《Tournament of Omniscience》 Chapter 1 A white haired man with green eyes in a red hoodie walks into a store. When he does, a gust of air from the air conditioning breezes over his entire body. He walks over to the fridges and takes out an orange soda. The man waits behind a woman as she buys a pack of sour candy and a bottle of water. He taps his foot against the ground as he looks outside the window. He notices something outside the corner of his eye. It seemed to be a black figure somewhat similar to a shadow. But just like a flash of light it was only there for a second until it was gone. What was that? While the man was paying attention to the figure the women finished paying for her items and left.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Next!¡± The store clerk shouted rather obnoxiously. The man turned his attention back towards the store clerk and went to buy his food. After he was finished, he left the store and began walking home. It was a dark and gloomy night, the sky was pitch black with the street lights only slightly illuminating the area. For some reason, there were no cars, bikes or people. Just a completely lonely road. Almost as if everyone had disappeared. He was walking on the sidewalk when he saw the figure appear across the other side of the street. It was staring at him. He began to run away in fear trying to get away from the figure as fast as possible. However, the being was much faster than him and caught up to him in a matter of seconds. BAM! The figure knocked him out, his undone body slowly and gradually falling to the floor. As the figure stopped moving we can see that the figure looked quite human. It was wearing a black suit and bow tie with a eyepatch on his right eye. But his raven black hair already covered the eye anyway. He had a dark skin tone and stern face. This being wasn''t exactly human, but it resembled one. It, no, more accurately he, was known as Onlooker. ¡°The final contestant, 1069, has been captured.¡± He said. Chapter 2 The man woke up with a searing headache and felt quite nauseous. He looked around and seemed to be in a room of some sort. It had a bed, a mirror, a desk, and a toilet with a sink next to it. The room¡¯s walls were made of logs and the floor was made of planks. There was a singular light beaming from the center of the ceiling with seemingly no light switch for it in sight. Where the hell am I? He walked up to the mirror and looked at himself in the reflection. He was wearing a black suit with a skinny necktie. Additionally, he had a name tag that read: ¡°Contestant 1069: Jack Watanabe¡± ¡°Huh? What¡¯s this supposed to mean?¡± Jack exclaimed as he read what was written on his name tag. ¡°Attention all contestants,¡± A voice spoke from the speaker in the corner of the room. Jack looked towards the speaker. ¡°Your doors will be unlocked shortly, when they are please walk towards the center room of the building.¡± The voice instructed. As the instructions were given out, the door in Jack''s room opened up. Jack walked out the room and into the hallway. He saw a orange haired boy with a bowl cut walking forward to a room.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. When the boy turned the corner, Jack decided to follow him. When he reached the end of the hallway he entered a large room with lots of people. The room was filled with men and women all wearing suits just like him. This is quite odd. Jack analyzes the room and the people inside looking for anything to give him clues or understanding of the situation. ¡®There is about 1850 people in this room, and judging on the amount of space and rooms this floor on its own could be the size of a skyscraper if it was placed down horizontally.¡¯ Jack quickly estimated the amount of people and size of the facility in only a few seconds. He took in every factor as a part of estimation, sound, the feet on the ground, even the air quality of the room. All these observations were taken into account. Then, the walls surrounding Jack incinerated as contestants began to gasp and scream. All around all the contestants was a blue void. Jack looked around and began to think. ¡®How are we not falling down since the floor dissolved. Additionally, how is this even possible?! Wait¡­none of that matters right now, the best course of actions is to wait.