"Oh! This looks like a game!"
With Hana's lead, everyone activated their glitches, registering themselves in the system even before the flickering stopped. Some of them started to use their skills, they were excited and had disregarded the flickering background. They become engrossed in figuring out the new "magic" they have gained.
No one expected the rational world they lived in would turn into something that would be possible to wield magic! Many people dreamt of magic! Be it by just watching Wizard of Ost or Henry Patter. Their inner child, which had long been forgotten, was aroused seeing as they could shoot fireballs or make things float! It was amazing. They could only think of one thing.
Their destiny was about to change!
However, Sho was thinking of something else.
It was a good thing that they were practicing their skills, but by doing so, they could lose their "mana" and would then be taken out early in the game. Having experienced the bloody massacre of hundreds of people who became careless after discovering their powers, he knew he needed to warn them.
"Listen up! Try not to use your skills for now. I know you want to try it. But since we are on an Area of Mission, there would be quite a number of times to use your abilities. Please be patient! Check your character window by saying character information!
"You would see your stats–status there. Mana is the key for using your abilities. If your mana is 0 it means you don't need mana to use it. It might need your mental strength instead. There are those abilities that enhance strength, speed or others, this doesn't need Mana too, but you might be using your stamina instead. We have too little information as of now. What we can do is to be ready for what is coming next!"
Sho explained as fast as he could. He wanted to explain as many details as possible to help everyone survive because he doesn't know what kind of mission they would have and how long he has to give everyone the information they need.
Would it be the same as being thrown in the ocean with powerful murlocs? Or would it be something much more dangerous?
He didn't know. He couldn't tell. Gabriel didn't even give them a clue.
All they needed to know was to survive!
*I could only hope that it wouldn't be as intelligent as the murlocs we encountered. Looking at people here, numbers would be just another form of decoration.*
For a peaceful living country like them, they knew little about survival. Most of the people of Yamato were actually office workers. They almost lived inside the office just to do their work and overtime. It was even pretty common for them to have death from overwork. What's more, their suicidal rate is pretty high–they rank second among the the developed nations all around the world.
It was not actually unreasonable that they had one passenger on the train who wanted to die. It was the dark side of Yamato that most people didn't want to talk about.
However, Sho thought he needed to take note of those specific people, he was observing and calculating the possible outcome taking all variables into account.
It was the inherent ability of the original Sho that overlaps with who he is. Even without memory, he knew instinctively how to think fast with the stressful situation.
He was also eyeing everyone's reaction. He was looking for anyone who had their "soul released" from the inhabitation of their current society. Meaning, he was looking for people who might pose danger later on. Those who had a tendency to think of slaughtering might get born in situations like this.
He was anxious and hoping that their quest wouldn't be as bad as the murloc survival quest.
As if answering his anxiety, the familiar voice inside everyone's head rang once again. As the area visibly blinked, the area shook, it was an earthquake. Some people immediately did the earthquake drill–duck, cover and hold: happy that they were outside the buildings while praying the buildings won't fall to them. Whilst others lost balance because of the sudden quaking.
Soon, the trees became more visible as they started to intertwine with the modern tall buildings around them. He felt that there was a layer of invisible barrier emerging from the environment.
Sho was somehow relieved as he was ducking holding his neck. Unlike the train, the area glimmered between the building and trees. Trees were better than water. At least, humans have more power in land than in water. They could at least run away on land. He felt the difficulty of this was significantly lower than the first quest he had gotten.
~Tiiing~
After that sound, a new window popped out in front of everyone's face. It was like the Character Window, it exists between reality and illusion.
Some people were shocked because they haven't opened their Character Window. Still, there were those who were fast learners and started reading the Quest Window. The Quest Window popped at the right time when the quaking stopped.
「 Quest: Survive and Exit the Forest of Eternity Zone |
Quest Description: The Super Phenomena is undergoing. |
Two Worlds (XXX and XXX) are starting to merge. |
You, as a User, need to adapt to this change in order |
to survive. This Common Zone would be one of the |
new zones available in this new world. However, you |
are not alone here. Your goal is to find your way out |
or to survive. |
Reward: 20 God Points and 3 Low-grade Healing Potions |
Optional Quest: Extract "Soil of Eternity" |
Special Reward: Seed of Life |
Time Limit: 169:59:59 |
Zone: Common |
Rank Qualification: Gold and Below 」
Sho was shocked to see the window of the mission. Unlike the one they've gone through, this mission seems to be clear on what they need to do. And from this, he realized that there are certain things to note from.
