The loud sound caused the remaining five players to close their eyes to prevent debris from getting inside and their ears from the loud noise.
(Congratulations to you all, only five players survived the second game. All boxes containing red boxes had been blown off.)
Gradually, Axel lifted his head and saw the blue ball flying in mid-air in front of him, while other boxes were already pierced and lying on the floor.
"Damn! I really thought you were going to die," Livi cried out and moved closer to Axel, wrapping her arms around him.
"You weren't a fool after all," the beauty said. "Nice one, man. I owe you my life," she added, exchanging knuckles with Axel.
(You earned the blue ball player numbers nineteen. Congratulations!)
The system announcement made the players exchange confused gazes at one another, unable to comprehend what the system meant.
(Only player number nineteen earned the blue ball, which possesses the shadow movement level 20/100.)
"Shadow movement?" asked Livi, curious as she kept her gaze fixed on the system.
(It's an assassination skill. It's a skill whereby you don't give your enemy a hint of what your next action would be. It makes you invisible whenever you want to, as well as it also makes your steps unnoticed.)
"Wow! That's one nice skill to have," Rian commented with his eyebrows raised in excitement. "You deserve it, Axel. I must say, I trust this system now since it is good at rewarding gifts that are useful."
"Just imagine, if not for the golden eyes, how will we all survive this second bloody game," Rosa asked, with a smile on her lips. "I'm so glad that we all made it," she added, moving closer to every player and giving them a hug.
"You said I'm at level 20/100. Does that mean that I can only use it for two times now?" Axel asked, his gaze curiously fixed on the system.
(Yes. But once you're at level 50/100, you don't get to use it for five times, rather you can use it for a number of times as you want.)
(All five players, please leave the hospital within two minutes as the hospital would be blown off soon.)
"What? This is our home," Rian yelled angrily. "All my clothes, everything I've bought is here," he added with his body tensed in frustration.
(The time starts now dear players.)
"Damn! Did I say that I like this system before?" Rian asked, his gaze fixed on the other players who also already had frustration plastered on their faces. "I take that back. I hate this damn system," Rian added, and landed a punch on the hospital wall.
Meanwhile, the little pawn Moses had been weeping uncontrollably at one corner. His weeping soon caught the attention of Livi, who walked up to the little boy with tears streaming down her cheeks too.
"Hi, dear!" Livi called out to him as she knelt down in front of him. "How did you end up becoming a pawn of the chess game, dear?" she asked with her fingers gently combing down the little boy's hair.
"I want to go to my momma," little Moses cried, with a sad face, as he looked up to Livi but soon bowed down his head due to sadness in front of her.
"I know, but you should tell me about how you became a pawn in the chess game, then I can help you find your momma," Livi reassured and forced out a smile.
"Really? You promise?" Little Moses asked with a face full of excitement.
"Yes! I promise," Livi said. "So tell me now so that we can start finding momma," she added with a reassuring smile.
"Mummy and I both got here on the same day, but we soon got separated, not too long, I encountered a man..."
The little boy's words were cut short as Livi heard a loud sound, causing her to cover her ears and close her eyes in fear. When she finally looked up, she saw the lifeless body of the young boy on the floor, lying in a pool of blood. His blood was all over her hair, body, and the hospital wall.
"His head got blown off?" Rosa asked, tears streaming down her cheeks as she knelt down beside the boy, crying.
"Such a cute little boy," Rian said with a dejected face. "Did he die because he tried to reveal the secret?" he asked, confused.
"That could be true. According to the rules of this game, every loser dies by getting buried in acid, including the pawns who created the game. The boy's head getting blown off signifies that he died because he tried to reveal the secret to us," said the beauty, her tone serious. "Such a bloody game," she added.
"The boy mentioned the word 'a man' before he died," Axel said, trying to connect the dots. "Does that mean that it was a man, a human like us, who created this game?" he added, making the other players turn their gaze to him with shock written on their faces.
"Did the man let everyone in the country disappear then?" Rian asked, trying to reason with Axel. "There's no way, damn! This thing is driving me crazy," he groaned in frustration.
"The boy tried to reveal the game system but ended up getting killed. From my observation, I think every member of the chess game system was being forced to be the game master, judging from the young boy's attitude before he died," Livi said. "There is really a big secret we all have to find out about this game."
(Player number nineteen, please step forward so as to extract the power of the blue ball.)
Axel moved closer in an instant and grabbed the ball with his arm. Suddenly, his hand started to become hot like a burning gas cooker, making him wince in pain.
"What the hell is this?" Axel asked amidst pain and anger as he watched the ball melting in his hand, sending an excruciating pain down his body.
(The blue ball is mixing with your blood.)
Axel watched as the blue ball finally melted into his palm, and the once burning pain disappeared.
"Are you okay?" Livi asked with a face full of worry.
"I'm good! The pain is gone," Axel replied with a smile.
"Damn! That was crazy," Rosa said, her gaze still fixed on Axel's palm.
(You have ten seconds to leave the building, dear players.)
"Ten seconds to blow up the building," Rian said in a hurry, running with all his might out of the hospital with the other players running after him.
(The building collapses in the count of... Ten... Nine... Eight... Seven... Six... Five... Four... Three... Two... One...)
Boom... Boom... Boom...
Axel and his team stood in front of the hospital building watching as it collapsed with loud bangs.
"My every possession is inside that building," Rian said with a heavy sigh as he kept his gaze fixed on the collapsing building.
"If we had stayed a second late in there, we would all be dead," Livi said while panting heavily.
"Now that the hospital we regard as our home is gone, where do we stay then?" Rosa asked with a sad face.
"Of course, there is a place you can stay," the beauty said with a smile on her lips. "You can come over with me."
"And who are you?" Livi asked, with anger evident in her voice.
"Oh yes! I'm Smith Avery, but you can call me Ave for short," she replied and walked towards Axel, stretching out her hand to give him a shake with a smile on her lips. "Nice meeting you."