The three hours preparations were finally finished. Player Han Ya, Player An Yuan, and Player Hei Anjing waited for the world consciousness who controlled the announcements for the game to arrive.
System Yang spoke, [Please be careful. According to what the past game records left under this Massacre game the possibility of getting split is the largest. Though some props might allow you to appear in the same game, that itself is a rarity. Listen to the advice of your own manager. In this game mode, you can only trust your teammates and manager.]
0 hours, 0 minutes, and 0 seconds.
DING! DING! DING!
{Times up. Players who died in their games or Shared Group Channel Players who failed to complete the main mission requirements are all mandatory to enter the Punishment Game World. The Massacre Mode is where all your lives are in line and where everyone must complete at least three games to get out of the World of Punishment.
Get ready for the transition, players.
We would be teleporting you to the first Death Game.}
Every player who is about to enter the punishment world had been swallowed by the black shadows when the white world disappeared. Darkness had engulfed every player that entered the Punishment World whether it was an intentional entry or not. The only way to get inside is to be eaten by the shadows.
When all the players had entered the punishment world, each of them had split regardless of group. Each other woke up in a stone cage and their limbs are all chained with thick rusting metals.
An Yuan's point of view.
He held his throbbing head in pain. His every movement is accompanied by the sound of metals moving. Only then did the professor feel the heaviness on his arm. Thankfully only his hands were chained. The hand he used to hold his head had instantly fallen due to the weight of the chains.
An Yuan said, "Ugh~ so heavy. Manager Gui, I can't move my hands. Where are we?"
The little devil avatar floated before An Yuan and said, [Shss! You have company in this cell.]
"Cell? I'm in prison?" said An Yuan as he looked around.
But his eyes haven't fully adjusted to the darkness yet and he could only see blackness around him. He was a bit panicky with his movement but An Yuan was able to instantly calm his nervous heart. It only took 5 minutes for him to calm down and start thinking rationally. He used his all-knowing eyes which is one of his skills as an Awakened Ancient Human.
"A chain made of chromium. No ordinary humans can break this one unless they aren't human at all." said An Yuan.
[Is that what your eyes tell you? What do you wish to do now, An? Player Hei had lent you some gold coins. Most of your weapons and armor were given by your boyfriend…]
"Xiao Ya is not yet my boyfriend!" retorted An Yuan.
[So not yet huh? So when will you give him a title? Heh~]
With his cheeks blushing red in embarrassment, An Yuan complained, "Stop teasing me. Stop changing the topic! Ugh! Can you please buy that virtual mapping skill for me? Is the gold coin in my name enough?"
[Thankfully, Player Hei had lent you some. The Virtual Mapping Skill is 3,000 gold coins. It no longer has restrictions. You can use it anytime.]
"Then…" An Yuan's childish demeanor had completely disappeared as he looked straight at the darkness before him but under his ancient lineage's eyes, he could see through even within the darkness.
He can see a man on the opposite side of him sitting at the edge of the stone bed and like him, his wrist is chained on the wall with metal chains. This man's features are not bad. He looks gentle and friendly but unfortunately, the smile on his face is not from his heart but one used by professionals towards other people.
He is wearing formal long sleeves and gray pants plus a pair of leather shoes. What is eye-catching about this man is his white robes which only doctors wear and scrutinizing orange irises under his pair of glasses.
An Yuan, who is a professor in reality, had met this kind of person in a high-class circle. They would use a formal attitude towards strangers and treat everything as business. As long as there is merit in them, this person would not go against him.
"Shall we introduce ourselves before talking about what should be done next? Is that alright? I am An Yuan. A newbie player. A college professor is XXX University within the capital. I am currently under the contract of four players."
The doctor thought for a moment when he heard his name. He didn't follow up an introduction right away until he recognized An Yuan's name. It was only for a split second that An Yuan noticed this doctor's eyes widened for a bit as if he recognized his name.
"Pardon me. I was thinking for a moment. My name is Lan She. Surgeon. Solo Player from the Red Zone. You can call me Doctor Lan."
"Red Zone?"
[An, be careful. The one in front of you is a Veteran Player.]
Lan, She spoke, "Don't worry little devil. I wouldn't harm your player. I'm not the type to seek death. Anyone who had watched the Haunted Asylum Live stream knew that Player An here had signed a shared channel with Player Hei. Even though I am a Player from the red zone, fighting someone that powerful is impossible for me. My main specialty is healing, not fighting."
"Then can you work with me to escape this cave prison?" asked An Yuan.
Lan, She spoke, "I can help you remove the chains on your wrist but I suggest that you don't come out of this cave for a while."
"What's wrong outside the cave?" asked An Yuan.
Lan She before him stood up and with a glint of silver, the metal chains on his wrist were cut off like tofu. He stood and walked towards An Yuan and raised a scalpel in his right hand.
