Game-To-Death: Utopia

Ally rubbed her eyes and stared intently at the young man as he moved about. She was not in a hurry to lock the doors of her apartment, as she had already decided to jump over the balcony and join up with her neighbour after getting her cat. In order to survive, it's always better to team up with people you can trust. Furthermore, Mr Kent's military background and Mrs Kent's medical skills are sure to come in handy in this apocalyptic world. It she isn't mistaken, that man… should be her neighbour, Mr. Kent, a man in his fifties hired to maintain the small greenhouse at the rooftop of their apartment! But, how did he turn into that young man with such a youthful appearance?

She knew the face from looking at numerous pictures collection of her neighbour including the time when he was in the military service, the days of their honeymoon and other sweet memories of the then newly married couple. Those pictures were precious tokens of their lives before the tech-boom of AI (artificial intelligence) and the subsequent regression of social interaction within the society. That was why the government tried to resolve the issue by creating a mega-server to support infinite players logging into the virtual world and have more interaction with one another in a safer, less pressured environment. As the society learn to once again integrate themselves in a community, rare bonds were also formed between people that have face-to-face and physical interactions in the real world. That was also how such a strong relationship was formed between Ally with Mr and Mrs Kent.

Therefore, without further ado, she went to one corner of her apartment partitioned off as her bedroom and found H20, her frightened cat perched on top of the highest wardrobe she had in the house. Ally climbed onto a stool to reach it, then smoothing its fur and coaxing it with its favourite snacks. The appeased H20 then nimbly climbed onto Ally's shoulder, nesting itself there. Fortunately, it wasn't a large-sized cat, only around 0.4m in length and equipped with a fluffy, short tail.

Ally then proceeded to grab and pack survival essentials into her backpack. Her AI watch, keys to her Mini Mobil, Antibiotics, all the remaining stocks she had of the Nutrient packs, and of course, her cat's food and snacks. Seeing as the backpack is already half full by then, she grabbed 2 sets of clean clothes, a towel and toiletries, some dry rations and then shoved them all into the pack. Looking around again, Ally grabbed the spare batteries of her watch and a few more AI powered gadgets for good measure. All the while, H20 was stably perched on her right shoulder secured by a customized strap from her jacket. The backpack was quite heavy but considering this game-like world, she was sure she would gain an inventory space sooner or later and did not bother to worry about the extra weight on her. Then once again, taking in consideration the weight she had on her, Ally calculated the best distance to accelerate and made her jump across to her neighbour's balcony.

"Ally?!" Upon seeing the petite teenager jumping to her balcony in the middle of the night, Mrs Kent showed an amazed expression, especially after noticing her get-up. A black cloak covering herself and a wooden staff in her hand, a cat on her shoulder and a backpack on her back, she looked ridiculously funny!

"Aunt Marie….! Errr… that is… I saw what happened…and I heard someone coming in so…." Ally shifted her eyes towards the young man who currently had one hand on Mrs Kent's (Aunt Marie) shoulder and the other holding a half-eaten rainbow-coloured flower. She hesitated for a moment but called out all the same, "Uncle... Kent?"

The stoic-faced man widened his eyes when he heard her words then smiled triumphantly at his wife. "See this? See?! Even Ally knows that it's me! Why won't you believe me? Just take a bite! It's bitter, but it would let you return to the peak stage of your life! I got this as a reward for defeating that plant monster upstairs!"

Ally's eyes brightened when she heard that. In her heart, she quickly decided on her next course of action! Mrs Kent stared at the palm-sized flower in her husband's hand. In the end, she had already been through so many bizarre things today. Why should she be surprised at another? Thus, she took the half-eaten flower and put it into her mouth. She didn't even have to chew… The flower just melted in her mouth to become a bitter-tasting medicine and flowed easily down her throat.

Then, in front of both Ally's and her husband's expectant eyes, Mrs Kent started to regress back to her youthful appearance! Her hair became long and luscious and the wrinkles on her face disappeared, replaced by a smooth, fair skin that is envied by many. Even her hands, her waist, her slightly hunched back were all miraculously reverted to the time where she was in her prime! Ally walked towards her and the amazement of seeing her old neighbour turning into a beauty right before her eyes was apparent on her face. Although she knew their real ages, they now look like they were not that much older than herself!