《Spray Tan Saintess | LitRPG, Progression, Tower》 Chapter 1 - Victoria Vicki Rubie Victoria ¡®Vicki¡¯ Rubie was the kind of girl that turned heads wherever she went. Not because she¡¯s particularly beautiful, but because she¡¯s the embodiment of confidence. The short skirts and push-up bras weren¡¯t for anyone¡¯s eyes but her own, and neither was the bright spray tan or the bleach blonde hair she spent way too long styling every morning. Vicki just looked like she never left 2008 because that¡¯s what she enjoyed, no matter how many people told her that she¡¯d be much prettier if she dressed more plainly. Everyone had a story about Vicki. From taking drunk girls home safely to spending weeks looking for a missing cat, everyone in her small town had been helped by her before. Despite looking like a typical mean girl from a high school movie, Vicki was as kind as she was confident. She spent her weekends volunteering in soup kitchens and animal shelters, and she even got up extra early every morning to help the girls at the children¡¯s hospital do their hair. One of the most common sentences spoken in her hometown was ¡°Thank you, Vicki.¡± followed by a cheery ¡°No probs! I did it ¡®cause I wanted to!¡± That¡¯s the kind of girl Victoria ¡®Vicki¡¯ Rubie was.
It was a regular Tuesday for Vicki. Before breakfast, she¡¯d done her makeup and checked up on her sponsor children in Indonesia, Ghana, Malaysia, and Mongolia. After that, she taught Chelsea and Roselynn from the pediatric ward how to apply lipgloss without getting it all over their teeth, gifting the nurses some hand-made bedazzled scruchies before heading out. Now, she was buying her daily bubblegum and energy drink from the convenience store. ¡°Okay, so you¡¯re not gonna belieeeeve this! The bengal tiger I¡¯m sponsoring just had a litter of kittens! How amazing is that?¡± Vicki rambled cheerfully as the clerk rang up her items. The scent of powder and cheap coconut perfume followed her wherever she went, suffocating her surroundings and the clerk. The clerk was about to have a coughing fit when the sickly sweet smell just disappeared, and so did Vicki. She was just gone without a trace; the items on the counter were the only evidence that she was even there in the first place. It¡¯s not like she could¡¯ve just walked away; everyone heard the clacking and the clinking of her cheap jewelry whenever she walked. But there was no clacking or clinking, just complete silence.
One moment, Vicki was showing pictures of tiger kittens on her flip phone, and the next, she found herself in a large white space, surrounded by people of all ages and cultures. The place was chaos. The sound of mothers screaming about the location of their children, people praying to whatever god they believed in, and the high-pitched wailing of kids filled the space. One thing they had in common, though, was that they all somehow spoke the same language. Vicki was totally freaking out, obviously. She had no idea where she was or who these people were, and it seemed like nobody else knew, either. It looked like people had been transported with whatever their body was touching. Vicki had her purse, but other people had more random items. An elderly man was holding a lawnmower, a young boy carried around a carton of eggs, and someone even had a bag of cement. It would be pretty funny if everyone wasn¡¯t having a collective panic attack. An elderly woman was hunched over near Vicki, grabbing her attention. The woman was clutching her bare chest with her hands, and she looked like she was on the verge of crying. Even in this panicked state, Vicki didn¡¯t think twice as she rushed over to her with the determination of a glittery warrior. She thanked her lucky stars that she had decided to wear a jacket that day as she wrapped her fluffy leopard print jacket around the lady with the kind of grace you only get after fixing many fashion mishaps. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°You look gorgeous in that jacket, girl! I love your hair!¡± Vicki whispered when the woman looked up, trying her best to lighten the mood. She had learned that the best thing to do when helping someone through something embarrassing is to not make a big deal out of it, and not making a big deal out of stuff was what she was best at. ¡°Thank you¡­ sweetheart. You see¡­ I was getting dressed for a date¡­ but then suddenly I was here with all these people¡­¡± The woman¡¯s words were slow and shaky with age, but Vicki listened patiently; she always did. ¡°Oh my god, no way! Is he a hottie? You¡¯re so gorgeous I bet he was telling all his friends about you! I was just paying for bubblegum when I was brought here. Boring, right?