The Guardian

Chapter 221: Video

A group of four men looked into a cave where a group of goblins were standing.

These goblins had no armor or high-quality equipment, they only wore cloth and a club while growling like beasts.

Technically, they were standing ‘guard’, but they didn’t have the discipline.

“This is the cave of the goblin group that looted the village. The guild paid two teams of NPCs, but both failed,” reported the leader of the group carrying a gavel.

“Two groups of natives? They must be low level,” commented a fighter and, giving the leader a look, he pointed out. “I think we should go alone, the rookie...”

“I can do it!” shouted the rookie seriously and with a frown, he revealed. “I’ve already killed several goblins and leveled up.”

He was a young man in his eighteenth year, with a novice adventurer’s equipment very common these days.

Also…

“I’ve already played other online games. Although ‘Terra nova’ is virtual reality, I don’t mind a little gore,” said the rookie with an arrogant laugh.

The last member gave him a glare and with his arrow pierced his arm, getting the young man to let out a scream and look at him angrily.

“Does it hurt? Well, in the same way, that you can’t reduce the level of pain and you can’t help shitting, eating, or being cold either. You’re not going to be able to avoid being grossed out by what you see, either. Do you think by playing other games you can say you’ve got it all under control? No, ‘Terra nova’ will make your strangers squirm, and if you don’t know how to tell the difference, you’ll go crazy,” said the archer in a cold tone.

The archer’s voice was serious, but some shook their heads sighing their companion’s seriousness.

“That’s enough. The concealment spell won’t last. Besides, he’s an adult now. It’s not like his parents didn’t allow him to play,” said the leader, and looking at the rookie, he explained. “When you play ‘Terra nova’ you can lose your sense of reality. Don’t look at me with that face. That’s the truth. Everything feels real... Everything. That means, if you go to the whorehouse, a prostitute feels real.”

The fighter laughed at those words that seemed to tease the young man and, just as they expected, the young man was embarrassed, surely not knowing what ‘real’ was.

“I don’t think he wants to go to the whorehouse after he goes in,” muttered the archer under his breath.

The leader shook his head, knowing the archer’s seriousness, and it was the fighter who chuckled in amusement.

“Why not? Maybe he’ll like what he sees.” said the fighter.

“You’re disgusting. That’s why you’re alone. Bastards, like you, ruin this game,” said a voice and when they looked in the direction a woman dressed as a mage descended.

“Well, laughing is better than getting carried away with the atmosphere. That’s the only way to deal with this. I started playing for fun, but I have to do a mission like this...” replied the fighter with a low growl.

Sometimes they were unlucky with the missions they could do and once in a while, they played unpleasant missions.

The mage nodded in understanding and, as if to change the atmosphere; she coughed.

“I’ve already prepared everything to start.” Said the mage.

With those words, the leader nodded and gave her the signal to begin.

Everyone else drew their weapons, ready to begin the assault.

The local town’s Adventurer’s Guild gave their group of adventurers a mission to take care of a group of goblins that had sacked a town and defeated two previous groups.

As players, they were ‘immortal’ so while they would feel pain upon death, they would revive in a main temple, so there would be no loss in hiring them.

While their level was limited, it was enough to cleanse those creatures.

“I’ll get started,” murmured the mage, casting a spell.

*Boom*

An explosion sounded in the distance and the guards grunted as one stepped in to give warning.

After a few minutes, a group of taller and better-armed goblins emerged from the cave.

Truth was, they could try to make them choke on smoke, but it wasn’t like they could do that when it was known that those creatures liked to take ‘hostages’.

“As skilled as ever. Will you ever become an archmage? Maybe if you study hard enough, you can become a great sage. I heard that one player is known as a ‘Sage’ among the NPCs in the Falion Empire and even became a master of Princess Rodwen Falion... A princess! I can’t imagine how rich he can be!” said the fighter, encouraged by that story.

The game ‘Terra nova’ was different from others, not only because of the realism of the virtual machine but because of the system that allowed players to learn skills and spells instantly, as if it were a game.

