Chapter 3: The Weeklong Top Student Camp: Hide and Kill

The second competition was a game called “Hide and Kill” have started. They made us wear gears and equipments that function as tools in the game. They made the hall looks like a Virtual Reality room (VR room) and divided it into small rooms for us to play comfortable. Every room has its own monitor for the game.

[Name: Kuro
Race: Human
Weapon: Gun
Ability: High Jump
No. of Death: 0
No. of Kill: 0]

My name, race, weapon and ability, number of death, and number of kill were written on a paper-like icon that suddenly appeared before me. You can hear an emotionless woman’s voice explaining the instructions and mechanics of the game of the game.

[This game will last three hours. You need to kill as much as you can with the given time limit.
Green line: Life
Blue line: Ammo
Red Button: Jump

Blue Button: Kick

Yellow Button: Run
You vision will turn red if you are wounded. In case you have wound, you can hide and wait for your life line to be filled.
Ten seconds remaining…
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Start!]

My right hand was holding a gun, and in my left hand is thin cylinder-like black controller that has three buttons; red, blue, and yellow.

The graphic of this game is really good.

We were placed in a green forest; I could even hear the twittering birds and the sound of the waves of wind. While trying my ability – high jump, an arrow suddenly dashed to the right side of my face in a fast pace. Good thing I am confident with my target accuracy and I was able to dodge it. I looked at the direction where the arrow came from. I knew it – I was being a target of someone. I used my ability and jumped to his direction.

Amazing, I feel like I am really jumping high and falling. It was as if you are riding a fast ride and your soul was about to get separated from your body. He knew that I am going to his direction and ran as fast as he could but sadly, my weapon could reach long ranges too. I pulled the trigger of my gun with a great accuracy and shot his head. A text in a paper-like image appeared again.

[Name: Kuro
Race: Human
Weapon: Gun
Ability: High Jump
No. of Death: 0
No. of Kill: 1]

I clicked the ‘continue’ button.

It was hard to sense people when you are in a game, but there was map that would tell where your opponents are. Hmmm… according to the map, there were three opponents hiding and waiting for the chance to kill me. The one was in front, and the two were quietly waiting for a chance to kill me.

Maybe they are helping each other out. If I am going to attack one of them, surely, the two of them will take it as a chance to kill me. What should I do?

While thinking about my plan, a sudden idea appeared on my mind. However, in this plan, there is a high chance of fail than success. I was planning to finish this game without getting killed. But without thinking about the higher chance of death, I used my ability and jumped high as I can.

I was right, I can see them from the top. They may saw this coming, but sometimes if you are expecting for something, you will still feel tensioned or excited.

I clicked the ‘kick’ button midair for my body to spin.

The opponent in the front is using sword, which means he can’t attack me while I am here. I pulled the trigger of my gun and attacked the two who are both using bow. It seems like there are only three types of weapon in this game, gun, bow, and sword. Moreover, it appears that these weapons are handed to us randomly. I successfully killed one of them but I wasn’t able to totally kill the other one, he managed to escape. A message from the system appeared again saying I already have two kills.

Tch. What a waste.

Without wasting any time while falling from a high altitude, I pushed kick button again to turn my direction right to the front where one of the opponent was hiding. I was about to shoot when I realized that he was not there anymore. I landed without getting any wounds but someone suddenly tried to shoot me.

Too bad, I saw it coming and I was able to dodge.

“Who would have thought that you’re here, Kuro.”

It was Devin, having a grin. That was a rhyme. I should really try writing a poem sometime.

“Heh… I was wondering why one of my preys is gone, it was you after all,” I said, having a wide smile. My facial features seemed darkened.

“The one who landed his attack first will always win!”

In a split second, Devin pulled his trigger. I didn’t manage to dodge this time and he was able to wound my left arm. My green line was reduced but it doesn’t seem to be a critical damage. I guess I could continue fighting.

Rapidly, we came to each other with our guns. While running and jumping on the trees, we pulled our triggers and shot each other. I managed to wound his right leg.

It appears that we have the same ability.

“Why don’t you just give up, Kuro? It seems like you green line is getting shorter.” He grinned.

It seems like he is enjoying the game.

“Don’t be an idiot, Devin. You know I won’t give up that easily.” I grinned.

“Tch.” Devin’s grin became even wider.

We stopped at the part of the forest where there are only few trees and grasses and the ground is visible. Reaching our breath, we both pulled our trigger and in a split second but in slow motion, the bullets that came from our guns collided. I could see the heat waves that bullets were emitting. It was like a scene from an action movie. I could even hear the sound of the colliding bullets. We continued coming to each other with our guns.

