely arched his back. Its silent waves eased his velocity. Soon, he appeared to float down like a falling autumn leaf.
The split remains of the creature rendered motionless.
Click.
Across from him, a massive gap was visible. The black overcast rendered the professor’s assessment inexplicable.
Click. Click. Click. Click.
Sssssssssssss…
"Strings, full analysis."
What emerged from the dark depths was a navy-skinned horse. It was triple the size compared to Mr. Richter. However, a knight in a charcoal suit rode a steed, brandishing a menacing twin-bladed spear.
"Teach! Watch out!!" Marie unleashed a series of pounding forces on her cage. It never budged. "Aaaggghhh!!"
However, the foe halted in front of him. The warrior dismounted and took three steps before striking its weapon to the ground and extending its right hand, palm up, to the faculty member.
"Alright, is that thing trying to make peace?" He slowly reached for the enemy's hand with his right hand.
Warning! Do not contact the target!
He paused, just inches from touching.
"Wait a minute…"
Mr. Richter suddenly shifted his weapon in an undercut position before swiftly raising it in an upper concave.
CLANK!
The knight's posture was intact as his left hand pushed the spear forward, clashing with his sword. One commanding shove compelled the teacher to reconvene several steps back.
THUD! THUD!
Behind the armored opponent, a crimson cylindrical monster slithered out of the shadows. It was directing its trajectory toward the two fighters.
"What the…" From his peripheral, a hand was coming towards his visor. Preparing to fight back, the knight gently touched it before stepping back to mount on the steed. He quickly peaked at the giant being. "Strings! Analysis!"
The worm was inching closer and closer. The warrior merely stood still.
As Mr. Richter bent his knees diagonally left and lowered his blade, Strings progressed ninety-eight percent of the assessment.
When it struck one hundred, his visor shut down.
"Huh?"
SLAM!!
Flown back by the length of a football field, he collided against the wall before dropping to the ground.
"Mr. Richter!"
"TEACH!!!"
Crunching his entire face, the faculty member slowly got on his kneecaps, wobbling sideways before standing up.
"I'm just getting started…" Twisting his left wrist, he sprinted. The creature and warrior stood together, refusing to move a single inch. He kept running and running.
Then his blade disintegrated.
"What's-"
The worm slithered past until it was behind him. Mr. Richter suddenly felt his strides weaken. With a simple bump, the teacher tripped and collapsed to the ground. The galloping horse trampled all over him. Lastly, the knight kicked him so that his head faced up.
A sharp needle, just breathing on his neck. The armored foe raised back, steadying its spear. Mr. Richter shut his eyelids. Time suddenly froze in his eyes. A rush of memories flashed through the film screen of his brain.
Memories of his kids graduating high school.
The wedding with his wife.
Receiving his teaching degree.
Earning his Ph.D.
Speaking to Marie at his desk with both of them warming up smiles.
An office lighted in monochrome in an unknown building. The film buzzed out.
When he opened his eyes, no enemy was visible. The trojan was nonexistent. The creature vanished.
"How could you let this happen?!"
"... … …"
"You thought it was safe to download this link, and now our network is compromised!
A young, familiar voice echoed throughout the arena.
"Oh, Michael. I expected your knowledge to prevent this from happening. No one makes a fool out of me. We lost trust in our best investors! Our reputation is nearly beyond repair! We are losing investment… because of you. You failed this campus. You failed me."
"What's going on?"
Shackles pushed the prisoners to the hard concrete. All ran to the professor, ignoring their stinging pain.
"Teach!" Marie lifted his back and embraced him. "Are you ok?"
"Nrgh, I don't think so. Strings is unresponsive. My body can barely move."
"What were those things anyways?" Vargas wondered. “They don’t seem like random enemies. It’s too out of the ordinary."
Trial #1 failed. You’ve allowed the malware to bypass the firewall and compromise the network, causing irreparable damage in the trust of Herman, Hurwitz, and Cuffey's name.
Heavy, quiet waves of uneasiness began flowing through the area. Initially, no one seemed to comprehend the information presented to them. The group exchanged gazes.
“Hang on,” the detective folded his eyes, recalling a memory file in hand. “There was that data breach that happened on campus last semester. What does that have to do with Michael?”
The opened wall across from them highlighted a recollection of that particular day.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
From: Emile Yoon <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Performance Review
Good morning Michael!
I hope your morning went well! I’ve received a formal complaint from you by Scott Herman regarding your service request. The attached file is the complaint received. Please review the document and respond to this email that you’ve acknowledged it. Thank you!
Best,
Emile Yoon
______________________________________________________________________
Michael’s heart raced. His mind rummaged through his system. Pupils shrunk to pebbles. He immediately opened the file that came with that email. He read the complaint that Scott was unhappy with his performance regarding tightening security for campus and Michael’s attitude. As soon as Michael noticed the email header, he immediately closed the file and deleted the email.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
It was too late.
