Year 2085.

"Take cover," Seth said.

The man was hiding behind a wall of city ruins with a bulletproof vest, helmet, and a handgun in his hand. The sound of explosions and screams of agony had become constant every time the game started.

Seth's head moved, taking in his surroundings where his teammates were taking cover behind the walls of a ruined building in the City of London. They were armed with the latest model rifles, earned as rewards for completing missions and completing the game.

"How many enemies are ahead?" asked Seth.

"Teams two and three are battling, two o'clock," said Leon, Seth's teammate.

Seth turned to Alice, a dark-haired woman in over-the-knee shorts and a tank top taking cover behind a large wall. Her breathing sounded labored like she had been running roundabout to find shelter.

"Get the killer drones ready!" said Seth.

Alice nodded. She opened her carrying case, taking out a small drone about the size of her hand. Their team had three drones from completing the mission on the 56th Floor.

"Killer drones ready," Alice said, speaking through earphones that were connected to a radio with her team.

"Wait for my signal. I'm still hearing gunfire from there," said Seth.

"Where's Jonas?" asked Seth to Alice.

"I'm right here," Jonas replied.

Alice raised her hand, pointing to a tower directly ahead of Seth. Jonas looked ready with his sniper rifle, which shot lasers instead of bullets.

"What's the status?" Seth asked.

"They're killing each other. Team three is better armed than team two," Jonas said.

"Should I kill them now?" asked Jonas.

"Hold on! We'll attack on my signal right when they're looting the group two's belongings," said Seth.

Jonas cleared his throat. His eyes were still fixed on the scope of his sniper rifle, watching as the battle raged on. Team Two was overwhelmed by the onslaught of Team Three, as their equipment was still at B level.

The last groan of pain was heard and then came the silence without any gunfire. As Jonas continued to watch them, three people from group three seemed to be busy taking items from the bags of the dead team two members.

"They're looting!" said Jonas.

Seth nodded. He turned his head to the side, towards Alice, to be precise. Without speaking, Alice already understood the meaning of Seth's firm gaze.

She turned on the three drones, flying over the large ruins wall. Alice spotted the three targets of the third group, suddenly the drones shot at the three with laser beams that could pierce the human body.

"Your time, Mick," Seth said.

Mick came out of his hiding place, speeding to the side with both hands holding the long black rifle given to him by the aliens. The laser beams continued to shoot rapidly like a rumble to kill the three men.

"Jonas, can you-"

DOR!

The booming sound of a sniper rifle came from behind Seth. The man and Alice had to lower their heads when they saw the red laser with a large diameter destroy the top of the tower where Jonas was scouting.

"JONAS!" shouted Alice, surprised and worried about the man's condition.

Seth clucked his tongue. He raised his right hand, staring at the system bracelet firmly attached to his wrist. As a holographic screen appeared and displayed the status of his colleagues, Jonas' status turned black, as if it had turned off.

[Group Status System]

[Seth Murphy: ON]

[Alice Lane: ON]

[Mick Duncan: ON]

[Jonas Foster: OFF]

"Jonas is dead!" said Seth.

"No way. How could they have that rifle?!" moaned Alice, upset with her eyes reddened with hatred.

"Easy, Alice! Calm yourself, and don't act rashly," replied Seth.

While their attention was being drawn to Jonas' death, the three drones Alice had launched were destroyed. Alice widened her eyes, realizing the enemy was increasing behind them.

"Mick! Go back. We're moving to plan B," Seth said.

"You mean we're going to keep waiting until there's only one group left?!" said Mick.

"That's right. That's the best we can do. Jonas is dead. We have no eyes in the sky!" retorted Seth.

"Tch! I didn't realize they had that rifle," Mick replied.

As the three were taking cover behind the ruined walls of the city, a bomb was surprisingly thrown from the direction of the city center at Seth and his two companions. Seth gasped. He twisted his body and got as far away from the bomb as possible.

"AKH!"

[Group Status System]

[Seth Murphy: ON]

[Alice Lane: ON]

[Mick Duncan: OFF]

[Jonas Foster: OFF]

The explosions occurred rapidly, spreading sideways until they hit the unprepared Mick. His body was burnt and shattered into pieces, blood and organs scattered everywhere.

