In his dream, a figure appears before him. They glow with a heavenly light, and Emrys knows immediately that this must be one of the gods of this instance.

“I didn’t expect you could survive this long, seeing how you’ve successfully garnered every contender’s disdain and offended all the gods,” the goddess says with a small laugh. “Do you truly believe the gods to be no different from humans? We control your fates and we can easily kill you all with a snap of our fingers.”

Emrys is taken aback for a moment, but he collects himself quickly and responds, “There are humans who kill as well as those who protect. There are people who are arrogant and people who are humble. The same can be said for the gods. In the end, the only difference between gods and humans is the scale of your power, but if you believe yourself above humans then you’re no different from arrogant humans given high status.”

The goddess smiles. “Do you feel remorse for every ant you step on? Can you help that the scale of your power is so much larger than tiny insects? The strong cannot help but trample the weak, so the weak must bend to the will of the strong in order to survive. Can you argue against this aspect of nature?”

Emrys considers her words, his expression thoughtful. He could see where she was coming from, and he could see that she firmly believed her own stance. Throughout history as well, humans worshipping gods was only natural, however, this so-called aspect of nature is by no means an immutable law. After all, nothing is black and white.

“I understand your perspective, but it’s a flawed comparison. Humans are capable of compassion, even towards those much weaker than themselves. They can build societies where the strong protect the weak, where they are able to learn and develop and actions are dictated by morality. They’re not animals driven purely by survival instincts.”

The goddess's smile fades, replaced by a contemplative look. “And do you believe that compassion and morality truly have a place in a world driven by power and survival? History shows countless instances where the strong have oppressed the weak. Remember where you are now. You humans kill each other in games to entertain the powerful.”

“Oppressors will reap what they sow. All actions will have their corresponding consequence,” Emrys says, his voise rising. He pauses then says more quietly, “Compassion and empathy are not signs of weakness. They’re strengths that allow a people to be greater than the sum of its parts.”

The goddess's eyes soften as she observes him, a hint of regret flickering in their depths, before she closes them. As the dream begins to fade, a gentle smile graces her lips. “How I wish that were true.”

Emrys feels the dream slipping away, but the goddess’s final words linger in his mind.

—

When Emrys wakes up, it’s because the chamber lids have opened, signalling the end of the first phase. Emrys is shocked by how quickly it ended. He assumed it would last for at least a few more days.

He’s also surprised to feel an unfamiliar swirl of energy inside himself. It seems the goddess graced him with an ability before he woke up.

The players are given a few days to train or learn their newly gifted abilities before they are flown out to the second phase arena, which takes place on a large, isolated island. During this time, Emrys looks around for his teammate from the first phase but fails to find him.

When he tests out the ability he was graced with, he learns it’s a space ability. He can store many items in this hidden space. Most importantly, he can go into it himself. It’s perfect for hiding in dangerous situations. Unfortunately, this is also the full extent of this ability. It’s nothing more than a convenient storage or hiding place and it doesn’t take much effort to use.

Because of this, Emrys doesn’t go to the training area, opting instead to spend these days attempting to meditate in his room, cycling the borrowed divine energy through his body. As expected he can’t do anything else with the energy other than open the dimensional space, but he continues to experiment. The players he shares the room with label him as crazy under their breaths.

When they are finally flown to the island for the second phase, they are randomly dropped in along the island’s shores. Before dropoff, Hathli reminds them that the game lasts for as long as it takes for every player to either die, reach the gods’ dwelling, or be the last one surviving. At intervals, supply crates will be dropped down at random locations on the island, containing food, first aid, weaponry, and other such goods.

Stolen novel; please report.

Players hit the ground running, trying to get to the visible supply crates first.

Immediately, fights break out as players encounter each other on the same shores or at the same supply crates. Emrys happens to be dropped off right in the middle of a battle between several players over a large supply crate, and he immediately has to hide within his space to avoid being eviscerated.

It’s only when the players have destroyed each other and the winner takes off with the supplies that Emrys can come out of hiding. He apologizes to the corpses as he loots them, only managing to get a dagger for all his efforts. He then looks towards the tallest mountain in the distance.

