He told them everything. About Rao Shin appearing on the screen.
About the truth behind the game's launch—how they weren't transformed into mutants but trapped inside the game itself. About the neural interface chips and why they couldn't be forcibly logged out.
About how the developers had only recently established communication through the lobby system, only to discover it was filled with the consciousnesses of dead players.
With each revelation, he watched their expressions shift—confusion giving way to shock, shock giving way to a complex mixture of emotions too tangled to name.
"So... we're in a game?" Nibo finally asked, his deep voice rumbling with disbelief. "This whole time?"
"Yes."
"And everyone who died..." Aria's voice was barely audible. "Samxon. The adventurers. All the orcs who fell in previous battles... they're not actually dead?"
