n

n

n

"What does this mean in the end?

" Micaela asked, hoping for a simple statement of whether Eldrian was safe to continue with the experiment.

n

"It means he has either figured something out that he is not aware of, yet. Or his body has adapted to the strain the game placed on him.

"

n

"And which one do you think it is?

" Micaela asked. A large part of her hoping that it was not the latter as it could potentially bring in a slue of court cases. Luckily though, and also extremely frustratingly, Eldrian is still the only player who has managed to learn magic without the system's guidance.

nA few have seemingly started to feel mana and maybe less than a dozen have also managed to slowly get a grip on controlling mana. Erik was one of them and why they had so quickly accepted the requests he had when Eldrian had brought him in.

nYet, all these players were still extremely far from Eldrian's level.

n

"I think it is a bit of both. That his body and mind, and more importantly his thought process has slowly changed.

"

n'Umm, why are they talking like I am not here?' Eldrian wondered but decided to stay quiet. He had shared as much as he could, they knew basically everything. The only thing he has kept hidden was the crumbs Ziraili had given him that lead to some realizations and attempts. Keeping this from them though should not make any difference.

n

"What about the paralysis case, how likely is that to happen again?

" One of the people Eldrian did not know asked.

n

"According to Eldrian's recent adaptation...

" Gengxin paused and sighed.

"It might be more likely, or far less likely.

"

nSilence ruled for a bit until someone finally asked just what that was supposed to mean.

n

"It means without knowing the reason behind his improvement I can't answer it.

" Pausing to look at Eldrian Gengxin added,

"If what happened today is not a fluke then the chances of either are greatly increased.

"

n

"Wait, why do I feel you are talking about something else?

" Eldrian asked, certain that they were no longer talking about his going berserk.

n

"Wait, did you not realize?

" Joren asked, all those but Eldrian quickly sharing a few looks before explaining.

n

"Alright...

" Eldrian paused as he wondered what this might mean. He had not thought much about what he had done back there. Exiting the game was always just a thought, at first he assumed Ziraili had simply helped him exit without needing to go to the hassle of waking.

nYet, from what those in the room said, the system had notified them of this. Or more correctly, due to her confused stunned state they had forced her to explain what had happened.

nWhile she had managed to keep the players safe, the extra features had died. Like what streamers used to stream with. They had needed to quickly explain why to the public who was shocked by the first-ever true bug of the game.

n'What exactly did she share?' Eldrian wondered as everyone now looked at him for an explanation, yet he had none. 'Right, I did exit the game differently. Instead of actually thinking of logging out, I just wanted to return to reality.'

nEldrian took his time to sort out his thoughts and those in the room were more than willing to wait. Soon they started talking about other topics as Eldrian was lost in thought. They made sure to keep it all related to players and also things that Eldrian's clearance allowed him to know.

nSurprisingly he had quite a high clearance, though only in specific areas. Yet he did not take in anything they said as he went through the past few days of events. Focusing more on how he had exited the game, but also letting the other thoughts be sorted out.

nAfter around ten minutes Eldrian finally decided on how he was going to explain it. Starting off with how instead of thinking of logging out, he had instead thought of returning to his real body.

n

"What's the difference?

" Micaela asked, not to Eldrian in specific but to the room. Eldrian waited for a few others to share their thoughts, before clarifying what this meant to him.

n

"The difference is that I did not think of myself as being in a game. It's hard to explain, but let me try.

"

n

"I am sure you have all had dreams where you were aware that it was a dream.

" Eldrian received a few nods in agreement.

"Generally, most people can't control dreams. It is like it truly is your life.

"

nAgain he got a few nods, some naturally having arguments to what he said but not voicing them as it would be debating semantics.

n

"Now, what if you wanted to wake?

" Eldrian asked and let them think about it.

"I was not considering ANW as a game but rather as another reality. Another life.

"

n

"The dream parallel falls down in that area, but the difference is that instead of looking for an interface. I wanted to wake... In a sense.

"

nEldrian received some nods, and a few questions which he gladly answered to the best of his abilities. A sticking and repeating one was his word choice of ANW being another reality.

n

"You do know it is just a simulation?

"

n

"Don't get me started on this. I know it was created by you and is virtual, yet how does that mean it is less real? What if our universe is also a simulation and we simply do not know as the natives of ANW do not know of theirs being one?

"

n

"Would that mean our reality is not real? If we were to discover that this is indeed the case, does this mean our lives are meaningless? That our reality is not a reality?

"

nEldrian's words caused them all to falter and ponder. While they couldn't accept his viewpoint immediately, his questions made them think and question their own beliefs.

nOne thing was certain to all of them, even if they turned out to be a simulation. Even if they discovered it, they would not find their lives to be any less real. They would not suddenly no longer care for their loved ones, aim for their goals, dream their dreams.

n

"Valid points,

" The one who had raised the question said after a moment of reflection had passed.

"I believe this is something you argued with Constantin and Joren before?

"

nConstantin sighed as this was brought up while Joren readied himself for backlash. Yet instead, the follow-up was still aimed at Eldrian.

"Why were you so aggressive then, and now you could calmly reply to my statement?

"

nStunned, Eldrian had to try and recall what exactly had happened. This did not take long as it was still heavily on his mind. It was one of the reasons he had grown to dislike Miracle so much, though he would do his best to not let them know of his dislike, yet he wanted to make clear that he could not accept how they were handling the simulation as a game.

n

"Your statement was factual. They are indeed a simulation, you are not wrong.

" Eldrian replied, cutting off questions that were about to be raised.

"That, however, does not mean they are any less real. As I just explained before.

"

n

"Then why the outburst last time?

"

n

"Because Constantin had not argued whether or not they are in a simulation. He had argued that their entire world was not real. That they were not real... That their lives did not matter!

" Eldrian quickly became heated as this was something he wanted the entire Miracle to realize. This group of people was certainly a good point to voice it to as a start.

n

"Who are you to decide that?

" He asked with vigor,

"Who are you to dictate that the extinction of a number of people far more than on Earth, is fine? That it is something normal!

"

nTurning to Constantin, Eldrian made sure he understood the next question was aimed at him.

"Who are you to tell me I can't do my best. My very best! Even if it would hurt me, to save those I call friends! Who are you to tell me that?

"

nSilence ruled as no one wished to say a thing after Eldrian's outburst. They all clearly understood that the first questions were for them all. The latter in part too, a warning that he would not follow any regulations or rules if it would mean the death of an NPCs he was close to.

n

"I am certain Constantin had said what he had out of concern, not prejudice or hate for those in the simulation,

" Micaela said, wishing to quickly diffuse the situation before it could heat up anymore. Luckily it seemed Eldrian did not wish for it to heat up either.

n

"That may be so, yet I want to make it clear that I will not just abandon those I call friends for something as simple as a chance of real injury.

" Eldrian did not wish to go too far and add that he might even be willing to die for some. Throwing that out would be far a heavier claim as well as something that might cause them to block him from entering ANW.

n

"I am sure we can all respect that even if we can't understand it,

" Micaela said, not for herself but for Eldrian and the others. Wishing to make it clear to them that they had to accept this matter as it stood.

n

"Thank you.

" Eldrian slightly nodded unconsciously as the thanks was one from the heart. Yet he could not let it end here as it seemed that they still did not quite understand.

n