Chapter 72

this is a fictional story by realTensai

The Priest’s words had everyone holding their breaths, yet Alvis’ eyes darted up to the big hologram containing the game’s rules.

Where is the new rule?

“And now it updated.”

New words appeared as if someone was typing them in. Alvis couldn’t even follow as the layers expanded. However, the opening sentence was enough to catch everyone’s attention.

“New Rule: Teaming?”

A student read it out loud, though the confusion in his voice matched everyone’s inner state.

“That’s right. The new rule is teaming,” the Priest said, answering to everyone’s doubts. “As the generous soul I am, I granted you all a wish. Even though only one survivor would have been exciting to watch, I realized it might not be fair. That is why I introduce this rule. From now on, you are allowed to form teams in which you can win together.”

An unnatural silence followed his words as everyone tried to decipher their meaning. Alvis read the contents of the new rule, but it was just as he had explained. They could form teams and win together.

“Wait… this is incredible!”

A rush of euphoria spread throughout the cafeteria as everyone’s faces lit up.

“That means we can survive together,” a girl said, hugging her best friend.

They all started celebrating this new rule, and even Alvis couldn’t suppress his smile.

I can survive together with Lia, Dane, and Sekki!

This was the first thought that crossed his mind and made his heart ease up. If this rule didn’t exist, there would’ve been no way for Alvis to save his loved ones. But now they only had to form a team and win together and they would all be happy.

Wait…. this is a trap!

Alvis’ face darkened as he bit his tongue, realizing what teaming really meant.

“So you got it too?” Lia said, her face bitter.

“Yes, it’s a tempting trap.”

Alvis forced his nails into his palm, wondering how naturally he had fallen victim to the Devil Cult’s scheme. Just now, he had envisioned a scenario in which he and his close ones won the game. He had envisioned a scenario in which they were the only ones who survived while everyone else died. Yet the worst part was that he had been happy with that outcome because the people he cared for were with him. In other words…

“Teaming just makes you more inclined to kill others.”

“That’s right,” Lia said, her eyes trembling. “But judging by everyone’s reaction, they didn’t get that yet.”

Alvis glanced around and saw how some students already started discussing with whom they should form a team. The Priest’s alluring offer made everyone throw away their doubts. He used their deepest wish, which was surviving with their loved ones, and turned it into an irresistible trap.

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This guy is even more dangerous than I thought.

The Devil Cult’s Priest of Knowledge, Elric Zweistein, was just as evil and rotten to the core as his insane companion.

“Before you start forming teams, let me explain the details,” he said, his voice still sounding as if he was their savior. “The teams obviously have a cap limit. You can have up to five people in one team.”

“What, just five?”

“Relax, there are multiple ways to increase this cap limit.”

Once again, new text appeared on the hologram explaining the rulings on teaming.

“First, if the team only comprises people of the same race, there can be up to eight people.”

This bastard!

Alvis clicked his tongue, immediately understanding what he was up to. The Priest wanted to stir up racism even more and even rewarded it by increasing the cap space for one-race-only groups.

“And with the same race, I mean full-bloods and no halflings. If halflings want to form a group of up to eight people, they have to find eight halflings with the same mix.”

So extreme!

He wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he was encouraging racism. And as Alvis turned his head, he saw that the other students understood this as well. However, because of Charles’ speech a few moments ago, he couldn’t tell if the students would accept or reject the offer presented by the Priest.

“But as I mentioned before, there are more ways to increase the people on your team. One option, and also my favorite one, is killing others. If one person in your group kills one random person that isn’t in your group, you can add one more person to your group. So every kill increases your cap space by one.”

Alvis’ heart dropped upon hearing about this method. An icy silence overtook everyone as they all contemplated the Priest’s words. Even though they knew he wanted them to kill each other, subconsciously they had written it off as impossible. However, now, this new rule made killing a tempting option. If a group were to kill half of the school and let the other half join their team, they would’ve all won and survived. Just by adding this rule, one’s survival chances skyrocketed, though this only applied if one was ready to sacrifice others.

Shit, this guy is just playing with our hearts.

“The other method to add more people to your group is way harder,” the Priest said, catching everyone’s attention once again. Even though he had said it was way harder, Alvis leaned in further, as this was essential for the future. “There will be smaller games, like challenges, let’s just call them quests and the reward for some of these quests will be an increase in cap space.”

Question marks formed on everyone’s faces, as no one understood what he meant.

“Now that I’ve already mentioned it, I should explain it properly.”

As soon as he said that, the big hologram updated once again and a new category called quests appeared.

“As I said before, there will be challenges throughout this big survival game and the one who completes them will get huge rewards. Just like in a video game. I will announce every new quest and also post them on the hologram. And of course, as generous as I am, if one person in a team completes a quest, the entire group will get the reward. But not so that they would’ve to share it. No, everyone gets the full reward. Amazing, right?”

Alvis held his breath as this new concept of quests was a total game-changer. The first thing it reminded him of was his own system and the daily quests he always had to complete. It was only through them he gained ability points and could increase his stats. If the quests in this survival game had similar rewards in terms of benefit, they would become a major component of this game.

However, the reason Alvis could only gasp was the almost unfair advantage teaming had. Everyone would get the same reward, even if only one person completed the quest.

“Doesn’t this make teaming op?”

Even the other students understood this as they wondered about it out loud. Teaming didn’t seem to have any downside to it. You could survive with the people dearest to you, complete quests together, and if some quests had the reward of increasing cap space, you could make your group bigger without killing. Eventually, you would all survive.

It can’t be this perfect.

There had to be a downside Alvis hadn’t yet thought of. Or did the Priest make teaming so rewarding because he knew that once in a team, killing others wouldn’t be as bad anymore?

Suddenly, Alvis’ head shot up as one thought crossed his mind.

What if the strongest students and teachers were to form a team and set out to kill others? The only way to protect oneself would be to join a strong team so that one would have security. In other words, a team would be essential, especially in the later phase of the game for protection. The people who would die first would be the ones without a team.

Once more teams form, they would start to compete over quests. Those battles would only increase in heat, and once the first team decided to start killing others, it would be over. Like an avalanche, they would all start killing each other, hoping to make their team even bigger so that they could all survive.

“Now I’m sure,” Alvis said, his eyes sharp. “Once teaming starts, there will be no way back. All it will take is one kill. One kill and the survival game will start!”