Chapter 273: Closing Two
———Jeff———
<5: 24 PM>
“A damn shame the place isn’t open right now, but hey, we can just slack off in here for tomorrow as well.” Nicks pointed out.
“Man. Why can’t they just put us all on a smaller map in the first place? It’s not like the thing in the middle is that small.” It’s seriously looking like we’re going to day five with how things are going.
“How the heck should I know? Probably some behind-the-scenes reasoning going on we’re never gonna learn about.” He said in response. “It’s a lot of down time though. I thought people nowadays know that forcing people to waste time is a death sentence for a game.”
“I mean for this type of game even down time has some tension to it, so it’s not like it’s wasted, necessarily.” In this kind of event where anything could happen at any moment there really isn’t a ‘down time’ per se. “That aside. All we’re doing is waiting until the final showdown. We’re not lacking in anything at the moment.”
“...So where are the others anyway? I think all of us would’ve figured something similar already?” He said while pretending to look around for the others. I doubt they’re gonna stumble into the same building we’re in.
“Probably looting or something. Seni can’t heal us all I would imagine. Too bad Jass isn’t here to help with that.” The one time he would be the difference maker and he isn’t around. “So what’s your gameplan?”
“Huh? Just hit her where it hurts, I guess. Just one good hit would’ve helped a lot. I have my ways of getting one in.” He confidently stated. Would both of us be considered heavy-hitters in the fight? I think we’d have a few people keeping her occupied while the rest peppered her with attacks. “What about you?”
“Punching her really hard, I guess?” That’s been my main thing and I don't know how I’m gonna break from that role. I haven’t been focusing on much aside from punching and kicking really hard. It had worked up until now, so I never branch out beyond that.
“...You really ought to branch out more. You know how you could level up in other classes once you reach max level with your current one?” Of course I have heard about that.
“I think we’re far from the level cap here, no need to rush switching it up, right?” I said in response.
“When there seems to be a steep hill to climb right now? Maybe it’s best to switch your focus for a while.” He argued. Do I look that outmatched right now? “I think we could discuss this at a later date, right now just stick to whatever you’re doing. Growth in a space like this is severely limited anyway.”
“Hmmm…” I don’t wanna continue talking about that, so it’s good he stopped himself. “By the way, where did you get all those points anyway?”
“Oh. I happen to find a few secret areas for the points. Not that that put me in the top five though. Some people must be raring to kill instead of having a plan.” He answered. Wonder who those people could’ve been. I don’t really have a clue myself. “So what do you think Emmie is planning right now?”
“Her? Considering the number of participants aren’t dropping like flies, it’s clear she’s restraining herself much like we are. Even though she is still at the very top of the leaderboard, the smaller gap makes it clear she doesn’t put that much effort into it.” He speculated. “She could easily erase most of the board in one fell swoop if she needed to. As long as no one was close to her she had all the time to conjure up a nuke or three.
“...On a state-sized map?” That seems like way too much even for her.
“With enough time she could probably do it. I ain’t the biggest expert on this though, so don’t look at me like that.” He confidently said that even he’s not certain. Great.
“Whatever, dude. So we’re going inside the city on the… fourth day, right?” We’re still on the second day, which is crazy to think about. I’m pretty sure Emmie won’t get serious until we’re all boxed in with her.
“That is when it should open, yes.” He answered. “Looking at the map it’s pretty clear that that’s the pattern. We can sit through these few days with how things are going.”
“Speaking of which. Which biome did you come out of? I was at the rock mountains one. Hella boring navigating through the place, to be honest.” I would imagine the other biomes being at least a bit colorful and pleasing to the eyes instead of that grayscale nonsense.
“Like a dense forest or something. I think it was a rainforest specifically. Kinda eerie without all sorts of weird animals you’d think you’d find in there.” He answered. I don’t think I have ever been to one of those. Aren’t a good chunk of them burned to the ground or something?
“Well you have been to a place more interesting than mine, I can tell you that.” I remarked. “Weird that they don’t make the area between the ring and the center more interesting. It’s more than some flat terrain, but not much going on.”
“For the sake of clarity and less confusion, probably.” He speculated. “They want us to fight more than looking around and getting lost. Even with the dumbed down map people aren’t fighting all that much.”
“That’s more Emmie’s fault, right? If she’s not here… Heck, if our class isn’t here, I think everyone else might have played a lot riskier." It’s kinda insane how big of an effect she has on the state of the game alone. I think I found a few players who made it clear they don’t want to fight just in case Emmie might be around the corner. Somehow this battle royale is starting to look more like a game of hide-and-seek.
“Indeed. Still, that’s more the fault of the people in other classes ain’t it? They’re way too weak to even land a scratch on her and that’s on them.” Quite an unforgiving remark from him.
“Hard to argue with that, but to be fair they probably weren’t thinking they were gonna be thrown into the same cage as her. I think people playing ranked battles are at least a bit more eager and less pissy about the arrangement.” Those warriors and mages are not gonna pass up on fighting the strongest student, or more specifically ganging up on her after she gave them a lot of grief. “...So have you come across Emmie at all this whole time?”
