Chapter 57: An Unexpected End
Having obtained the third gym badge, there was no longer any need to stay in Rustboro City...
Just as Caleb stepped out of the gym, the system panel suddenly appeared before him, a red emergency notification filling the entire screen.
[Player "Tsukino Rei" has violated the rules. The Instance will shut down in ten seconds!]
<10!>
<9!>
Caleb's footsteps halted...
Walking beside him, Lorelei noticed something was wrong and glanced at him with concern, "What's the matter?" she asked.
<5!>
'There's no time left!'
Frowning, Caleb could only say one last thing: "Please help me send Lily back to Oldale Town! I'm counting on you–"
The next second, his vision went black as his consciousness was forcibly ejected from the current Instance.
[Instance, "Bug Catcher", settlement in progress...]
[Main Mission completion confirmed!]
[Rewards:
[Due to special circumstances, all players participating in this Instance will receive additional compensation:
[Instance exploration progress: 22%]
[Player personal evaluation: SS]
[Calculating Points...]
[Congratulations to player Caleb Chase for earning 500 Points!]
Before Caleb could even react, he found himself back beneath the giant Pikachu statue...
Thunderclouds gathered in the sky above, and passing players below looked up in surprise.
A streak of purple lightning split the horizon as the emotionless system voice announced once more:
«...Congratulations to player Caleb Chase for unlocking the achievements:
- I Poison Myself...
- Devil Drill Instructor...»
At that moment, the entire Infinite World erupted in an uproar...
"It's him again! Can someone tell me what's up with this Caleb Chase?!"
"I'm speechless. The number of achievements he's gotten in two Instances is more than I've earned in a year..."
"Can someone introduce me? I wanna see what Caleb Chase looks like."
A crowd of onlookers turned their attention to the players who had just exited the Instance beneath the statue.
"There wasn't anyone named Caleb Chase in our instance."
"No idea. I'm a lone wolf player... I never team up with anyone."
"Not in ours either!"
The crowd was baffled: "How is that possible? Did he use a fake name? Think hard... was there any unusual player you encountered?"
Then, a rookie who had once been tormented by Caleb slowly raised his hand:
"I ran into him! He was a veteran player who called himself Haruno Hatsumi. He had a shiny Dragonite and a Mimikyu, and his role was a Bug Catcher. He camped outside the starter village and slaughtered us newbie trainers for half a month!"
The moment these words were spoken, everyone's eyes widened in shock: "What kind of monster does something like that?!"
....
Caleb didn't hear any of this...
The moment the thunderclouds formed, he teleported back to his private room. Just as he let out a sigh of relief, a message from Hatsumi popped up...
{Hatsumi: You out of the instance?}
Caleb replied with an "Mhm," then followed up:
{Caleb: A player in my instance did something that forced the instance to shut down early. Do you know what might've happened?}
The "typing" indicator appeared on the panel.
Seizing the moment, Caleb released Mimikyu and Dragonite from their Poké Balls and bought two stamina replenishing meals from the shop using his points, setting them in front of his Pokémon.
After washing his face in the bathroom, he sat down on the sofa just as Hatsumi sent a long paragraph in response.
{Hatsumi: That player probably leaked information about the Infinite World and players to the NPCs in the Instance... Other than that, I can't think of any other rule violations. This kind of thing happens, I've seen it once before...}
Caleb froze, then asked:
{Caleb: But shouldn't they be unable to hear us talk about the Infinite World?}
{Hatsumi: The player I encountered used an acrostic poem to slip the information past the system. Back then, that instance was also forcibly shut down, and all Missions were settled early...}
To help Caleb understand better, Hatsumi even improvised an example:
{...I am not human
... I can come and go freely
... Ever since meeting you
... And also
... Someone once told me
... Personal interests bow to the collective
... Nothing in this world is hard
... If you dare to try...}
Caleb: "..."
{Hatsumi: That player fell for a girl in the Instance and didn't want her to worry, so he told her the truth before leaving...
I don't really get it. They know that every Instance world is different... once you leave, you'll never see those NPCs again. So why develop feelings for them?}
Caleb fell into deep thought as he read these words...
'Every Instance world is different?'
'Then why did Lorelei from this Instance remember me? She even traveled all the way from Kanto to Hoenn to find me...'
'Was it just a coincidence?'
Caleb pressed his lips into a thin line. He would have to wait until the next Instance run to find out...
After a moment of contemplation, he frowned and asked another question:
{Caleb: What happens to players who break the rules?}
This time, Hatsumi replied almost instantly:
{Hatsumi: They get thrown into a punishment Instance of extremely high difficulty, with a fatality rate through the roof...}
{Caleb: Got it.}
With that, he stopped dwelling on it and closed the panel.
He then settled onto the sofa to review his gains from this Instance...
The extra points earned in the Instance (1082), plus the settlement reward (500), combined with the leftovers from the last Instance, had skyrocketed his total points from double digits to a staggering 1654.
Caleb evenly distributed the EXP Candies he'd saved up between Dragonite and Mimikyu. Their levels shot up like rockets, finally stabilizing at 65 and 68 respectively.
[Dragonite – Lv. 65]
[Mimikyu – Lv. 68]
Aside from these, Caleb checked his Inventory, where only two items remained, occupying the top two slots.
The first slot was a heart-shaped icon labeled
The second slot held a small red roulette wheel, marked with an <×1> below it...
- Gacha Draw ×1: A special item. Upon use, the player may randomly obtain one reward from the prize pool. Cannot be gifted or sold...
Curious, Caleb opened the prize pool. The moment he saw the top-tier rewards, his eyes lit up with excitement...
- SSR: Necrozma – 0.0001% chance...
- SSR: Deoxys – 0.001% chance...
- SSR: Jade Orb – 0.001% chance...
- SSR: Rainbow Wing – 0.001% chance...
- SSR: Master Ball – 0.002% chance...
'Damn! These are all amazing!'
Caleb knew he was unlucky. He still remembered how, back when he played 'Honor of Kings', he had to hit the pity system before finally pulling the Empress Wu Zetian...
Knowing his luck, he decisively flipped to the SR section.
- SR: Lucario – 0.1% chance...
- SR: Zeraora – 0.1% chance...
- SR: Custom Mega Stone – 1% chance...
- SR: Lunar Wing – 0.1% chance...
Caleb: "..."
He flipped again, this time checking the 'R' category for anything decent...
- R: Speed Enhancer – 15% chance...
- R: Sp. Atk Enhancer – 15% chance...
- R: Fire Stone – 25% chance...
- R: Flamethrower TM – 25% chance...
The items here were far more ordinary...
After skimming through them, Caleb rubbed his hands together. Just as he was about to select the 'Start' option, he hesitated... his luck was terrible.
So, he dragged Dragonite over, who was happily munching on Pokéblocks, and used its paw to lightly tap the option.
The next second, the roulette's needle began spinning wildly...