[Name: Nathan Vale.
Age: 28.
Academy: no record.
Affiliation: no record.
Specialization category:no record.
Specialization: no record.
Achievements: Class (B) Vessel.
Total out-case time: 00:01:59.
Any farther details:
No records about 'how' he entered the Vessel.]
I ended up looking at the computer screen with unfocused eyes.
Understood nothing,
Knew nothing,
And feels like I've missed the opportunity to ask about all of this strange stuff.
All I knew was that I'm being teamed up with the twins, Silas, and that woman. And now I had to put my card on this thing before going inside.
Did I choose this team?
NO.
Did they even ask about my opinion?
No.
Did I know what I'm doing or about to do?
No either, this seemed to be a newcomer's ceremony that I have to pass whether I love it or not.
'What a nice day to feel stupid.'
"You all record your entrance?"
Sials asked, everyone nodded except me.
"Then let's go," He continued as if I'm invisible. "you've memorized the instructions right? Don't do anything before finding out enough information."
I was about to ask but they entered the door, which gives an ominous impression, without looking backwards.
After they vanished, I looked back to the door I entered through earlier to find it gone— no trace of doors was there.
"It's A GAME... Virtual reality game."
I had no idea that our company invested in Horror Games but fine. Whether I knew how I ended up on it or not, nothing could convince me otherwise.
Just like the elevator thing.
With steady unbothered steps, I walked in to find myself in a forest.
Gnarled, skeletal trees,
Darkness that swallowed the view whole,
And the sweetness in the air was wrong— too sweet, too paradoxical.
"Stay close, Nathan" Silas made a notice. "This place could easily play with your mind."
Right...
It's already doing it. I could see my mother hanging herself on that branching tree.
"So, what do we need to do?"
My question made them all look at me as if I'm an alien.
"Pass through it?" Drew answered. "We have to pass it."
"To go where?"
"To the forest house or just to walk until you get out somehow?"
"Nice," I commented sarcastically with a nod. "What direction?"
"We don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Isn't it all about finding the direction?"
Dean asked, confused about my questions.
"So, if I'm being correct... this place doesn't want us to pass it? Or what's the point of all these ugly hallucinations?"
"It's my first time seeing someone who thinks that those Vessels 'think'"
With a shrug, that woman made a statement that doubted my sanity.
"So what? You'll go around yourself in circles before somehow finding the end?"
I myself thought that I'm being irrational, but who cares?
I needed to step out of here before going crazy, because no way in hell I would endure seeing and hearing all what I'm seeing and hearing for more time.
Ignoring is good,
But there was a limit to what I could ignore!
I can't ignore it if all I could feel was an icy breath crawling over my neck, and something wet and viscous fell against my skin!
'It's Anything but real, Nathan.'
'It doesn't even exist.'
"So, what do you think we should do?"
Silas finally stepped in. His tone was serious, as if he thought that I could come up with something.
"Not much," a shiver touched my body when the breaths on my neck became more like murmurs."Let's follow the hardest path possible."
"..."
They looked at me in a way that anyone would look at an unstable human being.
"From what I know" Silas scratched the side of his face, appearing lost in thought. "This Vessel can be easily cleared by just making sure not to get crazy while passing it— all of you can already see the things all over the place, right?"
"Is it the same things to all of us?"
"No, all depends on you."
Then why am I seeing twisted beings with features I've never known?
I could hardly recognize my mother's face, nothing more— Or maybe this so-called 'Vessel' didn't find any worthwhile memory in me?
"To put it in words, Sials idea is to walk through it without think much about the direction. Meanwhile, Nathan's says that we should take the most terrifying deadly path."
I didn't say that.
"And I guess that path has the worst things on it?" Drew asked. Dean on the other hand pointed in a direction. "I guess it is this one?"
The direction was the one my mom was on it, so I nodded. Hesitation filled my body with cold sweat.
And, as if it's a shocking discovery, they all look at each other with disbelief when the pointed direction was agreed to be the one.
