"What do you mean… it's real?" Bao asked, his voice unsteady.
Ning didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he studied Bao carefully, as if weighing how much he could take.
"Have you never wondered," Ning began slowly, "why your avatar keeps moving even when you're offline?"
Bao frowned.
"Or why it sometimes feels like… someone else is making decisions for your character?" Ning continued. "Even when you're the one controlling it?"
A chill crept down Bao's spine.
"It's because it's not just a game," Ning said. "Nelenia exists. Just like Earth. Just like our world."
Silence filled the room.
"It's a real planet," Ning went on. "Somewhere far beyond our reach. Too far for current human technology. Even with advanced spacecraft, it would take decades—if not longer—to get there."
Bao blinked slowly.
"My father found it," Ning added.
Bao's head snapped up.
"…Your father?"
"I might have forgotten to mention," Ning said with a small shrug, "he's a tycoon. His company developed the VR systems. And… they're the same ones who pioneered lunar tourism."
Bao stared at him.
Speechless.
"Y-You forgot to mention that?!" he burst out. "That's not something you just forget! That's like saying you forgot to put on your pants—or that you're related to the president!"
Ning shrugged it off.
"Anyway," he continued, unfazed, "back to the important part."
Bao groaned quietly, dragging a hand down his face.
Of course he's like this now…
"Nelenia is real," Ning said again, more firmly this time. "The land, the people, the ecosystems—everything."
He leaned forward slightly.
"Sending humans there physically would be almost impossible. So… my father found another way."
Bao's stomach tightened.
"Instead of sending bodies," Ning said, "they send consciousness."
Bao froze.
"…What?"
"Orbisterra," Bao whispered, the pieces beginning to align. "And… Soulsickness…"
Ning nodded.
"Exactly."
Aika shifted slightly, but remained silent.
"What you thought were NPCs…" Ning continued, "are real people."
The words landed like a hammer.
"But not everyone can connect to them," Ning added. "There needs to be compatibility."
"Compatibility…?" Bao repeated weakly.
"When a match is found," Ning explained, "their consciousness is extracted—and yours takes its place when you log in."
Bao's breath caught.
"And when you log out… they return."
A pause.
"…Usually."
Bao's heart began to pound.
"What do you mean… usually?"
Ning's expression darkened.
"Sometimes, a player is compatible with more than one host."
Bao's eyes widened.
"That's what you see in Nelenia as 'Soulsickness,'" Ning said quietly. "Multiple connections cause instability."
"And the original consciousness?" Bao asked, his voice barely audible.
Ning didn't look away.
"It gets displaced."
Silence.
Heavy.
Suffocating.
"And sometimes…" Ning added, "it doesn't come back."
It felt like something inside Bao shattered.
His fingers pressed against his temples, as if trying to hold his thoughts together.
"…So what you're saying is…"
His voice trembled.
"I've been…"
A lump formed in his throat.
"Killing real people?"
"Yes."
No hesitation.
No softening.
"...You have."
Everything came crashing down.
Bao doubled over.
His stomach churned violently—
—and then he threw up.
Everything.
The past days, the stress, the fear—it all came spilling out at once.
Aika was already there, holding a bucket beneath him.
Prepared.
Like she knew.
His throat burned as the acid rose, his body shaking with each heave.
When it was over, he slumped back, breathing heavily.
Empty.
"But… why?" Bao rasped.
His voice was hollow now.
"Why me? Why go this far? Why all of this… for a game?"
"Because you're the best," Ning answered immediately.
The bluntness of it made Bao flinch.
"My father needs someone to explore Nelenia," Ning continued. "And with VR banned—and the survival rate of ordinary users being so low…"
He exhaled.
"He chose you."
Bao let out a bitter laugh.
"Of course he did."
"I don't know his exact goal," Ning admitted. "But we have our suspicions."
Bao looked up.
"Magic," Ning said.
The word lingered in the air.
"We believe he's trying to harness it. Understand it. Replicate it."
Xun stepped forward slightly.
"We uncovered the truth about a year ago," he said calmly. "That's when we formed a group to oppose him."
Bao glanced at him.
"They weren't part of it at first," Xun added, nodding toward Ning and Aika.
The café owner chuckled dryly.
"In fact," he said, "we thought they were enemies."
"That's why we tried to warn you," he continued.
Bao's eyes widened.
"The message…" he muttered. "The capsule…"
The owner nodded.
"That was us."
Bao leaned back, staring at the ceiling.
"…So that's how you all met," he said slowly.
Then his gaze dropped again.
Sharp.
Cold.
"That still doesn't change what you did."
Silence.
"You used me," Bao said, looking straight at Ning. "Whether it was for your father… or against him."
"I did it to protect you!" Ning shouted.
His voice cracked.
"If I hadn't—who knows what my father would have done?! It could've been worse from the start!"
Bao's expression hardened.
"That doesn't make it better," he said quietly. "You could've talked to me. Warned me. Given me something."
Ning clenched his fists.
"You don't understand him," he muttered. "It was only because you were taken that I could disappear from his radar."
Bao's eyes narrowed.
"So I was useful," he said flatly. "A test subject… and a distraction."
"No, I—" Ning started.
But the words died in his throat.
"Did you even think about me?" Bao pressed. "About what I was going through?"
Silence.
Again.
"Bao," Aika stepped in softly, her voice calm but firm, "I assure you… master only had the best intentions for you."
Bao let out a humorless laugh.
"Then prove it."
All eyes turned to him.
"Prove that I was more than just a tool to you."
A pause.
Aika hesitated.
"…How?"
Bao's gaze didn't waver.
"Fix it."
The room went still.
"Fix everything you broke," he said.
His voice was steady now.
Dangerously so.
"My life. My family."
A beat.
"Our time together."