¡± Vicki gave her a cheeky wink (it looked ridiculous with her massive fake lashes) and was about to chat about her tiger cubs before she got cut off by a booming noise. [WELCOME, HUMANS OF EARTH. YOUR GODS HAVE ANSWERED YOUR CALL.] The loud space turned silent in an instant as the existence of gods was supposedly being proven. People of all ages, genders, nationalities, and religions looked up to the sky as the voice continued. Vicki had never believed in any god, but even she looked up with the others. [ALL OF YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY A GOD AS THEIR IDEAL CANDIDATE TO REPRESENT THEM IN THE GAME.] A chorus of murmurs emerged from the crowd. Were they the chosen ones? What was this game, and did they get to go home when the game was over? The religious cheered and danced in prayer that their god had chosen them. A giant beam of light descended on a man in a prison uniform, gaining everyone¡¯s attention. When the light faded away, the man was twice as big, and his hair was replaced with flowing fire that didn¡¯t seem to hurt him at all. ¡°HAHAHA!! Praise K¨­jin! I feel the POWER you¡¯ve given me! I¡¯ll do whatever you want as long as I can be this powerful!¡± The man¡¯s now demonic voice bellowed in laughter, making nearby spectators cower in fear. The entire crowd was about to erupt in terror when more and more lights emerged from the sky. Vicki¡¯s body felt like it was on fire as a beam of dark pink light descended upon her, making all her senses scream out in pain. Humans weren¡¯t supposed to be this close to divine beings, especially not gods themselves, but there was nothing Vicki could do to stop it. Eventually, though, the sensation of being on the surface of the sun faded into the feeling of being submerged in a warm bath as her body transformed itself to accommodate the power of the god that chose her. She wanted to hurl, but she felt like she¡¯d totally get smote to death if she threw up in the presence of her god. [YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY X¨­CHIQUETZAL ¡ª GODDESS OF WOMEN, ABUNDANCE, HANDICRAFTS, AND FLOWERS.] [DIVINE MESSAGE] [Kill the beasts, absorb their meat, and sacrifice their skin. Save the women, save the girls. Let them weave the hair of those who capture them, let them eat the meat of those who beat them, and let them dance in the skin of those who took what they didn¡¯t want to give. Wear flowers in your hair, wear gold on your head, dress in all that is colorful and beautiful to bring honor to my name. Drink to be merry, dance to spark desire, and fight to protect those who cannot.] Ah. That seemed really heavy. Yet she resonated deeply with what the goddess had ordered her to do. She had always wanted to help as many people as she could, and if her goddess would give her the power to do that, then she would gladly worship her with all her might. This game thing sounded super scary and like a huuuuuge deal but so did her finals last year and she got through those just fine. She could do this. The light around the people around her faded one by one, transforming them with the power of their gods. Some barely changed, only getting younger or taller, while others were twisted into the shape of angels or demons. The people who had gone through drastic changes rightfully freaked out. One man who was transformed into a mass of legs couldn¡¯t stop screaming, and a many-eyed angel kept throwing up from motion sickness. Vicki was glad she didn¡¯t change like these people. Well, she was glad until she looked down at herself. Chapter 2 - Let the games begin! Vicki grimaced when she realized her arms had been replaced with pulsing tendrils of flesh. She didn¡¯t know how to react. She was lucky that she only got away with fucked up arms, but also, her arms were really fucked up! Her skin had been stripped off her lower arms and hands as a sacrifice to the goddess who¡¯s favorite offering is the skin of the strong and beautiful. Her mind understood that this should hurt more than anything had ever hurt in her life, but her body felt nothing. It was a weird phantom pain that got worse the more she focused on it, but almost disappeared completely if she distracted herself. [THE RULES OF THE GAME GO AS FOLLOWS] The voice of the otherworldly being brought most people out of their daze, including Vicki. Vicki concentrated on the voice with all her might, trying to absorb the rules of this weird game into every crevice of her brain. If she lost before she could help anyone just because she didn¡¯t know the rules, she would never get over it. [THE TOWER HAS 100 FLOORS. IF YOU REACH THE TOP, YOU AND YOUR GOD HAVE WON.] [EACH FLOOR HAS A GAME YOU MUST PLAY. ONLY A LIMITED NUMBER OF PLAYERS CAN PASS EACH GAME AND MOVE ON TO THE NEXT FLOOR.] [YOU MAY WORK TOGETHER OR YOU MAY FIGHT EACH OTHER. YOUR PATRON GOD WILL ALWAYS BE ON YOUR SIDE AND SUPPORT YOU.] [THOSE WHO WIN WILL BE REWARDED. THOSE WHO LOSE WILL BE SACRIFICED TO THEIR PATRON GOD.] The crowd burst out in panic at the mention of sacrifices. That sure didn¡¯t sound like they¡¯d be sent on their way with a consolation prize and a pat on the back if they lost. Vicki didn¡¯t even know why she assumed she would be allowed to go home if she lost, these people removed her fucking arms! If the gods were your support, wasn¡¯t it super unfair to the people who got chosen by unknown and peaceful gods? Vicki whispered a silent prayer to X¨­chiquetzal, thanking her goddess for being from the notoriously brutal Aztec pantheon and giving her a fighting chance. As if she was thanking her only follower for the prayer, X¨­chiquetzal subconsciously compelled Vicki to utter the word ¡°Status¡±.
