Everyone looked at each other as they realized the situation they were in. They knew that they would have died if not for the Dean and his assistance.
"Let's go back to the academy. We have a lot of work to do, it has been a long night already", The dean said as he looked at everyone.
Listening to the dean, everyone nodded while the dean used an artifact to open a portal to travel to his office. The dean took out the artifact and set it on the ground.
Taking a step back, the dean supplied some mana to it and the artifact started working as complex runes shone all over it as the artifact's size increased to that of an average human.
The artifact was shaped like a circle as it had a strange blueish mist hovering within it.
"Okay, you all go first. I will be right behind you", the dean said to them as he gestured for them to move forward.
Everyone nodded as they moved toward the artifact and appeared right in front of it.
Just as they were about to enter, Aliya raised her hand as she questioned the dean in suspicion,
"You told us a lot of stuff about people and all. Not to mention the world ending and whatnot. However, you didn't clarify anything. All the answers were vague and misleading. What are you hiding?",
Listening to Aliya, a smile formed on the dean's face as he nodded and spoke,
"Good analysis Aliya, I have hidden some things from you all and it's not that I don't want to tell. It's just that I feel that someone else could explain all of this stuff better than I can",
"And who is that person?", Emma asked as she placed her hands on her hips.
"That person is standing right beside you. He is Ray, so if you have any questions, just ask him. He will tell you everything", the dean said as he pushed all the responsibility toward Ray.
As Ray heard the dean pushing his responsibility on him, though a bit frustrated and angry at the old man's cleverness. Ray simply nodded to his teammates who were looking at him as if he was some kind of information broker.
Someone, who had a better understanding and faster knowledge than the dean himself.
With that done, Ray promised everyone to tell them everything once they go back and are in a calm state of mind.
"Zinggg… Zinggg… Zinggg",
Everyone went through the portal one by one and they got warped to the dean's office as those were the inputted coordinates.
While everyone left through the teleporter, the dean turned around to find a skeleton laying on the ground in peace.
Looking at what remained of his deceased friend, the deans sighed as moved forward and picked up the skeleton.
"It is the least I could do", the dean said as he stood in front of a lump of land.
He turned around, found a big piece of debris, and then inserted it in the corner of the mound. After that, he wrote on it,
"In the memory of a good friend, Edward. We will always remember you", the dens wrote as he turned as well and headed to the teleporter.
As the dean warped to his office, he was greeted by pin-drop silence.
A bit confused, the dean looked here and there for some time as he concluded that,
"They might have left for some rest, they worked very hard. Everyone gave their best. It must have tired them out", the dean thought as he sat on his chair and took open one of his desks.
As the dean opened the desk, there lay a small black button, covered in dust. Laying there in silence as it had four words written on it,
"Special meeting : Black Alert",
The dean pressed the button as he made it known to all the directors and staff at the academy.
The button was a piece of emergency-only equipment that was to be used only when humanity is facing the greatest danger there.
And true to the dean's expectations, within minutes more than a dozen staff members arrived.
The dean waited for all of them to arrive as he sat on his seat while thinking about something important.
After waiting for half an hour. Everyone arrived as the dean started to summarize everything from the start.
Meanwhile,
Within the cafeteria, Ray and the others booked a private table and everyone turned to look at Ray.
"What is it, Ray? What is it that got the dean to act so strangely", Elina asked as she looked Ray right in the eyes.
Looking at Elina, Ray shook his head as he started to explain as he first asked,
"What do you know about System Online?", Ray asked coldly as he looked at everyone.
On the other hand, everyone thought of what Ray asked as Tim answered,
"We know that it is a game that allows us to get stronger by acquiring systems while all the power and system we gained in the game remains the same as it makes us stronger in real life",
Listening to Tim, Ray nodded as he spoke while looking at Tim,
"Since you know the basics. Let me correct some of your misconceptions to help simplify things", Ray said as he continued,
"First of all, System Online isn't a game. It's a separate world with its laws and physics. Everything within that world is real",
"If System Online isn't a game and is the real world. Then how can we go there and obtain strength while being on Earth physically?", Noah asked as he tried to contain his surprise over how wrong they were and that all those people they thought were NPC's were actually living people like them.
"Yes! Your body stays here physically but the way you gain strength and obtain your system is through your spirit, or more accurately, your soul. You see, your soul travels to the world and lets you experience everything over there. That's also why you don't die if you die in System Online, not until someone kills you to the extent your soul dissipates in System Online", Ray said can't as he poured water into a cup and took a sip.
Ray waited to let his words sink in as he wanted them to start asking questions,
And not long later, he got one question as Emma asked,
"If our soul travels to the world of System Online and helps get stronger, then how do the physical aspects of the body get stronger since the body isn't moving at all",
"That is something that is still a mystery", Ray answered bluntly as he knew that no one knew the answer to Emma's question.
"Any more questions, or should I continue", Ray asked everyone.
Seeing that no one raised their hands, Ray continued as he spoke,
"Now that you know the basics. Let's move on to the advanced stuff", Ray said as he continued,
"Although System Online is a real world. It exists on a different plane from our world. Therefore, there are a lot of differences. These differences allowed both worlds to be in a separate space from each other",
"Therefore, when we went on to the world of System Online and obtained powers and abilities through systems, the differences decreased and they decreased so much that, to keep existing, both worlds need to merge. As for why? Even if the world is in different planes, two worlds can not have too many similarities".
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