The situation was really bad. Andreas was unconscious and in a weakened state. The party members were far away. With some time before they arrive, I have to manage somehow. But, even if they did come, it’d not make a game-changing outcome. I was the party’s main damage-dealer after all.

The three golden orbs. I think I understand a little. When I killed the Fifth-Echelon monster, an orb appeared. Similarly, back in the forest, when I blasted off a Seventh-Echelon monster, another orb appeared. Although I didn’t care for it that much at the time.

So… the appearance of these monsters weren’t by chance, huh…

The Latix guards would never miss. They’d clear out each and every single monster to ensure the safety of the Latix Hilltop, the residence of the most noble of the Latix family, the highest demon nobility. So when these abnormally high-level monsters appeared, they must have been spawned there by someone.

There was one more orb. Which meant, one of the other two parties must’ve killed a monster.

Eldan raised his right arm, his fingers tracing out a circular trajectory. Golden sparkles appeared when he did. When the sparkles touched the orb’s surface, its golden glow intensified. A golden rope began to appear and interconnect the three orbs. Then, Eldan closed his fingers, forming a fist, which made the golden ropes to spread out in the night sky. Numerous protrusions began jutting out from the already spread out initial rope. Finally, it was discernible. A small net now lay in a corner of the sky illuminating the surroundings.

What is he trying to do?

Finally, when Eldan unfurled his fingers, the net grew. It expanded and expanded seemingly covering the entirety of the sky. Wait no, the net was slowly bending now. The net bent at the perimeter of the Latix Hilltop.

…We were being confined.

----------------------------------------

“Just a little more! We’re close!” Sevlina alarmed the party in a loud voice. They were currently tailing Asher using his scent. Sevlina’s attribute, Whiff of a Thousand Years, came quite handy in this situation.

They currently ran through the forest with a single focus while being apprehensive of further monsters. While they approached Asher’s location, they began discussing.

“What is wrong with that dude? It seems like he’s got a few screws loose.”

Sevlina reproached. “Well, you can’t blame him. His precious friend, one of two other only humans from his world, was kidnapped. Anyone would be desperate to save them as soon as possible.”

“...Yeah. Guess I have to agree with that.”

They made conjectures of who or what could’ve potentially kidnapped him. But, every single theory they came up with, contradicted each other. Eventually, they found it hopeless and focused only on moving their legs.

“He-hey, guys… Am I seeing things or… is there a net over the sky..?”

All of a sudden, the gloomy night sky spanned with a vast, glowing, golden net imbued with magic, forming a barrier, preventing entry or exit from the Latix Hilltop.

No one had to say anything because they knew. A barrier of this scale could only be pulled off by the most reputed and talented mages in the country. Specifically, the Demon High-Nobles. But, who could it be? There were endless possibilities. From their knowledge, they knew the Latix family incurred many enemies, especially from the other Demon High-Noble families.

In a hierarchical world, being extremely powerful was no better than being extremely weak.

Sevlina spotted something immediately after scanning the sky. “Everyone, look! There are three orbs there, and the nets seem to spiral out of it. There is also a person floating beside it…?”

With a nervous breath, she muttered, “…I can feel Asher’s presence just a little further away.”

----------------------------------------

“Hmm..” Eldan was smiling playfully. He seemed to be toying with me, thinking of ways to break me.

I wanted to move my lips to say something. I wanted to move my legs to get the hell out of here, but where do I run to? This hilltop was confined now.

As I stood hopelessly thinking, Eldan spoke first while still staying afloat in the sky.

“You must be Asher, right? One of three humans who were transmigrated from another world.”

“...Yes.” As soon as he confirmed my identity, the corners of his mouth elongated in unnatural ways.

“Huhu, so the most useless one is who I find first, huh.” He scanned me further. “Oh? That kid is also here."

Swinging his right arm, he spoke, “What a waste. Possessing an extremely rare and overpowered attribute, yet being knocked unconscious by a mere Fifth-Echelon monster.”

At this moment, I wanted to defend Andreas, but what good would that do?

“Anyways, I'm bored.” He held his temples before continuing. “I've been living away from society for a couple of years recently, you see. Because the current society disgusts me. Protecting the weak, sharing your resources, growing as a community, and so on. It's pretty unfair, don't you agree?”

Unfair? What part of it was unfair?

“How unfair, you may think.” It seems like he read mind here.

“Just think about it for a second. You're born stronger and intellectually gifted than most, which makes people naturally follow you, making you a leader. But, you don't want any of this. You never asked for any of this. It's the people who wish to follow you.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Okay, I'm following along well up until now.

“Now, what if the unwanted, useless leeches want to be your equals and demand a share in whatever you gain? What would you do?”

“If everyone contributed, then the rewards will be shared. Otherwise, I'd deny.”

“Right. You'd deny. That's exactly what I did when these leeches demanded shares of my accomplishments when they didn't contribute shit. And guess what they said? They labelled me as selfish and someone who's a non-conformist.”