[VICTORIA ¡®VICKI¡¯ RUBIE] AGE - 19 RANK - F TITLES- N/A FACTION - AZTEC PATRON GOD X¨­CHIQUETZAL (AZTEC) PREFERED SACRIFICE SKIN (10-50PTS) HANDMADE ITEMS (5-20PTS) JEWELRY(4-14PTS) FLOWERS (1-8PTS) HANDMADE ITEMS (3-6PTS) ALCOHOL(1-4PTS) Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. SACRIFICE POINTS 0 [SKILLS] GIRL¡¯S GIRL (UNIQUE) YOU EMBODY THE ESSENCE OF FEMININITY WITH YOUR KINDNESS AND COMFORTING AURA. WOMEN, CHILDREN, AND FEMALE DIETIES WILL FEEL POSITIVELY TOWARDS YOU. FLAY (D) YOUR SHARP CLAWS CAN CUT THROUGH THE SKIN OF CREATURES THE SAME OR LOWER RANK THAN YOU LIKE BUTTER. HANDICRAFTS (F) YOU KNOW HOW TO CRAFT POOR QUALITY ITEMS OUT OF THINGS YOU FIND.
This was like straight out of a video game. Vicki had played many RPGs the kids had shown her while she volunteered at a refugee camp, and this status screen reminded her a lot of that. She was glad to know what her goddess liked and the confirmation that she was divinely recognized as a true girl¡¯s girl, but her skills were kinda weak, weren¡¯t they? The flay skill had a lot of potential, but with her current rank, she could only use it on other F-ranked creatures. At least she had the bedazzled pepper spray in her bag if things got dicey. The existence of factions probably meant that not everyone was her enemy. Vicki was kinda scared to find out what kind of people the other famously violent Aztec gods chose, but she was glad they would be on her side. She wanted to yell out her faction affiliation to find those like her, but the pit in her stomach told her that it was a horrible idea. Her suspicions were confirmed when a man with the demonic affiliation got beaten to a pulp by the Christian worshippers from earlier. She hoped nobody had a strange one sided beef with a long gone civilization. [FLOOR ONE STARTING IN: 10:00] The giant timer lit up the white sky, counting down the 10 minutes until the first game would start. Vicki¡¯s heart beat a million miles an hour as she double and triple checked her purse, pockets, and secret lipgloss hiding stash in her socks for anything useful. Other than her pepper spray she had her car keys, an assault alarm, 4 pieces of candy, her cosmetics bag, emergency tampons, and a few loose painkillers. It wasn¡¯t looking good if this was all he had to use for survival. At least she wasn¡¯t the guy with the cement. [FLOOR ONE STARTING IN: 00:03] [FLOOR ONE STARTING IN: 00:02] [FLOOR ONE STARTING IN: 00:01] [TRANSPORTING¡­]
The white expanse disappeared with a bright flash of light. In its place was a grand library that spanned outwards in all directions for infinity. It looked otherworldly yet very familiar with its creaky wooden floors and candle-lit chandeliers. Some people started wandering around, but Vicki didn¡¯t dare to move. Gods had strange morals, and maybe moving inside this library was a heinous sin that deserved death. Probably not, but Vicki had always learned to be extra cautious ever since her volunteer trip to the elephant sanctuary. [FLOOR 1] [FIND THE SEQUEL TO YOUR BOOK WITHIN THE TIME LIMIT. YOUR BOOK IS LOCATED ON ONE OF THE SHELVES INSIDE THE LIBRARY. THE BOOKS MUST BE UNDAMAGED AND HELD IN YOUR HANDS AT THE END OF THE TIME LIMIT.] [FAILING TO FIND THE SECOND BOOK, THE LOSS OF THE FIRST BOOK, DAMAGE TO EITHER OF THE BOOKS, OR DEATH WILL LEAD TO ELIMINATION.] [24:00:00] The rules were both spoken out loud and projected onto the tall ceiling of the library. Vicki was under the impression that she had to fight to the death, so the challenge being finding a book was a pleasant surprise. Flashes of light appeared all over the place, and everyone found their designated book in their hands. Vicki looked down at her book, surprised that her fucked up arms didn¡¯t stain it, and gritted her teeth with determination. Piper J-3 Cub Aviation Manual Vol. 1 An old aviation manual!? She knew nothing about planes! The people next to her were equally panicked, muttering about not understanding why they were given such confusing and obscure books. Vicki