Okoma's stomach churned at his brother's last words. He walked out the room silently while closing the door.
Humanity's worst trash human being... no. Of course he wasn't. What he had done in the game was for survival. Back then, he didn't know giving up or dying would let him out of that situation so easily and without memories. All he knew was from the small message a voice delivered to him before the game started:
" Welcome, dear beta tester. This is the god's beta version of a game designed for humanity. You have been chosen to play and provide us with precious data! To win this game, you will need to lead humans to victory in the war against demons! Be careful, you have only one life. Let the game begin!"
Was all he got when he started. He had woken up in a puddle of mud in a weird unfamiliar village. From that moment on, he went through a lot of hardships that led him to have a cold vision of that game. Only as he progressed in the game did he get more information, which was only the strict minimum, for example, the procedure to declare game end.
Thinking back on this, he started doubting things. How come the golden angel cleared the game without killing the demon king? He clearly remembered that the condition for ending the game was to sit on the demon king's throne with his crown and declare game end. Surely, the golden angel did nothing similar to that. Perhaps, every information delivered after the game beginning was adapted to the player? Did that mean... he was actually a trashy person?
The things he did for his own survival... He saw children die before him and didn't flinch. Even if he had convinced himself it was all fake, he didn't have any proof it was. He let his comrade sacrifice themselves without hesitation. Such things... the golden angel, did they do something like that? No... He could have survived without doing what he had done.
His stomach twisted and his throat started choking. His vision was filled with white dots and his legs felt numb. He slowly walked to his room and sat down on the floor, his back against the closed door.
He didn't know exactly what he was feeling... It had been a while since he felt something. Was he panicking? He had no idea. But he quickly pushed back whatever it was before heading to his bed. But, as he was about to flop on his bed, he noticed a paper on his bed. It was black and the letters on it were copper. A dark red copper. He picked it up with an uneasy feeling of familiarity.
"Did you finally realize what kind of person you were? Congratulations, my young devil! Although you might see it negatively, what you are going through is completely normal, not to mention necessary! Now, be sure to properly prepare for tonight. Although I understand why you are trying to keep your family out of this, I assure you it's not necessary. But you can take your time. The pace at which you are developing is more than good enough! Anyway. I sent you this notice to congratulate you! My young devil became a promotional player! How proud I am. We will meet soon!
-Your precious master."
As he read the letter, he could nearly hear the voice saying it. A shiver ran down his spine.
This voice, it was the voice of his master back when he wasn't all-powerful. That guy... was a freaking psychopath. Okoma ended up killing him because he was too dangerous. He still remember the smirk on his face as he died. His name was Marlot, and he was an incredible mage and strategist. Okoma had learnt a lot from him. But no matter what, that guy was crazy. Dangerous and completely crazy. Now, he just received a letter from him?
His insides froze at the thought of Marlot being more than just an NPC in the beta game. What if he was part of the creators? He felt his head starting to ache just thinking about it. If it was the case... that would be a disaster.
He shook his head. There was no point in worrying about it since he wasn't even sure it was the case. For now... he had to concentrate. Soon the event would start.
Time passed by and at 8 pm his little brother went to sleep. Okoma sighed, at this rate he wouldn't be able to influence his choice without revealing anything. He was slightly dizzy because he was in such a weird position. He knew enough to know that something bad was going to happen but not to know what. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes and then frowned.
What was he doing? Was he… prioritizing keeping his family in the dark about his involvement with the game over their safety? He got up in a rush. This wasn't the game. He had to protect his family and friends no matter what, or he'd be exactly what he hated, what his brother saw in him, and what Marlot wanted him to be. And it couldn't be that way because he wasn't the cold king, he was Okoma horkensov.
He ran across the house yelling
"No matter what, don't say yes! Do not participate in the game! It's not safe! Please!"
His border on panic.
As he arrived in the kitchen his mother was frowning at him.
"Stop screaming! Joshua is asleep, you'll wake him up." She glared
Right, Joshua was sleeping. He continued yelling the same thing as he ran back and opened the door to his little brother's room. His little brother had woken up by then and was sitting in his bed with an anxious expression.
"Brother?" He asked in a small voice.
He walked up to him and crouched beside the bed. He could hear his mother angry footsteps closing in.