¡¯ A women appeared and flew up into the air. Jack¡¯s eyes widened. She¡¯s quite beautiful The women was in a black dress with a rose in her long brown hair. She floated in the air with a domineering aura that could only be fit of a queen. What¡¯s allowing her to fly like that? The crowd of people began mumbling and whispering among themselves. ¡°SILENCE¡± The woman''s voice echoed into the void with every voice fading away. ¡°Contestants, you all have been carefully selected to be a part of this death game.¡± The crowd gasped in disbelief. ¡®Death game? What the hell is this?¡¯ ¡°This death game is called The Tournament of Omniscience. In this competition you will go through rounds where you will use your abilities to strategically defeat your opponents in each round.¡± ¡°However, we need to narrow down the amount of contestants before we start game 1.¡± The woman smiled for the first time. ¡°So, for game 0 we will have you all kill each other until the minimum number of contestants has been met.¡± What?! ¡°This is insane! What you¡¯re spouting is a load of crap.¡± One man said. The woman''s face turned into one of sorrow as she lowered herself down to confront the man. ¡°Oh my dearest apologies good sir, do you want to abstain from participating in the game?¡± She asked him. The man smirked awkwardly, surprised at her sudden change in demeanor. ¡°Yeah! I don¡¯t wanna compete in this stupid competition!¡± He said as he laughed boastfully. The man¡¯s eyes widened as he slowly fell to the ground. ¡®What? Why am I falling?¡¯ The man thought. Once he reached the ground he looked up to see what happened. And when he did he was horrified. Damn, that¡¯s not good. The man had been severed in half only leaving his legs standing. The woman laughed as the man¡¯s bottom half fell to the ground. ¡°My name Lucy, and I¡¯m your host for game 0.¡± Her eyes sharpened and her smile faded. ¡°If you refuse to participate in any of the games starting from now¡­.¡± Lucy floated back up to look down upon the contestants. ¡°You will die.¡± Chapter 3 The void changed into a grassland. ¡°When the game begins you will be given an envelope in your suit pocket. It will tell you the details of your ability.¡± Lucy explained. ¡°The only rules are that once at least 800 contestants die, you must stop fighting immediately.¡± That¡¯s about half of us. I guess I just have to pray I get a good ability because if I don¡¯t¡­. I might die A display saying ¡°800 players left¡± is displayed to all the contestants. ¡°The game begins in three, two, one, go!¡± Beams of light consumed Jack and the other contestants. He teleported inside a building that seemed like it was a hospital. Although it wasn¡¯t very well made since all the lights were shut off and it looked run down. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. The only source of light Jack had was the sunlight coming inside from the window. Where am I? He went towards the window and looked outside of it. It seems we all teleported to some run down city. He saw a small city with 2 other buildings across from the one he was in. But the city seemed to not have been inhabited in years due to the grass breaking through the concrete, seemingly returning back to before the city was constructed. The buildings were visibly breaking down. Oh yeah, I need to stay focused. Jack thought as he took out a letter in the pocket of his suit. This wasn¡¯t here before. I assume that this is what will tell me what my ability is. Jack opened the letter and took out the slip of paper inside. He unfolded it and read the contents of the message. The paper read ¡°Debt collector: Can borrow the abilities of someone in debt to you¡± Debt collector? What kind of ability is that? What does someone being in debt to me mean? Do they have to feel indebted to me or does it happen when u do something for them regardless? Jack had many questions regarding the details of his abilities. Unfortunately, these questions won¡¯t be answered, for now. ¡°Huh?¡± The building Jack was in began to shake. The heck? Dang, someone must¡¯ve used their ability and caused the building to shake. I need to get out of here before it collapses. Jack began to run out the building in a flash, dodging the bricks and debris fading down. After getting about four stories down Jack stopped. There are still about 5 more flights of stairs till I get down and by the looks of it, the building would collapse by then. Jack looks toward the nearest window and jumped out of it. For a normal person this could¡¯ve caused serious injury, but Jack isn¡¯t normal. He landed on the ground with no injuries with only dust gathering on the suit. When he reached the ground he caught the attention of a man with purple Mohawk. That man has blades for arms. The man¡¯s arms turned back to normal. He then looked at Jack and a devilish grin appeared on his face. ¡°Look what I found!