took a deep breath and centered herself. So what if she knew nothing about planes? All she had to do was find volume 2. She didn¡¯t need to read or understand it, just hold it in her hands. She clenched her book tightly as she began walking in a random direction, just like everyone else. Screams of despair rung out through the library, followed by panicked sobbing. Vicki had absolutely no idea how finding a book would cause someone to react like that. Sure, there were a lot of fucking books, but she just had to find the right category and look through the titles of every book in that category. If she just found the vehicle, or maybe the manuals section, she¡¯d be peachy. Right? Vicki approached the nearest shelf in search of clues, only to be filled with the same despair as the people before her. The titles were strings of letters and numbers in seemingly random order, organized completely at random. ¡°Adhdjsll92hd¡± was next to ¡°99Hnnnncowcow¡± which was next to ¡°gogogogogog888fofofoooooo¡±. A horrific realization dawned on Vicki in that moment¡­ This was the fucking library of Babel. Chapter 3 - Shelfaneer What the fuck! It¡¯s all just gibberish! How am I meant to find a book about planes like this! Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! Vicki was majorly freaking out as she ran around the library¡¯s halls like a headless chicken. Was this some sort of cruel joke? This wasn¡¯t even like finding a needle in a haystack, it was like finding an entire solar system! She wasn''t the only one freaking out, there were cries of despair wherever she went. Some were even screaming about divine punishment and false hope. Vicki wasn''t someone who gave up that easily, though. False hope was still hope, and she was going to use every damn minute to look through these books. The titles were nothing but nonsense, but she picked one up anyways. Every page of the book was completely blank, as was every other book she looked through. Vicki came to the conclusion that every book except the correct ones were empty on the inside, making the search a million times easier. Though that only brought the difficulty level down from a gazillion to a billion. She was skimming through her fifth shelf when one of the books caught her eye. Unlike the surrounding books, this one had a flower on the spine beneath the nonsense title. It was far up and really difficult to spot, but that only made it seem more important. No other book she had seen so far had any decorations on it, and this one was even decorated with the symbol of her goddess. Vicki decided to try and climb up to get it, even if it would waste a lot of time. After making sure nobody was nearby, Vicki kicked off her glittery heels and put up her hair in a messy, but perfectly stylish, ponytail. She guesstimated that the book was 20 meters above her, a height that wasn''t too far to climb up to, but would probably break her neck if she fell. Her neck would 100% be broken if she didn''t find the sequel to her book, though, so she chose to take the 30% chance of falling to her death. You can do this, Vicki! You''re so smart and sexy and cool. You''re gonna find this stupid plane manual and then you''re gonna eat a family platter of sweet and sour chicken as a reward. Let''s go! I believe in you, me! After tucking her book safely in her purse, Vicki took a deep breath and began climbing. Her strategy was to step on the bottom shelf and pull herself up to the next one like a ladder. She was pleasantly surprised when she was able to effortlessly pull her body weight up with her arms alone, making for a much easier climb. When she was about halfway up, Vicki saw her life flash before her eyes when she lost her foothold and slipped, but her sharp claws burrowed into the wood and kept her dangling until she found her balance again. These freaky arms were really growing on her. After half an hour of clumsy climbing, Vicki finally had the book with the flower in her hand. She quickly shoved the book in her purse, the