Epilogue

Mariya looked down at the last player in the game that she had yet to kill. His eyes showed fear as he struggled to back away from the slaughter he had witnessed. Without a word, Mariya smiled and engulfed the man in a fire spell that burned him alive like a witch burning at the stake. His screams echoed throughout the grasslands as the rest of members of Ideasthesia watched. A few seconds passed before silence fell over the area.

“And that’s the last player in the game,” Himorogi said as she looked up to the sky.

“Not quite,” Mariya said with a smile as she turned to Himorogi.

“The after effects of that potion we gave you should be kicking in right about now,” Wolfy remarked as he took a second to stretch.

“W-What did you put in those things?” Scyilia asked.

Within moments, all of them felt their bodies go numb. Wolfy and Mariya smiled as they slowly approached the others. Helpless and unable to defend themselves, they ended the lives of each member, one-by-one. As they stood over the body of their last guild member, Yara, Mariya noticed the girl’s health was still at one.

“So, you were the one behind all of this,” Mariya said.

“Well, I guess I was right to follow the two of you all this time,” Yara said as she recovered all of her health and removed the status effects.

Standing to her feet, she smiled.

“Nice to finally meet you two, Wolfy, Mariya. I am Yara, the system administer of this world.”

“Yeah, we already knew that,” Wolfy said as he pulled out the last can of energy he had.

“There’s no way you two planned all this just to meet me.”

Mariya smiled.

“Nope. We just wanted to kill everyone in this world. Then the two of us were going to kill ourselves.”

Yara snapped her fingers and within an instant, a blinding blue light engulfed the siblings before they found themselves in a place that they had never seen. The room had a faint blue hue to it, almost resembling something out of a techno movie or science fiction technology from the future. Behind Yara was a grey slate colour wall that held a single door. A sign off to the right read system room.

“Oh, that set in Futura. Which is amusing considering where we are,” Wolfy said as he looked at the sign.

“What?” Yara asked with a puzzled expression.

“Nii is a typographer. It was his job so he tends to get lost in anything with type.”

“I bet you had lots of friends,” Yara joked as she turned for the door.

With a snap of her fingers, she opened the door before her and gestured for them to enter.

“If you don’t mind, please remove your shoes before entering.”

“Afraid of us tracking mud in there or something?” Mariya asked.

“Pretty sure you could just snap the dirt away,” Wolfy remarked.

“I could but it’s more of a habit. I also live in Japan so it’s ingrained in my mind to do it as well as ask others.”

“Fair enough,” Mariya said as she unequipped her footwear.

Wolfy followed his sister’s lead before finally entering into the room. Inside, the room appeared as a teenage girl’s bedroom but instead of posters of boy bands and pink colours, it was filled with a large amount of energy drink style stuffed plushies. Various cans of the game’s energy drink laid scattered throughout the room along with a computer in the corner that looked like something a shut-in would use. In the centre of the room was a small wooden table with a small vase sitting on top of it – a single crimson red rose that contrasted the various black and green colour scheme of the rest of the room.

“Please, sit down wherever you two would like.”

Mariya sat down at the edge of the bed while her brother laid down as if he had laid there his whole life – calm and relaxed. Taking a seat in the chair at her computer desk, Yara looked over to the two siblings.

“Can I offer you an energy drink, Wolfy? Tea, Mariya?”

“Yes please,” the two siblings said in unison.

With a snap of her fingers, Yara made a cup appear in front of Mariya that was labelled green tea while a can of the energy drink that Wolfy loved so much was within his grasp.

“Now then, onto why I’ve brought both of you here.”

“I hope it’s not to have a threesome, that wouldn’t be very wholesome,” Wolfy said as he cracked open the can and took a swig.

“I have to agree with my brother, I do not wish to become a whole sum with you and my brother. This isn’t some anime where we siblings are going to satisfy you with some incest sexual pleasure.”

Yara closed her eyes and sighed as she leaned back in her chair.

“That isn’t why I wanted the two of you here.”

“Good,” the siblings said in unison again.

“My reason for having you two here is to tell you why I trapped everyone in this game and—”

Mariya laid back on the bed and closed her eyes as she relaxed into the comfort of the bed.

“Yeah, we don’t carry about that,” Mariya started to say.

“Our goal was just to kill everyone in the game then kill ourselves because there was no point,” Wolfy continued.

“Life in this world became boring so it was better to just end it. But now…”

Taking a sip of her tea, Mariya paused as she let her brother finish her sentence.

“There is no reason to do anything any more because we can’t kill you.”

Yara sighed as she stood up from her chair and made her way over to the bed. Crawling onto the bed, she positioned herself between the two siblings and smiled. Her smile was of cheerful nature but both of the siblings knew it was one of sadistic intent.

“Let me be perfectly clear. As a system admin, I can do whatever want. That includes paralysing the two of you or forcing both of you do acts to each other that is unnatural to a wholesome sibling relationship.”

Both Mariya and Wolfy sighed in unison, knowing they could not disobey the will of the overlord.

“Fine,” the two of them said in-sync with each other.

“Now then, listen to my story…”

“A long, long time ago…”

“…in a galaxy far, far away…”

“Would you two take this seriously? I’m trying to tell you something important!”

