SURVIVAL 38: OBLIVION

"Hey, girl! What's wrong with you? You're being weird," there’s a pretty girl who has violet curly, short hair who approached me. She’s Nyla! One of my best friends here at school.

"Where are we after? Mall or food trip?" A girl with brown eyes, a ponytail, and eyeglasses seemed to be asking us. Nyla is with Anj!

"Let's do arcade first!" A boy approached the three of us with braces, messy hair, and an undone button on his polo. Rishi is enthusiastic when it comes to this stuff.

"Duh? Do you really think we're doing that? By the way, I know a newly opened restaurant near here!" Nyla giggled.

I miss these three! I gave them a big warm embrace. It seems that I startled them.

I must have acted strangely previously when I couldn’t remember who they were. So, this is where Author had put me after I won the game. The Earth paused while the nth planet was moving.

"Vien!" I turned to the familiar voice I heard. Brother!

Mama! I embraced her too. “Are you going to hang out with your friends?”

"You better get home early before 6 PM. We need to pack our things for tomorrow." My big brother stated.

He must be referring to a month-long vacation that they have prepared for us to celebrate my academic achievement.

"Your friends already ask permission from me." – Mama

Those three, really. They informed Mama that we’ll hang out altogether. They left, and I went to my three friends.

We all agreed to watch a certain movie at the mall. We are now inside the cinema. Its story is about a cyborg man who falls in love with a woman who’s a human being.

"Don't leave me, Marco!”

"I will sacrifice my life. I am happy to meet you even for a moment. And to die for you is the thing that I will never regret...”

These are the dialogues from the movie that pierced through my heart. I wiped my tears and continued watching the big screen.

"If you played for the second time, then you already know how the game works.” I have a sudden thought that must be answered by First or Author. “What will happen to those who have died or been ‘game over’? What about their families on Earth?" I asked him.

"They will die in oblivion.”

I remembered Leonthan. I got up and grabbed my bag and left the cinema. I ran in a hurry without giving them an exclusive reason why I left suddenly.

I'm going to Leonthan's condo. I previously heared from my classmates that they sold their house when his parents died. He stayed with his brother in a condominium near our school. I already went to his condo once because we had a group activity at that time.

"I'm sorry, Miss. No one lives in the unit you mentioned," the woman from the front desk confirmed. I asked her just in case I’d mistaken Leonthan’s unit. I needed to state which unit I’m going to visit before going upstairs to that specific room.

"Huh? I'm sure of that… Oh, then you must know Leonthan Hortaia or Shaunrey Hortaia? They both live there.”

And the woman glanced at the computer screen and some documents. "I'm sorry, Miss. There is no Mr. or Mrs. Hortaia in this condominium and in the unit you referred to."

I went home because of this confusion I have.

***

A day has passed. I sent group messages to my classmates.

Me: Guys, do you know Leonthan Hortaia? He’s our classmate and the class president?

1: Hortaia? We have no classmate with that surname. Maybe from another class?

2. Lol I’m the president

Huh? No! Leonthan is the president of our class.

3: Yeah, who’s that

4: Moving-up ceremony has just finished. Did you already forget your classmates, Heavien? AHAHAHA

Not me! He is our classmate. He’s smart, cool, sensible, and is known at school. There’s no way that they’ll forget someone notable as he is.

5: We don't have a classmate who plays the piano. Just guitar and drums.

6: If he's famous, why don't we know him??

7: An upperclassman? Underclassman?

8: Mr. straight mustache will be our substitute teacher in math!

9: Man, that stinks

10: LMAO I like the way he teaches tho

I got no sensible answer from them. I went to school and asked the staff, janitors, registrar, clinic nurse, teachers and security guards. I questioned them if they remembered and knew Leonthan but neither of them did.

Until I decided to meet Leonthan’s relative, his uncle. I'm here now at his uncle's house. Thanks to social media and I was able to track his address down. I pressed the doorbell, and someone who was wearing a company uniform approached me. He called out to the person I’m looking for.

