Chapter 4

2 Days Later

Waiting outside the tower Eleri looked around and found that there were more players than she thought would participate in the raid

There were over 500 players currently waiting when they suddenly heard the familiar mechanical voice

-Ding!

- The raid will begin in 10 seconds

- 10, 9, 8, 7,…

Everyone gulped down as their muscles tensed up. Eleri clenched her knuckles and backpack as she squinted her eyes

-... 4, 3, 2, 1

- Ding!

- The raid begins, I wish you a good dream dear dreamers!

*****

Opening her heavy eyelids Eleri looked around and found that she was inside a black room with the floors, walls, and ceiling all completely dyed in black

As she slowly sat up she heard a familiar voice

Draven: [Awake?]

"Draven?"

Draven: [Yeah?]

Hearing his sarcastic voice Eleri snorted as she said "You already knew from the start, did you?"

"That the game is not only online on dreams but is actually in reality…"

Draven didn't speak but that already gave Eleri the answer which made her scoff. As she stood up she suddenly heard the familiar mechanical voice prompt

- Ding!

- The game you will be playing is a 1 v 1 game, please wait for the matching process!

As she heard this she furrowed her eyebrows as she thought 'So it's a one on one game, huh? Then oit means only one of us can survive'

- Ding!

- Player has been matched!

As the words fell a wooden table suddenly appeared in the center of thr room as a person appeared at the other end of the table

The person appeared in a pixel like style until it finally showed the appearance of a human being

Eleri widened her eyes in surprise, the person opposite to her was a boy in mid-twenties with amber hair and eyes he had a calm expression

Seeing this she thought 'So this is not his first time playing'

Pushing up his golden rimmed glasses it made him even look more elegant, wearing a black suit with golden cuffs

Eleri: "…" Wow he really had the time to look all neat in this situation

She then shrugged as she thought 'Well I'm not one to talk. Speaking of which where the fuck is my bag?'

Suddenly a black silhouette emerged from the side, wearing a red suit with white cuffs the silhouette has a human shape figure but his face was covered in a white crying mask

Placing his right hand on his chest he bowed to both Eleri and the other as he said [I'll be the dealer ion this game, nice to meet you]

[In another name you could call me the Judge for this second floor]

Eleri stared at him intently before retracting her gaze

Seeing this the crying mask man then raised his hand and suddenly a deck of cards appeared out of thin air

Placing it down he held it with both hands as he shuffled it swiftly and neatly. He then said [I guess both guest are impatient right now so I'll be starting]

Both didn't said anything but in reality both of them were listening tentatively and watching the crying mask man's every movement

[This game you will be playing is very simple, it is the <Game of the Generals>, has any of you ever played it before?]

Eleri nodded and said "I've played it before"

The boy also nodded as he pushed up his glasses and said "I also did"

The dealer then said [Excellent, if that's the case then you should understand this much more easier]

[In the game you knew the goal is to capture the flag out of the opponent and is played on a board]

[But in this game the goal is to simply win by having higher points over your opponent. You will also be playing it by cards instead of a board]

Eleri thought of something and said "So to put it simply the game is only about the pieces getting challenged?"

[That's correct, each side will choose one card to play, once both sides have chosen on who they will put on the challenge I the dealer will peek on both cards and determine on whether who wins and who loses]

[The winner in the challenge will be determined by which card has the higher rank over the other]

[From the highest rank 'General of the army' to the lowest rank 'Spy']

Both Eleri and the boy nodded seeming to understand the rules. Eleri already knew the ranks and who is stronger over the other

From the lowest to highest are 'Spy (2 prying eyes) -> Private (1 chevron) -> Sergeant (3 chevrons) -> 2nd Lieutenant (1 magdalo triangle) -> 1st Lieutenant (2 magdalo triangles) -> Captain (3 magdalo triangles) -> Major (1 magdalo 7-ray sun) -> Lieutenant Colonel (2 magdalo 7-ray suns) -> Colonel (3 magdalo 7-ray suns) -> Brigadier General (1-star) -> Major General (2-star) -> Lieutenant General (3-star) -> General (4-star) -> General of the Army (5-star)'

Although the 'General of the Army' is the strongest that piece could still be killed

To make the game fair as the strongest piece of the game the one that should kill it should be the weakest piece which is the 'Spy'

To put it simply the General of the Army could kill anyone other than the Spy and the Spy couldn't kill anyone except the General of the Army

Isn't that ironic?

The strongest could be killed by the weakest.

The dealer shuffled the cards again and separated it giving fifteen each to both Eleri and the boy

Eleri peeked at her cards and saw the symbols representing each pieces of the Game of the Generals

The dealer then said [As to further explain it for you to understand, an example is if you-] he pointed at Eleri and continued [-played a General of the Army and he-] he pointed at the boy and continued [-played the Spy card then the winner is him]

The dealer then clasped his hand as he said [But ofcourse that only leads to one point still]

Both didn't speak but nodded simultaneously.

[Also one more thing, you cannot play the same card that was already eliminated from one of the challenges]

[So, does any of you have any questions?]

After a moment of silence the boy was the first to speak as he said "What are the rules for the game?"

[Good question] The dealer raised his finger and said [As for the rules, you cannot peek at your opponent's card and you also cannot show your opponent what you card is]

[And lastly, abilities and violence are also forbidden in this game, got it?]

None of them spoke but felt a chill run down their spine.

Seeing this the dealer flicked his finger and said [Well then, let the game begin--]

[--Now!]

*****

[Second Floor]

[Game: Game of the Generals]

[Difficulty: D]

[Time Limit: None]

[Reward: 150 Coins]

[Penalty: Death]