The System I Created

Chapter 13

Robert Duller was your typical person that had a bad upbringing; he started out like any other person, but seeing the harsh world he was living in made him face so many challenges that molded him into feeding his trauma rather than confronting it. This led him down a dark path of seeking revenge on those he felt wronged him, ultimately becoming consumed by his own bitterness and anger.

Born and molded to hate women, his own mother abused him physically as he was a product of his mother's lustful life and never experienced genuine love or care from a female figure. This deep-rooted hatred towards women fueled his destructive behavior and toxic relationships, perpetuating a cycle of pain and suffering in his life.

He found a little bit of hope inside the virtual world as he indulged his pain into hunting and killing monsters inside the game at a very late age of 30, but because the game developers made sure that each player remained honest and true, the player's avatar physical appearance can never be changed or personalized, and each player perfectly reflects his or her real appearance inside the game.

Many love this idea, as the players found the positivity of this unique feature, feeling a sense of authenticity and connection to their virtual selves. This unexpected twist brought a new level of depth and meaning to the game, allowing players to embrace their true selves in a way they never thought possible.

In the evolving landscape of virtual reality, the duality of player experience has become a focal point of discussion. For some, the immersive environments offer an escape from the monotony of daily life, providing an opportunity to explore desires and ambitions without the constraints of the real world.

However, this newfound freedom also casts a shadow as players grapple with the consequences of their actions within these fabricated realms. The allure of self-exploration can quickly devolve into a rejection of personal accountability, as some individuals, instead of embracing self-awareness regarding their health and appearance, succumb to their baser instincts.

This dichotomy of the conflict between self-improvement and self-indulgence adds a rich layer to the gameplay experience, compelling players to confront both the uplifting and darker aspects of their virtual existences.

Take, for instance, Robert Duller, who transitioned from a merchant bodyguard to an eager participant in the game's more salacious elements. Initially, he relished the thrill of interacting with NPCs, but as his engagement deepened, he found himself entangled in a web of distorted morality. The game's design blurred the boundaries of reality, allowing him to indulge his darker desires without consequence.

The NPCs, programmed with a lack of resistance and shaped by their developers' constraints, became mere vessels for his impulses. This unsettling dynamic speaks to the potential dangers of immersive technology, where the lines of empathy and ethical behavior can easily become obscured.

On the other hand, the development team, led by Damon Lazarus, poured countless hours into creating a sophisticated AI that gave life to these virtual beings. By crafting unique personalities and traits for each NPC, they aimed to inject authenticity into interactions, ensuring that players would experience a rich tapestry of responses that reflected the complexity of human behavior.

This intricate design not only heightened realism but also challenged players to navigate a landscape where every choice had implications, both positive and negative. The juxtaposition of Robert's self-serving actions against the backdrop of carefully designed NPC interactions showcases the intricate balance that modern gaming must maintain between facilitating exploration and cautioning against moral decay in a realm that, while fantastical, often mirrors the human condition in unsettling ways.

Damon expected this kind behavior will sure come to some players as foresee these scenarios even before the deployment of the game. The dedication he and his team made was so time-consuming, as they even hired numerous temporary and contractual programmers to create the code and have the main developers quality check it, fine-tune it, and ensure that the game was both engaging and thought-provoking. The end result was a virtual world that challenged players to think critically about their choices and the consequences of their actions, adding a layer of depth rarely seen in modern gaming.

But none of this really matters, as human beings are creatures of habit and gravitate towards familiarity of their own true nature. Robert Duller was banned from entering the game when he targeted real players outside the virtual gaming world. He started by acting all innocent and nice; he created a fatherly persona in the game as he targeted younger players and befriended his target to the point he would track down the young female player until he got the opportunity to lure them into his trap.

Until his wife found out he was forcing and manipulating young women to satisfy his urge while using fear and intimidation tactics. After getting divorced within a period of two weeks, Robert Duller killed his ex-wife and murdered a young mother. Then he continued to use his powers to elude the police; as his main power was short-distance teleportation, capture was nearly impossible..

Robert Duller was still roaming the streets, waiting for the right target to come. As he became more cautious and selective on the targets, he couldn't afford to target a player who was higher level than him. So he prefers non-players, but being in a city with a vast amount of players, he was having difficulty finding one. As most veteran players can sense mana, Robert Duller never reached that level, so he could only target unsuspecting non-players.

However, his luck was about to change as he spotted a long-haired female lone traveler on a street outside the bar he was in. The young female was wearing a thick coat and hiding her face under a facemask and a baseball cap. When Robert Duller saw her walk by, he was hesitating at first because the manner of her walk was not really that appealing, but as soon as Robert Duller sensed she had no mana, his hesitance faded.

who was unaware of the danger lurking nearby. With a sly grin, Robert Duller activated his teleportation power and prepared to strike.

He could use his ability more than five times now, so as soon as the woman passed the bar, Robert Duller instantly vanished and reappeared behind the woman, grabbed her, teleported again, and reappeared with the woman inside his door less underground shelter. The abduction was so fast the woman was unable to react or call for help before finding herself trapped in a dark, unfamiliar place with a complete stranger. Robert Duller's sinister plan was unfolding perfectly as he began to reveal his true intentions to the terrified young woman.

