《Ricochet Island》 Chapter 1: Elimination Game BAM ¡°Gah!¡± BAM ¡°Damn!¡± Loud noises woke me up. I stared at my surroundings in a daze. People running all over the place. White flashes. Loud bangs. People pummeling into the ground. Where? What? Why? Actually, maybe I was still sleeping. I had no idea where I was or what the heck was going on. Yeah, this had to be a dream. ¡°Ouch.¡± Pinching my cheek definitely hurt. Okay, maybe this wasn¡¯t a dream after all. Still, learning that much didn¡¯t help me in the slightest. There was a gap in my memory. I had no idea what I was doing before waking up here. My name... Hugo Brener. I remembered that much at least, but everything else was a blur. Did I have amnesia? There was no better explanation. Losing my memory should have been a big deal, but I was strangely calm. It felt like somebody¡¯s else problem. Some dude named Hugo lost his memory. That¡¯s how unreal it felt. ¡°Hm?¡± Something was lying on my lap. It was a white... gun. It was a gun. On my lap. A gun. Mhm. It made perfect sense. ¡°THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?¡± I jumped on my feet. The gun slid down and landed on the ground. I hoped it was an illusion, but it definitely made a thud when it hit the ground. I understood everything at that moment. There was no doubt about it. I murdered somebody, then wiped out my memories in order to escape the guilt... NOT!The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Hey!¡± I called out to a passerby. ¡°Do you know the heck is going on here?!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The guy threw me a suspicious glare. I immediately regretted my actions. He was carrying a familiar white object. Yes, it was quite familiar. Indeed, I recalled seeing something just like it a moment ago. Gulp. ¡°Oh, a newbie?¡± The guy flashed me a grin. Maybe I was going to live after all. ¡°A newbie... I guess I am? My name¡¯s Hugo.¡± ¡°Jack.¡± He casually played with his gun as he drew closer. My legs were begging me to break into a run, but I just stood there with a forced smile. It¡¯s okay. No problem. I wasn¡¯t in danger. It¡¯s okay. Okay okay okay. ¡°So... what¡¯s exactly going on here?¡± ¡°An elimination game.¡± ¡°A game?¡± ¡°Yep. You shoot people until you¡¯re the last man standing. That¡¯s how you win and get outta here. Simple, right? Khaha.¡± ¡°Haha, sure... simple...¡± Yeah, just shoot people. Simple. No problem there. Nope. Not at all. Haha. Ha. Ha. ¡°Well, was nice knowing you.¡± Jack casually pointed something at me. His movements were so natural, it took me a moment to process what he was doing. OH SHI- BAM A white flash, followed by a dull pain on my chest ¡°Ugh.¡± My chest hurt. Or rather, it went numb. I didn¡¯t feel it. I didn¡¯t feel my body. I didn''t feel anything. ¡°Wha...?¡± My legs gave in. I collapsed like a puppet whose strings were cut. My face headed straight into the ground and I couldn¡¯t do anything about it. I just prayed I won¡¯t wake up with a broken nose in the afterlife. ......... ...... ... ¡°Ah!?¡± I woke up with a start. Oh! So it was a dream after all! ¡°Woohoo! I¡¯m alive dang it!¡± Thud. Something slid from my lap. It was white. It looked familiar. ¡°Seriously...?¡± There was no use denying it anymore. It was a gun. This was reality. I was stuck in some absurd game. Fuck my life. Chapter 2: Stun Gun ¡°Elimination game¡±. That¡¯s how Jack described this situation. It sounded like complete nonsense, but it perfectly explained the chaotic scene in front of me. People running. White flashes. Loud bangs. People collapsing. It was a battlefield. People were shooting and getting shot at. White beams flew all over the place. The beams only vaguely resembled bullets, but they did a good job knocking people out. I had first-hand experience with that. Thankfully, these ¡°bullets¡± didn¡¯t pierce anybody¡¯s flesh. There was no pain or blood. People just collapsed, as if taking a nap. Still, it was a raging war. Therefore, with this gun, I was expected to... gulp. The idea of shooting others made me fidget. It¡¯s not a real gun. Just a toy. It won¡¯t kill anybody. I repeated the mantra over and over while reaching toward the gun. ¡°Okay. No problem. Breathe.¡± The gun was lighter than I expected. It definitely wasn¡¯t weight befitting a deadly weapon. That fact helped me relax... a little bit. A very little bit. Me? Shoot people? My mind became a jumble whenever I ran a simulation in my head. Why did I have to do this in the first place? How did I even end up in this bizzare game?! Perhaps others held some answers, but it was difficult to approach anybody. They were all busy blasting each other. They¡¯d shoot me down the moment I get in their line of sight. Gulp. The white gun in my hand was the only clue I had, but it insisted to remain silent no matter how long I stared at it. Stubborn bastard. Wait, did I even know how to use this thing? There were still holes in memory, but I was pretty sure I had never fired a gun before. Did someone like me even have a chance in this game at all? For now, I decided to give it a try. There was a big rock nearby, so I pointed the gun at it. Honestly, I had no idea the heck I was doing. I mimicked a shooting stance I vaguely remembered from some flick. ¡°Hmm.¡± Come to think of it, guns had something called ¡°safety¡±, didn¡¯t they? It was supposed to prevent the gun from misfiring. But, no matter where I searched, I couldn¡¯t find anything like that. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Oh, well. Whatever. I just pulled the trigger. BAM A white flash, followed by a loud bang. It made me flinch for a moment, but it wasn¡¯t as bad as I feared. There wasn¡¯t even any recoil. Weird. The white beam smashed into the rock and vanished. Honestly, it felt like I fired a gust of wind. Anticlimactic, to say the least. BAM BAM BAM I drilled more bullets into the rock. It didn¡¯t take long to get used to the process. It almost felt like playing around with a toy, except this one could render an adult uncionousess in one hit. Interestingly, there wasn¡¯t as much as a scratch on the rock. The white beams I fired definitely hit it, but they instantly vanished without a trace. It was hard to imagine I was knocked out by something like this. Perhaps it was a neutralizer of some sort? That¡¯d explain why my body went numb when I was hit. This gun was probably something like a stun gun. Anyway, it was good news I could at least operate this thing. My aim was so-so, but that¡¯s a given for an amateur. It was also good to know this gun wasn¡¯t some lethal weapon, As for shooting people with it... In the first place, did I really need to shoot anybody? Jack called it an ¡°elimination game¡±, but for it made more sense to think of it as a ¡°survival game¡±. The goal was to survive until the end. In that case, couldn¡¯t I just stay hidden throughout the game? I¡¯d probably still need to shoot somebody in end, but that¡¯ll be way easier than going on a killing spree right now. With that decided, I ran toward the rock. It was big enough to hide behind while crouching. Nobody had noticed me yet, so I had to act fast. I circled around the rock and- ¡°A-Ah!¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Somebody was already there! A woman was crouching beside the rock, gripping a gun. Of course. There¡¯s no way I was the only genius around. Anybody would think of something as simple as hiding. ¡°Um, err...¡± I couldn¡¯t words. ¡°A nice weather we have today, right? Haha...¡± ¡°......¡± The woman glared at me with all the suspicion she could muster. Couldn¡¯t blame her, considering the screwed up situation we were in. Technically, we were enemies. Was she going to shoot me? I felt my grip on the gun tightening. Shoot her before she shoots you. A voice whispered in my head. ¡°... you¡¯re not going to shoot?¡± The woman asked. ¡°H-Haha. C¡¯mon, I wouldn¡¯t think of harming a woman! I¡¯m a gentleman, you know.¡± I answered with a strained smile. ¡°Let¡¯s just pretend we never met, okay?¡± I started backpaddeling while retaining a friendly smile. I¡¯ll just find myself a different hiding spot. ¡°Alright. Good luck out there.¡± The woman gave me a small nod. Good. I managed to avoid conflict for now. I turned around and- BAM ¡°Idiot.¡± ¡°Eh...?¡± My body turned to lead. I crashed into the ground. She shot me. This damn woman just freaking shot me! Goddammit! Just you wait! Next time... I¡¯ll... murder your ass... ugh... Chapter 3: First Kill ¡°Ah.¡± As expected, I woke up for the third time. Of course, the gun was right beside me. Great. I picked it up and jumped on my feet. Everybody around me were enemies. I was forced to learn that the hard way. I couldn¡¯t let my guard down for even a second. Next time, I¡¯ll be the one to shoot first. I won¡¯t go down without a fight, dang it! With that resolution, I started searching for a hiding place. With all said and done, hiding in a safe spot still sounded like the best idea. I¡¯ll fight when I have to, but it was better to avoid fights in the first place, right? ¡°Hmm.¡± I didn¡¯t recognize this spot. It seemed I woke up in a different location than before. Nonetheless, the overall scenery was the same. There was greenery all around, with trees scattered here and there. Behind me was a shore and a sea which stretched as far as the eye could see. Thinking of it, there was a shore at my previous location as well. Was this an island? I made a mental note to investigate that later. For now, I found a big rock and ran toward it. BAM BAM BAM The white flashes and loud bangs made it easy figuring out where most of the action was taking place. I positioned myself behind the rock, in a way that nobody would see me from the battlefield¡¯s direction. Now, I only had to wait. Once the number of opponents plummets, I¡¯ll just have to defeat the remaining few. Yeah, just shoot them down. No problem. Not at all. Yeaaaaah. Hiding behind this rock should be safe. Thanks to my shooting practice from the previous round, I knew the ¡°bullets¡± from these guns couldn¡¯t penetrate through the rock. Right. I should be safe here. And yet... ¡°Grr.¡± My body was fidgety. Countless bangs resounded on the other side of the rock. I could hear people running and cursing. Yet, I had no idea what was really going on over there. I couldn¡¯t confirm the situation with my own eyes. How many people were still standing? How skilled were they? Did anybody notice I was hiding here? I knew none of that. It was tempting to sneak a peek, but that¡¯d kill the whole purpose of hiding. In short, it was stressing as heck. I clenched my gun and took deep breaths to calm myself. There was no knowing when the situation would suddenly turn for the worst. I had to be ready for anything. I thought back on the scummy woman who shot me in the back last round. Just like me now, she had been quietly hiding behind a rock. She was safe and hidden, until I waltzed in and ruined everything for her. She was startled by my sudden appearance and didn¡¯t know how to react. If I had been more resolved, I probably could have finished her off right then and there. The exact same scenario could happen to me as well. A random passerby would pop outta nowhere and shoot me before I get to react. I had to tighten up my guard to the max. Right. Left. RIght. Left. I glanced from one side to the other, making sure nobody approached from my blind spot. Ugh. My neck hurt. How long had I been sitting here? With my mind constantly on edge, a mere minute felt like an hour. The gunfire stopped at some point. Or rather, it moved elsewhere. I could still hear faint bangs from time to time, but they were far away. Did it mean this area was safe now? I was curious, but I didn¡¯t dare peeking out. Curiosity killed the cat, as they say.