CHAPTER 82: LOCKED IN

Lucien clutched himself, hugging his body, trying to hold himself together as if he could physically prevent whatever was consuming him.

He staggered, barely keeping himself from collapsing to his knees. That’s when Gaya knew something serious was happening to him.

Moreover, the moment she caught him, something shifted—something that caused her eyes to widen.

Instantly, she frowned, and the golden hue of her eyes seemed to vanish for a brief moment. Her pupils completely disappeared.

Lucien still felt wrong—his body felt unbalanced, and he could feel himself fracturing. It was impossible to put into words, not to mention the crushing mental agony that rendered him incapable of thought.

The only thing he could do right now was...

’Log out’

[CAUTION: YOU CANNOT LOG OUT OF THE GAME]

Lucien frowned and stared at the HUD display floating before his eyes.

’I need to log out!’

[CAUTION: YOU CANNOT LOG OUT OF THE GAME]

’Huh?’

He couldn’t log out of the game? But why?

Lucien frowned.

’What anomaly is this? Is this how the game is supposed to function?!’

He tried to log out again. However, the third attempt was even worse.

[CAUTION: YOU CANNOT LOG OUT OF THE GAME]

[CAUTION: YOU HAVE BEEN LOCKED INTO THE GAME FOR HEALTH PRESERVATION]

[CAUTION: ERROR]

[CAUTION: ERROR]

As the display continued flashing errors, Lucien could feel his body glitching over and over again.

Not just his body—even his vision, the world around him, everything was fracturing as though it could vanish yet still struggled to remain.

Everything except Gaya, whose eyes were strange.

But Lucien didn’t have the luxury of time to process whatever was happening with Gaya, because he was in a far worse position.

Suddenly, the world before him blacked out. All Lucien could see was pitch darkness dotted with white specks like stars. This plane was familiar.

He frowned for a moment.

’Isn’t this the starting space... where I created my profile?’

Lucien tried to move, but the space suddenly sucked him in. His eyes blurred—everything blurred as it seemed like all of space was pulling him.

Then time stopped.

At that moment, his body was invaded by an avalanche of pain. From his head to his torso, even his scalp was covered in bruises and blood.

Metal shards from the gear had shattered against his face, torn into his skull. Blood poured from his eyes, nose, mouth and ears.

For a moment he could hear laughter—blurry figures materialized before him. One stood out, especially tall with long hair.

He stepped closer and loomed over Lucien’s body. Then he spat on his face and grinned wickedly before walking away.

The others followed.

[You have received critical...]

[CAUTION: ERROR]

[CAUTION: ERROR]

[CAUTION: ERROR]

’What? Am... I... dying?’

It was impossible to tell exactly what had just happened. The headgear was still embedded in his skull, shattered fragments piercing deep.

He was somehow still connected to the game, because he could see the display and the letters screaming error, error, error, error.

But what exactly had just happened to him? What did he do? What exactly was going on?

Lucien could answer none of those questions.

He couldn’t speak either, and could only stare blankly, unable to even blink.

Somewhere in his blurry vision, he saw someone rush inside, nearly stumbling. That was before his vision suddenly vanished and the system’s voice became stable.

[CAUTION: YOU CANNOT LOG OUT OF THE GAME]

Lucien found himself back in the space with tiny specks of light like stars.

He frowned.

All the pain, his body, the blood—everything was gone. He felt whole again.

’Was that a dream?’

No. Something was wrong—he could feel it in his gut.

[CAUTION]

[YOUR REAL BODY HAS BEEN SEVERELY DAMAGED]

[A COUNTER-PRESERVATION PROTOCOL HAS BEEN ACTIVATED]

[THIS IS AN UNCERTIFIED AND MOMENTARILY INVENTED PROTOCOL]

[DO NOT TRY TO LOG OUT]

[FORCEFUL LOG OUT WILL RESULT IN DEATH]

[DYING IN EVOLUTION ONLINE WILL ALSO RESULT IN DEATH]

Seeing this, Lucien’s heart lurched—he felt it plummet into his stomach, or was he mistaken?

Before he could process that thought, everything around him blurred, glitched, and vanished once again. He opened his eyes back in the field.

Gaya knelt before him, leaning on one knee and panting heavily, sweat drops streaming down her face.

He quickly moved closer and bent down.

"Gaya... are you okay?"

Gaya raised her head with a strained, disbelieving expression.

"I’m the one who’s supposed to be asking you that, you fool."

Lucien chuckled dryly.

’The respect period has expired.’

He withdrew for a moment and exhaled. Only then did he remember the horrific scene he had experienced just moments ago.

He frowned and examined his entire body.

There were no wounds—even his head was intact. Everything was whole. But Lucien could still feel that something was terribly wrong. He just didn’t know what.

He lowered his gaze and tried to log out again, however...

[CAUTION: FORCEFUL LOG OUT WILL RESULT IN DEATH!!!]

Lucien frowned.

’It... it wasn’t a dream.’

Apparently not.

Something had indeed happened in reality.

He lowered his head, thinking about what he’d seen for a few moments.

’I was beaten and battered. I saw Old Thena too... which probably means I was indeed attacked while logged into the game. And it’s very possible that the game has created some kind of protocol to preserve my life. Which means I’m not dead yet.

’However, if I try to log out forcefully, I could die... if I die in the game, I’ll also die...’

Lucien shook his head slightly and chuckled. But the chuckle was forced and hollow.

Gaya looked at him strangely, inspecting every inch of his body with her gaze.

"Are... you... okay?"

Lucien turned to look at Gaya, remembering that her eyes had also turned strange—right when the game glitched.

’Could she...’

However, Lucien vehemently shook his head.

’That makes no sense... Gaya is an NPC.’

A written program, as a matter of fact.

He looked at her and smiled grimly.

"I’m not sure if saying I’m fine is the right word. However, one thing I know is that things are about to get very bloody in this game... and in reality."

Lucien’s eyes blazed with a sinister light.