Game of the Universe: Zenith

Luke’s voice turned solemn as he continued,

"Nobody came by today either. Not a single customer. And it’s not just us. The whole shopping district is all but deserted. Well, not that I can blame people..."

Arthur stayed quiet. He could see his grandfather growing wearier by the day, and honestly, it made sense. After all, things looked really bad.

Luke went on, his gaze drifting to the window.

"I’ve been watching the news all day, but it’s the same story everywhere. People aren’t going to work, and even the streets in some cities are basically empty. The whole country’s fallen into the same rut. Apparently, even the power grid and water supply might not last at this rate. The newspeople said not to panic if that happens and that the government is already exploring solutions, but what kind of solutions can they even find when the whole world has turned upside down?"

Arthur’s brow furrowed. He knew his grandfather was right. It really was worse than he’d originally thought. Forget their restaurant barely operating, the whole city, no, the entire world might collapse if things kept going like this.

If people aren’t going to work, if there’s no electricity, no water, no food being produced, then how was the world going to function? How can people buy meat from the butcher if the butcher is busy inside Zenith, scrambling for his own survival?

Arthur clenched his fists. Even if he weren’t a business management student, he’d still understand that the world was essentially a well-oiled machine. Normally, if one part stopped working, it would simply be fixed or replaced and things would just keep running. But if the entire machine was ground to a halt...

Still, he forced his fingers to uncurl and pushed the thought aside.

He turned to his grandfather and said reassuringly,

"Don’t worry, Grandpa. Things may look bad, but the government won’t let it go on like this. They’ll come up with a solution soon enough. Just wait a bit."

Luke stared at him in silence.

But Arthur wasn’t just saying things for the sake of it. It was true that he partially wanted to comfort his grandfather, but it was also true that the government wouldn’t possibly let things go like this. He could tell that much.

If random people on the internet could think about buying elemental stones for US dollars, the US government should be able to get the economy running again, one way or another.

Luke pushed himself up from the chair and let out a breath.

"Alright kiddo, now that you’re back, I can finally get some sleep. There’s food downstairs, so make sure you eat and get some rest yourself."

Arthur gave his grandfather a grin, only to see his wrinkled face break into a soft smile.

Luke rested a hand briefly on his shoulder before turning away. At the door, the old man paused for a second, as though he wanted to say more, but in the end, no words came out. With a quiet sigh, Luke disappeared into his room, leaving Arthur alone in the dim glow of the clock.

The ticking filled the silence.

11:53. It was almost midnight.

Arthur leaned back against the bedframe, letting the weight of it all press down on him. Things on Earth looked even bleaker than anything in Zenith.

It was starting to seem like the world would fall before it was even time to pay the first tribute.

And yet, Arthur knew he had no choice but to keep going.

Eventually, he made his way downstairs, the wooden boards creaking faintly with every step. He hadn’t realized it until now, but his stomach was twisting from all the hunger.

On the kitchen counter, a bowl of pasta was already waiting for him, wrapped in aluminium foil. The steam was long gone when he unwrapped it, but the scent of garlic and herbs still filled the kitchen. Arthur sat in his usual spot and wolfed it down as if he’d forgotten the last time he had a meal.

Honestly, he couldn’t remember the last time he felt this famished.

While he ate, he decided to check the messages on his phone.

As expected, Leonard had already sent him one, hours ago.

"Looks like we are in different cities, buddy. It’s a shame I can’t carry you, but do your best to get to level 10 without me. I heard that after we are done with the tutorial, we can meet each other whenever we want."

Arthur’s lips curved into a smile. From Leonard’s tone, it looked like he was doing pretty well with that group of his.

He tapped the screen again as he began to scroll. He didn’t have any other personal messages... or so he thought.

Until he noticed the pings in the university’s first-year channel.

Curious, he clicked on it.

The first message was from Professor Balmer, tagging everyone.

It was short and professional as ever:

"Given the ongoing situation across the country, classes will be postponed until further notice."

Arthur blinked.

Well, of course they were. It was expected. He was more surprised that Professor Balmer even took the time to inform the students in the first place.

Beneath the professor’s announcement, the chat was flooded with hundreds of messages.

Dozens of students were already chatting about Zenith. Out of the two hundred or so first-years, at least fifty names lit up the feed. They were talking about meeting up in the game, asking for strategies to fight the goblins and slimes, even the ’best way to gather elemental stones.’

Arthur even saw a couple of people boasting about hitting level 5 and proposing a school-wide ranking system, as they urged everyone to post their own class and level. A few of the pings were even aimed at him from a few of his classmates, asking about his in-game information.

...Naturally, he ignored them.

He also thought about checking the forums for any news, about ’Zenith’ or the world in general, but ultimately decided against it. He’d look in the morning anyway.

For now, he needed to get some rest. Spending half a day in Zenith wasn’t really healthy, and he had to take some time to recover.

He finished the last bites of pasta, rinsed the bowl in the sink, and dragged himself upstairs. By the time his head hit the pillow, his body felt like it was made of stone.