fear of falling winning out over her curiosity. She had climbed up here easily enough, so getting down would be a breeze, right? Absolutely not. Vicki made the mistake of looking down, and now she felt like throwing up. Her legs felt like they were turning into jelly as her entire brain focused on how high up she was. Why the fuck did she climb up here? What was she thinking!? If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Oh my god. Oh my GOD! Why did I do this!? Holy fuck. That¡¯s like a thousand meter drop! If I lose my grip, I¡¯m gonna fall like a million miles! Argh! But if I don¡¯t climb down, I¡¯m gonna get sacrificed! I can¡¯t lose! Aztecs have really fucked up sacrifice rituals! Let¡¯s do this! If you stay up here, you¡¯ll die for sure, but if you climb down, you¡¯ll probably live! Vicki took a deep breath and began slowly climbing down. Having learned her lesson, she absolutely refused to look down. She did everything she could to distract herself from the danger she was in, from thinking about kittens to solving math problems. In the end, the only thing that kind of helped was singing. ¡°Ohh Vicki, you¡¯re so fine¡­ you.. You¡¯re so fine you blow my mind¡­ oh Vicki.. Vicki Vicki¡­¡± She sang to herself. Her voice quivered so badly that she sounded like someone was using a jackhammer on her vocal cords. After the 9th loop of that same little jingle, Vicki¡¯s feet finally touched solid ground. As soon as she knew she wouldn¡¯t fall, Vicki¡¯s legs gave out. Her body crumpled down on the cold wooden floor, and she was shaking like a leaf while swearing to herself that she¡¯d never do that again. Vicki spent quite some time getting herself together after that, but the giant timer in the sky reminded her that she was still in danger. [20:31:59] Vicki couldn¡¯t believe that 3 and a half hours had already gone by. She scrambled to get the book with the flower out of her bag and inspected it with extreme care. The title on the spine and the title on the front of the book were different. The spine was the same gibberish as every other book, but the front had the words ¡°Lamb Skin¡± etched onto the leather cover. The gamble had paid off; this was totally a clue! To Vicki¡¯s surprise, the book had been hollowed out on the inside. A rolled-up piece of skin, a dried flower, and a bright green feather rested inside the compartment. This was a clue from her goddess; there was no doubt about it. Vicki carefully placed the flower and the feather inside her pocket for safekeeping. Then, she double-checked and triple-checked that nobody was spying on her before she unrolled the scroll made out of skin. [Daughter mine, daughter dear. You will find what you seek behind the gilded spiral.] Vicki wasn¡¯t the kind of person who wasted time. She quickly sprinted to the center of the library as quickly as she could, ready to look for the spiral that would save her ass. The middle of the library was a mess. Books were thrown haphazardly on the floor, thrown by people frantically searching for the sequel to their books. The youngest and oldest of the players were gathered here. They weren¡¯t strong enough to keep up with the horde, so they stayed put here, looking through the books that the others had discarded. Vicki wanted to help them, but she needed to save her own ass before she could save anyone elses. Nothing jumped out to her as spiral-like; nothing was even particularly round. The thought of having to look for another book with a spiral design on it made her feel sick to her stomach. She was about to join the ¡®screaming out in frustration¡¯ club when it suddenly dawned on her¡­ the stairs! Dark wooden staircases separated the floors of the library; each of them was about a hundred meters apart. There were easily thousands of them, but looking through a thousand staircases was a hell of a lot easier than looking through billions of books. Vicki was filled with renewed energy as he began her search for the golden spiral. Chapter 4 - Piper J-3 Cub Aviation