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. TAP TAP TAP Fast paced footsteps resounded behind me. They drew closer and closer and closer. Damn, did somebody find me!? From the left? Or from the right?! I turned from side to side, hoping to intercept the incoming enemy as soon as they appear. ¡°Phew! Hah.¡± A man popped up. He leaned on the rock while catching his breath. An enemy. It was an enemy. I had to shoot. Shoot. SHOOT! ¡°Ah! Fuck!¡± The man noticed me. His right hand moved. His gun was about to lock onto me. He was about to shoot. Shoot. Shoot. Shoot. ¡°Keh!¡± I clenched my gun and tried to take aim. My movements were much slower than I expected. My body had grown lax from all this sitting. Damn! ¡°W-Wah!¡± My back slid downwards amidst the action. ¡°Agh!¡± My shoulder hit the ground. BAM White flash. The man fired first. It was over... or so I thought. ¡°Fuck!¡± ¡°Huh?!¡± I didn¡¯t feel anything. I wasn¡¯t hit? The bullet must had missed me by a hair¡¯s breadth while I was falling. Lucky! Despite my awkward position, I somehow managed to take aim at the man. He was about to shoot me again, but this time I was faster. My gun was locked onto him. I just had to pull the trigger. Just pull it. C¡¯mon. Pull it. Pull. Pull. PULL! BAM Finally, my fingers obeyed me. A white beam leapt out of my gun and struck the man¡¯s stomach. ¡°Shit...¡± The man blinked a couple of times with a dazed expression, then his body buckled over. He collapsed on his knees, then into the ground. That was it. He didn¡¯t move anymore. He was out. I eliminated him. I did it. I freaking did it! ¡°Haa. Haa.¡± I took deep breaths to calm down my racing heart. I couldn¡¯t believe I actually shot somebody, but there was no denying it. The man was definitely lying over there, motionless. It was impossible to tell whether he was unconscious or... dead. I reached out to check his pulse, but immediately stopped myself. Did I really want to know? I had survived being shot from this gun twice already. Surely this guy will make it through as well. He¡¯ll be just fine. Surely. No worries. The way he crashed into the ground was quite unsettling. It won¡¯t be strange if he suffers a brain injury from this. But hey, I also dived into the ground head first after being shot, yet here I was. So, no problems. The guy¡¯ll make it. No worries. ¡°Haa.¡± I took my eyes off the body/corpse of the man. My heart was still pounding. Though I hadn¡¯t shot anybody to death (hopefully), rendering a man unconscious was still an act of violence. It was a crime. I mean, look at the poor guy. He was completely... completely... not there?! ¡°Wha?!¡± The man was gone! He had been lying right there a moment ago, but he vanished without a trace! Where!? How?! Why!? Maybe my shot failed to seal the deal?! I scanned the area, but he was nowhere in sight. He didn¡¯t stand up and walk away. He simply... disappeared. BAM ¡°Ugh.¡± A dull pain in my back. I knew this feeling all too well by now. Numbness spread throughout my body. Damn. I was careless. ¡°Who...¡± I tried to turn around. I had to catch a glimpse of my assaulter before losing consciousness. Bending my falling body, I somehow managed to rotate in the middle of the fall. The man in front of me... was unfamiliar. He wasn¡¯t the guy I shot. Just a random scumbag who sneaked up to me while I was distracted. I was fine with that. It meant the guy I shot was truly eliminated... literally, without leaving a trace. Will my body also vanish into thin air? An unsettling thought. Nonetheless, I was sure I¡¯ll simply wake up in this hellhole again, as if nothing happened. Hah. Even though I was eliminated yet again, at least this round I managed to take out one enemy. It was progress! Kinda... Chapter 4: Camping Needless to say, I woke up in the same place yet again. The white gun was already waiting on my lap. At this point, I was convinced I¡¯ll keep repeating this cycle over and over and over. How do I get out? If I were to trust Jack¡¯s words, I¡¯d have to survive through this ¡°game¡±. It sounded bogus, but apparently everybody else believed it. It was difficult to strike a conversation with others amidst the chaos, but their actions spoke louder than words. Everybody eagerly hunted each other down without rest. I couldn¡¯t imagine so many people resorting to violence without a good reason. A great reward surely awaited the winner. Hopefully, said reward included being released from this infinite loop. In short, I had to eliminate everybody else and be the last man standing. Simple, but hard. With so many enemies around, what were my chances to last until the end? For now, I stuck to my camping strategy. It sounded like the plan with the highest survival chance, hence the highest winning chance. There was no reason to actively hunt enemies, for they¡¯ll thin themselves out even without my help. With that decided, I sought the nearest hiding spot. Sometimes I hid behind big rocks, other times behind thick trees. My spawning point changed randomly between cycles, so I had to adapt accordingly. ¡°Oh, not you again!¡± I ran into a familiar woman during the 8th cycle. She was the backstabber who shot me on the 2nd cycle. Apparently, she had been using the same camping strategy as me. Huh, to think she dared to steal my hiding spot! I had to teach this wench who was the ultimate camper around here! ¡°Get out, bitch.¡± BAM Her body went limp and fell onto the ground. Her reaction was way too slow. To think that someone like her managed to eliminate me in the past. What a noob I was. ¡°Well, excuse me.¡± I sat down beside her motionless body and pressed my back against the rock. I had grown almost completely desensitized over the last couple of cycles. I won¡¯t die even if I¡¯m shot and others won¡¯t die even if I shoot them. There was no reason to get worked up over any of this. It was really just a ¡°game¡± in that sense. Still, one thing occasionally freaked me out: the bodies of eliminated players vanished without a trace. I had been staring at the woman¡¯s unconscious body for over 10 minutes and it didn¡¯t even twitch. Yet, after I was distracted for a moment, the next time I checked... the body was gone.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. It felt like somebody¡¯s sick joke, as the bodies only disappeared when I wasn¡¯t looking at them. I had never managed to witness the process itself. Were they moved by somebody? Did they evaporate? I had no idea, I had the urge to hold onto a body and close my eyes, to check whether it¡¯ll disappear through my grip. But, I didn¡¯t dare touching the bodies. They looked so lifeless. Too lifeless. It was questionable whether they were actually alive. If I learned the bodies turned cold or had no pulse... I won¡¯t be able to keep going. And so, the mystery of the vanishing bodies remained a mystery. I had no choice but to accept it as part of the ¡°game¡±. Ignoring such disturbing matters, I continued to camp and camp and camp. ¡°So we meet again.¡± I ran into the camping woman again on the 14th cycle. There weren¡¯t many good hiding spots around, so it wasn¡¯t strange for two campers to run into each other. BAM The result was the same as last time. Seriously, she sucked at this game. She had no right to call herself a full-fledged camper. Unlike her, I was the real deal. BAM ¡°Ugh...¡± I fell victim to a surprise attack a few seconds later. The path of a camper was ridden with many hardships. Staying true to that path, I kept repeating the same routine each cycle: Seek a hideout. Wait. Shoot an intruder. Wait. Shoot an intruder. Wait. Get shot by an intruder. I had run into the pesky camper woman a few more times, but she never gave me a real fight. I almost felt bad for repeatedly eliminating her. Almost. ¡°... just what cycle is it anyway?¡± I had lost count after 23. Needless to say, I hadn¡¯t had much success with this camping strategy. No matter how much I polished my camping skills, it was never enough. After being eliminated so many times, the strategy started losing its appeal. No matter for how long I had managed to stay hidden, somebody always took me out in the end. Camping also demanded me to stay on guard 24/7, to always anticipate incoming enemies. I couldn¡¯t tell who was coming or where they¡¯ll pop up from. It was stressing as hell. Staying holed up also resulted in a severe lack of information. I didn¡¯t know how many enemies were left, where they were or how strong they were. I knew nothing. On top of all that, there was another unpleasant aspect: the sea. Over the course of the game, the sea gradually invaded farther and farther into the land. I suspected this place was a sinking island. Many of the best hiding spots were close to the shore, which meant they were the first to sink. Even when I was lucky and survived for a very long time, the invading sea drove me out of my hideout. Of course, that immediately resulted in being shot by enemies who anticipated this very development. Interestingly, same as the players, the sea was also ¡°reset¡± each cycle. Even after the sea invaded far into the land, on the next cycle it returned back to the shore. Either the whole area was reset to its original state each time, or we had been transported to a a new, yet similar, area each cycle. As an experiment, I picked stones from the shore and carved my name on rocks and trees. However, I had never found these carvings in future cycles. Did the whole area really change each cycle? Yet another mystery I couldn¡¯t solve. BAM As I was eliminated for the millionth time, I had no choice but to draw my final conclusion: my strategy sucked! I quit camping! Chapter 5: Training I stopped camping and set foot into the chaotic battlefield. Of course, it didn¡¯t mean I just ran around like a headless chicken. I used rocks and trees as covers as much as possible while moving and shooting. BAM ¡°Damn...¡± I crashed into the ground yet again. Not even five minutes had passed since the round began. This was already the 7th cycle since I joined the battlefield and my results were... well, beyond terrible. Absolute chaos. That¡¯s the only way I could describe this ¡°game¡±. Enemies running all over the place and bullets flying from every side. By the time I finished processing the situation - I was already lying on the ground. The game was simply too random. There were way too many variables to deal with all at once. Many players abandoned strategy altogether and ran around like madmen. Couldn''t blame them. The random spawning didn¡¯t help either. There were times I began a round dangerously close to another enemy. They happened to react a little faster and I found myself eliminated within two seconds. ¡°Unfair¡± didn''t even begin to describe it. On top of it all, the number one strategy around was especially scummy. I dubbed it ¡°Shoot somebody in the back while they¡¯re busy shooting somebody else in the back¡±. No matter how skilled a gunman was, their back was defenseless while they were shooting. How anybody was supposed to win this game was beyond me. ¡°This is pointless.