After Ares's rampage caused her to faint, Moon noticed the logout button had reappeared and ordered everyone to log out of the game immediately, including Ares.
When he woke up and took off his VR glasses, Moon wasted no time and rushed to her bedroom downstairs. He opened the door and removed her VR headset.
Moon: Ares, wake up. Please.
Then she slowly moved, but still didn't open her eyes.
Ares: what happened...where am I?
Moon:You're home now, you're safe.
Then she slowly opened her eyes. What he saw shocked him greatly.
Moon:A... Ares!!! Y... You.. eyes!!
She quickly got up and looked in the mirror, only to find that her eyes had changed from brown to blood red.
Ares: W-What the heck is this?!!!!
Moon:What happened to you? Why are you acting so crazy?
Ares:As far as I remember, it was something like….
Then she told him everything that happened to her when she was shot.
Moon: So, something has taken over your body, huh? How are you feeling now?
Ares: I don't know. My heart is a mess right now. I'm angry, sad, and lost. I'm really not sure.
Moon: Do you want to go to the doctor? I can take you.
Ares: No, I'm fine. I just want to be still for a while. And how is everyone? Are you all safe?
Moon: Okay, I'll go call everyone.
Then he went to call everyone to talk in her bedroom. When both of them saw Ares for the first time, they were very shocked to see that her eyes had turned red. She then explained to them again what had happened to her.
Semi: Wait a minute! Why did her eyes turn red in real life? I thought that only happened in games.
Big g: This is getting out of hand! At first it was just a game, but why is it happening in real life? What are we dealing with?!
Ares: I don't know…
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Going back to the events before Ares was shot...
Somewhere...
Adrian, who teleported in with Group A, wasted no time ordering his team to prepare and angrily rushed to find someone known as "Shadow."
Adrian: Shade, I told you to check the server, didn't I? How did these people manage to get in?!
Shade: I...I checked!?" Three times!! There's no way I could be wrong!
Adrian: And what about this incident...? Never mind. The people who will be testing the Synthwave project are in the testing lab now. Perfect, I can use these test subjects. And let me tell you, if you mess up this time, the big boss will find out. This time, I'm not helping you.
Shadow could only make himself small. He felt guilty for making another mistake at work. So he composed himself and slapped himself in the face again. He picked up the keyboard, his expression becoming serious. He started a project called Synthwave and targeted the test subjects who were restraining the group of people.
Shade: Experimenter #50, are you ready?
Experimenter #50: Of course I'm ready! If you make another mistake, I'll send this report to Adrian immediately, and you know what the consequences will be.
Shade: Yes, sir, I understand… Let's begin. Project synthwave commences. Target experimenter #50 will be submitted in 3…2….1…
But then… the system malfunctioned. The screen was filled with 404 errors.
Shade: What the hell is this!!!
Then he heard the test subject's voice stammering and incoherent. He checked the screen and found that the project had changed its location; instead of finding test subject #50, it had gone to a woman who had wandered in.
Shade: Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!
He slammed his fist on the table repeatedly and started trying to fix the system, but it was too late. The synthwave project was already with that woman. He checked the in-game security camera and found that she had been deleted from the game.
Shadow silently blamed himself, repeatedly hitting his head for almost 10 minutes. When he regained his composure, he looked at the screen again and witnessed a strange event. The woman who had been deleted from the system had returned, wreaking havoc and killing all of CNS members. He was so shocked he couldn't speak.
Shade: W-What the heck!!! It's compatible with her? I've conducted this experiment many times, and this is the first time the project has actually worked with a user. However, it's still unstable. It's even showing anger, which means it must be connected to her subconscious. I have to keep this a secret. If the higher ups find out, I'll be beheaded!"
Then he pondered what to do next…
Cut to the present.
At the Moonlight Squad's home.
Everyone on the team is resting after what they've been through. But then a notification pops up on their phones. It's an announcement from the CNS group, with someone covering their face introducing themselves.
Good evening, contestants. We are CNS, here to reveal the truth—the truth beyond the walls—and to achieve that, we will set you free. We will infiltrate the game's firewall and seize it for ourselves, for the common good of all. Then we'll wait until that time comes.
The scene then cuts to the game's commentators, Scotty and June, about to announce Season 2 of the game.
Scotty: What the heck is this?... I can't believe someone would hack the game's firewall like this. What are we going to do now?
June: That's right. I've never seen anything like this before. What do they want? To intimidate, or for their own personal gain? But there's urgent news. The game will be making another announcement soon, so please all contestants prepare to receive the information.
Then the news report was abruptly cut off, and everyone's phones started receiving messages.
"To all contestants, we have received reports that CNS is preparing to take over the game system. However, we have received information from VAIIYA that CNS will be deploying their forces to attack the main server, and VAIIYA has already distributed their main servers. Therefore, we request that all contestants form groups of 5 people to prepare for a Terminal Attack. Further details will be provided in this report.
For your information, MultiCo"
Semi: Seriously…they want to take over the game? What are we going to do now?
Moon: We guess we'll have to join the fight, but Ares doesn't have to. You just went through something, and I don't want you to get into more trouble.
Ares: No! I'll join too. I won't be a burden to the team. I'll support you guys!
Then, all four of them began preparing for the upcoming Terminal Attack....