Contract Marriage: The Replacement Groom

*Not edited*

Jeslyn got to Rex’s home that evening but unfortunately, she was a minute too late. With the worried look on her face, Celestine couldn’t help but ask. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"What’s the matter?"

"Oh, it’s nothing. Please inform me when he returns." She left after that and returned home.

Meanwhile, Maverick had hit a dead end in his hacking. He didn’t foresee it would be this difficult to claim the facility even though the chip was with him. The ’sun’ has dealt them a serious blow that a lot of them, including him, were dehydrated.

Inside the facility, the others were excited as they watched their enemies throwing painless punches in order to survive.

The team leader was over himself with laughter as they mocked Maverick.

"Alpha Chaos of all people, I can’t believe he’s so and so. What a hype! Hahaha...!"

"True, it’s a pity that a man like this will die at a place like this."

"When one bites more than they can chew, their mouth suffers. Hahaha!"

"We made it too easy for him. Why don’t we shoot them all and arrest Alpha Chaos and take him to the Sovereign?"

"No, I want to see him fall from that chair and admit defeat before me. I’m the greatest computer expert of all time! Even his father is nothing compared to me! So how dare Maverick challenge me?!" The team leader took it personally.

Everyone stayed silent as they all looked at him. Their team leader is one of those who hates Alpha Chaos the most. From the onset, he believed he was better than Maverick and should be the Holy Son, but unfortunately, the Sovereign didn’t see him as one fit to take that position.

"I am better than him, yet he was made the Holy Son. Why?!" He paused, then leaned towards Maverick’s image that was being displayed and continued. "You were made the Holy Son because Sovereign thought you had the best brain. Now that it’s been confirmed that I’m better than you, I should gracefully take your place, is that not?"

At that moment, the door was pushed open and Sovereign walked in. "Indeed. You’re greater than him, which has earned you the title, Holy Son. Clean up, but leave Maverick to me. Put him in prison until I get back."

With that said, the man turned and walked away. The people in the control room all knelt in front of their team leader and chorused;

"All hail, the Holy Son!"

The team leader smiled proudly. Meanwhile, Maverick felt something, like a connection or thread, snap inside him. At that moment, his eyes seemed to have opened and an idea he never thought of, suddenly stuck to his mind.

It was a Game!

They were inside a Game! His fingers immediately started to go over the keyboard faster and faster. He was no longer trying to forcefully hack into the facility but was rather going in like he was fixing a puzzle.

"What is going on?... Holy son, something is wrong?" one of the team members cried out as he saw the weird movement on his screen.

"What are you screaming for?" He made his way to the guy. Seeing what was on the screen, he laughed out loud. "Hahaha... this is hilarious! What is Alpha Chaos doing? Playing?" He dismissed the matter and gave a passive command.

"Block all his entries. Right now, he’s like a snake thrashing on fire. It’s his last struggle..."

"Holy son! Something is wrong! He has breached my defenses!"

"Holy Son! Mine is down!"

"Holy Son!"

The name echoed around the four corners of the room as the team leader ran around, trying to gain control.

"Release fire!" He commanded.

"Yes!" they stopped trying to defend their system from the attacks, and rather focused on releasing firearms attacks.

However, it was that two seconds distraction that Maverick needed to shut the facility down. Immediately he did, a sentence appeared on his screen.

[ Congratulations! You successfully shut down the facility. ]

On the other end, those in the facility also received a message on their screen..

[ Game over! ]

Everyone was stunned. It was a game? Like they’ve been inside a game for so long? How did they not know that? Just how?!

At that moment, the facility exploded and vanished into thin air. What replaced it was a Greenland that stretched as far as the eyes could see.

Maverick and his people, who were the only ones left in the wide space, couldn’t believe what they were seeing. The desert, the sun, and every single thing they saw early was nowhere in sight.

From what he could understand, it meant that his father built a visual world in a game? Then made the world a meeting place for the Dark Age people to meet up? In other words, to come into this place, one has to enter the game, but if that is so, shouldn’t they be characters? But why does it feel as if their conscience was rather inside the game instead of characters?

Secondly, how does being in there connect to the real world that one would die in the real world if they died in the Visual world?

Those were questions Maverick couldn’t find answers to. Not even the chip where he got the idea to come here, had the answers to all his questions. Now, his father isn’t alive to put him through.

At that moment, a command entered his computer screen.

[ Welcome, host! Do you want to build your empire?.... ACCEPT or DECLINE! ]

Build his empire? It would be interesting but right now, his family needs him, so he clicked on DECLINE.

[ DECLINE means you’ll be ousted from the system for life and the OPPORTUNITY will be passed on to your offspring. Do you agree? ]

Maverick frowned. He didn’t understand what was going on. What’s system? Is this not a visual game?

’What are you?’ he typed.

[ I am a hereditary system. ]

’What do you mean?’ Maverick asked.

[ Your forefathers were gifted a hereditary system, but only your father knew how to activate it. ]

’What do you do?’

[ My host will be invincible and unbeatable in the world of Technology...just like your father ]

’You’ve told me the pros, what’s the cons of activating you?’

[ To activate me and build your empire, you’ll need to stay in this domain for One year, three months, Five days, eight hours, thirty minutes, and forty seconds without leaving. ]

’What if I leave?’

[ You can’t come back and you’ll cease to be my host, then your offspring would be my next host. ]

’What if I refuse?’

[ Just like your father, you’ll die. ]

’What do you mean?’

[ My former host, Lu Hao deactivated me and I was transferred to you. Because he knew the danger of working for those guys, he didn’t want you to inherit me and tried to destroy me, but and killed himself. ]

Maverick stared at his screen for a long time without speaking. At that moment, one of his men coughed. The noise dragged him back from stupor and he looked around him. A lot of his men were dead. Some died from the battle they engaged in when they first entered the domain and others died from dehydration and heat. The rest can’t take it anymore as some were already coughing blood.

’How long have I been here?’

[ Two months and three days! ]

’Give me the option to exit.’

[ Are you sure? If you exit now, you can’t come back ever, else you’ll die. ]

’I’m sure.’

At that moment, the screen went blank and the world spun. When Maverick opened his eyes again, he was in the Red room with his men.

He looked around him, a little above thirty of his men didn’t wake up, which meant they died in the domain.

To the rest, he nodded at them and praised, "You all did well... Go get treatment and after that, Code 10, arrange a befitting funeral for the dead and give their family a good explanation."

When he said ’a good explanation’, he meant the families of the deceased should be compensated handsomely.

"Yes, boss!"