Manual Vol. 2 Vicki had walked up and down more stairs in the past few hours than she had in her entire life. Her feet were aching, and her legs felt like they were on fire, but she kept walking like her life depended on it. Because, well, it did. 12 hours had passed since the start of her search, leaving her with only 9 hours left to find the book. Whispers talking about how someone had found their book by pure coincidence started to spread, sparking hope in everyone else. Even the ones completely lost in despair got up and joined the mad dash with renewed confidence. Everyone was too caught up in their own searching to pay any attention to the woman running up and down stairs for hours, but if they did, they¡¯d probably think she¡¯d lost her mind. Wood, wood, wood, wood. It¡¯s all fucking wood! If the spiral is something else and I¡¯m wasting all my time walking up stairs, I¡¯m gonna freak out! No way, it can¡¯t be anything other than the stairs. It has to be the stairs! Vicki slumped down on the steps of the staircase she was inspecting with a heavy sigh. She felt sweaty, gross, tired, and hungry. The candy in her purse had already been eaten hours ago, and she didn¡¯t have anything to quench her thirst either. A gilded spiral was so fucking vauge that she had no idea what she was looking for, and it made her want to rip her hair out in frustration. She had to keep reminding herself that she was lucky to even have this vague hint, even if it didn¡¯t feel like it. After a short break, Vicki pulled herself together and stood up to continue her search. Before that, though, she fished the compact mirror out of her purse to check if her makeup had smudged. She didn¡¯t give a single fuck about her makeup right now, but it was a habit she had for so long that it became muscle memory. The sight in the mirror was about what she expected. Her hair was soaked in sweat and stuck to her lipgloss, her mascara ran down her cheeks, and her face was bright red from exertion. Vicki was about to close the mirror when she spotted something in the reflection. Gold. One of the staircases above her had gold railings. Vicki thought her exhaustion made her see things, but the more she stared, the more certain she was. The metal was so tarnished that it almost had the same shade of brown as every other railing, but it was unmistakably gold. She had fucking found it. Vicki¡¯s body took a moment to keep up with her brain, but when it did, she darted as fast as she could. Her exhaustion was forgotten as her mind focused on her destination. She wasn¡¯t fucking dying today. Vicki gripped the golden railing as she hunched over to catch her breath. She was at her destination, but she wouldn¡¯t allow herself to rest until she had the book in her hands. There was the possibility that this was nothing but a red herring, after all. She hobbled over to the bookshelf behind the staircase with hesitant optimism, hoping her goddess didn¡¯t fuck her over. She could barely concentrate on the titles as she scanned through every book. It felt like taking a test right after a marathon. Blablabla¡­ nonsense¡­ gibberish¡­ nonsense¡­ ah! No fucking way! No fucking way! For real!? Victoria¡¯s hand hovered above one of the books. Her heart thumped in her ears as she grabbed her ticket to safety and inspected the cover with shaky hands. Piper J-3 Cub Aviation Manual Vol. 2 Fuck yeah! She wouldn¡¯t die! Not today, world! Vicki quickly shoved the book into her purse, safely tucking it away next to the first one. Now, all she had to do was remember to hold them when the timer hit zero, and she¡¯d be peachy. After securing her key to survival, all the tension left Vicki¡¯s body at once. She slumped against the bookshelf and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Her goddess was indeed on her side, and the feeling of having a divine being on her side felt great. Even if it was a super scary one. Vicki offered a prayer of gratitude and promised to offer something her goddess would love soon.