¡± The man laughed. His gaze turned serious. His killing intent slowly leaking out. ¡°Free prey.¡± Chapter 4 The purple haired man rushed towards him with the intention to kill. His arm turned back into a blade as he slashed at Jacks chest. However, Jack dodged and grabbed the man¡¯s wrist and threw him to the floor. ¡°Argh!¡± The man groaned as he began to get back up. Jack began to run away from the man as fast as possible. ¡®It¡¯s not the best idea to fight him without proper understanding of his ability. If I fight him, I would most likely win. But I don¡¯t know how his ability works and what parts of his body he can turn to blades.¡¯ Jack continues to run until he is stopped by a wall. Damn it, not good Usually, this wouldn¡¯t be that big of an issue, but the weeds and grass that grew from the ground limited Jack¡¯s vision. The man with blades was closely following after him so Jack had to come up with a solution quickly. Jack decided to wait for the man to catch up with him. When the man caught up he yelled. ¡°FOUND YOU!¡± The man said. He attempted to slash Jack but Jack did a flip and propelled himself of the ground. This gave Jack a clear vision of the rest of the area so he could decide where to go next.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Plus, doing flips is quite fun. When Jack reached the ground again he ran towards a building he saw. There was only one reason he did this, it was to save a child who was falling off the roof of the building. The child is about halfway down the fall and is falling at a consistent speed. Judging by the size of the child, I can calculate how fast I need to run to catch the child in time. Jack sped up to the required speed he needed to run to save the child and leaped into the air. The child fell into his arms and Jack returned back to the ground. He looked at the child in his arms. It''s a boy, he looks like he¡¯s around the age of nine. So, they even have children here, interesting. The young boy seemed to be startled by Jack suddenly catching him and didn¡¯t know what to do. Jack placed the boy down on the ground. ¡°Thank you so much sir.¡± The boy says. ¡°It¡¯s no problem, can you tell me your name?¡± Jack asked. ¡°My name is Loid.¡± He responded. ¡°Well Loid, my name is Jack and I¡¯m going to protect you from now on.¡± Jack says grinning. In the distance, many contestants were fighting with debris falling everywhere. Along with the blood and dead bodies scattered around the area. Behind him, a man floating in the air yelled. ¡°Oh you¡¯re not dead yet kid? Well guess what? You and your little friend are going to die for sure now!¡± Jack swiftly turned around. Analyzing the owner of the new voice that has just arrived. The guy must be the reason Loid fell from that building. The man with blades appeared soon after. ¡°You can¡¯t escape me buddy!¡± The blade man shouted. This is one of the worst possible outcomes. The blade man rushed towards Jack and sends a barrage of slashes at him. i can¡¯t dodge because if I do the slashes will hit Loid. He blocks the blade man¡¯s attacks and a few cuts appear on Jack¡¯s arms. Then, the man floating in the air sends a condensed gush of air towards Jack and Loid. Jack covers Loid as the both get blown away and tumble to the ground. I need an offensive ability right now. Without one, I can¡¯t win, or even survive while protecting Loid. Jack looks towards Loid and contemplates on what to do. Wait, if I saved Loid, that would make him indebted to me, right?¡¯ Jack¡¯s hand glows green, signaling he now has a new ability.Jack smiled as a gun appeared in his hand. The blade man appeared above him, about to slash down at him. ¡°GOODBYE!¡± He said bringing his sword arms down at him. Jack took out his gun and shot the man in the chest. ¡°Wait what? Where¡¯d you get that gun from?¡± The man¡¯s lifeless body fell to the ground and his arms returned to normal. Jack lets Loid go and both of them get up off the ground. ¡°Loid close your eyes.¡± Jack orders turning towards the man in the air. ¡°BAHAHA! I¡¯ll blow you and that gun of yours away!