“Sorry, we couldn’t resist, go on,” Mariya said with a smile.

“I was once a writer and created a story called Phantasia Morgana. It was something I truly loved. A fantasy story with magical girls, wolves, other creatures that revolved around two siblings – a brother and a sister. The story told the journey the two siblings had with a tower that held a mystery to it. I had planned to call it the Twilight Tower but some asshole beat me to it.”

Yara clenched her fist as she recalled the day she had found out someone had taken the name of her most treasured tower.

“Anyway, I later studied art and met my husband. It was at that time I decided to turn my story into a game. With his help and a few friends, we were able to create this massive game for the world to share. Problems occurred though when we found out our little company was going bankrupt. Everyone but me and my husband left.”

“So, why trap all the players here then?” Mariya asked.

“Well, before the day of the launch, my husband had uploaded his brain to the system. Of course… it didn’t work. I was angry and didn’t want to live alone in a crippling debt so I uploaded a virus that would trap any players in the game on the day they logged in. It was a stupid mistake but at the same time, I don’t regret it. Being trapped in here allowed me to meet you two.”

“You do realise you could have just killed yourself instead of letting others suffer,” Wolfy said.

“And you two didn’t have to kill everyone in the game.”

“Fair point. So, you still haven’t answered the question as to why you wanted us here,” Mariya said.

“It’s simple. I want to die.”

“Okay, that’s easy enough—”

Yara interjected, cutting Wolfy’s from she knew he was going to suggest.

“No, I want more than just a death. I need someone to retain the rights of being system admin.”

“So, you want us to become the next admin of this world?” Wolfy asked.

“Only one of you can become the admin.”

“Sounds dumb.”

“I agree,” Wolfy concurred with his sister.

“You can go back to the real world. See, as the admin, I can bring your minds back into reality. Of course it’d be dumb to do it and then be trapped here forever… all alone.”

“Okay… So, what are you saying? We have a choice to make?” Wolfy asked.

“Either I let one of you take my place as admin and the other is freed from the game or I simply kill one of you and force the other to take my place.”

“Seems a bit forced,” Mariya said as she closed her eyes.

“We have all the time in the world for the two of you to think about it.”

“If you’re true to your word, that means one of us will be left alone in the real world, able to continue life as we once did…” Mariya started to say before her voice trailed off at the thoughts that were conjuring up in her mind.

“…the other would be trapped in the world of the game forever,” Wolfy finished.

“That is correct. This is why I said you two should think about it.”

The two siblings were silent for a moment before Mariya finally spoke up.

“I’ll do it. You can send my brother back to the real world.”

Wolfy sat up in shock as he looked to his sister.

“Sis…”

“Is that what you want?” Yara asked.

“Yes, my brother worked hard in to struggle and make something with what he had and I want him to keep working in the real world and achieve great things.”

“Wait a minute! That’s not happening. Little sister, I refuse to allow you to throw away your life like that. You are ten times more talented then me and have a future. I don’t, so it makes more sense for me to stay and you to be free.”

“Damn it, nii-nii, this isn’t up for discussion! You deserve to be make your dreams a reality.”

“That isn’t fair! I can’t live life knowing you’re gone. It would be too much…”

“And you think it would be any easier for me? We’re the same, nii-nii.”

“Wow, I think this the first time I’ve ever seen you two fight,” Yara said a she sat back down in her computer chair.

“You’re going to real world, nii-nii and that’s final.”

Wolfy embraced his sister tightly. The room fell silent before he began to sing softly into her ear.

“Wait… nii-nii… what are… you doing?”

Within a moment, Mariya could feel herself starting to grow sleepy until she could no longer hear her brother’s voice. Before long, she fell forward into her brother’s arms.

“Don’t worry, sis. I’m going to take care of everything.”

Wolfy gently placed his sister’s body down on the bed and turned to Yara.

“So, I take it you know what decision you want to make,” Yara said as she took a sip of her drink.

“I care deeply about my sister.”

“That’s obvious. Runs as deep as your browser history.”

“She has someone waiting for her on the other side. I can’t say that of me. She’s better off in the real world then I am. For her, she would be able to go somewhere in life that I could never go. Even if I worked hard, my life would just amount to nothing. There is a chance she could go on and become a great artist or even a famous content creator. As for me, I’d just continue to typeset books for clients until either I died or my business failed. If I can give her a chance to reach those opportunities then I’ll be happy. I’m proud to see my little sister do so much with her life and as her brother I want to do what I can.”

“Wow, truly a moving speech,” Yara said in a monotone and dry voice.

Taking another sip of her drink, she stood to her feet.

“Did you think about what would happen if she did have you in the real world? She could kill herself.”

“…”

“Don’t you think that it could be seen as selfish on your end? I mean, if you stay here, you can do whatever you want while she has to suffer.”

“You don’t think I’d suffer too? Without my sister… I would—”

“Down an obsessive amount of alcohol until you killed yourself?”

“We are always there for each other. I know that in the end, even if we aren’t in the same reality, she would continue to live on, as would I.”

“Eh. Honestly, I don’t care what choice you make, I’m just letting you in on my perspective because I like you – as a fellow lover of energy drinks.”

“I know. Anyway, I know what choice I will make.”

“Very well, Wolfy. What is your choice?”