It was around that time again.
The time where SOMETHING goes awry. Although, this was a shock to a lot of people. It happened before our cell's had opened in the morning, too. When there was around 20 hours on the clock, an alarm blared. I had jumped up from my slumber…
On the TV, a message was being played "Hello again participants! It appears that there have been.. Significant losses last round! Not to go into details, but more than half of you were killed in total! This has put a dent in the activities, however, this has not all gone unplanned!" I was stil drowsy by the time the voice continued speaking, but I didn't blink even still.
On screen showed a group of 10 people "We will be partnering you up in groups of at most, 10 people! This will help broaden our games, and make it easier to prevent a quick, and big loss like last round! These groups can be partially formed by you, for you! Haha, anyway, the game is also coming a BIT sooner than planned. See you all in… 4 hours!!"
You're… Kidding me… Now the game was brought sooner? I thought they didn't want to make the losses quick?? Why are they moving it sooner? That sounds really stupid of them.
I stood up from the bed and quickly went over to the cell door. It would be amazing if I could open it by myself, however, it was at that time anyway. The cell's light turns on soon before the cell opens… And as I said that, it opened. How great of this ship's timing!
I quickly left and found Nick, Ash, and Jonny. "Alright, well, here's four of the 10 we need."
"We don't need 10, right?" Jonny asked, thinking that it would be a scam to do so. Nick shrugged, "I believe that smaller numbers is a WHOLE lot better than maxing out our group."
That seemed to be the proper conclusion, seeing as how this place was operating on death traps, there was no reason to have more than a smaller group. They probably capped it at 10 to satisfy the "large amount of deaths at once" complaint.
I swallowed my saliva and nodded. "Yes, this is all we need for whatever the next game will be. Have we gotten any hints?"
Everyone shook their heads. That was clearly too much to wish for. I nodded, understanding. "What should we do then?"
Ash quickly spoke up "It's clear. We need to expect this next game to be tricky. That last one had plenty of loopholes, however, this one is not guaranteed." What a reasonable response from the nice lady! Jonny spoke up himself "Yeah, we should try and think of any possibilities, and think of who to spare first. However, that should come after we try to spare everyone's life. If all of us have to go, then we should pick one person to live on."
"Yeah, I pick Jack."
"I second that."
"Eh, I see no-one else capable of survival."
Ah, how flattering. "I'm not that gr-"
"DUDE! YOU LITERALLY BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF AN INVISIBLE CREATURE WITH A PIECE OF METAL YOU RIPPED FROM THE CONTROL PANEL"
Okay, that- that's a very fair point, I can't believe I forgot… My cheeks grew a bit red, remembering the scene was very… Inspiring "You're right, you're right… I am assuming you expect nothing less than that from now on?"
Everyone positively shook their heads. Seeing such a unanimous vote made me worry a bit much that they are overestimating me… "Well. I guess I can't complain. Make me the team leader so I get more priority, then?"
Everyone chuckled a bit, "Nah. That's gonna be Ash."
… Damn it..
===========
The siren's blared in The Hall, it was time for game two!! Hooray… I was getting more and more nervous as time passed. I stared at the TV for too long. Worrying about the next game was all I could do in my spare time. Well, there was that, and…
"Bonus Features."
/-----------\
Lung Capacity Lv. 3
Advanced Eye Lv. 2
Short Weapon Mastery Lv. 1 (Unclaimed)
(New Feature in development!)
(New Feature in development!)
(New Feature in development!)
??? Lv. 10 (Max)
??? Lv. 5
??? Lv. 1
\-----------/
I knew it was too good to be true… "Unclaimed".. What a shitty system. What does that even MEAN? I tapped on the Feature, it's description suddenly flowing in.
/-----------\
Short Weapon Mastery Lv. 1 (Unclaimed)
- The handle of a one-blade sword is not UN-welcome in your hands! Doesn't matter which, you can use the blade just as well!
(Isn't claimed yet.)
\-----------/
Yes, yes, I know it's not claimed, you fucking- I groaned, the other's were waiting for me. But they must understand how nervous I was. The system clearly is not helping. I stood up and walked out of my cell, the three were waiting outside. Jonny had a nervous smile on his face. Why was he adorable? What even is that, huh? It's probably because he is so young, and I am so old… Nick and Ashley seemed to be more or less indifferent, but I could tell. They don't like the future.
Neither did I, I began to hate it more after TV became so predictable. Because I know real life isn't like that. I nodded to them before walking down towards the exit of The Hall. I hope the game this time isn't too troublesome…
After exiting, the large coliseum was… Well, it wasn't that anymore. There were a few rooms with doors. Whatever is through them must be the games. Some were lit on top of the door frame "Occupied" and some were "Vacant" I obviously chose the closest one and opened the door to the game room.
"Ah, welcome, welcome!" A.. Not so kind face greeted me. It was like the average magician, he had brown hair, slim, had a black and white suit, and a top hat. What the hell is this? I went into the room further, "Please, go over there and have a seat! Not all of you, only one, though, the rest get to sit in the stands!"
The stands, if they could be called that, was simply a 3x3 square of chairs. This horrid game seemed to be exactly what they mentioned. Why was it that only one person gets to play this at once? Shit, this is a hostage situation isn't it.. And without Ashley's close eye, could I really get through this?
I kept walking, the others behind me stopped one by one, the sound of chairs shifting telling me they are letting me continue. Please, for the love of god, don't let this be some inescapable murder trap…