prologue

"I should have known that you had changed," a young man in the room gurgled, the place filled with computer screens stuck to the walls.

The sound of typing from the room sounded great, as if it was music that added to the chaotic atmosphere.

The noisemaker himself was in a bad state. Sweat was pouring down his face, his long hair was wet. 

On the other side, a large screen displaying a penguin-headed mascot was silently observing the 24-year-old in front of him.

"How long do you want to try out all the possibilities in your head, Altair? Is it until your uncle comes and kills you too?" Asked the figure on the screen. The young man in front of him was completely indifferent, there was no fear in his eyes. The figure felt familiar with the expression Altair wore.

"If I give up... Wouldn't that be the same as dying? You'll kill us all, won't you, Antlia?" Those eyes stared intently at the figure in front of her who was slowly laughing. The laughter she let out did not sound natural, probably because the figure was not human. 

"Altair, Altair... I am not the one who will kill you or any of you... Although some humans might die because of me but I'm sure it won't be as many as the person behind you. He will kill more than me, right? Cenes?"

Altair looked back, the figure he regarded as his own family was now pointing a gun at him. Altair did not show the slightest emotion of anger, instead, he was smiling. A sad smile and eyes full of disappointment was now given by the young man to the figure he called uncle.

"Altair Sinclair, you are under arrest as the mastermind of the terror that has been unsettling the community for a month. Your punishment that is being inflicted on you is.... Death." No matter how thorough Altair was, he could not see the slightest hint of sadness or compassion in his uncle's eyes when he had just given his own nephew such a severe statement.

"Uncle... If I'm going to die today," Altair looked back at the screen, he saw Antlia who showed no expression on the mascot, "then at least let me die with Antlia-"

Bang! 

A single bullet pierced into the young man's stomach, the figure who shot him was none other than his beloved uncle who did not even allow Altair to finish his speech.

Altair was now sitting on the floor holding his stomach, the warmth coming out of the red liquid, making the young man stunned as he watched his own blood slowly coming out.

"You're just like your father, Altair. You always think you're doing something right but in reality you're only making it worse. Father and son, you are both the same. You always thought you could control the situation! But don't you realize? that it's all your own doing! This wouldn't have happened if you'd all listened to me!" The shouting and talking should have made Altair angry, but he couldn't, as his consciousness was starting to fade.

"Altair, I... I will end it all so... Follow your father to the sky." Cenes ordered the two men on his left and right to take the young man, and slowly, the two specially dressed men dragged Altair out of the room that had been filled with the stench of blood.

"Cenes...among the five of you, you and pictor are the most ambitious but only you have great courage." Cenes did not care about the words of the figure on the screen in front of him, he was only focused on shutting down the artificial intelligence program.

"Even if you shut me down now, I know... Deep down in your heart, Cenes, there is fear and confusion. You don't know how to make me dead." Cenes paused, he looked up at the large screen.

"You... You shouldn't exist." The man's hand grabbed a large cable that was the only source of energy that made the computer active, with a dagger, Cenes immediately destroyed it.

Instantly the big screen began to slowly turn off, but before that, "You know best, Cenes, that I don't like cheating. You killed the game maker, now ... I have determined the punishment. The players are now all humanity and the world is the game... "

The screen went dead. The old man, sitting on the floor. The dagger fell from the old man's trembling hands. A chill ran down his two hands. He could not stop the fear he felt. He might be able to shrug it off and refuse to believe Antlia's words, but he basically knew that something was going to happen... Maybe it had even already begun.