Ep. 8 — Chapter 31: The Hunting Game (2)

The [Cube] that marked the beginning of the apocalypse finally began its second descent to announce the coming of the next main quest.

The hairs on my body stood up. Similarly, Leon also stared up at the [Cube] with a certain expression. I could tell he loathed it. Anyone would. After all, their world was taken from them. Their life, and their families and friends. The [Cube] would easily become a symbol of despair for the people.

We continued to walk and came under the arch that marked the entryway to the plaza. Inside, we saw a large group of people. There were ones equipped with fancy gears while others were dressed in tactical suits.

And in the back were the ones that seemed to be the newcomers.

"There are a lot of people here…" Leon sounded surprised. In fact, it is a reasonable reaction. Why would this many people show up to participate in the Game? After all, by staying away they could maximise their survival chances.

Of course, that should be the case. But the system wouldn't allow that. This Game is a literal creation brought forth from the depths of Hell. It was made to put its players through hardships and suffering.

The one in control of the Game is the devil itself. Yes, there should be one single being in charge of the Game. It is a widespread belief. The people at ≪Shell≫ thought so as well. And even Lieutenant Schroeder himself wants to bring down the mastermind of the Game.

In stories like this one, the only way to reach the master of a game would be to complete it.

And we were nowhere near its end. We were only in the second main quest. The Game had barely begun and all types of hell awaits us in the future.

The [Cube] had mostly appeared. Only the top parts of it were covered in clouds. A timer started on all sides of the [Cube], counting down the time before the initiation of the main quest. Ten minutes remained. It was also ten minutes before midnight.

I checked the time. Exactly ten minutes, like I had guessed.

Leon held onto [Treasure of Ancient King], his hand clasping tightly around the hilt of the blade.

I scanned the vicinity. Players had other sorts of weapons. A lot of them wielded blades, probably because it was the easiest to use. And also because they liked the aesthetic of it. It is a famous weapon to use in video games.

Other than that, there was a group of people in tactical suits. I assumed they were from a guild of some sort. Just not a famous one since I've never seen the emblem on their uniforms.

A woman stood alone around the middle of the plaza. There was no weapon visible on her. It was either that she was extremely powerful or extremely prideful. Either way, she doesn't seem like someone I wanted to be around, really.

Another woman stood somewhere near the entrance of the plaza. She had a unique hair colour, and two guns were strapped on the sides of her hips, strung up to her belt. There were some guys around her and I immediately recognised who she was. The insignia on their sleeves belonged to the ≪Purple Hyacinth≫ guild. One of the 3 big guilds in [World Ascension]. And she is Iris Falcone, the daughter of the guildmaster.

I believe the men were also members from the guild or men hired by her personally.

"There are a lot of powerful people here. It's best that we stick close for the time being." I told Leon and he nodded.

"Do we know what kind of quest it will be?" He asked and I shook my head.

"No, unfortunately not."

Big guilds had their own way of gathering information. That could be from exploiting the system itself or by using their abilities to make a prediction on the future quests. Only they had the expendable to do such things.

Exploiting the system is obviously very risky but could be extremely beneficial. Which is why big guilds could pull it off since they would have things prepared to counter a System Monitoring.

"The guys from ≪Shell≫ are here. Look." I pointed to the left.

A bit further away, I could see Ali Hakeem, Kel, Cielle and Owen. There was also that woman that was with Han Jiwon. However, he wasn't there. Neither was Alicia.

We walked up to them and Ali noticed us first. He waved at us and the group walked over to us.

"You guys made it back."

"Nice sword." Kel pointed at the [Treasure of Ancient King] with a grin. Cielle nodded vigorously. "Maybe we should've come as well. Was there anything else?"

"No. Aside from a battleaxe which I doubt any of us could carry."

"Where's Han Jiwon?" I asked them.

Ali turned to me, his hand playing with the [Greatsword]. It looks a bit more polished than last time. "Are you two friends suddenly?"

"No. It's just…" I tried not to make it obvious that I was looking at the woman, but she stared back with a raised brow. My face flushed. It was like I got caught staring.

Ali made an 'aaah' and nodded his head.

"This is Gabriel. She's one of the earlier members of ≪Shell≫. She joined after Alicia. Isn't that right?"

The woman named Gabriel shook her head. Her silver coloured hair was pretty. It was long, around waist length and they were straight. They look smooth as well. She definitely looked like a model. Her expression demanded respect.

She definitely had a lot of followers that surrounded her before. It was the kind of vibe she gave off.

"Alice should be here soon." Gabriel spoke. I assumed Alice was Alicia. They were close, as I had expected. "Han Jiwon will also be here shortly, though it isn't an obligation for him."

Not obligated to? That's new. I raised my voice to ask her a question. "Why is that?"