Eldan’s eyes turned red. “Hah.. Hahaha! It's laughable! Getting rewarded for your personal efforts and refusing to share the rewards to random people is being a nonconformist now?”

His expression became dead-serious in an instant. “Then I shall gladly be a nonconformist.”

The situation is getting worse by the second. Eldan is becoming more and more aggressive and I don't know how to stop him, or rather there is no way to stop him, since he is rambling to himself at this point, remembering every bad event of his life.

“...And so, today, I have turned against society.”

I can clearly see that.

“Before I acquire the Progenitor’s Throne, I shall play a small game to pass time, since this will be the final time, this continent shall have free will, keke.”

A game, he says. What is the game like if he has to place a barrier of this scale?

“This game shall involve only you two.” He pointed at me and the unconscious Andreas. “Don't worry. You'll have plenty of time to prepare. This game is a long one after all.”

During this moment, I heard Sevlina calling out to me. It seems like the party has finally made it here, not like it makes a difference, of course.

“Hmm… Thinking about it, let's increase the player limit. It wouldn't be fun to just watch two mosquitoes die, right? Let's have swarms of them.”

What is he even going on and on about?

“Get to the point,” I said, curtly.

“Hmm? Hmmm…” The artificial smile plastered on his face, now stretched till the curves of his mouth reached his ears.

“I'll give you an opportunity to think. If you guess the contents of the game right, I'll provide you with the general roadmap to make it easier for you. But on the contrary, if your guess is incorrect, then just pray for your survival because the…”

“Okay, I get it. Enough with your wordy explanations. I just have to guess the game's contents, right?”

“Kekeke. Alright, go ahead and take a guess.”

I may have spat out words with confidence but… I have no clue what the game was about. In addition, he said this would improve our chances of survival if we answer correctly. What does that even mean?

By this moment, the party members had neared me, with Sevlina standing right beside me, looking at me like I was some curious little thing.

“I have an idea of what the game might be like,” she whispered.

“What is it..?”

“I also want to mention one more thing!” Eldan interjected. What’s with this guy?

He continued without waiting for a reply nonetheless. “You get three chances. If you answer it and the gist of it is true, that’d count as well. Utilize this wisely, huhu.”

I nodded and turned to Sevlina. She whispered her theory for the general progression of the game.

“Huh? Are you sure..?” I asked hesitantly.

“Yes, try it. This might be it.”

…

“Okay, we are ready to use our first chance.” Eldan raised his arm. “Well, go ahead.”

“The game is like a treasure hunt, where there is a treasure and we have to find clues along the way to reach it.”

Eldan’s eyebrows quivered greatly. “Hmm! I see! You’re on the right track.”

Why is he acting like a school teacher?

“Yes! We got it!” Sevlina looked happy at least.

By this time, I had formulated quite a few ideas and I couldn’t be sure if they were correct, so I turned to the others to ask for opinions.

“No, this is too far-fetched.”

“Maybe like this..?”

They gave their criticisms and inputs. We were going pretty strong.

I called out to Eldan once again. “Okay, now for the second chance.” We had gathered quite a lot of ideas. Most were derived from already existing traditional games, based on the assumption that only someone with plenty of free time and overflowing creativity could sit and invent entirely new ones.

“There is a final boss protecting the treasure.” I know for a fact this would work. No, it should be true.

“Once again, correct!”

Okay, we got it right. If we get the final one correct…

“Now, I shall ask you a question for your final chance.”

Ask us a question? We don’t get to say our ideas now?

“Since you got the basic outline right, let’s get to the details. What is the treasure in this game?”

“Huh?”

“I’ll rephrase. My bad. I got the question wrong.” He cleared his throat. “Who or what is the treasure in this game?”

…It seems like the ‘treasure’ is a person. But who could it be? “How is a random person who is unrelated to us, a treasure to us?” I asked the real question.

Shit, Eldan’s passive-aggressive smile was back again. “Unrelated, huh. I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

Someone related to me… Who could it be? Wait, if the person is someone who we know, then… isn’t that person basically held hostage? If they were, this situation was alarming.

“Urgh. You are taking too much time. I’m getting bored again.” He continued speaking after something seemed to click in his mind. “Oh! How about I countdown from ten?”

Everyone panicked. We had to guess the person within ten seconds? My mind went blank.

“Five… Four…”

We can’t think of anyone. Who is missing here?

“Three… Two…”

It’s over.

“One. Time’s up!! Now, since you could only answer the basic overview of the game, you get one location’s details for free!!” He continued. “But before that, let’s talk about who the treasure is, shall we?”

“Who…”

“It’s your beloved companion. The one of two others who came to this world along with you: Clara!!”

Clara? I thought she was in the mansion. But I hadn’t seen her even once after I woke up from my coma, did I?

“...You kidnapped Clara?” I unsheathed my sword.

Sevlina quickly stopped me. “We can’t do anything right now, except to follow his rules. We have to complete his ‘game’ to safely rescue Clara.”

“Now, let’s begin the treasure hunt!”