An enigmatic letter

"You know what, I'm sick of it!" Mei said this while starring at the ceiling. Her beautiful eyes were filled with tears and her sweet expression has changed.

Being an only child wasn't a big deal,but the fact that your mother expects you to be someone you're not. Painting and feeling satisfied when your painting gets attention and good words is more than enough for an average painter to feel satisfied. Art school was also an option but her mother never made it a priority. She wants her to be a fragile woman,a woman that can only survive at the touch of a man. She wanted her to be a player,to have all the boys in the village at her control so that the other mothers would be jealous. She always liked to wear clothes that give ancient feelings because as her mother she loved history.

Mei, you're going to have to endure it! I did not birth you to be a failure! All those people call you a prodigy,why can't you act like one?

"How is a prodigy supposed to act? Like a slave? Just leave me alone!"

What are you saying? Have you lost your mind,this is the chance of a life time, you're will be enrolled at the best college. You'll meet other prodigies like you,how can you stay there and cry when you were given such a chance?

"You don't have any idea on how I feel! The only person you think of is yourself and how proud is grandma going to be if I get there! Grandma said that I can do whatever I want!"

You're such a shame! You don't even know how much I spent on you and your stupid art supplies! You were stealing money to buy them even when I refused to buy you.

"What was I supposed to do when you didn't even care about my mental health? Painting is like an hobby for me,I want to make a living with it!"

Open the door or else I'm killing you with my bare hands!

"Kill me, I'm your offspring anyways!"

After a while,there was no noise to be heard,and the only noise she could hear was the sound of singing birds.

She could hear them since her room had a window through which they could sleep peacefully and sing as the days passed.

Hearing them sing was like receiving a divine blessing. They assisted her in gradually escaping the horror she was trapped in.

She was arranging her clothes in a wardrobe she'd had since she was a child, in which she kept a lot of things. She didn't say she needed them, but she did say she keeps them so she can remember who she was before the fame she thought she'll have.

Her mother compelled her to attend to college on the last day before she started. Her mournful expression hid all the things he sought to deceive.

Her being the result of an affair was also a problem to her vanity,her selfishness often showed up in different situations and it made her angrier and angrier until the anger ate her up till she was completely insane. Her life was at the hands of her mother now. She always carved with the sand trying to make a face, the face of a fragile girl,the sea waves always destroyed it,it was because there was no place for her work in a world full of haters.

One of the pigeons that often came to her window came this time with a letter in its beak.

Who could have been the one that send it?

It seems like it's such an enigmatic letter.

I can't even call it a letter even though it looks like one it's more of an invitation. At the game center? But it's an unusual name

"Shèjì lùjìng"

What kind of a name is "Shèjì lùjìng"?

When I noticed a small button on the invitation, I couldn't stop myself and pressed it.

"This is where the fun really starts!

Who are you?

"You may not recognize me, Mei... yet I'm your enemy.

I'm going to torture you until you beg me to return your freedom, but we have to pretend like I'm your friend for this to work."

Why would I ever pretend that my enemy is a friend?

"Instead, you should ask yourself how you're going to get out; after all, transmigrating to another universe doesn't seem like such a bad idea."

Transmigration?

My eyes slowly closed as I felt something stab me. All I could see was blood covering the area as I slowly pass out.

Where I'm?

"Hands up! Or else I'll cut your head off with this sword!"

Sword? Who are you?

"This is the thing I should ask you not the thing you should ask me!"

How I'm supposed to know who you are if you are the one waiting for an answer? At least tell me,quit playing around!

"Don't scream at me,you piece of crap! Who are you?"

Listen,calm down so I can say what I need to say. First of all I'm Mei and second of all I don't even know how I got there. Can you at least tell me your name so we can communicate better and without someone getting hurt?

"I'm Li Jie."

Ok,Li Jie,listen to me carefully, I'm from the real world I don't know how I got there!

"Wait a second,that means that we are the exact same? I'm a human too and I don't know how I got there. Sorry for my bad behaviour I just like to be protective, you see I have another girl with me she's scared and confused and I swore to protect her at any cost."

That's sweet, what's her name?

"Fen."

Ok so where is Fen?

"She's in the tent,just follow me and you will see it."

Ok.

After a little stroll,I finally see her,Fen.

