The Earth Online

33 Preparations for the Next World Part 3

“Well, according to the journal, it should appear right after the block that shows Irkalla face.” The bearded man responded as he crossed his arms. Haya just rolled his eyes in annoyance at the god’s vanity.

As if mocking his annoyed gesture, Irkalla’s face suddenly appeared on the left side of the cube, a snide grin plastered across her beautiful face.

They immediately readied themselves, but just spent the next 5 minutes staring at the deity’s mocking smile.

“Ah, f**k. It makes me wanna gouge my f*****g eyes out.” Haya snapped and just stared at the other pictures.

After the next 10 minutes, it was only Thaleos giving his full attention on the screen. The other three amused themselves by staring at the shifting pictures.

“I fear that we might get stuck here for dignity.” Ygritte muttered while drumming her fingers across her arms.

While they were waiting in silence, Kedrick suddenly started,

“I spy with my little eye, something black.” 

“Ah, what the heck, eye don’t want to play this game.” Haya responded with a tired tone. Ygritte tried answering once or twice before giving up.

“No, but really, eye spy with my little eye, a line.” Kedrick insisted as he was just staring right in front of him.

“Now, that just got way vaguer.” Haya complained while turning his head toward Kedrick’s direction, there he saw, in place of Irkalla’s face, was a group of monster parading in the night forest.

“Is it The Night Parade?” Thaleos asked with a smirk.

The four of them just stared at the scene before them and admired the view.

There were different kinds of monsters standing upright and holding unto these lanterns, lighting up the ocean night along with the milky way above.

They were all walking above the ocean’s soft waves, as the two moons and stars clearly reflected on the gradually stilling sea water. It was like the water just extended to the sky, as they both meet at the end.

It seemed like all the monsters were just having fun and enjoying the cold night, as some of them had cigars stuck between their teeth and some were drinking pints of beer.

“We’ve got to go in before it changes.” Thaleos mused and when he saw that everyone was still mindlessly staring at the view, he decided to ready his weapon.

The rustling sound made everyone wake up from their daydream and prepare their weapons as well. As soon as everyone was ready, Thaleos decided to take the leap of faith and plunged straight into the picture.

Just like how the other portals worked, they were immediately sucked into the scene.

Upon arriving, unlike the floating monsters who were just going on their merry way, they fell into the freezing sea water.

They all tried keeping in their shouts — the one you usually let out when taking a cold shower in the morning.

Once settling down and adopting to the cold temperature, they heard the jeers and laughter of the crowd.

Some were performing some throat singing, as other were singing in an unknown archaic language and playing with some drums.

The magnificent looking beasts, like floating banshees, deer gods, and human-sized toads, all seemed to be eternally walking.

It was almost as if they were stuck in one place and were just in an eternal loop.

“Funny, isn’t it?” A baritone voice spoke throughout the calm scene. It sounded like it was Enki, as the familiar friendly tone was present.

“I promised them they could go back to their planets after completing the game. Little did they know that they can’t go home.” The god let out a big sigh and then continued,

“And they formed this cute little guild, too. Well, at least they’re stuck in this loop of happiness. They’ve been here for millions of years and their planets are mostly destroyed stages.” The god muttered in a grieving tone.

Every single one of them knew that the god could care less about their state, as this was mostly a form of entertainment for himself.

“But look, it makes this beautiful scene, right? All these strong creatures and species just holding on to such sentiments. It’s odd to me.” Enki muttered in an unsure tone, almost as if nipping at the start of an existential crisis.

All four of them just stared at Enki, angry at how the god used a whole guild’s joy as a means to study his own problems.

“Anyway, going back to the matter at hand. I see that you wanted to challenge the gods. That would be quite difficult for you, considering that you’re still all in the NPC status and the player with the highest level is only at 10,” Enki paused for a couple of second, then continued,

“Although, that is the highest level among all the surviving humans right now.” The god seemed to have this habit of rambling on, almost as if listing down his observations.

“Well, let’s see, let’s play a game that gives you a 1% chance of winning it. If you win my mini game, you get a Grade A mythical weapon.” The god of wisdom uttered in excitement.

Their whole group didn’t say anything and just waited for the god to explain the game.

“First, tell me your name. Next, I want you to choose between A and B.” Enki expressed calmly.

Everyone looked at Thaleos and the bearded man just monotonously replied,

“We are The Igigu Revolution and we choose A.”

“The Igigu Revolution? Well, that’s quite a statement. The weakest creatures in the universe, next to worms, claiming that they can beat the gods.” The god taunted while slipping in chuckles in between sentences.

“I’m sure Irkalla would be highly entertained by this joke.” Enki mindlessly commented.

After a moment of just chuckling, he proceeded to explain the mechanics of the game.

“Since you’ve chosen Game A, the rules of the game are simple. I need you to find 3 unique blood souls within the parading guild. Try getting them those souls without disrupting their trance. Wake up one of them from their trance and you lose.”  As the god saw how the 4 players were dumbfounded on how to accomplish the impossible task, he laughed and said,

“You have 30 minutes to accomplish this. Good luck!” As soon as he said those parting words, the god’s intimidating presence disappeared.

“How the f**k do we do this?” Kedrick muttered in disbelief at the god’s mini game.

“It’s absolutely impossible to get their blood souls, without waking them up. I mean, who are we to disturb their trance of happiness? We can’t do this! We even have to kill them just to get their blood souls.” Haya agreed with Kedrick’s sentiments.

“Is it true happiness if it’s just an illusion?” Ygritte asked while transfixed at the joyous crowd before them. The three men paused at her question and they, too, started thinking.

They knew that the real fear also comes from them being trapped in the same illusion once they finish the game.

“We don’t have to win the game. We just have to impress the god, so he can give us the grade A mythical weapon or other important prizes.” Thaleos mentioned as he also felt guilty in disrupting their joy.

But Thaleos knew that they deserve to know the truth, even if it meant hurting in the process. They deserve to know what happened to their homes.

“So, how do we impress the god then?” Ygritted prompted, feeling herself shaking from the cold sea water.

“First thing’s first, we need to float on the water as well.” Kedrick responded as he was also feeling the cold seeping into his bones.

“Maybe we should try on concentrating our mana into our feet.” Thaleos suggested as he remembered how the basic theorems of the game usually involved focusing mana on different parts of your body to maximize their abilities.

Everyone closed their eyes and started to concentration their mana into their feet. Ygritte was the first one to float on the water.

“Oh my gosh, I did it, guys.” She whisper-shouted as she was still a bit wobbly in her walk. As soon as she stabilized her stance, the men followed suit.

Before they knew it, everyone was now standing up on the water, like it was solid cement.

“Alright, so here’s the plan.” Thaleos initiated.

~ ~ ~

Anu’s Ziggurat Temple

“What game are they playing, brother?” Irkalla asked Enki, who was staring at the Rubik’s cube-sized item.

The god of wisdom seemed to be fully absorbed into the game, as he was trying so hard not to let a smile out. It took a couple of seconds before he responded to Irkalla’s question.

And if there’s one thing that the gods hated the most, it’s waiting. As the seconds continued, the room gradually got darker and darker.

Once it was almost pitch dark, Enki finally looked up from the cube and responded,

“Apologies for that, sister. They’re playing The Night Parade, and they’re solution has been quite entertaining so far.”

Irkalla’s face gradually relaxed and shifted into a smile,

“Oh, do tell, brother! Sounds exciting.”