New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chpter 495  Spreading Further

Across the world from Montreal, in a peaceful village of Argentina called San Antonio de Areco, a truck pulled up on the main road of the village, Alvear. The truck driver, a Latino youth, no older than sixteen years old, was looking for a store in specific, to which he had to deliver.

There was little traffic in this small town, and he was able to locate his destination quickly enough. The store was a gaming store, with many big, flashy banners on the sidewalk in front of it.

The banners, all written in Spanish, announced the coming soon of a batch of new-tech VR helmets, to play the new game that was in vogue across the globe; New Eden. There was a file of people waiting on the sidewalk, extending many blocks, of excited kids with their parents, waiting to go into the store.

The store still had its doors closed, regardless of the time of day, and was waiting on their delivery before opening, modifying its closing hours that day specifically for this.

When the crowd saw the large white delivery truck pull to the side of the store, cheers were heard, and tension started rising. The employees of the store rushed out the back to start bringing in the merchandise as quickly as possible.

The truck emptied in fifteen minutes, astounding the kid that drove it with their efficiency. As soon as he got the manager to sign the delivery bill, he was off again, back to the storage he had come from, to make the next delivery.

On his side, the manager ran to the front of the store, pulled out his keys, and unleashed hell on himself and his employees, as a literal human tide pushed into the store, fighting to get their hands on the helmets before the others.

It so often almost turned into a bloodbath, as clients tried taking helmets from other people, forcefully if needed.

***

The same scene could be seen in many places around the world, in small countryside villages or underdeveloped countries. EG had finally pushed its marketing strategies into full gear and started selling in smaller places and remote locations.

They had waited this long before doing it, to build up attraction and momentum for the game. And as the sales for the helmets and the pods skyrocketed once more, they knew they had succeeded.

Constantine Levesque sat in her metaphorical ivory tower, watching the sales numbers reach vertiginous heights, and grinned. But as she revelled in her success, a voice resounded in her head.

"Paladina! Come to me. Now!"

A shiver went down her spine. Gaius sounded angry, and their meetings rarely went well, when he was angry.

But she couldn't turn him down, either. Getting up from her chair, Constantine shooed away her assistant, before sending her office on lockdown.

As soon as it completed the lockdown, she stood up and walked to the doors on her left, proceeding into her personal loft, tied to her office. But she wasn't there to rest.

She rapidly jumped into the pod at the center of the room before launching the connection.

As her body sunk into the cushioning of the pod, and her mind was sucked upward, Constantine reappeared upon the same cloud as before. But this time, she didn't have to wait for Gaius.

She instantly dropped to a knee, lowering her head simultaneously, so she wouldn't look him in the face and greeted him.

"Your champion has arrived, Lord Gaius. What may this humble mortal do for you?"

But Paladina could feel Gaius' angry stare on her. It was vibrating her very soul to the core, and it made her increasingly uncomfortable. When Gaius opened his mouth to respond, every word felt like it was tugging at her body, ready to tear it apart.

"You promised me an entertaining result if we proceeded your way to the convergence, Paladina. I am not entertained. I am angered. Fix this, or it'll be you on the pillory before your entire race."

Paladina swallowed nervously.

"What is irritating you, if I may ask, your godship? I will try my best to remedy the situation."

Gaius walked closer to her, Aether buzzing around him. Although Paladina's level one-hundred body and legendary grade eased a lot of the burden on her, it still wasn't enough to lessen the burden a god's power applied on her.

She could feel the pressure crush her, as her health started dropping steadily.

"One of your 'Players' has released something upon the world that will put all my plans into jeopardy. I want you to fix this problem she couldn't muster the courage to ask him, either.

"As you command, Lord Gaius, so I will obey."

while I seal back this thorn in my side. And do it fast."

Paladina had no idea what or whom Gaius was talking about, but she couldn't muster the courage to ask him, either.

"As you command, Lord Gaius, so I will obey."

Gaius looked at her and could feel her confusion. He shook his head disappointingly, unimpressed by the mortal's lack of understanding.

"Deal with it, Paladina. I gave you this body, and I can take it away. How would you fare without this powerful body when the convergence happens, I wonder?"

Saying these last words, Gaius opened up a golden portal, ever so close to Paladina, making her feel the waves of Aether crash into her body, putting her in an increasingly dangerous state. But once he walked into it, it disappeared instantly.

Paladina collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, looking at her health bar, which was dangerously close to zero, and she sighed in relief.

'What put him in such a foul mood? I doubt any mortal can do anything to make him feel this way. Did he fight with another divinity?'

Letting her imagination run wild did her no good, though. She had to go back and find out who did anything that might hamper his plans.

Paladina thought back to all the pearl-white promises Gaius had made to her in their first contact, and her resolve firmed up.

'I need to protect that at all costs. Humanity depends on my success.'