Akhil stared at the screen, his heart still racing from the shock of seeing Rao Shin alive. The man's expression was grave, weighted with knowledge that seemed to age him beyond his years.

"I know you have questions," Rao began, his voice steady but tinged with exhaustion. "And I wish I had better answers to give you. But first, you need to understand what really happened when the game launched."

He paused, as if gathering his thoughts—or perhaps his courage.

"The error message you all received at the beginning... the one that made you think you'd been transformed into mutants, that you were trapped in mutated bodies in the real world—that wasn't what happened at all."

Akhil's breath caught in his throat.

"You were never turned into mutants," Rao continued, his words deliberate and careful. "You're still human. You're still yourselves. But you're not in the real world anymore, Nexus. You're inside the game."

The void around Akhil seemed to press closer, the darkness becoming suffocating.

"When we launched the final version, we had implemented several new updates to the game files—enhancements to the immersion systems, expanded scenario parameters, new entity frameworks. We thought we'd tested everything thoroughly. We were wrong." Rao's jaw tightened. "The system glitched the moment the game went live. The neural interface chips didn't just connect you to the game world—they pulled your consciousness entirely into it."

'Inside the game,' Akhil thought, the words echoing in his mind. 'We're actually inside the game.'

"By the time we realized what had happened, you were already fully integrated into the game world," Rao explained. "We tried to initiate emergency logout protocols, but..." He shook his head, frustration evident in his features. "The game chip attached to your brain—the neural interface—it's incredibly delicate. If we force a logout while your consciousness is this deeply embedded, the chip could malfunction. The neural feedback could cause catastrophic brain damage. You could die in the real world."

The weight of those words settled over Akhil like a physical thing.

"So we can't pull you out. And because the game system is glitched, you can't log out from inside either. You're... stuck."

Stuck. The word reverberated through Akhil's mind, bouncing off the walls of the void.

He didn't know what to feel. On one hand, a sudden, desperate hope flared in his chest—everyone he thought he'd killed, Samxon, all those adventurers, the beta testers... they might still be alive. Their real bodies could be lying safely somewhere in the real world, unconscious but breathing, waiting to wake up.

But on the other hand, they were all trapped. Imprisoned in a game world with no way out, facing death scenarios with real consequences, unable to escape even if they wanted to.

'Is this better or worse?' Akhil wondered, his thoughts swirling in confusion. 'At least they're not dead. But if we can't get out...'

"We've been working nonstop to fix the problem from our end," Rao was saying, and Akhil forced his attention back to the screen. "But game code this complex, with this many players' consciousnesses integrated... it's taking time. More time than we'd hoped."

Rao's expression softened slightly, though the weight never left his eyes.

"It was only recently that we managed to establish this communication method—a way to contact players through the waiting lobby. We thought... we thought we could finally reach you all. Guide you from the inside. Help you understand what you're facing and how to navigate the scenarios safely until we can get you out."

His voice dropped, becoming heavier.

"But when we finally accessed the lobby system, we discovered something we hadn't anticipated." He paused, and for the first time, genuine pain crossed his features. "The only people in the waiting lobbies... are the ones who've already died in the game."

The words hit Akhil like a physical blow.

'Dead players,' he thought, the reality settling in his stomach like a stone. 'The lobby is full of dead players.'

"That's why we couldn't reach out to you all this time," Rao continued, as if reading Akhil's thoughts. "We hadn't established this communication system yet. We didn't even know the lobbies existed as a kind of... limbo state. A place where consciousness goes when the body dies in-game but the neural connection hasn't fully severed."

So that was the mystery. That was why the lobby was still there!

They were still in the game!

"I wish I could tell you not to panic," Rao said, his voice heavy with regret. "I wish I could say we have a plan, a solution that will fix everything. But the truth is... we're limited. We can only contact players in the lobby. We can't enter the actual game world where the living players are. We can't guide them, can't warn them, can't help them navigate the scenarios or defeat the game."

He gestured helplessly.

"The only people we can reach are the ones already stuck here. Already dead. And if everyone dies..."