Something that didn’t match all the realism that the game offered that made it feel like they were living another life... As if it was some kind of hardcore ‘role playing’ game.

Even so, they only learned the basics to cast the spell or to enable them to improve their sword, fist, or any other profession, however, half of the skill was learned... Basically, the basics to be able to fight in a simple way.

The other half had to be learned by training in the case of fighters, swordsmen, or archers, or studying in the case of mages.

Still...

“Are you crazy? Have you read a grimoire? I come here to have a few hours of fun, not to study. If I wanted to study, I’d go out and prepare for my college final exams,” replied the woman with annoyance and with a frown, she growled. “I don’t understand how the creators could make a magic system. I can understand them wanting to design the ‘lore’, but a magic system... There are so many theories to study, elements to learn, and magical energy to understand. Who in their right mind came up with it all?”

The others let out an amused chuckle at those words.

“That’s a question to ask the mysterious creator’s company. No one knows where the machines come from, no one knows where the game designers are and everyone’s wondering when the fuck they’ll upload an expansion that updates the levels so we can become calamities,” interjected the fighter, shaking his head.

Being limited in levels was an annoyance to most players and more so when there were so many high-level areas that players ended up dying instantly from danger without being able to explore it.

“That question you can ask the creator. He calls himself Primordial God and from time to time he responds on his social network, so maybe he’ll tell you something, though I guess he’ll tell you that everything is real and that’s why there are no ‘updates’ or ‘expansions.’ Real life doesn’t have ‘expansions’,” said the leader with an amused chuckle and, seeing it was time, he commented. “But this is not the time for that. Get ready... You know how it is.”

The expression of the leader and the others changed, making the rookie tense up.

“Rookie, you’re skilled. That’s why we let you into the group. But remember, this is a game... Don’t get carried away with the atmosphere,” warned the leader earnestly.

Now that the group of goblins had moved away, they readied themselves, and when the signal was given to move.

The archer shot an arrow through the throat of the guard, while the mage shot an earth arrow through the skull of the other guard.

With the fighter in the back, the leader in the front, and the novice next to the archer and the mage in the middle, the group moved into the cave.

The cave was large and dark, with no torches because the goblins could see in the dark and did not need torches, but after breaking a scroll, a sphere of light illuminated the way.

Leaving several tunnels in sight.

Combat began quickly.

They were players and while they were not high level and entered the game for fun; it didn’t mean they were that bad and for that reason; the guild gave them this task.

Slaying one goblin after another, silently the group advanced down the hallway, avoiding the traps and slaying everyone they came across.

They were experts who used magic and items to keep the noise and smell of blood from spreading.

Perhaps being stealthy wasn’t necessary with this type of creature that was a pest and was considered a monster to be killed by low-level players, but there was a reason they moved that way.

The rookie discovered it when they were approaching the end of the corridor, and it all started with guttural moans like a beast feeling pleasure.

It was not one; it was many.

The group, with the leader in the lead, accelerated until they discovered the final cave.

The novice opened his eyes to see the creatures moving their hips on top of some female figures... Several female villagers and some adventurers were being rammed by those grotesque creatures revealing smiles of pleasure.

Despite the bodies of those women being motionless, looking lifeless, the novice could see the hollowed-out, vacant stares between instinctive blinks.

He stood stunned as his group moved.

“GRAa!”

One of the goblins growled angrily as he stood naked and before he could grab the woman he was breaking to use as a human shield, the leader’s slash caused his head to leave his body.

The archer also moved just as fast, firing his bow, while the mage cast her spells with great speed.

The fighter, who had been teasing earlier, was now letting his anger show with his punches... Without controlling his strength, he punched those creatures, piercing flesh and tearing bodies apart.

“Get ready. Soon those who left will return and we need to defend the interior,” said the leader with a serious expression.

The leader was trying to get into his role as an adventurer for the mission, trying not to look at the bodies lying on the ground.

