A clown?!
A fucking clown costume?! Yes, clad in black and red tights patterned like polygons, a white and red long sleeve shirt, red silk fabric wrapped around his fists.
He had a green cap tattered beyond compare attached to his back, a red, white and green hat with dropping ends with gold colored bells attached to the three dropping ends. And lastly was the white mask on his face, the mask had holes corresponding with his eyes, nose, and mask, with a red slit drawn at the left eye.
"What the….." Ten muttered, squinting at the reflection in his sight.
He felt the hat was familiar…. It resembled the one the clown in his Talent information was wearing. Feeling aggrieved, Ten reached out to remove the strange mask from his face but was surprised to feel he couldn't.
It was not even that the mask was stuck on his face…. It was more horrific than that. He swallowed, stopping himself from forcefully trying to drag the mask away from his face. He decided on doing a little test.
He pinched the mask. "No," He whispered to himself.
He pinched the mask again, and the daunting reality could not be hidden. It hurt. It actually hurt him when he pinched his mask.
'What the hell is this?' He couldn't help but think, upon rubbing the mask, and realizing he felt the rubbing sensation as well.
The hat was similar to the clown in his Talent information. He was also dressed like a clown like the clown in his Talent information. His current…. Absurd situation was caused by his problematic Talent.
Ten sighed. Acquiesced to his current reality.
—Mission: Survive your very first mission.
Description: In Drohonda High, lies the famous urban tale of the woman with the missing red shoe. Normally any mission involving this Otherworld evil would be classified as an A rank mission, but Players will not come in contact with this Otherworld evil, they are only required to survive the three day mission.
Remark I: Players should note if they are caught by the security guard they have automatically failed the mission.
Remark II: The Players are under protection of the System against 3000th Otherworld, Miss Red Shoes during this mission. Players are advised not to court death.
Remark III: Otherworld evils are demonic creatures that can serve as energy for Players. Desperate Players can court death and attempt to put down the 3000th Otherworld evil.
Penalty: Death.
Reward: A wooden lottery box.
The template of information surfaces before Ten's eyes, and before he could register the one in his sight, it suddenly turned into a dim light, then a huge bright red X mark marred it and another template appeared.
—Mission: Destroy the Otherworld 3000th Evil.
Description: In Drohonda High, lies the famous urban tale of the woman with the missing red shoe. Normally any mission involving this Otherworld evil would be classified as an A rank mission, but under the premise that Player Ten is inexperienced, this mission has been ranked A+
Remark I: Players should note if they are caught by the security guard they have automatically failed the mission.
Remark II: Player Ten is advised to activate his Talent for the sake of his life…. Not that it would do much considering the Player's rank.
Remark III: Haha… Hope you've written your Last Will [Insert_laughing kraken emoji].
Penalty:.... I think you know.
Reward: Loading information…. Rewards shall be calculated and totalled from how much Player Ten contributes to the destruction of the 3000th evil.
The message disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and soon enough another template of message appeared before his eyes.
[Player: Ten Saturday]
[Serial Number: 336663996]
[Rank: 0 (0/300)]
Note: Players can absorb energy from Otherworld beasts to increase in ranks.
[STR: 6]
[AGI: 8]
[VIT: 7]
[ERG: 30]
[INT: 67]
[SKILL: NONE]
[CLASS: UNQUALIFIED
Remark: Only players with a minimum of one completed mission can select class]
[Talent: Eternal Instant Rush - SSS]
-[Distributable Points: 0]-
[Extra Talents: None]
[Hunting Points: To be activated] (Rewarding Points From Killing Otherworld Beasts.)
—Insufficient Rank...
—Loading Starter Pack...
—Congratulations on obtaining an E rank starter pack!
A nylon with an octopus-like creature pulling it's lips wide with it's tentacle while pulling a silly face covered the template of information.
Soon enough the nylon dramatically tore, and more messages covered the template screen.
—Congratulations on obtaining an F rank skill All-seeing-eyes tip box!
[Remark: This allows you to receive a small tip or hint on certain situations that come as a mystery. Note this skill has a one hour recharge drawback.]
[Penalty: It might attract HIS attention.]
—Congratulations on obtaining an F rank skill Isekaied glory!
[Remark I: You can only bring items from your world into the gaming world.
Remark II: Stupid skill…. [Insert_laughing kraken emoji]]
[Penalty: None]
—Congratulations on obtaining an -F rank item Scamming is the path to survival!