His computer became inaccessible. His colleagues were unable to click or move their mice on their screens. Minutes later, on his Teams, there was a ping.
@All Staff Attention! Please take your machines off the network ASAP! Our systems have been compromised! Data is being encrypted and we detected keystrokes being used! We are investigating the issue at hand. Updates will be added to this thread.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“... … …”
“Shit…”
“That was him?” The artist said aloud, clutching her left fist onto her chest.
“Now, I remember.” Michael’s uncle groaned. “He worked late that day. I’ll never forget his face when he came home… He was this close to breaking down. That was the first time I’ve ever seen him look… despondent.”
“... … …”
“Since that day, nothing excites him. He talks in the same manner every time. Lays in bed whenever he comes home, barely eats his meals, and even news of new games he just doesn’t care.”
“Hey, did any of you guys talk to Michael around that time?” Allyson questioned her group.
“I didn’t.” Julia first answered. Marie shook her head.
“I tried calling him,” Jansen provided. “He never answered. I went to his house, and uncle told me about it.”
“Were you able to talk to him?”
“I knocked on his door. His response? “‘GET OUT! LEAVE ME ALONE!’”
A sudden, uncomfortable flash of flames burned inside her. She let out a muted sigh.
“Michael was sorta better a month later,” Jansen added. “Uncle and I got him to go to a movie theater together.”
“Was it that bad?” Her friend slowly nodded.
“Stuff like that lingers forever. It never goes away.”
“Let’s press on,” Allyson half-heartedly commanded her teammates. “We can talk about here, but he’s in danger, so saving him is the priority.”
“Yeah…”
They entered the gap. For a moment, the dark cloak remained on the surface. Out of nowhere, their surroundings shifted left and right uncontrollably. However, no one in the group was losing their balance.
The black mist swiftly vanished. A new room emerged. Three individual laptops stood on a desk in the shape of a triangle. The workstations surrounded the investigators. In front of them was a massive blank screen.
Arena 2 - The Server
“What’s it this time?” Mr. Richter mused aloud.
You must disable the three accounts that have shattered the second gate. Each one resides on the server. Locate the objects. Use your resources to identify the users.
“So who wants to give this a go?” No one was willing to volunteer, leaving the faculty member to chuckle. “Alright, I’m sure y’all can fare better than I.”
“Eh, why not? I can give it a try,” Marie cracked her knuckles before shrinking her lips. “Hmm, does it matter which one I go?”
“You won’t know until you find out,” Jansen slightly shadowed a smirk on his face.
“This one then,” the lady with Scarlet Gauntlets stood at the workstation ahead of her. “Wish me luck!” She clicked on the Enter key, converting her body into pixels and streaming through its screen.
“Woah!” Marie stumbled a step before kneeling on her right knee and rising back up. Around her was filled with the Windows logo, capturing all available space. Sixteen mini tablets scattered around the library lobby. “Which one am I supposed to find?”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Look!” Julia pointed at the projection screen. “It’s Marie! Hey, Marie!”
The woman on display continued to walk.
“Doesn’t look like she can hear us.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Walking to her left, Marie inspected the device that was in standby mode. One single tap. A message appeared: “You take that game too seriously.” The bridge between her brows began to tense up. “Oh…”
Bang!
She instinctively turned back and positioned herself into a southpaw stance. At the center of the shape was a charcoal-cased laptop. Sky fluorescent lights shone enough to stress one's eyes. Marie cautiously stepped towards the machine. A window covered the entire laptop glass. The top left corner depicted a title: The System Master’s Directory Users. Beneath were branches filled with names. One folder appeared and expanded its group.
Former Interests
* Jack Ngata
* William Ferguson
* Keith Mills
* Leo Yoon
“That message we saw back there,” the fighter hovered her two fingers on Keith’s name and pressed it. A gray box popped above the selected object. Among the options, she knew the one to pick: Disable Account.
The object Keith Mills has been disabled. 1 of 3 accounts identified.
“Whew! That one was pretty easy. How hard can this be?”
Thud!
Eight tablets started to descend to the floor. The hatches opened before closing the selected pads. For the surviving ones, four of them powered on, revealing the shade of crimson rays.
“Looks creepy, like out of a horror movie.” She dropped her hands low before quickly bringing them level. “Who else did Michael feel that way?”
The tablet marked UMD01 was checked. Initially, it was merely a solid color with no other details. Marie weakly touched the glass. The background layer became paper white. The opacity began to reveal an outline, but to her, it was undecipherable. Then, black shades began to trace over it. The imagery was becoming clearer.
It was the Eppley gym.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“A gym? That’s an oddly specific location.” Vargas confusingly stated, tilting his head right while crossing her arms.
“Is this a person? Or like a group?” Jansen asked, squinting his eyes and leaning forward.
