Chapter 6

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-The Extreme Hide and Seek test-

🕵️ Extreme Hide and Seek 🕵️

Game rules:

1. Duos formed: Each duo is assigned to a class. Hiders and Finders.

2. Finders' objective: Eliminate a member of the opposing duo.

3. Hiders' objective: Survive until the allotted time, i.e. 3 days.

🕒 Time limit: 3 days 🕒

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The rules were laid out for us with chilling clarity. Hiders versus finders, a human hunt in a life-size maze. Our objective: to survive for three days, an eternity in a world where every second counts.

"How can we survive three days without being found?" I asked my partner.

She gave me a piercing look, then smiled mischievously. "That's where it gets interesting." Her name, Mizuki, rang through the air.

I was curious as to why she'd mentioned doubts earlier. "You were talking about bugs in the game, right?"

Mizuki stared at me briefly before nodding. "Yes, normally, the game balances duos by putting players of the same level together. But here, there's an exception."

"The strong with the weak, that's a new approach. Why this anomaly?"

"The game has changed its own plans. It's looking to destabilize the seasoned players."

"And where do you fit into all this?" I asked, trying to decipher his role in this scenario.

Mizuki sighed, "I'm here for farming. I want to maximize my gains in resources and skills before the more difficult trials."

Her answer puzzled me. She seemed to be taking the game more seriously than I was. "So you just want me to be bait while you reap the rewards?"

She stared at me intently. "Don't get in the way of your allies. I know what I'm doing."

Intrigued, I decided to follow her discreetly as she left for her "farming". My instincts told me that something bigger was afoot in this game come true.

The hunt was about to begin.

As I continued to spy discreetly on Mizuki, a strange feeling of uncertainty came over me. The turn the game was taking seemed strangely familiar.

While my eyes remained riveted on Mizuki, she discovered a "rare" item: the "Stellar Spear", a weapon of imposing reach capable of inflicting massive damage in its path.

Lurking in the shadows, I watched silently as Mizuki got her hands on the "Lance Stellaire". Questions swirled in my head.

"A rare weapon... Will she share it with me, or...? ? " I wondered if trust still had any meaning in this ruthless virtual world. "In this kind of game, does loyalty still have any value?"

Mizuki, smiling at her new find, had no idea that I was on the lookout, fuelling deeper and deeper doubts in my mind.

A sudden noise pierced the air, and Mizuki instinctively hid. Together, we watched a team prey on the "Finders".

One of them possessed a glove with the power of psychokinesis. He managed to immobilize a member of the stalking duo, even though no threat had been made. The hiding duo succumbed, leaving a palpable confusion hanging over the scene.

He turned his gaze on the captured victim, and a conversation emerged among the members of the hunting party.

Ryu: "What's going on here? Why are they being arrested?"

Hikari: "No idea, man. We barely touched them, and this is what happens. What's this new thing?"

Ryu: "Maybe the developers added some rules during the game. It's weird..."

The finders were confused, unable to understand the sudden failure of the game's rules.

Ryu: "Let's get on with it. Let's get the others before this thing goes completely off the rails."

While they wondered what had just happened, Mizuki and I witnessed this new difficulty added to the original game. Was it yet another bug, or was it deliberate?

The boundary between the virtual and the real was becoming increasingly blurred, creating a tense atmosphere in this hide-and-seek with unfathomable stakes. What else was in store for this event, plunged into the twists and turns of the unpredictable?