#THE_LAST_MINUTE_GROOM_S3
©Sir_Zach
EPISODE 54
After almost two months of getting treated with a piece of the rainborite stone, Damien was now free to come out to the world. The Young man didn’t believe that he’d be healed but after a full body checkup from both Matt and his doctors, it was confirmed that the ATOM in his system had been cleared off.
Damien was so excited that he hosted a large party to celebrate a new life. A lot of people, including the President, were invited, but the Xu family and the first branch of the Lu family didn’t get an invite.
With what Damien did, he indirectly announced that he was together with Alpha Chaos. Whoever Maverick h@ťěs is his enemy too.
The media, of course, couldn’t let such an opportunity to fetch some cash and destroy relationships go. An example of how callous they were, was the headlines and gossip trending.
[ Just in! The newly certified leader of the Yu family, Damien, hosted a Celebration Of Life party. He invited all the affluent families, except the third greatest family, the Xu family. With such a move, a lot of people were wondering if such humiliation was because the Yu family were belittling the Xu family! ]
[ Incredulous! The Xu family fell off the ranking! ]
[ The Yu family’s slap to the Xu family! ]
Grandpa Xu threw the tabloid in a fit of rage and shot a glare at this unbothered grandson who was sitting in front of him in the old man’s study room.
“Davis, what is going on?”
“It’s as you’ve read, Grandpa.”
What was annoying the old man so badly that he almost puked blood, was his grandson’s nonchalance to such a great matter. In no time, other factions would start to attack them, thinking they’ve indeed fallen from grace!
“What do you have to say about this matter?” the old man asked. It will be better to know what his grandson thinks so they’d start working from there. They’ve already waged war with Alpha Chaos and he’s not willing to wage another with the Yu family. It won’t do them any good.
“Nothing, Grandpa.”
“Nothing?!” The old man shrieked. How could he say nothing at a time like this?!
Davis uncrossed his legs and stared at the old man. “You don’t have to care about this. The Yu family has made their stance known, so I’ll handle them accordingly.”
“How do you intend to do that? We are already at war with the Lu family. What will you do if the Yu family combines forces and come after us? We’d be doomed!” The old man panicked and clenched his fist on his desk.
“Maverick is attacking the organization, which means he’s a closed chapter. I have plans laid out to take care of Rex and their friends, so in other words, the Lu family is no longer a thr_@t. As for the Yu family, some elders are against Damien. Also, Reuben seems to want his brother dead and this party will be the best chance. So, Grandfather, worry not. In the end, we’ll be the only family standing.” Davis patted his Grandfather’s hand before leaving the study room.
The man was flabbergasted for a long while without knowing what to say. If what his grandson says truly comes to pass, he’d be the happiest. For what Maverick did to his family last year, the old man is still recovering from it. The man had been surviving with the heavy load of hatred he has for Maverick and couldn’t wait to see him and his brother ruined.
“Hahahaha… Maverick, your time is finally here. Let’s see how you skim your way through!” His grandson’s plan was foolproof with a 99.9% success rate, so of course, he was very excited.
Meanwhile, Jeslyn and Lolita went shopping for something they’d wear to the party. While the two were looking for beautiful shoes, Jeslyn mentioned.
“Have you seen Reuben?”
Lolita paused with a nude shoe in hand. “Has he returned?”
“Hm, I saw him at the company. He said his contract has been terminated.”
“Did he tell you where he went?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Oh?… You seem angry. What’s up?”
Jeslyn moved forward and picked a black shoe, then said, “He’s a fraudster. Why should I care?”
“Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Before I went to SIN City, I asked Rex to run a check on him but guess what…”
“He’s not Rubenstein?”
“Indeed. He’s Reuben Yu.”
Lolita gasped. Her eyes widened in alarm. She rubbed her arms to suppress the goosebumps she was getting. “Jeslyn, what are you telling me right now? This is so creepy!”
“Creepy as f_ck!”
“Why would he do that?”
“I have no idea. But do you want to hear what’s spookier?” Jeslyn told her about the incident at the company’s gate.
“Oh, my God! I’m scared for you, Jeslyn! Really! I can envision a psychopath stalker lurking in the shadows. I mean, how could someone appear like your husband? What does he stand to gain? Oh, my world… !” Lolita started to panic and went on and on rambling to calm her racing heart. Different horror scenes from the movies she watched came rushing into her mind, causing her to sweat.
“Hey, chill. It hasn’t gotten to that. If need be, I’ll file a restraining order, or better still, have Code 5 take care of him.” Jeslyn knew this was no laughing matter. Even the weird feelings Reuben invokes in her is no joke. Ever since that day at the gate, she had been feeling like a prey being watched by a predator, even in her sleep. It has gotten so bad!
