Task-2

It has been nearly half an hour since I heard from Mr.X.

As I was relaxing beside the machine I began speculating about what is going to happen to those who were disqualified.

Whether it's all fake or real or a game it's taking it too far.

"Shot!"

"!?" I heard a gunshot. That's the signal I guess...

"~HELLO EVERYONE, THIS MARKS THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND TASK. LET ME TELL YOU THE RULES OR... MAYBE NOT. I AM NOT INTERESTED IN TELLING YOU HOW WILL THE SECOND TASK COMMENCE, IT'S A DRAG, SO JUST LOOK INTO YOUR MACHINE SCREENS AND IT WILL YOU~"

"BEEP-BEEP." the machine made the same sound whenever a new notification came or something new came up.

"CONGRATULATIONS ALLEN YOU ARE NOW IN THE TOP 15 POSITION. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS FOR THIS TASK IS 25."

"..."

"AFTER EVERY 10 HOURS A SUPPLY BOX WILL BE DROPPED ANYWHERE ON THE ISLAND. IT MIGHT CONTAIN FOOD, CLOTHES, ARMS, AND AMMUNITION. YOUR TASK IS TO SURVIVE FOR THE WHOLE ONE WEEK." they aren't specifying what will be in the supply box?

"ALSO WE HAVE ALLOWED A CERTAIN NEW OPTION THIS TIME." this time? Does it mean this happened before also?

"WITH THE HELP OF POINTS YOU CAN ORDER SPECIFIC THINGS. IT WILL BE SHIPPED TO YOU THROUGH THE SUPPLY BOX ONLY." doesn't that mean that we can just pick up the items someone else ordered?

"ALSO FROM THIS POINT ONWARDS AFTER EVERY 12 HOURS, ONLY 50 POINTS WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU. POINTS WILL ONLY BE GIVEN IF THE PERSON IS WITHIN A RADIUS OF 5 METERS FROM THE RESPECTIVE REGISTERED MACHINES. IF A PERSON MOVES AWAY EVEN AN INCH AFTER 5 METERS NO POINTS WILL BE GIVEN." isn't that a problem? I mean if we were to pick up something from the supply box we might have to leave our spot.

Most probably they made the supply box drop after every 10th hour so that we have to choose between the supply box or the points.

"THE PERSON HAS TO CHANGE ITS LOCATION AND MOVE ONTO A NEW LOCATION. THE REASON BEING THAT THE MACHINES WILL BE REBOOTED AND THE SAME MACHINE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO REGISTER THE SAME PERSON TWICE. AND NOW ONLY 5 OUT OF 12 HOTSPOTS WILL OPERABLE." So now I have to find some other hotspot and fast also.

"LET THE ELIMINATION BEGIN!"

"!?" I heard another gunshot but, why?

At this point, I am now certain that they are going to kill us.They just said that 'let the elimination begin. What else could they mean by that?"

Whatever the case is, I just need to survive till the end. That's all I can do right now.

...

Almost an hour has passed and I still don't have any lead on where the other hotspot could be.

I had hoped that maybe I could find someone or anyone to ask for their hotspot so I could just swap theirs with mine but unfortunately, I didn't find a single soul.

Now that I think about it I haven't seen Liz I wonder where are they now? Maybe they got disqualified? Who knows, if they didn't get disqualified I would be able to see them sometime soon right?

Also, I noticed that I am in the top 15 so it means that few have more points than me but how come?

One possibility is that they combined points but it must have led to an elimination of the others who contributed so most probably no one would be willing to give away their points.

Another possibility is that they forcefully took others' points. That could be the most likely cause.

...

"Hey, we discovered it first...!" I heard someone yelling deep in the forest, so naturally, I strolled in that direction thinking I might be able to swap hotspots with them...

"Huh! We came here first!"

By the time I reached it, a brawl had already started.

By their looks, I guess they both came at the same time and neither party doesn't want to let this hotspot go.

"You wanna fight...!"

"I could take you all on!"

The conversation is getting heated up.

One party consists of two girls and one boy, on the other hand, the other three are all boys.

Should I step in to stop? Nah...

"We were the ones who came first so it's ours."

"Oh, is that so!? If so, then we were the ones who saw it first. It means it's ours, right?" are they stupid? I mean they could just swap their hotspot right?

"Don't get cocky you bastard...!"

"Tsk."

"Did you just click your tongue at me!?" Oh man, I even want to acquire a hotspot before dark. I think it's better to step in now. I could just take any one side.

"Umm... excuse me..." I stepped out of the bushes.

"Who are you?" The first one to react was the one who looked most irritated.

"I was just passing by and heard some quite loud voices from this direction so I just stumbled upon here."

"Now leave."

"That's harsh... anyway I didn't want to eavesdrop but I heard enough to hear both of your problems and I could figure out how to solve it."

"What?"

"I said I could solve both of your problems."

"Is that so? Then tell us." they all looked at me with suspicion. It is natural for them to be suspicious of me.

"But in return, I also need a hotspot."

"Huh!"

"No way." They straight out rejected me. Well, that's to be expected.

"You know I could have just registered my name in the machine while you three were quarreling but I didn't do that. Do you know why?"

"... Why?" Yes, they took the bait.

"Because I don't want to fight my schoolmates and also it would be unfair for you all if I secretly did that. I just want everyone to survive." It's all a lie. I am just spouting lies.

Just like a saint, I will make them believe that I want everyone to survive, but the truth is I don't care if everyone dies until I survive in the end.

"..."

"I don't like to fight between my peers for just a trivial problem. If you could agree to my terms we all could survive this." I feel like throwing up.

"... I also don't want to fight between my peers..." as soon as one of the girls said that the other agreed to listen. Fools.

"They said that we cannot re-register our names again in the same machine so we have to find some other, right?"

"Get to the point."

"I am getting to the point... Why don't you two just swap your machine location? It's a win-win, right?"

"... why didn't we think of it?" Maybe you all are idiots?

"Yeah, I could agree to it."

"So can I register now?" I said.

"Yeah sure but tell us your hotspot location first."

"Oh, just walk straight in that direction and take a slight right turn. It might take some time. It took almost half an hour. Ah, also one more thing the hotspot has a river flowing through there." it's a basic concept to make others take the bait.

Don't just tell them the answer, tell them by exaggerating it, it will make them believe it more. Make the answer more tempting.

"I-is that so. Then we are going there." all boys group decided to take that hotspot.

"No! We will take that spot. Girls need water more than boys." oh boy, don't start it again.

"What?!"

Before they start disputing again I shall register my name in the machine without further ado.

I silently walked towards the machine without anyone noticing.

"WELCOME ALLEN. YOU HAVE ACQUIRED A HOTSPOT."

"No way we decided to take it first."

"You take some other, we will take that."

"Now, now why don't we all calm down first?" if they want to fight go somewhere else don't shout so loudly.

"Hmph!"

"It looks like both of you want that place so why don't we just leave it to luck?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Just play a stone paper scissor and whoever wins will take whichever place they wish to take. Fair enough?"

"... okay."

"Fine..."

"Beep-Beep!" What now?

I turned to see what it was.

It was the machine who made the noise. It was different from the machine from earlier.

"YOU HAVE A NEW NOTIFICATION."

TO BE CONTINUED...