Chapter 15- Paradise Online (Part 2)

Chapter 15- Paradise Online (Part 2)

The boy kept cursing himself and putting all the blame on his own actions. As much as he knew that this was a very unexpected situation, he still felt regret for all the horrible things that happened.

Then, as if he had enough, he pulled out the options menu to log out. But, as he was about to choose the option, a window suddenly popped in front of him.

The window that appeared showed what seemed to be a live broadcast from an unknown part of the world.

The camera was capturing what seemed to be a conference room with a small table in the middle with a microphone on it. There was no one standing on the stage. The case was the same for Reo and Cassia. They didn't know the reason for this appearance but they stayed silent to see what this was all about.

In the corner, the view count kept increasing from 1000 to 10000 and then to 100000 in less than ten seconds. It didn't stop increasing rapidly until it exceeded the 100 million mark. That's when something happened. A man clad in a black suit walked up the stage.

His face was half covered by the darkness of the background but his features were still visible. He had a cleanly shaved face, extremely pale skin, and very dark circles around his eyes that screamed lack of sleep from one single glance. The man had a cold yet also playful smirk on his face that didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that tens of millions of people were watching him live at that exact moment.

When he reached the table, he adjusted the microphone to fit his towering height and said.

"Is it working?" He asked the people behind the camera. Then, he coughed a few times and began.

"Hello, dear player. My name is Sylvester Ogma. The CEO and founder of OGMA corp. We have all invited you to this quick live for a simple announcement. Many of you tried Paradise Online and I am going to assume many of you have many complaints about the way our game is created."

Reo listened carefully to his words and immediately knew that this man was not as simple as he seemed to be.

'He is dangerous.' He thought with a serious face.

The man then pulled out a laptop from under the table and opened it before he started scrolling through it. Behind him, a projector was showing whatever he was doing on his laptop screen. It was a site that was filled with news articles, comment threads, social media posts, and many other things.

"A lot of controversies indeed. I am genuinely impressed at this reaction, really impressed." He rubbed his chin before adding.

"Well, since you all have a lot of questions… Let me start with a question of mine. For what reason did you buy Paradise Online?" He asked.

There was obviously no one to answer his question so he answered it himself.

"Fun? New experience? To live your own fantasies and become the thing you know this world will never give you? An admirable thing indeed. Paradise Online is the world where dreams come true, after all. You all came into this world with the thought that this 'game' is your new hope in life."

Then, his smile widened into a grin.

"But, you neglected a very small thing. Paradise Online was never a game. We have never said that this is a game. Only you… Players assume that it's a game. We just went along with whatever illusion you created."

These few words came down on the viewers like a bombshell. How could it be? Not a game? Are they pulling a prank on us?

Instantly, many started entering Paradise Online's sites, videos, and trailers in search of one single word… Game.

Millions and millions of people looked everywhere and read every word that has a relation to this. But, nowhere could they find that word. It was the shock of a lifetime.

"We called it the world of dreams. We called it the world of desires. We even called it the gate to the new era. But, we have never called it a game. You know why?"

The screen behind him showed the game's logo as he continued.

"Because we wanted to create a place where people could call their new world… Their new earth. Now tell me, on which earth did your desires and dreams become a path filled with roses? In which world did reaching the pinnacle become so fun and easy? Nonsense!"

"You want money? Fame? True strength? You can get it all in Paradise Online. But, be ready to go through hell and back to have a taste of that sweet fruit."

The man's smile finally disappeared and instead, a very cold glare took place.

"If you want to leave, fine. Leave and never come back. But, never assume that your shitty life will change by some miracle. Don't expect that god will change your own fate while you sit on your comfy couch eating and drinking like an animal. In Paradise Online, you can be your own god… You can extend your hand and grab your own fate. You can be what you always wanted to be."

Then, he extended his arms in different directions as if he wanted to hug something.

"The choice is yours. Our world is there and it only needs your ambition to become the creator of dreams that it has always been meant to be."

Then, the live stream stopped out of nowhere, leaving people in a stupefied state. No one could utter a word and for the first time in an unknown amount of years, the whole earth became silent.

How could they say anything after what they heard? They felt their hearts starting to beat quickly and their breathing became erratic. Something inside each one of these people was born. Or to be more precise, revived. The new world had killed something inside of them and that is ambition. It has killed their will to face whatever is stopping them from reaching the peak.

These few words broke that sealing and unleashed whatever was hidden.

Then, in a historic moment, Paradise Online was flooded by hundreds of millions of people. All were more than eager to give it another try. It was the best example of how weird humans could be. They fear many things but with enough drive, they could throw themselves into the deepest parts of hell just to get whatever they wanted. It was 'greed'.

A few minutes ago, they were about to throw it away but now turned around again and jumped inside.

In the middle of all of this mess, Reo could only chuckle. It was a low chuckle that could only be heard by Cassia and the other boy beside him. They looked at him silently.

"This man is a genius. He knew how to manipulate billions of people with few words. What a move." He muttered with a small smile.

Reo also felt that pump of adrenaline from his words that made him feel as if he was unbeatable… Omnipotent. He was one of the few that were affected lightly so it only showed how strong the impact was on the others.

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Author here. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to support the book in any form. I will be very happy and also keep pumping chapters out. Have a good day :).