On the streets, I observed with caution at some people who were giving us long, curious looks. It must be that we were new in this city because of how we glanced around in awe while taking pictures like tourists. Because of the medieval and ancient buildings surrounding us, it was like we were in a European city. Many of the European newcomers felt right at home. Although there were scattered Asian and modern buildings, most of them were the tallest structures in this city, up to two hundred meters tall.
“Is that a pyramid?” Katie pointed.
We stared in the direction she was pointing, about twelve blocks away. We saw the largest. Almost twice as large as the one in Egypt, this one had a smooth whitewashed surface with a capstone made of gold.
“That’s the Pyramid of New Beginning,” Hassan said. “It is now a bank of the Golden Griff Guild. That’s where they minted the chaffs and stored our gold.”
“Gold?” we all gasped.
“Everyone’s gold is in there,” he explained. “You would need an army to break into that place. It’s a shame that we can’t bring them to Earth, so try not to think of any foolish ideas. People here are very possessive of their valuables.”
When the seven suns were set, we arrived at a magnificent castle. Hassan guided us through its iron gate, passing the lavish courtyard, and inside the Marble Hall through the oaken double doors with a round, clear-glass window from above. It had a fantastic view of Starting Point. The ceiling had a crystal chandelier with its candle flames radiating the hall in bright gold. In front of us, two marble stairways lead up to the balcony with purple curtains. We assumed that was where the king himself would appear.
Hassan and the Crimson Shadow members left the castle once all the newcomers had gathered in the Marble Hall. We waited thirty minutes for someone to welcome us until Andromeda appeared on the balcony.
“Hello again, everyone,” she said. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
It was a good thing that it was only thirty minutes. Longer than that, we might get impatient.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” she announced. “I would like you to meet the Guildmaster and Party King of the Boston Tea Party Guild. Brave of Dionysus, the Party God himself. The man, the myth, the legend — Rad Meister!”
The only response from the crowd was a little applause and many perplexed stares.
“A Party God, huh,” I mumbled. That was a perfect title for the Greek god of wine, pleasure, and festivities.
Once the curtains opened, Rad Meister appeared, holding a golden goblet while his arms rested on the shoulders of four beautiful girls. I expected the king to be some pretty boy. Instead, he was a puny guy in a toga with a freckled face and curly orange hair. Having a pair of girls on each arm earned him a mixture of admiration and envy among the guys, and disdain from many girls. For some like me, I just wanted to know what was going on around here.
“Hello, newcomers,” Rad greeted with a high voice. “Welcome, welcome to the two thousand and eighteen years of Game of Heavens and Earth.”
Two thousand and eighteen years! Like the current year? Was that how long this Game had been? The crowd went silent for a while before erupting into an uproar. Rad coaxed us to calm down so he could explain.
Long ago, eight powerful braves managed to travel to the other side of the world, battling treacherous terrains and dangerous beasts. Since only one brave could reach the finish line, none of them were able to defeat each other. Because of that, they had a stalemate for a long time until they discovered a revelation that would change the lives of every person in this world forever.
“We don’t age,” Rad said aloud.
“What?” the crowd snapped.
“We don’t age. I may look physically sixteen to you, but I’m from the Nineteen-Eighties. I’ve already passed puberty, man. Lots of people here are hundreds of years old. A few are millennium old. We all stayed the same. We’re all practically immortals here.”
I swallowed hard, realizing why there were no adults to be found.
Someone in the crowd said for clarification, “So whatever happens to us here, we won’t die, right?”
“Absolutely, that’s what the gods said before they put us here.”
“Then what about those bullet holes from the stone bridges on top of the mountain?” Wilt asked with his voice so loud that the hall could hear him. “Can you explain that?”
I was astounded that he noticed that too. Everyone was shocked once again with words, bullet holes, echoed in the hall.
“Ah, I forgot about that.” Rad took a sip from his goblet. “We had a Great War about a century ago. But don’t worry, people. Guns got outlawed after that, and we’ve had peace ever since. Like that kid said, whatever happens, we won’t die.” He glanced at Andromeda with a sly smile. “Show them, Andy.”
Andromeda complied. She stood on the parapet and jumped. The crowd screamed in terror when she struck the marble floor. We all expected a bloody splat, but instead, she vanished with a pillar of light burst out from where she fell.
“Look.” Rad pointed out the window. At the peak of Starting Point, we saw another pillar of light before both disappeared in a second. “The best thing about this world is that as long as you die inside the Great Blue Zone, you’ll be resurrected in the Gate Ring. Wicked, huh?”
That explained the pillar of light earlier when Andromeda first appeared to us.
“Again, as long as you are inside the Blue Zone or any places with a blue sky, you’ll be fine,” Rad resumed. “You think the gods would put us here for a gory bloodbath. That’s unethical to their standards.
“Beyond the Outer Wall is the Yellow Zone. That’s the place with the yellow sky. In this world, death here is what we call, recall.” He air-quoted that last word. “Meaning, if you died there, you’ll be magically returned to our world in the exact time and place the moment before you met your god.”
“Oh, no,” I gasped with cold sweat.
