17 Gamemaster (1)

In another part of the ruined city, a scene of destruction could be seen.

Two humans were standing in the middle of a battlefield, surrounded by debris. One of them was a black-haired woman; her body was filled with injuries, but her expression was proud and ice-cold, giving a feeling of distance to everybody that saw her.

The other, a man, had his body covered completely by a cloak. He was holding a shortsword, and the tip of it was piercing the woman's right arm.

But currently, none of them was moving.

Inside their eyes, two words appeared.

'Game Over'.

"Ha…!" The woman laughed. "The boy made it, huh!"

With an expression of surprise on his face, the man pulled the sword from the woman's arm, then, he put it inside his clothes.

"You are lucky. A few seconds more and you are dead."

"You are right, but this time was my victory."

"What can I say? Being honest, you deserve it. A monster like you is not someone that low scorers as us can compete with."

The woman did not say anything. Instead, she sheathed her greatsword and straightened her posture. Then, she looked towards the direction of the base.

To be honest, when she noticed the beasts chasing after the boy, she thought that he was not going to do it. Unfortunately, her enemies made it impossible for her to help.

So, when she received the notification of their victory, she was more than a bit surprised.

Closing her eyes, she opened her mouth towards her enemy.

"Goodbye. It was a great fight."

Around her, two orcs were lying dead, expressions of disbelief in their faces.

An instant later, her body was engulfed by a ray of light.

'I guess I owe one to the boy.' With that thought, the woman disappeared from that place.

'Congratulations. Your team has won the game. Calculating your rewards…'

When Aleen woke up, those words appeared immediately in his mind.

He was in a dark place, without signs of light. He tried to move, but it was impossible to feel his body.

Before he could understand what was happening, more words appeared in his mind.

'Monsters killed:

12 Level one monsters: 12 points

Achievements:

Leveling: 10 points (Points corresponding to Level two)

Participation: 10 points (Points corresponding to Level two)

Flag acquired: 100 points

Game results:

Victory: 10 points (Points corresponding to Level two)

Total score: 142 points

Reward: 142 UDP coins

Your battlefield score has increased from 0 to 1.1

'Please wait a moment…'

Aleen tried to remember where he was, and the images of the monster tearing his body appeared in his mind. For some reason, his mind felt calm despite it. The feeling of fear that he felt inside the battlefield disappeared completely.

'We have detected injuries in your body. Do you wish to use your coins to heal them?'

Aleen remembered that his body was very injured when the game ended. Though he wasn't sure how serious were the injuries, he knew that it was enough to kill him a few times. To be honest, he was not sure of the reason because he was alive.

So, without hesitating too much, he said yes.

'A moment please…'

'The cost of healing your injuries is 71 UDP coins. Do you wish to continue?'

Aleen selected yes again.

'Understood. We are going to begin the procedure.'

Before Aleen could react to the words that appeared in his mind, his mind blanked again.

'Procedure complete. Please wait…'

'As a level two, you will be sent to the game lobby.'

'Initiating transference in three, two, one…'

When Aleen woke up again, he was lying on the ground of a hall.

Holding his head, he tried to stand up, but his body fell once more. Before he could try again, the memories from the game rushed to his mind.

Immediately after it, vomit flowed from Aleen's mouth, and an expression of terror appeared on his face. His face contorted and the smell of iron filled his nose. But before he could scream, a hand touched his shoulder.

"Easy boy, you are safe now." A voice said.

Aleen recognized that voice. It was the voice of the woman that helped him during the game. Hearing her, he calmed slightly.

Then, he finally examined the surroundings.

Surprise filled his face when he gave a look to the place where he was.

It was a kind of circular hall, but it didn't have a roof or walls. Instead, a scenery of stars, planets and a sun shining brightly far away surrounded the place.

The hall was located in space.

But it was not the thing that surprised Aleen the most.

Two things were even more surprising.

The first was that his body was completely free of injuries. Even his lost limbs were back.

The second was that four more people were in the hall besides Aleen and the woman.

They were the remaining level five of the team.

"Man, I cannot believe that we won the game." The other level five woman said.

"Neither can I. I was stunned when the AI announced that my team won the game." One of the men spoke.

"What happened after I died?" John asked.

"I'm not sure. I died soon after you."

Looking at the people speaking normally, Aleen wore an astonished expression.

"Y-You… How are you alive!?"

"Oh? The level one boy woke up?" John smiled before looking towards Aleen. "I cannot believe that you are alive."

"W-Why are you here? I saw you die."

"Oh, that. Well, I paid the price of my resurrection. Twenty thousand coins to resurrect. I feel hurt every time a heard the amount."

"T-Then, the others… Can they return too? What happened with the girl, Amelia!?"

John looked towards Aleen with a strange expression before shaking his head.

"They are dead."

"… But they can revive, right?"

John opened his mouth, but before he could speak, an ice-cold voice interrupted him.

"They cannot. The cost of resurrection is too expensive for someone below level five to afford it. Of course, it's different if you belong to an eminent family; but most families will not spend such price for a particular member if his position is not important enough."

Aleen looked towards the ice-cold woman unable to hide his disappointment. Though he did not know any of those people before today, it was depressing to know that so many people died so easily in front of him.

Aleen lowered his head and bit his lips. When he saw the four level five alive, he was excited, thinking that perhaps everything was a nightmare. But now he knew that everything was real.

The dead were dead.

And he could have died too.

"… I don't understand. Why they have to die?"

Hearing Aleen's voice, the woman tried to say something. But before she could speak, another level five interrupted.

"Silence, boy! This is not a place for you to cry and search for answers. If you want to complain, do it later when the gamemaster comes. This is not a place to answer your questions.

The ice-cold woman frowned when she heard the man words, but at the end stayed silent.

At that moment, another figure entered to the place.

"Oh my, can you stop fighting? You should be celebrating! Welcome, everybody! And congratulations on your victory!"

A chubby man with pink skin, dressed in strangely luxurious clothes and giving a sensation of pure authority.

Aleen didn't have to ask to know the identity of the man.

The gamemaster was here.