{ ALIVE AND WELL }Zack's phone kept ringing as the tension in the room looked palpable. "Pick up; it is meant for you," Thomas said, looking at Zack. They were all surprised to see the unknown number. Zack picked up the call, and my voice was visibly heard on the phone. "What do you mean Xavier is dead? Did you take him along to get the recording?" I asked with a sad voice. "I am sorry, Fred. I didn't have it planned out this way." Zack replied. I didn't know what to say. I heard some voices, and I looked up. "Who is there with you?" I asked with a furrowed eyeball. Zack didn't speak for some time. "I just asked who is there with you." "Everyone," Zack replied I ran my hand through my hair and cut off the line. I wasn't ready to let them know I was alive. That was just the best way to have them protected. With Xavier's death, I was going to get ruthless with anybody, including Mr. Dickson himself.My phone rang again, and I saw it was Zack. I looked at it as it kept ringing, and a
{ AKUMA'S REVENGE }Dickson looked at his phone and wondered what was going on. He was an adult now and the last time he ever played a game was during his youth days. The Mario gaming sound was frustrating coupled with the fact that he lost his mayor position. [ SYSTEM UPDATING IN 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 ] [ SYSTEM UPDATED] Dickson looked at his phone and it shut down again. He grinned and smacked the mobile phone to the seat beside him. " Can't you go any faster?" he shouted at the driver who was driving at a steady pace. He raced through the street as he drove towards the school. Many reporters were already there and wanted an exclusive interview with Jonas. Jonas was hiding by the school administrators, mostly waiting for Mr Dickson to come over. Dickson waked into the university grounds as the shutter sound of cameras followed him. walking into the administration office, he walked closer to Jonas and landed a heavy slap to his face. " How can you be this sloppy? You let them have y
{ PLEASE DONT KILL ME} I sat down in the little chair before Diana. I felt happy and accomplished for the first time in my life. Relaxing in the wooden chair before me, I looked at Diana and said, "What am I going to do with you? You are useless because I think I have what I want." I said, gently looking at her in the face. I noticed she had been starving herself. I looked at the litter of food on the floor. "Do you think I would poison you? Poison is too good for someone like you. I would rather shoot you in the head." Diana smirked and laughed. "I don't think you have the balls to kill anyone." She eyed me with a corner of her eyes. "I do enjoy a challenge." I got up from my seat and walked out of the room. I knew I had to scare her a little, but how? [You know you can ask for my help if you need one.] Claw said it with a still and silent voice. "I need a gun, so how can you help me in a position like this?" I asked [LOOK AT YOUR HAND] Claw asked me again, and I saw a gun. The
{ THE CREATOR OF THE ENIGMATIC SYSTEM} I looked at Shadow Blade. "Did you plan all of this in my head?" I looked at him in anger. It was as if I were dying all over from the gunshot wound. "Do you care about my feelings at all? I am sure all you cared about was saving your dying gaming world. I can say you haven't helped me in my revenge against Jonas, but I think you lack faith in me." I looked at Shadow Claw as sweat tickled down from my head. "Do you think sparing her life would make Dickson spare you? You have seen what they are capable of doing. She even shot you dead. You would have stayed dead if you hadn't had the portion to bring you back to life. I said we would kill her and send her corpse to Dickson. Did you feel the nerve between Akuma and Dickson? It shows that he now understands the gaming system just like you do. We even offered him wealth, but he chose Akuma all the same." Shadow Balde replied, walking closer to me.It looked like we were both alone in the world. "W
{ THE TRUTH ABOUT THE GAMING WORLD }Standing before the heart core of the enigmatic system, I felt a mix of emotions swirling inside me—awe, disbelief, and a profound sense of responsibility. Claw's revelation about my parents being the creators of the system shook me to the core. How could they have kept such a monumental secret from me? But I remembered I barely remembered who they were, their faces almost unrecognizable anymore. I knew they must have been great-minded individuals to create such a brilliant world. But why create evil with it? Claw noticed my bewilderment and spoke gently, [ I know this is a lot to take in, Frederick, but your parents had their reasons for keeping their identities hidden. They wanted to protect you from the dangers associated with the system.]I struggled to process the magnitude of what Claw was telling me. My parents, who I believed to be ordinary people, were brilliant minds responsible for creating the very foundation of the gaming world and,
{ THINGS FALL APART}Mr. Dickson was having it hard. The thought of his son going to serve a jail term broke his heart as many of the students withdrew from the prestigious university. I was winning. The truth about the foundation came to light, and many people saw what the university was all about. The government had to close the institution down until further notice. Dickson sat down as he read the magazine he was holding in his hand. "Frederick!." he shouted in anger. "Where the hell is my daughter?" He shouted again as the man standing guard beside him. "Miss Diana's number is unreachable, as we have tried several means of contacting her," Julius replied. "What do you mean unreachable? Where was the last time she was seen?" Dickson turned on his chair, facing Julius." School. You had come to have her picked up in your car." He replied his gaze meeting that of his boss. "What do you mean I came to pick her up? Are you saying I had my daughter kidnapped?" Dickson shouted Juli