The implication hung in the air, terrible and final.

"Then you'll all be trapped in the lobby system. Forever. Until either your real bodies fail from lack of neural activity, or until we find a way to safely extract you. And we have no timeline for when that might be possible."

Forever. Trapped in this dark, empty void with nothing but other dead players for company. Waiting. Hoping. Slowly dying anyway.

Akhil's hands clenched into fists.

"I know this isn't what you wanted to hear," Rao said softly. "I know it's not the rescue you were hoping for. But at least you're not alone."

The screen shifted, displaying a long list of names—hundreds of them, maybe thousands. All players currently in the lobby. All dead in the game world.

"These are the other players trapped here with you," Rao explained. "You can reach out to them, communicate with them. At least you won't face this isolation alone. You can share information, support each other, try to stay sane while you wait."

The names scrolled past, too many to count. Each one representing a person who'd thought they were just playing a game. Each one now trapped in digital purgatory.

"We'll also reach out to you from time to time," Rao continued. "Update you on our progress, let you know if we discover anything that might help. We won't abandon you. I promise you that."

His image began to flicker, the transmission destabilizing.

"I'm sorry, Nexus. I'm sorry we couldn't protect you. I'm sorry this happened at all. But please... don't give up hope. We're going to fix this. Somehow. We have to."

The screen went dark.

The message ended.

And Akhil was left alone in the void once more, the weight of everything he'd just learned crushing down on him.

For several long moments, he just floated there, his mind struggling to process it all. The game. The trap. The dead players. The impossibility of escape.

Then something clicked.

'Wait,' Akhil thought, his eyes widening with sudden realization. 'I've been in the lobby before. When I first lost consciousness with the orcs. And I came back. I returned to the game world!'

His heart began to race, hope surging through him like electricity.

'If I did it once, I can do it again! This isn't permanent for me. I'm not like the others—I can still get out!'

The rules didn't apply to him the same way. He'd proven that already. Whatever mechanism had pulled him back before could work again.

'Which means I can warn them,' Akhil realized, his thoughts speeding up. 'I can tell the other players what's really happening. I can guide them. I can help them survive and beat this game from the inside!'

But he needed more information. He needed to understand the new updates Rao had mentioned, needed to know what scenarios lay ahead, what entities and challenges the developers had programmed into the game world.

Akhil quickly pulled up the lobby interface, searching for a way to contact Rao directly. His fingers moved frantically across the ethereal screen.

'I need to reach him. Need to get answers. Need to understand what we're up against so I can help everyone when I get back.'

The communication window opened, and Akhil began composing his message, questions pouring out faster than he could organize them.

But even as he worked, even as hope kindled in his chest, one thought remained like a dark shadow at the edge of his mind.

The Blood Monarch.

'Even if I can get out,' Akhil thought, his fingers slowing, 'even if I can return to the game world and help the others... that thing is still in control of my body right now. Right this second.'

His stomach twisted with dread.

'What is it doing to them? How many people has it killed already? Can they survive long enough for me to come back? Can they fight off something that powerful on their own?'

Images flashed through his mind—his friends, his allies, the adventurers who'd been cheering for his victory. All of them facing the unleashed Blood Monarch, a force of destruction wearing his face.

Akhil gritted his teeth, forcing the fear down, refusing to let despair take root.

'I have to believe in them,' he told himself firmly. 'I have to trust that they're strong enough to survive until I return. They've made it this far. They can hold on a little longer.'

But doubt lingered, whispering cruel possibilities.

Would they make it? Could they possibly stand against the Blood Monarch's overwhelming power? Would they be able to save him from the lobby this time, to wake his body and pull his consciousness back?

Or would he return to find nothing but corpses and ash?

Akhil stared at the message he'd written, his finger hovering over the send button.

'I can't give up,' he thought, jaw set with determination. 'Not now. Not ever. They need me. And I need them.'

He pressed send.

Now all he could do was wait. Wait for answers. Wait for a way back.

And pray that when he returned, there would still be someone left to save.

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