"Han Jiwon has enough to compensate for missing this quest. You all know the punishment for missing a main quest, correct?"

Other than those who had already obtained the [Sequence Keys], everyone else needed to partake in the main quests. After each quests, main or subsidiary, a 'pardon gauge' appears in your profile. Like mine now. It's only at 47%. Unless I managed to get at least 50% of it filled, I'm not exempt from the main quests.

Each time skipped, 50% of the perdon gauge is taken. And once it empties and another main quest is skipped…

"He dies." Ali nodded his head. "I'm sure that guy has his pardon gauge all filled out. It would be surprising if it wasn't, since he's always going out to hunt."

I guess it's true. I had only been at ≪Shell≫ for a few days, but Han Jiwon was always absent. Gabriel also went out with him, so I had guessed that they were close. She was most likely his companion. Or even…

At that moment, a loud blaring came from the [Cube].

[4:59]

Five minutes remained. In five minutes, the main quest will commence. I felt myself tensing up. But the others seemed to be just fine. In fact, Ali and the twins were even pumped up.

Ali had brought the [Greatsword] beside him. He leaned against it and started to play with his scarf.

"Do you not have a weapon?" Gabriel asked me. I remembered just now that I had thrown away my chains since they were broken either way. There were no other weapons I could've picked up as Lieutenant Schroeder had dragged the bodies away. Along with their weapons.

I shook my head. "No, mine was broken."

"Are you perhaps talking about the chains that are always around your arm?"

"Yes, it is that."

"Is it because you're unable to use any other weapons? It is a weird choice to make."

"I can use other weapons. It is just something about my skills." I shook my head. I faced Leon, still talking to the twins as they admired his [Treasure of Ancient King].

"Take these."

She reached into her pockets and took out an object. A button was pressed and a blade stuck out. "You're going to need a weapon for this. Most likely."

I took the daggers from her hand and nodded in gratitude at her. "Thank you."

"No need. We are supposed to look out for each other."

Gabriel. She's a peculiar woman. But she seems to be a good person at heart. Her natural kindness matched with her beauty and fierce gaze, maybe that was why I had thought of her as someone who had followers. In fact, if I knew her before, I would be one of them as well.

She walked back to the rest of the group. They had wandered off while she gave me the dagger. I looked around and Leon was still near me. His eyes were fixed at the group of people in front of him.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I came up to his side. Now that I was the one coming to him, I realised how much taller he is compared to me.

"It's nothing too serious. I'm just nervous about the quest."

His eyes were still fixed on the people ahead. After a moment he turned his eyes to me to try to convince me.

"Do you know them?"

"Ah, well. You could say that. It is a hard thing to say. I don't understand it myself."

"Then say whatever it is you can."

"…They were my friends from university. Actually, we had a fight inside the dorm and so I left that night. I was planning on going back to them to make up with them but…"

"…All of this happened." I completed his words.

I thought about it now. These people all have lives before them. Just because I was never really attached to anything, I forget that people had other people they were close to.

People such as Leon who were still in school. Their friends that they had. It is unknown if they would ever see them again. And that was my current situation now. As much as I tried to hide it in, I guess it was showing.

Because Leon asked me.

"What about your friends?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. She hasn't reached out to me."

Hua Lin. That night, it was her idea for me to take her to buy the game as soon as it was released in stores. I could already see her shoving people aside to get the game before it sold out. The traffic jam. And then, the start of the Game.

She never replied to any of the messages I sent her.

I tried to deny it, thinking that if it was Hua Lin, she would survive. If I could do it, she can as well. But as more days passed, my doubts grew.

"It's almost time." I told Leon and we both faced the [Cube]. It had fully descended and the timer was at 1 minute. "Get ready."

The atmosphere grew tense. Conversations ceased and everyone else faced the [Cube] as well. Ali, the twins, Owen, and Gabriel all looked up at the sky at the rotating object.

Even the lady from ≪Purple Hyacinth≫ and her men were facing the sky with an intense expression. There was a boy near the middle, holding a staff. Yes, players of all kinds were here. Including young children and even the elderly.

At that moment, voices grew from behind us. Both Leon and I turned around to find a motorcycle revving through the plaza and came to a stop before me. People moved out of the way to not be hit by the motorcycle cutting through them.

My eyes widened in total shock and confusion. Hold on, could this…

A woman in blond hair dressed in a tactical suit, not her usual formal wear, grinned at me. And a man rode with her, sitting on the back holding a blade in his lap. The light from the motorcycle blinded me, creating a more flashy entrance than it really is.

"Alicia?"

"Hope you didn't wait long." Alicia said as she got off her motorcycle. Han Jiwon got off as well, putting the sheathed blade to his waist.

The other group members heard the noises and came over with happy faces.

Finally, the two of them were here.