Chapter 199: Chapter 180 : True Introductions (Part 6)

True to Ralf’s earlier words, all five had to question whether their current experiences were that of a dream or reality. It was just that amazing, even Lane, who had some experience with Psi games was given no shortage of awestruck pauses during it all.

Paintball Royal was the first game the group played. It was one of the games Ralf had specifically created for tonight, believing it best to start off with something familiar...and familiar it was.

Using the Record of Everything’s data and the review session’s footage, he managed to recreate a substantial portion of the Dreadfall Forest. Paintball Royal was a first-person shooter with the same rules and basic conditions as the Event, though the time limits were scaled down, with the marker beacons appearing after ten minutes and the match ending after fifteen.

It wasn’t just the environment Ralf copied over - no, he copied the group’s likeness as well, allowing them to play as themselves. The expressions they wore as they examined their virtual counterparts were marvellous to behold. And their marvelling only continued once they took to the field.

The artificial world that mimicked reality so closely, the impeccable level of detail, from the bark of the tree to the swaying blades of grass to the kicked-up dirt to the swirls of winds and the rays of sunlight; the group was astounded by it all. If not for the slight gamey filter and interface present, they would certainly believe that they were peeking into a foreign world.

Much of the opening minutes were dedicated to purely examining and appreciating the landscape. The group moved across the map, visiting locations they had been to or seen earlier that day.

Once the five’s gaping mouths finally shut tight five minutes later, the gaming officially began. It wasn’t three versus three as one would expect, but Ralf versus the rest of them as a team.

“You couldn’t do it in the real world, but maybe you’ll have better luck in-game. Let’s see…”

With these words, several matches followed and…of course, Ralf won all of them easily. This was to be expected, he was a gamer of note. That said, even unchallenged, he still had a blast.

Observing the group’s many expressions and reactions as they earned their stripes as gamers, amused him to no end. And it wasn’t just entertaining, but informative as well.

What games they liked, what they focused on, and how they played told him a lot about who they were as people.

Playing Stranger Among Us was especially telling. Where Skye and Charlotte could concoct whole novels and lie without batting an eyelid, Violet, Yuki and Lane could barely tell a half-truth without stumbling over their words. Ralf and the twins terrorised the straight-laced trio with wicked grins on their faces, enjoying the trio’s squirming.

The group didn’t stick to one game for too long. There were a lot of games and Ralf wanted the group to dip their feet in every type of game available, and so they did.

Shooting games, racing games, fighting games, platformer games, puzzle games, and social games; Ralf had them play several variants of each of these categories, ranging from the more realistic to the more bizarre, magical and fantastical.

All the outside Psi games had Babel equivalents. Ralf went through them with the group. Psi Fighters stood out among the rest, not for any groundbreaking mechanics, but due to a certain character, Lane.

His assassin character had undergone a massive overhaul, not so much in the visual department, but mainly in the moveset. The end result was spectacular and envy-inducing. The others, led by Charlotte, requested that they too have a custom fighting character. Ralf agreed of course, but not before grinding their gears.

As time passed, the group got more comfortable on the couches and with each other. Tussling, bantering, shit-talking, all the while snacking and drinking. The sight brought a bright smile to Ralf’s face.

While he was a gamer, thanks to Ray, he had never been able to play games with others like this, again thanks to Ray. The Ralf in Ray’s body, and Ray himself for that matter, looked on with envy whenever he watched YouTube videos of friends playing games together. Now, allowed to experience the same, he couldn't be happier. It was everything he imagined it to be and more.

The hours rolled by speedily as the group gamed non-stop. During this time, Ralf fielded no shortage of praise…and questions.

The ‘how’ behind the many impossibilities they were witnessing was at the forefront of the questions, mostly coming from Skye and Charlotte. Ralf explained what he could, in the simplest terms he could. Surprisingly, the twins seemed to pick up what he was putting down. Equally surprising was the rate at which the group’s gaming competency grew.

Four hours in and they could officially be called gamers. Ralf was impressed and decided to move to the co-op game, Deadly Heist.

It was another game specifically created for the party. The basic premise was this: a zombie outbreak occurred in the modern world (Ray’s world) and all of South and North America were affected by it.

The rest of the world was safe from the virus, due to extreme measures taken early on, and for the most part, led normal lives. The game followed a group of experienced mercenaries looking to get rich by ransacking the zombified continents of their wealth.

The mercenaries moved from major city to city, robbing everything of value while slaughtering/surviving the zombie hordes. Ralf had big plans for the game, but as of now, only one mission/city was complete.

Toppled buildings, shattered windows, streets filled with overgrown plant life and split sewage, roaming animals, lights flicking and music playing intermittently; Gold City was a dilapidated and torn modern city, coloured in bleak hues. It was circular in shape, with a diameter of seven kilometres. Fifteen metre-tall stained white walls encircled the city, separating it from the outside world. According to the game’s lore, this was where the outbreak started.

Ralf and the others dropped into the city’s edge from a helicopter as the sun was minutes away from setting. Just like Paintball Royal, they played as themselves, with their only choices being their initial weapons and accessories.

