Ian emerged in a flash of blue light, stumbling upon the hardwood gymnasium flooring. As he was about to lose his balance and fall, he quickly rightened himself, posing his hand on his knees. He was disoriented, not helped at all by the strong sensation of dizziness that took hold of him. His vision was blurry, his legs were wobbling, seemingly struggling to support his own weight, and his ears weren't doing much better, the constant ringing in his tympan attested as much. Being warped for the first time tended to do that, no matter how much one tries to brace himself in preparation for this. It was inevitable after all, he supposed.
He stayed hunched over like this for a solid minute, gritting his teeth. Until finally, after what felt like an hour, he opened his eyes. As he did, he took a deep breath, exhaled, straightened himself out, then raised his head.
The first thing that he took notice of was the sound. Given that his ears were no longer ringing, he registered the background noise consisting of people's nervous chatter, low mumbles, and hush whispers.
His eyes roamed around the gymnasium, scanning the surroundings and the crowd, taking note of important minute details.
There were three doors, one large metallic yellow-painted warehouse door which probably led outside. Another door at the back of the court's bleacher, this one was standard-sized with the sign 'EXIT' written in bold red characters. And one last door which was also of regular size, situated at a corner of the court, between the bleacher and one of the basketball hoops. This one was possibly leading to a small storage room where various pieces of equipment were stocked if he was remembering right, Ian presumed. This door certainly didn't lead to a changing room, a bathroom, or even to another building.
That, he certainly fucking remembered.
Because while the gymnasium was a safe zone– a place where monsters were incapable of coming in– it wasn't livable. There weren't any kinds of amenities like water, food, or toilets. Only the comfort of knowing that no monster could possibly breach this place, and a terminal enabling the players to buy those amenities with the points one earned by killing monsters.
Basically, it forced all contestants to go outside and brave the island's many dangers if they wished to survive those 33 days.
The next order of business on his mind was to make a count of the number of people currently present in the building with him and assess them.
A task he managed to rapidly perform.
Other than himself, he had counted 23 people in the gymnasium.
Towards the end of his scouting, his eyes briefly landed on a busty blonde woman in a suit being surrounded by two intimidating men at each side of her. The sight was evoking something familiar in him.
Ultimately though, what really got his attention was the sight of a young boy no older than 15, which was an oddity and an extremely rare case as far as Ian could tell. It was important to note that in order to be eligible for this death game, you needed to be at least 18, the widely acknowledged age of majority. In theory, with the tacit accord of your legal guardian, even a kid as old as 13 could participate in the rite of passage. That was in theory. In practice, it was another story. Even the seven divinities, as desperate as they were, wouldn't allow someone as young as that kid to participate. It would poorly reflect on them if people in the know were to learn of that.
If he dies, then no big deal, by then the players would have gone through enough shit to not care about this detail or even stop to think about it later on.
If he lives though…
If he lives then he would have the potential to at least reach level 5 and become a Ranker. Otherwise, the seven divinities wouldn't have bent this unwritten rule, even if the kid was coerced into participating.
However, he hasn't heard of a player as young as this kid later on. Then again, he didn't even notice that there was a kid back then. He was pretty much out of his depth when he was summoned for the first time.
But in this case, he would have definitely heard of this kid if he had survived the Tutorial and made it in Concordia. After all, this kid would have smashed all kinds of records, from being the youngest survivor of the Rite of Passage to being the youngest graduate of the Academy, to possibly being the youngest level 2, 3, 4… or heck, the youngest Ranker in the history of Concordia.
But it all boiled down to multiple things.
Possibilities.
If.
Potential.
He really didn't like throwing around the word 'potential', 'genius', or 'prodigy'; he felt like everyone has some potential and can excel at something as long as they had the right temperament, a good work ethic with some conditioning, self-control and the will to always keep pushing for more.
A lot of people didn't even have one of those characteristics but still were hailed as geniuses or prodigies with great potential. It was also true for the inverse, and so was the case for himself. If you manage to reach the top when previously other people have written you off, then it must be because you were some kind of 'genius' or 'prodigy' with some great untamed potential that managed to go unnoticed.
'Bull and shits.'