"Josh, listen to me. You'll be asked if you want to play a game, but you can't say yes. It's a very boring game, like scrabble, you don't want to play it alright?" He tried to make his voice soothing and calm but his racing heart didn't help. It seemed keeping his cool was much easier when he considered everything as a game…
"Okoma! Get out of the room now!" His mother whispered angrily as Okoma continued to trying to convince his little brother.
"What's going on? Okoma went crazy?" His sister walked up behind his mother with a bored expression, yet curiosity seeped into her voice.
"He didn't go crazy, he's been crazy for a long time, I've already told you." Davon's amused voice came from further down the hallway.
"Okoma, come here before I make you!" His mother not so whispered again.
"So you promise me you won't agree right? Tell me you promise it." He said while keeping firm eye contact with Joshua.
"Okay…" his brother answered, confused and anxious, his eyes on the verge of tears.
His mother grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out.
"Sorry Joshua, Okoma is feeling a bit off right now. Everything's alright, go back to sleep." His mother told Joshua in a soothing voice before carefully closing the door.
"Don't accept the invitation for the game!" He repeated seriously.
"Will you stop with that? What's wrong?" His mother asked him as she dragged him to the kitchen, worry making its way onto her face.
Following behind them, Davon snickered.
He sat at the table where his father was already waiting leaning on the back of a chair. His mother sat in front of him while Juni sat next to her and Davon stayed against a wall in the hallway.
"I'm sorry. But it's very important, don't accept the invitation to dragon's requiem. It's a trap, you'll be in danger." Most probably, anyway, he thought to himself.
"What are you going on about?" His father asked sternly, visibly annoyed by the ruckus and wishing he could go back to his tv.
"Well, it's hard to explain.." he looked at the time on the microwave, 8:45. Damn it- " and I don't have the time to really explain either, but at nine we'll all receive an invitation to the game called dragon's requiem, hosted by… well it doesn't really matter. But it's not an ordinary game and it's very dangerous, you can't accept the invitation." He told them, as the look in their eyes slowly went from amusement, frustration and worry, to mostly the latter. Except for Davon. He still found it very amusing.
"Son, are you alright? You're not making sense. What's scaring you so much, just a game invitation? On our phones, I imagine?" His dad was worrying about his mental health.
"On the phones? Well maybe… I'm not sure. But probably not, anyway it's at nine and you will know about it, and you can't say yes, you have to say no, no matter what." He reiterated, ignoring their weird looks.
His sister got a call and walked away, Okoma hoped his words had gotten through to her.
"Mom, you should get him to psychiatric hospital like I told you. Something isn't right with him." Davon teased meanly.
"Davon. Don't say that." His mother glared at him before addressing Okoma again.
"Like dad said, you're not making sense. You're worrying me. Tell us what's going on, who told you about this?" She pressed him.
Okoma glanced at the time, 8:54
"Well, again, it's hard to explain… but I played the beta version, like a test version. And I got a letter saying everyone was getting invited to the official launch, and I don't think it's safe." He tried to tell them as best as he could without sounding crazy.
The gods had been absent for ages, most mana fading away with them, killing most magical beasts. The only reason humans still used magic was because of synthetic mana production. Saying the gods had been away making some sort of game probably wasn't a very effective way to make them listen to him.
"A beta version? Alright, we won't play the game, whatever it is. But you can't go around yelling at this hour! You woke up Josh." She started nagging him.
Their lives were worth the nagging, he assured himself.
"Hey, Oko isn't going crazy after all." His sister said as she was walking back to the kitchen. "My friend just called me and they're talking about it on tv, and everywhere actually. Something to do with Tennor- an Olympic mage and the gods." She said, more calmly than she should've. Okoma was pretty shure she'd just shrug if she learned earth was about to implode.
His mother and father stared at her, stunned.
"What?" They said in unison.
But before anything else could happen, they all heard majestic horns blaring from the sky.
And then a flash of white. Okoma was sitting in a white space that seemed boundless. A fresh breeze brushed him. He was wearing simple white clothes and felt strangely comfortable.
"Hello, cold king. I am Jury, the messenger of the gods. I will be the host for tonight's event! I am here to warn you before you join the others, do not kill anyone or you will be eliminated from the game! Any act of violence during the first event will be punished. I will now bring you to the event."