“I honestly don’t know.” Julia shrugged her shoulders.
Allyson remained silent. Her left hand was clenching the ends of her shirt.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“That’s not helpful.” Marie mashed the tablet with her right palm. The scenery was unchanged. “Maybe the other tablets can give me more clues.”
Across from there, she inspected the UMD02 on the left side. It illustrated the various equipment containing a rack of dumbbells, benches, and numerous machines designed for targeted muscles. Marie started chewing her lower lip. “Rrrghh! It’s Eppley again! What is this supposed to be?!”
Ping!
At the front side of the perimeter, the twin tablets flickered. Lowering her eyelids and pursing her lips, Marie carefully marched over to the devices, her torso twisting slightly sideways. Each step echoed throughout the temple that only she could hear. Soon, her breaths emulated the same.
Once she stood in front of the devices, her pupils rose to the size of the moon. The rhythm in her exhalation exponentially sped up.
The left tablet revealed metallic gloves coated in scarlet paint. Marie looked at her Soul Channel. Her mind connected the dots. To her right, only two words popped up: Village Protector.
“W-what? W-w-why is my name here?!” Her trembling voice nearly stunned her body before channeling enough energy to crack the crystal layer on the left. “Is this some sort of joke?! What the hell…”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Woah, woah, woah…” The blonde student furrowed her brows. “There’s no way that Marie could be part of the three, r-right?”
Mr. Richter and Detective Vargas exchanged looks before tightly sealing their lips.
“Do you think what we saw outside this place played a role?” The male student recalled the Discord chats recorded.
“Did that affect him more than we think?”
“We can’t confirm, but from what we’re seeing, there’s no doubt it can be.”
Allyson’s entire body became rigid. Her heart pounded like a drummer whaling on the instrument. The irises turned dark violet. She stepped back only once.
Jansen directed his lens to the bottom right corner without moving his posture.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Marie bolted to the central hub and noticed that another folder appeared.
Friend Group
* Jansen Eriksen
* Julia Svihia
* Marie Villaeon
* Jackson Stroud
* Fay Ishikawa
* Allyson Kim
Her arm quivered as she closed in selecting her name, folding her brows inwards and jutting her jaw. Her vision only sharpened on her name whilst everything else was becoming blurry. Ears turned deaf to the silent, stilling air.
She finally punched in her name and clicked the option.
The object of Marie Villaeon has been disabled. 2 of 3 accounts identified.
“This is some sort of joke, Michael?! The hell did I do to you?! Tell me, you damn hermit!”
“I refuse to play some stuuuuupid game Michael wants us to play! Does he expect us to play along?!”
“Huh? Who’s there?!” No one was around. “Come out, you loser!”
The red tablets began losing infrastructure pieces chipped off before crumbling like a fallen building. All remaining were the last four devices, layered like the previous four. The rays radiating were crow black. Unnoticeable afar but discernible up front.
Marie remained where the other twin devices were and touched the one on the left. All flickered simultaneously.
The little computers in front of her displayed two images: one with three men peacefully smiling in a small house. One with two young men well-dressed at a reception hall.
From the other side, Detective Vargas stared intently at the wide screen. Jansen had done the same.
The remaining tablets on the sides had revealed a cracked shield and the name dunes n danes.
The officer lowered his tensed shoulders. The weaponless man's pupils shrank to the size of a pebble. Mr. Richter continued being mute. Julia's arms were latched onto her sides, only bringing her left hand to rub the other.
All Allyson could focus on was the violet screen in front of her.
Marie rushed to the center and found the name she had reluctantly chosen.
The object Jansen Eriksen has been disabled. All accounts identified.
Congratulations! You have passed the second trial! However, you must first open the path to the third trial by conquering the ambush conducted by the deactivated objects.
"What?"
The three walls that once stood the many tablets converged into three pillars. They were reconstructed into human-like manifestations.
To the left was a young man with a silver shield. His physical appearance was all crow black, rendering other detailed features null. To the right was a woman with scarlet skin positioning in a boxing stance.
At the center was an unrecognizable man appearing built with wired frames. He brandished a black and gold glove imbued with a teal blue shade. On the other hand, he was brandishing a double-edged ax.
"You've got to be joking." Marie prepared her stance, rolling her eyes in the process.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Umm, shouldn't we help her?!" The virtual artist exclaimed, preparing to scribble on her tablet.
Mr. Richter tried to touch the computer Marie entered and pressed all sorts of keys on the board. Nothing had occurred. "I think we're stuck here like the last trial."
"Damn…"
"Did I… mess up somehow?"
Everyone except Allyson directed their attention to Jansen.
"We can't confirm anything," The teacher reassured him. "Only can we find Michael and get more answers."
"But… why?"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Oh, if that's how it's gonna be," Marie briefly shut her eyes before flashing them to the three foes. "Then let's rock!"
