Fortunately, Amber quickly reassured him that Shangtian’s mind was so deeply connected to the system after the torture that if he tried to break free, he would only end up a retarded vegetable.

  "Happy to hear that. Oh, that reminds me, how did the hearing against the GloryGore Studio and GloryGore Lab go?"

  Amber gazed at him weirdly through the Holotab’s holographic display. "You weren’t following it? A lot has happened during the hearing and it ultimately got resolved a few weeks ago."

  Draco smiled wryly. "Given that the competition for Norma’s Legacy could occur at any time, how could I even find time to do anything else than further my Tradeskills?"

  Amber snickered meanly. "Yes, I’ve seen what Tradeskills you’ve been ’furthering’, heh heh."

  Draco’s face became red as he quickly found an excuse and cut the call. That woman was too invasive, he would have to find a way to cut a deal and get her to mind her own business!

  After that, he turned to Eva. He went to sit beside her on the bed and decided to search up about what had happened to the GloryGore Studio and to check what had gone differently during this timeline.

  Soon enough, Draco was immersed……

  Two weeks ago.

  It was a large conference center in which there was a high seat towards the northern end with a legal bar and five seats. Beside it was two witness boxes and a little distance before the high-seat was a table for the defendant.

  To the right, where the jury box would have been, was a clerk’s table with two seats. On the table itself were many doc.u.ments, various pieces of evidence needed for hearing as well as miscellaneous processes to make sure everything would proceed smoothly.

  Behind the defendant’s table was a railing that separated the benches and seats from the public who had come to view the hearing live. Currently, this part was filled with people, packed to the brim.

  Most were activists against Boundless World who had come to make sure justice was served, while others were powerhouses who were eager to see how things would progress.

  If the studio could not hold up their own, they would approach them after the hearing to cut a deal. They would gain shares and benefits within Boundless while the studio would receive their support in this case, making the rest a breeze.

  Soon, the clerks entered, sat down, and started sorting through the doc.u.ments. The one on the left was an older woman with brown hair and a very plump body, her soft features revealing that she was likely a mother with a bevy of children.

  On the right was an a.d.u.l.t man around his 30’s, not very handsome, but well dressed in white and black. He had a light stubble that was shaped neatly and two dim eyes that looked tired of his work.

  Eventually, the defendant’s party came in. It was only Amber, wearing a prim and proper attire of a white blouse, a women’s suit jacket, and a formal skirt. Amber’s great figure made her resemble the s.e.xiest kind of mature office lady possible.

  Many male ’feminists’ had come here to win some brownie points on social media by representing the aggrieved party gulped, wondering if they had chosen the right side.

  However, when they remembered that the chances of a woman like Amber being with them were far more abysmal than their chances to white knight a free night with a feminist, they remained firm in their stance.

  Boos rained upon Amber from the women who were not moved by her looks, their eyes clouded by hate. Anything associated with Boundless in the slightest was equivalent to all the evils of the world.

  Amber ignored all this and reached her seat, then sat herself calmly. She wore a cryptic smile the whole time, giving her an air of inhumanity and strangeness that made those who had no particular feeling towards her uncomfortable.

  5 minutes later, the clerks rose to their feet and announced the entry of the judges.

  "All rise!"

  Everyone rose to their feet, even Amber. No matter how unwilling, it was important to rise for the judges as they entered, otherwise one could be held for contempt of court, which would net you either a fine or some free time in jail.

  Staying arrogant and defiant was definitely not worth it.

  Soon, the five Judges hearing the matter entered and seated themselves. After a while, they signaled to the clerks who indicated that everyone could seat themselves.

  Amber read their nameplates and gauged their faces one by one.

  From the left, it was Nancy E. Clearwater. She was an elderly Caucasian woman with heavy wrinkles and a stern frown on her face. Her hair was a curly grey and she wore square-rimmed glasses for reading. Her appearance was less that of a judge and more that of a strict librarian who would shush you for daring to speak in her holy halls.

  Next to Nancy was Herbert G. Fudge. He was a pudgy elderly man with a bald head, also wearing square-rimmed glasses. He had light blue eyes and a soft smile on his face, looking like a pleasant older man who was likely gentle in nature.

  In the center was a middle-aged woman with Asiatic features. She had lightly tanned skin and a bit of wrinkles, but her soft black hair was yet to grey at all. She also looked quite pretty with a small face and almond-shaped eyes despite her age.

  Her name was Diao Ping.

  To her right was another man, a heavily tanned man with a well-built body despite his age. He was also elderly with his head of bushy grey hair, but he made up for it in his lack of wrinkles and tall frame.

  His name was Luis Alvarez.

  Finally, the last judge was a dark-skinned woman who was quite skinny. She was the youngest of the group, looking to be about 30 or so years of age. She had a very small afro and deep brown eyes.

  She was quite attractive too, and wore a pleasant smile on her face. Her name was Jamilee Cole.

