BLACK OUT

“We won!”

“We got to the last floor!”

“Don’t be too excited about it tho…”

“Come on bro! But we're literally here!”

“Can you guys keep it down?”, a youth with curly hair and brown eyes took off his headphones as he gestured to the other bodies in the room to quiet down a bit, “If my mom wakes up, then it's game over.”

“Right.” A girl in a yellow tank top and black shorts seconded.

The two other males in the room nodded in response while the last girl could only remain silent while internally agreeing to the matter.

“So, we are at the 100th floor, what's next?”, queried the girl in a yellow tank top as she laid her headphones on the ground.

“We go through the gates and conquer whatever that's beyond it.”, The boy with curly hair retorted with a shard of determination.

“I don't know about you guys but it would be kinda nice if we continued some other time.” Liam, the other boy in a blue hoodie voiced out a bit as his eyes read through the sms he received.

“If I don't get going then I'm will miss curfew.”

“I thought you missed curfew already?”, the boy with curly hair turned back at him.

Liam raised a brow, which in turn looked as though he was pissed by what the former had said.

“He probably received a threat message from his mom…” The girl in a yellow tank top teased, which only resulted in an all around laughter but the boy with curly hair didn't join in.

“Ah-ha, really funny.” Liam muttered through his clenched teeths, “I will see y'all tomorrow”, he uttered as he immediately exited the turquoise room.

“Okay guys, we have got to see what is beyond the gates on the 100th floor” the boy with curly hair announced as there wasn't any sound of footsteps within range.

“Wouldn't it be better if we all went in tomorrow when Liam is around? Remember it requires a party of five players to get in.”

“Well, c’mon Isabella, we don't need Liam for this, besides, we are not going to actually play, at least let's know what we are up against.”

The girl with long black hair pointed at the screen as an extra layer of information popped up, “Uhm…Alex, what's that?”

Alex immediately turned back to face the large screen TV, his eyes glued to the message that had popped up.

[ Congratulations on reaching the final floor of The Eternal Tower]

[ 100th Floor Has Been Unlocked ]

[ Party Is Allowed To Proceed With Or Without All Members ]

[ Proceed: Y/N ]

‘ Eternal Tower Online has been one of the top grossing games in existence, well it was, for some. ’

‘ People who got the hang of it, people who obtained unraveling fame and power through the game made it feel as though only the rich could play this game. ’

‘ Believe me, they made it feel as though, without cash, this game would be useless to those who wanted to enjoy it to the fullest. ’

‘ But me and my friends… we didn't back down.’

“As much as I really want to see what threat lies beyond that gate…” The girl with black long hair got up from the porch, “. . .I have to go home and get myself something to eat and my mum has been sending a lot of texts, so I have got to go, bye!”

The door slammed closed..

Liam and the other girl had already gone home leaving Alex, Isabella and the other guy in a black sweater.

“I guess I'm going to have to head home too. It was fun grinding the tower, but I guess we should stop here for now. My old man said in a text earlier, "I have got to respond to that.”

“Oh, alright then, good night.” Alex uttered dolefully as he watched the other guy leave.

Now it remains Isabella.

“Well…”

“If you're gonna leave like them, then just leave.” Alex sighed heavily as he wore his headphones, “I’m just going to watch some movies till I fall asleep.”

Isabella struggled to hold a smile before she also got up. She picked her purse and walked over to where Alex was and squatted beside him.

“You’re gonna be alright. I know you wanna complete Eternal Tower Online but you have to give it a rest. You have to…tomorrow, we continue and we say goodbye to the fucking tower.”

“Sure thing.” Alex faked a smile and turned the game off, “... Good night.”

“Night night my darling knight.”

The door closed and Alex faced the screen with a different mindset playing forth.

Within seconds, the screen came on and Eternal Tower Online was activated.

‘ Although… There's something about the tower that baffled me. There are some dark terrains of the tower that baffle me till this day. ’

‘ Rumour has it that legendary players like San Colson, Mitchell Winston, Sara ultra, popular Eternal Tower Online Players had disappeared without trace, unfortunately ,this information wasn't publicized. ’

‘ Trust me, only those who ended up on the darkest side of the web could access this information. ’

/ San disappeared, his room was completely empty /

/ Sarah never came out of her room till this day /

/ Mitchell parents claimed they witnessed her got sucked into the game /

‘ So much disheartening news came about the insane virtual reality game… Well, I vowed to get to the bottom of it and that's by reaching the 100th floor. ’

‘ Too bad I wasn't bold enough to tell my friends because I know they won't agree. ’

‘ I only needed them to reach the 100th floor. Now, I can take it from here and find out what happened to those other gamers, why did they disappear, and where to? ’

And just as the screen booted, the previous notification from earlier popped up after login details were confirmed.

[ Congratulations on reaching the final floor of The Eternal Tower]

[ 100th Floor Has Been Unlocked ]

[ Party Is Allowed To Proceed With Or Without All Members ]

[ Proceed: Y/N ]

Alex clicks on the Y button without hesitation, but just as he did.

Stchh!!

stchh!!!

An electrifying sound cooks up and power seizes without warning and a blackout momentarily envelops the entire globe.