The shadow woman charged forward, reeling her left fist back before chucking a hook cut. Marie took two steps back, twisting her back clockwise. Stopping at 4 o'clock, she lazily jabbed with her left gauntlet, stunning her opponent, and added three more jabs before delivering a straight punch from her right.
Marie halted as the apparatus wielding the shield rammed into her. Crossing her fisticuffs, the ory alloys clanked against each other. From afar, the unknown foe shattered the ground, erupting glaciers of shivering ice toward Marie. With her peripheral vision, she lessened the tension with her arms. The defender started running, causing her to skid back.
The man with a protective barrier was struck by the sharp crystals, leveling his shield down. Channeling and curling her left arm inward, Marie released a swift rising punch, launching the enemy off the ground before collapsing to the floor. She immediately stood over the fallen foe before smashing his body into robotic pieces.
“Shit!” The incoming ax nearly decapitated her head. She threw herself backward, rolling twice. The mage and shadow boxer approached her in different directions. Marie planted her palms down, twisting her hips and legs slightly left. Once she gazed and pinpointed their coordinates, she swung her lower body in a curved upward concave, separating her legs in the form of scissors. Nabbing the ax-wielding man’s legs, Marie crunched her kicks, engendering the third man to fall on his back.
The lookalike leaped up and brought back her right glove. Marie swiftly cushioned her winged scapula, drew her legs past her shoulders, and firmly planted her hands, in proximity to her ears, against the ground. With a flick flex of her hips and legs, she immediately extended both, granting a momentum boost of thrust into the air and dodging the incoming attack. Marie’s kip-up was complete, stomping her imposter with both shoes. Instinctively, she bent her knees before hopping toward the male foe. The ax-wielding man failed to move as Marie landed an impactful elbow blow to his chest.
She held no hesitation before stealing the ax and jamming it right through its chest. The man's head exploded, revealing dense smoke and hard wires inside. Hopping back on her feet, she walked toward the mirrored foe and rolled her head up.
Clank!
The steel blade hardly carried through the target’s cranium, just several inches deep inside. Fused sparks danced across her body before her face blew up.
Marie raised her calm, burning eyes. "If you're gonna make a clone of me, at least do it right!" The determined yet frustrated tone festered across the entire arena. Nothing from the left. Nothing from the right.
Her body started to dematerialize.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Huh? Where'd she go?" Vargas wondered.
The device on the right rattled as a shining white light emitted. The detective walked closer to investigate.
"Wah!!"
A magnificent force jumped out from the shaken computer, colliding and tumbling to the cold ground. Both laid against the floor with their backs.
"Detective!"
"Marie!"
Pressing his chest with his left hand, the officer slowly got up while Marie sat up and rocked her head. Jansen maintained support; the professor followed the same for the lady with scarlet fists.
"You guys alright?" Mr. Richter inquired.
"Just a shove, nothing serious."
"I'm… ok."
The group simultaneously raised their brows.
"Marie…" Allyson softly addressed her friend. "We saw what happened from that projector over there."
"Then you saw the names. Right… Jansen?"
He locked his ambiguous gaze on her. Several long seconds passed. "I did."
"How come it was you two?" Julia contemplated.
"I'm not sure, but he's got some explaining to do." She tensely curled her hands, withholding all the pent-up emotions. "I'm not going through this again, not with you guys."
"Even with this whole world of his, it's difficult to understand his thoughts right now." Her teacher quickly added.
"I can hardly understand him," The detective crossed his arms. "After looking at all of this… I'm slowly getting it now."
"It was like this with Julia." The swordfighter mentioned that event before gripping the Jingum tighter.
THUD!
The Investigators panicked and prepared themselves. The projector ascended to the ceiling, entering a gap before sealing itself firmly. Behind it was massive free space. An escalator was suddenly being constructed. The team had no skepticism and rode the moving staircase.
"Hey, Marie," she turned to the detective. "I must say… you were damn impressive back there."
"Eh, heh, thanks! To be honest, they didn't put up that much of a fight."
"Maybe a certain someone can learn a thing from you." He had a sly smirk and ensured the other man saw it.
"In my defense, my opponents had infected my system."
"Who needs a computer assistant when you got these bad boys to use." Marie punched her right palm with her left fist. Vargas chuckled.
"I'd be careful because fists aren't always going to solve your problems."
"I let them do the talking so they do fix my problems." Hearing those words made the faculty member giggle while shaking his head sideways.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Traversing the long hallway, their next destination had the same perimeter as the previous trial. The opening behind the group had been shut down. A layer rose from below, revealing a screen and a scanning camera at the center.
On the opposite side was also the exact model. In between laid fallen worms, horses, phishes, and other unknown creatures.
At the center, a young man stood stiff, his cranium pointing at an acute angle.
"Michael!"