“I just gotta reach the place where the gods’ reside,” he says to himself, and walks deeper into the island.

—

Throughout the island, players find refuge in small temples, shrines, or worndown ancient-style buildings scattered throughout the island. Nature has long overtaken most manmade structures, however, and the players must learn how to make do or get lucky with supply crates. But even if they get lucky with supplies, the players must still look out for monsters.

One group of players are scrambling to pick up their makeshift camp and escape from shadow creatures that are chasing them down. No matter if they shoot or slash at them with weaponry or their gods’ graces, they just reform around the weapons or absorb the elements aimed at them.

Wesley, a quiet man with glasses, observes the shadows with forced calm as he runs and realizes as the shadows shift, he can see a flash of solid red in each of them every so often. Just then, he trips over a rock jutting out of the ground and tumbles harshly into the dirt. He had already been lagging behind the group, so he’s quickly left behind.

One of the shadows goes to attack him, but he grabs a stray arrow and manages to stab the red core deep within the shadow creature. The core tries to shift out of reach but he plunges his other arm inside and grabs hold of it, stabbing the arrow deeper into it.

His arms, both submerged within the creature, go numb with intense cold then burn with an agony he has never experienced before, even compared to all his previous instances. The shadows envelop him and the burning cold sinks onto the rest of his body slowly. Just as he resigns himself to an agonizing death, the shadows disperse around him, and the pain subsides just as quickly. Having been covered by it during that attack, the other shadows don’t notice him as they pass by, chasing after the other players.

He shakily breathes out a sigh of relief and drags his injured self behind some rocks for cover so he can bandage himself up. When he tripped earlier, he got a harsh cut on his leg. Despite all the blood, it’s fortunately not fatal, but it’s painful enough that he won’t be able to continue up the mountain on his own at his speed before faster and stronger monsters take him down.

He tenses when he hears the distant screams of the players he had just been with. Evidently, they’ve fallen victim to the shadow creatures.

Crisp, calm footsteps then sound from nearby. Wesley holds his breath and stays as still as possible as he peers through the leaves and vaguely sees a tall, ominous figure walking slowly through the path the shadows had just left. Instinctively, he knows that this figure must be the monster controlling those shadows. The humanoid monster exudes a powerful aura even without doing anything.

Suddenly, the figure turns in his direction. He can’t see the monster’s face clearly through the leaves nor through the shadows wrapped around it that obscure its features, but he does get a glimpse of glowing red eyes. Just as he considers making a run for it, he hears the bushes nearby rustle as another player he hadn’t noticed tries to run.

The player is quickly taken down by a shadow creature that forms from under his feet. Before the shadow even fully forms, it grabs his ankles to trip him and engulfs the rest of him. The player falls to the ground and his agonized expression faces Wesley as the other is swallowed. The player lets out a painful wheeze as he reaches out to him. “Help…me…”

Wesley can only watch in frozen horror as the other is completely swallowed by trembling shadows. He is afraid that if he even so much as lets out a breath, he’ll be caught and die in the same way as the player in front of him.

But then in front of him, another shadow creature sluggishly forms, and Wesley bids this second chance of life farewell. He scrambles backward in what he thinks are vain attempts, but the shadow doesn’t give chase. It’s still struggling to form. It shakes and finally disperses as if it had been on its last legs. Wesley, frozen in fear and disbelief, stares wide-eyed at the spot where the shadow was, then he turns to the shadowy figure still standing in the clearing a few feet away. It continues to stare in his direction. He is certain it knows he’s there. But a second passes. Then another. With each excruciatingly slow second, Wesley prepares himself for death. Then finally the figure moves, turning away from him and walking away, melting into the shadows.

Long after the figure has disappeared, the man remains frozen there. It’s only after the chill in the air completely leaves that he finally relaxes and pants for breath. It’s not the first humanoid monster they’ve encountered on this island, but that was by far the deadliest one. He survived only because the monster seemed to have run out of summoning power.

The higher we get up the mountain, the more dangerous the monsters we encounter. But if we don’t go up the mountain, we can only kill each other off. How is this fair? This instance is a death sentence!