CHAPTER 300: THE GAME WITHIN THE GAME

The Dominion Sanctum was enveloped in the bright sun afternoon.

Family members scattered across the estate were grappling with Arthur’s shocking disclosure about the sprawling branches of the Osborn lineage, each processing it in their own unique way.

Yeah it wasn’t the main family who have received the news,the other family members have all also received the news as well.

Some sought solitude to reflect, while others craved companionship.

It was the younger cousins—Edward, Oscar, William, and George,who found themselves irresistibly drawn to one place: the game room.

This wasn’t just any room; it was a vibrant cathedral dedicated to entertainment. Walls of glass pulsed with ambient neon lights that danced in sync with the music thumping beneath their feet.

Rows of sleek recliner pods and high-tech VR rigs gleamed like futuristic armor ready for battle.

Massive screens dominated entire walls, dwarfing even skyscrapers in size.

Servants had laid out trays brimming with snacks, pastries, fresh fruit, tall glasses of chilled drinks,but none of the boys reached for them.

Their focus was locked on a colossal console connected to Osborn Entertainment servers, preloaded with Call of Duty: it’s one of Osborn Media’s crown jewels. And yeah,it is the Call Of Duty Arthur bought from the system store.

As anticipation built, the screen flickered to life with a countdown timer for a team deathmatch.

3...

2...

1...

And just like that...the match began!

---

"Left flank! Left flank!" George muttered into his headset as his operator sprinted across a digital battlefield lit by tracer fire.

He leaned forward in his chair, calm yet intent; every movement he made was deliberate and precise.

George played like a chess master wielding a rifle.

Oscar snorted derisively, already barking orders without anyone asking him to.

"Forget left flank! Push center! If we take the plaza, we own this map."

His tone brimmed with overconfidence,the same certainty he brought into everything he did.

On-screen, his operator unleashed a burst from an M4 variant, dropping two enemies in quick succession.

"See? Easy! Just follow my lead."

William groaned as his avatar respawned yet again.

"Yeah, easy for you to say when you’re padding your score while I’m just bait."

He slouched back in his seat, controller tilted lazily as his eyes darted between the chaos on screen and the neon glow around them.

Impulsive by nature and always quick to crack jokes under pressure, William thrived on humor.

Edward remained silent at first; his operator lurked in shadows with a silenced rifle poised for action.

The kill feed flashed evidence of his quiet efficiency,enemy down... another headshot... another flank cleared.

He spoke finally, his voice flat and cold. "Oscar’s arrogance gets him killed in thirty seconds. William’s recklessness has already cost him three lives. George plays smart. I play to win."

Oscar rolled his eyes, a smirk creeping onto his face. "Here we go again. The philosopher-general speaks."

"You talk too much," Edward replied evenly, his tone cutting through the banter like a knife. "The dead usually do."

George cracked the faintest smile, breaking the tension. "Edward, I think that was Oscar’s way of asking for help."

"Don’t need help," Oscar shot back defiantly, gunning down another enemy player on screen with a flourish.

"Watch the scoreboard, boys. I’m carrying you."

"Carrying us straight to an early grave," William muttered under his breath before shouting louder: "Cover me! Damn it, cover me!"

His operator fell once more.

Laughter erupted across the room, even from Edward,briefly dissolving the tension into the easy camaraderie only family could summon,even if they were bound by politics and shadows.

They continued playing, gunfire and explosions echoing through their speakers while flickering lights danced across their faces.

For a few moments, it was just about the game but Arthur’s revelation lingered unspoken until Edward broke the silence.

He muted his mic; his voice sliced sharply through the ambient chaos. "Do any of you actually believe what big bro said? That we’re just one branch out of a hundred?"

The others froze,not in gameplay but in reality itself.

The match continued with enemies advancing mercilessly as George’s operator remained frozen behind cover, William’s eyes widened in disbelief, and Oscar’s grin faltered.

Oscar was first to recover from this unexpected weightiness.

"Of course I believe it! Did you see Arthur’s face? He wasn’t joking,he never jokes."

He tossed a grenade in-game that blasted an enemy squad into ragdolls with satisfying precision.

"Hell, it makes sense! You don’t build an estate like the Sanctum for just twenty people,Dominion screams empire!"