¡± I lowered my gun. No matter how many times I joined these battles, I didn¡¯t see any glimmer of hope. Was it even possible to win...? Of course, in my head I knew that somebody won each round. Despite all the chaos, one player should be able to survive until the end. Sadly, becoming that one survivor felt like a pipe dream. Rushing into battle, just to get killed in five minutes, was pointless. It didn¡¯t teach me anything and there was no chance of winning like this. I gave up after another ten cycles. As it stood right now, I lacked the power to win.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. For starters, I discovered my aim was crap. That¡¯s to be expected from someone who had just recently picked up a gun, but it still surprised me. After all, I shot down many people while camping. That fooled me into believing I had mastered the gun, which couldn¡¯t be farther from the truth. The difference between shooting from close range and long range was enormous. Even when I sneaked up to somebody, I sometimes missed them because of the distance. It was both embarrassing and frustrating. And so, I decided to undergo training. I ignored the battles and practiced my shooting. The trees and rocks around here must had hated my guts, as I first used them as covers and now as training dummies. Aiming from a long range. Aiming while moving. Aiming while turning around. There were many things to practice, but there was no rush. At this point, I was convinced I¡¯ll keep repeating this game indefinitely. I had all the time in the world. Little by little, I felt my skills improve. In a way, practice was more fun than the real deal. I set myself clear goals and patted myself on the shoulder when I did well. Yeah, shooting trees was so rewarding. I had so much fun... so much... fun. Sigh. Still, it was undeniable that this monotonous training did wonders. The next time I participated in real combat - I was on a roll. I actually hit all the players I aimed at. It sounded trivial when put this way, but it was a huge step forward for me. I also managed to partially counter the ¡°Shoot somebody in the back while they¡¯re busy shooting somebody else in the back¡± strategy. I made it into a habit to suddenly move and turn around after firing. This way, I sometimes took out sneaking enemies before they got to shoot me. All in all, I was in a much better position than before. I survived much longer and some players I defeated even started avoiding me. Muhahaha! Flee in terror, peasants! ... I really wanted to believe I was still sane. As it stood, I was probably somewhere in the top 20% right now. Truly, a professional assassin in the making. But, was that enough? BAM Of course not. ¡°Ugh...¡± I found myself on the ground for the gazillion time. The ground almost felt like an extension of my body at this point. I trained and became much better at this stupid game. Yet, one question still remained... HOW DO I ACTUALLY GET OUT OF THIS PLACE!? Chapter 6: Lost Fighting and fighting and fighting. Shooting and shooting and shooting. There was no end to it. Repeating the same fruitless actions gradually turned me into a zombie. I needed a break. I took a stroll along the shore. Anybody could easily eliminate me right now,, but I didn¡¯t care. It¡¯s not like dying a few hundred more times would change anything about my situation. There were a couple of things I learned. First, this place was definitely an island. I managed to walk a full loop along the shore, which meant the whole land was surrounded by sea. Second, escaping the island via swimming was impossible. I gave it a few shots, but the sea went on and on without end. There wasn¡¯t anything in the distance no matter how far I swam. In the end, I always ran out of energy and returned to the land. What would happen if I drowned? I didn¡¯t have the guts to test it. So far, I had only been eliminated via being shot by these ¡°stun guns¡±. I could write that off as ¡°losing consciousness¡±. Drowning, however, was... death. I¡¯d either truly die, or wake up all over again as if nothing happened. Neither sounded like something I¡¯d like to experience. There were others who tried to escape by swimming, but I didn¡¯t check how they fared. I didn¡¯t want to see anybody drown. If players could drown to death and still continue the game as if nothing happened, it¡¯d mean we¡¯re all... that this place is... To clear my mind, I took a break and sat down at the shore. The gunfire behind me felt so distant. There was only the deep, overstretching sea in front of me. No running around. No fighting. Just a silent, calm sea. My mind became hazy. I felt myself sucked into the peaceful sea, merging with it. Random thoughts flowed from the back of my brain. When was the last time I slept? Or ate? Or drank? I never saw anybody else doing these things either. Yet, we were always full of energy and ready to fight anytime. What¡¯s the deal with my amnesia? Hugo Brener. 21 years old. A college student. Did I really remember these details? Or, did I just know them? I could state with certainty I was a college student, yet I couldn¡¯t recall anything about said college. ¡°Ugh.¡± My head was splitting in half. It felt as if my brain wanted to break out of my skull. A dissonance. Dizziness. Gah. ¡°You okay?¡± Someone tapped me on the shoulder. ¡°Ugh... yeah.¡± I turned around in a daze. The speaker was an old man. I think I had seen him somewhere before... ¡°May I sit here?¡± He asked. His words brought me back to my senses. The headache gradually vanished. ¡°Sure... Not like I own this spot.¡± ¡°Hah, true that.¡± He produced a weak laugh as he sat down. I wasn¡¯t wary of the man in the slightest, even though a short while ago I had trained myself to shoot anything that moved. I didn¡¯t care anymore. I must had reached enlightenment over the last couple of cycles. I was more than ready to ascend to a higher dimension and leave this ghetto. ¡°I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve seen you around before.¡± The old man stretched his hand. ¡°Ben.¡± ¡°Hugo.¡± I shook his hand. This common gesture felt so alien. When was the last time I engaged in a human conversation? I wasn¡¯t even sure I still remembered what ¡°conversation¡± meant. ¡°Lost your way?¡± Ben asked.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°That¡¯s how I look?¡± ¡°In my experience, those who make a hobby out of sea gazing are usually lost.¡± Ben smiled wryly. His ¡°experience¡± was probably quite robust. I finally remembered I had seen him a couple of times before, always sitting at the shore. He must had given up on fighting a long time ago. ¡°I just... feel there¡¯s no point anymore.¡± I mumbled. ¡°No matter what I try, I just can¡¯t win this thing.¡± ¡°Mhm. Understandable.¡± Ben nodded. ¡°Most people either give up or lose their mind.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no third option?¡± ¡°Hmm. Some cope with it.¡± Ben stroke his chin, carefully considering his words. ¡°They find something to latch onto and it keeps them going.¡± ¡°Something... like what?¡± There¡¯s nothing in here. Nothing a human could possibly find value in. ¡°Hrm.¡± Ben eyed me intently before answering, as if examining me. ¡°Right, for example, some resort to bullying. They bask in a sense of superiority by hunting those weaker than themselves.¡± ¡°That¡¯s... pretty low.¡± I could only mumble, for I had experienced this before. Whenever I ran into the camper woman and eliminated her, it made me feel strong. It helped me avert my eyes from the depressing reality. No, it wasn¡¯t just that. Thinking back on it, I started stalking her at some point. Whenever I spotted her nearby, I purposely picked the same hideout as her. She was weak, so I knew I could eliminate her with ease. One could try justifying my actions with words like ¡°revenge¡± or ¡°tactics¡±, but it was undeniable I enjoyed feeling superior to her. Disgusting. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Remembered something nasty?¡± Ben¡¯s words brought me back to reality. ¡°I... I may be guilty of using this coping method you mentioned.¡± ¡°I see. That¡¯s hardly uncommon. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I didn¡¯t mean to condemn people who resort to bullying.¡± Ben tried to reassure me with a smile. ¡°It may sound unpleasant, but bullying is a legitimate coping mechanism, especially in a situation like this.¡± ¡°Heh, so you¡¯re telling me to go bully people?¡± I cracked a laugh. Why did this guy talk to me in the first place? Was he trying to set me up somehow? ¡°Whether you pick bullying or something else is up to you. However, sitting here doing nothing is not healthy for you.¡± ¡°Look who¡¯s talking. Aren¡¯t you always here at the shore?¡± My words come out harsher than I intended, but I really couldn¡¯t stand his hypocrisy. ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. I¡¯ve given up on fighting a long, long time ago.¡± Ben cast his eyes downwards with a wry smile. ¡°Haha, I¡¯m just too old for all this action, you know?¡± He tried to relieve the atmosphere with a dry laugh. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t have any ulterior motives here. However, there¡¯s one piece of advice I¡¯d like to give you.¡± Ben¡¯s eyes turned serious. ¡°Idle thoughts are poisonous in this place. You had a vertigo a moment ago, yes?¡± ¡°Huh? How did you know?¡± ¡°It was written on your face. I¡¯ve seen enough people dealing with it. Gazing at the sea is really calming, yes? It makes you think about topics which are better left untouched. You get it, yes?¡± ¡°Yeah, I think I get it.¡± My headache began when negative thoughts poured from sealed corners of my mind. Evidence I tried to ignore and questions I tried to suppress. Indeed, some topics were better left untouched. ¡°So what¡¯s your verdict, doc?¡± I smirked. ¡°You¡¯re telling me to go bully people so I can take my mind off these things?¡± ¡°If that¡¯s what helps you, yes. If it doesn¡¯t agree with your sense of justice, how about bullying other bullies? Some people even call that ¡®being a hero¡¯.¡± ¡°Bully other bullies, huh.¡± It sure had a nicer ring to it. The first image to pop in my mind was that of a certain scumbag, who shot me without warning on my first cycle. Yeah, hunting him down should keep me occupied for a while. ¡°Thanks, doc. That may actually work.¡± ¡°Glad to hear that.¡± ¡°Now, with my ¡®coping mechanism¡± figured out, what¡¯s exactly your way of coping with this situation? I¡¯ve only ever seen you loafing around at the shore.¡± ¡°Haha. Think of this consultation as my coping mechanism.¡± ¡°Is that so.¡± I more or less understood. Ben gave up on fighting, but he kept himself busy by helping others regain their fighting spirit. A practical example of ¡°Do as I say, not as I do¡±. It may had been a tad hypocritical, but I didn¡¯t mind at this point. We talked some more and I found Ben agreeable for the most part. The way he acted like a know-it-all sage irked me a little, but I got used to it over time. We kept chatting until- BAM -someone decided to take us both out. Chapter 7: Coping Mechanism Ben knew many things about this place. I learned a lot of trivia from him. He must had been stuck in this place for a very very VERY long time, but it was awkward to inquire about that. Nobody wanted to face the fact they were possibly stuck here forever. Analyzing our reality too deeply was poisonous according to Ben. He had witnessed many people go mad while doing so. They all suffered from an unexplained vertigo shortly beforehand, just like me. Ben most likely saved me from a terrible fate when he called out to me. Just a little longer and the headache may have claimed my sanity. ¡°We¡¯ve been kidnapped by aliens. This is a human experiment they¡¯re running.