No amount of potential for greatness, be it for good or evil, will help you extricate yourself from a mortal situation if you aren't ready yet, haven't trained enough, or if the very situation in which you found yourself was something of your own making. Be it by inadvertence or stupidity.
'Unless you have a plot armor bigger than Earth, a hero complex, add to that the denseness of a Japanese protagonist with the same obsession for boobs. All of this while being a Korean protagonist. Yeah, I'm looking at you, Park Jin-young. You are a fucking disgrace to every cold and pragmatic Korean protagonist that I used to read about.' Ian thought, huffing.
Just thinking about this dumbass had his blood boiling.
'Fuck, I need to stay focused. Stay focused. Focus. Mind back in business mode.'
Ian breathed out, bringing back his emotions under control with a tight leash.
Head into the game again, he idly noted the wide array of people assembled in the gymnasium, ranging from every age, shape, and ethnicity; some were hunched over as he had previously, others were wildly looking around them, and some on the other hand… were either completely losing it, falling apart, or having a total mental breakdown.
"Hey yo! What the–"
"An angel… an honest to goddamn fucking angel. Does this mean that God's real? Do-does … does it mean that Heaven and Hell exist?? Oh shit, shitshitshit, goddamn it, she said we'll be evaluated… and we have to survive… a-and defeat monsters… n-no way… no way! In this scenario… ar-.... are we damned!? Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck… no way… no way…"
"–fuck! Thought I was tripping when I started to turn into those tiny lil blue particles. Legit thought my ass was being thanos'ed."
"This must be a joke… a bad one. C'mon, it was funny at first, the holographic display of the floating angel, the white room, the ephemeral voice… I admit it, it was neat. But c'mon, it's still too fake. Hey– you!"
"¿Qué? Lo siento, no, por favor, déjame en paz señor... No entiendo lo que estás diciendo." / "What? I'm sorry, no, please, leave me alone sir, I don't understand what you are saying."
"Cut the crap! You must be another paid actor. You're on it! I didn't sign for this shit when your boss told me that I could recoup my losses if I agree to do this! Son of a bitch! Get me out of here before I lose my calm, get me out of HERE."
"… Ca-calma. P-por favor, señor. Calma. No entiendo lo que estás diciendo. No hablo Inglès. NohabloInglès. No speak Inglish. No speak Inglish." / "... P-please, calm down sir. I don't understand what you are saying. I don't speak English. Idon'tspeakEnglish."
"Hey– stop it! Can't you see that he is clearly as lost as everyone here? Leave this poor man alone!"
"Or what? Are you in too? Figure."
"No, I'm not. You need to calm down, and release him."
"STay CAlm? Motherfucker, who the hell do you think you are to tell me to stay calm, huh? I fucking won't stay calm if I goddamn want to be pissed. Whatcha gonna do about this huh!? Tell me to stay calm, huh? Whatcha gonna do huh, pal???"
He watched as the altercation between those two quickly escalated, causing a growing commotion. This commotion managed to catch the attention of several people around them, and among those, some decided to quickly step in. Together, they managed to subdue and wrestle the poor middle-aged bald man out of the grip of the young man who had aggressively accosted him. During all of this, the young man was swearing, fussing, and struggling against the people restraining him.
All the while, Ian was simply tutting and shaking his head like a disappointed retired old man bemoaning about 'youngsters having it easy unlike us in our time when things were truly rough. How dare they still complain about such trivialities when we have paved the way for them.'
And he wasn't the only one mockin-.... euhh, judging the guy.
Case in point…
"Are there really people dumb enough to be roped into this shit without knowing a damn single thing?" One of the bodyguards(?) of the woman in a suit, a redheaded young man, questioned with not some small amount of incredulity.
"Beat me," answered the other man, clearly the older one of the pair, being around his late thirties appearance-wise. "Though to be fair to them, they're probably all black marks. Those tend to be either coerced or swindled into it by their desperate need for money. Just look around, people like us with red marks or higher ranked ones, are much more calm about it."
"Bunch of dumbass," the redhead spat. "And what's the deal with the Spanish-speaking people around here? There are a lot of them here being absolutely clueless about what's going on… can't they even speak English? What the hell are they doin' here."