William scratched his head as he momentarily forgot about controlling his avatar which took yet another bullet for its troubles.

"I mean... sure, it makes sense but also feels... insane! A hundred branches? Where have they been all this time? Why didn’t we know?"

George finally spoke up calmly and measuredly: "Arthur knew... that’s enough for me."

Edward scoffed dismissively. "Blind faith is for sheep."

"No," George corrected firmly, "it’s for soldiers and we’re soldiers whether we like it or not."

The screen pulsed red,enemy victory declared loudly as their match ended.

They sat in silence as the next round loaded...

"Arthur’s playing us," Edward finally said, his voice steady and deliberate.

"He drops this bombshell now, not earlier. Why? Because he wants to control how we react. He wants us on edge, relying on his every move."

Oscar frowned, shaking his head. "You’re being too cynical,he’s protecting us. And besides he explained why he didn’t tell us before ".

"Or he’s manipulating us," Edward shot back. "Maybe it’s a bit of both,the point is, he didn’t share everything."

William leaned back in his chair, chewing his lip thoughtfully. "So what? This is Arthur we’re talking about. When has he ever laid all the cards on the table? You’d think we’d be used to it by now."

"That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t question him," Edward insisted.

George glanced at the scoreboard before turning back to Edward. "Questioning Arthur is one thing; defying him is another. Are you really considering defiance?"

Edward’s eyes narrowed with determination. "I’m thinking about survival."

As the second match began, their conversation bled seamlessly into the game itself.

"Right corridor, two tangos!" George called out calmly as he snapped off headshots with precision. "Move as a unit!"

"Arthur wants that too," Oscar chimed in pointedly. "Unity...like a family moving as one."

"Unity built on secrets," Edward retorted, flanking an enemy squad and taking them down effortlessly. "That kind of unity never lasts."

"Cover me! Cover me!" William yelled as he tossed a flashbang into the fray. The screen erupted in blinding white light followed by chaos..."See? If we don’t stick together, we’re dead!"

"Exactly my point!" Oscar exclaimed triumphantly. "Arthur’s giving us the chance to stop being scattered nobodies."

Edward’s voice cut through the explosions like a knife: "Or he’s tying us to a war we can’t win."

A heartbeat of silence hung in the air before George spoke low and deliberate: "Maybe it’s both."

The firefight intensified around them as enemies swarmed like angry bees, bullets sparking against digital stone walls.

The cousins fought shoulder-to-shoulder, rifles blazing fire while covering each other’s blind spots,on-screen they survived; in reality, their doubts only deepened.

During a lull between matches, William suddenly blurted out, "I don’t want to be irrelevant."

The others turned in surprise; he rarely spoke seriously.

William shrugged but kept his eyes glued to the controller.

"Arthur... he’s everything,smart, strong, terrifying and us? We’re just background characters in his story! I don’t want to wake up one day and realize I don’t matter."

Oscar leaned forward, an unusual seriousness etched on his face. "Listen, Will. You matter. But you’ve got to fight for it. Nobody hands you relevance not even Arthur."

George nodded in agreement, his expression resolute. "Exactly. We carve out our own place in this world or we risk being carved out."

Edward remained silent for a moment, then added softly, "Sometimes it’s better to carve from the shadows."

The others exchanged uneasy glances but chose not to press him further.

The final match concluded with a nail-biting victory.

Their avatars were bloodied yet standing tall, the scoreboard flashing triumph like a beacon of hope.

But despite the digital win, there was no celebration; the weight of Arthur’s revelation loomed larger than any score.

Oscar sighed as he set down his controller. "So what’s next? Do we keep following Arthur, or...?"

Edward’s eyes sparkled with determination. "Or we start making our own choices."

George leaned back in his chair, arms crossed defiantly. "Making decisions is one thing but when the storm hits, we either stand united as Osborns or we risk falling apart."

William stared at the flickering screen where the next map was loading, his voice barely above a whisper and laced with fear.

"If Arthur wins... do we win too?"

Silence filled the room like a heavy fog; no one had an answer. The game waited patiently for them to press start, but none of them moved.

"You all can think what you want but I have one thing say...remember what happened to Billy when he went against Aether...think about that" William looked at all of them saud.

All of them immediately fell silent when William said this,as various thoughts swirled in their minds.