Chapter 14 Outside
Yuelian
Miyong has been asleep for the last 2 days. We were teleported back when the last of the player armies were killed. We got lucky. People think I am some all-powerful magician. I can understand their logic, after all, I killed more than a hundred people with the waves of my hand. They don't understand that if mana is used in clever ways, even someone like me can wield devastating powers.
As soon as I pulled Miyong’s body out of the player army, I connected with the mana particles in the air and pressed them all with enhanced gravity. That place originally did not have mana, not even particles in the air, but after such a huge fight broke out, so many skills were used. There were plenty of mana for me to use. More than one hundred people were eliminated just like that. I couldn't do such a feat with only my mana. The monstrous talent is not me. It's Miyong.
Another problem has also occurred. My system has not responded since we came back.
I sat next to her bed as she slept the day away. Blushing her hair away from her face, I still remember the power she showed a few days ago. Miyong was like a lion jumping into a herd of sheep. My soul almost left my body as she charged into the army, but her body and mana intensity were so strong that weapons would break upon her skin. I supported her from the back by disrupting the enemy casters. In less than 5 minutes, Miyong had already killed more people than I could count. When she regained her senses, the army of 200 was left with a little over half.
“Keep brushing my hair, it feels good.” The sleeping beauty had awakened.
“How do you feel? Dizziness? Blurred visions?” I healed her quite quickly, but she still slept for two days.
“The lady is fine” A sudden voice came from behind me. I immediately coated us in a mana barrier, three layers thick, before turning around. A silver ball floats in the air, no bigger than a basketball. The surface of the ball is moving like waves at sea. What the hell is that? How did it get in here? I felt nothing. My eyes could see mana concentration so bright that I had to turn off Lord of Mana.
“Ug.” Miyong’s mana is running wild. Is it reacting to this thing?
“Whoa! Calm down, Berserker.” The silver ball transformed into various shapes. At first, alien lifeforms that we had never seen before, but gradually, it turned into something more familiar. Geometric shapes, tools, weapons, animals, then humanoid form. The voice coming out of it is difficult to compare to anything else I have ever heard. The sounds of air pumping through the building duct might be the closest thing. The humanoid silver liquid points to Miyong and her rampaging mana dissipates. This thing is really powerful. “I am €¥§∆¢√π, but you can call me GM.”
“GM? As in, game master?” Miyong is quick
“Right! I have been sent here to investigate the anomalies.” The GM moves in quite a weird way as if the humanoid form feels unnatural for it. It moves around the room, stopping in front of various objects, and inspecting it. “What a surprise to see two promising seeds from this world. There are many powers interested in taking both of you in. Even more surprising to see there is no interference from upstairs.”
I watched the GM every move. The way mana moves around its body, it's very different from how we use it. The GM is not using mana, it's like mana is a part of its body. This thing is not even speaking to us, it doesn't even have a mouth or vocal cord. The voice is not coming through the mana like Mali’s Echo. How is it communicating?
“You two are genuine seeds. Two seeds in the same place, furthermore, the two are allies. That's never happened before.” It stopped moving around and turned to us. I am not sure if that is what it is doing, after all, it doesn't have a face. I have a bad feeling about what it is saying.
“Excuse me, please wait a moment.” I had to interject before it did what I suspected it to do. I could gather from the conversation and the comments in the news section that this game is being watched by something extremely powerful. The fact that GM shows up now means that they are unhappy with our performance, and the way it is speaking, it wants to separate us. I have no choice but to appeal to them. “If you are unhappy with our performance so far, instead of separating us, you could just increase the challenge.”
The silver humanoid stopped moving. It went completely still for a while. I didn't know how long. Minutes, hours? Both of us only held hands and waited. We both realized its power, not to mention killing us, it might be able to destroy the world. Miyong looked scared. She hasn't looked like this since we were children. Always the bravest person I know, she held onto my hands as if it was the only thing keeping her from screaming in fear.
“My boss likes your suggestions. Humans are too weak and you two are becoming too strong. Other seeds could compete with you individually, but together, you two have no competition. The game just started. It's boring.” The GM finally spoke and then moved towards the window. It pulled back the curtain, exposing the view of the jungle city outside. “So, we will raise the stakes.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
The GM points at the sky above the city. I have seen that before. A giant hole in the sky, but I understand what I am seeing now. A wound in the world. Mana is pouring out, then other things. Dark clumps are pouring into the world with the mana. Even with enhanced mana visions, it was difficult to see what those dark clumps were from this far away. Then it came out, a gigantic creature, red scale reflecting the sunlight, a wing span so large it cast a shadow over the city, and entire buildings nearby were melted. I felt heat even from this far away. A dragon.
