A New Life [III]

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A Never-Ending Walk of Doubt

Rank || Secondary

Difficulty || ---

Task || Pass through the alleyway until you reach the end within 30 minutes.

Success || 100 gold; 5 stat points

Failure || Eternal mental turmoil debuff

﹂

「 The first primary game will be beginning in 1 minute. 」

Both of the holographic screens vanished then the surrounding red walls shifted colours, eventually forming the endless alleyway. The sky in this game was dark and the moon was full. All the streetlights seemed broken, and the shadows covered the entire street. We looked around the area within 1 metre of where we were standing. It all seemed way dirtier than previously.

"So we just have to go through? That seems easy enough."

Khai spoke and then the notification came back.

「 The first primary game will now begin! 」

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Primary Game || A New Life for Homo Sapiens

----

Welcome to the Stellar Games. We will make sure your experience is worth a lifetime. Your planet, and the entire galaxy at that, will go through a quick terraformation phase in order to fit the ruling celestial entity's image.

You are all now players of the games and if you refuse to participate you will be punished by the game moderators that will now start to enter the games. Your Stellar Abilities will soon be unlockable and spectators will start to watch, make sure to gain their favour!

The world is no longer what you knew it to be. It is no longer work to live, it is fight to live. Every single one of you will take at least one life, we guarantee, even if it is your own.

As a result of this transformation, the galaxy's natural defensive mechanisms will activate and this terrain will be rendered unsafe for life. Creatures from forgotten and destroyed worlds will come forth to battle in hopes of saving this system, including taking your lives. We recommend watching where you walk.

Good luck, and may the stars have mercy on your lives.

﹂

「 A conflict occurred between the ongoing secondary game and the beginning primary game. 」

「 The ongoing secondary game will be paused. 」

「 Returning back to the primary game. 」

The alleyway broke away into the same swarm of red pixels that formed it. Revealing the old alleyway, Khai and I stepped out of it and looked around. The sky was sparkling with red dots and falling stars. As promised, the terrain around us started to grow or deepen, freeze or melt, shake or break. Khai and I were almost separated but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

From certain parts, magma started to flow in steady streams, and in others, spikes of ice grew from the rugged grounds. The Earth's climate was shattering and wildlife appeared from all corners until a horrific sight appeared dangerously close to us.

I stared into the ginormous eye of an elephant taller than my office's skyscraper. Its body was covered in armour made of what seemed to be obsidian and gold, a classic combo in video games. It raised its trunk and released an ear-shattering sound of a broken trumpet. I was surprised to see the glass of the windows in buildings still standing, usually it'd fracture from something like that.

"That doesn't seem friendly."

「 The beginning of the first primary game has ended. 」

「 Returning to the paused secondary game. 」

The endless path came back into view and the breaking Earth could no longer be seen by either of us. The mutated and armoured elephant had also disappeared as soon as it appeared. Its physical body no longer weighed down the area and its noises were no longer heard.

So the games are a separate space?

"Welcome to my game."

Out of the shadows on the left walls, a short and slender creature walked into the alleyway dressed in a suit. From the left top of its head, one horn rose and it was neon blue in colour - and glowing - while its messy and spikey hair was bloody red. Its face remained neutral but the aura it had intimidated and threatened our presence, it was as if just being there was like asking for death.

"I'm tertiary game moderator Ervant. Welcome to 'A Never-Ending Walk of Doubt.'"

"Tertiary? Isn't this a secondary game?"

"That's not what that means idiot. My rank doesn't define what game I moderate, especially as we moderators moderate many games. We also usually stick to a group of specific people, so expect to see me often."

Why was Khai doubting this.. creature?

"I'm no creature, I'm a game moderator."

"You can read thoughts?"

"Can but usually don't. Anyways, we're beginning the game now. Have funnnn!"

Its body spiralled as it compressed into a small drop which fell onto the ground and absorbed into the concrete. Khai and I both stared at the ground where it had fallen, confused about what we just witnessed.

"Let's get to it, we only have like 25 minutes left."

"You first."