[Okay, since I’m in the know, I’ll be staying silent and just following orders. A few things though. There are many ways to proceed and plenty of things to look out for. Your enemies are the United Army, the official soldiers, your fellow mercenaries who want treasure as well, and of course, zombies,] Ralf said, aiming his gun at one zombie hobbling down the street towards the group.

[Urgh, you really went out of your way to make them as disgusting as possible, shivers,] Charlotte commented, cringing as she took aim.

The boils on the zombie’s green-tinted flesh, its many gaping wounds that allowed one to see its pulsating innards, its bent limbs, its crazed expression, its…

The group lost their appetite at the sight - well, except for a certain princess. The dreary atmosphere and hyper-realistic gore whet her twisted appetite to no end. So immersed was she that Ralf’s next explanation went over her head.

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[...okay, that's all, have fun.]

After Ralf dropped the reins, Charlotte naturally picked it up.

[There’s no point shooting here and drawing a crowd. We’ll go quiet. Lane, we’ll draw it right, so you go left and circle around for a melee kill with your knife. Maybe we’ll get something from it. Let’s move quickly.]

Following the words, the group, already accustomed to working together by now, moved like a well-oiled machine. The first zombie was killed without a hitch and then looted before the group moved on. Things went well for the group, that is until night fell.

Once darkness hit, the group was made to understand why Deadly Heist was labelled a horror/survival game and not a heist game. Ralf was brought to tears as he watched the group run around like headless chickens. Their terrified shouts and screams fueled his laughter for many minutes on end.

The group was wiped out over and over and over again, in part due to the zombies' sheer numbers but mainly due to the scarcity of ammo and supplies. One had to play stealthily and use the environment extensively in Deadly Heist. The few minutes before the night arrived were crucial, something the group learned the hard way. Still, learn they did. With each failure, improvement, and thirty minutes in, the group managed to get the hang of it. From there, they began progressing through the city with surprising speed.

Ralf played his part, simply taking orders from the others while observing everything. It was while doing so that he began noting more and more oddities present. It was only when the group were facing a mini-boss, in the form of a zombified mercenary, that he finally connected the dots.

His lips curled up. ‘I see…you’re really doing whatever you want, Ray.’

Once he reached the conclusion, many things began making sense in retrospect. The overall coordination of the zombies, the individual zombie’s movements and gestures, and the increased ammo and health pack supplies; everything pointed to one fact, that being, Ray was manipulating things in real-time.

This was very easy to do, all Psi games were virtual domes. Ray and Ralf could easily slip in and affect the games however they wished. Not to mention, Deadly Heist was mostly created by Ray so he knew the ins and outs even better than Ralf.

‘Not just Deadly Heist either…he’s been here for a while, that damn tsundere, jeez,’ Ralf thought, a joyous smile springing to his face.

He wished his other self would take the next step but knew not to force it. Achieving this much was already a major accomplishment in his eyes. Staying silent about his other self’s presence, Ralf continued to enjoy the gaming session.

***

The next day, 9 am.

The rain was blaring hard. Dark clouds blanketed the skies above the Hunter Academy, casting everything in the shade. The weather wasn’t good for a run, but for indoor activities, it was perfect; Violet and the others would certainly agree.

The Lightning Princess had given her fingers a rest after Deadly Heist, choosing to watch some anime. She sat on a couch, eyes shut, under a blanket and surrounded by a soundless barrier and small lightning orbs which radiated a gentle warmth.

Nearby, but seemingly in a different dimension were Charlotte, Lane and Skye.

The trio had been playing throughout the night, non-stop.

Right now, they were playing the duo’s Skyrim imitation, Heaven’s Rim. Skye played as a skimpily dressed wind elf, specialising in archery; Charlotte played a buxom barbarian wielding a massive club and Lane played a, you guessed it, an assassin.

The three explored the world as a makeshift party, defeating monsters, obtaining quest items, levelling up skills, etc…all the while, the duo manipulated things in the background.

Ray did so from the inside while Ralf did so from the outside. Ralf was more limited than his other self, but it couldn’t be helped, one of them had to stay in the outside world after all.

After Deadly Heist was put on hold, Ralf joined his other self. Playing games was fun, but playing God was more so…and so he did. With blasphemous thoughts, the Transmigrator manipulated the environment and NPCs as he saw fit.

The duo’s efforts kept the gamers thoroughly engaged and on their toes, brimming with anticipation. Ralf and Ray enjoyed themselves on the dev side of things, relishing in their feelings of omnipotence and the trio’s reactions as they played the RPG.

Mental Lin-

‘Again,’ Ralf thought as his latest attempt at communication failed.

While the duo had been working hand-to-hand for the last few hours, they had not actually communicated at all. Whenever Ralf reached out, his other self would cut the connection. Not only that, Ray stayed in his private dome, meaning Ralf couldn’t even observe him.

Ralf’s lips tugged up. He knew what his other self wanted to avoid, but also knew that it was pointless. Ray couldn’t hide forever or for too long for that matter. When Ralf saw Ray again, he would hit his other self with the smuggest grin he could muster, for he deserved it.

Growing giddy at the prospect, Ralf decided to prep his face for the attack. He dismissed the many tabs before him and recalled his consciousness back to the outside world, leaving the trio in Ray’s capable hands.

Opening his eyes, Ralf turned to his right and welcomed a beautiful sight, Yuki’s resting face.

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