Take 2 (2)

I quickly went over to the Gustavo brothers and politely made a deal for them to sort out any thieves, I went to meet Nick, Ashley, and Jonny. I tried my best to do the exact same thing with them, so that way, the variables would be easily handled for me. I didn't have much to do until the actual game that day.

I did the same thing and rallied everyone together, we all marched collectively towards quadrant 3, and the announcer read out the rules. We all ignored the announcer, and eventually, he sent out all the creatures at once. I had gotten the metal piece as soon as I arrived. Abby was let out to watch my subjugation of the first three games. I didn't want her to remain bored, after all.

Once again, all of the creatures were released and I was excited to try out how fast I was now with that heavy speed boost from my volume up rewards. I planted my foot ahead of me and quickly lunged forwards, I was surprised by my speed as within a few seconds, I cleared what looked to be a 50 meter gap, and was immediately in front of the creatures. I swung the metal piece into the tiger, then the invisible creature, and the spider and dashed to the blind creature, kicking it across the arena, into the laser field.

The spider's limb extended and hit me in the side, making me twist around. I was barely able to regain my balance as I held the piece tighter, and leaped forwards, stabbing it in it's head, and pulling it up it's torso. I then held up the body as the invisible creature was stabbing at it, and the lion went to attack me as well. After I used that diversion, I ran around them, and cut them both around the neck area, the tiger of course not dying yet, however, it was stunned for a moment, allowing me to use the invisible creature's arm to literally gut the lion. The elapsed time it took? Just over 12 seconds. The timer was still ticking down for a moment as everyone was silent. I saw that my volume was raised once more from that fight. I smiled and tossed away the metal scrap. The announcer quickly turned on the microphone and stuttered in awe, "The-... The game is over? Uh, everyone can go back to The Hall."

Everyone had mostly cheered as I returned to the masses, and we all went back into The Hall. It was… Perfect. Nobody lost any coins, in fact, it was all returned to them by now, and I eliminated all four creatures within 12 seconds, with no-one dying and me only sustaining minimal damage. It may leave a bruise, but I was going to beat game 3 without a scratch, and figure out what is going on during game 4. Then, game 5, I will learn the truth about why I am here, and what I am even being used for.

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Game 2 passed by quickly. I used the same strategy as last time, but earlier on. With my speed, I just simply stopped it on game over, and I wasn't accused of cheating, either. And we didn't get any prize, or any losses. I told other groups to try and do the same, and it met with surprising success. Not a single person died, which is what I was aiming for. Some people were harmed, but with Nick's help, they were saved from imminent death, at least for now.

Game 3, however, is what I was excited about. Instead of waiting to actually surprise him, I had quickly ran up to him and impaled his back, slicing upwards and kicking his corpse down. "Alright, one down..." I turned towards the two groups. "37 to go." I was planning on taking down every host before people get harmed.

I went to room 2, and cut that host in half.

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Volume raised by 1!

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Rooms 3, 4, 5...

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Volume raised by 2!

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Rooms 6, 7, 8, 9, 10...

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Volume raised by 3!

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Rooms 11 all the way to 20…

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Volume raised by 2!

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After that, there wasn't much time to kill the rest, and my level was rather high. I told the others to stall the hosts for as long as possible before I moved on… I hoped they wouldn't get hurt. I really did, and I wished I had a lot more time to save everyone…

Room 28…

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Volume raised by 1!

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I killed the host, but four people were already dead by the time I came in. Even before I got here, 20 people were murdered by those disgusting alien freaks. My gut felt like it was getting kneaded like play-doh. I turned around and quickly ran through the last rooms, killing the hosts as quick as possible. Room 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35…

The game was over by then. And the teams in rooms 32 and higher had all lost the majority of players. I felt frustrated. Why were we even placed in this fucking bullshit? What the hell are these space creatures playing at? I just wanted more fucking time. Just a minute more and everything would be solved! Room 36, and room 37. The hosts were still there, and I killed them.

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Volume raised by 1!

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I wasn't even getting the levels needed. Why were the hosts all vulnerable to attacks? I tried to kill a different one this time for my first kill, and then I moved onto the next, and the next, and they were all vulnerable to attacks. What the hell were they planning letting that happen? Everyone else was upset, but I felt the most wronged. I wanted to save everyone, but was that even possible? What the hell is the nature of these games?

I remained in the last room for another 10 minutes. Everyone had left to help all the wounded, and I stayed. Stayed in the room that contained the corpses of humans. PEOPLE. And the fucking hosts. Were they even the bad guy? They were hired by the corporation for all I know, but could they really be victims as well? There was no way to know for sure. But this run was far from perfect. I glared at Abby who was sitting in front of me, and she looked up.

"You're going to try again??"

I nodded my head, "I just need to be a little bit faster." She looked distraught, and stood up.

"Why do you even want to save everyone? You don't even know why you're here. And didn't you say you wanted to make it to game 4? Are you good-willed, or delusional? If you really want to save everyone, then make it to game 4. Beat game 5, and learn the truth before you go back."

I wiped my teary eyes and swallowed a lump in my throat. I looked up to her and placed my blade aside. "I want to save everyone, because nobody is here for any good reason. It's all for entertainment! Can't you see that we're not meant to be used like this?" My voice quivered. "Y-you're right… I know that I must move forwards..."

She placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a light smile, before pulling me in for a hug "I know how you must feel, but you can't let every death get you like this. It's not fair for your mental state… I'm sorry, but please, just look on the bright side. You have the power needed to grow and save these people. Just try and use it for the better. When someone dies, it's not your fault, either. Just save them the next time."

I hugged her back and rubbed my face on her shoulder. Even though it was a phantom feeling of touch, it was something I needed. I released her and she sat back down. "Alright… What are you planning for game 4?"

I had thought about it in my free time… It was difficult to save everyone at that point. If only 10 people can get to the center, and 10 people need to get in from every quarter of the ship, not to mention they can all die if 10 people get to the center. Then there's the PVP making it so you can only escape from one direction. I couldn't think of a cheat for now, so I should just focus on making it to game 5. I stood up and walked out of the room, Abby quickly following behind.

"Whatever happens, my main goal will remain the same, I'm going to try and save everyone."'