"Hija, what can I do for you?" He’s a fine man in his late 40s. He’s wearing casual home clothes. We sat on the sofa in the living room.

I have no time to waste. "I'm going straight at it. Do you know someone named Leonthan Hortaia and Shaunrey Hortaia?" This is my direct question.

He was stunned for a moment.

"I don't know if this is just a coincidence, but I don't know those names. Frankly, I never heard of it. It's odd that someone has their things here in my house. I'm single and don't have a family of my own but have the names, 'Leonthan' and 'Shaunrey' on some of the stuff here.”

I saw that there were people from a moving company moving some belongings inside the mansion.

"They are the things that I do not own. It's a mystery why it ended up here.”

There was a large box. Inside it are bags, books, school supplies, video games, and more. This is Leonthan's bag and his brother, Shaunrey's, belongings. Some of their stuff still has their names on it.

"Can I have them?" I requested to their uncle.

"Okay, I don't mind. There's a lot more upstairs in the two bedrooms. We gave away the others and threw them away." He was a little confused. "I'll give you those, but what for?”

"I just want to take these things that are no longer familiar to you.” I smiled sparingly.

"You no longer remember the relatives who are important to you," I handed him a photo. "I hope you keep this photo." A photo of Leonthan and Shaunrey together with their uncle. They are smiling and look so happy.

He stared at the picture. "I don’t have any idea how this picture was taken but I think I won't mind."

He no longer asks more questions. There might be some sort of awakening that he became familiar with those faces.

I left the mansion carrying the box.

***

I went downstairs and entered the house. Mama and brother invited me to eat a snack, but I went up to my room first.

I opened the box and saw Leonthan and Shaunrey's belongings. I went to our yard. I dug up the ground and burned the box full of Leonthan’s and Shaunrey’s memories. When it turned to ashes, I covered it with dirt and a large rock on it. This will be the grave of their memories.

I went back to my room. I hid a photo of Leonthan and pinned it in my journal notebook. I sat down at my study table. I rummaged through the drawers, and I saw a big notebook. A sketch pad! I opened it and burst into tears when I saw the Battle 21.

I grabbed a pencil and eraser. After a few minutes, it was done. Only the battle 21 is in the drawing because I drew it when we were in the castle. And at that time, Shaunrey and Jecko were considered dead, so I couldn't draw them. I included myself too. I lifted the sketch pad and smiled. Battle 24 is now complete.

Starting from first to the twenty-fourth player; Leonthan Hortaia, Heavien Cyre Luvitos, Brenille Artheo, Rochevel Javinendo, Rochedan Javinendo, Sixth, Seventh, Myriana Quevas, Alexus Pavett, Tenth, Shaunrey Hortaia, Twelf, Jecko Noman, Forzen, Fifzen, Yriel Evirez, Sevenzen, Seyah Miaje, Trake Lo Vega, Twentieth, Firstwen, Nadine Tarris, Karson Lu, and Fortwen.

I requested Author for the names of my friends that I never had a chance to know, but it didn’t favor me. Not all the 23 dead players had their real names on the cemetery. One would never know the names of those who died early unless you reached a certain level where you regained your memories, or other co-players told you.

I searched further in my drawer and found something. This is the comic I made after I won the fourth Tri-Games. I wrote and drew this for 60 days before I could forget the game. I typed everything about the game and drew it before. It consists of 40 chapters.

A story not just written by the author's fictitious mind but experienced the game itself. Confused values, mixed emotions, and contemplations. A comic not just to entertain, inspire, and gain popularity but to remember the tragic events until the author loses memories of the game. A game and story that will confuse you between illusion and reality.

No one who lives on Earth will have any memories of battle 23 but they will live through the comic I wrote. Despite being dead, leaving the world with a legacy will live in the hearts of every people.

I know what the title of my comic will be. It is simple yet straightforward. ‘Triumphant Game’.

It turns out writing has never been a passion of mine, but the tragic events of the game made me do it.