3 The Challenge

Star-Date 410-564-913 A.E.

Solar Station 5.Z01E , Entrance to Reality Omega

'Was I living in a simulated world?'

This thought sent shivers through my body. Although it answered a lot of my previous questions, it also gave me more unanswered ones. The ramifications of that thought was unthinkable to me. All the things about life, its ins-and-outs, the meaning and purpose of it that has led countless of brilliant thinkers of humanity into thinking of different opinions to answer those very questions, the one that seemed the most improbable was the actual truth.

Humanity as we know it was a lie.

Although it was just a consensus I reached through connecting the puzzle pieces from the things I've experienced so far, it was a compelling revelation that has me agreeing to it more and more as each second passes.

In all honesty, this should not have been my priority. I should have been working on a way to somehow remove this 'connection' to mind that is causing me to relieve my deepest fears. I was not alone in this suffering and I probably would have been better off if I had tried to fix this problem immediately.

I was constantly hearing the people around me screaming and crying in anguish, some even outright mumbling about their worst nightmare, which further supports my analysis. Having the capability of projecting an individual's deepest fear into their mind with a sea of people, which have different fears, is not something any country or organization on Earth could do.

"Stop! Make it stop!" wailed by what sounds to be like a middle aged woman.

"No!! I'm so sorry!" screamed by a man, followed by a soft whisper of "Forgive me Anne."

"Somebody help me!"

"Huhuhu!"

"Wahhh!"

There was a constant cry of anguish as far as I can hear from the people around me. I heard a lot of different voices with varying pitches which I inferred that there was a large age variety and it was somewhere between early teenage years up to an elderly person.

I can vaguely remember a couple of very high-pitched screams that sounded like a young teen and breathy, croaky voices which also told me there were some seniors with me.

It had only been a few minutes when the nightmare in my head began fading, gradually turning in pockets of smoke before disappearing. The visions those around me and I had vanished so abruptly like it had never been there before.

The effects of it were clearly seen. There was not a single sound coming from anyone apart for the few whimpers and sniffles as well as some soft crying noise.

At this moment, the surrounding area started to light up similar to how the previous room and hallway I've been to had. As the room got brighter, the place where I'm at that I once thought was a room turned out to be a giant stadium. Anywhere I looked, there were a bunch of people either laying down on the floor in a vulnerable position. Some grabbing their legs and rocking their bodies back and forth.

The minority who were left standing, which I assume to be strong willed, also looked around their surroundings, trying to judge the situation we were all in. Then, without warning, I heard a voice speaking in my head. And it seemed it wasn't only me as everyone else had a shocked look on their faces.

[Be at peace] majestically spoken by a mysterious being in our heads.

[Most of you possess not the capacity to gaze into our being. The few seconds you did have all left you vulnerable.] He then continued to say, [I applaud those few who have enough talent to resist, and for that you shall be rewarded.]

[I will be direct. All of you in this hall, have passed away.] said by another being to our minds.

This raised some complaints from those who had regained some of their ability to think and speak. Which would have continued to grow larger had the mysterious beings not said anything else.

[This place is at the crossroads of your destiny. You will be given two choices to choose from, which will decide your fate for eternity.] said by the first being.

This statement once again caused a ruckus amongst the people as just after learning about their own deaths, they learned that they only have two choices ahead of them that will decide how they spend their eternity.

I myself was a bit fearful of this statement. After figuring out that the reality I knew was all fake, I have wondered how I will spend the rest of my time outside of the virtual world that was Earth. The two beings with metaphysical bodies and crazy abilities, who can scare people through just showing themselves and are able to converse telepathically, are further proof regarding my analysis.

[Life or Death] simultaneously said the two beings in a powerful tone along with a hint of joy and terror.

Just those three words. No further explanation.

We were told basically nothing. Coupled with the fact that we're being asked to decide how we spend the rest of our time based on those two words. Life or death?

'What the heck kind of choices are those? I need more information! You can't just let us decide based solely on those words. There might be a catch to it.'

I wasn't the only one thinking like this. Those people who managed to resist the power of these beings also started to complain to the two beings. It slowly roused those around them as well, further amplifying our desire to gain more knowledge before making our decision.

But sadly, the two beings gave nothing but silence, causing those who just started regaining their confidence to lose it again and go silent. No sound was made for quite a long time, before the majority of the people here began to choose Life over Death, including me for some reason.

'I haven't even completely decided yet. Why am I walking towards the option Life?!' I was baffled by this.

Mere moments later, everyone had decided. Surprisingly, no one chose death. It seemed everyone wanted Life. Whatever that meant, be it a second chance at life, a peaceful eternity, or just the thought of living.

Then the two beings spoke once again.

[The time has come.] said the first being.

[Indeed.] replied the second being.

[Those who chose Life shall have another chance at it. Those who chose Death shall bear the pain of dying over and over again, for an eternity.] revealed by both beings.

The words spoken by the two beings sent a shiver down everyone's spine, making most glad that they chose the right option. However, a select few were wondering what lied ahead. The answer to this question was soon answered by the beings.

[Another chance at life comes at a price. Survive and accomplish the tasks in front of you, and you will live in your desired world. Fail these challenges and a similar fate to those who chose death awaits you.] interjected a third, more powerful being.

At that moment, right in front of me appeared a blank screen. This left me confused.

'Wasn't there supposed to be a challenge for us? where is mine?'

I looked around to see if anyone had the same issues as me. What I saw was everyone looking slightly down to where I assume their own screen with their specific challenges were written. Everyone had a shocked look on their face but not many had worried looks on, seemingly having an easy or at least doable task.

When I was about to voice out my concern about receiving no tasks, multiple flashes of light started going off one after the other. Once the light passed, the person standing there was gone. I wonder if they have already been transported into the 'game world.'

'I can only wish them good luck and hope they succeed in their challenges. I wonder what will happen to me now.'

Continuous white flashes went left and right and the number of remaining people dwindled fewer and fewer. Originally there was a stadium full of people (100 thousand people), now there were roughly around 1,000 people. The two beings gathered all of us that remained into one spot and the screen in front of me disappeared.

[The few who remained are those with great potential and talent.] said the third being.

[They who remain shall be given another choice, Easy or Difficult] said the first two beings.

This was a surprising turn of events to all of us. We were given a second set of choices to make and from the looks of the others, only around 10 of us dared to think about choosing the Difficult option.

After the second batch of choosing, besides us ten who chose Difficult, the rest were similarly transported away. Once they were gone, a screen showed up again only this time it contained my challenge. And to my suprise, it also contained the answers to my queries.

'I was in fact living in a simulated world and then died because of an unforeseeable situation. And I was not alone.'

I read my challenge issued to me and was surprised about its content.

|| Build an Empire that covers the entire world and lead it to prosperity ||

'Is this real??!!' I was slowly getting excited and my heartbeat was increasing

'This has literally always been a dream of mine. And now it can be a reality?!'

I was jumping up and down in joy when I caught a glimpse of a special note on the lower portion of the screen. It said, you must also conquer the other players' kingdoms and bring them under an alliance you control in order to succeed.

"What the heck is this?!!"

And then everything turned white. I was transported away just like that.