15 Failed Preperations

8 June 2020

02:00 AM

Washington D. C.

It didn't take Edmund and two government agents long to reach their destination, Meridian Hill Park. Ever since the ghastly black transparent film had covered the famous statues in the park, it had been looking like ruins. But fortunately, or unfortunately, only one statue was under the pillar of muddy-yellow light. Whether it was a mist, a curtain, or liquid, no one knew. The only confirmed thing was its base color; Yellow.

Millions of people had gone missing that 'Night', but compared to the number of statues, that number was nothing.

"Sir, we have arrived." The agent said, taking out Edmund from his stupor.

Edmund saw a man standing at the front gate as he stepped out of the car. In his blue shorts and white shirt, he must have looked like a middle-schooler, if it wasn't for his height and build. Broad wasn't a term that would have done justice to his chest. But without his comical dressing, at first sight, anyone could mistake him for a wrestler.

"Samael, how was the flight?" Edmund asked, shaking hands.

Samael, like Edmund, was a Pro-gamer. His build, as he proclaimed, was a nature's gift to him.

"By flight, do you mean the jet that came to pick me up? How do you think it was?" Samael replied, grinning from ear to ear.

The agents followed them in, finding their way to the Yellow pillar. Soldiers had already encircled the statue along with 20 other Dreamers. As they saw Samael coming with the 'face' of the ADA, a wave of murmur washed over all the presented individuals.

Edmund sighed, "And that's why I had argued against the idea of using my profile on the App's homepage."

Edmund raised his head, and for the first time, he questioned his actions. 'What if everything goes wrong? Wouldn't I become the reason for their death?' thoughts like these flooded his mind. Anyone could have questioned their decisions and even their lives if they were to see that statue. One could have called it nothing but the Death Incarnate.

This was the statue of one of history's gifts to the future, an Italian Poet, a writer, a philosopher, and promulgated by the Pope himself, 'Pride and Glory of Humanity' Dante Alighieri.

"Ok everyone, gather here," Samael shouted and continued, "Edmund, as you had asked, 10 of them are Pro-Gamers and the rest of the group is one of the best among their field of work."

All the Dreamers made their way to an open area near the statue and faced Edmund.

"So let's talk about…" the sudden glow of eyes around him had cut short Edmund's words. A screen had also materialized in front of his eyes. He had seen this happening several times in the last week. 

It was RECORD's way of notifications.

[…

Time Left: 30 minutes

Commencing Random Dungeon Allocation…

…]

'Random? No...!' Edmund couldn't even turn his thoughts to words when a blue-green light engulfed all the Dreamers, and they had vanished.

Edmund, nauseated by the feeling of sudden teleportation, frantically looked around and found four others like him. The morning sun had blinded him by the sudden exposure and by the time he could see, a soldier had already pointed a muzzle of the gun at him.

An officer hurriedly approached him and asked, "You? You, the Face of ADA."

And with this title, a smile came upon Edmund and the officer's face. The officer gave out an order and all the soldiers put down their weapons.

"Do you know what happened, Mr. ADA?"

Edmund finally took a calming breath. "Hello, you can call me Edmund. I don't know, but I think we all teleported to a random place."

The other 4 Dreamers also approached the officer. Unlike Edmund, their faces were still unknown to most of the world.

"Officer, where are we?" Edmund hadn't forgotten about the fundamental question. The officer didn't answer, but with an extremely uneasy expression, looked above his head.

Edmund had been facing the Sun, and thus the shadow of that thing was away from him. Edmund turned around apprehensively, and the thing behind him gave him an immense shock. It was the statue of a man upholding a rock even bigger than him over his head. Edmund's throat became dry by imagining the sheer strength he must have possessed.

But that day might as well be the day of notifications. A screen materialized again in front of Edmund's face.

[…

Time Left: 15 minutes

The Dreamers can choose to form a Party that would be in effect till the end of the Raid

The Party members would be made aware of each other's location and would be provided additional bonuses in different circumstances

Every Party must have a Party Leader

The Experiences Points would be distributed among the Party members according to their contribution

A fixed amount of 3% of Experience Points gained by killing Dungeon Crawlers, would be given to the Party Leader regardless of his contributions

Bonus Skill 'Language Proficiency' is now activated till the end of the Raid

…]

Edmund, being a gamer himself, was familiar with the concept of a Party. But even if others weren't, anyone could analyze the importance of 3% fixed ExPs.

