Chapter 2 – Mother and the Deserted Island (2)

“No, Mother, it’s not like that. Haha, why is this like this? Haha.”

The rest of the panic, I came out of the excuse without knowing.
What is not This only makes it even weirder.

Her mother blushed embarrassedly as she pulled the hem of her negligee down.

“No, sorry mom. She had no intention of meeting Changjae in this outfit.”

It must be because the length of the negligee is short.
Just as the bra was visible through the thin negligee, the panties were also visible underneath. No matter how family they were, they were not dressed to be seen in front of their adopted son.

──The moment I thought so.

『Teeling♪』

The ominous alarm sounded again.
No way.

『I succeeded in peeping at my partner’s panties. You have obtained 2 Coins.』

I immediately took my phone out of my pocket and threw it against the wall.

-Puck!
The phone rang loudly and hit the cave wall.

Kut! My cell phone! I bought it for an expensive price… !

… But I can’t help it. If I leave it as it is, I don’t know what strange things I’ll say in the future. It would cost another soldier’s salary, but it was a necessary sacrifice.

While I was thinking about the pain of forced labor, a mysterious message rang again on my phone, which I thought had been smashed.

『This terminal is an indestructible object. Also, if you fall beyond a certain distance, you will respawn at the original location. Please be careful.”

Along with that, the cell phone disappeared on the spot.
Just like polygons are scattered in a game.

“Uh…”

It was such an unreal sight.

It was a completely different problem than waking up and seeing my mother in pajamas. Because things that were fine suddenly disappeared. That was physically impossible.

“How?”

──And that disappearing cell phone was back in my pocket before I knew it.

It’s not that confusing.
It was terrifying. To the point where goose bumps all over your body.

“Are you Changjae?”

Her mother tilts her head, not knowing what has happened.
I tried to understand this situation somehow, but I finally gave up on understanding it.

“… There are all kinds of strange things, mother.”

Even so, standing in front of her mother, I pretend to be calm and smile.

I take out my phone again with trembling hands.
I threw it against a stone wall with all my might, but I couldn’t see a single scratch on my phone.

The cell phone with the military security sticker was definitely the cell phone I had been using.
But now it seemed to be something completely different. Something made with alien technology that transcends human perception.

As I stared blankly at my phone, it rang once more.

『Teeling♪』

“Ugh?!”

Surprised, I barely managed to hold on to my phone, which I almost dropped.
The sound was already like the sound effects of a horror movie to me.

“Do you want to start the tutorial?
(Yes No)”

There was such a message floating on the screen of the cell phone.

“… Tutorial?”

I’m not stupid enough to ignore these suspicious messages under these circumstances.

I wonder if I can find out something by looking at a tutorial or something.
I touched the ‘yes’ part of the screen.

『The tutorial begins.』

“Mother. I think you should come and see it together.”
“Ah, yes.”

I decided to watch it with my mother just in case.
My mother, nervous and withdrawn, stood next to me.

I saw now that my mother was barefoot without shoes.
The stone floor is bumpy. Is it okay? I think you’ll get hurt if you do it wrong.

No. Think about that later
Because it’s important to see what a tutorial is right now.

A video like the opening of a third-rate mobile game was starting on the cell phone.

『Island of dreams and fantasies! A world of freedom and pleasure! We sincerely welcome all of you who participated in the beta test of the full-fledged metabus utopia, ‘Metapia: Island of Miracles’!』

… What beta test?
Didn’t I tell you that I’m participating in something like that?

I wanted to protest like that, but I decided to keep my mouth shut for now.
You may get important information. I couldn’t miss a single letter.

『’Metapia: Island of Miracles’ is a full-fledged metabus uninhabited island survival game. You must survive until the day you escape from the mysterious uninhabited island with your partner by your side.”

Each and every message from the cell phone is clearly engraved in your head.

Metaverse Utopia. Metaverse uninhabited island survival game.
What those words mean is that this is not reality, but a virtual space like a VR game.
Unrealistic things that suddenly disappear and come out of my pocket are not impossible if this is virtual reality. Rather, it was something that could not be explained otherwise.

But… Is it possible to implement a vivid environment that is no different from reality with the current VR technology?

Not just sight or hearing. I could vividly feel my mother’s body temperature, scent, and even the sound of her breathing.

