There seems to be a reason for everything in the world.
From unwavering love to unquenchable desire, from an undying will to thwarted struggles, there are several pieces that play out in tandem as one act leads to the other.
But what if the cord that binds such bits together is severed by a third force?
Just what will actually become of those stranded souls who will be unable to advance in the direction of their vision?
Going through the game's comprehensive introduction, I couldn't discover any single rule that would cause a player's mental acuity to deteriorate over time.
In reality, it was the safest design a system could ever have.
After successfully registering in the player base, the identical pop-up that had previously invited me to the game now welcomed me to the players portal, a special zone where you can connect with other players anonymously.
Although ironically, since there was no way to kickstart a private discussion with other participants, the only thing that could be regarded as anonymous was one's own identity.
It took exactly two hours for the game to start, most likely owing to the obligation of filling up all of the open spaces.
And once all 400 spots had been filled, the game's operator—the person in charge of monitoring and disseminating information on the official portal—gave each player a pair of two active and one passive skills, or vice versa.
But unlike the ordinary, the passive skills were almost always active, so there was no need to search for stimuli to make them so.
Speaking of the rationale, the primary objective of granting these skills and abilities to us all at such an early stage was to give us enough time to master their effective use for the future 1 vs. 1 battle that we were about to engage in.
A battle that would last until only 100 people remained
SubGames!
Breaking its game space into two, the first round of unversed had six rules to be followed.
In order to advance to the final round, a player must defeat three other players.
A player is not permitted to kill another player.
A player is destined to forget everything after having lost or being ousted, but that can be averted by paying a hefty price.
To begin the subgame, a challenger must entice his opponent into the blue zone.
The subgame will be generated by the operator, so the challenger cannot determine it.
In order for the operator to emerge, the challenger must chant a series of predefined words.
As it was impossible to find someone using their pseudonym, the players had to rely on the portal's alert system for the same.
A system that, when a player is within 5 miles, emits a red light and reveals their whereabouts on a built-in map.
Furthermore, in order to sustain a balance, the time of its functioning varies greatly from person to person.
That said, pinpointing a player's position was actually third to none as it was meaningless without having an admittance to the blue zone.
Shougan Bloodworth
10:25 PM
Ah! Why do we need to find a blue zone before a player? It's like a scavenger hunt.
Nummyrth, The Jealous One
10:25 PM
Sunlight JellYbee
10:26 PM
It's just abandoned towns and structures; you guys are such whiny little snotbags.
But how do we confirm it?
I'm off to eat; have a pleasant night.
Sunlight JellYbee
10:28 PM
The same, use the portal alert system. It will flash a blue light instead of red.
Shougan Bloodworth
10:28 PM
I'll find you first, so you wait.
Even if the premise irritated some, it was quite serene to me. I couldn't help but marvel why someone wouldn't appreciate it when it resolved things without raising a huge fuss and with the lowest potential of being exposed.
Not to mention, the profusion of blue zones, as well as the live counter provided by the operator to each player, aided me in obtaining a terrific reward that I had not anticipated.
"The Unknown Whisper"
Congratulations, you have earned the title "The Unknown Whisper" after going 35 days without being spotted by any player.
As a result of your newfound ethereal ability, no one will ever be able to locate you.
Possessing such an amazing skill was undoubtedly a great blessing, but it would be overstating things to claim that my efforts were the sole reason for it, considering that my main passive attribute accounted for more than half of the work.
Your sphere of presence is reduced from 5 miles to 650 metres.
A bit of advice: relax at home.
Things were going rather well, and since the live counter was being used to keep a record of both the number of players and the number of blue zones, it was simple to follow my intention to remain covert and to only resurface when there were about 200 players left.
But one should never lose sight of the reality that, even when things are going great for a while, it is always prudent to be prepared for a threat that is yet to materialise since it will inevitably do so.
Hey everyone, the game's regulations are fictitious as, despite killing a player, I was not disqualified.
Because there was no means to verify his claims, let alone his legitimacy, using the denounce option, which provides a player one opportunity to report any player of his choice upon obtaining proof of wrongdoing, would have surely been a poor approach.
And, even though the prospect of being in the same circle as the monster who butchered my parents was daunting to say the least, I swore that this time I would not escape and would instead take the fight head on.
"I'll go ahead and turn out the lights."
"Please don't, mommy. I'm terrified of the dark. "
"Elvan, there can be no light without darkness; do you wish to live in darkness eternally only for one night?"
"Don't be concerned; Mommy will sleep beside you."
"No! I am a big boy now. "
I hope you're looking at me from the sky, mum. There's something dreadfully wrong with this game, but I'll sort it out without losing track of who I am.
