Chapter 9

Rye's POV:

What the hell is happening?!

Loud screams accompanied by tormenting screeches could be heard everywhere.

The sky is dark, so dim. The few sunlight that passes through could barely illuminate the scene.

The situation couldn't be worse as more deaths pile up in the lobby. In pop another person, then another one, then sometimes three at once. It's like a flood gate collapsed and the number of new blankers won't stop!

"Who are you?! Where is this place?!"

"Help! Somebody save me!"

I've never seen anything like this. This placed of filled with chaos. Everyone panicked and desperate. There are also a big amount of unconscious blankers lying all over the ground.

"Somebody! Kill me! Anybody!"

"Where are you, Inuya?! Please, don't leave me alone like this!"

I can hear more screams of agony. My body aches with pain. There's so much pain in their voices.

A blanker had sat on a nearby wall. His whole was body trembling with fear. He held his head tightly and muttered incoherent words.

Another guy stood there scratching his face intensely. His skin tore off but that didn't stop him. All this time he screamed to what I can only imagine to be extreme pain.

This isn't like me. Why aren't I helping them? I was the type to complete drop what I'm doing to help an elderly woman carry her things.

I continued to walk aimlessly. The sheer number of chaos is uncountable. The screaming just gets louder and louder. I finally stopped.

A lady screamed in anguish as she bangs her head against a nearby wall, denting her head even more and more each time she repeated it. She didn't stop until her body couldn't take it anymore and collapsed.

I stood there watching her. Why isn't my body moving?! My legs are frozen in place. What the fuck?! Move! Move! Why won't you move?!

"Don't come any closer! Stay away from me!"

I turned my head slightly to the side.

"Sir, you have to calm down! Please explain to us what happened in Worlds!" A  blanker wearing a badge tried calming the person down. He's from the rescue team.

"Stay away from me! Ahhh!"

"Please! Tell us what happened!"

"I don't know! I don't! Don't hurt me!"

"What happened?!"

"I don't remember anything! I don't know! I don't know!"

The blanker smashed his head on the floor and stayed like that. His body was trembling more than ever.

"What is your name?" The man from the rescue team tried a gentler voice this time.

"I don't know. I don't know. I don't know." The traumatized man could only mutter these few words.

"What stage are you on?"

"I don't know. I don't know."

"Who were you with?"

"I don't know. I don't know."

"What's the last thing you remember before coming here?"

"I don't know. I don't know."

"Your age?"

"I don't know. I don't know."

"Gender?"

"I don't know."

The man seemed to have calmed down a little. He started crying.

"I don't remember anything."

"EVERYBODY, CALM DOWN!" Kenji yelled at the top of his lungs from some meters away.

No one stopped. Kenji's voice was barely audible amongst the screams of terror and cries of desperation.

The situation only gets worse. Nothing is right.

The guy from the rescue team continued questioning the crying man.

"Where were you?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

He's completely broken down.

"Do you remember what day is it?"

"Sorry. I'm sorry."

Suddenly, multiple lightning struck at the same time. Followed by a barrage of thunders. Then it began raining. This is the first time I've seen a weather change here in the lobby.

Something feels off. It's upsetting me that I don't know what it is. The rain poured down on us.

It was then...

"Testing!"

Hades' voice boomed in my head after the thunder subsided.

Huh? Is that...?

"Hello, hello. Hello everyone. It's your favorite talking skeleton!"

Even amidst the rain, I could make out a dark figure flying on the sky. It was surrounded by black mist. No doubt that's Hades.

Why? Why is he here?! Is he connected to the sudden huge drop in deaths? It's not even 51 days yet! Why is he here?!

"As you all probably already know, everyone in Worlds is currently dropping dead like flies."

He paused for a moment to check if he gathered everyone's attention.

"I wasn't going to reveal myself until the last month before launch, but if you're all here already, I might as well start today."

As if the huge amount of confusion and panic surrounding us wasn't enough, Hades had to come at the worst possible timing.

"And now, I would like to propose to everyone here a game. If you win, you get to live. If you lose, you die. Simple right?"

People who still had their sanity stared at each other exchanging glances. Some snapped out of their confusion and tried to process what's happening. But the majority are still in a confused state and breaking down.

"The rules of this game is simple, even children can understand it! You are now given a set of time to complete a goal, 7 days to be specific. During this time, you must kill at least one person if you want to survive. Failure to do so will result in your own destruction after the timer is up."

