Carter looked around. He saw the terrified faces of the people around him. He even saw that some of them were trying to log out of the game, but to no avail, no one was able to succeed.
"We can wait for our family members to get us out of the game, right?" He asked Joseph and Dandrik when he thought of it.
Of course, his family members will be able to find him playing after hours. It would be impossible for his sister to not wake him up because he knows Sheila hates seeing him playing all night.
Dandrik looked at them with worry laced in his eyes. "I'm afraid that it will not be possible. Did you remember the incident that they said happened 20 years ago?"
Carter slowly nodded trying to recall what the man was portraying. He remembered that there was the same incident, but different circumstances, that happened like this 20 years ago.
But he really didn't care at that time because he thought that the elders were just lying.
"Then does that mean that if one of our family members removed the helmet then we will all die?" Joseph asked cautiously.
Carter nodded. "Did you remember when we pre-registered for the game? They asked for our whole name, our family's name, and our address. The government could easily locate us that way. And I doubt someone stupid will take the risk when they already know the consequence."
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He remembered the faces of his loved ones. His mother and sister… how can they live without him?
"But… but my family. How can they survive without me."
Carter was known to be his family's source of income. He was the one providing them with money for food and his mother's medicines. He was the one paying for rent and bills.
Carter was still stunned by all the unexpected things that went into his life. Just earlier, he was thrilled, thinking that he could play for some time. But the excitement he was feeling, now, was slowly fading away.
He should have left already earlier when there was still time. Now, it's already late. And the only thing that he could do was to try to survive in this stupid game.
Joseph's eyes widened when he remembered something. "DOES THAT MEAN I'M GONNA BE BALD THIS WHOLE TIME?"
Dandrik laughed after hearing those words. "Yeah, but you can earn hair every time you reach a certain rank."
"Whew, that's a relief then, but wouldn't it be too weird if I only have a few strands of hair in my head?"
Carter's hands unconsciously went into his scalp. Imagining it already made him feel worse. What more if he experienced it already?
"Yeah, it's weird, right? But you'll get used to it immediately," Dandrik shrugged his shoulders.
Everyone's eyes averted on the middle when a screen popped out once again.
[The whole map will be opened in a minute. Dear players, get ready.]
An unknown voice said as the words flashed on the screen. A live timer was placed in the middle making everyone panic.
"What should we do?" Joseph's voice panicked as he glanced over Dandrik and Carter.
Carter gave a sullen expression. They can't afford to get eliminated at the start of the game. Knowing the players, some would panic and kill each other once the map opened.
"Let's hide first, once the map opens," Dandrik suggested.
Carter nodded and pressed the map button. He quickly surveyed it and looked for potential places that they could use to hide in the meantime.
A smirk slowly rose up to his lips. "I'm sure that the old players will immediately go to the Paladis forest to look for the lower-leveled monsters so they could gain exp already."
While the newcomers will only try to walk for a few kilometers and get familiar with the map. So what about we go here?" He asked them as he pointed out the west part of the map.
Dandrik and Joseph nodded at what he said. The western part of the map was the safest place they could go since there were fewer monsters placed there. So necessarily, the players wouldn't go there since it would be useless for them.
But Carter was thinking of a different idea. They will use this as an advantage. He will turn this 'useless' side into an opportunity.
[Five...]
[Four…]
[Three…]
[Two...]
[One…]
[The map is finally opened. The compensation gift will come shortly.]
All the players started to rush out when they saw that the invincible barrier was already down. Just as expected, the old players who already have experience went into the east part of the map where a lot of monsters were staying.
Once a player kills a monster then he would gain exp and gold according to the monster's level. That means the higher level of the monster, the more rewards a player could get.
Since the stats of all players were at the minimum, they could only fight the low-leveled ones.
On the other hand, the new players didn't know what they should do. They followed the old players in hope that they could gain something from them.
[Compensation gift rewarded.]
Carter stopped running when a wooden stick suddenly appeared in his hand.
"Wooden stick?" He asked confusingly.
He raised the stick midair, trying to see if there was any special about it.
"This is better than nothing," Dandrik uttered.
A sigh came out from Carter's mouth. He looked around, trying to figure out where they should go. He remembered that this was the same place he went to when he was still new in the game.
The only difference was he was playing on his phone at that time.
"There's a low leveled monster, near here," Carter announced when he saw that they were already near the lost village.
Tilting his head, he firmly held onto the stick in his hands.
"Let's run faster, we need to level up as soon as possible."
=====
Don't forget to add this to your library or your hair will fly away.