"Do not move, please. Or I might cut the wrong place." said the man doctor
Manager Gui had heightened his vigilance ever since he saw this player's face. Everyone in the managerial society knew him. He is a player that killed his own manager. He is infamous for his mood swings and would always act mad whenever something interests him.
Rumors say this person had killed everyone in the game and dissected them when they all forced him to heal someone in one of the games. He is a crazy doctor whose skills in medicine are top class yet his personality is that of a madman.
The metal that held An Yuan's wrist had fallen on the stone bed under him. He saw Lan She gesture him to look beyond the prison walls and saw a scarlet moon on the crimson sky. It is as if the sky itself was dyed in blood.
"The color of blood?" murmured An Yuan as he suddenly heard inhuman growls coming from the shadows outside the stone prison.
Growls~
Groan~
Roar~
The professor couldn't point out where the sounds come from an animal or some kind of monster. It was only when a sudden shadow leaped towards the cell walls that An Yuan felt he was pulled backward, he saw that it was Lan She who pulled him away.
A few seconds after the owner of that inhuman growl appeared before him bashing the metal prison in front. It's a huge dog with three heads. Each head had full sharp teeth making this creature menacing and aggressive. An Yuan also saw the dog head trying to pull away from the metal prison with all they might as they glared at An Yuan and Lan She inside like they were food for them to eat.
Their drools stroll down from their huge mouths and they reveal their fangs and claws trying to destroy the metal prison but unfortunately, it seems that no matter what they do they are unable to open such a thing.
Lan, She spoke with an I told you so the expression on his face, "They are the reason why we cannot go out of here. They might be guard dogs as we are prisoners or we might be the food for this kind of monster. I don't even know what kind of thing that is."
"It's Cerberus. A three-headed dog that guards the Hell Gates. We might be in hell." said An Yuan.
Lan, She asked, "Hell ah~ does it mean it has levels then?"
"Nice idea. That seems possible. I am also not a fighter-type player. I'm more of a support type." said An Yuan as he pulled a yellow blank talisman from his pocket. He controlled his qi and tried to recreate some of the symbols to protect what he had read in that library.
He did it on his first try and threw the talisman towards Cerberus. As soon as the yellow talisman landed on the monster, it flew away as if it was rejected by some kind of power and a thin veil of golden aura protected the metal prison which was bent by the monster just now. It seems to be some kind of barrier.
An Yuan said, "With this, we should be okay for now. I'm going to wait for my teammates to pick me up. How about you, doctor?"
"…I think I should leave with you when you get picked up. If I'm lucky maybe that idiot would come for me as well," said Lan She.
" I thought you're a solo player?"
"Yes. But there is that annoying man who keeps coming for me. If he comes in this game then he might look for me. Either way I can just leave when you leave."
"That's also true. Let's just wait."
—
Hei Anjing's point of view.
The area is so dark and only the red moon and sky illuminate the whole place but unlike some other places, this area's temperature is below zero degrees. There would be blizzards coming down every eight hours and the land itself is covered in white snow but under the reddish moonlight, even the snow itself looks like it was dyed in blood.
The disgusting smell of molds and blood assaulted Hei Anjing's nose. After observing his surroundings, the molds under his palms. The muddy water drips almost falling on his face and the scent of fresh blood. In an instant, the excited mood of Hei Anjing had immediately turned bad.
After all, the area is extremely dirty. If it is only the scent of blood and blood itself, Hei Anjing wouldn't even mind but the muddy water, humid moss in his hands as well as the scent of corpses made him lose his smile.
For Hei Anjing who loves cleanliness was about to go mad surrounded by all this dirt around him.
Even System Yang, who was calm at all times, felt nervous at this moment. He could see Hei Anjing about to lose his temper completely.
[M-Master… C-Calm down. I can… Clean up the cave~]
Unfortunately, the mud that dropped on Anjing's forehead was the last straw. His deep blue eyes had instantly turned to silver and his fake bloodline as an Ice Elves had been used.
Drips~
…
…
…
SILENCE~
Out of nowhere, the unknown energy had exploded from Hei Anjing.
"Whoever retard puts me in this kind of dirty place, you'll die in my hands!!!" yelled Hei Anjing as his qi burst out destroying everything in the cave and even the cave itself.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The cave that imprisons Hei Anjing. The chains that restrained his movements had all turned into dust. The whole area had shaken under the pressure of Hei Anjing's rage and the whole hell had trembled under his aura.
Once the whole hell had shaken, everyone was terrified. Whether it was the other players who had entered the punishment world with him or the world consciousness that handles all game details felt threatened under his aura.
In that scarlet snowfield, only the lone figure of a white-haired elf stood. He looks lonely yet serene.. Like the sole pureness in that crimson world.