{ THE TRUTH LET OUT }Thomas, Rosetta, Cassandra, Flora, and Zack all came to visit me. As I opened the door, they all looked at me while Rosetta hugged me tightly. "You scared me. Did you know that?" she said softly into my ears. "I am sorry; I didn't mean to scare anyone," I replied, meeting Thomas's gaze. "We saw what you did. It was reckless, but it helped us cut an arm off Mr. Dickson's body. He is going to come at you now with full force." Thomas sat down, rubbing his chin. "Thank you for sending me the video, Zack. It was put to good use." I said it with a smile, even though I knew it cost us a precious life. Cassandra smiled "It is good to have you back, Frederick. There is no plan without you. For a moment, I thought we had lost you for good." She raised her brows and looked at me."Me too." Flora looked at me. I knew they were going to ask me how I was able to come back alive. "You want to tell us how you did it? cheated death and come back alive." Thomas's lips parted wi
{ CREATING MORE SYSTEM GAMERS}My body slowly got up from the ground, and I found myself back in the system world with Claw standing before me. "I guess Shadow Balde is trying to convince them of what is going on," he said, taking a seat on the hewing machine before me. **************************************************************************Shadow Blade stood up in front of Thomas and the rest of my friends. "Hello, I am Shadow Blade." He said it with a smile, introducing himself. Thomas looked at him and laughed. "What is this nonsense?" "Can you just wait and listen to him? I am sure he has something to say to us." Rosetta and the rest were quiet, listening to what Shadow Blade had to say. "First, I want you to believe everything Fred is trying to tell you. I know how hard it is for you to believe us, but I think he has shown you what he can do. And Zack, this is not the first time we are meeting. I believe I have met with you once." Shadow Balde shifted his attention to Zack.
{ I AM BACK}Zack looked at me and was surprised. Most of the sympathisers were. "You were supposed to be dead?" Zack stammered, looking at me. "Let's just say I refuse to die." I replied with a smile. "Can you help her up?" I looked at Rosetta, who was on the floor with her eyes closed. Cassandra ran towards me and threw herself at me. She dobbed gently as she hugged me. I know I was the only thing she had left to be a brother. Everyone looked at me, and immediately the coffin was opened. The clergy looked at me and said, " This is a sign from heaven. Do you wish to share your death and return to life with everyone?" He said it with a smile on his face. I looked around to see the faces of so many students, all seated and staring at me with disbelief on their faces. I waited for the podium and grabbed the microphone. "I don't know where to start." I said it gently, with teary eyes. "I remembered my first day at the university grounds; I was just a teenager, but now." I looked at m
CONFRONTING TRAGEDY / THE BURIAL Zack, Richard, and Rosetta had a restless night, each consumed by their own thoughts on the events that had occurred. In the morning, the atmosphere in the mansion was filled with tension. The team assembled in the lounge, with a tense quiet atmosphere prevailing. Zack interrupted the silence. "We need a plan," he stated, his voice unwavering despite the inner chaos he experienced. "Jonas will keep going." We must carefully consider this. Judith was the one who replied first. "We must not allow him to escape from consequences. Jonas has hurt alot of people and now he must dance to the music. Fred wouldn't forgive us if Jonas managed to go unpunished." With red eyes from tears, Rosetta nodded. " I agree. However, we must be smart about all of this. We must not allow our actions to be dictated by our emotions."Diana looked around the room, her face showed determination. "We need evidence. If we can gather enough proof of Jonas's involvement in F
{ CONFRONTING TRAGEDY }Zack and Richard thought of a way to break the news to Rosetta. As they drove back to the mansion, they both pushed the responsibility of breaking the news onto her. "You should do it; you know I am just a member of Fred's crew. And besides, you know her more than I do," Richard said, gently trying to persuade Zack. "We both went because Fred trusted us. Now that he is gone, you are pushing the responsibility on me." Zack packed and looked at Richard. "I am sorry, but the news is going to be devastating to not only Rosetta but to everyone." Richard said and sighed. The two of them looked at each other and said nothing. Zack's phone buzzed, cutting the tension. "Who?" Richard asked, looking at Zack. "Rosetta," he said, showing him the phone. Thier heard beat fast as Zack picked up the call. "Tell me he is alright." Rosetta's voice was loud over the phone. "Can we talk when we get home? We are almost at the mansion." Zack quickly cut her shirt before she sa