Alice and Seth were able to avoid the blast. Now, the two were faced with two groups that were apparently cooperating with each other. Who knows who would betray whom, but their current objective was to destroy Seth's group, a group of survivors known to be invincible.

Seth raised his weapon, running fast in a zig-zag direction to prevent attacks from the two groups. He ran while protecting Alice, as she had a deadly weapon that could kill many people in the blink of an eye.

He reached into his vest pocket, pulling out a stun bomb to blind them, "Prepare the Cataclysm bomb."

"But it will kill us all," Alice said, looking exhausted with a gunshot wound on her upper left arm.

"It's better than anyone winning this game," Seth said.

"I'm going to looping. I'll tell you what happened so we can anticipate it," Seth said.

Alice was silent for a while, continuing to watch Seth, who she knew had a godlike skill for time looping. If Seth died in this game, he would loop to the nearest checkpoint time, which could be one or two days before.

Seth continued to distract them by firing heat lasers at the two groups. He held a handgun in both hands, shot them, and then went back into hiding.

He kept doing so to give Alice time to prepare her Cataclysm bomb. The bomb had a wide blast radius and a huge impact. It would create a strong gravity at the start, helpful in pulling in everything around it, then explode powerfully when people were at the center of the bomb's gravity.

"The bomb has been activated!" said Alice.

"All right," said Seth.

Seven people were left from the six-hour battle royal: two from Seth's group of five, two from group three, and three from group two.

If the bomb exploded, no one would win the game. No one would get the prize because the outcome was tied.

Seth saw that his two handguns were out of plasma bullets; there was no point in using them. Seth threw the handguns in another direction, picking up a knife attached to his vest.

"We'll meet again, Alice. I hope you don't hate me for this," Seth said.

"This is the second time you've used your skills. I hope you can explain everything when we meet!" said Alice.

"I promise."

The countdown on the Cataclysm bomb ran out, creating a bright white glow in the place. The gust of wind swirled in the place, pulling everything around it, whether heavy or light.

The rocks were pulled tightly into the center of gravity of the bomb, as well as the large walls and, of course, the people around the place. They couldn't withstand the gravitational pull of the bomb; one of the group two members knew what kind of bomb it was.

"IT'S CATACLYSM!" he shouted.

"They're trying to kill us all!" he yelled, trying his best to walk in the opposite direction of the bomb's gravitational pull.

But all failed. They were pulled closer to the center of the bomb's gravity. Seth and Alice, who were closest, were already dead, with their bodies crushed by rocks and large walls, blood flowing in an unstoppable stream soaking the place.

[5]

[4]

[3]

[2]

[1]

BOM!

A massive explosion occurred after the second countdown, creating a mushroom-shaped explosion cloud like a 30-foot-tall nuke that people outside the game could see, making it impossible for anyone to survive the explosion.

[Game Over]

[78th Floor: Battle Royal]

[Result: Tie]

[Reopens 78th floor]

***

"NO!"

Seth woke up with a harsh feeling in his heart. He opened his eyes, finding himself alone in the room without anyone to accompany him.

Every time Seth did a loop, the memory and pain of death would return in the looping time. That made Seth break out in a cold sweat, cough, and scream loudly in the morning.

"Where am I? Where are the others?" asked Seth.

He got up from his bed and walked over to the window of his room. He pulled the curtains aside, revealing a monument so distinctive in the world, the Eiffel Tower.

"Paris? Wait! Shouldn't I be in London?" asked Seth, curious.

Seth raised his right hand, pressing the button on the attached system bracelet that was impossible to remove unless Seth wanted his right hand to be cut off.

[Displaying player status]

[9:30 a.m. || September 16, 2075]

[Name: Seth Murphy]

[Level: 42]

[EXP: 32587/55000]

[Game Points: 1245gp]

[Party: None]

[Skill: Time Loop]

"What?!" cried Seth, startled.

Both eyes turned back to the front and raised to see a airship with running text on the side. What surprised Seth again was the number of the highest Floor that had just opened, the 26th Floor.

"It can't be. I went back too far."