The dozens of naked bodies on the ground were lying as if they were trash and, in some cases, with their stomachs bloated.

The mage and the archer stepped forward to cover the women’s bodies and check for pulses, while the fighter stayed at the entrance using a scroll to avoid surprise attacks.

Those wild creatures would use anything to protect themselves.

“Leader, there are some alive... But most are already... What do we do?” the mage asked biting her lips.

She was trying to keep up the role as an adventurer.

“They are NPCs,” said the fighter coolly, and looking at the motionless woman who didn’t even scream at being rescued, he announced. “And they’re already broken.”

Yes, that was the word used by the adventurers to describe what had happened.

Women who were still alive, but whose minds were broken from all the pain and suffering they went through.

Now they were staring vacantly into nothingness and their naked bodies lay motionless... Not thinking so as not to feel pain.

That was the cruelty they expected when they faced such creatures.

“We must go on with what is usually done,” said the leader, and as the gaze turned cold, he muttered. “We must put them out of their misery.”

How many people were suffering this same fate in this magical world known as Terra nova?

This was a game... That was what they told themselves.

These are NPCs... That were the words that were etched in their minds.

Because if this was real... It would be something they couldn’t stand.

“We can’t kill them... It was our fault for not arriving earlier... We were delayed...”

The rookie was silent, unable to say anything else as he watched the leader murder a pregnant woman... Taking her out of her pain, that was the way they saw it.

Was it the right thing to do, or were they just going by what others were doing in this game?

The others began to move, checking their states as much as possible, looking to see if they would react, but when there was no response... The daggers dug into their hearts, letting the life seep from their bodies.

Cold, mechanical movements, they moved in such a way.

“This is a game. These are NPCs. Remember, this is all a game, no matter the pain, the cruelty, the suffering, and the darkness. In the end, it must all be a game,” said the mage with blood stained on her robe... Blood of those women.

Those words were for the rookie and for herself... They were the words they all preferred.

A game... Where the smell and all sensations felt real, just like the suffering.

The rookie felt it by looking at his surroundings.

He felt the smell of shit, blood, and organs. He could taste that dry taste in his mouth and the desire to vomit.

He could catch the movements of the women as they bled out rapidly and as the bodies lay motionless.

“This is a game. Because if it were real, then we are all murderers... Fucking bastards, powerless in the face of life’s cruelty, helpless to do anything and unable to bring any change,” said the fighter, and looking at the rookie seriously, he announced. “We are players, remember that. Players who came in here for fun, finding the worst.”

That’s what they were, players.

Players who simply couldn’t save a villager from this cruel fate because in this world, apart from their ‘immortality’ they were nothing.

A world so big and so magical was also full of cruelty... Demons, liches, vampires, monsters, evil gods, and dozens of other dangers were more troublesome.

Compared to goblins that were spreading across the world like a plague, that was more important.

“We’re players...” the rookie muttered.

******

Liam turned off the video, dodging Aurora’s gaze, which was cold.

“This is the video that is spreading through the networks. Even though it’s constantly being deleted because of its content, it’s already impossible to take down.” Liam revealed earnestly.

Overnight a player uploaded an old video of a group of players recording their ‘game’... They recorded their playing time.

The virtual machine known as ‘Terra nova’ gave all the qualities of a game, that was why even big companies held tournaments or players record their life as if they were legendary adventures.

Live streaming was something possible, and it was common at that time where the ‘streamers’ were trending, creating their ‘characters’... Their stories of heroes and villains.

“Now over the interwebs, many are burning with anger at the actions of the creatures, and others are upset by the players calling them ‘murderers’ and ‘lunatics’. Still, this video reinforces the trend toward extermination. No one is looking forward to this,” Liam revealed as a professional secretary and, giving a sigh, recounted. “They’re accusing them, without knowing the reasons.”

What was known about ‘Terra nova’ and the players?

It was that it lasted ten years... That was what everyone knew.

Everything else was hidden, silenced, or erased.