¡± Ben suggested an absurd theory. Of course, neither of us honestly believed it. However, since nobody could refute it either, Ben said we should trick ourselves into believing it. That¡¯d stop our brains from thinking about alternative explanations, which would be way harder to digest. And so, the culprits behind this crazy game turned out to none other than aliens. Curse you, aliens! Just you wait! I¡¯ll get outta here and kick your green asses! We also discussed our ¡°amnesia¡± for a bit. Apparently, everybody here suffered from this unexplained ¡°amnesia¡±. According to Ben, it was as if somebody stripped us from all our ¡°memories¡±. They left us with the bare minimum ¡°knowledge¡± necessary for functioning and identifying ourselves. Naturally, everything was explained with aliens. They used some sci-fi technology to erase our memories. Their reason? Humans had easier time functioning without memories in this war game, as they had no lingering attachments to hold them down. Ben even claimed we should thank the aliens for this service, for otherwise we¡¯d find this place even more unbearable than it already was. I understood his argument, but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to share his sentiment. It felt as they reduced us into savage beasts who only knew how to hunt. Whoever approached you had to to be shot on the spot. Everybody were your enemies. Something as simple as striking a conversation was a challenge. In a way, it was a miracle that me and Ben managed to hold such a long, cultured conversation. In the end, nothing I learned improved my chances of getting out of this place. The most important advice Ben gave was regarding the ¡°coping mechanism¡±, which he argued we all needed in order to stay sane in this eternal ghetto. However, simply bullying those weaker than myself didn¡¯t sit right with me. On the other hand, hunting down other bullies definitely sounded heroic. Even if they turn out to be weaker than me and focusing on them will be considered ¡°bullying¡± as well, I¡¯d feel much better knowing they deserve a taste of their own poison. I decided on my first target without hesitation: Jack. This jerk sure gave me a warm welcome on my first day here. It was time to return the favor, with interest! With that determination, I returned to the battlefield after a long break. My combat instincts had dulled a bit, but it only took a couple of cycles before I returned to form. Then, I began searching for Jack. ¡°Khaha! You¡¯re too slow, amateurs!¡± There it was, a cackle which burned into my memory. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Just leave me alone already!¡± BAM ¡°Shit! Why you¡¯re always after me!?¡± BAM Jack mercilessly shot down fleeing players, all of which were women. It wasn¡¯t hard to guess what coping mechanism he chose for himself. Disgusting. I couldn¡¯t stand this scene any longer. ¡°Hey, Jack!¡± I drew his attention away from the last victim. The last woman successfully escaped while Jack turned to face me. ¡°Tch.¡± He clicked his tongue as he glanced at the vanishing figure of his prey. ¡°So? You want something, bro?¡± He shot me a nasty glare. ¡°Guess you don¡¯t remember me?¡± I kinda expected that. After all, we had met over a hundred cycles ago. Besides, I now confirmed he was a serial bully. There was no way he¡¯d remember a victim he only screwed once. ¡°Wait, now I remember! Khaha!¡± He burst into laughter. ¡°You¡¯re that newbie I did in, right? Boy, it¡¯s sure rare to run into a first-timer like that. Your face was priceless when I shot you, khaha!¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad at least you had fun.¡± I spoke through gritted teeth. Everything about this guy ticked me off. My hand itched badly to shoot him, but he was outside my comfortable shooting range. I only had myself to blame for calling out to him from this distance. ¡°Khaha, man that was princess! So you¡¯re back for payback I take it? Sure took your sweet time.¡± Jack grinned and readied his gun. ¡°What¡¯s your name, again? I think it was Malcolm or something?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Hugo!¡± That wasn¡¯t even close! Who¡¯s Malcolm anyway?! Goddammit, I could swear he did it on purpose! Everything about this guy was absolutely and thoroughly irritating. There weren¡¯t any covers around, so we had to duke it out in the open. Jack was one of these suicidal lunatics who ran around shooting left and right, caring little for tactics or strategy. I never bothered paying much attention to such madmen, for it was obvious they¡¯d self-destruct before long. I had no idea how Jack survived for this long in this cycle, but I was grateful for his well-being... because now I could finish him off with my own two hands! Without further ado, I broke into a dash. I headed straight toward Jack, with my gun at the ready. I only needed to get him within my shooting range. Once inside, it¡¯d be Game Over for him. ¡°Khaha! Come at me, bro!¡± Jack wore a cocky smirk. He wasn¡¯t startled by my sudden movements in the slightest. In fact, he didn¡¯t even twitch. He was rooted in place like a statue and didn¡¯t even raise his gun. Did he think himself superhuman? There was no way he could shoot me fast enough at this point. The bastard was taking me way too lightly. Gotta teach him I was no longer the same newbie he met back then! I came to a halt in order to steady my aim. That¡¯s it. He was within range. I only had to pull the trigger. He still hadn¡¯t raised his gun. I had no idea what he was thinking, but it didn¡¯t matter. It was checkmate. BAM BAM Two shots resounded. ¡°Huh?!¡± At first, I was certain I was shot. The second bang definitely came from Jack¡¯s gun. However, Jack¡¯s gun was pointed... at himself? What? Light radiated from Jack¡¯s body. The white beam he fired at himself coated his whole body like an aura. Throughout the many cycles I had been though, I had never seen anything like that. SWISH My beam struck Jack¡¯s torso and rebounded... right in my direction! Fuuuuuuuu! ¡°Ugh! What the... heck...¡± Familiar numbness. My own beam hit my chest and paralyzed me. ¡°How is this... possible...¡± My body fell forward and crashed into the ground. ¡°Khahaha!¡± Jack held his stomach as he laughed at me. ¡°Dude, how did you even fall for this obvious ricochet? That¡¯s rich!¡± ¡°Rico... chet...?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t even know about it? Khaha, what an amatuer!¡± These were the last words I heard before darkness claimed me. Chapter 8: Ricochet Ricochet. That¡¯s how Jack called the weird phenomena that screwed me over. My bullet literally bounced off Jack¡¯s body. To make things worse, it decided it¡¯ll be funny to fly all the way back to me. Beautiful. How exactly did that ricochet thing work? Jack shot himself before the rebounce happened. Then, he was wrapped in light which repelled my beam. Is that all it took? I pointed the gun at my arm. BAM ¡°Ugh.¡± My arm went limp. No light came forth to cover my body. Weird. Losing an arm didn¡¯t result in immediate elimination, I had experienced this many times on the battlefield. Hitting limbs paralyzed them, but it didn¡¯t make the player lose consciousness. Only shots to the torso and head were fatal. ¡°Maybe the same applies to ricochet?¡± I pointed the gun at my stomach. Maybe the defensive light won¡¯t show itself until I shoot myself in a critical area. It was in line with how Jack did it, as he shot his side. BAM The beam struck my stomach. The usual numbness... didn¡¯t follow. Instead, white aura spread across my body and enveloped me. It was exactly what happened to Jack. No idea how I hadn¡¯t seen this phenomena until now. ¡°Huh?¡± The aura vanished. It barely lasted a second. My body started turning limp, as if it finally registered that it was hit by a bullet. ¡°Hmm.¡± I couldn''t wrap my head around it. Jack didn¡¯t collapse after performing this ricochet thing. He kept standing there, laughing his ass off at my expense. I was definitely doing something wrong. In the next cycle, I decided to discuss ricochet with Ben. He was like a sage in this place, so he surely knew something about it. As he spent all his time sitting at the shore, it was easy to find him. ¡°Ricochet? Of course I know it.¡± Ben nodded while stroking his chin. ¡°Seriously?¡± I grumbled. ¡°Geez, doc. Couldn¡¯t you mention it last time we talked? I got royally screwed by some bastard thanks to it.¡± ¡°Hmm. Don¡¯t believe our conversation ever touched on such subjects. Not to mention, I assumed it was common knowledge.¡± ¡°Grr, guess that¡¯s fair.¡± I was still a tad irritated, but Ben was right. We had never touched topics related to combat in our previous conversation. Well, now I gonna interrogate this sage all about it! Ben explained how ricochet worked. Turned out I wasn¡¯t doing anything wrong. Performing a ricochet indeed started with shooting oneself in a fatal area, either the head or the torso. The white aura which coated my body had the power to repel incoming bullets.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. However, there was a catch. The barrier only last for a short time. If no enemy bullets were repelled during that period, the barrier will vanish and my own shot will eliminate me. That¡¯s exactly what happened when I experimented on my own. If the barrier repels at least one bullet during its lifetime, then I won¡¯t suffer any consequences once it vanishes. The barrier¡¯s duration also slightly extended each time it repelled a bullet. I tested all these rules with Ben. He volunteered to shoot me while my barrier was up, so I could get a better feel for how ricochet worked. What a great guy, sacrificing himself for my sake! His death won¡¯t be in vain! Actually, Ben¡¯s sacrifice was rather anticlimactic. He gathered wet sand from the shore and erected a wall of sand in front of him. Even something as fragile as that easily withstood the force of the white beams. The same rule applied to the ricochet beam as well. In other words, he hadn¡¯t been hit even once throughout the experiments. ¡°So, does this gun have any other hidden functions?¡± I asked. ¡°Hrm. Not that I know of.¡± Ben stroke his chin. ¡°I¡¯ve also entertained such thoughts a long time ago, but never discovered anything new.¡± ¡°I see.¡± That¡¯s a shame. I hoped to add more tools to my arsenal. ¡°Anyway, thanks for the help.¡± ¡°No problem. As you know, I¡¯m not a busy person, haha.¡± ¡°Heh, that¡¯s true.¡± Now that I understood how ricochet worked, it was time to test it out at the battlefield. It didn¡¯t take long to discover that ricochet¡¯s usefulness was very limited. The short lifespan of the barrier required minute timing. I had to shoot myself right when somebody else was shooting me. My battle strategy involved sneaking up to people and staying behind cover, hence there weren¡¯t many opportunities to anticipate shots. Most of the time, I was eliminated via the element of surprise. This explained why I hadn¡¯t encountered ricochet until I fought Jack: the targets I focused on were the same sneaky players as me, who benefitted little from ricochet. The ones who could derive the most benefit from ricochet were the lunatics who operated in the open. By playing recklessly, they attracted attention and made themselves into targets. This guaranteed they were frequently shot and had many opportunities to ricochet shots. I may had misjudged these players. Perhaps they weren¡¯t madmen after all. I decided to give a try to this primitive playstyle. Granted, I had no idea what exactly it entailed, so I started by doing what seemed right. ¡°Uoaaaaaah!