"However, it's not all just bad news. We love to reward hard working users. If you successfully murder another user within your given time, you will also receive a Survivor title. The title will grant you a one time effect to completely nullify a lethal attack and then disappear forever. Think of it as having a second life. Isn't that simply amazing?!"

"That's not all! If you're feeling feisty, you can aim to kill a total of 3 users. This is a bonus reward and is not necessary to complete. But if you do accomplish killing 3 living users, you will receive the title Manslaughter. This title grants you the ability to consume meat raw and cleanse any disease within it. Don't you think it's perfect for eating humans?"

"And finally, the last reward, given only to a single person. The title of Genocide. How do you get it? Be the sole person to have the highest kill ratio among everyone else. Since this is a special title given only to a single user, it's a very big reward. When equipped, it grants the user a 2x times increase in ALL drop rates. That's 200% the amount, it's basically killing two of the same boss in one battle. Surely you all want it."

"And that is everything I have to announce. Oh, and don't even think about holing up in your dorm! It'll be impossible in a few seconds! Happy killing!"

Hades let loose an uncontrollable laugh as he slowly vanished.

"Kill?" One of the emotionally unstable blanker repeated the word.

"I just have to kill someone, right?" Another person spoke up.

"I'll die if I don't do this. I'm sorry..." a different person reached his hand towards a crying child.

Everyone seemed so cooperative. It can't be helped. This isn't the first time they saw Hades. The trauma from that time we first got transported must still be lingering. They are too afraid to think for themselves at this point.

"3...2...1..."

"LISTEN UP, EVERYONE!" The synchronized shout of Kenji and his rescue team resounded louder than thunder.

The crowd turned to the direction where it came from. Now Kenji finally had everyone's attention.

"I'm not as good of a leader as Yamato. And I know a majority of you aren't even a part of the clan. But I want everyone here to listen to what I have to say! I have information that will benefit all of us and I know everyone here has information regarding what's happening in Worlds, too. Now is a better time to cooperate than ever."

He paused for a while to observe everyone's reactions.

The person next to Kenji stood out and started speaking for him.

"I am Hiruko. Secretary of our Eternal Flare clan and leader of the current rescue squad! As of this moment, in order for me to gain your trust, I will tell you everything about the lobby. For starters, you cannot die here! If your body ever becomes hurt or misshaped, it will revert back to it's original state in minutes. In conclusion, we are all currently unkillable."

Everyone listened intently, with some still struggling to regain their proper state of mind in the background. But for the most part, everyone is listening.

A loud gasp interrupted the atmosphere.

"She's not moving! It's been over 10 minutes! The dent on her head is still as severe as before! She's not moving at all! It's as if... she's dead!" The girl next to the body screamed out in terror.

Everyone fell into a panicked state. The skeleton was right. Death is right there, in front of them. They were lured into a sense of security and lied to. Everyone became enraged.

The ability to freely alter the rules in your surroundings.

I suddenly remembered Hades' words in room 5543. Did he mean that by this? I could've actually died back then?

My legs begun shaking. Huh, I'm scared? I lifted my right hand to see it shaking just as uncontrollably.

I tried to stop it with my other hand. But a trembling hand isn't going to stop another trembling hand.

"You lied to us!"

"You were planning to lure us in so you can kill us yourselves!"

"How dare you!"

"You're all bullshit!"

"Kill them. We should kill them first!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Kenji's voice roared shutting everyone up.

He took a deep breath and tried to control his voice.

"I do not know how this has happened and why. And I'm not going to fucking explain myself. But right now, let me explain to every single one of you here why mindlessly killing each other will not be beneficial anyone here. Not you. Not me."

Some were still skeptical, but for the most part were still listening.

"The skeleton gave us 7 days in total. That means we have time to construct a different strategy to survive without having to shed any blood. If we do exactly what the skeleton wanted us, at least half of everyone will have to die. Your own survival rate is only 50%! Not to mention you still have to protect your own lives from other. We must avoid killing each other and leave the mere thought on the matter right now for when things take to the extreme."

That seemed to have calmed everyone down. It was a very logical reasoning. But I didn't hear any of it. Because...

