Game On👾⚔️⚔️⚔️

Episode Three: The Green Button Is the Portal

(Shadow Web 🕸️🃏🃏🃏)

By Fredison Godilyn 🖋️📝

Rating: 18+

Ricky read the game instructions and learned that the game wasn't just a game, but a collection of games. The only thing that was constant was that the player needed to be prepared for every game they played. The game could take someone by surprise. And unlike any other games, you had three lives at the beginning of the game. Losing meant starting over again with another account. The player would be marked dead permanently.

Ricky looked at the question again: “Are you ready for an adventure worth trying once in a lifetime?”

He looked worried. He knew from Dennis that his brother had given in to his temptation after Dennis promised to help his brother get an admission offer. Dennis's father was the city mayor's brother, and his mother was the sister to the vice chancellor of Auremont University.

He did well in the interview but failed his high school exam. If only he could have read all night. If only he could have skipped those game sessions. He was left with only one choice: play the game.

Ricky tapped Yes.

He saw a rule that read:

Be free to leave the game anytime you want. The deeper you are into it, the harder it becomes to leave. When you get to your destination, be sure to play well.

He grinned.

“This must be a more addictive game than Umpire.”

He looked at the game and read the game cover. It read:

Gameverse

Not a screen, but a world with many cities, villages, countries and continents. A heart might cost a life.

Not for kids.

“I kind of like games like this.”

He started playing the game. His player was transported into the Country of Flame in the Continent of Eternal Flame. He played the first twenty levels. Then, the game brought up a warning:

Prepare to witness the Eternal Flame's true adventure.

He went through all ten countries to defeat and conquer the game. The ten levels were long and hard. He lost a heart, leaving him with two.

After the first thirty levels, he went to grab a cup of coffee. He sat down alone and started thinking about the weird game. It gave him the vibe of Umpire.

In Umpire, you load another game within the game and play it. The title Umpire came from the fact that you got to make other games compete and arbitrate the outcome. It was a platform that gathered other games and gave them a chance to compete and rank.

Gameverse looked similar because you got to play other games in the first twenty levels. The next ten were originally the game's levels. The first twenty levels were somehow related to the next ten.

Ricky took out his phone and called Damon.

“Wassup, guy, any good news?” Damon said. He seemed to be at a party.

“Just wanna ask if the game has anything to do with Umpire.”

“Oh! About that, it is the same company. Gameverse is just a grander game,” Damon said. “Hi, pretty.”

“I bet I am disturbing you...” Ricky said.

“Not really. It's quite okay talking with you,” Damon said.

“Like, I am busy.” He said it to convince Damon to return to whatever he was doing.

Ricky hung up.

He went back to his room to have a busy night. After level thirty, he was transported to another continent called Ninja Star. He kept on playing, and at the end of every thirty levels, he was transported to a different continent.

After he reached level one hundred and fifty, a warning sign popped up. He looked at the warning and read:

Dear player, are you ready for a more realistic adventure?

Ricky asked himself, “What can actually make me happier? Real money and gifts are the goal.”

He checked his messages and looked at his brother's messages. His father had been in a vegetative state for six years. His brother had stood by him.

“Rick, your actions might be the last distance from your goal,” Ethan whispered to Ricky. “To pass is as simple as reading,” he would add.

He looked at his laptop for a while before switching it off. He knew that this decision needed a decisive action and not a reckless one.

He went to sleep at 2:46 a.m. He woke up very early in the morning and used his prize money to buy some stuff.

He got a new outfit for himself and Damon. He ordered a new video game console. Then, he went to get foodstuffs for himself to keep him from going outside and staying indoors.

After coming back from the market, an idea came to his mind:

“Why not write a little about my decision?”

He took out his notebook and began to write. He wrote about his brother's actions, his father's condition, and how his brother had let go of his principle of never loving again to help him. He also wrote generously about Damon and Derrick. He wrote about how he read for the interview and how he passed it.

He wrote about the negative part of his addiction to video games. He also wrote about how he used to skip reading to play games, even during tests. He wrote about how this had made him lose his chance of making his elder brother proud.

He spared some space for Caleb and his brother and how Caleb almost made his brother lose all his money, his car, and his house. How he had secretly been a d**k, buttering him up to get what he wanted.

He also spared some space for Dennis and how he pursued his brother and how he won and had him for himself.

Then, he stopped.

He realised the sequence. Everything about these people—his brother, Dennis, Caleb, Damon, Derrick, and himself—wouldn't have been on the papers if they had not taken action.

If he really wanted to reach his goals, he only needed to take action.

This action was before him.

He cleared the whole message and started again. This time around, he wrote about the game. He believed that he wouldn't regret it since he was not sitting idly. At least, he would try to beat the future at its own game.

He went to the game and marked Yes.

Then, the game asked the same question, emphasizing if he was ready.

He said yes.

After picking Yes the second time, it started loading.

After a minute, it finished loading.

Then, the system started saying:

“Ready!”

The screen showed a blinking red light. 🚨

Ten seconds later, everything blacked out.