¡± The man shouted. Another gust of wind is sent towards Jack, one much stronger then the previous one. Jack runs up and across the side of the building and jumps off. He shoots the man in the air in his forehead. Jack falls back down to the ground as the man¡¯s corpse fell down along with him. The gun in Jack¡¯s hands disappears and he can¡¯t resummon it. So, the ability to borrow another person¡¯s ability only lasts for about a minute. I hope I can make it last longer in the future. Despite the fact that he had killed to people, Jack¡¯s demeanor hadn¡¯t changed in the slightest. Chapter 5 Jack walks back to Loid with an annoyed look on his face. ¡°I told you to close your eyes.¡± He said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, I knew you would kill him anyway.¡± Loid replied. Jack sighs and shakes his head. ¡°You¡¯re one weird kid.¡± I wonder what the condition for borrowing ability is. Does the person have to feel indebted to me? Or are there certain requirements for someone to be indebted to me? This is something that will be vital to know for the future. Jack looks towards the contestant count in the sky. It was the end of the game. ¡°All contestants, the game has ended, anymore violence beyond this point will result in execution.¡± After a few seconds, all the commotion and sound around Jack had stopped. Then, a pink smoke filled the air and clouded the area. Slowly, all the contestants began to fall one by one. I guess this is how these people will move us to our next location. I wonder, who are the people who kidnapped us? What¡¯s their goal? Why are they able to do these impossible things? These were Jack¡¯s thoughts as the smoke overtook him and he fell unconscious. In another place, multiple figures were gathered around. ¡°Damn it, where is Lucy? She should be back already!¡± A large man with a beard shouted. This man wasn''t really a man at all. He was Onlooker, like the one who abducted Jack. Lucy was one too, and that¡¯s why they were waiting for her to arrive so they could start the meeting.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°Please calm down Algar, your constant bellowing is quite the nuisance.¡± The person who said this is a Onlooker called Madolf, he is the same Onlooker who abducted Jack. All the Onlookers have gathered into this single room, where they would have a discussion about the death game. This room was an elegant one, with a high quality dining table being surrounded by 8 chairs. At the end of the table, there was a fireplace and a painting on top. This painting was of a man facing off against a fierce dragon with hard red scales and large white teeth. Some would say that this room could resemble a Victorian style dining room. Algar sat at the end facing the painting while Madolf sat in the middle chair on Algar¡¯s left. ¡°Shut up Madolf, I didn¡¯t ask for your opinion.¡± ¡°Hey guys we¡¯re all friends here, why don¡¯t we just get along.¡± The man trying to end Madolf and Algar¡¯s conflict was an Onlooker named Jewel. He was wearing a casual outfit that only consisted of a white T-shirt, black jeans, and a black hoodie that was unzipped completely. Jewel was sitting in between Madolf and Algar so naturally he wanted the least amount of conflict as possible. ¡°Fine, I apologize for the inconvenience.¡± Madolf apologized while he fixed his bow tie. ¡°Anyway, what have you guys been doing for the last decade?¡± Jewels asks the other Onlookers. ¡°I was keeping myself busy roaming randomly around the world. By the way did you know that if you go deep enough in the ocean you¡¯ll accidentally swallow a whole lot of fish.¡± A woman in a red dress said. Everyone inside the room deadpans and a sweat drops from each of their faces. ¡°Seriously Catha, you do some of the most random things.¡± Jewels said. ¡°Well unlike Catha here, I went on a journey of cooking and I learned 4 continents worth of reci-¡± ¡°Shut the hell up Phil, no cares about your tales of gluttony.¡± Algar says, cutting Phil of. ¡°What did I even do?!¡± Phil says in an upset tone. ¡°Everyone shut up already.¡± A voice said. The room went quiet and everyone turned their attention to the owner of this voice. Lucy slowly appeared from the shadows of the room. ¡°I¡¯m back from the game, can we start the betting already?¡± Lucy asked. ¡°Oh look the cutie is back, now are you going to let me take you out for some fun now?