It was a way of ensuring the mental well-being of the players who represented the majority of earthlings who could afford that machine, but it also showed that they were ‘forgiven’ for what they did in their time as players.

Everyone committed some crime to a greater or lesser extent, for different reasons than things happened.

It was just like it is now...

“Before the players arrived in Terra nova, the kingdoms and nations of that world were in a ‘magical medieval’ age. Nobles, monarchies, theocracies, and aristocracies. No rights or democracy had developed, at least not in the Terran way. That’s why, if they took these women to the city, they would be abandoned. Their families would be at the crossroads of caring for them and starving to death by keeping a ‘broken’ woman or murdering them themselves. Let alone those who were pregnant, abortion was not safe, especially in the late stages. And if they ever recovered, the tendency to suicide was high,” Alice said with a simple and clear tone, as if she was summarizing some kind of history book.

Aurora knew it, too.

She may not have known much about the players, but she understood that this world was not as magical as they portrayed it to be.

It was dangerous, and above all, cruel.

Goblins were one of the smallest problems a kingdom or empire would have, a problem that could be left to the adventurers.

Then there were the constant demons that were always swarming everywhere: dangerous undead, vampires, demon gods, monsters, dangerous beasts, dragons, calamities, diseases, bad harvests, wars between nations... The list could go on for a long time.

Giving importance to rights and social organizations was a joke in a world where the basis for getting stronger was to kill someone else... It was to level up by killing other creatures.

That extended to the Falion Empire, which, despite being illustrious for its magical development, lacked the social aspects that the Terrans in their later days promoted.

Like the professions, it was difficult to find an expert ‘psychologist’ and it was more possible that the closest expert in that field was a mental mage... Who had only learned to understand the human because he helped him with mental magic.

Was what those players did right?

No... That was the answer Aurora would give, but the truth was that it could not be judged with the values of today, something from the past and more a past like the ten years of Terra nova.

It wasn’t that long ago that might be true, but still, it was a totally and completely different context.

One where the players didn’t know that they weren’t actually ‘playing’ but were traveling to another real world.

In the end, decontextualized value judgments according to current values were for many a stupidity.

It would be great if what was wrong now was always wrong, but the reality was not that... And at that time where everyone thought they were in a game and were in lands where they were guided by other values, murdering a person with the idea of avoiding suffering was for many the right thing to do.

There were individuals who thought differently and moved on, but that number was scarce compared to the number of players who came in to have fun with a little ‘action’... Thinking it was like any game where one could kill ‘NPCs’ without feeling anything.

Although there were like these players who even after feeling the reality up close preferred to keep telling themselves it was a game, even if deep down they had their doubts.

“During the first few years after the Great Cataclysm, they sought to remove all traces of ‘Terra nova’ time. Some called it cleaning up the dark ages, but now they pulled a bit of information out that time to steer public opinion towards extermination.” Liam said in the same serious tone. Liam earnestly.

Such was the analysis after reviewing the videos.

Of all that could have been shown, someone uploaded such videos, and it managed to go viral despite how abhorrent it was.

It may not have been a large-scale plan or some such conspiracy, but what one could sense was that people were trying to tip the balance.

Now the fear of such actions happening in this world would make people lean towards extermination.

Revealing anything from the time of ‘Terra nova’ was a controversial matter due to the irrationality of people judging freely, which could be seen at this time.

Aurora was looking at criticisms, curses and there were even people calling for those players who appeared in the video to be tried for crimes.

They could not judge the players... That was the consensus that was tacitly accepted after it was discovered that ‘Terra nova’ was real.

The players already had too much on their minds to be judged, accused, and singled out for alleged ‘crimes’ within a game.

Perhaps it was for that reason that some players were enhanced in cruelty and, in this case, it was the ‘Enemy of Humanity’, an individual who fully displayed the cruelty of a player at its finest.

It was to the point that after twenty years since it was revealed that ‘Terra nova’ was real, that title was still resonating with players, and many of them still hated it.

