1 Daniel Games

They say the world is filled with numerous different shades. There is no absolute white and black, good and evil, or just and unjust. Instead, there is grey, self-justice, or personal morals. Everything comes with two sides of the story. One only needs to look for it.

Had I understood these things clearly, I do not believe I would have suffered so much anguish. Fortunately, the experience has passed, and I have already accepted these emotions. Still, the feelings a human can feel is like the stars in the sky. There is always an extra one to experience before one can claim they understand it truly.

What is loneliness? Is it perhaps, having no friends, or is it others denying the right expressing your existence? Is there a difference?

What about true pain? Is a physical injury its equivalent, or is emotional and mental agony, real pain? If you were to ask me of my opinion, I could only use my life's tale as a reference.

At the very least, my tale should be closer to the truth than others, I think. For your sake, it's better to begin at a turning point to understand, a change to my daily life.

Like that day.

---

Hong! Honk! Honk!

A semi-truck zip passed at frightening speeds, ignoring the walk sign. It moved at 95 mph while speeding down the road. Just in the nick of time, a young boy of 17 years barely dodged the moving vehicle. "Watch where your going lunatic!!!" He shouted angrily.

Did people even care about becoming murders anymore?

Taking the time to calm down, he sighed. It would be his luck that the time he chose to visit the big city would be during late hours. Despite him wearing bright colors, like a white shirt, there were still people blind to his person.

If he didn't have plans to meet up with friends and family, he wouldn't risk roaming around. Especially in places, he wasn't familiar with visiting.

Searching around, in next to no time, he arrived at a coffee shop that was considered the agreed-upon meeting area.

Resembling most typical coffee shops, it was brown and white with a few glass doors and walls for sighting view.

Noticing the small group drinking their share in the corner, he grabbed the door handle after hearing a muffled, "Little Danny is here," before he prepared to give his own greeting, making him roll his eyes at the old nickname.

The moment he pulled it open, all the glass doors and windows shattered as the simple looking coffee shop disappeared.

White lights and a vast space took its place, stretching endlessly. "Wha... what is going on?" He questioned.

When he started to fear for the worst, particularly regarding his family, he panicked. "Lara?!! Can you hear me?! James?! Aunty?!" To his shout, silence welcomed him in turn.

Thoughts of untold horrors surfaced, clouding his mind. What happened? What about himself, was he safe in this white expanse? Before he had the chance to continue his thoughts, rapidly, in a short interval, the white light resided, leaving a living room area with people facing a large LCD monitor that filled up a wall.

Its screen showed nothing but static.

Click! Once again, he had no opportunity to question the situation since the static image shifted to a region similar to descriptions of Ancient China before the Tang Dynasty period, stagnating all ensuring commotions.

Next, a monotone voice started speaking. "Greetings, new and old Gamers! The continent you see is Grey Cloud of the Martial Talent World. Survive the annihilation of the Great Emerald Leaf Family while learning the martial way of cultivation. Duration is ten days, and gameplay will start in 30 minutes!" At the end of the overview, the screen continued displaying images of different areas on Grey Cloud continent.

'Wha...?' Were his exact thoughts.

"Alright, start talking!!! Who are you people, and where are we?!!" A deep, loud voice retorted.

The one shouting was a man over 30 years old. Big bulky muscles ripped around his body, giving an extremely intimidating sight to the timid. The response he got were looks of indifference or annoyed facial expressions. None of the ones in the know felt scared by his physique.

A pretty voluptuous woman in her early 20s wearing black and grey clothes then walked forward, acknowledging the crowd. "There is not enough time to answer all your questions, and most don't care to share the truth on 'Noobs.'

"You can choose to believe me on what I have to say, or disregard it as lies because I don't like wasting time either. In this short time frame, what you need to know is your life is always on the line. Especially if you can't awaken your Gamer Eyes by the transfer point, at that time, you will be treated as trash and scrapped."

At the hint of dying, not everyone kept maintaining their silence. One such individual was the man who spoke first, "I don't believe this nonsense!!! Where is the proof you didn't just kidnap us?!! And don't try deceiving me again because I'm more than willing to discipline a deceitful woman at any time!!!" When he finished, cracks from the sound of his knuckles flexing, echoed, producing another intimidating vantage.

Smiles of glee and gloating soon directed at the woman from the 'veterans' upon catching the fiasco. After offering the new people an olive branch, as a way for them to survive the cruelty of the situation, she received in return, something equivalent to a slap in the face.

Some even thought, 'that's what you get for not minding your own business.' Many never got tired seeing the repeated event occur. It was entertainment seeing what they deemed, a busybody, rewarded with an ungrateful response. Of course, none really expected the outcome to go in the man's favor.

