ETERNAL Part 01

"Praise the Fool, may he wake up soon."

Numerous words of praises followed as the members of the chat group continued to pray for a blissful future. Their lives as avid fans could only be described as 'chaotic' as they all have lost their minds at some point. It's not as if they are hopeless neets. Most of them in fact have active lives in reality but chose to gather as group using fake accounts online. And their gathering was due to their love for a certain light novel with over one thousand chapters.

"Praise the Fool."

In an era where people prefer electronic entertainments, they are exceptions who prefer to read a certain book that may not be the best but made their lives more meaningful and happy at some point. They are holding the book up a pedestal and consider it the best light novel ever written in history.

They are fanatics. Fanatics of the great Fool a certain author has not yet revived as of November of the current year.

And they all wish for one thing.

They all wish for a new chapter update and for their group to stay alive (albeit barely) as they wait for their primary wish to come true. And above all, they wish for the well-being of the author so that the stories of characters they came to love will not end so soon. They wish to read the book until its last pages but also wish for the adventure to never end.

"Praise the Fool."

As they wait, they turned to realize that although their gathering started because of a certain book, they became unable to ignore the pointless remarks and nonsensical talks and exchange of emojis that seem to flood their chat group all the time. And soon, months turned to years during their long wait, they decided to do more than just wait.

[Monocle: Everyone has a capsule right?]

[Wheel of Fortune: Yes. Why? (◕ᴗ◕)]

[Zaratul replied to Monocle: Yes.]

[Min replied to Monocle: Yes.]

[Merlin replied to Monocle: Yes.]

[Fel replied to Monocle: Yes Seisen.]

[Seiji replied to Monocle: Yeeeeeees.]

[Terol replied to Monocle: No. Waste of money.]

[Abraham: Yes. Terol you loser.]

[Snek replied to Monocle: Yeah.]

[Terol replied to Abraham: Fuck off. It's a waste of money. I can just pray with my new VR. You guys are just poor.]

[Min replied to Terol: Poor your ass. You just don't have a life to live.]

[Fel replied to Terol: I have a personal life. You don't.]

[Merlin to Terol: I'm too busy with my Vivian to bother with you.]

[Monocle replied to Terol: I have friends. You don't.]

[Terol: Don't act like you guys have decent lives. You all are losers like me who lurk the net.]

[Terol replied to Monocle: What friends? Imaginary?]

[Jaime replied to Terol: Monocle-sama may not have friends but she has me. Monocle-sama I love you!]

[Fel replied to Terol: Seisen have us.]

[Monocle replied to Terol: Shooo~ You troll.]

[Monocle replied to Jaime: Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!]

Antonia (Monocle) smiled and copied a link he had already prepared beforehand. He then pasted it on their group's forum.

[Min: A beta test for a game?]

[Merlin: I heard about this. It's a game where you can be anything so long as you complete the necessary requirements.]

[Fel: Is it fun Seisen?]

[Snek replied to Fel: It's more fun with me Babe.]

[Monocle: It seemed fun and so I joined a contest and won several tickets for the game's beta test.]

Min drank a mouthful of water after ending a match in a game he is currently immersed in. He saw the lively interaction about a certain game and got curious.

[Min: By several, exactly how many?]

[Monocle: Guess? ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ]

Min had only asked to see if he could get one for himself. But seeing that familiar emoticon, his goosebumps rose. His right eye twitched ominously.

[Min: Nevermind. I never asked okay?]

[Monocle replied to Min: Eeeeeh! Ask some more! I prepared a special ticket just for you!]

[Merlin: Jaime is being cuckolded live.]

[Jaime: Monocle-sama... ಥ╭╮ಥ]

[Min replied to Monocle: I feel like I'll regret accepting that special ticket.]

[Jaime: Me! Me! Me! I want it Monocle-sama! I want Monocle-sama's love!]

[Monocle replied to Jaime: Shooooooo!]

Min glanced at the following messages and focused on his ongoing game match. He was just taking a short break before starting a match. Now that he had rested enough, he decided to focus on his current game match and ignore the messages within their chat group.

Antonia on the other hand snickered and typed a few more replies to the chat group members. She then added a few more words to the new fan fiction she was writing.

It was a fanfiction about two male members of their chat group. It was a hobby of hers that members of their group know of. It was a surprise that they still interact with her normally despite her hobby.

"I guess I have to entice them with more details about the game later." Antonia smiled and stood up from her chair. She made her way to a separate room which houses several game capsules.

Game capsules are devices that allow people to have immersive and realistic interaction with AI entities. Using the capsule, several different worlds could be experienced based on the design of AI world creators. It was based on a concept introduced in ancient Earth light novels.

Recently, people have become addicted to gaming using VR equipments and labeled capsules as an outdated commodity. It was because it's impossible to make and play games using the AI worlds that can only be accessed using capsule. At least that was before.

A new game have challenged the impossibility and created a game where a person can actually live in just like what had been featured in ancient Earth light novels. It was deemed impossible before. But a new company rose to design a game specially made to suit the use of AI worlds.

It costed hundreds of quadrillions of funds just for its initial development. A huge project that several crazy magnates relentlessly invested in. It was a project that many people criticized and mocked.

Afterall, the thought of living in a fantasy world for real with the use of AI technology is not only too farfetched and idealistic but also presents many dangers to intelligent beings who dares to play with it. Because cases of AI entities becoming lifelike and having its own egos exist..

But Antonia knows that once it succeeds, the galaxy won't be able to live without it despite the dangers that comes with it.

And the company did succeed. After the beta testing, everyone will realize what kind of monster technology the company have decided to introduce to the world.

There are many potential moral and ethical problems with its implementation. But in a world where religion has become redundant, such problems will only be temporary.

<ETERNAL>

The game name and introduction was pretty vague and common. Maybe, everything about the game is common. But the idea of escaping reality and living in a whole new world is enough to entice lost souls who are hell bent on waiting. Waiting for a certain author to have enough rest and rise up from hiatus.

"Praise the Fool." Antonia smiled.

The Fool don't actually exist. He is just a character written in an outdated book that not many understand. Many even criticise the book.

But it just so happens to save some lost souls during their lowest hours and allowed for people hailing from different races to connect and know each other. For those lost souls, it was similar to a holy object. A symbol of hope, friendship, and adventure.

All of them had one wish. It was for the book to get updated as soon as possible.

They wished to see the end of the story. But also wish for the story to never end.

As their bored selves waited, they were introduced into a new way of 'living' that gave them the chance to make their fantasies a reality. They decided to venture into a world of fantasies in games and fictional world.

Trying to recreate the personas they have chosen for themselves.

Trying to escape from a reality they are facing.

Trying to realize unfulfilled wishes and dreams to fill empty gaps within themselves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

#Small Theater for Some Characters#

[Abraham: Is it just me or is Monocle writing something weird right now?]

[Min replied to Abraham: It's Monocle. Expect the worst.]

[Merlin: Will she even update her book today?]

[Monocle: No updates for Merlin. ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ]

[Merlin: (☉｡☉)]