¡± I shouted at the tops of my lungs as I ran around flapping my arms, trying to draw attention. BAM BAM BAM ... and I was immediately eliminated. Damn. The strategy was harder than I expected! Over the course of twenty cycles, I got a better hang of it. Instead of randomly running around, I learned how to pick smarter routes. The trick was deciding whose attention I wanted to draw and ensuring I stayed only within their shooting range. To take advantage of ricochet, it was necessary to anticipate shots. Doing so was impossible when surrounded by enemies from all sides. Therefore, I selectively picked who I planned to bait and steered clear from everybody else. Was this strategy better than my previous one? A difficult question. My ratio of success and failure was akin to a roulette. Most of the time I failed miserably and got eliminated early on. But, a few other times I hit jackpot and came closer to winning than ever before. There were way too many factors involved, which made this strategy unstable. All in all, it didn¡¯t suit me. It demanded paying attention to everything around me, which wasn¡¯t my forte. I was much better at tunneling specific targets while ignoring everybody else. Nonetheless, I now had another trusty weapon at my disposal. The new tactics I learned will serve me well in open areas, which were a disaster for me in the past. Especially, I was now much better prepared to confront Jack. It was time to hunt him once more. Chapter 9: Reverse Bullying ¡°Hey, if it isn¡¯t Johnny!¡± ¡°My name¡¯s Hugo! Drill that into your brain already!¡± I barked at Jack. Every time I faced this scum, my irritation hit its maximum. I simply couldn¡¯t stand this asshole. ¡°Let¡¯s see what new tricks you learned, amateur.¡± Jack sneered. ¡°Hope you¡¯ll entertain me more than last time, khaha.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be entertaining enough.¡± I readied my gun. This jackass was way too confident. Last time, he only managed to pull one on me because I didn¡¯t know what ricochet was about. Things were different now. ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°......¡± ¡°....... Well? I¡¯m still waiting for your super entertaining tricks.¡± Jack frowned at me. ¡°You don¡¯t expect me to just shoot you like last time, do you?¡± Carelessly shooting him would only result in a ricochet. The same was true for him as well, so we were at a standstill. ¡°Bah, you¡¯re such a buzzkill.¡± Jack pointed his gun at me. He was going to- BAM Got him! BAM I shot myself. That¡¯s it! A ricochet! His shot will bounce back at him! ... or so it should had went. ¡°Ugh. Damn.¡± I collapsed. My own bullet eliminated me. Jack¡¯s shot never intended to hit me. He shot in my general direction just to bait me into shooting myself. Damn him! I¡¯ll remember this! ¡°Khaha! You call this entertainment? Grow a pair, will ya?¡± Jack¡¯s irritating voice was the last thing I heard before my consciousness was cut. ......... ...... ... ¡°Hey, if it isn¡¯t Jeffrey again! Came to get another beating?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯ll be getting a beating! And my name¡¯s Hugo dammit!¡± I charged toward Jack. This time, I didn¡¯t waste any time. I went with a frontal assault as soon as I tracked him. He spotted me earlier than I intended, but that didn¡¯t hinder my plans. BAM I fired without warning. Thanks to my surprise element, he won¡¯t be fast enough to react. He had to shoot himself right away if he wanted to survive... or so I wanted him to believe. In truth, my shot was a bluff. I baited him into eliminating himself, just as he did to me. BAM And he fell for it! ... or not. ¡°Ugh! How!?¡± I pummeled into the ground. Jack didn¡¯t shoot himself. Instead, he shot me without any hesitation. Damn! ¡°Khaha! You¡¯re way too obvious, amauter!¡± Jack read me like a book. Damn. ......... ...... ... ¡°Hey, if it isn¡¯t Pugo! Came to get your ass kicked again?¡± ¡°It¡¯s HUGO! You¡¯re definitely doing it on purpose now, aren¡¯t you?!¡± I attacked Jack again. The more he beat me, the more I wanted to kick his damn ass. Considering the results, nobody could blame me for ¡°bullying¡± here. If anything, it was more like reverse bullying. I felt like a masochist asking for a beating.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. BAM Yet again, I found myself on the ground. BAM Again. BAM And again. No matter what I tried against Jack, he always shot me down in the end. Even when I thought I finally hit him, turned out he merely used his arm as a shield. He was faster, more experienced, more perceptive and probably even more talented. As much as I hated his guts, I had to hand it to him. How the heck was somebody as skilled as him still stuck in this game? It meant that as long as I hadn¡¯t surpassed him - I had no chance of winning either. Rather than seeking revenge, defeating Jack turned into an important challenge to overcome. Accomplishing that would mean I was getting closer to victory. I abandoned frontal assaults, as they weren¡¯t my preferred strategy. Instead, I returned to my roots: hiding behind covers and sneaking up to people. That¡¯s the strategy which worked best for me. BAM Jack dropped on the ground. It only took three attempts with this strategy. I shot him in the back before he even noticed my presence. It was rather... anticlimactic. My feelings were mixed. On one hand, I finally screwed over that scum. But, on the other hand, it didn¡¯t feel like I truly settled the score with him. He probably didn¡¯t even realize who shot him. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll feel better if I kill him a hundred times more.¡± With that resolve, I focused on Jack every cycle. It went smoothly at first, but he soon realized someone was gunning for him. ¡°So it was you all this time, Kugo!¡± ¡°It¡¯s HUGO!¡± ¡°So now you¡¯re sneaking around like a rat?¡± Jack pointed his gun at me. ¡°That¡¯s why you forever gonna stay an amauter, khaha!¡± BAM ¡°Geh!¡± I was too slow. Clack. My gun hit the ground. However, my body didn¡¯t collapse for some reason. Only my right arm went limp. Did he miss my vitals? Then, I still had a chance! I reached toward the gun with my left- BAM BAM BAM My left arm. My left leg. My right leg. All my limbs were paralyzed. I could no longer support my weight and crashed into the ground. I was as good as defeated, but my consciousness was still intact. A weird situation. I was just lying on the ground, as if somebody plucked all my limbs out. ¡°You damn amatuer, what¡¯s your deal anyway?¡± Jack towered over me. ¡°Do you get off from stalking me or something? Sorry to disappoint you, but I don¡¯t swing that way, dude.¡± ¡°As if. Just wanna beat the crap outta you.¡± ¡°Oh, really now? And I take it you¡¯re planning to keep doing that?¡± ¡°Sure as hell.¡± ¡±Tch, you annoying fucker.¡± Jack¡¯s face contorted. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sick of your stupid games, so it¡¯s time I taught you a lesson. I¡¯ve been playing nice so far, but you¡¯re really getting on my nerves now.¡± ¡°Ooooh, so scary~ Please spare me, oh mighty Jack~¡± ¡°You asked for it, amatuer!¡± Jack raised his foot, then abruptly brought it down. On my stomach. ¡°UGH! GAH!¡± My insides caved in. Violent coughs assaulted me. ¡°Take that! And that! And that! Khahaha!¡± He stomped all over my body. Over and over. It hurt. It hurt. IT HURT! ¡°AGHHHH!¡± My body spasmed pitifully as I tried to fight him off. It was no use. My limbs were completely limp. I was powerless against him. He kept crushing my insides without mercy. Urges to vomit assaulted me on top of coughs. ¡°KHAHAHA!¡± He didn¡¯t stop. He kept crushing me like a bug. Once he grew tired of stomping, he started kicking my sides and face. Pain burned me from every part of my body. ¡°S-Stop ugh! P-Please agh!¡± My plea went unanswered. ¡°I won¡¯t attack you any- AGH!¡± ¡°Kyahahaha!¡± He was in a trance. He kept violating me to no end. Just kill me. Erase me. Stop this pain. Please. UGH. ¡°Khaha... haha...¡± Jack finally came to a halt. His heavy pants indicated he needed a break. I prayed he won¡¯t resume his violence afterwards. ¡°Ugh, I got it... I got it already! So please, just stop this!¡± ¡°No. I ain¡¯t stopping until I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve learned your fucking lesson.¡± He shot me a crazed glare and grabbed my limp arm. He wasn¡¯t done yet. Even after screwing me so much, he still planned to do more, ¡°Just... let me go... I¡¯m....I¡¯m begging you...¡± I swallowed my pride. My eyes were stung by tears. I couldn¡¯t take it anymore. No more no more no more. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, bro. I¡¯ll let you go soon enough, khaha.¡± He grinned as he dragged across the ground like a lump of meat. Since I couldn¡¯t feel most of my body, being dragged around didn¡¯t hurt much. If that was his new idea of torture, it wasn¡¯t very effective. ¡°Sweet dreams! Khaha!¡± Jack pulled my shoulders and tossed me. Into the sea. You must be shitting me... ¡°BLURGH!¡± Water invaded my mouth. My eyes burned. My insides screamed. Oxygen. Need more. Oxygen. There was none. None. None! Can¡¯t... breathe... Just... let it end already... Chapter 10: Madness ¡°Ah!¡± I woke up with a start. The last thing I remembered was suffocating at the bottom of the sea. I definitely drowned. Yet here I was as, if nothing happened. I knew I¡¯d always wake up after being shot, but drowning was a different story altogether. I... died. I wasn¡¯t hit by some mysterious paralyzingly beam. I experienced a real death, but I was alive. Alive... was I really? No eating, no sleeping. This body of mine didn¡¯t require any such necessities. It didn¡¯t have any bruises either, despite how violently Jack hit me. My body was completely reset. ¡°Ugh.¡± I felt sick. This body of mine didn¡¯t belonged to a human. We were no longer living beings. Everybody here were just mannequins masquerading as humans. A headache drilled my brain... assuming this skull of mine even had a brain. The urge to vomit swirled inside me. I wanted to spill out all my insides just to confirm they existed. ¡°A-AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!¡± Nothing felt real anymore. Everything was insane! Nothing made sense! Why was I here!?! Why did I have to go through this shit!? I want out! Let me out! I couldn''t take it anymore. Everything was fucked up. I knew nothing about this place or why I was here. Aliens? Yeah, right. How nice it¡¯d be if I could believe in such a childish theory. No, the reality of this place was much more grim. It was an eternal prison of torture. It was purgatory at best and hell at worst. Could I really get out by winning this messed up game? I doubted even that. My thoughts were in disarray. I couldn¡¯t think straight. The drilling headache was killing me. My mind was slipping toward insanity. Ben warned me about this before, but I didn¡¯t care anymore. If madness could liberate me from all this pain, then I¡¯d welcome it with open arms. BAM I shot down an easy prey. To ensure the man was unconscious, I delivered an extra shot to his head. Then, I picked up a big rock and brought it over his head. And I smashed. Smashed. Smashed. Over and over, I smashed the man¡¯s skull with all my strength. I wanted to know. I wanted to confirm. Please. Let these bodies have something normal in them! Alas, nothing happened. No matter how much I struck the man¡¯s head, no blood poured out. Ha. Haha. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Everything was a lie. Nothing was real anymore. I gave up. It finally dawned on me why Ben brought up bullying, out of all the possible coping mechanisms. It¡¯s because hollow creatures like us had nothing. Our freedom, memories and even humanity - everything was taken from us. We were left only with violence. Brute, primitive violence. That¡¯s the only way to assert one¡¯s existence in this hell. ¡°P-Please! Let me go!¡± BAM ¡°Why are you always after me!?¡± BAM They fled from me like cockroaches. I picked the weakest players, especially those who gave entertaining reactions. I hunted them. I murdered them. Each and every cycle, without fail. ¡°Ha. Haha.¡± Their anger. They terror. Watching their panic relieved me. It fueled me with a sense of control. It proved I had the power to control things, even in this empty fake world.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Ha. Haha.¡± I stalked them. Chased them. Shot them. Like a broken record, I repeated the same actions without tiring. Was I enjoying this? No idea. My brain shut down at some point. There was no need to think. Thinking only invited headaches. I allowed my instincts to guide me. ¡°Ha. Haha.¡± The dry laughter tried to convince me this was entertaining. Maybe it really was. I didn¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t know anything anymore. ¡°E-Eh?¡±A startled voice grabbed my attention. ¡°W-Where am I?! W-What¡¯s going on!?¡± A teenage girl looked around in confusion. She was a first-timer. I hadn¡¯t met any so far, but it was easy to tell. Even after all these cycles, I could still recall my confusion upon waking up in this bizarre place. The warm welcome I received from Jack was burned into my memory. Ha. Haha. This was great. A clueless fresh meat was a rare unicorn. Pushing her buttons will be delightful. I¡¯ll make sure to teach her how things worked around here. Ha. Haha. ¡°You¡¯re a newbie?¡± I approached the girl, doing my best to maintain a smile. ¡°E-Eh?! Newbie?¡± The girl jumped. ¡°Um, I think I am? I-I¡¯m probably am! Yep! A total freshmen!¡± Apparently she convinced herself. ¡°I see. My name¡¯s Hugo. You are?¡± ¡°M-Mia, sir! Nice to meet you, sir!¡± She saluted for some reason. Did I look like a military officer or something? I had a feeling she was misunderstanding something, but I played along. ¡°At ease, soldier.¡± ¡°Y-Yes ,sir!¡± Mia gave an enthusiastic reply. I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. She looked completely lost. ¡°M-May I ask what¡¯s going on here? It¡¯s bonkers! Everybody¡¯s running around and like... like shooting each other and stuff!¡± ¡°This is an elimination game.¡± ¡°Eh? Elimination...?¡± ¡°You need to shoot down everybody else and be the last one standing.¡± That¡¯s right. This was no survival game. The goal wasn¡¯t to stay alive. The only way to get by was via crushing others. ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s what this thing is for!¡± She examined the white gun like a curious child. ¡°So this is just a game! Haha, I was sure I was thrown into boot camp for a moment there.¡± She produced an embarrassed smile. ¡°You¡¯re a real meanie though, playing along like that. I was convinced you¡¯re some top dog officer guy!¡± ¡°Is that so.¡± My face must had been totally worn out to give that kind of impression, not that it mattered. ¡°Well, was fun knowing you.¡± I raised my gun. ¡°Eh...?¡± All color drained from Mia¡¯s smiling face. A priceless expression. Ha. Haha. Did I also look this dumb on my first cycle? I could now understand why Jack enjoyed this so much. Huh, to think the day would come when I''ll be in agreement with Jack... BAM ¡°A-Ah!¡± Mia closed her eyes and clumsily shielded herself with her arms. A weak and defenseless greenhorn. I couldn¡¯t ask for a more entertaining prey to mess with. Ha. Haha. This was so... lame. ¡°Eh...?¡± Mia timidly opened her eyes. ¡°BAM.¡± ¡°W-WAH!¡± She jumped and shielded herself again. It took her a while to realize it was just my voice, not a real gunshot. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± I lowered my gun. ¡°It was just a joke. Yeah... a joke.¡± I couldn¡¯t do it. I didn''t want to. The idea of becoming a scumbag like Jack disgusted me to the core. I wasn''t like that! I just... just... ¡°Oh man, you¡¯re such a bully!¡± Mia puffed her cheeks. ¡°No, I... just...¡± Guilt ate me up inside. I remembered the suffering and torture I put others through. Disgusting. I wanted to puke. ¡°Man, I was sure you¡¯ll shoot ol¡¯ little me! You totally had me there for a moment, haha!¡± Mia continued to drone. ¡°But I''m really glad.¡± ¡°Glad...?¡± ¡°Yep, because you turned out to be a nice guy. Everybody else looked so scary I couldn''t approach them.¡± ¡°Heh, is that so.¡± I smiled at her innocent words. Not a cocky or ridiculing smile. Just a normal, soft smile. When was the last time I genuinely smiled about something positive? She spouted whatever nonsense that came to mind, but her words made me feel like I was saved, like I was forgiven. ¡°Eh? Why did you turn away?¡± ¡°N-No reason. Just making sure nobody is targeting my back.¡± ¡°Oooh! As expected from a pro!¡± ¡°Haha. Sure. Hahaha.¡± I couldn''t stop the laughter from pouring out. Happy laughter, unlike the broken one I was producing recently. Genuine laughter, mixed with tears of relief. On the day I met Mia, my soul was salvaged from the bottomless pits of despair. Chapter 11: Rehabilitation Ever since our meeting, I had been spending a lot of time with Mia. She was like an innocent angel, who came to bring salvation to a wretched human like me. ¡°Two heads are better than one, right? Right?¡± She desperately insisted that we cooperate. Honestly, considering the difference in skill, she was no better a liability for me. But, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to refuse her puppy dog eyes,. I was willing to go along with any of her whims, as long as it helped maintaining a smile on her face. ¡°So, why are we stuck here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Apparently, we were abducted by aliens for some experiment.¡± Not that there was any chance she¡¯d believe that crap. ¡°Oooooh! That¡¯s so cool!¡± Mia¡¯s eyes sparkled for some reason. ¡°You think they gonna turn us into cyborgs and stuff!?¡± ¡°Uh, maybe?¡± I was at loss. Did she really buy into this nonsense? Seriously, this girl... ¡°Whoa! Where did that body go!?¡± She pointed at an empty spot, where an eliminated player was lying a moment ago. ¡°Bodies of eliminated players vanish once you take your eyes off them.¡± ¡°E-Eh?! H-How does that work!?¡± ¡°Who knows. Maybe the aliens abduct them while we aren¡¯t looking?¡± ¡°Oh, I see! I¡¯ll keep my eyes peeled to catch them in action!¡± She thumped on her chest in confidence. It was all childish nonsense, but it was fine that way. She didn¡¯t need to think too deeply about how things worked around here. Such thoughts were poison in this world. Mia was very curious and childish. She always had something to ask or something to overreact to. Hanging around her was never boring. Her carefree personality healed my heart. At some point, it became natural for me to smile and laugh along with her. Beside idle chatter, I also spent time coaching Mia about the general strategies of the game. My goal was to turn her into an independent, capable player. Alas... ¡°W-Whoa!¡± She stumbled as she was about to shoot. BAM Her target easily eliminated her. ¡°T-This time for sure! TAKE THAT!¡± She shouted while jumping out of her cover, completely exposing herself to the enemy. BAM Of course, she was eliminated. Sigh. Did I also commit this many mistakes when I just started? I shuddered at the thought, ¡°You really suck at this.¡± I told her straight. ¡°Wha!?¡± She jumped. ¡°Well, excuse me for not being a trained pro assassin like you! Hmph!¡± ¡°Trained assassin, huh.¡± Was that how I appeared? My skill was nothing more than experience, accumulated over hundreds of cycles. Hopefully she¡¯ll catch up to me with enough training, ¡°Eeeh? Training? But that¡¯s so boring!¡± Mia pouted once I brought up the idea. ¡°You need more practice before you¡¯re ready to take on others. Or, maybe you¡¯re satisfied with your current performance?¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°No, but...¡± She twisted her lips. ¡°I don¡¯t want to stay here alone all day...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll stay with you.¡± ¡°R-Really!? Yay!¡± She clapped her hands and flashed a beaming smile. ¡°Man, you sure can be nice when you want to!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong. It¡¯s just that somebody gotta make sure you¡¯re not slacking off.¡± ¡°Geh. Aye aye, sir.¡± She shot me a look and (not so) diligently began her training. ¡°W-Wah! O-Oh!¡± She was unbelievably clumsy. I couldn¡¯t tell whether she was truly untalented or merely unmotivated, but her performance was a sorry sight. No matter how I tried to instruct her, nothing helped her to improve much. It took her only a couple of cycles to grow sick with this routine. To break away from it, she attacked me with random questions in order to pass the time. ¡°Say, are there any other clothes around here?¡± She frowned at her black sport clothes. ¡°Not that I know of. Everybody¡¯s always wearing the same clothes.¡± ¡°Tch, that¡¯s boring. I really wanna wear something cuter than this.¡± ¡°Sorry, no dice. Why do you want to pretty up anyway? Trying to impress someone?¡± ¡°S-Someone? W-Who?!¡± She became fidgety. ¡°N-No way! I-It¡¯s just a girl thing, you know! Wearing the same clothes everyday is super depressing and stuff. Makes me feel like a hobo.¡± ¡°Haha. Can¡¯t say I entirely relate, but I get your drift.¡± I always got dragged into her pace and engaged in these trivial back-and-forths. Before long, her ¡°training routine¡± turned almost entirely into chit-chatting with me. Honestly, I didn¡¯t mind too much. The cheerful atmosphere made the reality around us feel like a lie. The loud shots. The people running around. None of that mattered to us. We lived in our own, peaceful bubble. At some point, my thoughts about hunting players and winning the game were replaced with the desire to protect Mia¡¯s innocent smile. Alas, this blissful ignorance couldn¡¯t last forever. Not matter how energetic and childish Mia acted, I could tell unpleasant questions were eating away at her. Questions which she didn¡¯t want to bring up, because we won¡¯t be able to laugh them off. Alas, she couldn¡¯t contain them forever. It was only inevitable they¡¯ll pour out at some point. ¡°Say...¡± Mia collapsed on her knees. ¡°Have you eaten anything recently? I haven¡¯t. Haha. Weird, isn¡¯t it? I don¡¯t even feel hungry.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think about it too deeply. I¡¯m sure the aliens are feeding us while we¡¯re unconscious.¡± ¡°Aliens... were we really abducted? Have you ever seen an alien? Was it green?¡± ¡°I... haven¡¯t.¡± I couldn¡¯t bring myself to lie. ¡°Am I stuck here forever? Ugh.¡± She started sobbing and held her head. She must had suffered from the same headache I experienced before losing my mind. ¡°Please... tell me... Will I ever get out of here? Ugh.¡± ¡°That¡¯s...