CHAPTER 50: CHAPTER 50 "VANISHED LIKE A GHOST"

This didn’t confirm the village chief’s death, but many of the villagers were hoping for this to be real.

To them, it was the village chief who was the one behind the beginning of their suffering. There were others too who feared their lives.

They were well aware of two people living in the house, Ahana and Old Man Shan, but seeing the condition of the house, they all thought of them as dead now.

...

On the other side, when Ray came back like a ghost, he was bombarded with many questions.

"Where did you go earlier? What is this place? What happened to those people? Are we really not dead?" Ahana and Old Man Shan asked him many questions.

Ray listened to their questions and complaints, then asked them to relax. "I’ll tell you everything, but one by one."

Old Man Shan also quieted down a little, seeing Ray’s serious expression.

He then asked, "First, tell me about our condition. What do you mean earlier by the skill called ’Pocket Dimension’?"

Ray took his time. If he were to tell them from the beginning, it would take too much time, and they might not have that much time on their hands, so he made it simple and direct.

"You remember Rohan playing the VR game called Apex Survival?" Ahana nodded immediately, while Old Man Shan thought for a while, then remembered Rohan bragging about the game, even telling Ahana to try it.

Ray continued, "The skill I’m telling you about is something I got in that game, but somehow that skill—no... I should say the game—has become reality."

"Hard to believe," Old Man Shan commented, "but experiencing it firsthand forced me to accept the reality." He looked around, only to understand it better.

Ray nodded. "I couldn’t find the reason how it happened, but I found out two things." Ray continued.

Ahana and Old Man Shan listened intently. "We might soon face a catastrophic situation, just like the world inside the game must have gone through." His words stunned them.

"What catastrophic situation, Brother? We haven’t played the game yet," Ahana asked while Grandpa Shan had the same questioning expression on his weary face.

Ray tried to remember what he had read or seen in the game. Then he spoke with a grim tone, "The majority of the people in the world will be gone."

"They’ll die, be killed, or murdered; I have no clue. Some might even turn into living ghosts... what we called them... Ah, yes, zombies. Some might become like that."

His answer was vague but still clear. He told them that he didn’t know what might happen, but these things could become true if that day comes.

Ahana shuddered when she heard that, while Old Man Shan couldn’t come to terms with Ray’s words. He asked, "Don’t misunderstand me for asking this, but can you tell us why you think that such a day will come?" Ray was ready for this question.

He spoke, "Didn’t I tell you that I have two things to share with you? Well, the second thing is related to your question."

He then leaned back on the car’s hood. "There is someone who contacted me when I first found myself in this place with my clothes stained in blood."

Ray also told them about his visit to the town and how he failed to meet Rohan. While returning, he was attacked by the people related to the Dunkens.

He even told them the reason why his clothes were stained with blood, explaining that he had almost lost his life if his skill hadn’t automatically worked and sucked him inside the pocket dimension.

Ahana looked worried, especially now that she found out that those people weren’t just after their land; they could even kill if needed.

She sighed and thanked God for sending Ray to help them.

Once he finished telling them the things related to Red Hand and how he was going to meet that guy soon and find out the solution, he spoke, "I advise you to stay here while I go out and save Rohan and others. Also, this might make me their target, but the world needs to know the truth."

Old Man Shan spoke, as he worried about many things, "It means Rohan and his father are now in danger, and Ray, how will you tell the world about this?"

"Will they believe your words, and what about the government? You are going against a force far superior to you."

Ray nodded, knowing all of this, but he smiled. "Grandpa, the pocket dimension isn’t the only skill I can use. Right now, I might be alone, but I have skills which can help me sustain for longer, and with you, Ahana, Rohan, and many others who wanted to help, we might become a force rivalling them."

Suddenly, Ahana had a thought. "Brother Ray, if you are going, then can you also bring those VR headsets for us? If we can also use skills, then maybe we won’t be a burden for you."

"I was thinking the same. I’ll try to sneak back to the city to store supplies for the future and break the prison to free Rohan and others. Well, too many things to do, but luckily I have people who can help."

Saying his goodbyes, Ray teleported back.

Luckily, his skill let him choose to teleport back to a certain radius of distance from the place he vanished.

So, once he teleported back, he was a little further behind the pile of debris, where no one was looking.

It was already late evening, and night was about to fall, so not many people were there except the people from the Dunkens and police with some other government officials.

He decided to eavesdrop on them while waiting for it to get a little darker so he could finally make his move.

"Did we find him yet?" One in the black suit with an insignia of the officials on his chest asked.

The man who had earlier looked like one of the higher-ups of the Dunkens spoke in denial, "No, it seems he truly vanished."

The man with the official brooch had a serious expression on his face. "From all the details we had on him, he was an orphan, raised in a closed orphanage with hardly anyone alive, there is nothing suspicious about him. But if he really vanished like a ghost, then it means only two things..."

He continued, looking at the few pieces of bones they retrieved from the debris, "Either they had already made contact with him, or he was one of them. But how was he out of our grasp for so long?"