I’ve played some of the latest VR games, but nothing like this could have happened. Maybe it will take several generations to come. Just imagining it was far-fetched.

『Items necessary for survival can be obtained by hunting or plundering. You can also purchase them from the shop with coins obtained through achievements or missions.』

Hunting and looting. Achievements and missions. Coins and shops.
What they have in common is that they are words that can only be encountered in games.

So, what kind of game world is this?
The reality was too strong to accept that. Is this VR? It sounded like sleep talking.

『’Metapia: Island of Miracles’ pursues the most perfect degree of freedom. In the world of Metafia, you are not subject to any legal restrictions in the real world. Violent crimes such as robbery, murder, and rape are also possible. However, keep in mind that as long as you have no restrictions, there are no restrictions for others.”

In VR games, sexual mischief can be punished not only in the game, but also in real life. However, it seems that even such a minimum rule does not apply here.

But, how could that be?

Human society is maintained only when there is a fence called law.
Without laws, it is the animal kingdom. The strong take everything, and the weak take everything.

Is this world called Metapia such a concept?

『All of you currently participating in this ‘Metafia: Island of Miracles’ are cloned personalities. Your ‘body’ is still living in reality, so don’t worry.”

My cell phone was releasing new information one after another before I had time to organize my thoughts.
On this screen, I saw myself changing with the next worker.

… My ‘body’ is living a normal life?
So now I’m a virtual person in a virtual reality?
I’m a brain in a barrel?

While I was getting carried away by the absurd sound, the scene changed.
This time, instead of me, the screen showed my mother getting out of bed and trying to change into her pajamas.

“Oh!”

Her mother hastily covered my eyes with her hands.

Mother. If I’m going to cover it, I think it’s better to cover my phone screen, not my eyes.
Rather, this… Hmm.

That’s a big deal. I can’t concentrate on the tutorial.

『You who are here in ‘Metapia: Island of Miracles’ are completely separate entities from the main body. But then it wouldn’t be too tense, would it? That’s why we prepared a groundbreaking system! When you die in ‘Metafia: Island of Miracles’, the main body of reality also dies.”

“——What?”

On the screen, I am reflected again after a shift.
Returning to the barracks, I suddenly grabbed my chest and collapsed.
As if you had a heart attack.

Is it because the person in the video was me? The video touched me so realistically. To the extent that I check to see if my heart is beating normally without even realizing it. It felt like the hairs on my body were standing up.

“Laugh… !”

My mother seemed to be of the same mind and covered her mouth and swallowed her breath.

Then, the screen changed to the mother who had completely changed her clothes.

Just like I collapsed, the mother in the picture suddenly collapsed on her forehead.
It was as if a sudden brain hemorrhage had occurred.

It wasn’t something crappy like a deepfake. It was a real video of me and my mother collapsing.
The video was so realistic that I couldn’t help but believe it.

『If you die here on ‘Metapia: Island of Miracles’, you will also die in real life. But don’t be discouraged. If you survive to the end, various rewards will be given to you in reality. Join forces with your partner and try to survive together!”

Survive
That meant he could die soon.

What kind of environment is this ‘Metapia: Island of Miracles’ talking about?

Unlimited robberies, murders, and rapes means there are other survivors on this island.
How would people behave if they suddenly fell into such a lawless zone? Shall we work together to survive? Or, on the contrary, will the death game of killing and killing each other begin?

In this video, it is said that there is no penalty even if you kill and steal the other person. I am not naive enough to believe that human nature is unconditionally good.
But now that there is nothing to be taken away, the reason why people bother to fight each other——Thinking that far, I realized.
The fact that I have something to take away too.

“Changjae, what should we do now… ?”

My mother holds my arm holding the phone.
Her hand was trembling slightly. She was counting on me to keep her fears at bay.

It was.
There is nothing. I also had something to lose.

Kill the man and steal the woman.
It is a natural law in a primitive society where there is no law.
As the video said, it meant that if there were no sanctions for what happened on this island, there could be any number of other survivors killing me and taking her mother.

Looking at my mother who looked like she was about to cry at any moment, I gritted my teeth and smiled.

“Mother, will it be fun? It’s a survival game.”

No matter what happens, my mother protects me.
That was the first rule I set on this crazy deserted island.