“This is no joke, Jeslyn. Listen, once we get back, you’re telling your brother-in-law. Who knows, Reuben might be cooking something big.”
“You think?”
“I know so, Jeslyn. I never liked that guy from the onset and now, I have developed a strong hatred for him. How dare he come to you looking like your husband. I’m sorry, that’s spooky and we can’t allow that behavior!”
“Indeed, he gave me a weird feeling that I can’t describe. I just–” her words were caught off when her phone vibrated in her jeans pocket. “Excuse me,” she said and pulled her phone out.
It was a message from a private number, she opened it and frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Lolita asked.
“A message from him,” she responded.
“Message from wh– ah! Reuben?!”
Jeslyn nodded and read the message aloud.
[ Deaar Jeslyn,
I know I owe you and Lolita an apology and an explanation for everything. What happened was, my family got into trouble and I got an impromptu message to return. When I got home, the trouble made things, like calling you two skip my mind. After Six months, I was able to solve the problem and became the Yu family head. As for dressing like your husband, he’s my role model and I also wanted to get a reaction from you. I know you and Lolita would be angry, so I dressed like your husband because it would make you less angry. I’m sorry! ]
“Hohoho, this is insane! If we didn’t know about his true identity, I bet this message would have passed as a genuine apology. How creepier did he intend to get?” Lolita was boiling with rage as she stood there.
“You know what, I suddenly don’t feel like attending this party anymore.” Jeslyn dropped the shoe she was holding on the shelf with much disinterest.
“Nope! Not a chance!” Lolita stood in front of her with her hands spread out.
“Honestly Lolita, I don’t feel too good about this anymore,” she tried to reason with her but Lolita won’t take no for an answer.
“Don’t tell me you forgot what the party is really about. She’ll be more than happy if you showed up. Wait, you’re not scared that he’d appear to ruin things, right?…” Lolita thought about it for a moment, then continued; “Even if Reuben appears, he won’t dare to openly do anything, I’m sure.”
Jeslyn sighed. Damien’s purpose for hosting a party wasn’t to celebrate life, but rather to make a surprise proposal to Kimberly. True, it wouldn’t be nice for her not to attend, given that her husband wasn’t around to go. “Fine,” she said as she grabbed the things she had bought and went to the counter to pay.
Meanwhile, Reuben was seen in his car, watching the two ladies as they made their way out of the mall with their faces covered. He leaned back and chuckled before taking off the earphone he was wearing.
“So, you’re already aware of who I am. No wonder you looked at me differently the other day,” he laughed out loud.
“Do you want me to send someone after her friend? She seems to be instigating her.” Davis asked as he puffed out a cloud of smoke.
Reuben stretched, “Not yet. She’ll come in handy… have you done what I asked?”
“Yes, Fin had gone to City F yesterday and the message had been delivered to Rex. He should be leaving by tonight.”
“Great. Get my clothes ready for my brother’s party. I can’t miss such a fun moment,” he chuckled dryly before his face turned unsightly.
______
Jeslyn got to Rex’s home that evening but unfortunately, she was a minute too late. With the worried look on her face, Celestine couldn’t help but ask.
“What’s the matter?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Please inform me when he returns.” She left after that and returned home.
Meanwhile, Maverick had hit a dead end in his hacking. He didn’t foresee it would be this difficult to claim the facility even though the chip was with him. The ‘sun’ has dealt them a serious blow that a lot of them, including him, were dehydrated.
Inside the facility, the others were excited as they watched their enemies throwing painless punches in order to survive.
The team leader was over himself with laughter as they mocked Maverick.
“Alpha Chaos of all people, I can’t believe he’s so and so. What a hype! Hahaha…!”
“True, it’s a pity that a man like this will die at a place like this.”
“When one bites more than they can chew, their mouth suffers. Hahaha!”
“We made it too easy for him. Why don’t we $h00t them all and arrest Alpha Chaos and take him to the Sovereign?”
“No, I want to see him fall from that chair and admit defeat before me. I’m the greatest computer expert of all time! Even his father is nothing compared to me! So how dare Maverick challenge me?!” The team leader took it personally.
Everyone stayed silent as they all looked at him. Their team leader is one of those who h@ťěs Alpha Chaos the most. From the onset, he believed he was better than Maverick and should be the Holy Son, but unfortunately, the Sovereign didn’t see him as one fit to take that position.
“I am better than him, yet he was made the Holy Son. Why?!” He paused, then leaned towards Maverick’s image that was being displayed and continued. “You were made the Holy Son because Sovereign thought you had the best brain. Now that it’s been confirmed that I’m better than you, I should gracefully take your place, is that not?”
At that moment, the door was pushed open and Sovereign walked in. “Indeed. You’re greater than him, which has earned you the title, Holy Son. Clean up, but leave Maverick to me. Put him in prison until I get back.”