After all, they all experienced the meaning of a Gamer, and it wasn't something simple that the average human's physique could cope against, particularly in a head-on confrontation. Instead, they saw it as the man courting death in contrast.

Big muscles, frightening Gamers? Noobs sure had grand dreams!

"Shut up! I don't owe you anything! And if you threaten me again, you will lose your little friend instead of your life first!" In a swift movement, the woman took out a long kodachi and pointed it toward the man's lower regions. With her cold fine splits narrowed, the woman's eyes promised violence.

Witnessing this scene, the man froze under her intense gaze. He could also feel tremors travel through his body, creating massive amounts of sweat.

And in retrospect, it wasn't her threat, nor her holding a weapon that caused him to freeze, no, it was the insane look that human eyes should not be able to produce. It was like looking into the eyes of a grim reaper. Only death awaited the said person.

'This woman is crazy!' The man thought as the shock forced him to stumble back.

The action was answered with a loud snort as the woman proceeded to continue informing the new Gamers about the situation. "My name is Yoshioka Kumiko[1], and I am Japanese. What you are experiencing is a program that wishes us to play games by inhabiting different worlds. These games are all life-threatening since it's a reality game involving our actual bodies.

"So far, the goals have all been to survive or complete an unknown mission. This is most of what I know. Ignoring that scum, you can look for me if you awaken your Gamer Eyes in time. These eyes will be an advantage to help you stay alive longer. I also believe the same can be said for the monitor giving out more precise details.

"Keep in mind. Everybody is different. So not everything will work the same for everybody, but the best-known way to accomplish the Gamer Eyes is to search deep within yourselves and find your game system. Plug it up, and then installing it throughout your body will allow you to awaken your Gamer Eyes. However, I won't babysit anyone. If you fail, you are on your own." Her ending words were like a dagger cutting off a lifeline.

The hard truth left the group trembling. Not all could grasp the adaptability to trust an impossible proclamation — some needed evidence to believe it.

It was just how the majority of humans were. They would not accept change unless as a last resort.

However, for the young boy who still worried about his family, the instinct to survive was spiraling. He took everything in and digested it. His main objectives were finding a way to check up on his family's safety and whereabouts.

But to do that, he first needed to live.

"Hey, you! What's your name?" The young boy turned his head to see a skinny Italian man in red and black that could pass for a mafia boss, whispering to him.

"I'm Daniel. Daniel Games."

"Name's Douglas, or Boss Doug. Whatever one is easier, so, what do you make of this youngin? Do you believe her?"

Daniel gave the man an odd look. It was strange for a grown man to be seeking guidance from a teen. No less when the said guy could possibly be a person with a leadership background.

Was he testing his insights? Or was it an attempt to make friends in this weird unknown place? Did it really matter? The idea of clinging to somebody for protection, or making friends by giving an acceptable impression was the farthest thing from his mind.

Instead, it would be easier surviving by helping one person. That said person being himself since he didn't have the confidence that doubling his workload on saving another was within his capabilities.

"I don't know what to believe. But..." Daniel paused to give it a serious thought.

"But...?" Douglas still gave the voice of curiosity. However, his expression said he didn't care. If anything, it was more of an effort to calm his own nerves than seek an actual useful answer.

"...She doesn't appear to have the need to deceive us. Just take a glance at the six others dressed in similar black and grey robes. None of them show signs of confusion. Some are even amused. In fact, if you look closer, each one is armed and carrying a weapon. The old guy with grey hair in the group even managed to acquire a gun somehow."

"W-what?! A gun?! Wher—" Douglas panicked, hearing there was someone with a gun before spotting the concealed weapon hidden inside the old man's upper robe part by the tail signs of a small bulge near his right breast area.

"Dang! You're right! How I miss something that obvious."

Daniel nodded in acknowledgment while he also thought unconsciously, 'That old man should be left-handed.'

"You also witnessed how she easily subdued that big guy earlier. With an enclosed place that feels cut off from the rest of the world, do the strong need to lie to the weak? We are all defenseless with no weapons besides those seven. If a fight broke out right now, do you see yourself fairing well against Yoshioka[2] and the other six?

"Besides all this, it makes more sense to follow along when you cannot control the situation. It's the first basic way for the weak to survive against the strong."

It was something he learned growing up. It was like bullying. An individual only had two real choices when being bullied. You either followed along to lessen the beatings or fought back and hoped you were strong enough to end it.

The same applied to the current situation. They could refute the 'veterans,' and in return, receive their irk, or obey until they had the strength to oppose them.

Daniel had no issues agreeing to the tasks asked. Only when it conflicted with his morals would he choose the other option. After all, for the survival of his family, he would do anything.

[1] The Japanese name is being said/written with the surname first.

[2] Daniel believes her given name is Yoshioka.