Game of Reality

CHAPTER TWO

Word count : 3666.

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(POV Jason)

The lights shut off and a cold, expectant silence descended upon the crowd like a wave. The room was pitch dark. Jason felt a hand grabbing his arm and gripped Ravi's sleeve in return, so they wouldn't be separated. After a few seconds of this, which felt like an eternity, a booming sound echoed into the room followed by a riveting tempo of percussions. Blinding lights came on, large beams of the spotlight illuminating the arena. Smaller, dimmer lights danced over the audience. They cheered loudly, shrieking and jumping up and down in the stands. And then, a voice joined the cacophony of sounds.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The voice paused as the cheers heightened. "Welcome to the very first release of the Survival Games, Heightened Reality Edition! For the first time ever, the fifty best players of the online version are gathered together to play for you, and only you." The voice adopted a graver, more serious tone, "But there will be rules. Number one: everyone has but one life." Percussions underlined his points as he listed them. "Number two: each level brings its own set of challenges and advantages. And finally, number three: to qualify for the next level, players have to kill one of their opponents. Once they do, they cannot be killed until the next level. Are you ready?" The crowd cheered louder than ever as the sound of the percussions disappeared. "Alright, then let's play!"

Immediately, the arena floor flickered and the black tile was replaced with brown earth. The floor shook as panels dented to form an uneven terrain and trees started spurting out of the ground.

"What the hell" Ravi breathed.

Soon, the trees were packed densely and they lost sight of the other players. The luscious green leaves shielded them from the bright lights, but as the ground fell into shades, the temperature dropped and Jason shivered. He disregarded the cold for now, as he had bigger issues to consider.

"Man, what was that whole speech about killing people?" Jason exclaimed.

"I don't know! Can't be real though, right?" They exchanged a loaded, doubtful look before the voice spoke again.

"Players, welcome to the first level arena. Isn't it a thing of beauty?" The crowd cheered. "At the end of this round, only half of our fifty players will be left standing. The players are only allowed to use what they find in the arena, and everyone starts off with no background achievements or advantages whatsoever. The level ends once everyone has either qualified or been killed. Let the game begin, now!"

Jason looked incredulous as they heard the crowd cheer louder. He couldn't see them anymore with that forest surrounding him.

"What is wrong with them, why aren't they helping us?"

"What do we do?" Ravi asked, frightened.

Jason turned to him, pain written all over his face.

"I can't leave my brother alone, Ravi. We have to complete the game." His body was shaking, tensed muscles quivering.

A branch snapped nearby before Ravi could answer and they turned towards the sound.

"Climb!" Jason whispered vehemently.

They hurried up the trees, ignoring the rough bark hurting their palms. They watched as a girl with red hair walked confidently passed them without appearing to notice them.

"Why did you do that? We could have scored if we'd stayed down there and killed her!" Ravi said. Immediately, he frowned and clenched his teeth together as he realized what he's said.

"Do you hear yourself?" Ravi glared at him. Jason softened his tone. "There's no way it's that easy to kill someone and also, we had no idea who'd show up. Now, let's talk about a plan."