¡± I was lost. What could I say to reassure her? I had never dealt with such a situation before. The first time I resisted madness, it was all thanks to Ben¡¯s help. But, he wasn¡¯t here right now. Everything rested on my shoulders. Should I shoot her? That¡¯d render her unconscious and release her from this pain. No, that was pointless. She¡¯d still be haunted by the same thoughts once she wakes up next cycle. And when that happens, I won¡¯t be there to help her. I had to resolve it right here, right now. But what should I say? What can I do? Her sobs and trembling form crushed my heart. She¡¯s the one who pulled me back from the pits of madness, yet I couldn¡¯t do anything for her! Dammit! I couldn¡¯t stand watching her like that, but no solution came to mind. Nothing I could say would reassure her, for she was right. This was place was hell. We were trapped in here, possibly for eternity. As it stood, with her current level of skill, she had no hope of ever winning this game. Still, not all hope was lost. As long as we preserved our humanity in this realm of madness - we could keep going. But, how could I convey this sentiment to her? Maybe words weren¡¯t necessary. My body acted on its own. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. Don¡¯t worry.¡± I embraced her shivering body. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure we get out of here, both of us.¡± ¡°Really...?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a promise. So don¡¯t think about complicated things. It¡¯ll only give you a headache and you¡¯ll lose yourself.¡± ¡°Okay... Okay, I got it... Aaaaah!¡± She cried into my chest. All her frustration and despair were laid bare. I held her tighter, reassuring that everything will work out in the end. Could I really keep such a promise? It didn¡¯t matter. If needed, I¡¯d tell a thousand lies. As long as Mia was smiling, that¡¯s all that mattered. Chapter 12: Help ¡°Huuugo! Oveeer here!¡± Mia waved to me, wearing a beaming smile. ¡°What¡¯s on today¡¯s schedule?¡± ¡°Training. I¡¯ll mold you into a professional assassin.¡± ¡°Eh? Training? Again?¡± She pouted with a sigh. ¡°Alrighty, got it.¡± Mia became a lot more obedient after recovering from her breakdown. After crying for a while in my embrace, she returned to her former self. She was back to being a happy-go-lucky girl. What a relief. ¡°If I do well in the training,¡± Mia smiled mischievously. ¡°will you hold me tight again as a reward?¡± ¡°S-Sure, if that¡¯ll get you pumped up for training.¡± My cheeks heated up. Back then, I hugged her at the spur of the moment without thinking. Upon reflecting on that now... it was beyond embarrassing. ¡°Yay! I¡¯ll do my best then!¡± She winked. These casual flirts were probably the biggest change since her breakdown. Back when I hugged her, I was sure she¡¯d accuse me of taking advantage of her. However, she didn¡¯t complain even once. In fact, she started clinging to me of her own accord. I had mixed feelings about her growing dependant on met, but I was happy as long as she was. Were we a couple? A difficult question, considering the circumstances. Roaring gunshots and slumping bodies were hardly a scenery for romance. We both understood that, so we were fine with simply enjoying each other¡¯s company. There was no need to turn this relationship into anything official. ¡°W-Wah!¡± Mia was clumsy as ever. But, unlike before, she made solid progress. Her motivation was in a whole different league. She tripped, laughed it off and immediately returned to training. She didn¡¯t utter a single complaint. Her growth filled me with a sense of accomplishment. Helping her grow stronger fulfilled me in a way which bullying never could. Did Ben also feel like this way when he saved people from madness? I now understood how he maintained his sanity despite staying away from the battlefield. Helping others was a functional coping mechanism in its own right, albeit a complicated one. With that realization, I incorporated ¡°helping people¡± into my daily routine. Whenever I learned there was a weak player who got repeatedly focused on, I shot down the responsible bully. Avoiding unnecessary conflict with powerful enemies was one of my most important rules, but I cast it aside. As long as I could help somebody out - I acted. Of course, I didn¡¯t become a selfless saint or anything like that. Helping others was merely a coping mechanism for me. By saving them, I saved myself. Even so, there was a certain sense of fulfilment I never experienced before. Helping others was a routine I could maintain for a long time without losing my humanity. ¡°Heh, ain¡¯t I a hypocrite?¡± Before meeting Mia, I was the spitting image of a bully myself. I now felt like a convicted criminal, who atoned for his sins by hunting his own kin. But that¡¯s fine. As long as I could remain myself by Mia¡¯s side, I could live with that hypocrisy. ¡°I also wanna do these heroic stealth missions!¡± Mia insisted. ¡°We¡¯ll be like a superhero couple and stuff!¡± Her eyes sparkled. ¡°No, it¡¯s dangerous. If these guys start targeting you instead, you¡¯ll have to go through hell every cycle.¡± ¡°No problem! I worked my ass off during training, so I can handle anything now!¡± She wrapped herself around my arm and rubbed her cheek against my shoulder. ¡°Pretty pretty please~?¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± I couldn¡¯t fight these puppy dog eyes. She sure learned how to push my buttons. ¡°Fine... let¡¯s give it a try.¡± ¡°Yay! I love you, darling!¡± She kissed me on the cheek. My face probably turned into a tomato at this point. How she could do all these embarrassing things in public was beyond me.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. And so, me and MIa worked together to take down bullies, or ¡°villains¡± as she called them. She really improved a lot. I could tell she took her training seriously, even when I wasn¡¯t there to keep an eye on her. ¡°You really worked hard, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yep! I¡¯m a diligent girl. Did you fall for me all over again?¡± ¡°Heh, maybe.¡± ¡°E-Eh!?¡± She jumped when I hugged her. Despite teasing me all the time, she wasn¡¯t any better than me when it came to being teased. Once I learned of that cute side of her, I made sure to tease her on a daily basis. Despite all these good news, there was still one problem. No matter how much Mia improved her skill, she was still terrible at covert operations. Quietly sneaking up to people was beyond her. She¡¯d blow her cover in two seconds. Thankfully, we figured out a strategy which combined both of our strengths. It allowed taking out strong players who were too much for me alone. ¡°Hey, hey! Over here, dickhead!¡± Mia waved her arms to draw the villain''s attention. ¡°Huh!?¡± The man¡¯s face contorted. ¡°You talkin¡¯ to me, bitch!?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, you loser! Take on someone your size, will ya?¡± ¡°You little shit! You pickin¡¯ a fight, eh!?¡± He was completely baited. His prey safely escaped while he was busy cursing Mia. With his back exposed, the rest followed smoothly. BAM I took him out, silently and swiftly. He didn¡¯t even know what hit him. Normally, this is where the job would be over. However, Mia took ¡°helping people¡± a step further. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Mia addressed the victim we had just rescued. ¡°E-Eeek!¡± The woman was terrified to the core. She couldn¡¯t tell friend from foe. BAM She fired straight at Mia. SWISH The bullet ricocheted into a nearby tree. Mia had a lot of experience with these situations by now. She mastered the ability to ricochet bullets in various directions, just so she could reach out to the victims. ¡°Don¡¯t be scared, it¡¯s alright.¡± Mia smiled like an angel. ¡°We want to help you. What¡¯s your name? I¡¯m Mia.¡± WIth her innocent smile, she earned the trust of many bullied players. They all opened up to her, sharing their stories. It was something I could never achieve on my own. Some victims were too weak to stand up to their oppressors, others were mentally broken and could hardly function like normal humans. Due to Mia¡¯s insistence, we took it upon ourselves to solve these problems. We made the weak undergo training and sent the mentally ill to Ben for therapy. Of course, he welcomed new patients with open arms. Thanks to Mia, we were now helping all these people in the truest sense of the word. I¡¯d even dare to say we were saving them. I had seen the results with my own eyes. Those who trained hard could now stand their ground against enemies. Some even discovered hidden talents and were ranked among the strongest players. Those who spoke with Ben managed to overcome their mental illnesses and regained their former selves. It was a bit sketchy how many of them joined the ¡°We were abducted by aliens¡± cult, but it was way better than being mentally broken. Before we noticed, we were surrounded by many people. Mia was the one who befriended everybody, but over time they opened up to me as well... in a sense. ¡°Good morning, sir!¡± A line of saluting soldiers greeted me, for some reason. ¡°... what kind of roleplay is this?¡± ¡°Hehe, isn¡¯t it cool?¡± Mia grinned. ¡°You¡¯re a top dog general and I¡¯m a devoted wife who awaits her husband¡¯s return from the war- ouchie!¡± I pinched her cheek. I couldn¡¯t quite make as many close friends as Mia, but apparently everybody respected me as some sort of supreme leader. Mia was the one who truly saved them, yet they acknowledged me as the ¡°superhero¡± responsible for everything. I was sure Mia just filled their heads with nonsense. As time went by, our net of connections truly started resembling an army. We even formed multiple units tasked with taking down bullies and protecting the weak. It was no longer just me and Mia helping people out. At some point, we realized our army had grown immensely powerful. So much, that we had the power to decide who wins the game. By executing a joint operation with all our units combined, nobody could stand in our way. The one who had the authority to command such an operation was... me. No matter how much time passed, everybody continued to view me as the supreme general. Once me, Mia and Ben were convinced things will go well even without us around, we decided it was time for us to leave this place. I organized everybody and launched a large scale operation to claim victory. Chapter 13: Release Units were deployed to every corner of the island. Working in teams of threes or fours, they overpowered every enemy in their way. It didn¡¯t take long to thin out the population on the island. Me, Mia and Ben were respected as the ¡°leaders¡± of this army, therefore our safety was prioritized above everything else. Everybody worked hard in order to guarantee the three of us made it out of this ghetto. All of them were just as eager as us about leaving this place, yet they all agreed to hand us the victory. It almost moved me to tears. Once all threats were eliminated, only people from our army remained on the island. Now, we only had to decide the winner. We picked Ben. He was the oldest among us, in both body age and cycles age, On top of that, he saved me back when I nearly lost my sanity. I could never get this far without his help. It was time to repay my debt. ¡°Hmm. Never imagined I¡¯d see the day.¡± Ben stroke his chin with a complicated expression. ¡°To think someone who gave up on fighting would be allowed to win. Is it really alright with you?¡± ¡°You deserve it, doc.¡± I patted him on the shoulder. ¡°You weren¡¯t much of a fighter, but you helped many people in your own way.