[04:27:42] This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Panic was really starting to set in amongst those who hadn¡¯t found their sequels yet. Some fell to their knees to beg their gods for mercy, while others got violent. Those who didn¡¯t have the strength to keep running through the infinite library had started to come to terms with their deaths. Well, that was until a woman¡¯s shout rang throughout the building. ¡°YOUR GODS WILL HELP YOU! FIND THEIR SYMBOLS! THEY¡¯VE LEFT CLUES! YOUR GOD GETS JUST AS FUCKED AS YOU DO IF YOU LOSE, SO THEY WANT TO HELP YOU! TRUST THEM!¡± Word began to spread that a woman with a bright orange spray tan yelled those words at anyone she encountered. People were skeptical at first, as she was technically an opponent in the game, but if she had the time to help others, then she¡¯d probably found her book already. After that, almost everyone switched from looking through mountains of books to looking for their god''s symbol instead, leading to a lot more people finding their sequel. The spirits of the contestants rose significantly when someone found their book covered in cobwebs, and someone else found their book surrounded by books about goats. The yelling woman in question, Vicki, was busy helping a pair of twins who couldn¡¯t be older than 4. In her opinion, telling a child who can¡¯t read yet to find a book was bullshit. She wanted to tell their gods, Nut and Geb, to get their shit together and choose someone older next time. She was so tired she wanted to collapse, but she still ran around as fast as she could while carrying the twins. She wasn¡¯t going to let these kids die just because she was tired, no fucking way! The library pillars alternated between light and dark wood, but in one spot, two dark wood pillars stood next to each other, breaking the pattern. Behind them, she found the twins¡¯ books. Mary¡¯s Icelandic Travel Log Part 2 and Mary¡¯s Cuban Travel Log Part 2, respectively. Just in time, too, as there was less than a minute left when she shoved the books in the twins¡¯ arms. Vicki scrambled to hold her own books as the timer ticked down to zero. [00:00:20] Screams of despair and frantic prayers echoed through the halls as people realized that they were going to die. Vicki shut her eyes as tightly as she could. She didn¡¯t know anyone here, but she didn¡¯t want to watch them die. She instructed the boy-girl twin pair to do the same as the sounds of agony got louder and louder. [00:00:10] [00:00:05] Vicki was quite frankly, terrified as fuck. Thoughts about getting the wrong book or dropping the ones she was holding filled her mind. What if the twins got startled and dropped theirs? She wouldn¡¯t have time to help them again if that happened. She hoped that when the counter reached zero, a camera crew would walk out and tell them it was all a big prank. [00:00:03] [00:00:02] [00:00:01] When the clock hit zero, the space filled with the sickening crunch of bones and screams of pain. Vicki waited for pain to hit her, for someone to tell her she messed up and was going to be sacrificed. The pain never came, though. The noises faded, and another announcement played to the stunned crowd of contestants. [CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE PASSED FLOOR 1!] [FLOOR 1 TOP PLAYERS] [SCOREBOARD] [TOP PLAYER REWARD] HANDICRAFTS (F) ¡ú HANDICRAFTS (E) Chapter 5 - Team Aztec The library disappeared, and everyone suddenly found themselves in a high-class lounge. It looked like a hotel lobby but bigger and without any doors or windows. The front desk was manned by humanoids made out of some dull gray matter. They had no distinct facial features or anything that would indicate their gender. They were just gray blobs in human form. Behind them was a large scoreboard listing the top ten teams, though there were probably as many teams as there were religions. [OVERALL SCOREBOARD] The scoreboard made it abundantly clear that this was a team game played between pantheons. The strongest players cursed at having to take care of a whole group, while the weakest ones sighed in relief. The groups were also uneven now that hundreds of people had been eliminated in the library, making those from small patheons worry about ending up alone. The uneasy chatter that filled the hall became even louder when symbols appeared above everyone¡¯s head. People quickly realized that the symbols indicated which team everyone belonged to. The Christians got a cross, the Norse got a hammer, and the Egyptian god¡¯s followers got the eye of Ra. Vicki and everyone else with an Aztec god got a spiraled sun as their symbol. The sunpoken rule of keeping your god secret was instantly broken as everyone grouped up with those of the same pantheon. It was quite a spectacle to see a group of hundreds of people sorting themselves that quickly. Vicki¡¯s group wasn¡¯t large, but it wasn¡¯t small either. There were six of them in total, and Vicki was once again reminded that she got off lightly with her divine mutation. Vicki was about to say something to her new teammates, but the loud announcer''s voice cut her off as soon as she opened her mouth. [PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE ROOM MARKED WITH YOUR TEAM¡¯S SYMBOL] A large door appeared, leading to a corridor with hundreds of other doors lining the walls. Each door