Capture the Flags

The candidates were preoccupied when they found themselves getting pulled suddenly into the virtual game world.

The sudden change in environment took many by surprise, and some felt sick. However, the mood changed almost at once when they realised the Egg Hunt had started. Forgetting their sickness, everyone launched into action, contacting their guild and party members. Others who worked alone started hunting eggs for points.

There was no countdown for the event to begin, and some students fought each other. The bystanders left quickly, not wanting to get caught in the scuffles. Some were too afraid of leaving their spawn areas, while others were on the run as if they knew where they were heading.

Zen was disoriented for a while as people ran and shouted everywhere. He was in an unfamiliar place, and while his mind understood where he was, his body still felt sick from the transfer. One moment he was falling off the roof, and the next moment, he was in the laundry room. Why was he the only one who spawned here?

Before the gamer could react, he heard a voice reporting Guild Carnage's activities.

"Faceless here. Amazonian spotted in the library!"

"Tracer reporting in from the clock tower. Siren located in the game room."

"Oriole from the private dojo requesting assistance! Jack Shredder is chasing me!"

With so much information buzzing around his head, Zen could not focus. He was still in the laundromat, and the first thing he had to do was get to the kitchen. His party members were quiet, and Zen hoped they were safe.

"Weapons acquired," that was Liu Feng's voice. "Assemble in the kitchen."

Reassuringly, Sasha also reported dropping by in Oriole's area to rescue the girl. Zen was thankful for that. It would be a shame to lose Oriole without putting her hypnotising abilities to use. Before Zen could check on his area to make a break for the kitchen, he received a private message.

[Akiko "Death princess" Kanzaki sends you a message. "Where are you?"]

Zen quickly texted back that he would make his way to the kitchen from the laundromat when Akiko's instant reply made him stop.

[Akiko "Death princess" Kanzaki sends you a message. "Don't move! I will escort you. The newly applied guild members are making their way to capture the area flags. There is no Basilisk yet, and nobody found any eggs. The first stage is to conquer flag buildings for safe zones and point submission stations. Liu Feng is sweeping through them now."]

Hearing that there was a flag capturing mission, Zen weighed his options. He had no idea where those flags and buildings were as he hid in the laundromat. Hence, he focused on the guild conversations to piece what he could from their conversation.

So far, there were four confirmed capture points. The cafeteria was one of them, and Zen sent an order to prioritise the cafeteria and kitchen fortification. The three other places were the library that the Amazonian was guarding, the private dojo and the laundromat that Zen was currently in.

He paled. Was that why Akiko told him to stay put? Was he in the same situation as Oriole spawning in the worst location possible? As Zen hid, he wondered if Sasha and Oriole evacuated the private dojo. Party Undead should have occupied the private dojo and captured the library successfully. Guild Survivors should try and capture the cafeteria and laundromat to even the playing fields. These locations were rather centralised, and Zen wondered what the best strategy was. He had to avoid confrontation with Guild Carnage as much as possible while collecting points and materials to craft the Rainbow Egg.

"Reporting Party Prayer's arrival in the kitchen. Proceeding to spread out for information gathering."

Zen acknowledged Match's report and waited for Party Freedom to be gathered.

"This is Gambler! Tracer and I are on the run. Our location has been discovered. Requesting backup! Shredder is on our tail!"

With no time to rest, Liu Feng was already rushing to the scene, dishing out orders over the guild's communication channel. Zen cringed. The situation was more complex than he imagined. Yet, he never lost sight of their overall objective.

"For the newly joined guild members, move in small teams and lie low to wait for your opportunity. Target the pool and garden. Eggs will be spawning there. Use trays to collect them and submit them at the nearest submission centre that's non-hostile. If possible, send a team to gather weapons from the shooting range and equip every member. Meet at the kitchen for resources."

As soon as he said that, the door flung open, and Zen jumped a little from inside the huge dryer machine, peering from behind the curtain he stole to cover himself. At first, Zen thought the person who entered was Akiko, and he wanted to come out of hiding when he heard a man's laughter.

"Nobody's claimed this trash of a place yet? How wonderful. Three out of four places to capture. Those dumb Survivors won't last.

Zen felt his heart race, and fear gripped him. This was someone from Guild Carnage! He might not recall the man's name, but he remembered the rugged appearance.

The man who intruded was ripped and built! His arms were as thick as Zen's thighs, and he was very tall. He had sandy blond hair and bright blue eyes, but the scar over his right eye and sinister smirk told Zen that he wasn't here to make friends. If this person found him, Zen would die on the spot.

Now that he had a closer look, Zen remembered who this was. Felix "Hunter" Martin was a true Godfather candidate like him with unawakened blood. If Zen's memory served him well, this was the man who created his own gang and fought his way to the top 500 families. He was also Guild Carnage's vice leader and was ranked within the top 25%.

Felix kicked his legs up and hopped onto a huge washing machine, sitting on the thing while waiting for the point to be captured. As there was nobody around, it would take only a minute or less for this area's 'flag' to turn into Guild Carnage's submission centre. The man whistled carefreely until he noticed something odd.

A minute passed, but the flag's colour wasn't changing to his guild's colour. The game system should have changed this flag's colour according to the guild that captured it. If it remained neutral, those without guilds could come and submit their eggs for points. Johan wasn't that stupid to let small fries win. He wanted to take Survivors down too, but those sneaky bastards fortified the kitchen really well after getting their hands on weapons.

That only meant one thing. Someone else from a different guild or affiliation was here with him in this laundromat. Felix grinned and withdrew the weapon he got from the sponsors. It might not be a gun, but a dagger was also good.

Zen paled when he heard the blade getting unsheathed. He hoped Akiko came for him quicker. It wasn't difficult to find his hiding spot, and Zen wanted to cry. Maybe he should have trained some stealth abilities instead of sprinting before this.