The unique feature of the latest RPG game produced by Orion, The Reign of Aegis, is the stimulus-response capability of their headgear. Whatever the program dictates, the brain recognizes it as a stimulus and thus acted upon it as if it has really happened in the body's vicinity.
"Damn it, this is so hot," Markus mumbled as he hid himself into a pile of hardened lava walls. He can feel the heat seeping to his flesh, drying his sweat glands, and making his breath tight. "I wish they fully turned on the Aircon in the Atrium."
This time, the field is a disastrous hell.
He scanned the area and saw Magma and lava flowing across the field. No luxurious canopy or serene sky nor a playful wide field. Just a plain ash-covered area with a steep slope under a crimson smoky sky and enemies are hunting each other.
"This..." the kid muttered. "This is a single dungeon?!" he peeked his head to see his area and found men lurking across his sight and looked around. He kept himself downwind.
"Okay, Minz..." he called the holo again. "Where am I? and what the hell is this place?! It's freaking hot!!"
"Hai." the bunny replied. "This is Acheron. Hell in the dooms area in the ROA arena. This place is very high on temperature because of the stimulus generated by the headgear and was sent to your brains to experience the effects in 4D."
"4D, huh?!! Are you kidding me?" Markus shut his own mouth when he felt a movement behind him. When he raised his head, he saw a geyser that is about to blow. "Oh, Crap..." he muttered and crawled away from the place.
He took refuge under a rock where cold water was flowing from underneath.
"Whoa..." he sighed. "At least, there are places like this." he swiped his hand in the air and a map showed in front of him. "First round was on the ragged building <Colloseum>, the second was on the forest <Altwidus>, now, we're at <Acheron>, a disastrous hell," he muttered. "Now that I realized, we're not on the Arena where people fight in a center stage, but instead, we fight in a whole bigger place whose enemies are everyone on the battlefield. Not to mention their tasks and traps. Damn developers, they're giving us a hard time capturing this game, tsk!"
He found himself in the northeast part of the area where 5 participants are nearing him on the map.
"I really appreciate these kinds of updates, Minz." Markus whispered and waited for an opportunity to strike.
He activated stealth and ran past through them. "Phew, that was close. I'm not fully equipped yet so fighting against the 5 of them would be fatal." He quickly hid behind a totem pole and sat on the fiery ground.
"Now let's see..." he viewed his specs and muttered, "Guess having a robe in here would be dangerous so I better change into ninja skin." he clicked the ninja icon and Arcane Phantom immediately turned in a ninja suit. "This is better." he clicked a few more icons to activate and enhance his equipment.
"I better be ready. At this rate, if anyone summoned the Aegis out of nowhere, this could become a riot. This could become a battle royale." he stared at his map and thought of a plan. He slowly moved forward, avoiding the other enemies. "I mean, these guys here are pretty good in gaming and have conquered more dungeons than I am. Not to mention, this hell is a maze. I could get lost and die if I ever chose the wrong way."
He saw players who have been eaten by spiders (truck-big ones), electrocuted by eels under the loose floor, toasted by passing fire throwers, and many other traps that were set by the game masters.
A few bangs have echoed the whole arena, notifying certain deaths.
<If only I can get close to a certain place> he thought. He went forward, deep in the maze, and defeated enemies and traps on the way.
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The Phantom: Code Breaker
Science FictionA middle high school student, Markus Lockwood, a certified computer geek, and gamer, was taken from school and given a huge task to defeat a virus that eats the whole internet world and causes damage in the real world. As he ventures how to defeat...