¡± ¡°But, surely you know that helping people was just a cop-¡± ¡°Of course I know.¡± I interrupted before he said something unpleasant. ¡°But the same goes for me as well, you know? It¡¯s fine as long as you genuinely help people out.¡± ¡°Mhm. Very well.¡± He was finally convinced. ¡°I trust you guys to keep guiding those who lost their way.¡± He addressed some of his pupils. The same way me and Mia had underlings who hunted bullies, Ben also had helpers who gave therapy. Now that Ben was about to depart, they¡¯d have to inherit his role. ¡°Sure thing! No need to worry about anything, pops!¡± ¡°Yeah, this job¡¯s a breeze. We just inform them we were abducted by aliens and the rest follows from there.¡± ¡°Speaking of which, make sure to negotiate with the aliens for us once you meet them.¡± They sent him off with a smile. Some of what they said sounded a bit sketchy, especially how they sounded genuinely convinced about the whole alien thing. But that¡¯s fine. Even if Ben formed a bizarre cult about aliens, it was fine as long as it saved people. Once farewells were over, everybody took their leave by eliminating themselves. After confirming everybody else was gone, I also joined them. ¡°Goodbye, doc.¡± ¡°Farewell, my friend.¡± BAM I shot myself. With me eliminated, Ben remained the last man on the island. He won the game. On the following cycle, I made everybody search for him on the island. They couldn¡¯t find him anywhere. Ben was no longer here. He truly left this place. It was the first time any of us received proof that surviving this game truly led to liberation. Until now, this knowledge only passed from mouth-to-mouth and was dubious at best. Everybody celebrated the great news. Next, it was mine or Mia¡¯s turn to leave. We launched another operation, taking the island by storm. Nobody had the military power to oppose us. It was no surprise that, for the second time, we successfully wiped out all enemies. Either me or Mia could now leave this hell. We didn¡¯t discuss ahead of time who¡¯d be first. We wanted to postpone thinking about it for as long as possible, because we both understood we¡¯ll soon be separated. What happens once you get out of here? There were no guarantees about anything. Will we be able to meet again? Nobody could tell. ¡°Hugo...¡± Mia buried her face in my chest and warped her trembling arms around me. I tightly hugged her back. I wanted to bask in her warmth for as long as I could. ¡°Weeeeell.¡± One of the soldiers scratched his head. ¡°We better give these two some space. Beat it, guys.¡± All the soldiers followed his orders and eliminated themselves. Only me and Mia remained on the island. I mentally thanked the guy for his consideration. ¡°......¡± ¡°......¡± How long did we stay hugged like this? None of us uttered a word. We simply wanted to treasure our final moments together. We feared that we may never get to embrace each other again, that this warmth may be forever gone once we let go. Even though we came this far, my heart was filled with hesitation. I didn¡¯t want to lose her. I wished to stay with her for all eternity, even if we had to live in this ghetto. As long as we were together, I was fulfilled. Nothing else mattered. ... no, that¡¯s wrong. No matter how much we loved each other, we had no future in this prison. Eventually, it¡¯ll wear us out and push us into the pits of despair. I had already been there once and had to intention of returning, let alone allowing Mia to suffer through it. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± I gently pushed her away. ¡°The island will sink if we take too long.¡± ¡°Yeah...¡± Mia mumbled with slumped shoulders. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t give me that. Let me see you leave with a smile, or else I¡¯ll worry to death.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Haha, sorry.¡± She did her best to force a smile, but it wasn¡¯t convincing in the slightest. Realizing that, she slapped her cheeks. ¡°Okay! No problem! We¡¯ll meet again in a jiffy anyway!¡± ¡°That¡¯s my girl.¡± ¡°Well then, sir!¡± She saluted with a goofy smile. ¡°It was an honor serving you for so long, but it¡¯s time for you to depart.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I was taken aback. ¡°I want you to leave first.¡± ¡°No no no, can¡¯t do! You¡¯re the great general! You deserve this honor way more than little ol¡¯ me!¡± ¡°Heh, that nonsense again?¡± I sighed. ¡°That¡¯s just military roleplay you made up. I haven¡¯t done anything special.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true.¡± She smiled meaningfully. ¡°You¡¯re the only one who reached out to me when I was a clueless freshman. You also saved me when I was about to lose it. I own everything to you, darling.¡± ¡°But, for me...¡± For me, she was an angel who smiled upon me in my darkest hours. She cleansed the madness that haunted me and helped me recover. But, she wouldn¡¯t understand even if I told her that. Just as I was convinced I owned everything to her, she was convinced she owned everything to me. We won¡¯t get anywhere if we start arguing over these things. Over half of the island had sunk by now. We didn¡¯t have time to waste. In the first place, arguing over who gets out first was pretty silly. Whoever stays behind should be able to leave on the next cycle. She was probably worried about ¡°what if¡± scenarios, same as me. What if something unexpected happens next cycle? What if this is the last chance to leave? I couldn¡¯t get these thoughts out of my mind. ¡°Alright, I got it...¡± I sighed. There was no convincing this woman once she made her mind. I had to pretend I was fine with this. ¡°That¡¯s more like it!¡± She ran up to me. ¡°Goodbye, darling.¡± She softly kissed me. Then, she took out her gun and pointed it at herself. BAM Mia was wrapped in light. This was the moment I had been waiting for. BAM I shot her. ¡°Wha!?¡± She immediately realized my intention. SWISH Ricochet. The bullet bounced back at me, saving Mia in the process. Satisfied, I crashed into the ground ¡°No! Why!?¡± She ran up to me, with tears in her eyes. ¡°Heh... Didn¡¯t you say you were a devoted wife... waiting for her husband to return from the war?¡± I reached toward her cheek to wipe her tears. ¡°Just... wait a little longer... I¡¯ll definitely... follow...¡± ¡°Idiot! I hate you!¡± She cursed while weeping. ¡°I... I love you...¡± She buried her crying face in my chest and hugged my numb body. The sound of her sobbing and the warmth of her body were the last things I remembered before passing out. In the next cycle, Mia was gone. She successfully left this ghetto. Where was she headed? Will we ever meet again? ¡°Stop whining.¡± I pinched my own cheek. What¡¯s done was done. Now was my turn to leave. I had to get the hell outta here and chase after Mia. As before, I deployed everybody across the island. Thing moved along smoothly. Before long, I¡¯ll- BAM SWISH BAM ¡°Wha!?¡± Three of my allies found themselves on the ground. ¡°Hey, Bugo! Long time no see!¡± A familiar bastard appeared in front of me. ¡°For the millionth time: My. Name. Is. Hugo.¡± I said with as much venom as I could muster. ¡°Khaha, who cares?¡± Jack pointed his gun at me. This was bad. No matter how many times I fought him face-to-face, I had never won. Not even once. He was going to stop me right here. Damn! I didn¡¯t have time to waste on this clown! I had to hurry to Mia¡¯s side! Even after I came this far, this scum was still an obstacle...! BAM ¡°Gah!?¡± Jack was sniped from behind. He barely avoided elimination. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, sir! We¡¯ll cover you!¡± Three of my allies appeared on the scene, surrounding Jack from all sides. ¡°Damn amateurs!¡± Jack cursed. Even against so many opponents, he was ready to fight to the bitter end. In a frontal battle, he was like a raging beast. Even all four of us together had trouble taking him down. But, eventually. he had to fall. ¡°Freakin¡¯... amateurs...¡± Jack dropped to the ground, with all his limbs paralyzed. He somehow managed to protect his vitals, but that didn¡¯t matter. He was done for. ¡°So that¡¯s it, huh.¡± I towered over his defeated body. To the very end, I could never beat this bastard on my own. But that¡¯s fine. Nobody said I had to do it myself. Jack was a powerful player. It wasn''t a stretch to call him a ¡°genius¡±. But, he was alone. No matter how talented he was or how much experience he accumulated, it¡¯ll never be enough. He could become the strongest player in the game, but even that won¡¯t guarantee he¡¯ll ever win. How pitiful that he¡¯ll never realize that. ¡°Gah! Just finish me off already!¡± Jack glared at me. ¡°Or what, gonna torture me? Khaha! Give it your worst shot then!¡± ¡°Torture, huh.¡± Thinking of it, I still hadn¡¯t repaid him for how he tossed me into the sea. That drowning incident was what flipped a switch in my head. This bastard royally screwed me back then. With all his limbs paralyzed, Jack was now as defenseless as I was back then. I could beat the shit outta him and toss him into the sea, letting him experience a painful death. The old me would have definitely done that. But, I was above such trifling matters now. Messing with this clown was just a waste of time. I¡¯ll just shoot him and move on. ¡°Khaha, chicken! Don¡¯t have it in you to hit others?¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± On second thought, maybe I should hit him? Just once, for good measure? I clenched my gun and smacked it across his face. ¡°Gah! Fucker! It hurts!¡± Jack¡¯s face contorted. ¡°Just you wait, Pugo! I¡¯mma mop the floor with your fucking face!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll ever meet again.¡± BAM Square in the head. He passed out without making another peep. Once Jack was dealt with, the rest proceeded without any hiccups. We wiped out all our enemies without. All that was left, was for me to emerge victorious. ¡°Safe travels, sir!¡± A line of soldiers saluted me. ¡°Thanks, everybody. Couldn¡¯t make it this far without you.¡± ¡°It was an honor, sir! Pft, haha.¡± Even the guy who was the most into this military roleplay nonsense couldn¡¯t keep a straight face anymore. I laughed together with them. Once we finished our farewells, the soldiers saluted one more time and raised their guns. BAM BAM BAM They wiped themselves out. A queer military ceremony, if I ever seen one. Before long, I was the only one left on the island. What was this place, really? Hell? Limbo? An alien facility? Random questions swirled in my head as I waited for what¡¯s to come. Well, none of that really mattered now. I was going to leave this place behind anyway. Only one question truly weighted on my mind: will I ever see Mia again? As bright light enveloped me, my head was filled with images of her bright smile. Finally, at long last, I was released from this ghetto of infinity. Afterword And that¡¯s all, folks. I hope those of you who got to the end managed to enjoy this short story. I had various ideas for how to end this story, but decided to go with a pretty straightforward one in the end. So, what¡¯s the truth behind the elimination game? I¡¯ll leave that to your interpretation. Some of you may see it as a cliffhanger, but that wasn¡¯t my intention. I wanted the story to focus being stuck in a loop and coping with it, not on the mystery behind it.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Now that it¡¯s finished, I¡¯ll be glad if some of you could take the time to leave some critique or maybe even a review.