In terms of target accuracy, Devin is one of people who can rival me. In our Physical Health subject, they are teaching us how to use guns. In our grade level, Devin and I are always competing at the first and second spot. We would always compete who gets many perfect shots the most. However, when it comes to stamina, he surpasses me. He might have slender body but it doesn’t change the fact the he’s got some muscles, it is one of the things that I barely have.

“You really are good when it comes to your target, Kuro.”

This guy’s good.

“Heh… you are complimenting me in this situation, huh?”

I was too consumed by our game and it took a little while for me to realize that I am out of ammo. It appeared that Devin still has a spare of bullet in his gun.

“Tch.” I clucked my tongue.

Without thinking, I ran into the forest again. Don’t think I am running away. This is the only strategy that I came up with. He might be seeing me in his map, but this is the only way I can wait for my ammo to refill. The green light was turning red. I took lots of damage than expected. I thought I was okay a while ago, but right now, I am in verge of death.

While waiting for my ammo to get refilled, I stepped onto something and an icon appeared before me.

***

“It’s useless to hide Kuro!” Devin shouted.

“I’m not hiding,” I shouted.

Using my ability, I jumped highly. His jaw dropped after realizing that I was above him. It took him a few seconds to realize that I was about to land to him. I stepped on his chest and kicked with all the force I have. The kick gave his gave me momentum to jump back and put distance between us. He lost his balance but he managed to get back up after a few seconds.

“What a sneaky attack. Isn’t that cheating, Kuro?”

“Heh… is there any proper or correct way to save yourself when you are inn verge of death amidst an unknown forest, Devin?”

“Well, I don’t care about your ways. Let us end this!” he shouted.

The distance between us was slowly becoming narrow as we run. We jumped high attacked each other with our hands and feet. We both learned new martial arts in Physical Education. The government made sure that we could be near-to-perfect leaders when we graduate from this school. The aim of this academy was to produce competent individuals who could become one of the rulers or a part of the government to lift the country up. They altered some parts of the old education system to make it better and for us to learn something that was more realistic and practical. Of course, we still have science class. The only subject I am weak from is mathematics.

Really, I might be an honor student but I also feel anxious sometimes.

The education system in this academy was a lot better than the old education system that taught people about things that we should know about our environment such as how photosynthesis works, or how cells in our body work, and everything that we cannot actually apply when it comes to living – unless you want to take it as your profession. This hole made the government change the education system and improve. They added and/or made some changes to the subjects that we are learning. Take Physical Education as an example, it taught us how to protect ourselves when it comes to life-threatening situations. The Science class that only taught us about the process of photosynthesis and how glucose formed in a plant is now also teaching us how to build vehicles such as ships. If I were to choose between the old education system and the system right now, I would definitely choose the new one – we all have different preferences anyway.

While sending punches and kicks to each other, we had put another distance between us. It seems like his ammo refilled. My ammo is still taking its time to refill. I ran out of ammo first, maybe his isn’t that full, or maybe he stomped into something got an item that can refill his ammo in instant.

“Why don’t you just give up, Kuro? You’re out of ammo, right?”

Tsk. My life line still needs time to get refilled. This battle is taking long than I have expected. However, even if I am just in a game, I can say that I am still enjoying my fight with my rival.

“Heh, I see your patience is still short. Let me end your suffering now,” I said.

It’s still amusing for me how I can talk this way in front of him.

A gun appeared in his right hand. Suddenly, he pointed his gun to my direction and gave a scornful grin. He started pulling his trigger and running towards me. The bullets that were rapidly coming to my direction and all I could do was to dodge. As the distance between us was closing, I used my ability to jump high and pulled out the sword from my inventory.

Earlier, while hiding and waiting for my ammo to refill, I stomped into an item. It was a sword. A message from the system popped out.

[You have acquired a new weapon – Double Sword]
[Activating this weapon will change you ‘kick’ button to ‘spin.’ Would you to activate?]

A ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ button appeared. But I chose to direct it to my inventory to hide it from Devin. He knows my ability when it comes to swordmanship. We dueled a lot in our Swordmanship subject and he only managed to win three fights. I am not really confident with it but he always told me I am good or near to pro. I’ve always thought of myself as a weak being but after meeting him, I have encountered a lot of possibilities even with this weak body.

After pulling out the swords from my inventory, his face had both surprised and worried expression. However, the wide smile that he was wearing never left his face. Even from what he has seen, his composure remained unfazed. I started hitting the bullets with great accuracy. I could even hear the sound of bullets colliding with a metal. The strong impact created sparks.

I felt chills.

I could feel the built up of beads of sweat in my forehead due to the tension and excitement that I was feeling as I fight Devin. Suddenly, he stopped at his current position, waiting for a moment to shot my head as I am fell from a high altitude. As I fell near to his direction, he gazed me with a wide cold smile as if he was telling he won.

