"Red!" "Red!" "Red!"
Sky Dome Stadium exploded in loud cheers.
Somewhere in a transparent VIP booth at the top of this stadium, the pilots responsible for ferrying the runners to the stadium watched as it transpired.
While the race was still ongoing, immediately after Runner 808 was annihilated, the Tiger in a black vest yawned loudly before turning and leaving the transparent booth where he spectated the race.
With his runner dead, this Tiger pilot was suddenly free for 3 days since that was how long it would take before he got assigned a new runner to supervise.
While he left, the other pilots stayed watching.
Watching the human runner blitz through the final lap of the 800-meter trial race, they were impressed.
"This guy is good". One of the pilots commented.
"His speed is nothing to write home about but he's surely intelligent".
One of the few human pilots in this VIP booth walked up to another human pilot, a girl dressed in scanty clothes.
This female pilot was the one assigned to Runner 87.
"Hey Ame, your runner this time is a sharp one".
"It doesn't matter," she answered without turning to look at him. "It may not be today. He may survive today, he may survive tomorrow but, in the end, it's nothing, he'll still be among the long list of humans to make it far before dying".
"Come on, don't be so pessimistic, we may win it one of these days".
She finally turned to look at him. "We will not".
"This type of sports racing is not what humans are made for". And with that, she walked out of the VIP booth.
She walked straight to the finish line, the room where Alex found solace from the destruction of the annihilation flame.
…
***
{Newbie trial race has been completed!}
{Runner 808 has been annihilated!}
{Runner 87 attained glory!}
{Congratulations! You are no longer on trial; you are now a contracted runner of Runners; Survival and Glory!}
…
{For winning your trial race, you have received rewards!}
{You have been rewarded with 300 runner points!}
>NOTE: Runner points is the currency in the Stadiums created by the progenitor of Runners; Survival and Glory, the Great Magedon<
{You have leveled up!}
{You are now a novice grade level 1 Runner!}
{Your strength Runner attribute has increased by +1 stat points!}
{Your stamina Life attribute has increased by +1 stat points!}
…
{Runner attributes: Runner 87}
{Race Attributes:}
{Speed: 4/15}
{Acceleration: 5/12}
{Strength: 5/18}
{Intelligence: 11/15}
…
{Life Attributes:}
{Health points: 50/50}
{Stamina: 13/13}
…
>Hint: Follow your supervisor to the debriefing room to learn more about Runners; Survival and Glory and to learn about the schedule of your next race<
***
Laying down on his back in the room that was designated as the finish line, Alex could feel his heart still beating through his chest rapidly.
He could still feel adrenaline surging through him.
"Red!" "Red!" "Red!"
He could still hear the loud cheers of the spectators.
As a legendary athlete who already did a clean sweep of gold medals in 3 different Summer Olympic tournaments, Alex was not new to the big stage but for some reason, he felt that this was the biggest stage that he had ever run in.
This race…, this was easily the best race of his life.
It was crazy but running before a million excited spectators? Alex could not think of a stage that was bigger than this.
'What the hell really happened to me?'
'Where is this?'
'Is this all real or is this really just a dream?'
He didn't have time to pay more attention to the bunch of notifications that appeared in his suit when the door on the opposite side of the finish line was pushed open. A familiar face entered.
Seeing the familiar face of a human again, Alex felt relief unlike anything.
He struggled to stand up. "I survived; can you tell me what is going on now".
This purple-haired lady stared at the runner. "Your trial race was the last of this batch, the orientation will start soon, follow me".
"Huh?" Alex was confused. "What orientation? Please, I don't know what is going on, where is this?"
"Where am I?"
She turned back to look at him. "I will tell you everything after the debriefing when I shall lead you to your temporary chambers in the Sky Dome Stadium".
Alex finally sighed in resignation; he accepted the fact that this stone-head lady won't tell him more at the moment no matter how much he pushed.
But he had something else that was promised to him.
Alex gritted his teeth. "What is your name? At least, you promised to tell me that if I survived and won the race".
Hearing that, she paused. "My name is Amelia". She continued walking.
Alex followed her, he had no choice. "Thank you, Amelia".
She didn't react to that, but she spoke. "By the way, you ran a good race out there, congrats".
With that, they left.
A few minutes later, Alex was led to a big hall somewhere in this stadium. Amelia stayed outside, telling him to go in and he obeyed.
Entering inside, Alex was briefly overwhelmed by the sight before him.
Alex saw dozens upon dozens of suited runners just like him of different races. There were bipedal runners just like him, those with six legs, even those with eight legs like spiders, but the majority were four-footed like most animals.
The one common factor among them was that they were all intelligent.
Alex was stunned. 'Are these the people that I will be running against?'
He was the last to enter, drawing a lot of attention but it only lasted a moment as all eyes in this hall soon turned to the podium where someone stood.
This blue-skinned person was clothed in a thick black vest. He addressed them with a calm look on his face.
"Welcome to Runners; Survival and Glory".
"When you leave here, your supervisors will tell you more about how and why you are here but first, let me introduce the important thing to you, the game".
"Runners; Survival and Glory is the first hyper realistic game of its kind".
"The aim of the game is glory and survival".
"Take the track like a gladiator arena".
"Run, survive, win, attain glory, excite the crowd, and buy your ticket to survival and freedom".
"I know most of you are thinking, can we ever be free?"
The blue-skinned bipedal organism smiled. "Well, congratulations, you can be free once you can complete the 4 major tournaments of the game".
"The world tournament to determine the best runner in this world".
"The star system tournament to determine the best runner in this star system".
"The star cluster tournament to determine the best runner in this star cluster".
"And then, the universe tournament".
"In that race, the 10 fastest organisms in the world will line one track and race against themselves with death, survival, and freedom as the stakes".
"Exciting, right?" The blue-skinned bipedal organism grinned.
"Well, let's put that aside for now, that's far away".
"Your trial race is over but you are yet to make it to the world tournament. This is just the qualifiers".
"There are 100 runners who qualified from the trial race in Sky Dome Stadium. For the next 3 months, you shall race against yourselves in an elimination battle to determine the best 20 that will make it to the world tournament".
"There are multiple format races that will be unveiled to you with time".
"For now, meet your supervisors to take you to your temporary chambers".
"Goodluck runners, let us meet in the finish line 3 months from now".