I felt embarrassed admitting that someone else should go first, but if something came to attack us then I'd be a goner. Khai looked at me in a mocking manner and laughed, worsening my embarrassment even further. I slapped the left side of his body and tried to push him forward, but then I remembered I had negative strength so it practically did nothing except shame me further. His laugh turned into a holler and I was surprised he wasn't on the floor. At this point, it was obvious he knew I required help if survival was going to be an option.

"You do remember the fact that if you fail to contribute I will leave you?"

"I'm contributing by watching your back."

He kissed his teeth and started to walk forwards, I followed closely behind. Even if it was meant to be never-ending I could see the exit at the end, which made the never-ending part sort of redundant until I knew what it meant.

As we got deeper, my mind started to feel weak and thoughts that didn't belong to me started to infiltrate.

You're useless.

End your life now, what's the point in going on?

Kill Khai. It'll make you stronger.

How will you survive without him?

My mind became an uncontrollable storm and soon my senses were overwhelmed and drowned out. I heard Khai's voice shouting out my name but it became muffled to the point I couldn't understand. The quickening beat of my heart took priority and soon it all went dark. I felt, saw, and heard nothing. As if I entered the void that at first brought along the powerful entity which ruined our world.

I tried to speak, but I couldn't. I tried to move my arms and legs, but I couldn't. It all felt like it was happening except it wasn't. The thoughts got worse with every passing moment. Their effect on my mind got stronger and the amount of them became uncountable.

All I could think about was how useless I was, how bad my stats were, how I achieved nothing special in life, and how I'd always been on the sidelines and never in the light. My entire life was spent waiting for it to finally begin. I knew my life was meaningless, but why did such thoughts only have an impact now?

Staring into the void, my mind succumbed to the influx of negativity and the beat of my heart slowed. It'd all be over soon and peace would find its way to me.

「 Khai ■■■■■ used the Stellar Ability 'Monk's Mind' on you. 」

「 It cleared away the effects of the secondary game's illusion. 」

「 Due to the Stellar Ability being used for the first time, its effect on you is minimal. 」

「 Due to the Stellar Ability being issued recently, its effect on you is halved. 」

I didn't see the red holographs but I felt their presence and text as if they were rooted in my conscience.

The darkness blurred away and the light came back to my eyes. I still felt the voices in my head try to drag me back in but they turned from cries to whispers. Khai's face was close to mine and my cheek felt soar, both did in fact. Was he slapping me?

Seeing that I woke up, Khai moved away and helped me to stand up.

"What was that?"

"Thought you were a goner, luckily I received that ability out of nowhere."

"I guess luck was on our side there. Can we get out of here?"

"Naturally."

I was still unable to walk straight so Khai pulled me along by my wrist. As stated, the effects of the ability were weak but it was enough to hold off the manipulation of the voices. What level was it that it could counter the game's main function while minimised?

"What level is that ability?"

"Uhh, I don't know. The moment I received it, I used it on you."

"So you didn't even know its effect?"

"You'd die either way."

"Fair enough..."

We walked for a bit in silence.

"Hey, how come nothing happened to you?"

"The voices are trying to drag me down, but I've experienced worse."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Enough questions please, using that ability made me lightheaded."

Guess we were both in a weak mental state at the time.

We were getting progressively closer until a notification came forth.

「 The spectators wish to see your companionship grow. 」

「 The game moderator has halved the duration, increased the difficulty, and moved the exit further away. 」

"WHAT?!"

I shouted. The voices were no match for the feeling I felt right now. With that duration decrease, we only had...

「 7 minutes remaining. 」

SEVEN MINUTES.

Plus the difficulty increase? Wasn't it hard enough?

「 The difficulty of this game has now been locked at S. 」

「 Player mental state will be evened across all participants to ensure difficulty equality. 」

The stats window opened by itself.

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Physical Strength || 0 + (-10)

Stamina || 0 + (0)

Mental Prowess || 0 + (7.5)

Durability || 0 + (0)

Stellar Affinity || 0 + (?)

﹂

If our shared stat was 7.5, that meant we both had a cumulative amount of 15. If I had 5 originally, he must have 10. Was that a lot?

I watched Khai struggle with his head, even smacking his free hand onto it to try and shake the thoughts out while the voices in my head got worse. Now it was time for us both to go down.