"That said, anyone who dares to hurt or even plot against another will be hunted down by the entire Eternal Flare clan. If you decide to go against the order given to you, we will take you down with proper judgement. Attacking another person means you're making an enemy of the Eternal Flare clan! This is the decision of I, Kenji, the second-in-command of the Eternal Flare clan!"

The surrounding people stayed silent. Each of them processing what's just been said.

People who originally planned to kill have to stop themselves in order to not make an enemy out of everyone. Afterall, there is now no reason to kill each other.

My expression hardened. No, it had nothing to do with what's happening around me. No, I could care less about them right now.

Hades spoke to me in my head while Kenji was giving his speech.

A cold sweat dropped from my face. I recalled back to what he said.

"I hope you don't mind my untimely return. I'm sure you heard everything. Looks like your other friend isn't around, blue ribbon boy. Then help me relay this message to him, and it's for you as well."

I sprinted with everything I had.

"I'll be waiting for you both in the dormitory. Sadly, it won't be today. After all, the road between us will soon be engulfed in darkness. I look forward to our next battle. You will find me on the same location. Room 5543."

I ran and ran. The rain continued to poor down on my body. It feels strangely heavy on my body but it made me able to run. I was able to get there quickly, but...

It's too late. The road. I can't see the road. It's completely dark. As if I'll fall into nothingness if I take another step.

All the energy drained from my feet as I kneel there. I can't do anything other than stare at it. As I stare at it, the nothingness stared back.

Mea.

Mea. Mea. Mea. Mea. Mea. Mea. Mea. Mea. Mea. Mea. Mea.

She's on the other side.

She doesn't know combat.

Is she okay?

What if something happened to her?

What will I do if...

...

I stood up.

I'll save you no matter what, Mea. Even if I have to walk through nothing.

~~

Hajime's POV:

We arrived at the scene where the center of the cyclone seemed to be.

We both heard Hades' voice in our heads. I confirmed with her on our way and she informed me that she heard it too. It wasn't just me alone.

As of the moment, we decided it would be a better plan to have a general idea of the situation before we make our move.

I said "we" but flat chest made it clear that she does not intend on killing anyone and never will even at the expense of her own life.

Over the distance, I could see a huge group of people crowded together as they sat on the floor. On the other side seemed to be the people with authority. I was also able to distinguish the rescue team thanks to the badge under their chins.

"Sir, we have currently retrieved 44 clan members. As the current amount of deaths continued to rise, we have no way of estimating the total loss at this moment."

"Good work, return back to your station." Kenji's voice commanded.

This is one of the rare occasion where it actually make you remember he's still the second-in-command of the entire clan.

Another person came up to Kenji.

"Sir, we've confirmed the road back to the dorm is already blocked off by the darkness. It will be unsafe to travel the path without any light. I suggest we stay here for the time being."

"I know that. I'll leave you to split the space equally between everyone. It's better if we're close at all times. Make sure to find a good location where there are several buildings nearby and report back to me."

"Yes, sir!"

And with that, the second person walked out.

"Sir, there is still no reports of Yamato." That's Hiruko's voice. I've met him before so I recognize his voice.

"That's a good thing, he might still be alive. Have you gathered any other information on what's happening on the other side?"

"No, sir. Everyone we've questioned so far all have no recollection of what happened and which stage they were in. Not even their own names."

"How many have we questioned as of this time?"

"Almost two hundred, sir."

"For now, assign someone to lead them to our temporary camp. They deserve the rest they need."

"Yes, sir."

The rain has drastically decreased by now. Though, it's still pouring non-stop. I noticed her walked towards Kenji with determined steps.

"I don't suggest it." I said out in a monotonic voice. It didn't matter to me if she didn't hear it.

She halted for a bit. She didn't turn back to look at me nor ask why. I'm sure she knew as well but I still wanted to confirm it with her.

"If you tell them now, not only will you put your life in danger but they'll also try to constantly keep you around, especially after the official launch of Worlds. Worse case scenario would be they force you to join their clan and restrict your movements and also try to pry on you for the archive's location. I believe you're well aware of how dangerous and valuable the information you're currently holding are."

"I know that. But they won't pro..."

"Then I understand." I cut her off. I knew her intentions already. It's best not to waste her time any further after seeing her so determined.

"Talk to you later."

She continued her march towards the current commander of the Eternal Flare clan. The top leading raid clan in Worlds.

