Rush Hour

Don't Trust Anyone

“Are you player Zdk? I'm player Red because I like the color red.” He said to me as I sat to one side and was still stunned. He sat down next to me and handed me a soda can. “I was like that on my first day here. I was almost screaming and running somewhere just to get out of this place, but there was no door out of here.” He added, and I looked at him while he was drinking the soda can.

“Why?” The word I just uttered made him wonder.

“What do you mean?” He inquired.

“Why are we here? How did we end up in this place? And who are they? What kind of place is this?” I asked him, at the same time he frowned and scratched the back of his head.

“Wait a minute, can you just ask me one by one questions? I'm still confused about this place, I don't know how I ended up here, too. Don't you remember anything before you came here?” He said, so I bowed and thought about the last thing that happened to me before I went to this mysterious place.

All I can remember is when I fell in my gaming chair when I couldn't stand the drowsiness. Then, when I woke up I was here in this place they call, Rush Hour.

I made sure earlier that I wasn't just dreaming of all this. But why does it seem that everything I see and the surrounding things are still not true?

Could it be that I got inside my computer because I left it turned on? But that is impossible. Did my brain get damaged seriously when I fell, so I'm comatose now and all of this is just my illusion? But no because I even heard mom’s voice outside my room when I fell to the floor.

So, how did I end up in this kind of place? And who are these people? What is their need for us, and what is the purpose of this game?

It's hard to believe, but it's like I'm in a computer game. I am one of the characters that a player uses to defeat opponents and gain victory. Just like a fantasy game, we also have our fantasy world which is far from the appearance of reality. All machines, transports, appliances, and objects seen around are powered by technology. It was like I used a time machine and went to the future. There is no pollution, the air is fresh and clean and above all, there is no traffic. Everything I see around me is unrealistic, but I cannot deny that it is one of those things I once dreamed of, living in a strange world.

“Just enjoy bro. Buy everything you want to buy. There is no law here, there is no prohibition as long as you just do everything you want to do. Murder here is not a crime because that is the only way to live in this world. If you just keep doing that, I'm sure you won't make it tomorrow.” Red said as he pulled me by the arm and led me to a building that looked like a shopping mall. Since I didn't know anyone else there, I just went with him and tried to make friends with him.

“Is there no other way but to kill?” I wondered once he stopped walking, and he looked at me.

“You're only at level two and people like you can be easily killed, so be careful of the people around you. Never just trust anyone, even me.” He said with a serious face, so I suddenly felt nervous and afraid of him. I slowly backed away from him and put my hand behind my back to pull out a weapon, but before I could even get it out the people there suddenly ran away, and they hurried to the second floor.

“What's going on? Why are they going there?” I asked him.

“Safe zone.” He replied, and then I frowned because I didn't know what he was referring to. “We have to find a safe zone, and otherwise we will all die.” He said once he took my hand and ran up to the second floor. I still don't seem to fully understand what's going on, but I saw almost all the people there running somewhere and have a trace of fear on their faces.

When we got to the second floor I noticed that a woman suddenly tripped, so I stopped and approached her.

“Are you okay, miss?” I asked her.

“Level two?” She said, so I was surprised, and I noticed on her watch that she was also at level two, so I let her go and backed away from her. She suddenly pulled out her knife weapon, so I immediately stood up and ran away from her.

“Zdk!” Red shouted at me.

“Run! Go away!” I shouted at him because I noticed that the woman was still chasing me.

Red didn't seem to hear me, so he waited for me until I could get close to him. “Are you deaf? Didn't you hear what I said before? I told you to leave!” I kept telling him, but he suddenly pushed me and the look in his eyes also changed. Furthermore, I was shocked and felt mad at him. So, I got up immediately, and I was about to approach him again, but he suddenly pulled out a sword from his hand and he killed the woman who was chasing me earlier.

My eyes widened in shock and I could not believe what I saw from him. I just stood there and stared at him.

“Congratulations, you are now in level four.” The word on his watch once he turned to look at me while his face and hands were stained with blood.

Does that mean he's just fooling me? So, he approached me and befriended me because he wanted to kill me and raise his level? If so, what he told me earlier is true that I should not trust anyone and even him.

So, I just walked away from him and ran to save my own life. I noticed that he followed me, but I was stunned for a moment when something passed like a fast wind in front of me, and he quickly approached Red and killed him with his red sword.

“Wait, that red sword …” I suddenly remembered the first person I saw in this world when I first landed here. He also holds a red sword, like the sword held by the man who killed Red. But after a while, he turned to me and I realized that he was that man.

“Psst! Hey, you.” From the back, some were calling to me as they rode inside the elevator. “Come here, get in quickly!” They even told me. I pointed to myself and looked behind me to see if they were referring to me. But I was shocked to realize that the man with the red sword was beside me.

“Will you just stand there, or will you wait for them to kill you?” After he said that, I immediately followed him and got into the elevator. The door was about to close, but I still saw a man running toward us. I would have stopped it from closing, but they stopped me and held me with both arms.

“The safe zone is now close.” Said when the elevator closed.

Safe zone? Does this mean the safety zone that Red referred to me earlier is just an elevator?

“Are you dumb? Do you want to kill us all?” A man to my right said angrily to me, but I did not answer but just bowed my head. I don't know the people I'm with here now inside, and I also shouldn't trust them because I would rather not repeat what happened before.

“That's enough. He's still new, so he isn't very knowledgeable about the rules yet.” Said the man who saved me earlier.

“You should just thank, Demon. Because if it wasn't for him, Red might have killed you earlier.” The woman next to me said.

So, Demon is his username. That's why the sword he was holding was terrifying because it was as ferocious as the owner.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” He said in a deep voice and frowned. I immediately averted my eyes from him and just bowed my head, and then the woman suddenly put one of her arms on my shoulder.

“Just chill up. It's just his face and voice that scares him, but he's not a bad person.” She said that's why I smirked, but I also immediately closed my mouth.

How can she say that he is not a bad person? When all of us here is a criminals and just consistently kill people for a living. So, I don't think the word he's a good person is a good example for him.

“By the way, I'm Lily, he's Alpha, he's Cloud, and she's Sexy. How about you? What's your name? I mean, your username?” Lily asked me. I slowly looked at Demon once I held out one hand to him.

“I'm Zdk.” I introduced him, but he didn't answer right away, and he was just staring at my hand.

I knew it was not right for me to trust them, but I needed a shield and a weapon to protect me. I see in Demon’s ability and courage that he will be the key to my success in this game.