A loud crack was audible as soon as Leo woke up from the game. To his shock, the game console.that he had been wearing shattered upon touching it where it quickly crumbled into dust.
Everyone else was floating equally shocked and confused expressions. However a prompt appeared before their eyes
[System Notice: As Ascension of Souls Online has reached its 2nd Phase, All Game Consoles are now obsolete and as such have been deleted from existence.]
Horror began to sink in as the system prompt was supposed to only show up in the game, proving that the earlier announcement hadn’t been a lie. The game and reality weren’t just feeding into each other....They were slowly merging!
"Fuck....This is bad" Adam hissed standing up as he wiped the dust from his console off his body. They were lucky that they were in the isolated gym. He had no doubts that panic had begun to sink in for everyone else.
"We should get going. Subdue any person who is committing a crime. Try not to kill anybody" Leo said with a somber but commanding voice. He tried his best to hide his shaking from the group. He was afraid yet there was some part of him that made him feel sick to his stomach.
Even now the corners of his mouth threatened to twitch upwards in a smile. He had no idea why and everything he knew told him that this was horrible.
Rachel saw it first. That flicker in Leo’s expression. She didn’t say anything, but her eyes narrowed slightly, like she was cataloging it for later. She was too keyed up to joke, too sharp to miss details now.
Everyone moved like they were holding back panic. Luna cracked her knuckles. Penny grabbed a bag and filled it with whatever supplies she could find and slung it over her shoulder with trembling hands. Greg looked toward the doors, his jaw clenched tight. No one argued with Leo’s order.
They couldn’t afford to.
Aria’s voice cut through the quiet, worry in her tone.
"Should we stick together or go separate? We are stronger than the other players right now, right? It would make more sense for us to spread out to help others, right?"
"Should we stick together or go separate? We are stronger than the other players right now, right? It would make more sense for us to spread out to help others, right?" Aria asked, her voice uncertain but genuine.
Before Adam could shut it down again, Crystal spoke up. "She’s not wrong," she said, glancing toward Aria. "If we all go together, we’ll only cover one spot at a time. But if we split into smaller teams... two or three at most... we could respond faster and still watch each other’s backs."
Adam didn’t look thrilled, but he didn’t argue either.
"I’ll go with one of the groups of three," Penny said quickly. She adjusted the strap of her bag and looked around nervously. "I have zero offense. If something goes wrong, I need more than one person protecting me."
"That works," Leo said, already thinking through the options. "Let’s keep it simple."
"Aria and I," Crystal offered.
"Luna and I can go together," Lily added, already moving closer to her.
Rachel stepped in next to Leo, her expression unreadable. "I’ll go with you. And Penny."
That left only Greg and Adam, who shared a look and gave a brief nod. No words were exchanged between them, but neither seemed to mind pairing off.
"Alright," Leo said, taking a breath to steady himself. The strange, twisting excitement still lingered under his skin, but he pushed it down and focused on the group in front of him. "We move out. Don’t engage recklessly. Help who you can. If anything feels wrong, fall back and regroup. No one gets left behind."
He looked around at each of them, making sure they understood.
Then he stepped through the gym doors, the others close behind, breaking off into their teams as they disappeared into the changing world beyond.
As soon as they stepped outside another prompt appeared. However this time, it was for a quest. One where they choose their path.
Quest Received: Heroic Nature
Protect the powerless from those who chose to Rampage and become a villain. Do so out of the goodness of your heart and prove that Humanity can arise above its base destructive nature. While no great reward can be promised. Your Kindness and Heart will propel Humanity to greater heights if you succeed.
Objective: Protect Citizens and the City around you.
Note: As the First 8 Players that reached Level 20 are within this area, this City shall be treated as the Prime City. The results of this quest shall determine the effect on the whole world.
Quest Received: Villainous Nature
Society has fallen and Humanity shall return to their simpler and animalistic nature of the strong devouring the weak. Gone will be the subtle backstabbing and political plays. If you have the power, you can take what you want whenever you want. Don’t falter and follow your instincts. Great rewards are promised if you succeed.
Objective: Destruction. Destroy Surroundings and other Citizens
Quest Rewards: +10 Levels, 10,000 Gold, Unique Grade Weapons, Hidden Classes, Demonic Title
Rachel was the first to react.
"They’re giving people a choice?" she muttered, her voice hard.
Lily’s eyes were wide, her hands clenching at her sides. "This isn’t just a test... it’s a stage."
"They’re setting the world on fire just to see who climbs out," Greg said coldly.
Adam scoffed. "Of course they are. Chaos is a better forge than order."
Aria looked visibly sick. "But people... they’ll pick that second quest. They’ll want the rewards."
"They already are," Crystal said grimly. "Somewhere out there, someone just accepted it."
Penny’s face had gone pale, the glowing windows reflecting in her eyes. "If this quest decides how the world moves forward... we have to stop them."
Leo stood still, reading both quests again. He could almost feel the system watching. Waiting. This wasn’t a game mechanic anymore. It was a philosophy test written in blood and ash.
And they were the test subjects.
"Pick your side," he said quietly. "But I think we already have."
His gaze swept over them, landing last on Rachel and Penny. He didn’t need to ask. None of them did.
They moved out again. Not just into the city.
Into a war for what reality was going to become.
[System Notice: The 8 Level 20 Players of Prime City have made their choices. They have all chosen Heroic Nature. As a result, All Villainous Players shall receive Buffs in Compensation.]