He might be thinking that I can’t dodge at this point.

He pointed his gun to me and pulled his trigger continuously. Before his bullets reached my body, I clicked the spin button. As I spin, I used my swords to deflect his attack. Some of his bullets managed to get through the small gaps and wounded my body.

Even though it’s not fatal, my life line is still getting reduced.

I continued clicking the spin button, making my body look like a spinning top with blades attached.

In split second but in slow motion, I landed and managed to hit him in chest without stopping, which gave him a fatal wound. I successfully killed him. Few seconds our fight, my vision turned red and my life line began decreasing more.

Wha–

[You have 30 seconds to Revive.]

The system started counting.

It turned out that our fight was a draw. I could feel the excitement dwelling inside my chest. The beads of sweat in my forehead ran down to my chin as I am waiting for the thirty seconds to finish. I enjoyed the game too much I almost forgot that I am just actually standing in a room in the hall, controlling this avatar. But what’s with that cold smile of Devin?

***

After getting back to life, a message from the system popped again before me.

[Name: Kuro
Race: Human
Weapon: Gun
Ability: High Jump
No. of Death: 1
No. of Kill: 38]

The lines in my vision were refilled. My stats were normal again.

It seems like I got back to where I started. Maybe it’s in the program of the game. I wandered around and killed some people using my gun. Right now, I have killed 38 people in total; all of them were terrified in my target accuracy that is why some of them chose to run instead of facing me.
“I see you are enjoying killing people.” A thick, deep voice spoke out of thin air.
It was Ian, from afar, holding a sword with his both hands.
“Heh… what a lucky encounter,” I said, wearing a scornful grin. “I am quite handful today, can we finish this already?”

“Tsk.”

He dashed to my direction in a fast pace. It seems like his ability makes him run fast. I couldn’t care less about his ability, but there are rumors that his skills on wielding a sword are second-to-none here in our academy. I might get in trouble if I got too close. I need to maintain this distance if I want to win. However, who said that I want to win our fight? I want to experience his swordplay firsthand.

Without thinking about the future results, I let myself gone wild and ran to his direction. I pulled out the swords from my inventory. It surprised him a bit but he remained focused and unfazed. We both came together with our swords, sparks and the sound of metals hitting each other as we clashed our swords made our fight look like an action movie. We stopped clashing and made a contact to each other while thrusting together with our sword.

“Your swordplay isn’t bad,” he said, having a pissed face.

“Heh… it’s an honor to receive a compliment from the current holder of the top spot,” I said in a sarcastic way.

We had put a distance between each other for a moment, and we began clashing again, this time, I am on defensive. He used his ability to run fast and dashed towards me with an unusual but cool stance. He was holding his swords with their blades pointing backwards. That stance made me think that he really was confident with his swordmanship, which made the ember of fire inside of me saying I should not lose this fight. However, given with the gap in our experience, this could give me a hard time. We have 30 minutes left before the game ends and I have only killed 38 people in total. Should I just give up? No, no, no, no, no. Nothing good will come when you are always looking at the negative side. I should take this as a challenge to see how much I have grown for the past years studying in this academy. And I should think of how I am going to defeat Devin, my rival.

Even with doubts, I used my ability to jump high and clicked the spin button. I am just repeating what I did earlier in my fight with Devin. I landed to him while spinning and he used his sword to block my attacks. I thought I’d find a way change from defensive to offensive but I didn’t find any change. His swordplay was really good. As we clash our blades, he suddenly threw his one sword up, which made me look up too. It was his intention to distract me. That moment of distraction was enough for him to kill me, but he didn’t.

“Kill me now.”

“Eh!?”

What’s with my reaction?

“What are you talking about, Ian?”

“I said you can kill me now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You can get the top spot now. I have seen your abilities and your mental capacity. I think you will manage,” his eyes were emitting cold vibes.

What is he thinking? Did he give up already? Why is he telling this to me? Or is it just a trick? Is he scheming something?

“What are you trying to do?” I asked with a serious expression.

“Nothing. I’m just tired of being at the top,” he said.

“H-Huh!?”

All I managed to do is to stammer after hearing what he just said.

“Ha-Hahahaha!”

Why am I laughing?

“Are you saying that you have grown tired of being at the top? What a show off. Well, I think I get you why you want to remove yourself in that peak. But I don’t like butting in other people’s business.”

“Do you want to continue fighting then?”

“No. It’s about time for us to stop this game. We only have 60 seconds left.”

“Well, I guess I should take my rest now,” he said.

We both sat on the ground and waited for the last seconds to get consumed.