Beta Testers

Chapter 12

May and I took place at each side of Rina. Nathan only watched as May gave the gun to Rina...and I was standing beside her, not even having a single clue on what I’m supposed to do. We were making our own story now.

“Go to the bell tower and help Gurski. I’ll handle this myself.” Rina said, eyeing Nathan. He simply crossed his arms across his chest.

“Done?” he asked. “I’m still waiting for my epic battle.”

I didn’t like this one bit. I know, from reading and watching, that whenever someone says they’ll handle it themselves, something bad happens.

Li Mei looked at him calmly. She didn’t even looked at us when she said, “Go. Now. And don’t look back.”

“But...”I started but she gave me a glare that sent a chill down my spine. In that instant, I knew I can’t do anything to let us help her.

“I can do this...even with just one bullet.” She whispered but I wasn’t sure if it was directed to us or herself.

Nathan yawned. “If this takes any longer, I’m killing those two, too.” He said and pointed the bloody end of the light saber at Aki. “...Starting with that one.”

I saw Aki took a step back. She glanced at me and even without her saying anything, I know she meant that we should just follow Rina’s instructions. She went to me and grabbed me hand before we both ran towards the tower.

“Oh, and if you both break her orders, I’m coming after you!” I heard Nathan shout at us in a sing-song voice. He was clearly enjoying every moment of this.

I could tell that Aki wanted to look back just as much as I want to but we both know we won’t survive if we do. We just kept on running towards the bell tower. I heard a single shot fire in the distance.

“Fox...”Aki muttered.

“Yes?” I answered.

“...I’m worried.” She said, slowing down a bit. Her grip on my hand tightened.

“...Me, too.” I squeezed her hand a bit in response. I felt someone watching from behind us but I still didn’t want to look back. We walked the rest of the way in silence. Soon, I felt another knot in my stomach. Even in a distance, I could see Gurski sitting on the ground, leaning against the tower walls. He was surrounded by the bodies of policemen that were brutally murdered.

I stopped, panting heavily. “I can’t go near.” I said. I glanced at May to see her reaction but she was only staring into space. Her eyes glowed light blue for a moment before it closed and she fainted.

“May!” I shouted and caught her. Her body was cold and she seemed lifeless. This scared me shitless. I started shaking her like crazy.

“May! What’s happening?!” I shouted at her but there was no response. Did...did he kill her?

Suddenly, the world around me started to turn into a series of binary codes. My head throbbed a little and I couldn’t do anything except stare at the now disappearing world before me. The last thing I saw was Gurski’s surprised expression before a light blue flash blinded me for a moment. I was then greeted by the familiar darkness. I was alone and suddenly thought about being separated with May. I didn’t like the idea one bit so I threw that away in the part of my brain that I never want to go to. So after a few minutes of floating in darkness and thinking of random things, I saw something that made a tiny rush of adrenaline go through me. In front of me was...a loading screen.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A brown-haired man sat in an office chair, glancing at the thousand of screens in front of him. Some of them were loading screens. Others turned to static, only to be replaced by a ‘please wait’ screen. The light reflected against his glasses.

“Hmph...”he pushed his glasses further up his nose.

“Hey, WiAt.” A voice greeted. WiAt spun around in his chair, facing the person.

“How many times have I told you not to call me by that name, Hig?” WiAt sighed. “Anyway, you seemed less cheerful.”

“Well, turns out that player 1296 didn’t want to put up much of a fight. Such a mood killer.” Hig said and pouted.

“Tch. You can still have plenty of prey to go after.” He said, turning back to the screens.

“My favorites managed to get to the second game, though.” Hig said and smiled cheekily.

WiAt smiled a little and shook his head at the kid’s comeback. “Player 1375 and 1376, wasn’t it?”

“Yep! Can I go stalk them? Pretty pleeeaaassseeee....” Hig pleaded.

WiAt raised an eyebrow at him. “Stalk your ‘playthings’ ?”

“Hey! I told you I didn’t mean that kind of playthings!” the younger man protested.

WiAt chuckled a little. Then, he turned serious. “Still, you are risking too much. If they manage to eliminate you, you’re going to lose plenty of players in their batch.”

“I’m going to use a NPC! And I’ll make sure they won’t be able to kill me just yet! I’m saving the best for last after all.” He replied.

“Still...”WiAt muttered and looked at him, concerned.

“Only a few people had ever beaten me. Like only two.” Hig added.

WiAt remained silent. If Hig continued to lose...

“Come on, Will...”the blue-haired man pleaded. His eyes seemed to sparkle as he looked at WiAt with sad eyes.

“...Fine. Be careful.” Will sighed, giving in to the desires of the kid.

“Yes!” Hig shouted, full of energy once more. “You’re the best, WiAT!” he shouted before disappearing.

“I told you not to call me by that name!” Will shouted but he was sure the one it was for didn’t hear it. He sighed.

“I’m here anyway, whenever you need me...” he muttered under his breath and returned to watching the screens.