1.7 Good Luck

[Exempted players, these are the cards dealt to you.]

As soon as the cards were accepted by the ten exempted players, the air sizzled, humming like a large computer whirring to life.

Thanh Van's fine hair over his arms spiked up, the electric currents in the air tingling his skin.

Well, this was something new, Thanh Van was sure this had never happened before in any of the other scenarios. Others seemed to feel it too, everyone's eyes widening, their movements restless as they looked around, trying to understand what was going on.

"W-where did the ten go?!"

The crowd stirred as they realised the ten players who had just now stood in the middle had vanished into thin air!

"M-Mo Yang?!" Senior Wu's eyes were like saucers as he stumbled forward, clawing at the air as if Mo Yang merely turned invisible. "H-he was just here!"

What the hell?! Thanh Van nearly cracked his jaw from holding back a curse. Where were the dead bodies? He had hoped that they might get chewed up by a blender and spat out like stringy minced meat. But no, not even a single speck of blood could be seen in the area the ten players had stood in. Did the system beam them out to outer space to freeze to death? If so, at least give them a live feed!

But no, they simply disappeared.

This was the most anticlimactic elimination Thanh Van had ever lived through. Maybe the system tried to piss him off to death - it seemed to be working. He would have a bone to pick with the system once scenario one was over with!

[Ranking completed.]

Before anyone could digest what had happened, hologram badges appeared before everyone's chests, burning brightly in the signature colours of each rank.

Only S-rank was missing from the dome. There were 5 spots at the top of the food chain, and only once scenario one was complete would the system name the top dogs of the entire game.

Sergeant Kruger's badge burned electric blue, Rank A, player no.3. Thanh Van had suspected sergeant Kruger to be one of the top players, if not even the top 5 just from his looks alone. Promising, Thanh Van would stay close to him for now to see his full potential.

Out of curiosity, Thanh Van raised his gaze, looking over at the other side of the dome. The amber eyes still looked his way, a political smile on his lips. Thanh Van offered him a shy smile before his eyes lowered on the badge burning on the man's chest - then turned away.

CEO Kim, bright yellow badge, Rank B, no. 101.

Hmm, not bad - but not that great either. Thanh Van would wait after scenario one before having any high hopes for this one. Even as his eyes trailed off, Thanh Van could feel the burning gaze linger on him - and he enjoyed every damn second of it. Bow before this perfect white lotus! Even if none of them had enough killing intent to send Lam Thanh Van to Hell, at least these men can cower at his feet for a little while before they are killed off one by one like damn flies.

A quick scan over the men in sergeant Kruger's camp proved Thanh Van's suspicions true. Most belonged to the A and B ranks, while the lowest fell on the C rank. Sergeant Kruger truly knew how to choose his men.

One by one, the badge appeared in front of each person, brightly glowing in shades of blue, green, yellow, purple, red, and orange, lighting up the dome like it was Christmas.

When a badge appeared on Thanh Van's chest, he nearly cracked his NPC skin.

The thing burned orange.

[Rank F, player 998]

God damn it, too bad he was playing the role of a little lost lamb, otherwise, Thanh Van would already be howling with laughter. Lam Thanh Van, the creator, was ranked F, only stronger than secretary Wilson and a C-lister Mo Yang.

Well played, system, well played. It was fitting for the thin and useless stature of the NPC skin named Ruan An. Blood rushed in his veins, and for once in a long time, Thanh Van felt truly alive. After receiving their ranks, they would enter scenario one. His cheeks had tinted red from excitement, but on the outside, it appeared that he was embarrassed by his ranking.

Sergeant Kruger also noticed the downcast eyes and the red tint that burned up to the shorter man's ears. It was quite pitiful.

His men stared at the two as if waiting for the sergeant to comfort the poor beauty - just, say something!

It was an awkward few seconds of staring before the sergeant cracked his lips open. "Stay with us if you want to live."

His men's eyes twitched ever so slightly. Sergeant…when talking to such a frail beauty, why do you sound so threatening?!

Thanh Van raised his gaze up to the looming man, green eyes drenched with tears, his lips trembling as he could only muster a nod.

Sergeant Kruger's gaze lingered on Thanh Van briefly before he tilted his head in acknowledgement and turned away, his neck alarmingly heated.

Of course, Thanh Van would stick with sergeant Kruger! At this point, this was the only man with the rank that could possibly rival his own and had the potential to truly be powerful enough to off Thanh Van. Keep your friends close, keep your enemies even closer.

Thanh Van had high expectations for the sergeant. He truly hoped the man could become his killer - that would be a great battle to death. Now, the only thing that he wanted to know more was who were the remaining top 4 of rank A?

[Scenario one will commence now.]

The ones ranked low were sweating buckets now, trying to float towards higher rankers in hopes they could be shielded if something terrible was to happen.

[Breaking the following rules will lead to immediate elimination.]

[Rule 1: Do not cause suspicion among NPCs. If the NPC suspects you do not belong to the scene, immediate penalties will be handed out.]

[Rule 2: Do not hurt your fellow players. Immediate penalties will be handed out based on the severity of the offence.]

[Any further mission tasks will be informed during scenario one.]

[Survival points and point shop will be available after scenario 1.]

The crowd shifted at this. "W-what? We can't use the point shop yet?"

"Aren't there, like, weapons, or medical supplies we should be able to buy?!"

"What if we are injured?"

Fools, Thanh Van sighed in his heart. How could there be any use for a point shop if none of them had even gained any survival points yet? They should be worried that they aren't deducted points if they are lucky enough to survive the scenario. Now that would be fun.

[Due to a large number of players, you are divided into groups of 40 to 50.]

[Ranking will be re-evaluated at the end of each scenario. Good luck and try not to die.]

The crowd broke into a panic as the words sunk in. No matter who they might try to stick to, there was no guarantee that they would end up in the same scenario.

As if the sun above was covered with a pitch-black curtain, the dome fell into darkness.