  After Amber assessed them, she recalled the information she had dug up on each of them prior to this hearing. Each came from different background and had a different specialty, but what they had in common was that they were carefully selected by the World Council to handle this matter.

  Nancy had remained single after she had gone through a very toxic divorce when she was still in her 30s. (Un)Fortunately, she had no children as well, so her only remaining family was her younger sister who currently had a set of twins in her w.o.m.b.

  Nancy was a divorce lawyer herself and was known to be extremely antagonistic to men in the courtroom. She had been sanctioned for it twice, and a third time would see her license revoked.

  Nancy was a Positivist, which was a good thing for Amber’s case.

  Herbert was a father of four, his older two sons being doctors, one daughter a lawyer, and his last born an artist. He was extremely doting towards his family and was known for having extremely good social relationsh.i.p.s outside of his work life.

  Everyone who had met Herbert and interacted with him would love the older man’s character and know he was a good man worth trusting. His wife and children especially were close to him, their relationship closer-knit than many successful families.

  Unfortunately for Amber, he was a Naturalist.

  As for Diao Ping, she was a married woman, one who had a Caucasian husband too. She was a migrant to the Central Country and had acquired her citizenship through marriage, then began studying and practicing law.

  She was the lead judge of this panel and Amber’s sources led her to believe that she directly represented the interest of the majority of the World Council.

  Despite Diao Ping being a Positivist as well, Amber didn’t expect much from her.

  Luis Alvarez was an easy-going guy who spent more time in the gym than on the bench. He was a social media influencer who posted motivational workout videos, workout routines, and healthy food meals.

  He had an extremely good reputation and he was also married with two kids, one being an artist that majored in the pop genre and the other an accountant who was employed in his father’s own firm.

  Luis was a Normativist. This was neither good nor bad for Amber, so it was during the proceedings that Amber would know how to handle him.

  The final judge was Jamilee. She was still dating her boyfriend who was a freshly minted doctor. They had no kids out of wedlock and her background was pretty normal.

  She was an orphan who had worked hard and made the best of her schooling years to carve a future for herself. She was ambitious, clever, and very observant of many things, which was what got her this seat despite her age.

  Jamilee was largely a Naturalist as well.

  Now, one might wonder why Amber had bothered to learn the Jurisprudential schools of thought that each judge followed, but during a proceeding like this, knowing the stance of your judges was a must for every lawyer to gear your arguments for or against their position.

  Jurisprudence itself was something complicated, but it could be summarized as the philosophy of law. To avoid forcing down endless theory down one’s throat, there were largely three schools of thought/philosophy for lawyers and judges.

  There were the Positivists, who believed that the world of the written law was supreme. They followed the literal meaning of the law rigidly and would not allow feelings or mitigating circ.u.mstances to stand in its way.

  For example, if a law existed like ’being outside after 6 pm is punishable by death’, then even if a person had been summoned by the President to perform a task that was crucial to the country’s safety, the Positivist would still have them sentenced to death if they came home late, as that was the direct rule the law stated.

  Then there were the Naturalists, who believed in the natural order of things. In other words, they believed that morality was the source of law, and the law was codified to sanctify morality and give it meaning.

  They also believed that law was a gift from heaven, and that the first laws were sourced from religious codexes like the Bible and whatnot.

  Using the same example, they would argue that the circ.u.mstances should mitigate the person in question from suffering the effects of the law, as they were performing a morally good task.

  In fact, to take it a step further, they would argue that the law itself was problematic and unjust, yet that was not relevant to Amber’s current situation.

  As for Normativists, they believed in the intention behind the law. They sort of balanced out the extreme Positivists and the opinionated Naturalists, creating the much-needed middle ground for most realists among legal practitioners.

  Normativists looked at the intention of the lawmaker and pursued the objective of the law’s creation.

  Using the above example, the ’being outside after 6 pm is punishable by death’ law could have been created to suppress a group of terrorists who mostly attacked at night due to their cult-like beliefs.

  In order to filter out the terrorists from normal people, everyone should be home before nightfall so anyone still out would be treated as one of those crazies.

  The one who had been summoned by the President had not stayed outside because of any cult-like belief, but because he had performed meritorious service to the country which had delayed him. As such, a Normativist would argue that he was not the kind of ’criminal’ the law had been made to deal with.

  On the panel, there were two Positivists, two Naturalists, and one Normativist.

  However, one Positivist was likely going to break her own philosophy to attack Amber and one Naturalist was also a half-Normativist.

  Clearly, the World Council had gone out of its way to make sure that Amber would not have any advantage. It would look too suspicious given the details of the matter for all five judges to be against her, as it would resemble a conspiracy so they had practically thrown her a bone.

  A result of 4:1 would at least make it seem as if one person had been on her side, right?

  The court began the next moment. Diao Ping spoke in a heavily accented voice that was at a pleasant pitch, holding a doc.u.ment before her.

  "Greeting’s ladies, gentlemen, and all those in-between-"

  There was a small spell of token laughter.