She's planning to explain to Kenji what's currently happening on the other side. How deaths are constantly flooding in, and why they don't remember it.

Disaster monsters. They will begin to appear starting from stage 9 and up going to stage 16, the final stage. These monsters are always exceptionally strong and are better avoided than confronted. The main purpose they serve is to maintain the ecosystem in the stages.

Each different disaster monster vary in their way on contributing to their ecosystem. And some stages have more than one species of disaster monsters.

The ones we are dealing right now are called Phantom Sharks. This is a very hard type of monster to avoid for the very first disaster monster ever. The game masters are really setting the difficulty up after stage 7.

An individual Phantom Shark can float and swim freely in the air. This basically means the entire sky can be considered it's hunting ground. Phantom Sharks can also pass through wall and objects like ghost.

Because they can pass through objects, that also mean weapons are ineffective against them. However, they are not without weakness. Elemental and light-based attacks will greatly damage them.

What's the most problematic of these disaster monsters is the fact they travel in swarms. They will swim together in a huge swarm, eating everything on their way like piranhas. You can't outrun them as they are very quick in the air.

Another weakness of the Phantom Sharks lies on their behavioral instincts. Even though they hunt in groups, they only appear at night. And a disaster level of this type will only last one night before they completely move on to a different location.

Taking all these into mind, it shouldn't make sense that so many people are dropping at such an alarming speed, right?

Well, these Phantom Sharks attacking at night might be the exact problem causing these deaths. Night time is the optimal time of the day to rest. And since no one know about these disaster level monsters, they also had no means to prepare. They were caught off guard by three major factors. A false sense of security, lack of information, and it's worse possible timing.

Phantom Sharks shouldn't even be able to even cause this degree of damage in the first place. They are dangerous, but not a complete calamity.

The only hypothesis I could think up of is that they cleared stage 8 just very recently. Killing a stage boss will transport everyone from that stage to the next one. And since everyone is gathered at one place from the beginning, it's only obvious that they would first stay on the nearest town before actually scattering off to each explore their desired areas.

This unfortunate timing accompanied by the attack at night is what possibly wiped out I would guess around half if not more of the remaining survivors in Worlds. Flat chest isn't stupid, she might be explaining my exact hypothesis to Kenji at this moment.

As for why people can't remember anything? That's because Phantom Sharks only attack active brain cells. They can bypass the skull completely and directly attack someone's mind. And when you lose a part of your brain, you die.

So what happens if you died but then got  teleported to the lobby? And that's the result we have now. Everyone who died here have had their most recent memories taken from them. People who have regenerative powers will only be chowed down over and over and lose more memories. Until they become nothing but an empty shell. It's truly a tragedy.

This sounds impossible to clear. Imagine having half of humanity's entire forces wiped out in a single night on stage 9. How difficult would the last stage be? But Thing is, we weren't even made to clear the game in this run.

It made sense if we actually think of ourselves as real beta-testers. Only a selected few who get to try the game out on it's earlier stages of development. If this is currently a beta-test, the official launch of Worlds will have significantly more people than just 7000. And with even double that amount, it's already an extremely good addition to our power.

Remember how I mentioned the Phantom Sharks somehow contribute to the ecosystem? You see, many monsters in stage 9 have regenerative traits and high survival rates. Without a proper prey, they can easily over populate an area causing major issues.

These Phantom Sharks will attack anything in their path, including monsters. Though they can't completely kill these monsters, they are able to completely eat out their core. And without a core, these monsters will not be able to operate. Basically becoming corpses lying on the ground.

Two people followed by another group behind them walked into my line of sight.

"Hey, Kenji wants to investigate the archives. You don't mind, right?" It's flat chest.

"Hello, Hajime. I know that you may not be part of our clan, anymore. But I would like to request for your cooperation with us as well regarding this hidden archives in the library." Kenji bowed his head slightly.

"Sure, I don't mind."

It's not like I could refuse in this situation. They are more than ready to use force if I decided not to cooperate with them.

"In that case, please follow me. I will guide you to the archives." Flat chest went ahead of them and walked beside me.

"I figured I should also ask for your permission since you're using the archives, as well. So I brought them along. To be honest, I didn't expect you to agree so easily." She whispered loud enough for me to hear.

Judging by what she's saying, it appears that she hadn't thought of the Eternal Flare clan using their authority on me. Isn't she trusting them way too much?