"We're all divided into different groups based on our general location, and continent of origin. In our case, it's North America." The blonde-suited woman supplied succinctly.
The redhead retorted. "Still doesn't explain why there are Mexicans here, ma'am. I would assume that living in the U.S. comes with at least understanding English even if they don't speak it."
The blonde woman blinked, frowned, and seriously stared at him as if wanting to be sure if he was actually serious or joking.
"Stupid fuck!" It was the older man that eventually interjected by slapping the redhead on his shoulder. "Did you even finish High school? What the fuck did they teach you in Geography class? Mexico is in North America."
"Oh…"
"Yeah, oh." The middle-aged man scoffed. "I would have thought with you being a Trump supporter, you would at least know this much. I thought it was impossible, but you still managed to find a way to surprise me. Think, Nathan, think! You just don't build a wall to curb illegal immigration by land at your border if, you know– don't share the same border."
Nathan simply scratched his head in embarrassment.
The blonde woman added for her part. "Not only Mexico but there are also various other countries in North America and now that I think about it, countries from Central America too must be included in as well, like for exampl–"
Before she could finish her phrase, a loud jingle rang out in the whole building. The sound, similar to the one heard in metro stations when a train pulled over, managed to silence every person present in the venue.
Right after, as people were waiting nervously for something to happen… the lights started to dim, progressively plunging the whole building into complete darkness.
The agitation in the crowd grew.
Until finally, a beam of light struck the wall across from the bleachers, projecting a screen frame.
A hush quickly fell over the audience as on the screen, a woman appeared– giant golden metallic wings, tall and statuesque, head full of long, vibrant, braided red hair. She was dressed in an intricate suit of armor with a huge helmet resting on her hips. She was, in his opinion, the perfect picture of the inspiring and dashing warrior of legend.
Evangeline Mars, First Army Commander of Concordia's coalition.
The camera slowly zoomed in before stopping once everything below her torso could no longer be seen.
[Greeting Chosens ones, my name is Evangeline, and I've been bestowed upon the great honor of overseeing this year's 29th edition of The Rite of Passage.]
On the screen, the valkyrie made a dramatic pause in her speech. She slightly inclined her head in a bow, the camera zooming in to capture the gesture.
He seriously doubted it. Someone as important as Evangeline for the war effort, couldn't and wouldn't waste her time watching a bunch of unskilled fools playing at being warriors.
[However, first things first, please, allow me to sincerely apologize for not being able to personally answer some of the questions you may have about this trial. I, unfortunately, cannot be everywhere at once to act as your guide in this tutorial. Please, note that any complaints that you may have about your situation cannot be addressed by me. It should also be noted that even this message is only a recording being played in every scattered group like yours, present on this island. For that again you have my sincere apologies.]
This time, Evangeline deeply bowed her head in apology. The camera zoomed out in tempo with the gesture, capturing her movement.
He wasn't paying attention to it the first time, but whoever was the one that did the filming and editing, they really did a good job on that front.
On the projection, the Valkyrie finally raised her head. She fixed the camera with an intense gaze that seems to be directly aimed at the people present.
'Again, Angie, deary, or whoever is in charge of that, please, give a raise to the poor angel that filmed this video. She must have felt like you were personally staring her to death for something she did.'
[With that being said, I shall start explaining what the Rite of Passage is about and the conditions for clearing it. While some of you may know a little more details about the state of affairs, unfortunately, many more of you are clueless about what you have signed yourself up for. To those still clinging to a fake semblance of reality, please, allow me to shatter some of your disillusions. You are in another world, an alternate universe different from your own, in which the rules operate vastly differently. Everything as you may know as fictitious or impossible in your world… here? Here, it's the norm.]
At her words, different murmurs of apprehension rose in the audience.
[It matters not the reason why you have all ended here–]
If Evangeline was here, Ian would have interrupted her to tell her that 'It did, in fact, matter a damn lot!'
On the screen, unaware of Ian's thoughts, Evangeline continued her speech.