“It is possible that allied forces are moving in this context in search of extermination. The Romanian authorities and the Church of Order are supporting the idea of extermination. As for the Falion Empire, they honestly seem to just follow the herd.” Alice commented carefully analyzing.

If they moved to eliminate all goblins in this kind of situation, then public opinion would favor them and it would be hard to criticize them after what they would do.

Was extermination of the entire race the right way to go?

Honestly, no one knew, just as Aurora didn’t know if it was right to try to save them.

Maybe in the future, after they were saved, it would be, as the players said, savage creatures driven by their instincts leading entire villages to ruin.

Or maybe it would be different, maybe with education and values, they could prove the players wrong... That no one knew.

No, perhaps the God of Time and Space who was said to be able to see the future knew, but just the same, his church, known for neutrality, remained silent.

While their paladins were in Constance City, their higher-ups were just silent without acting.

Aurora was aware of this because Cardinal Brousseau informed her that there were no orders or information on the high command of that church.

However, for Aurora to know who is right or who is wrong does not matter too much.

She had made her decision, and with that, she would bear the future consequences.

Of course, it was not as if in this case she could strongly tip the balance, she could only call in favors from acquaintances to try to leave another path in sight.

That was what she was doing with Cardinal Brousseau in preparing a plan to keep the goblin families safe after the war.

It was a project she presented to Cardinal Brousseau and the high command of Zerzura City... A project that sought to settle the goblins, educate and try to diminish the rancor that could be generated after the war.

Obviously, it was only a project to mark a different opinion and to say that there was still that option, but Cardinal Brousseau took it directly and it was supported by the other high commands of Zerzura.

Basically, to be presented not only as a project of an unknown Zerzura mercenary but as the Zerzura ‘City-State’ itself.

As far as Aurora knew, it was likely that Cardinal Brousseau would move using her connections to the church, and as for Zerzura... They were always prepared to take in refugees and, even though this time it might be of a different race, economically it was an acceptable project.

No matter how much she wanted to say she was an unknown mercenary of Zerzura, Aurora knew it wasn’t that way and that was why she understood the reason why they helped her and supported her proposals.

Even if she didn’t like the title of ‘Protector of Zerzura’, that title carried great weight and, in a way, an authority that she did not wish to carry.

“What are we going to do?” Liam asked seriously, as he saw her so thoughtfully.

Now what she was doing was not personal... Ever since she decided to avoid the worst outcome of that race by seeking help from Zerzura, she carried another weight on her back.

Perhaps Cardinal Brousseau, General McLean and Prime Minister Turay, and even James would be preparing to carry out that project with all the problems in mind, but she couldn’t sit on the sidelines.

She needed to move to prevent that project from being prepared in vain, but she also needed to prepare herself to cope with the corresponding problems that would follow.

Doing things by halves would be easier... Saying she wouldn’t like something and then lazily moving to change it, only to regret knowing she didn’t give it her all, but she didn’t want that to happen.

That was why...

“We need to tip the scales in our favor,” Aurora announced and looking at Liam, asked. “How corrupt do you think Romania and its guilds are?”

“I don’t know, but I can find out,” Liam replied, understanding what she was referring to.

He himself had mentioned that it was possible that the guilds did strange things with the goblins, and if that was true, then it was possible that revealing such information could serve to tip the scales.

They didn’t need to tip it much, just enough to keep the allied forces from bringing extermination to the goblin family.

It would be great if this was all about war and the rules concerning such confrontations were followed, but it wasn’t that kind of confrontation and the players wanted to turn it into extermination.

Aurora nodded.

Her next mission would be in a city north of Constanta City and it was where several guilds were gathered and it was a perfect place to dig up dirt.

She knew this could damage the reputation of all the allied forces, but in this case, Urfin was prepared to accept the consequences as a whole... As was she.

Was she completely sure of the decision she was making?

No... She was moving as she had the first time she arrived in Africa, aimlessly.

However, she would keep moving the same way, because in the end, it was easier to make a decision, being reckless than to regret it after realizing that she had taken too long to decide.