"Well, I already had my share of information. Besides, you were the first one to discover it. So what you do with it is completely up to you, really."

She blushed a bit and stared at the ground. Did she not expect me to be this cooperative?

To be honest, I don't like the idea of revealing the archives to a clan leader, even if they have a good reputation.

The most likely outcome I could think of is them hogging in all the information for their own use. Just like the two of us. But unlike us, they are a whole clan.

They have the ability to restrict EVERYONE from entering the archives, and I wouldn't be surprised if it included us. Then the leaders would take the information for themselves and have an upper hand against others.

I haven't completely finished reading all of it. No, not even half of it. But the information I've gathered so far should be more than enough for me. And like I said, the rightful person to decide is her. This is an unavoidable loss that I should accept.

"We're here." She stopped in front of the door and opened it.

The group made no hesitation to enter the library and didn't take long before everyone is inside.

Flat chest walked up to the usual bookshelf.

"It's just behind this bookshelf."

She tilted the book exactly the same angle as she did every single time. But this time was different. The bookshelf did not move an inch.

She became visibly confused. She place the book back and did the same procedure. Nothing happened.

"That's weird."

"It's just behind that bookshelf, right?" Kenji confirmed with her.

She nodded.

"This is the first time this happened. Normally it would move to the side revealing an entrance to the archives."

"Understood, we'll take it from here." Kenji motioned his men.

Three people quickly heed his command and begun pushing the bookshelf. At first, it wouldn't budge at all. Then it made a slight creak and got pushed along by the three man's power. The bookshelf is now on the side.

"Huh?" Kenji confusion was just as visible as everyone's.

Where the entrance used to be is now a wall. The exact same texture of the other walls in this library.

There was no entrance in sight.

~~

Mea's POV:

I heard the voices. That same exact voice I heard upon first arriving into the mess that is Worlds. I just know it's the skeleton's voice. Only that skeleton will have such an inhuman voice.

And that's why I know for a fact that everything it said is true. Not again... this is so fucked up. Why do we have to kill each other even here in the lobby?

Should I head back to the dorm? But Rye isn't back yet... The path is getting darker and darker. He won't make it back at this point! I have to calm down.

Maybe he decided to stay in the starting zone for the mean time. He's that type to help people in need even when he's own life is in danger. Knowing him, he's probably stopping a quarrel right now and talking some sense into people.

I shouldn't need to worry about him. I know he'll be alright. For now I should head back to the dorm and see what everyone else's thoughts are.

Since I was just at a nearby park, the way back only took me not more than a hundred steps. A strange thing is floating atop the entrance...

Huh?

My body froze upon closer inspection of this foreign robe. That torn up robe, I've seen it before. I knew it's the skeleton the exact moment I caught my eye on it.

But why is it here? Doesn't he just announce things and then leave? Why is he staring at the dorm like that...?

"Commandment." It spoke out.

A huge curved blade appeared out of thin air. It's silver linings reflected the lights of nearby street lamps. A large stick extends from the end of the tip, which the skeleton is holding. It's an abnormally big scythe.

What is he doing with that?

The skeleton raised his scythe, curving it's angle like he's about to cut someone in half. No one was there?

He sliced the air sideways, like how you would cut grass with a scythe. Nothing happened.

I stared intently, what is it doing?

Suddenly a bright line extended from one end of the dorm to the other end. It vanished as quickly it appeared.

Before I knew it, the ground I was standing on began shaking. The higher side of the dorm intercepted by that bright line began sliding off to the left side. As if it's another object. As if it got sliced off.

I couldn't move my eyes from what I'm seeing. The entire upper floor starting from floor 3 to the highest floor crashed to the ground and the now unbalanced building slowly dropped to it's side like domino.

Soon the ground ceased shaking. But my legs haven't. I lost all my strength in them and fell on my butt. What?

What just happened? What I saw was the skeleton slicing a 100+ story building in half as it crashed down. Am I seeing things?

It felt so real. The sound, the earth vibrating as the building collapsed. I don't want to believe it. It's just ridiculous. That's impossible. How can I be so sure? I don't even know what's impossible and not anymore.

I don't see the skeleton anymore. It just disappeared as abruptly as it made it's entrance.

With one swing...

Did it just kill everyone inside the dorm with a single swing?