Suddenly a voice of a woman was heard as she screamed, but the sound had this artificial quality to it, as if it were being broadcast from a gadget. Robert Duller was hiding in the darkness as he felt confused about what was happening. He could see the person he kidnapped, but something was not right. The person was somewhat different; he was sure the woman was just around five feet tall and had a slim figure; the person with him now inside his lair was six feet tall and had different clothing.

This scared Robert Duller to his core; he couldn't imagine that the person he grabbed was different. Until the person Robert Duller kidnapped spoke

"You never expected that your transportation had a weakness, right?"

"Sadly, the activation time has a small microsecond delay; if your time is right, another person can enter that space and take your place. It looks like you were too overconfident with your stolen ability."

"That 00.00.03 Micro seconds is enough to switch places with that woman; a gentle grab and slight push away from your mana influence ,was enough; for you, it might feel instantaneous, but for me, it was a perfect opening to privately execute my plan."

Robert Duller's heart raced as he realized the gravity of his mistake, feeling a cold sweat run down his back.

"Wait, you are a man! How?"

Robert Duller activated his teleportation once again, and the location in his mind was the bar that he was in a few minutes ago. Robert Duller smiles as a wormhole suddenly appears and engulfs him; the timing was almost perfect. But again, 00.00.03 Micro seconds was all it took for his target to react, and suddenly Robert found himself face to face with a clean cut line around his head.

Robert Duller muttered under his breath, as many people in the bar saw him instantly appear and fall down on the wooden bar floor with his decapitated head separate from his body.

" NOTIFICATION"

"Robert Duller confirmed dead by beheading, bounty taken by Orion."

"System was relayed information toward the association. Payment shall be awarded upon physical confirmation."

"Conditions to replicate ability are available."

"Do you wish to copy?"

" yes"

"copying…"

"Done!. Proceeding toward the next target."

"Please proceed!"

After an hour, two more wanted criminals players were reported to have been eliminated. The association was being flooded with so many questions from the government and even the Nexus Corporation as to how this could happen, knowing that nobody has a clear way of knowing the players location.

Mr. Boone heard their report and noticed the timing, but still he wasn't sure if his hunch was correct. He decided to investigate further before jumping to any conclusions. The coincidence was so on point, but he can't understand how these wanted players that eluded them and the government suddenly ended up dead the following day, right after he had a casual discussion with Dane Lazarus.

"Who's claiming the bounty?"

"It's a recent new account, sir, under the name of Orion."

"Can you see where the account originated from?"

"Huh? Sir, its hard to determine, sir; it started from Istanbul and simultaneously also in Japan."

"What the hell!"

"Whoever made this account is not just one or even a few people; this kind of hacking skill needs a huge organization; I doubt your guy could do this by himself."

"I doubt you are right, but have you forgotten, Mr. Charles, how big is the Lazarus clan?"

"We have resources and connections all over the world, including in Istanbul and Japan. We will find out who is behind this Orion account and bring them in for questioning."

"It's a waste of time, Mr. Charles. This was the work of a highly skilled individual or group who knows how to cover their tracks. We may never be able to trace it back to the source."

Mr. Boone regretfully gave out a deep sigh! He still thinks all this is connected to the new player, but he is having a hard time connecting him as the time of these wanted criminals is too short and their distances are far too far from each other. And the location itself was beyond his scope.

For one fact alone, the Nexus corporation that manages all the players information never announces any breach with their system. "It's like connecting a dot with a puzzle."

Mr. Boone knew that solving this case would require piecing together fragmented clues and navigating through a complex web of information. He realized that patience and persistence aren't enough to solve this mystery; it was too obvious, but he couldn't ignore the feeling of unease that continued to gnaw at him.

"Orion, the hunter, what an obvious choice for a Lazarus member.."

"I am sure it's him; with that massive mana of his, he can surely pull it off."

"But he hasn't even entered the tower yet."

"here is no way he could obtain magical abilities yet; "

"And the only way he could gain these skills is inside the tower itself."

"And another matter is that the level of difficulty of eliminating these wanted players is too wide; the disparity toward the way their lives ended is so unreal, it's so hard to even explain."

"That's the part that is bugging me, Mr. Charles. Those players were non-high rank, but their skill was not that weak; they had nearly more than six months of experience as a player in real life, and their stats aren't to laugh at. The lowest might be Robert Duller, but with his teleportation skill, he has eluded and defeated numerous players who were higher than him."

"And the following two that were eliminated after an hour had elemental powers of fire and illusion spell casting."

"There were twenty-five images on the wanted poster; if all of them were claimed by that particular single account, my suspicion was strengthened. You don't need to be a genius to put them together."

"Thus this means Orion did something that no other player could do, sir!"

"Yes, that's my biggest concern now. If somebody at the association sees this, my guild will surely do something about it because the ten strongest criminals on that poster are connected to powerful guilds. "

"We need to protect our account information no matter what!"

"So, sir, you are not seeing this as an issue at all?"

"Are you kidding me? I have been waiting for this to happen. Within nearly a year since that tower came to life, humanity lost all its empathy toward each other."

"The crime rate rose up, and we can't handle them all."

"How many association members died, pursuing these criminals?"

"Sir, more than enough to say we are powerless."

"It's only been a year, but the chaos that consumed the world was like we had spent a decade living in it."

"I know this very well, sir; "