Off Limit System

Thirty minutes Ethan waited for Albert, but the man still didn't wake up. The door to the room opened gently and Chloe walked in, her face pale.

"Chloe," Ethan called.

"My dad, they said he..."

"He went into OFF LIMIT," Ethan interrupted.

"What? But how?" Chloe gasped in shock. She rushed over to her father, who seemed to be fast asleep. More like comatose, actually.

"Who did it, Ethan? You did?" Chloe asked half accusingly.

"I don't know. He was already holding the game console and pressing the button," Ethan said. Then the young man showed the game in his hand. "This is mine. Your dad grabbed the console out of nowhere."

Chloe realized that what Ethan had said was true. There was a game console on the nightstand, along with a box.

"Oh my God, Dad! Wake up." Chloe began to sob. "My father is sick, how can he face this terrible game? He must be physically..." Chloe stopped.

"Of course he'll be fine," Ethan continued. "In fact, it'll be better than if we didn't have a disease."

Chloe didn't answer, sitting next to Albert's bed. She stared intently at her father's face. Even though she had the physical endurance of a normal human in OFF LIMIT, the game was cruel. She didn't even know what would happen after the three chances were up.

"Is it possible for me to catch up with him? To the first and second level?" Chloe said.

Ethan shook his head. "I've already been to the Medieval and met with the Mayor, he said he couldn't."

Chloe's face paled even more.

"I met with Dane and Miriam, they told me to come back here and contact you."

Chloe's eyes widened. "They knew?"

Ethan nodded. "Sorry, I had to tell them."

"It's okay, E. It's not about me. I mean, it's about you. So they know you're a patient at the hospital?"

Ethan smiled bitterly. "Well, they'll find out eventually. I don't want to think about it now, no regrets really."

There was a heavy sigh from Chloe, and she said, "Ethan, I don't know if I can be as strong and tough as you."

"No need to worry about me. Our focus this time is on your father," Ethan reply.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" muttered Chloe in despair.

"We wait."

"Do you think my dad will be okay, E?"

"I see his daughter is a survivor. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Chloe chuckled. "You're good at complimenting people."

Suddenly, Albert's body shook, and Chloe stood holding her father's body. Ethan hit the button to call the nurse. Chloe's cries for Albert made the atmosphere even more tense.

Ethan tried to get out of bed, but several nurses came in. His body was restrained and Ethan was told to stay in bed. The curtains were drawn close, the nurse quickly tried to help Albert, and Chloe was half forced to leave the room.

Then, as Chloe remained in the room, half pushed by the nurse to get out, the shaking of Albert's body grew louder. Suddenly,

'SPLUTTER'

Blood spurted from Albert's nose and mouth.

The status sound from the machine sounded static, Ethan could see a straight line from the machine detecting Albert's heartbeat.

"DAD...!!!" Chloe screamed.

...

That night, Albert died.

Leaving a deep trauma for Chloe and, of course, Ethan.

Until the morning there was no sign of Chloe. Even Ethan forgot to ask for her cell phone number. It all happened so fast. Ethan never thought that Albert would die.

Wasn't Albert supposed to get two chances if he failed? Ethan was sure, how could Albert use all his chances?

From the experience of previous players, if they fail, they would definitely return to the real world. Or in Miriam's case, back to the lobby.

But if Albert took all his chances, did that mean the end was death?

Ethan's mind was full of question marks until he decided to return to the game. In The Medieval, Ethan searched for both Dane and Miriam. It turned out that Miriam had just come out of The Casual. Ethan knew that Miriam was collecting gold that was no longer available from the previous main game.

"Ethan!" called Miriam. "How is Chloe's father?" she asked.

"He passed both levels?" added Dane.

There was a weak shake of Ethan's head. "He died last night."

Miriam and Dane's faces paled in horror. Ethan walked away from the gates of The Casual, followed by his two friends. Neither spoke, probably in shock and equally confused.

"But how is this possible?" muttered Miriam suddenly.

Ethan shrugged.

"He should have had three chances, shouldn't he?" asked Dane.

"No way, but what killed him... was it from OFF LIMIT?" Miriam looked at her two friends carefully, even whispering the words. "Or was it from his illness?" she asked again.

"I don't know, I don't know what the diagnosis is," Ethan said.

"If it's from the game, I don't think it's possible. Ethan's fine, isn't he?" said Dane.

Miriam was silent for a moment. "And Chloe?"

This time Ethan shook his head. "We haven't seen her since last night."

Miriam looked pale. "My goodness, I'm really worried. It must be really hard for Chloe," Miriam said.

They walked to the front of the bar and went inside. They saw that people were busy going back and forth looking for items for the next mission. What Miriam said was that she had just started when she was about to advance to level sixteen.

The three sat down and fell silent again. Dane cleared his throat.

"Then what will it be like when we get to the next level? Level eleven, right?" he asked.

"The concept is The City," Miriam replied.

"Fighting zombies?"

Miriam nodded. "I think we can get through it. Since you already know what it's like there."

"Then what are we looking for?" Ethan asked.

"Some kind of healing serum. We have it in a tower," Miriam explained.

Dane smiled optimistically. "I think I can get through this easily."

Suddenly, there was a loud trumpet blast. They all gasped and stood up.

The game started again.