THIRD GAME

Yes! "Nice meeting you too," Axel said with a serious gaze as he shook Ave's hand.

The five surviving players followed closely behind Ave to their new home.

After much walking, they finally stumbled upon a big supermarket located on the outskirts of the city.

"This is where you stay?" Rian asked with his eyebrows raised at Ave, who responded with a nod. "You're so lucky, living with food," he added, letting out an outburst of laughter.

"Let's go in," Ave said with a smile, and walked in with the other players following behind her.

Two men dressed in white shirts and black shorts, one with a low cut hairstyle dyed blue and a knife scar on his face, and the other with long black hair tied in a bun, sat at a big table playing a game, facing each other. There was also a chubby and beautiful lady, dressed in a short gown, with short black hair, devouring a mountain of food.

"What's up, guys!" Ave greeted, moving closer to the duos who had already lifted their heads to look at her, abandoning their recent activities and exchanging knuckles.

"I really thought you were gonna die, girl," said the chubby lady, who stood up from the chair and walked up to Ave, throwing herself into her arms. "It's so good to have you back, sweetie," she added as she patted Ave's back.

"Who are those?" asked the man with the low cut hair, his gaze fixed on Axel's team, then to Ave, demanding an answer.

"Oh! Sorry, these are the people I encountered in the second game. The hospital, which they regard as their home, is where we had the game, and it's been blown off now," Ave explained. "So I'm thinking if they could stay with us, you know," she added, moving towards the chubby lady once more with pleading eyes.

"Of course, they can. Why not," said the chubby lady, walking up to Axel with a smile on her face. "What's your name, baby?" she asked with her eyebrows raised.

"I'm Le Blanc Axel, Axe for short," he replied with a serious expression.

"Nice name for a handsome guy," said the chubby lady with chuckles, while Axel rolled his eyes away.

"Welcome to our humble abode. I'm Murphy Logan, and I'm the master of this group," introduced the short-haired man as he walked towards Axel's team and stood in front of them.

"I'm Harris Florence," introduced the chubby lady with a wink as Axel let out a groan at the sight.

"I'm David Wilkerson. Welcome to our humble abode. Hope to get to know each other better," introduced the long-haired man as he shook Axel and his team one after the other.

Other players introduced themselves to Ave's team, and all were soon seated together in a circular position.

"When did you all get here?" Rian asked with his eyebrows raised at Ave's team before him.

"It's almost a week now. A week I died and came to this world," said David with a sigh.

"I guess everyone died before coming to the game world," Florence said. "And some people still die in the game. Who knows who's next?"

"Does anyone have any idea about this game?" Axel asked with a serious tone. "Any idea about the game?"

"It's a chess game system, not the one played on board though. It's a game of live or die," explained Logan, making the other participants turn their gaze to him. "Don't look at me like that. I actually came here, came to this game world before you guys," he added, clearing the curious looks on the participants' faces.

"Yes, we all met Logan here. He said he had been trapped in the game world for a good two years," said Ave.

"Whoa, tell us about the game then. At least you must know more than us," Rosa inquired curiously.

"The chess game is one of the oldest and most popular board games. It is played by two opponents on a checkered board with specially designed pieces of contrasting colors, commonly white and black. The main objective of the game is to capture the king," explained Logan, who stood up and stood in front of the players who had their gaze fixed on him.

"The pieces are all thirty-two in number, with sixteen on each side, consisting of eight pawns, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, one queen, and one king on each side of the chessboard," added Florence with a serious gaze.

"But the thing is we aren't playing the game according to how it is being played. Rather, we're facing opponents," said Ave. "If I'm right, we've only killed two pawns out of the sixteen pawns in a chess game."

"And another problem is, we don't even know if we're gonna be playing it as white before black or if the colors don't matter," said Logan.

"Argh... I really don't wanna have this conversation about this game world again," Rian groaned. "I deserve some rest, please. Let's talk about the bloody game later."

"I support that," Rosa said and laid down beside Rian on the tiled floor.

"Even though we're in the supermarket, I don't feel hungry at all. Just wanna sleep, you know," Livi said.

"Goodnight, everyone. We'll all talk better tomorrow when we're all good," said David, after which he made an exit into an inner room.

Axel laid down on the tiled floor with his face facing the ceiling, glad that Livi wasn't disturbing him as she was already fast asleep.

"Since I'm still in Canada and everyone isn't here, I might as well check the cult leader's secret room. I could find out some of his secrets," Axel thought to himself before sleep took over.

**

Gently, Axel's eyes opened, only to find himself in a different surrounding entirely with no memory of how he got there.

The room was pitch black, and the player could only see what was in front of him with a small flashlight. The room was also full of hazards, like broken glass and exposed electrical wires. And to make things even more difficult, the water was rising at a steady rate.

"Where am I? How did I get here? Is this a dream? Where is everyone?" Axel thought to himself with no one to satisfy his curiosity.

Suddenly, a dim light switched on, and Axel saw a small touchlight on a table. He walked towards it, grabbed it, and then starts to scan around the room, waiting for the system to appear

"Just what the hell is going on, system? Where am I? Am I perhaps transmigrated to another world?" Axel asked with his voice filled with anger and his body tensed, waiting for the system to appear.

Ding!

(Welcome to the third game. The third game starts now.)

Axel couldn't believe his eyes, nor could he believe his ears. "Third game?? What the hell does this system mean?" he thought while boiling with anger. The system, being able to read his mind, appeared with another message notification.

Ding!

(Third game title: Live or Die.)

"Live or Die?" Axel murmured to himself with his head bent down, trying to figure out what the system meant. He soon raised his head back up with his gaze directed back at the system.

Ding!

(One of your new team members actually chose the title earlier, so therefore, the third pawn had planned a game according to that title.)

Axel remembered Logan to have said those words, but the system telling him that Logan was responsible for his predicament was what he didn't understand.

"You're talking crap," Axel yelled angrily. We couldn't even get a rest. Where is everyone then?" Axel asked, his gaze still fixed angrily on the system.

Ding!

(Everyone can only depend on themselves in this round. It's a single-player game in which you must survive by yourselves.)

"What? You mean the others are also in an unknown room just like me?" Axel asked, with a shocked expression.

Ding!

(Exactly! You all have to play this game separately.)

"Damn! This is crazy," Axel groaned angrily.

Ding!

(The third game rules are simple. Just make sure to escape the room before it reaches the ceilings, or you'll be electrocuted as there are naked wires on the ceilings.)

(You can only make use of the touchlight in your hand to see things in front of you.)

(This third game consists of three levels, and the one you're playing right now is the level one of the third game.)

(There are different things located in this room, which can help you in escaping this room safely into the next room in order to take the level two of the third game. But in finding them, only depends on your ability.)

"Wait, wait! You mean I have to escape this room in which I don't even know how I got in here in the first place before the water reaches the ceiling, and failure to leave in the speculated amount of time results in death?" Axel asked, with a shocked and unbelieving expression.

Ding!

(Yes! I wish you the best of luck!)

Axel groaned in frustration and disbelief. "This is insane," he muttered to himself.

Ding!

(The third game starts now.)

The system announced, and Axel knew he had to act fast if he wanted to survive as the water was flowing in steady speed.