White hair, pale skin, and hazel eyes. Her beautiful appearance could only be a reflection of the innocence she possesses,she didn't appear to understand what was going on, and she appeared to have been brought here for no apparent purpose. But one thing was clear,she just wanted to escape.

"W-who are you? Get away from me! I'm sure you're the one that caused my state! You came to kill me, right? Just do it,kill me! Just do it already!"

I'm not here to kill you,as you I don't even know how I got here. I was stabbed and then I woke up there.

"Then you're not gonna kill me?"

No,Fen, I'm not gonna kill you,calm down.

"Ok..."

Li Jie we have to find a way to escape.

"How can we do that when we don't even have a stable plan? We can't just go and beg for a new portal to appear..."

That's what we should try to not beg for one to appear.

"I think I recognise you from somewhere, you're Mei Wu!"

Where did you hear of me?

"You're known in my village as a great painter."

The field we were on started to shake and I felt dizzy again.

I woke up again but this time in a room full of people,next to Fen and Li Jie.

Fen! Li Jie! Wake up!

"Oh my,it seems like one of the players has woken up from the deep sleep I put her in."

"So then,the game can begin."

Game? What game are you talking about?

"This is the game you're playing right now. As a result, I may begin the explanation now that you've all awoken."

What are your plans for this round?

"You must fight each other until death, and I will set a timer for you. If you manage to stay alive you can go and clear round 2 but if you get killed you will be transferred back into the real world,dead or in some cases if you weren't an important player you will be transferred into nowhere."

Important player? What do you mean by that?

"I'm afraid that you'll need to understand this yourself, without me needing to say a word."

Important player? What does he mean by that? We need to kill each other?

"We're gonna have to kill each other! But I don't want to kill I want to get out of here with you and Li Jie!" Said Fen with a sad face,a tear falling down her check,what was Mei supposed to do? Stay here and wait for death to come?

Listen, Fen, you and Li Jie must stay with me till the end, okay? We have a chance if we work together. We just have to hide till this round is over.

Li Jie: You may have a plan but for the plan to work we need to have where to hide.

Mei: This room has also wardrobes and doors,maybe behind one door there is a safe place.

Fen: If I stay to think about it,I actually did think about the secret of escaping being a safe spot.

Mei: Exactly!

Panic had descended upon the room, and people were fighting like monsters with just the instinct to survive, eating one another with swords, knives, and even their bare hands.

Fen was clearly unwell since blood was flowing everywhere.

Does freedom really cause humans to kill one another just to win it? Why do we have to win freedom in the first place?

Li Jie: People are completely insane! Stop!

Mei: What exactly are you up to? If you distract them, they will attack you and kill you!

"You knucklehead-" With a knife in his hand, a man was already heading towards Li Jie.

*

Jie Li! What exactly did you do?

The man was now standing in front of Li Jie's sword, blood dripping down as Li Jie's garments slowly turned red.

"I killed him,did you think that there is any other way to stay alive and have a freedom instead of just killing? Don't worry I won't kill you and Fen."

If you won't kill us,then it's okay but I think that we should follow my plan.

"Then we'll follow it."

[Fireball]

What was that??

"What happened, don't you recognise me,Miss Mei Wu?

Wang Lixin??

"Yes, that's my name,I like the sound it makes when you say it,too bad that I'm your worst enemy."

You're the one that transmigrated me here, aren't you?

"Exactly and to clear this game you have to pretend we are friends. But for this to work your little team should disappear, especially...Fen."

You bastard! If you try to touch them, I'll kill you!

"With what? You don't even have a sword and I doubt that you even know how to use one. The only thing you know how to manage is the paintbrush and the canvas."

Are you sure about that?

"I'm sure about anything I said... I'm your enemy after all...besides your enemy I'm also your closest friend,do you want me to prove it to you? Then come with me!"

*

Was that an explosion just now?

"That's right, the explosion killed a large number of the 3000 people that were present. Only 2000 individuals remain. This was the whole goal of the game, to be smart enough not to die, which is why I led you to this area of the room since there are three squares on this level, as you can see. One each of blue, green, and yellow. Blue represents serenity, green represents nature, and yellow represents the sun. All of those things are positive, thus the safe corner is formally established."

"I'm s-scared" Said Fen with a scared look on her face,my guilty state didn't allow me to comfort her thinking that it's only my fault that Lixin did this...if only I wasn't so scared.

Shouldn't we go back?