Miyong is hugging me from behind, she is shaking badly. Unlike myself, she relies a lot on her instinct. Her instinct must be freaking out. The mana of that dragon, I couldn't take my eyes off of it. Even this GM creature is nothing but an ant in front of that. It's the most terrifying and beautiful thing I have ever seen. After that giant dragon came out, hordes of smaller dragons flew out with her.
“Enjoy.” The GM had disappeared. I could feel the joy in those words.
—---------------------------
The system was reactivated after the GM left.
Mission
Freedom
The containment on the city has been released. Make contact with the outside world.
Reward: Invitation letter
Miyong fell asleep again, the stress from her heightened instinct must be bad. There is nothing we can do about the monsters for now, I should not stress about it. However, this base might not be able to protect us in the future. We need to consider moving to a more protected location. We were inside a contained zone this whole time, I never even suspected it. Is the outside world still at peace? Or was it changed even more than in here?
Chat function unlocked
Did I get anything from the Invasion? My stats didn't increase at all, Devourer must have judged those players to be too low quality. Let's look at the news and check out the chat function first.
The front page of the news gives me a headache.
News
Berserker and her companion crushes the tutorial!
A video of Miyong charging into the army of humans was shown here. Her pretty face was plastered all over the news articles. The comments are chaotic. Many comments wish to recruit her, some comments wish to fight her. I don't know if these posters are even humans, most likely not. Based on the conversation with the GM, we are at the top or close to the top as human players. Do these comments come from aliens?
I knew why there were no posts about me crushing that army. These commenters must be people or creatures that are familiar with mana use. They could tell that what I did was nothing special. Compare that to Miyong’s physique, it's obvious why they like her abilities and don't care about mine. I am only powerful as a human. Miyong might become a powerhouse even in front of these creatures in the future. Except for the GM themselves, these commenters have no way of knowing about my strongest card, Devourer
Chat
Chat Room
These functions seem useful, but I have no need for them for the moment.
“Prince. I am sorry to interrupt. There is a matter that must be urgently addressed.” Jason’s voice came from the door.
“Jason, thank you for always guarding us. How are you?” I walk out of the room so as not to disturb Miyong’s sleep. Jason has done a lot to protect us. While Miyong was fighting, Jason hid inside her shadows and supported her. He was the one who killed that hammer girl after Miyong was hit. I have come to trust him somewhat.
“Thank you for your concern prince. I am fine.” Jason smiled. He is so handsome that I feel insecure about my face. “We received contact from the outside world.”
I guess everyone had the same mission again.
—-------------------------
Mali, Jennifer, and the freshmen girls are waiting in front of the 8th-floor windows. The freshmen girls were teleported somewhere far away during the invasion. They said that they spend their time living with a tribe of blind creatures that eat light. I am surprised these girls are still alive. Are they just lucky?
“Yue, these girls were messing around with their mana and they were able to power their phones by injecting a very miniscule amount of mana into it.” Mali was holding a smartphone in her hands.
“President! We could even get the internet on this thing. The mana enhanced everything, even electronics, but mana is too strong, injecting even a small amount will blow up the fragile stuff from the old world. We even tried to enhance a pistol we found in the teacher's office but it's no good.” One of the freshman girls started reading from her notebook. These girls have been experimenting with mana with scientific methods. They could be useful in the future.
“Shut up Rachel! Not the time!” They are arguing with each other. “President, we tried to contact our families with the phone. There are a few things you need to know about the flood.”
Their families are alive? How is that possible? The entire city was flooded.
“Only a percentage of the population was trapped inside the city. The majority of the people were teleported out when the flood happened. We are not sure how participants are selected, but it seems there are no players in the outside world.” A girl named Sarah made her report.
“So the people left inside the city are people with the potential to awaken.” I knew immediately how players were selected.
“This is bad, Yue. We don't know how the outside world will react to players.” Jennifer said.
“You said you made contact. Who and what did they say?” I asked the girls.
“They said that they are national security officers and they had taken control of all social media accounts of family members of people missing inside the city,” Sarah said. Her eyes show hostility. This girl is smart. She might be a good asset.
“I see. They know something. Why would they do that for missing people? They are apprehensive of us. The question is why?” I started to pace around. “Good job everyone, don't contact them or give them information for now.”
“Also, please refrain from going outside for the moment.” Jason suddenly said. I am pretty sure that a warning is not needed. We are all mana users here, I am sure we all felt the arrival of that dragon. I am surprised the dragon did not create any problems. It just flew away and we have not heard an explosion or felt a massive mana burst.
Jason followed me as we left the girls to talk amongst themselves.
“Prince, we should try to contact the family,” Jason said.
“I know. They won't believe we died so easily. They must be searching endlessly if they are outside the city.” I don't have my smartphone anymore, but Miyong does. This is good news, our family might still be alive.