¡± Algar vulgarly asked, obviously viewing Lucy as a romantic interest. A cut swiftly appeared on Algar¡¯s cheek and blood dripped from his face. ¡°Say a terrible pick up line like that again and your head will be next.¡± Lucy said. The room began to shake violently and items began to float in the air. ¡°Watch your tone, woman.¡± Algar said in a serious tone. Jewel sighs and Madolf begins to speak. ¡°Both of you stop, we have a limited time until the next game begins, we must start betting now.¡± Madolf says, intending to end the conflict as soon as possible. Everyone calms down and the room returns back to normal. ¡°In case you forgot, we all have 10 chips that represent our wishes and we use those chips to bet on each player. The more chips you have on the player that wins the death game, the more wishes you get.¡± Madolf explains. A board appears on the table with each player''s face on it and all the Onlookers get 10 chips. ¡°Sounds good!¡± Algar yells, causing his voice to echo through the room. He places all of his chips on an elderly man who seemed to be around his late 60¡¯s. ¡°The old man? What do you see in him, he¡¯ll probably drop dead before the end of the game.¡± Jewel said. ¡°The man killed five dudes for no reason at all. I have to bet on that.¡± ¡°I have no arguments with that.¡± The Onlookers all choose which participants they are interested in and place their bets. At the end of the betting Madolf decided to make a unique bet. He bet a chip on Jack. ¡°Him? The guy with the weird ability? Why¡¯d you vote for him?¡± Lucy asked Madolf. ¡°I got a good feeling about him.¡± Madolf responded. ¡°Then I should vote for him too!¡± Lucy placed 2 pieces on Jack with a grin on her face. Chapter 6 Jack was in a giant glass tube, filled with chemicals. He had tubes connecting through his arms, mouths, and legs. The room had grey metal walls and had monitors, tubes, and surgical materials everywhere. Multiple scientists surrounded him with computers that tracked his vitals. An elderly man, the same man Algar betted on, looked at Jack with a smile across his face. ¡°Give him double the previous dose of drugs.¡± The elderly man said. ¡°But sir that¡¯ll kill hi-¡± ¡°Do it.¡± The scientist nodded and sent in another dose of drugs into Jack¡¯s body. Jack¡¯s body jerked in reaction to the burning sensation he felt. Jack smelled all of the chemicals and drugs being injected into him. He tried to scream but it was muffled by the mask on his face. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Then, Jack woke up in a bed, covered head to toe in sweat. He panted, but slowly his breath softened when he realized he was safe. He looked around at his surroundings. He was in the room that he was in before game 0. Jack stood up from his bed and began to stretch. All his injuries from the previous day had been completely healed. This seems to be an intermission time until the next game. Jack walked to his door and opened it. Nice, I can move around freely in this place. But I need to check up on the kid before I do anything else. Jack exited his room and began to walk around the mansion, searching for Loid. After a while, he found Loid¡¯s room which happened to be relatively close to his. ¡°Yo! Loid, how ya doing?¡± Jack said as he walked into Loid¡¯s room. Loid looks towards Jack and tilts his head sideways. ¡°Mr Jack?¡± Loid says. ¡°Yup! I told you I¡¯d protect you so you¡¯ll be with me from now on.¡± Jack says smirking. They began to speak and get to know each other a little more. This kid will be valuable in the future, especially because of his offensive based ability. So I¡¯ll use him from now on and help foster his growth. Jack looks towards Loid with a sharp gaze. But if he drags me down, I¡¯ll have to kill him. A sound rings throughout the building. ¡°All contestants get back to your damn rooms.¡± Lucy said, her voice ringing throughout the building. After the order was given, Jack returned to his room and went to sleep for the night. Over the next 3 days, Jack repeats the same cycle every day. He went to Loid¡¯s room and extracted information about him through casual conversation. The continuous exchange in conversation between them developed their relationship and brought them closer with each other. Using this process, Jack learned things as simple as his favorite food, which is a plain cheese sandwich, to things as sensitive as Loid¡¯s mother¡¯s death. However, now it¡¯s time for a shift in Jack¡¯s routine.