*****{ F.P. POV: Gautam }*****
*Crack!* *Crack!*
As the sound of something cracking was heard, I turned to my sister and nodded my head.
Understanding the meaning behind my gesture, she ran off to the area with trees.
"Everyone, get up we should get going!"
Shouting at the group of people beside the pond, I grabbed the sturdy stick I had been using as a bat.
"Hey, Suraj you got the fishes right!?"
At my question Suraj just nodded his head, patting the 'pouch' on his wrist.
The said pouch was my innovation. 'Just put a knot at your vest's base, next spread some leaves over it, put your things inside which in our case are the fishes. Then tie the whole thing with a knot at the top and bingo! Your pouch is ready'.
'Well, I hadn't expected the always silent Suraj to volunteer his vest for the job. But... He has the biggest vest in the group so it does make sense'.
Looking at the bulky Suraj more than two heads taller than me carrying a club as effortlessly as my stick I couldn't help but wonder, 'I am 5 feet long and am considered tall, then Suraj who is more than two heads taller than me and is so bulky must be considered a... giant, right?'
"Che! Hey kid, I told you not to carry the fishes didn't I?"
Looking at the protesting uncle, I couldn't help but sigh at his question.
'We had this talk before'.
"Did you just sigh at me? Did you forget how we got in trouble last time thanks to your 'genius' idea?"
"The wolves were attracted to us because of the fishy smell we were walking with."
As the second uncle supported the claim of the first uncle I decided to explain my reasoning again. 'They just want to ensure the safety of the group, so voicing their complaints is obvious'.
"Listen, first and second uncle, we need to be prepared. We don't know what to expect next, every time a safe zone has appeared the next one took longer to appear."
'During the three times, a different safe zone has appeared, each gap between the appearance has grown longer than the one before'.
"And besides since the wolves are attracted by the smell of fish we can just use them for an escape. Not to mention we have our Suraj here."
I stated my points to the two uncles, hoping to ease their worries.
"Che! Kid how many times do I need to remind you, I am not your 'First uncle'."
"Neither am I 'Second uncle'. The one who created us wasn't so lazy as to not even give us a name, like some side character."
The first uncle and second uncle voiced their complaints.
I couldn't help but smile at them.
"Sorry, the foreign names are a little difficult for me to pronounce. Isn't it the same for you Suraj?"
The uncles just clicked their tongues turning around, not before muttering...
"Cling to the big gorilla as long as you can kid."
"Hey! His name is Suraj, he isn't-"
"Gautam!"
Before I could correct them, my sister called out my name.
Turning around I looked at my annoyed sister. 'Huh, why does she look annoyed?'
"Sigh..."
"Sigh..."
Both, my sister Tanya and Suraj sighed at the same time.
"Huh, why are you guys sighing?"
Looking at my confused expression both Tanya and Suraj looked at each other putting a helpless smile.
'What's up with them?'
"Nothing, I just wanted to inform you that we are ready."
Tanya said sighing for yet another time, I stopped wondering about my sister's sighs any further, looking at the group of ladies standing behind her.
"Well, gather your weapons guys the safe zone will disappear any moment now."
The 56 members of the group each grabbed their sticks, waiting for the safe zone to disappear.
'Quest Information'.
-----//-----
[ Quest Information:- ]
[ Description: You had been granted another chance to live, prove that you are worthy of this chance by completing the objective. ]
[ Objective: Survive for three nights. ]
[ 42:01:31 ]
[ Rank: N/A ]
[ Rewards:-
1} Access to System!
2} Entry in Tutorial!
3} Extra rewards based on performance! ]
-----//-----
Looking at the timer under the objective, I remember how we woke up at the clearing, and have been travelling from one safe zone to another ever since.
Though we found some wolf monsters in the way we manage to beat them, 'Suraj beat them to be exact'.
'Then there was the problem with hygiene, thankfully Tanya came up with the idea of using the area with trees as the toilet'.
A red hue was spread in the sky, the sun about to touch the west horizon lighted the fluffy clouds in red and orange colour.
Making it look like the 42 hours we spent was nothing.
A cold breeze passed through fluttering my hair, I lifted both my hands taking a deep breath immersing myself in the refreshing feeling, I looked at the group standing behind me with a confident smile.
"Ready for another adventure guys?"
"Yes!"
"We are!"
"Let's go Gautam!"
I got loud answers filled with enthusiasm, from the group.
A few ladies folded their arms looking at me with strange smiles.
I too returned their smile with my smile.
'And... they looked away, why are their faces all red? Hmm... It must be the sun'.
"Sigh..."
"Sigh..."
My sister and Suraj sighed at me yet again. I had long given up wondering why they keep sighing at me.
I looked at the count down as the number of minutes and second reached zero.
*Shatter!*
And the barrier shattered like all the ones before.
However unlike before...
*Zooom!* *Zooom!*
Beams shot up in the sky at the same time.
"Huh?"
The thing that surprised me however wasn't the fact that there was no delay this time, but rather the colour of the beams...
"Why is it yellow, this time?"