"We have something important to discuss. Can you please give us some space?" Edmund said, assuring the officer that everything would be alright.

All the Dreamers were now standing in a circle and, like Edmund, most of them too had noticed the plain advantage of being a Party Leader.

Edmund sighed.

"Everyone, I am Edmund. We have little time left, so why don't we introduce ourselves first," Edmund proposed, as everyone could have understood each other because of the Bonus Skill.

"Matsumoto Sho."

Edmund looked to his right, and he found a Japanese person wearing traditional black-white, Keikogi, and Hakama. The Japanese man had been reeking of power and authority. Edmund had experienced this vibe just a few days ago in that meeting room. It was the composure of a natural-born leader.

"Hi, I am Dr. Annie."

The girl to his left tried to lift the heavy mood and introduced herself first.

"Bernard, you can call me Boomie."

Edmund had never heard a voice so depressing before. The man in knee-length shorts and bushy red hairs almost looked like something had been eating him from inside. He also didn't like the way this Boomie was looking at him.

"Logan."

Contrary to his Japanese counterpart, Edmund could see the cunningness in the blond-haired man's eyes. If one were to judge in a single glance, this person would soon find himself surrounded by police.

"I think we should vote for the position of Party Leader," Edmund said, looking at Matsumoto Sho.

Sho also nodded in reply.

"Guys, why do we need to form a Party? Isn't it better to just help each other in need?" Annie asked.

Edmund saw the smirk on Logan and shook his head at the naive suggestion.

"It won't do. Let's say you are hunting a Crawler and after a lot of effort you are on the verge of killing it. But, let's say accidentally, an attack lands on it from a Dreamer other than you. Then all the ExPs would most probably go to that Dreamer and not you."

Edmund saw a look of disbelief on Annie's face. The world was changing and one should know when to draw an obvious line between charity and plain idiocy.

"Let's share our Classes and Attributes and get over with the unpleasant business."

Everyone raised their eyebrows seeing each other's Class and Attributes, well everyone except Boomie.

"I vote for Mr. Edmund." Edmund heard Annie voting for him.

Edmund didn't expect a single vote, but then he realized this wasn't a Party of real gamers. It left him only a little competition after analyzing Sho's Class and Attributes.

As expected, Logan said, "I vote for Mr. Matsumoto." Edmund didn't expect such refined words from Logan.

Everyone now eyed Boomie and with the way Boomie was looking at him from the start, Edmund could already guess the result.

"I also vote for Mr. Edmund."

"Okay then, I am sending the Party requests to all of you."

Edmund hastily said, seeing the Timer.

[…

Sending Party Requests…

Party Requests accepted

Party Members: Edmund, Annie, Boomie, Hero, Matsumoto Sho

Party Leader: Edmund

…]

"What? I feel like a hero sometimes." Logan gave a shameless reply, as everyone had been cringing at his RECORD name.

"I wonder why it didn't notify us of this Random-Allocation before." This was the first time Edmund heard Sho sharing his view. But unfortunately, no one had an answer to this problem.

They all got a notification.

[…

Time Left: 00:00:00

…]

The Sun, who just a moment before was standing proud over the world, was suddenly pushed behind the Night that had arrived. The muddy-yellow light pillar gradually finally left the Yellow tinge and turned Green. And a blue-green portal, big enough for all of them, opened up just near the statue.

Suddenly Edmund heard screams coming over from the forgotten people, crowded around the barren area of Statue. Edmund saw the officer running towards him and asked, "What happened?"

"People, Mr. ADA, People! One of them vanished just in front of my eyes," the officer replied. This new information astonished the Party members.

"Does this mean that there would be a fresh wave of Dreamers?" Annie asked.

"I think so," Edmund involuntarily replied and, by the corner of his eyes, chanced upon the vibrant face of Boomie.

'What's up with this guy? A sadist?' Edmund thought.

"By the way, Officer, at least tell us where we are and whose statue is this," Annie asked.

"Oh! Yes, yes. This is Armenia."

'Armenia?' Edmund didn't realize that it could have transported him this far.

The officer, with a shaky voice, said, "And that is the statue of one of the Deities of the Armenian Pantheon. Deity of Strength and Courage," the voice now seemed to shake with fanaticism, "the Great-Grandson of the Legendary Patriarch..."

And before he could finish, Boomie completed the Officer's words.

"Tork Angegh."