Legacy of the Betelgeuse

Jason approaches him and looks at Becker with disbelief.

"It's been a while, Mister Becker..."

Becker is humming while nodding in agreement, Becker then looks at the monsters behind us.

"Oh! That's some juicy rewards. Are you sure you don't want that, Mister Jason?"

Jason looks back and shakes his head.

"No, I don't think I can kill them and to be honest I'm quite scared. How can people risk their lives to fight something like this?"

Becker laughs so hard while shaking his head.

"This isn't real life, Mister Jason, this is just a virtual reality. You won't die from this and you won't even feel a thing if you get killed by them."

Jason scoffs.

"But still, they all approach them with bravery alone is very admirable."

Becker nods and then he's pointing at something.

"Speaking of the devil, look at those bunch of players."

I turn around and I see a party of players is sneaking and watching the monsters fighting each other. By the looks of their equipment, they're still a newbie and I think they're curious about the event and want to test their skills. Becker grabs our shoulders and he tilts his head, we are following him and we then sit on the ground to watch the show.

The players are charging toward the monsters without even having a plan. They're unsheathing their weapons and try to sneak onto one of the wolves, and as soon as they're closer to the monster, they all leap forward and swing their weapons at the wolf, and the wolf starts screaming. One of the players is stuck on the wolf's back while the others are trying to help him by slashing and stabbing their weapons at the wolf, but then the other wolves notice them and start showing their fangs while running toward them. The three of us are grimacing at them while the players brutally get chewed and killed by the wolves.

Jason looks at them with concern, but then the players are respawning to their save point.

"That's brutal..."

Becker and I are laughing and just nodding at his words. Becker puts his hands on the back and he leans back while looking at Jason.

"It is, but they don't feel anything and there's no real consequence if they died in the game. Some may give up on trying and motivate themselves to become stronger so when they encounter something similar they won't make the same mistake while the others will keep trying and hoping they can achieve something that's impossible for them. This is where you can do whatever you want and nobody is going to stop you from doing so."

Becker nods up.

"So, which one are you going to be?"

Jason looks at Becker and scoffs.

"I'm too old for this, so I will be the one who watches from the distance since that's enough to entertain me."

We both laugh and then the players are back. Becker is waving at them while shouting.

"Good luck guys! We are rooting for you all!"

The players are looking at us and they're waving at us with a big smile on their faces. Jason and I are waving at them and giving them thumbs up. One of the players shouts back.

"Thanks, man! Watch us kill these bad boys!"

The three of us nod and cheer for them. Becker sighs and looks at Jason.

"So, what's the reason for Mister Jason come all the way here to see me?"

Jason looks at him to fix his sitting.

"Mister Becker, we are currently having a problem because the game is developing and expanding on its own, and that's really taking a huge toll on us. I promised you to take care of this game, but if I have to say the truth that hurt my pride that we are unable and incapable of doing so. We are overwhelmed by it and if the game keeps developing on its own, sooner or later we are going to lose control of the game."

Becker is watching the players fighting the monsters and then he chuckles.

"Is that all? I thought that something bad is happening in the real world."

Jason raises his eyebrows.

"Pardon, Mister Becker?"

Becker is raising his hand, and then one of the players is running towards us. He's catching his breath and looks at the three of us.

"Excuse me, but you two are high levels, right?"

Becker and I are looking at each other and he smiles.

"Well, you can say that. What's wrong?"

The player is looking at Becker with a huge smile on his face.

"Then, can you help us tanking the mobs while we are dealing the monsters? I know that we are not supposed to win in this event, but we want to try."

Becker scoffs and smiles, then he puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Help them."

I raise my eyebrows.

"Seriously?"

Becker nods while smiling. I sigh and stand up.

"Alright, I guess I can lend you something. Come forth!"

Azrael appears beside me out of nowhere, and the player is gasping and his eyes are wide open.

"Holy sh*t!"

I look at Azrael and point at the monster.

"You can have some fun over there to play, but don't kill them, okay?"

Azrael tilts his head and wiggles his tail.

"Yes, master!"

Azrael then flies toward the monsters while the player is looking at him in awe.

"That's your summon?! That's so sick! Thank you by the way!"

Becker looks at Jason.

"You don't have to worry about it, Mister Jason. I did ask you to take care of the game, but now that we both know that I'm here, I think that's not your concern anymore because I will be the observer of my own game. We both know that I'm the only one who's capable of doing so."

Jason is furrowing his forehead.

"Then, what should we do? What if something like the recent incident is happening again in the future?"

Becker smiles and looks at Jason.

"I guess you should see it for yourself."

Jason is still confused, then Becker lifts his head and looks at me.

"Trev, can you open a portal to the capital city of the Eluna Empire?"

I look at him and nod.

"Yeah, sure. One sec..."

I open a portal for them and they both enter the portal immediately.

Becker and Jason are in the capital city of the Eluna Empire, and they both see players and NPCs working together to rebuild the city. They can see that the players from around the world from different factions are working together with a bright smile on their faces, and some are just chilling while laughing with each other.

Becker is pointing his finger at those players and NPCs.

"You see here, this is what I mean."

Becker looks around and spreads his arms.

"What you're looking at right now is the answer to your concern. You can't control life and it will always find its way to keep living, all the players and NPCs here thinking the same thing which is that this is something that's precious to them. For the NPCs, this is their world, and for the players, this is their second life. As long as they're here, there's nothing that you need to be worried about."

Becker rests his hands on his waist.

"This is my present for the people around the world, and if someone received a present, they would take care of the present and treat it carefully because it's precious to them, right? Now, think about it as a Christmas gift. I was the Santa Claus that gave them the present, and now I gave my job as Santa Claus to you because I'm no longer capable of doing so. You, as the new Santa Claus, what are you going to do?"

Jason is raising his eyebrows.

"Giving them gifts every Christmas?"

Becker smiles and nods.

"That's right. You're responsible for giving them happiness, and you know what Santa Claus does when he knows that some of them are naughty children?"

Jason tilts his head.

"He's not giving them a present and he would give them coal as punishment?"

Becker nods.

"Now I'm asking you the last question. What would the children do when Santa Claus stop giving them gifts?"

Jason is humming while thinking.

"They would hate Santa Claus?"

Becker nods in agreement.

"If they hate Santa Claus, then they don't care about him anymore, right? And when they don't care about him and the gifts he gave them, they would throw the gifts away and look for something else."

Jason is nodding with understanding. Becker smiles and looks at him.

"Now you know, right? All you have to do is keep the happiness to those players, and punish those naughty players. That's all you have to do and when you failed to bring them happiness, that's when the real problem is raising, and the incident that happened recently, you can see how the players stand together from preventing the war, right? It's proof that they can take care of themselves and they would do anything to protect what's precious to them, and they would punish those who dare to try to destroy it."

Becker looks down and smiles.

"This game isn't just a game for me, and I hope they understand that as well. Life is a mystery, and I believe everyone has heard that phrase before and it's true, isn't it? So don't bother handling the game because the game can handle itself and knows what's best for itself. All you have to do is to keep bringing everyone happiness."

Jason smiles and chuckles.

"I understand now. Thank you for letting me know what we should do, Mister Becker, and for giving us such a precious present."

Becker smiles and nods.

"No problem!"