First of it was the quest. It was pretty simple, they just had to survive and exit the "Forest of Eternity". Which Sho could tell it was the place where they are at. Though the quest seemed straightforward, the description clearly stated that they aren't alone in the area. They needed to adapt and survive. There was nothing easy or simple in the description.
He didn't know how they needed to adapt. But survival… seeing murlocs hunting humans, survival should be different. It would be a battle of life and death.
Second he took note of was, the merging of two worlds. The name was given but maybe because his rank was too low, he couldn't gain the name of the two worlds. In their Earth research, there was nothing about living beings on other worlds. This was a first for humanity. Are the other beings from the other world hostile or friendly?
Third thing he noticed was the reward. Unlike Sho, Gouki, Hikari and Akihiko rewards on the murloc quest, this one is clearly lower: it was twenty-five times lower. Even though there were additional three Low-grade Healing Potions, it was not a game changer unlike the 500 God Points reward. In addition, the qualification seemed so simple that it could be attained by anyone.
There was also an Optional Quest that gives Special Reward. Even the description was simple. But being in the body of a game enthusiast, he knew it won't be that easy. There's no way the "special" one would be easier than the main task they needed to complete with the time limit of 169 hours and 59 minutes or seven days.
And from that seven days, he got the gist that this mission has a time limit. He was unsure of the Hidden Quest they had done before, they didn't even see the quest window at that time. Still, thinking about it, for the Hidden Quest, if they weren't able to get out of the murloc zone and reach the shore, they might as well be dead.
Comparing the two, it seemed it was not a good reference. He might as well start with a blank page.
The fourth thing he noticed was that there should be another living being inside the Forest of Eternity Zone. That living being should be like Murlocs. They won't hesitate to kill humans. It was reasonable to think they were hostile to humans.
Murlocs were blood thirsty. They loved the slaughter. How about the unknown being in the Forest of Eternity? Would they be like murlocs? Only when he met one could he tell.
Another thing to take note of were Zone and Rank Qualification. These seem to be small things that can indicate a lot of answers.
Judging from the word Zone, he quickly came up with the conclusion that each Zone has its limit and parameter. It might be that the invisible barrier-like he sensed was actually the end of the Zone. Exiting the Zone would mean that they would be out of the mission or quest, and thus successfully completing the requirement. Aside from that, the word Common Zone is something he carefully took note of. If there was a Common Zone, wouldn't there be uncommon or special zones? But coming up with no answer, he put that at the back of his mind.
He focused on the Rank instead, this indicated that those above gold rank wouldn't be able to participate. Therefore, being the first official quest and the start of Super Phenomena, if someone manifested with rank higher than gold, someone who is extremely talented, he guessed that that person wouldn't be able to get inside the Zone.
Thinking about it, Gouki was the first person who came into his mind. Sho was just Bronze when he used his Overview Skill to peek on Gouki's stat, but still he couldn't see through Gouki's status. Maybe, the guy was already Gold Rank or beyond. But that was just his guess.
Having seen that no one was ejected from the zone, he could only assume that there are really just a few people who reach that rank. Having been in Bronze Rank himself and seeing Gouki who has naturally been higher Ranking than normal and manifested four Upgrade 3 and one Upgrade 2 skills, he knew most people are like himself who are Bronze rank. Maybe a few would be Silver Rank, but there's severely few who could reach the Gold Rank or that above it.
Sho decided it was not the time to think of those matters.
*Seven days to exit? Are we on a field trip? That's even longer than field trips!*
He felt that seven days for the task of exiting the Zone was too long, unless the area they are in is extremely dangerous or extremely large. Either of those put himself in alert. Seven days in a mission would be draining, and seeing the forest area that merge with the building they are in, he was even more wary.
Sho stood up noticing that everything was stable in their area. The shaking stopped and there were no signs of collapse on the buildings that had intertwined with the trees. He wasn't the only one who noticed. Most of the people already started getting up and looking around them.