had a large symbol painted above it, corresponding to the ones above their heads. The teams began walking one after the other, and every now and then, someone would call out to their teams, saying that they had found their door. Team Aztec¡¯s room was about a five-minute walk down the corridor. The symbol of the sun was painted above the door, and a plaque reading ¡°5 POINTS¡± was bolted to the middle of the door. The inside of the room was furnished with six beds, a table with six chairs, and a grand Aztec altar. It was really bare bones, and it reminded Vicki of her college dorm room. As they stepped into the room, the announcer declared that everyone had 24 hours of free time before the next floor. A timer appeared on one of the walls, counting down the hours until they¡¯d have to fight again. Still, they had 24 whole hours to get to know each other, something that Vicki wanted to take advantage of. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Hello! My name is Victoria Rubie, but everyone calls me Vicki! My goddess is the goddess of women, flowers, handicrafts, and abundance! Nice to meet you!¡± Vicki introduced herself loudly as she sat down on one of the beds, claiming it for herself. The next person to speak up was the biggest of the lot. He was a tall man with dark skin and a bald head covered in tattoos. He stood out because of his size, but also because his heart was beating on the outside of his body. ¡°My name is Hakim Adamu. My god is Hu¨©tzil¨­p¨­chtli, the god of the sun, war, and sacrifices. I hope we can work well together.¡± ¡°Tindra Qvist. My god is Opochtli. God of spear hunting and fishing.¡± The girl on the bed piped up. She looked to be about 14 years old and was clearly in some sort of phase. Her blonde hair was poorly dyed black, and she wore white face paint to make her already pale face look even paler. The edgy effect she was going for was a bit lost when you noticed that her legs had been replaced with spears. ¡°Ah! My name is Calloway Woods! The goddess whom I honor is the beautiful Chalchiuhtlicue! Goddess of all the world¡¯s bodies of water!¡± A tall and slender man bowed dramatically to the group. His long hair had been replaced by a flowing river, his skin had taken on a light blue hue, and a cloud of rain followed him wherever he went. ¡°I am so pleased to meet you, my companions!¡± Next, a woman with the upper body of a beautiful woman, long braids, obsidian eyes, and the lower body of a jaguar spoke up. ¡°My name is¡­ Judith. Judith Kone. My god is Tep¨¥y¨­ll¨­tl. He is the god of caves, echoes, and jaguars. Don¡¯t hold me back, okay? If you fall behind, I won¡¯t save you.¡± The last one to speak, and the youngest of the group, was a grade school boy whose whole head had been replaced by a golden temple. He was the one with the most drastic bodily change out of all the members of team Aztec, earning him a look of sympathy from Vicki. ¡°M-my name is W¨¢ng Jingyi. My first name is Jingyi¡­ W¨¢ng is my last name. My god is¡­ Xiuhtecuhtli. He is the god of time and fire¡­ Nice to meet you.¡± The boy whispered, clearly shaken from this whole ordeal.
With introductions out of the way, everyone started preparing for the next floor in their own ways. Hakim went to bed to recharge his energy, while Calloway did some strange artistic dance by the altar. Judith trained her new six-limbed body, and Jingyi sat quietly at the dining table. Vicki was sorting through her things when she heard the thunking of spears hitting the stone floor approaching her. ¡°Hey. You¡¯re the girl who kept yelling about symbols, right?¡± Tindra asked sheepishly as she fiddled with the string of her hoodie. She didn¡¯t know why, but she felt a strange pull towards Vicki, and she felt compelled to talk to her. There was just something about her that calmed the stress she¡¯d gathered from this absurd situation. ¡°Yup! That¡¯s me!¡± Vicki responded cheerfully. She was just as tired as everyone else, but she had a habit of smiling whenever she talked to someone younger than her. ¡°How can I help you?¡± Tindra hesitated for a moment, biting her already chapped lips before speaking. ¡°Uh¡­ thanks. You saved me. I was about to give up, but when I heard you, I ended up looking again, and I found a book with a spear on it that led me to the right place¡­ yeah. Thanks¡­¡± She mumbled awkwardly before shuffling back to her bed. Vicki smiled to herself at the realization that she didn¡¯t scream until her voice frayed for nothing. She had actually saved someone, and a young girl at that. She had expected that the people the notoriously brutal Aztec gods chose would be violent criminals or freaks, but everyone was surprisingly normal. Well, except for Calloway, who wouldn¡¯t stop praising his goddess, but she doubted that he had a single dangerous bone in his body. Her thoughts drifted to why they were chosen. She sort of understood why she was chosen by a god of women; she had always helped girls in need, after all. But why was a young goth girl chosen by the god of fishermen? And why was a little boy connected to a god of time? Surely, they could¡¯ve found adult candidates if they looked really hard, right? They were gods! They could do anything. Yet, they still picked children as their chosen ones. [THE TEAM SHOP IS NOW OPEN. HEAD TO THE FRONT DESK FOR MORE INFORMATION.]