I am dead. I am so dead, I screamed in my thoughts. A cold lump was building up in my throat as if I was about to choke before swallowing it, though my heart kept pounding against my chest. “The sad part is that you’ll no longer remember the god you met and all the events happening in this world,” Rad said. “And you go back to your normal lives like it was yesterday. It sucks, but it’s for the best. And also part of the rules of the Game.” Someone asked, “What happened to those braves who had reached the other side?” The Party King glanced at the crowd with a widened grin. “They made these….” He gestured toward the window once more. “The city that we live in, the walls that protect us, and the farms that feed us. The Guilds of Eight, or G-8, they called themselves, came together for peace and built this paradise for everyone. They then went back to protect the finish line so we can enjoy this paradise for all eternity.” As I glanced
After the welcome party, we headed straight to our new home that the Crimson Shadows provided. I was cautious when walking down the street ever since Li told me that someone was spying on us. We arrived at the Carthaginian apartment with a blue roof. The inscriptions on my card key said: Room Three-Twelve. Therefore, my new home would be in the twelfth room on the third floor. To my convenience, there was a laundry shop and a grocery store beside the apartment. The next day, we had an orientation back at the castle about the rules and customs of this world. It was strange that Rad personally lectured us since he was the Party God’s brave. Meaning, he would never get sobered — ever. From the orientation, we learned that the City of New Beginning was in the middle of a continent, which was also called New Beginning. It reminded me of the two New York, the famous city and the American state, back on Earth. New Beginning was divided into nine square dist
“Slip?” Lucas paled at the sight of the arrow below his groin. “You were clearly trying to shoot me!” The second arrow was embedded on the wall, about two millimeters from his ear. “Oops, I slipped again.” Anne nocked her third arrow with an emotionless face. “Stop it!” a Wolf Reign member growled. “We’ll call Libra on you!” Another threatened them. Two more struck underneath Lucas’s armpits. Again, Anne said aloud that she was clumsy, though everyone had a clear sight of her twisted retribution against him. Something that I’d remind myself to never tick her off if we ever crossed paths. Anne continued shooting every time Lucas and his companions kept threatening her to call Libra, the city’s only police guild. The last arrow struck near his other ear. It was dipped with foul, green ooze, slowly melting a small chunk of the wall. “Is that poison?” Lucas flustered as he grew paler and paler. The Wolf Reigns were gaping in horror
“What?” We were all bewildered. This paradise was a lie? What did he mean by that? “Have you ever noticed people staring at us when we got here?” Wilt asked. “Uh, time to time,” Nick replied. “I thought they were curious since we’re new here.” “But their stares earlier gave Alex and me the creeps,” Katie murmured. The Finnish girl shuddered upon remembering it. “What’s so curious about us?” “That — I’ve been trying to figure it out until I asked around,” Wilt said. “It’s not us that they’re curious. It’s our powers. Everybody here wants to know what kind of abilities we possess.” Many of us were exchanging comments because of that revelation. Others revealed to those who weren’t around in the forum about what happened earlier, especially the big shot guild that showed up wanting to recruit Alex. They knew something special about her that we didn’t. “They’re just looking for talented people to recruit,” Jasper asked. “What’s wrong with
We stayed in the alley for a while, discussing how to raise money for our flag before we could become a proper guild. We made Wilt the leader of our party since he was the one who planned all this. Eventually, not only did we find the solution to our flag’s expense but also for our livelihoods and bills to pay once they kicked in three months — that solution was taking quests. They were not only the biggest economy here but also the way of life in this world. Trade, manufacturing, industry, city maintenance, and defenses were built by this practice. For example, restaurants hired part-timers for labor, warriors for security, and hunters for retrieving high-class ingredients. Bounty hunting, mercenary works, barters, as long as anyone posted their quests on websites or information booths, everyone would join in to reap its rewards and profits. Quests also ranked the same class of metals as guilds, based on their level of difficulty and importance, at the same time, th
How did Brock get that silver-class quest? It was illegal for newcomers to obtain that in the city, yet he said the Libra Guild didn’t seem to mind. It was strange since they were the New Beginning’s only police guild. All of their members were braves of the justice gods. They were strict in upholding the law. Why would they allow this? Unless — “It’s a loophole,” I gasped in realization. Everyone focused on me. When they silently encouraged me to go on, I continued, “The rules stated we’re not allowed to get that within the city. The keywords there, within the city, that means anyone can get or posts a dangerous quest when you are —” “Outside the city,” Li finished. “Right, the quest starts in three days,” Brock said. “We have to be at the Azure Dragon Gate by eight in the morning.” “Azure Dragon Gate?” Wilt tapped his chin. “If I remembered correctly, that’s on the eastern part of the Outer Wall.” His eyes bulged. “That means this quest is
We were now in the Yellow Zone, a place with the yellow sky, and all around us was sand. In front of me, from both sides, on the horizon, the mountains that formed, everywhere was all sand. The whole caravan was traveling through the desert. We expected blistering heat and hot wind bombarding our faces, but we got none of them even though I was wearing my favorite hoodie coat. There was nothing to complain about except the sand that got into our shoes. Despite the never-ending surprises and weirdness around us, everyone had to watch out for dangerous creatures and outlaws lurking somewhere. Checking my phone, it was out of range of any signal, including Wi-Fi. We were on our own out here. “Brock,” Katie called when he strode ahead of us. “Huh?” “Why are you walking barefooted?” His shoes were dangling on his backpack. Looking down, he was walking without them. “Oh, the weather isn’t that hot. I feel like I’m strolling on a beach.” Our
Five days had passed, and we reached the Jormungand border. There was nothing in sight except for a lone obelisk where we waited around. An hour passed, another caravan arrived from within our employers’ territory. We spent the remainder of the day transferring loads between the two. At sundown, we rested. Three days later, our caravan was now heading back to the Great Blue Zone, with cargoes full of finished goods that the Jormungands produced. When we traveled to their territory, everyone was on guard of their surroundings. Now that we were going home, there were laughter and chatters throughout the caravan. This quest wasn’t as exciting or dangerous as our party expected. Although, we did get to experience what it was like in the Yellow Zone. Still, I needed to be vigilant, especially since we were at the back of the caravan. “Two more days, and we’re finally home for that sweet nine thousand chaffs.” Katie grinned while shooting her arms in the air. “How