“Mom… Who’s this?” the boy whispered, and held the hand of his mother. “Is he going to save us?”The mother shook her head, afraid to describe me as a hero or one of those monsters that wanted to kill them. “I… I don’t know. But we should never trust anyone….”Something was wrong. However, something also told me that this was a natural problem I might face inside the portal. When a portal appeared in the world, the adventurers focused more on defeating it and taking its prize rather than saving people from harm’s reach. I didn’t see anyone who did that. But according to the news reporters and some journalists from the media, the survivors claimed the same thing, regardless if it was the Crimson Guild or other guilds were involved. But since no adventurer or evidence could strengthen those claims, those voices were unheard and set aside. Sometimes, those adventurers would even kill each other and innocent people inside the portals. When adventurers kill someone, the prizes would be sp
When my training formally began, the panel that laid the instruction for me vanished. The thirty second countdown commenced, meaning that was the only time left for me to spare. I had to evaluate the floors and the survivors - the mannequins - inside this training room on how to save them in order. If that wasn’t enough, the Pests Vulcan had mentioned materialised on each side, waiting for the countdown of thirty seconds to reach its climax. We had an extra five minutes and a couple of hours to spare, despite the timer having already kicked in. The actual timer from the portal was already down at 5:54:29. Even so, it wasn’t enough for me to turn this challenge around, knowing the events that could happen next. “Come on, let’s go!” I said, while gesturing my hands for the mother and her son to follow close behind.I could breeze through this setting and arrive everywhere within seconds. Oculus could easily create a jetpack and boost me onward. Or maybe my device could amplify my boot
I used my gun and hit those Pests attempting to attack the old man. As soon as my shells collided with the Pests, that person was safe. I waved my hands, hoping that the old man could see me from afar. Fortunately, he did. When the old man noticed me, he smiled in front of me and greeted my figure. I greeted him back and gave him a nod.“Let’s go, sir. I can protect you,” I uttered, and showed the two people - the training dummies shaped as humans - at my side. When the old man saw them, he happily complied and followed my lead.I didn’t think that the old man would easily follow me. I expected that this old man would act just like the mother when she first saw me and my weapon. However, that didn’t happen. It just showed that there were others willing to entrust their lives to an adventurer like me.And just like the others, this old man wasn’t Japanese. He didn’t have eyes similar to mine or Asian looks that were known worldwide. Despite our races, the old man had faith in me, even
Problems occured one after the other. When I accidentally killed the woman and indirectly let the man die because of it, someone from the group unlatched his hand and perished as well. I was left with twenty seven people and three survivors in my group. If I added them up, that made them thirty survivors. I still didn’t know if these twenty seven people entrusted their lives to me just like these three people did. But I would find out once we were out of this place and help others who needed us.As if that wasn’t enough, the cloud of smoke gradually disappeared. I had to use another smoke grenade just to secure our retreat. I didn’t want any more bloodshed to happen. This fight didn’t even include Vulcan. And that old man wished to join in the battle, the fight would immediately turn in their favour.“LET’S GO! JUST HOLD ON TIGHT, SO WE CAN MAKE IT THROUGH!” I yelled, and shot every Pests that I could in our surroundings.Thankfully, we got outside the smoke and momentarily safeguarde
Vulcan never told me how many people were on the first floor. But from the looks of it, it wasn’t just a hundred. There were a couple of them we left behind, including those mountains filled with corpses. Unfortunately, I had to bury my conscience away and let those people die from the depths of the first floor.As soon as all thirty of us arrived at the second floor, I immediately shot a few more Pests creeping upward and eventually closed the hatchet. A loud thud echoed from our site as I closed the damned thing. After securing the only entry from the first floor, we arrived at the second floor. And when we glided our eyes at our surroundings, the environment had hastily changed.The first floor contained a remote land filled with nothing but sand and towering rocks. I had found no signs of life from that area, except for me. I couldn’t call these survivors living beings, since they were created by Vulcan from the portal’s magic. Despite showing signs of human emotions, these indivi
We had been wandering around the place, but we didn’t find anything worth our time. After what had happened with the groups that left our party, we were now standing at eleven people, including me. It was easier for me to handle and protect a small number of groups. But this wasn’t just protecting them. It was saving every person who I could save with these two hands of mine.As we trod deeper inside the jungle, the sun high above us had finally faded its light Soon after, the darkness would consume this world. And if that happened, maybe the Pests would attack us under the cover of the night. If the worst occurred, maybe Vulcan would attempt to seize me and take the achievement away from me.Just as I was lost in thought, another panel showed up and a direct message inserted itself in my mailbox. It came from a familiar friend. And when the sapphire box appeared, the environment changed for the better or for the worse. But instead of checking my surroundings, I first told the group t
As we prepared our tents and our mattresses, the ten people held a conversation. They talked about many things, including their past lives they have remembered. But it was painful for me to listen to. I knew that these people were just fabricated inside the mind of Vulcan. That old man just gathered the data from the people he knew and placed their memories inside these puppets. There were no side effects or consequences in copying the exact memories of these people. In spite of that, these people still believed that they were real even though they weren’t. The topic soon curved and brought me to the centre of their conversation. These survivors kept asking me questions about my personal life, which I half-heartedly obliged. They were saved by an adventurer. And it wouldn’t hurt to share my life with them and tell them that I was still a human being like them. “Some adventurers bluntly tell us that we don’t have to know about them. I’m sorry for asking about your personal life, adv
When I was too focused on watching the place, someone tapped my shoulders. As I averted my gaze and turned around, the boy who I had first saved met my eyes. He had a worried look on his face, as if telling me that the boy feared, not only for his life, but also for his mother as well. That kid came to me and tugged the ends of my attire. I had my mask on, but it appeared that this child saw right through me.“Is everything alright, Aoi? Are we going to be alright?”This child knew my name after I held a conversation with everyone else. Although I told them to not use my name willy-nilly, it didn’t matter right now, considering that we were inside an artificial portal. And the government or the Crimson Guild wouldn’t breach this dimension.I shuffled the boy’s already crazed hair and patted his head. “It’s fine. Don’t worry. It’s just the…” I paused before continuing my sentence. “The boars and a wild forest fire happened away from us.” “Are you sure? You’re not lying, are you?” the