Trapped In Elysium: A Virtual Reality Nightmare-Chapter 106: Not here for power

The air grew still.

Borik didn’t meet anyone’s eyes as he rolled the scroll back with shaking fingers. His usual sharp, sarcastic tone was gone—buried beneath something heavier. Something older. The fire in the middle of their camp crackled faintly as silence stretched.

"We’re not here for power..." he said finally, his voice low. "We’re here for something else."

He looked up slowly at Liam, and then at each of them—Sophia, Marcus, Eleanor, Jason... even Mariel and Von.

And then he said it.

"At this point, I think it’s the right time to tell you everything."

The group went still. Jason took a step forward, squinting as if he didn’t trust what he’d just heard. Sophia’s arms loosened from across her chest. Eleanor narrowed her eyes. Von tilted his head, glancing cautiously between them all.

"In that tomb... beneath the palace," Borik continued, "where the power lies—yes—but there’s something else. A chest. We don’t know exactly what’s inside. But we know what we need it for."

He took a deep breath, as if he were about to speak blasphemy.

"Elysium is dying."

The words fell like a blade.

"What?" Liam said first, almost a whisper.

Borik nodded, slowly. "The world is dying, Liam. It’s been happening for a long time. But only the dwarves know. Because we discovered it. And we kept it quiet."

Everyone was staring at him now. Even Mariel had turned toward him fully, her sword forgotten at her side.

"We couldn’t tell the other races. Only the elves knew, not the humans. Not even the jungle tribes. It would’ve caused a panic. Wars. Riots. Mass suicides maybe... the collapse of every fragile alliance left standing."

"So what is it?" Eleanor asked, voice low but firm. "What’s causing it?"

"We don’t know," Borik admitted. "That’s what makes it worse. There’s something beneath the world... rotting it. Corrupting it. The weather’s changing, the ley-lines are shifting. The magic is unstable. Animals have mutated. Spirits have stopped answering. The jungle itself... it used to be quiet. Not like what we saw with those natives. That level of madness... it’s new."

"And the chest?" Liam asked. "What’s in it that could help?"

Borik looked up, straight into his eyes. "We don’t know. But we believe it’s the key to slowing—or stopping—whatever is happening. The kings of old recorded a prophecy... not in riddles or chants. In engineering. Blueprints. They sealed it in the tomb beneath that palace, where no one could touch it except those willing to face death to get it."

A heavy silence settled over the group.

Even Mariel, cold as she had been to Liam since the night before, looked shaken. Her lips parted slightly, her brows drawn in. Von looked pale, his jaw twitching like he wanted to ask something but couldn’t form the words. Jason stared at the fire. Sophia stepped closer, lowering her voice as she spoke.

"You’re telling me... we’ve been risking our lives for a maybe?"

"No," Borik said. "You’ve been risking your lives... for the world. Even if you didn’t know it."

"You should’ve told us," Marcus growled, fists clenched. "Back when we were still in the jungle. Back before I made that fucking blood covenant."

"I couldn’t," Borik said quietly. "I needed you to reach this point first."

"And what if we die in there?" Liam asked suddenly, stepping forward. "What if this test or trial or whatever kills us like the others? Was it still worth it then?"

Borik didn’t answer.

He didn’t have to.

Because now they all understood... the ruin wasn’t just some dungeon full of treasure. It wasn’t a relic hunt or a climb for power.

It was a graveyard. And somewhere in its cold depths, possibly, was the only chance to stop an entire world from collapsing.

Liam looked around at them all—at Marcus, still fuming but silent now; at Jason, whose face had gone pale; at Eleanor, steady and calculating as always; and at Mariel, who glanced away when their eyes met.

Even Sophia looked shaken.

They were deep in something far bigger than any of them had signed up for.

And Liam knew—there was no turning back now.

Borik crouched near the laid-out scroll, his finger tracing the faded outlines of the ruined city. But it wasn’t the map that held everyone’s attention—it was his voice, steady and solemn.

"We didn’t choose you lot at random," Borik said, his tone low, as if revealing a sin carried too long. "I was told to watch for a mark. When we see that mark, we know—the chosen has arrived. That’s how it’s always been."

Liam narrowed his eyes, something tightening in his chest.

"A mark?" Jason echoed. "What the hell kind of mark?"

Borik didn’t look up. "One of you carries it. It’s not something you can see with your eyes. But when the time comes, we know. That’s how we dwarves have done it for years. We’ve sent our own to the ruins... and every time, it ended in failure. None returned."

He paused, lifting his gaze now. "That’s when... they came. Some set of humans, they knew about it too. Somehow, they started to make it farther. They reached the first trial. Some even survived the second. But none ever finished. None ever returned with what we needed."

Sophia crossed her arms, eyes dark and locked on Borik. "So what did you do?"

"We started working with them," Borik said. "Secretly. Quietly. They began marking certain people—groups. Always humans. When we found them, we’d know: they were the next ones. And we’d guide them. A dwarf and an elf. That’s the way of the pact. It has to be both of us."

Marcus was pacing now, hands locked behind his head. "So... we’re what, another throw of the dice?"

"You were chosen," Borik said firmly. "Like the others before you."

He looked up at them—Liam, Sophia, Jason, Mariel, Von, Eleanor, Marcus—all of them silent, stunned.

"No, we were not chosen...we were tricked." Marcus was furious.

Liam finally stepped forward, his voice strained but level. "So you’re telling me Nexus Corp has been marking people for your kind to use?"

Borik blinked. "Nexus... what?"

Liam stared at him.

"What’s Nexus Corp?" Borik asked again, brow furrowed in confusion. "I’ve never heard that name."

No one answered.

Sera glanced at Borik, then at the group. "Is it some royal house in your kingdom?"

Still nothing. The group exchanged silent glances. The lie was unraveling, piece by piece. The truth stung too much to speak aloud just yet. They weren’t from this world—and Borik didn’t know that. Neither did Sera. Neither did the dwarf clan.

And they weren’t going to tell him.

Not now.

Not yet.

Liam stepped back, looking toward the thick wall of jungle that stood between them and the ruins.

"Could it be," he muttered under his breath, "that Nexus Corp wanted the power hidden beneath the ruins?"

Borik looked at him, still puzzled, still waiting.

But Liam turned away.

He wasn’t explaining anything.

Not tonight.