A Game With God

Reset and Release

On the last day before the release, a huge disaster came to NTS. In the large room with huge monitors in front and a group of computer scientists working in rows, Dr. Mishima enters from the door. Most people are in a panic. Almost all their computers are red from an insider threat and they need to remove it before it is spread out in the system.

"Sir, I'm sorry we—" an employee welcomed him and said.

"Stop. What's happening now?"

"A virus was found inside the system including the backdoor. We're doing our best to prevent it, but the retrieval of data is far from expected. We only have 20 minutes left."

"We can reset the systems after 20 minutes, but that's plan B. Wait for my decision. We need to secure the test player first," Dr. Mishima said.

"But that would kill your daughter's friend! We can't do backups of her in the remaining time."

"That's on me to decide," Dr. Mishima said. *I can't face Aleiya with her declining. There's no way she could escape there, giving me free time to do the configuration.*

He goes out of the room to go back to the dive room. He needs to check something in the game. As he goes back to the cabin, his eyes bulged. His hostage is gone, leaving a cut rope on the chair. He opens his hologram interface in front of him and calls the Security and Tracking Forces which is responsible for monitoring players in it.

"Holy Einstein of Galileo! STF, track Ruie, Now!"

"Sir, there's no data output in our screens. We can't see what she's seeing," a response replied.

"How come!?"

"So far, we can only hear her breathing, insects, and the whooshes of bushes. Also, the data says that she feels some sort of jelly texture from her chest."

"Is she crawling?"

"We conclude that, sir."

"She's not yet far. Give me updates as soon as you gain vision," Dr. Mishima said as he closes the interface and goes out of the cabin. "Did she see through our gaps?"

Meanwhile, below the thick leaves dividing the sky and the ground in the forest, Ruie crawls through the muddy floor filled with grass and bugs. Her wounds vanished from the endless torture of yesterday. It's already been eight hours since she escaped the rope, but with patience, she seems not so far from the cabin itself.

*If my theory is right, the blades are the only ones with the pain threshold and not the player. I've experimented with the blades struck through my wrist and seems like it doesn't need force to cut through the rope. The other things won't even do damage to me. Even if the rope is cast with such a high-grade spell it seems, the blades broke the limits of the game. Same with the needle, such a weapon can be considered deadly when considering the player's condition. Luckily, he forgot.*

*There's a place far away that I needed to go. There's no chance to succeed if luck wouldn't be in favor of me. It is to end this all. I need to do my last job.*

*If the system only inputs what I've thought, I'm suspecting that they have monitored my vision as well. I'll never know when will that psycho doctor come back. I think he's the only one who has direct control of my brain. To be safe, I closed my eyes while going in the direction of the place I needed to be. Walking is also suspicious that I preferred to crawl. It's much safer and silent as there's no problem with obstacles, but I don't have much time left.*

*This place is huge, making it harder for them to determine where I am by just how I feel and hear. If that's what I've suspected of the system, I can achieve it without worries. The only thing I worry about now is that how many will chase me?*

"I can read her. She really debunked me. STF, send three jaw navigators to look for Ruie," Dr. Mishima commanded, closing the hologram. Using admin commands, he flew up the sky and scans the area where Ruie might be. All he needs to do is to watch and wait for her scream. The ones he sent are trackers of smell and can navigate targets up to a hundred meters. "Teleporting to you would just kill you early, looking at the bugs found on it. I'll just need to hear you cry and beg." He hears howls from the cabin and sees a pack of wolves came out of it.

"It's starting."

10 minutes remaining until the reset, Ruie hears a loud sound of running predators behind her. They're four-legged hungry wolves programmed to chase her. She's nearing her destination, but she can't escape the wolves. In no time as the wolves got her, the three ate her feet and arm. Unlike the previous agonies she experienced, she thought that this one is just a bite, but she didn't expect the aura of a crocodile's. Her bitten parts are nearly torn from her. For her, it's like a struck needle pulled back and forth.

In order to escape, she feels the ground with her remaining arm in order to find luck. On her upper left, she felt a sharp twig that leaves a wound on her finger. She grips it and stabs the three repeatedly. Her parts are completely fine, but the pain isn't gone. She tried her best to endure it. With the ones tracking her, she now runs with her eyes closed and arms forward.

Only three minutes remain. The STF reported Dr. Mishima on the situation of the wolves as they lost contact. They gave him the coordinates which the wolves are last seen. He flies there and witnessed three corpses lying on the ground. He grins out of disappointment. He now knows that she's near him, so he seeks out one solution.

"Memineris praevisionis."

He chanted the clairvoyance spell to sense nearby players, but his range is the same as the navigators and very much high than a player's. There he sees her presence just as far as 30 meters, standing still behind the vast number of trees. His interface pops up him.

"Sir, we've gain vision."

"What's in there."

"The sky."

"Wait... Don't tell me..."

He used the teleport with the estimated coordinates on where she would be, but his eyes bulged after seeing her attempt that would destroy his promise to his daughter.

*May I ask, doctor? How do you see Aleiya as your daughter?* She thought as he turns around the edge of a cliff and looks at him. Behind her is a cliff where huge spikes await her.

"What do you think? The same way as you? HAHAHA! You already know why you're living right."

*I'm worried about her having a father like you.*

"Worried? Do you even have a father?"

*I'm already lucky it wasn't you.* Her last thought rose through his mind as she leans back. Before she commits to her destiny, he tries to swirl his hand and control he, but his nerves pop when it didn't work.

"What? How could..."

With the ground pulling her down the air, her black hair slowly turns white. Her tears float up above her. She closes her eyes and awaits her death row below. She already decided to end her own life and be free from the problems in the future.

As for him, he seems disappointed and at the same time, sorry for Aleiya. He broke her promise to keep her friend alive. There's no time left before the complete overtake of the hacker's backdoor. The CS Team calls him through the interface and asks him for the reset.

"Sir, We don't have much time. Shall we press the button?" The team asked. He went silent for five seconds but gives the decision after.

"Reset the inputs. Also, remove the immortality for players. We need to clean up for tomorrow. She's all done," he commanded. The reset is done, and it looks like nothing happened. He looks down the cliff for confirmation but he didn't find a body stuck on the huge spikes.

"Rest in peace, my slave."

He signs off the game, knowing that Ruie is dead and he needs to check her brain. He also confirms that her brain is already not responding to the built system. He's now focused on only one goal, to launch the game, but the future victims will never know what will happen to them onward. There's no one can stop him except for one.

Dead on the outside, still breathing inside. Ruie wakes up in a cave with unlit torches. A unique digital interface came out of her face and said,

'Quest: You are now under the revengeful course. Would you accept the quest?

Reward: A body vessel

Else: the dearest to you will die.'