12 Game World 0: The Obelisk (8)

Aectaeon couldn't believe what he was seeing.

More accurately, he refused to.

He rubbed his eyes all the while he was calming his rapidly beating heart. At the outset, he was planning on touring around the Obelisk to, somehow, get a good idea of the place he would be staying at.

But clearly, he wasn't fated to have that much freedom.

Sweeping his hair with his fingers aggressively, Aectaeon scoffed as he looked at the countdown on the panel once more. He then surveyed the players nearby to see if there were at least a few who shared his predicament.

For the reason of exclusivity, the panels were designed in a way that disabled the players from prying on another player's system messages. They could only see a blank panel floating in front of their fellow players.

As such, Aectaeon tried to spot the players who had a panel afore them.

'There's one.'

Unfortunately for him, as soon as his eyes went down the player's hand, he saw the same golden chain he picked up a few minutes ago. He continued to look around him, but to no avail, there was no one who appeared anxious enough.

'They're either too absentminded or upsettingly unresponsive. Do they need a babysitter or something?'

Aectaeon recognized that there might be players who could hide their bewilderment. Withal, it wasn't his job to unveil the thoughts behind every player's facial expressions. In the first place, he was solely looking for evident indications.

Fed up with his search, Aectaeon just settled on eyeing his own panel. He still couldn't accept that he had to experience transmigrating before he could even adjust. However, he had no choice. If he wanted to see what the system had in store for him, he had to bear all of its idiosyncrasies.

'Three minutes to go. I guess I'll have to survive the first world first before I can be a tourist.'

Aectaeon straightened his back, closing his eyes as he stretched his neck afterwards. There wasn't anything he could do anyway. He was far too disoriented to summon that very emotion on his face. It wasn't an understatement to say that he had no idea as to what was about to happen.

The man simply wanted to go with the flow.

If he let down his guard for even a split second, Aectaeon was afraid that he wouldn't be able to get back up again. His courage was, in a way, a facade to conceal the terror brewing in his heart.

'Games, huh? I assume that they have every genre out there. I might have knowledge of the games from my own world, but not on the others. That will be the main challenge.' Aectaeon thought as he slowly opened his eyes. 'I wonder if the game titles are translated? Or do we have to fill in the titles according to their original spelling?'

Upon accommodating that possibility, a small frown appeared on Aectaeon's countenance. It was already a challenge in itself to create words from a given letter or two. But guessing words from a different language with a different form of writing was a whole new level of challenge.

That meant that he had to learn the language in its entirety.

An exasperated groan escaped his lips. There wasn't anything more troublesome for Aectaeon than learning something that he didn't want to accustom himself with.

'I can see how arduous this system will be for those who don't have sense. This is the true challenge. I just hope that they will send us to game worlds that originated from our own worlds.'

Aectaeon knew that the system wasn't merciful enough to heed his wish. Hence, he merely kept the desire in his head that was brimming with his regrets.

'Two minutes, I have to get ready.'

Rather than his physical aspect, Aectaeon believed that it was best to prepare his emotions. No matter how difficult his situation would get, if he made his resolve impenetrable, then he could overcome anything within his means.

[[ Player Igor Vali ]]

Startling Aectaeon was the appearance of a new panel. He diligently read every word on the display.

[[ Mission ]]

[[ Make Your Way to One of the Light Portals ]]

[[ Time Limit: 00 D; 00 H; 01 M; 45 S ]]

'Light portals?' Aectaeon swivelled his head around the area, trying to see what the system meant by light portals.

Right then, several pillars of light emerged from the ground.

"Oh, the light was literal." He muttered as he squinted his eyes, subsequently craning his neck to get a glimpse height of the light pillar nearest to him.

The Light Pillars served as gateways to the other worlds. Instead of having a pure white hue, the light that the pillars emit had hints of emerald green on their surfaces, like snakes slithering their lengths. The pillars' heights reached the ceiling of the ground floor of the Obelisk -- a height that the players would have no chance of seeing. As for the pillars' capacity, they could host at most twenty players on their bases.

'Should I enter one of those pillars now? But what if the other players see me? Should I cover my face? I don't want to gather attention. I might be a part of the first batch of transmigrators. For sure, I would be getting some questions if I do return. I don't want that. If only I have something to help me.'

Aectaeon contemplated on his next course of action with little success. Every second that he lost increased the agitation that he was feeling. He had no equipment whatsoever, making it harder for him to do what he wanted.

'Come to think of it, what does this necklace do?' Aectaeon proceeded to raise his hand to look at the necklace, yet there was nothing in his grip.

His eyebrows furrowed, but then, he noticed something on his forefinger. He scrutinized it in a hurry and was only surprised at his finding.

'A tattoo? This looks like the necklace I pic-- This is that necklace!'

Coiled and tattooed around the length of his forefinger was the golden chain of the necklace. The watch pendant was hanging down his knuckle, plastered in the centre of the back of his left hand.

[[ Warning! ]]

[[ Warning! ]]

[[ Repeating Mission Order ]]

[[ Mission ]]

[[ Make your way to one of the Light Portals ]]

[[ Reward ]]

[[ A: None ]]

[[ Penalty ]]

[[ A: Count of Violation under *S.T.* Regulation Number Two x 2]]

Seeing the penalty laid down before him, Aectaeon stopped thinking for a moment. He yielded his body to his feet that began to move on its own. He didn't care anymore about the other players. It was a matter of survival for him.

As he stepped inside the pillar, Aectaeon let himself be swallowed by the light surrounding him.

And after a second, he opened his eyes to a message.

[[ Mission 'Make your way to one of the Light Portals' Accomplished ]]