{THE BRINK OF DARKNESS }"What is it going to be, Fred? Do I need to shoot her before I get you to talk? Tell me what you know about the system. I know you didn't have it destroyed." Jonas barked I looked at Rosetta and back at Jonas. "You need to believe me when I tell you that I had the system destroyed. What do you want from me?" I shouted in anger. "I want absolute power, and I want my face changed. I can do that with the power of the system, and you are going to help me.'" I looked at Zack and back at Richard. "I will do that if you let Rosetta go and have me as a hostage instead." I replied Emily looked at Jonas and nodded. Rosetta was immediately pushed towards Richard and Zack while I walked over to Jonas. "Take care of her." I looked at Zack as they walked out of the warehouse. "Now you are going to tell me what I need to hear, or I am going to kill you, Fred. You have taken a lot from me. You took my father and my sister and also turned my world upside down, and you are
{ JONAS MENACES}My mind raced as I considered the options. Reasoning with Jonas seemed impossible, but a direct confrontation was out of the question. Ineeded a plan that balanced both."Alright, let's gather everyone in the room," I said, looking determined. The crew moved to a hidden part of the classroom where we could discuss our next plan without being overheard."First, we need to find out where Jonas is holding Rosetta," I began. "Diana, can you get close to him and see if you can find any clues? You’re his sister; he might let something slip."Diana nodded, her face grim. "I’ll do my best. But if he’s involved in something big, he might not tell me everything.""That’s where we come in," Richard said, his voice steady. "We’ll need to keep an eye on Jonas without him noticing. We can set up a surveillance network around his usual haunts. Zack, you’re good with tech. Can you handle that?"Zack nodded. "I’ll get my equipment. We can cover the campus and any other places he frequ
{ ROSETTA KIDNAPPED }I slept with a smile on my face after I and Rosetta had made love. It was the first time we actually got intimate. I stared into her eyes all night before she finally fell asleep. The sound of the alarm woke me up, and I looked beside me. "Where is she?" My eyes flashed around the room as I tried to wake up. I rubbed my eyes gently, and I noticed there was a bit of a scuffle on the bed. I couldn't believe I had one good night's rest in a while, and everything was going back to being war for me. "Rosetta! Rose!!" I shouted, getting into my slippers. I walked through the hallway and stairs leading down to the main room. I was surprised to see a lot of broken glasses over my chairs, and the house was a complete mess. I quickly went to my CCTV footage, and I noticed it had been fired. "Was I drugged?" I ran my hands over my hair as I stared at the television right in front of me. I knew I needed to find Rosetta quickly. I couldn't believe I let my guards down, and
{ JONAS BACK }The university semester was coming to an end. A lot of preparation was going on for the graduating students. My joy knew no bounds because I was finally stepping into society. But little did I know a brewing storm was ahead. Many of the students were busy tying loose ends. Many were saying their goodbyes already, while others were focusing more on their studies. I knew I wouldn't have the power of the system again, so I need to focus more on my arithmetic. So far, Emily has been behaving herself, and I noticed that I couldn't find Alex and Jonas inside the school. I was just coming out of my department when I met with Emily. "What about Jonas and Alex? I don't think I have seen them this semester." I raised my eye brows. "I don't know. I promise to tell you everything, but recently, I noticed Jonas had been . distant. Do you want me to help you track them?" Emily looked at me."Track them? I thought you said you knew everything about them. Why are you really here, Emi
{ BETTER DAYS IN THE CAMPUS}The university was becoming stable, with each student minding their own daily activities. I walked through the corridor of the university, and everywhere seemed peaceful. I decided to sit down, and I looked back to when I became a part of the university. I remember being nothing, a loner who had always thought of staying low throughout my days here. I looked up to catch some of the pretty girls staring at me, and I laughed. I was becoming more of an icon by the day, with many of the students looking up to me. I felt a hand over my eyes, and I smiled. "Rosetta," I whispered softly, trying to get up to my feet. The hand moved slowly away from my face, and I saw it was Davina. "I think I told you to stay the hell away from me." I shouted in anger. "But I don't want to, Fred. I realise my mistake, and I would like to make amends. Can't you just give me the chance for old-time sake?" Davina said it with a sorry face. "Do you think I can ever forget what you
{ JONAS'S PLAN } Flora sighed, her eyes narrowing as she weighed Emily's words. "Okay, Emily. I'll talk to Fred. But understand this—if he says no, there's nothing more I can do. Your actions will speak louder than your words."Emily nodded fervently, wiping the last of her tears. "Thank you, Flora. I won't let you down, I promise."They parted ways, and Emily felt a flicker of hope. But she knew she had a long road ahead of her. She returned to Alex and Jonas, who were waiting for her back at the mansion."Did she buy it?" Jonas asked, leaning forward.Emily nodded. "Flora said she'd talk to Fred. But we need to be careful. She's suspicious."Alex smirked. "Suspicion won't matter once we have control of the system. We just need to keep them off balance until then."Emily didn't respond. Her mind was racing with the possibilities and the dangers that lay ahead. She knew she had to tread carefully if she wanted to succeed with the plan. The plan was simple. They need to know if I stil