  "-today we are here to redress a certain number of issues that have been brought forth to the International Committee of Human Rights affiliated with the World Council."

  Diao Ping gazed at the crowd for a bit before focusing on her doc.u.ment once more.

  "It is a fact that many complaints have been lodged against the recently released Fully Immersive Virtual Reality game, Boundless World, that it had infringed on the rights of hundreds of men and women worldwide, while providing a platform and means to further infringe upon such rights mentioned."

  Diao Ping them gazed at Amber, folding her arms before her mic. "Is this true, Madam Amber?"

  Amber smiled. "No. Anyone can lodge a complaint, but whether that complaint is actually sensible or related to the negligence/omission of the accused party is not predetermined."

  Diao Ping smiled thinly. "Well said."

  She then pulled up another doc.u.ment and spoke. "Today’s hearing has been established to investigate these claims and provide proper penalties or compensation to aggrieved parties and victims of a human rights abuse."

  "This is the matter of the complaint compiled and condensed by our human rights department."

  "The game, Boundless World, is unique for the fact that it enables full immersion through the use of a piece of complicated technology involving the recently discovered Virtual Reality and Neural-Link."

  "It connects the mind of the user to a digital world, replicating all emotions, senses, and thoughts perfectly. In other words, while playing, a user will experience everything as if he or she was still in the real world."

  The crowd buzzed. Obviously, there were many people who didn’t bother to pay attention to a silly game when there was real life to think about, especially the likes of the older generation who were extremely formal and hard to please.

  Amber ignored those who were clueless behind her as her eyes narrowed. She gazed at all five judges, for this was the moment of truth. This was the moment to discern those who were here genuinely and those who had been planted here with an already pre-determined verdict in mind.

  Amber saw that Herbert, Luis, and Nancy were surprised while Jamilee remained calm. When she noticed Amber was focusing on her, Jamilee noticed her mistake and quickly fixed her expression but it was already too late.

  Amber simply smiled and refocused on Diao Ping.

  "The game has received great acclaim for its quality of service and gameplay, which is commendable. However, an issue has cropped up precisely due to this never-before-seen degree of immersion."

  "Over the months, women and some men who have entered this game hoping to achieve entertainment and respite from reality have been abused in many ways. Many women have been r.a.p.ed by others, whereas men have been beaten, tortured, and abused by enemies or rivals, and not even minors have been spared from this atrocity."

  Immediately, the courtroom blew up as the activists got enraged, while those who had not been in the know were shocked and infuriated. Talking about r.a.p.e and torture was a surefire way to generate sympathy towards the victims and disgust towards the bullies, but only to a certain extent.

  However, hearing that even children had to suffer through such traumatic experiences was guaranteed to set anyone off. Most of them glared at Amber’s back with disgust and slight murderous intent. In their opinion, this woman who supported a game that didn’t protect children from being defiled deserved to die!

  Still, Amber did not change her expression. She, like Diao, waited for the crowd to vent their emotions. Luiz, Nancy, and Herbert frowned as they glanced at Diao, wondering why she had not hit the gavel yet.

  Eventually, Diao silenced the courtroom by calling for order after three gavel slams. She then continued from there.

  "Currently, there are almost 3.2 million reports of r.a.p.e, physical abuse, or mental abuse within the four months that the game Boundless World has been released. This has surpassed the annual worldwide rates reported to the World Council by almost 100%."

  Diao paused here, and even the crowd did not make noise, as they were shocked silly by this number. 3.2 million…… in just a short four months? That was almost 2 consistent years’ worth of such crimes reported globally.

  And that wasn’t even factoring in those that were not reported. The general rule of thumb for this thing was that at least 20% would remain unreported due to social, financial, or even legal issues.

  Even more horrifying was that the same rule of thumb could be applied to this Boundless game. After all, who would believe or care if a person got abused in a digital world without understanding that it felt no different from real life?

  "As such, the World Council has set up this committee to redress this matter bordering around five identified issues. They are as follows."

  "Firstly, whether or not the video game ’Boundless World’ promotes the abuse of human rights."

  "Secondly, whether or not the studio ’Glorygore’ has taken measures to protect the rights of their consumers during use of their service."

  "Thirdly, whether or not the studio ’Glorygore’ has provided a means of compensation and redress for victims as a result of their platform."

  "Fourthly, whether or not the game ’Boundless World’ has been the direct cause of the various complaints received."

  "Finally, whether or not the studio ’GloryGore’ has furnished the relevant authorities with the evidence of perpetrators to the crime."

  Diao Ping stopped here as she lowered her doc.u.ment and focused on the amused Amber. Her expression did not change, however there was a dark glint in her eyes seeing as how the defendant didn’t even seem phased.

  It was clear enough to Diao that they had long been expecting this, so naturally, she would be able to maintain a facade. However, this young woman had no idea of the powers that were pushing or pulling behind this so-called hearing.

  If she did, she would likely break down and give in.

  Diao was looking forward to seeing that.