“Nah. I don’t even know if anything eventful is gonna come out of that. She’s not trying very hard right now anyway.” He answered. Guess we’re pretty lacking in intel. “...So are we starting a buffet or nah?”
“I was hoping for more people to join. Maybe like… in the middle of the conversation. It’d be worth the points more that way.” This particular city block is a bit more notable than most I would think. This hotel building is pretty big.
“It’s gonna stay up for a long time anyway, so it’s not we need to worry about that.” He said in response.
“But that’s just leaving it up to chance, and I’m not gambling on those odds.” This is still in the middle of nowhere and most people probably won’t step inside the particular city block.
“...When were you such a pessimist?” He asked.
“Oh yeah, because I’m supposed to be optimistic about the insanely low odds. Okay dude. I have more hope in us beating Emmie than someone else stumbling into here just after you spend points for the buffet.” Does he think I’m stupid or something?
“...You know what? Whatever. I’m just gonna spend the points now. I’m the one offering to pay for it anyway.” He said before standing up and walking away. I guess if he thinks it’s fine, then it’s fine. I ain’t gonna complain about how he spends his points. Except for buying junk weapons, of course.
———Useph———
<6: 11 PM>
“…Hey. You can stop trying to sneak around.” I called out to the people following me. It’s been the case for a while now. I’m almost out of the biome I’m in and there are people quietly following me. Their trails are a bit too easy to notice. “...Not saying anything? Hmph”
*Shine* *Charge*
I might as well destroy the whole area and blow their cover completely. Let’s see if they’ll even be alive after that.
*Leap*
“Oh?” Looks like someone finally got out of cover.
*Slash* *BLAST*
I threw the energy concentrated into my sword directly at the attacker, hitting them right in the face and seemed to completely vaporize them before I could even see their face.
*Dash* *Swing* *Block*
Another person jumped in from another side and ran at me with an axe that I easily blocked with my shield.
*Swing* *Slide* *Parry*
He then dashed away from my attack and tried to hit me with an attack of his own, but I quickly intercepted it.
*Zap* *Slash*
“Ugh!” Someone that’s still camping shoots out a lightning bolt that paralyzes me for a second, and the guy I’m fighting right now quickly attacks me during my vulnerable moment.
*Swing* *Slide* *Leap*
He tried to run in with another attack but I dashed out of the way before jumping up high to give me some breathing room.
*Sizz* *Blast* *Zip*
Someone else then threw out a massive fireball my way, but I avoided it in time before it could hit me. If you wanna talk fire then let’s see how you’ll like this!
*Sizz* *Slash* *BLAST* *Boom*
Staying in the air for as long as I can, I concentrate energy into my sword and launch a fiery projectile that explodes on impact, no doubt causing damage to the group of ambushers.
Do they not realize the bigger issue at play here? I’m not looking to play around with that person on the board.
*Parry* *Block* *Clash*
The moment I landed back on the ground the guy I was scrapping with immediately ran towards me and started attacking relentlessly. I seriously have no time for you. Get lost.
*Bash* *Slash*
I overpowered him easily and bash him with my shield before following it up with a slash down his torso.
*Zap* *Evade*
Not gonna work on me a second time, now that I realized how telegraphed the weirdly strong lightning magic is.
*Slash* *Slice*
I cut the guy I was fighting down before I focused my attention on the two campers. Let’s see if they can afford to keep antagonizing me.
…Wait. My points increased by 375? I must’ve actually killed someone with the fire slash earlier. I just kinda throw it at a random spot based on vibes, to be honest.
So is that just one more person I need to worry about? Let’s see where they’re going.
———Lynda———
<6: 16 PM>
“A few more people dropping out...” I remarked. “...At least it’s not anyone from our class. I think most of us are still alive, let me check…”
“Seems like we’re not quite done with today’s culling.” Glery remarked while she stared at the screen in front of us. “Looks like we need to answer a question for us to pass.”
“So what happens if we don’t?” I asked after verifying that most of us are still alive.
“Probably die, or the loot simply disappear.” No need to put the worst-case scenario in front of me like that…
“Speaking of which, this question is pretty easy, ain’t it?” I said while looking at the question in front of us. It asked us what this extremely real virtual world is called. “It’s called a lower domain.”
*Ding*
The screen turned green before a few chests appeared right beside us. Hopefully the other questions will be easy as well, but then again…
“Why is there even a quiz section in this killing game?” That’s kinda weird if you think about it.
“Beats me.” Glery said while looking at the screen to see if it’ll change or not.
…Wait, is that it? Just one question?
“Kinda half-baked, ain’t it?” I can’t help but comment.
“A lot of things on the map feel that way, to be fair.” She pointed out. “Besides, it’s not like this is a super secret area. It’s barely off the road. We didn’t even pay to have it revealed to us.”
“I guess you got me there.” Maybe I am thinking too much into it. “Anyway. Let’s get moving. Best for us to find a place to hide all the way to day four.”