Chapter 3: Learn to Survive

I glanced back towards the man on the stage feeling as though he was about to speak again, other people had the same thought. He opened his mouth slightly ajar before mumbling,

"Well, the likelihood of you all surviving though is a mere 10%... after all, only the strong thrive here."

No one could hear what he just said, but a few people caught on by reading his lips, me included.

Hmmm, piecing it together, what I got is..'likely you surviving is a mere te..hmm ten percent... after, only strong survive here..?' something along those lines. Whilst it sounds completely daunting and scary, I decide to put it at the back of my mind for now. He began to speak again, "I'm sure some of you would have been wondering already, but if I went as far as to say so much about you guys having to fend for your lives..then why are we here giving a grandiose speech..right?" I noticed his eyes were flickering amongst the crowd as they appeared to land on me for a millisecond too.

Hmm.. This time someone else raises has raised their hand, It was a short stature girl with long frilly hair going down to her waist, she, amongst the other people had slightly brighter eyes gleaming with passion and curiosity.. I look towards the man at the front of the stage again, seeing him nodding at her giving the confirmation to ask away. "Are you here to help us survive..perhaps?" After she said that, the slight anxiousness covering peoples faces were slightly lifted forming a facade of temporary courage. The man looked towards her with slightly wide eyes, "Haaa.... girl, whilst you're also along the right lines, I think we need to get something straight here...whilst we will train you all in the very basics of surviving in this world, we will not keep you safe.." After saying that, he slowly tilts his head towards me whilst others trace his line of sight, "Hey, mister over there.. do you believe things are free in this world?" ... .. I had to process, although it was a very easy to answer question, the majority of the crowd had already found the underlying meaning within his words.

"...No.. I don't believe so, but then may I ask.. what do we need to give to seek protection, or rather the basics of survival in this world from you?.." I said whilst looking towards him.

Humu, this boy has very sharp eyes... haha. Guess I owe him an answer then. He began to speak whilst clearing his throat, "Cough cough, well done on picking up things quickly.. and to answer your question, I must first explain a bit more about this world.." This time, his eyes became serious and his tone went deeper as if he was giving a firm lecture, "Whilst this world may look identical to Earth if one looks at it from space, by no means is it the same on the surface.. This planet, you could call it a living hell. Up until now, I assume when I said about you all surviving, I guarantee you all thought I meant about surviving against hunger and thirst... am I right?" When he said that, the crowd began to nod in confirmation, whilst another person in the crowd says, "Then what else must we survive against??" His voice clearly having a hint of agitation due to the round about answers of the man on the stage. " Well well well, if you gave me a chance to finish, I was about to tell you... Well, anyway, this world is completely different than Earth.. here, to survive, you must fight monsters, humans and many other races hoping to reach the top of the food chain."

He glanced around at the flabbergasted expressions most of the crowd was wearing, seeing this, he smiled whilst commenting, "What? do you really think you're the only race in the universe? I don't mean to be the harbinger of bad news.. but you're sorely wrong." He slightly laughs whilst saying this.

I start trying to piece the puzzle together and make sense of what, or rather, where exactly we are and what we must do to survive.. From what he said, I can clearly tell this is a battleground of some kind.. Wait! perhaps.. no surely not... If I could see the expression I was currently wearing I would truly realise the state of emergence we're all currently facing. I turn to face the man on the podium once again before saying "If what you just said is true, then is this perhaps... a battleground where all the living beings who died an unfortunate death of some kind are placed to fight it out and come out on top as a way of regaining a new life?.." As I said that, the slight jeering of the crowd had gone completely quiet whilst they mumbled slightly amongst themselves with things such as,

"No way..surely not" "This can't possibly be true right..??" "Wait, if that's the case... then are we even the top of the food chain here?!" By now, people have started to panic without even waiting for an official confirmation from the man standing on the podium.

Behind the man on the podium, was the man which had previously held me by my neck was standing, I noticed he began to move forward whilst speaking, "Silence, what? you think we're the top of the food chain here? think again. You guys would be nothing more than shitty ants before the true beings of this world."

...There it was, the unavoidable yet inevitable truth we was all hoping we wouldn't hear.