With that said, the man turned and walked away. The people in the control room all knelt in front of their team leader and chorused;
“All hail, the Holy Son!”
The team leader smiled proudly. Meanwhile, Maverick felt something, like a connection or thread, snap inside him. At that moment, his eyes seemed to have opened and an idea he never thought of, suddenly stuck to his mind.
It was a Game!
They were inside a Game! His fingers immediately started to go over the keyboard faster and faster. He was no longer trying to forcefully hack into the facility but was rather going in like he was fixing a puzzle.
“What is going on?… Holy son, something is wrong?” one of the team members cried out as he saw the weird movement on his screen.
“What are you screaming for?” He made his way to the guy. Seeing what was on the screen, he laughed out loud. “Hahaha… this is hilarious! What is Alpha Chaos doing? Playing?” He dismissed the matter and gave a passive command.
“Block all his entries. Right now, he’s like a snake thrashing on fire. It’s his last struggle…”
“Holy son! Something is wrong! He has breached my defenses!”
“Holy Son! Mine is down!”
“Holy Son!”
The name echoed around the four corners of the room as the team leader ran around, trying to gain control.
“Release fire!” He commanded.
“Yes!” they stopped trying to defend their system from the attacks, and rather focused on releasing firearms attacks.
However, it was that two seconds distraction that Maverick needed to shut the facility down. Immediately he did, a sentence appeared on his screen.
[ Congratulations! You successfully shut down the facility. ]
On the other end, those in the facility also received a message on their screen..
[ Game over! ]
Everyone was stunned. It was a game? Like they’ve been inside a game for so long? How did they not know that? Just how?!
At that moment, the facility exploded and vanished into thin air. What replaced it was a Greenland that stretched as far as the eyes could see.
Maverick and his people, who were the only ones left in the wide space, couldn’t believe what they were seeing. The desert, the sun, and every single thing they saw early was nowhere in sight.
From what he could understand, it meant that his father built a visual world in a game? Then made the world a meeting place for the Dark Age people to meet up? In other words, to come into this place, one has to enter the game, but if that is so, shouldn’t they be characters? But why does it feel as if their conscience was rather inside the game instead of characters?
Secondly, how does being in there connect to the real world that one would die in the real world if they died in the Visual world?
Those were questions Maverick couldn’t find answers to. Not even the chip where he got the idea to come here, had the answers to all his questions. Now, his father isn’t alive to put him through.
At that moment, a command entered his computer screen.
[ Welcome, host! Do you want to build your empire?…. ACCEPT or DECLINE! ]
Build his empire? It would be interesting but right now, his family needs him, so he clicked on DECLINE.
[ DECLINE means you’ll be ousted from the system for life and the OPPORTUNITY will be passed on to your offspring. Do you agree? ]
Maverick frowned. He didn’t understand what was going on. What’s system? Is this not a visual game?
‘What are you?’ he typed.
[ I am a hereditary system. ]
‘What do you mean?’ Maverick asked.
[ Your forefathers were gifted a hereditary system, but only your father knew how to activate it. ]
‘What do you do?’
[ My host will be invincible and unbeatable in the world of Technology…just like your father ]
‘You’ve told me the pros, what’s the cons of activating you?’
[ To activate me and build your empire, you’ll need to stay in this domain for One year, three months, Five days, eight hours, thirty minutes, and forty seconds without leaving. ]
‘What if I leave?’
[ You can’t come back and you’ll cease to be my host, then your offspring would be my next host. ]
‘What if I refuse?’
[ Just like your father, you’ll die. ]
‘What do you mean?’
[ My former host, Lu Hao deactivated me and I was transferred to you. Because he knew the danger of working for those guys, he didn’t want you to inherit me and tried to destroy me, but he ki||ed himself. ]
Maverick stared at his screen for a long time without speaking. At that moment, one of his men coughed. The noise dragged him back from stupor and he looked around him. A lot of his men were dead. Some died from the battle they engaged in when they first entered the domain and others died from dehydration and heat. The rest can’t take it anymore as some were already coughing blood.
‘How long have I been here?’
[ Two months and three days! ]
‘Give me the option to exit.’
[ Are you sure? If you exit now, you can’t come back ever, else you’ll die. ]
‘I’m sure.’
At that moment, the screen went blank and the world spun. When Maverick opened his eyes again, he was in the Red room with his men.
He looked around him, a little above thirty of his men didn’t wake up, which meant they died in the domain.
To the rest, he nodded at them and praised, “You all did well… Go get treatment and after that, Code 10, arrange a befitting funeral for the dead and give their family a good explanation.”
When he said ‘a good explanation’, he meant the families of the deceased should be compensated handsomely.
“Yes, boss!”