"It wasn't a coincidence" maybe a bit of shaking touched her voice "There is a pattern."
"And a pattern means that there is a way to clear it— Deliberately"
All nodded except me to what Silas said. All of them begin to walk there without much hesitation.
Walking into the dark, sweet smelled forest.
Of course I followed, making sure that I'm not in the back nor in the front while everything I focused on was my coworkers expressions.
Pure dread,
They looked terrified and pale as the dead, yet they continued walking through the trees as if they already knew the path. At times, each of them would start shouting different things into the air... Still, that was all; nothing more suspicious occurred for awhile.
After what felt like ages, Drew wheezed, eyes wide with panic... then fell unconscious.
Dean carried him on his back without a word. The rest of the group was struggling but no one made a comment.
I, on the other hand, felt like a kid clung to my back, carried. His laughter sound filled the air around me, and somehow— he talked, low murmurs that I could barely understand a glimpse of it.
"Let's go home~"
"Here is too dark~"
"Where to go~? When the father you knew died."
More like a song. A song so childish, yet so dark it made my skin crawl, even as I convinced myself it was only in my head.
It's all an illusion, mind trick.
But what kind of jobs need this level of mental strength to make this a newcomers' ceremony?!
Return me to the PR please, I can't handle things like this for much longer... Why should I?
"This seems endless–" my legs started shaking due to the long walk and heavy stress. The forest had no clear path anymore, and the things I'm seeing got scary so much that my stomach churned. Even the kid in my back started to scream horribly.
Could I continue this?
Could I even be able to put anything in my mouth afterwards?
"That's exactly why I hate horrors" I murmured to myself, then noticed Silas' gaze. "Say what you want to say."
"You seem unbothered."
"Really?"
"Yeah, what kind of training did you undergo so that you're not affected by all of this?"
"Training?" I repeat, "no, isn't this training?"
"...?No?"
"... so what is it?"
"A real Vessel?"
Silas became more and more confused, as much as I was.
"So?"
"You could die here or lose your mind forever?"
"Really?" The word 'here' was strange but I let it go this time, focusing on something else. "So we are a group to help one another if this happens? Remind them to stay awake?"
"Yes," That woman answered this time "even if it's a Class D Vessel, things like this happens all the time if you aren't prepared"
Ah—
I understood nothing.
Why make it this complex when it's just a game? Taking their job seriously or something?
"You too think it's a D rank?" Dean commented. "The train we've got to D ranks seemed worthless now."
"Yeah, reality hits different"
...?
"Reality wha—"
Again, my question got interrupted by a sudden change of the environment.
I inhaled when all the load on my back vanished, feeling that I'm alive again.
So did the others. Hence, they all were looking at the main screen, trying to know something I have no idea about.
[Time passed: 00:30:44 (new record)
Accomplishment: Class D Vessel.
Produced gem containment rate: 88%
Cost: Zero.]
"30 minutes?" Dean opened his eyes in disbelief. "Did that was the shortcut? For real?"
"How long did it usually take?" I asked, feeling like I'm missing something very important.
"About five hours? It usually equals three days there."
"Why do you all talk about it like it's a Real place, as if we were 'There'?"
"Your questions become more and more strange with time." Silas gave me a weird look before opening the door so we could get out. "We act like it's real because it is, didn't you just come out of the forest? I can't even understand you at this point."
But it is a virtual game, so we were here in fact, right?
I suddenly remembered the weight of the kid and how real it felt to lose it after. Shivers ran on my body,my heart raced strangely... then with a single thought, it all ended.
Like, I'm not crazy to be fooled by that.
A game is a game, believing in it would make things worse. And obviously, I'm in such a bad scenario where believing in crazy things won't help.
Even if the gems, which appeared in my jacket pocket out of nowhere, were real. I would still cling to my thoughts—
Because, for some unconscious reasons, my instincts told me that this is the only way left for me. Nothing will do me a favor besides it, whether they love it or not.
Or at least, I hoped.