"It's real... this... this small being is real... how can... how can that be possible... no... no... no! I have to try that. If only that is possible, then I will believe that this thing can create a life, a whole goddam life!".
He hurriedly ran into the kitchen and then came out carrying a small red box. He placed the box near the platform and then looked at the Katerpie.
She looked at him with curiosity-filled eyes. Seeing her cute gaze, he sighed, but then he proceeded with the plan. He first put a small ruler inside the platform and said to her, "Use... ugghh... Tackle." To his surprise, she understood it and used her move.
A green glow covered her head, and then she bent her head a little, exposing her smooth upper head. Then, with a flick from her little tail, she shot herself toward the ruler. As soon as her forehead collided with the scale, it had no impact on the ruler. She became confused as to why she couldn't break this simple thing with her move. Not wanting to disappoint her master, she tried once again, but the result remained the same: the ruler stood in its place as if nothing had hit it.
Karna looked at the Katerpie's desperate attempt and anger in her eyes, and also at the impact she made on the ruler. "So, as it says in that manual, they cannot have any impact on real objects and real beings until they break the barrier of level 50. After breaking this barrier, they would then be able to have an impact on real objects, and after breaking the level barrier of 100, they will then start to have a little impact on human beings and other real beings. To think that the security of these things will have this many layers! I do have an option of removing this, but it is safer this way only. Now, onto the main topic."
He then looked at the red box, and then with a last relaxing breath, he removed the ruler from the board. Seeing the thing that she could not break with her power move made her sad and angry, but she kept her emotions to herself. She then became happy when her master's two hands came towards her head to pet her.
She bathed in the warmth of her master's hand.
Slowly, she felt the hands going towards her neck, and then suddenly, the clutches around her neck became strong. She started thrashing her body to free herself from the tight grip, but her feeble strength made her unable to resist Karna's superior strength.
She even looked at his eyes with pleading eyes. Even though Karna could see emotions like betrayal, pain, and sadness in her eyes, he didn't stop strangling her.
Finally, after struggling for a few minutes, she lost the glow of her eyes, signifying that she had died.
Karna looked at the now-dead Katerpie and then thought, "Wow, even the emotions after a betrayal are conveyed with her eyes so clearly. If I didn't know that she is just a combination of some digital codes and an artificial life, then the remorse and guilt would have affected me. How can this simple thing create something so extraordinary? Okay... time for the final test."
He then opened the red box and removed small scissors and a small operational knife. "If her insides are what I think... then... forget it, let's first check it." He then cut the skin of the Katerpie. The knife passed through her skin easily, and as soon as a deep cut appeared, green liquid started to flow out from the cut.
With more excitement and shock, he continued to dissect the small creature. Now in front of him was a brain, a small heart that was still beating, and her intestines, the skin, and the green blood, which disappeared as soon as it fell from the platform. He looked at each organ with interest and shock. After half an hour of study, he finally removed the chip from the chip storage.
As soon as he removed the chip, the now dissected creature vanished from the platform. He also noticed the chip, which now had a broken golden screen; there was no shine like the previous time. After that, all the equipment vanished into thin air, leaving Karna in deep contemplation.
"To create such a life with such details is just... too shocking... It does create life, and that too with such a level of emotional complexity... even a mid-tier sentient being can express so much in just a minute of interaction... to think this kind of technology exists!" He then looked at the system screen and again thought.
"But... now the most dangerous question is, are we too inside some simulation created by some higher beings for their entertainment? Am I too just a collection of some data and those weird white particles created by some person just to have his gaming world... or am I just overthinking? Even if I do overthink about me being inside a simulation what will it result to?, and what about this system that I had got?".
"The existence of this system can be only explained by just two options: either this thing is a gift given to me by gods... and if that is true, then gods do exist, but again, it will create a question of whose religion's gods... Man, so much confusion! And the second option is that I had been gifted this system by not a god, but some alien species."
"I think the second option is much more reasonable and logical because this entire making of life is just a use of very advanced science and technology. Heck, all of these things are very logical and technological. I just have to research what those white particles are because they seem to be important for the creation... but I do lack sufficient technology to study it, and I am not a scientist to even do that."
"Anyway, thinking about these things will take me nowhere, so let me just focus on the main things. First, I will reduce the reality level as mentioned in the manual. There are four levels of reality. The first level is a 3D hologram, a simple plain 3D holographic image. The second level is a 5D holographic image with a tinge of textures. The third level is half-reality; here, the image is as real as it can get with all the textures. And the last one is the fourth level, which is the true reality. The Katerpie is at the fourth level; that's why I can dissect it and even look at the organs inside of her. The emotions will be the same irrespective of the given levels."
"I will never create fourth-reality beings as it will literally crush the worldview and will give rise to an existential crisis, so I will avoid it for now. When I have the answer, then only I will produce beings of that level... Well, now that I have understood all of this function so nicely, then let's create a new world, a new game that will make this world far more entertaining and lovely!"
Many amazing ideas started to appear in his mind, and he had to try to keep his mind calm because the possibilities were endless. "I will create a new game by combining all the existing characters and my creation to make a brand new world, but first..."
He then found his phone and called Arjun. As the phone was ringing, his eyes fell on the clock, which showed the time as 3:00 AM. He became surprised and was about to cut off the call. How could he disturb him this late at night? As he was about to cut the call, it was picked up, surprising Karna.
"Did you not sleep?" he asked, and a reply came, "No, just like you, I too can't find sleep." There was a tinge of sadness in Arjun's voice, which Karna noticed, and he clenched his fists as he knew how he had treated him, deciding on closing the company even without taking his advice.
After a long silence, Karna said, "Sorry."
"Hmm, do you have any new ideas because you don't call me this late at night to just say sorry?" Arjun asked. Listening to him, Karna smiled, "Haha, buddy, you really do know me well. Yes, I do have an idea which can not only save our company but will also make us the complete boss of this industry!".
"Oh, and what is it? A new game?" Arjun asked, but then Karna said, "Do you know the project that I had been working on before the Radiant Warriors project?".
"Ahh, yes, that one. Haha, you refused to tell anyone about that project, not even me. So, did you complete it? Is it a new game?" Arjun asked. "Hahaha, yes, that one, and yes, I have completed it, but I need you to do something, and I know only you can do it," he asked, even though he knew that he just had to say it, and this guy would do it.
"Tell me what I can do to save our parents' company and also ours. If that is within my limit, I will do it, and if it is not within my limit, then I will make sure it does," Arjun said with determination in his voice.
Karna, on the other side of the call, gave a genuine smile as he thanked the gods, if they existed, for giving him such a great friend. Someone said it right: a good friend is all you need to live a happy life, and a bad friend is all you need to live a hellish life.
"No... I want you to talk to the investors and somehow get a week of time. I will present my latest project in front of them in just a week, and also tell them that if they didn't like my project after the week, then they will get extra interest for the extra days too."
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
GUYS, NOW THAT POWER STONES OPTION ARE ON, PLEASE DONATE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. IT HELPS ME TO FEEL MOTIVATED.