[–no matter if you are here for money and wealth, prestige and personal power, or to find a cure to any diseases or even a potion of eternal youth. Whatever you desire, it can be found here, on Concordia. However, our world, Concordia, in its entirety, is at war… At war against a great evil known as the Adversary. Oh, Chosens ones, listen. The path leading to your heart's desire is yours to seize, yours for the taking. Nonetheless, it's a path fraught with perils and dangers. Only the hardiest among you may succeed and thrive in our world. To this end, the special event known by all as the rite of passage has been created.]
'Well, there is some truth in there. Everything she mentions, it's really yours for the taking. You just have to be in the single-digit percentage of the population for that. Gasp!... Isn't that like on Earth!? Funny that. Though… well... at least the potion of eternal youth's part or the cure to all diseases is something unique. And there're more of those unique things. The kind that they don't want you to have between your hands.'
[The Rite of Passage. A tutorial. An introductory guide to life on Concordia. The goal of this event is to weed out players who are unable to adapt to the dangers of Concordia's war-wrought environment. It also serves as a sharpening tool to those among you with exceptional potential.]
'Again with this potential bullshit. Anyone has the potential to be great, but anyone has as much potential to be nothing. Opportunities, connections, status, pride, laziness, stubbornness, or even prejudice– all of this will have the potential to drag you down or alternatively, make you great.'
[The Rite of Passage will start as soon as this message finishes playing out. Players will have until the 33rd day to amass 5 points to pass the trial. A failure to accumulate those points is synonymous with death. To obtain those points, you need to defeat the numerous monsters roaming on the Island. From the weakest common one, to potentially the strongest one. Every 5 days, ten units of supply drops containing food, water, weapons, and medicine will be randomly dropped throughout the island. It's your role and in your interest to fight for those, because while it may be enough for some, it wouldn't be enough for others. And monsters may as well roam these parts.]
At this part, the gymnasium erupted in an uproar. Some people were shooting, complaining at Evangeline, swearing at her, and calling her by all names; others were muttering in uneasiness, while some said nothing and kept their attention on the valkyrie. All the while Ian was remembering random anecdotes.
[However, please, be assured that multiple 'safe zones' are present throughout this island. In those zones, monsters are incapable of breaching in or even of littering around its confines. I recommend you all to start exploring your environment because while this place is also considered to be a safe zone, it isn't the most ideal one.]
'Of course, it's a feature, not a bug.'
[With that being said, my explanation is coming to an end. However, before concluding here, I wanted to bring your attention to one thing that will reveal itself to be priceless. In each and every starting ground, there is a machine called a Terminal.]
Evangeline said, stopping herself.
The crowd muttered in apprehension, nervously waiting for what she had to say.
After a pregnant pause, the Valkyrie resumed.
[Thanks to this machine, players will be able to access the Tutorial's store. By using your points, you can buy anything listed in the store. It should be noted that depending on your mark grade, some items may be unavailable to you. The other thing of note, and what is probably the most important of all… is your limited access to the player's system. For the duration of the rite of passage, you may have access to a limited version of the system used by all Earthlings in Concordia. The functioning of which is easy to figure out by following the tutorial. Simply turn on the Terminal, it's similar enough to Earth's computer, put your mark on the scanner, and let the Terminal do the rest. It will scan your mark, and print your information on a card. With this card, you can access your system, buy resources using your points, and even exchange points between yourself. Every safe house is equipped with one Terminal and you don't have to worry about losing or even destroying your card– simply rescan your mark on the terminal, the process of printing a new card is an illimited one.]
For the first time since talking, Evangeline cracked a small smile. Spreading her wings, she put on her helmet and said.
[On those, this officially starts the 29th edition of the Rite of Passage. Oh, Chosens ones, I welcome you all to Elysium, the lost island.]
In a show of aerial prowess, Evangeline flapped her wings and dived out of the camera view.
[Good luck.]
The video stopped playing, plunging the room into darkness once again, only the beam of light of the still-turned-on projector illuminated the building. However, even that came to a quick end. As the light of the projector turned off, the lights of the gymnasium then lit up.
In the ensuing oppressing silence, Ian only had one thought in mind.
'Show off.'
Thus officially began the Rite of Passage.