"Everyone, we need to group up! We have seven days time limit and–"
"What? I thought it would be dangerous. But we only have to exit here? That should be easy." One person who chose to stay in the area suddenly said, he was holding his head up high. Probably proud of whatever glitch skill he got.
Sho inwardly sigh. He observed the guy before and knew he would be a problem to handle. He felt the aura of the guy was too dangerous.
"Don't forget the statement that said we are not alone here."
Although he knew the guy would be dangerous to handle, his mouth already talked before he could stop himself.
*Damn. I'm courting death again.* He sarcastically teased himself.
"So what? If we exit here. All would be over."
Murmurs started to circle around the crowd that started to get a hold of themselves.
"Right… I thought everything would be dangerous. But it seems it's nothing. We've got awesome skills to protect us…"
"I bet that teen just exaggerated. Maybe the trauma of the train wreck rekt his head."
"I don't know… maybe we should listen to him. He was in the train that disappeared after all."
"How can we trust a kid?"
"He summoned a knife out of nowhere. He should be special!"
Two opposing ideas emerged. Sho quietly observed. Not just the people around but also the new location they were in. He was alert for any new unknown being or even noise of battle. But unexpectedly, there was nothing.
*Was I wrong? Was there no danger?*
"And who made you the boss?" Someone along the crowd intervened. He stood tall around 1.9 meters. His bearing exude of a leader, one that everyone should respect and follow. The way he talked clearly showed how he shouldn't be bossed around but instead boss people around.
He had an aura of someone who came from the military.
The man who was riling up the crowd was taken aback.
"I'm not saying I should be the boss here. The Quest sounds easy enough that any small group can finish it. Why should we group up with people we don't know? What if they backstab us?"
The crowd gasped and became alert.
They knew almost no one there. Only a few came as a group. Anyone who was at the Terra Station was either traveling alone; meeting someone to hang out with; waiting for their transferring train so they bought some souvenirs first; tourist who just wanted to put their baggage on ecbo cloak service or baggage counter to travel light; or someone who just wanted to enjoy their day off.
Terra Station was also a famous tourist spot, so local groups don't really like to be sandwiched with the other people. It was reasonable that 80% of people were just alone. It was easier to move there when alone.
"It doesn't matter who wants to be boss. What we need to do is to unite to survive." Sho was being sincere.
If possible, he would exclude himself from everyone and do his best to survive. He said his piece already, and if people didn't survive, it would be on their own. If they want to die, then by all means, do it away from him.
He wasn't a hero, but he didn't want anyone to die in front of him.
That aside, the one really holding him to speak was the promise he made with Asahi. The original Sho respected him too much and would make way with his best friend's wishes. Though he was not Sho and he doesn't personally know Asahi, after talking with the guy, he felt comfortable enough to hold his promise.
"You seem like a nice man, but I can see you're not experienced in leading. Let me lead, and I'll make sure we will have as many survivors as we can. I've served and have experience" The 1.9 meter man with an aura of the military said with confidence.
Looking at him, he knew he wasn't lying. He exuded a far greater commanding presence than anyone else.
The guy was as charismatic as Gouki in the lead. Coupled with his upright posture, masculine body, his black hair in crew cut and dark brown righteous eyes.
The guy who was causing trouble also was intimidated by the military guy.
So Sho nodded to the military guy in response. "To be honest, that's what I want. I'm Sho Chad. You are?"
"Alpha Ainu. You can call me Alpha."
"Nice name. Definitely fit for someone to lead." Surprised, he couldn't help but comment.
Alpha showed a glimmer of a smile. Judging from his reaction, Sho wasn't the first who commented like that.
"Everyone, gather around! Those who have attack powers, please go over here," He pointed to his right. "Those who have defensive powers go over here," He pointed in front of them. "And those unsure of their powers, please go here." He then pointed to his left.
Sho was delighted by his chain of command. The more Alpha talked, the more he realized that the man was indeed more suitable than anyone. In just a span of minutes, he was able to organize almost everyone.
Those who didn't want to listen were either confronted or let go. And everyone who chose to stay was quickly acquainted with the new changes. Those who had been in despair for the sudden change saw hope with Alpha's command.
Sho silently sighed in relief. It seems he was indeed lucky to find such a capable person in their zone.