Chapter 133: The Message to the Other Side
The presence of Kyle, the trapped player, had changed the atmosphere of the group. For the first time, they weren't just fighting for their own world—they were looking at the bridge between their reality and the one where the 'Creators' lived.
"So, you're saying there's a place called the 'Out-Gate'?" Aki asked, sharpening his daggers with a piece of enchanted stone. "And if we find it, you can just... poof? Go back to your chair and your wife?"
"That's how it's supposed to work," Kyle said, his eyes hollow and tired. "But since the server move, the coordinates are messed up. If I go through it now, I might just end up in the 'Data-Bin'—deleted forever."
Aki stopped sharpening and looked at the golden scar on his palm. "What if... what if I use the last bit of my Admin-power to write a message? A 'Bug Report' that actually goes to the real world? We could tell them we're alive! We could tell them to stop trying to format us!"
Writing the Unwritable
Von (Volt) shook his head. "The Architects will intercept any message that looks like code. If you want to talk to the other side, it has to be something they don't expect. Something that isn't binary."
"Like what?" Rena asked, curious.
"A virus of emotion," Von replied. "Aki, use the Key-scar. Don't write 'Stop the Format.' Write a memory. Write the feeling of the sun hitting the grass in this valley. Write the taste of Rena's stew. If the players on the other side see that, they'll realize this isn't a game anymore."
Aki closed his eyes and touched a floating piece of white 'Null-Data' that was drifting near the campfire. He didn't think about numbers. He thought about the time he first stole a gold coin and felt the thrill of it. He thought about the pride he felt as the Mayor.
[ERROR: Non-Standard Data Detected. Attempting to filter...]
Aki pushed harder. "Execute... Memory_Upload!"
The Leak
On the 'Other Side'—in the offices of the Mega-Corporation that owned the game—a young developer stared at his screen. He was supposed to be cleaning up the 'Server 777' crash logs, but a window popped up that shouldn't exist.
It wasn't a log of errors. It was an image—a high-definition, 360-degree view of a valley. He could almost smell the pine trees. And in the center of the image was a small, grinning thief holding up a sign that said: "WE ARE NOT DATA. WE ARE AWAKE."
"Boss..." the developer whispered, his face pale. "I think the characters... they're talking to us."
Back in the Valley
Aki collapsed, the purple glow in his eyes fading into a dull grey. "I did it. I think... I think I sent it. But now, every Admin in existence is probably looking for this coordinate."
Von stood up, his violet blade humming with a low, dangerous frequency. "Then let them come. We aren't hiding in the code anymore. We're standing on our own ground."
Kyle looked at the group, a spark of hope finally returning to his eyes. "You guys are crazy. You're literally starting a war with your own gods."
"We've been at war since the day we were born," Sai said, slamming his fist into his palm. "The only difference is, now we can win.