[Remark I: It was forged from the blood of the Supreme King. It has the ability to make your aura seem more aloof, making you unfathomable and domineering.
Remark II: It is sentient, and has a tendency to act pretentious.
Remark III: Unfortunately compared to it you're still very weak, so it is very likely to betray you during a life and death moment.
Remark IV: Chuck the ugly bastard out a window while you still can.]
[Penalty: It feeds off blood…. Yours to be precise.]
Ten's body swayed upon seeing the different messages covering the template screen. The template vanished as quickly as it came, and suddenly there was something against his thigh.
He jolted, before looking down and saw a brown teddy bear hooked to the belt of his tights. The thing has splotches of red that Ten refused to admit was blood, and one of it's button eyes was missing.
'This thing…. Is it the item Scamming is the path to survival?' Ten was able to quickly deduce this considering there was only one item in the entire starter pack.
Ten hurriedly held the clip, attaching him and the bear together to undo it, only to find that the clip was stuck.
".... What happened to chuck the ugly bastard out a window?" Ten muttered out loud, still trying to unclip the attachment.
Ten, who was still shaken by the useless list of skills and an item he had just received, felt even more tormented by having the allegedly traitorous bear attached to him.
Upon his words Ten felt the hair at the back of his neck stand at attention. He suddenly felt a piercing and bottomless gaze looking down at him.
It was so overwhelming Ten had to look up, only to be greeted by the blue skies of Ether City. He blinked, looking back down at the bear.
The system said the bear was sentient…. So could it be the gaze just now? Why did he then feel as if the gaze was coming from up.
Ten shivered, but shook his head. It was confirmed he was stuck with the bear so there was very little he could do for now.
Truly his mission was different from other players. Ten rubbed his forehead that was beginning to ache under the pressure.
…. 'Think, breathe, think, breathe' Ten repeated in his head, habitually pinching himself from panicking.
'Time to break it down', he thought, looking back up at the sky.
Firstly was the Mission…. His mission was different from others but the time limit was still the same. Ten suddenly felt an itch to find a watch or something.
Anyways then there was the train. It was the starting point of the game, but Ten did not receive the official mission notice until he came down from the train.
"It's like this." He said out loud.
Ten was reminded of one of his Teachers. The man always had a habit of throwing a questionnaire whenever he came to class. He called it his method of weeding out those who prepared for his class and those who did not.
When the game started from the train, they were these strange men that the System identified as Black Core members dedicated to controlling Superhumans like them.
From the fact that they had already activated their Talents meant they were already classified as Superhumans. Although Ten saw the brown haired man shoot someone in the head, Ten still felt if everyone behaved themselves they wouldn't end up like the green haired young man.
Why? Ten saw the Game to have a flare for dramatics and bangs like it was a movie. The Game wouldn't kill all it's Players at the very start of the Game
The way Ten saw it the Game just one upped the Players and used the Black Core members to make the mission harder than it already was. If he thought it right then the Black Core members would at best arrest the Players, and going from the keyword Control Ten assumed they would induct the Players into their method of Controlling.
Ten thought of movies like Men in Black, and Shield, and conceded that their methods of Controlling would take up a significant amount of time. Time that was of essence to pass the mission.
"Of course if it's like that and they're not in that problematic highschool there's a higher chance of survival." Ten spoke, while taking simple and meaningless strides.
He stopped and shook his head. "That's not right." He added.
He remembered the description of the mission. It specifically mentioned Drohonda High, and went as far as ensuring protective services against whatever the Otherworld creature was. A Game as dangerous as this one…. It wouldn't waste it's time protecting it's Players against a big evil just for them to chill under arrest.
'This is still all speculation.' Ten scattered the plenty of thoughts in his head. Speculation was useless right now.
He needed to find Drohonda High. Yet another he was just considering.
"I can just ask someone." He murmured under his breath.
Eh…. Now that he remembered the freak clown costume he was wearing he imagined people would run screaming if they saw him coming.
Ten felt the urge to pull his hair, but then remembered the hat on his head.
'Fuck this is frustrating!'
Just when Ten thought he would actually remove his heart and throw it on the ground from anger a voice piped.
"Excuse me, can I take a picture of you?"
Ten raised his eyes from the ground, first thing capturing his vision was the Drohonda High crest on the white shirt of the person at the person.