CHAPTER 45

"Would you look at that! I don't even know which live video to show. Half of the players are fighting monsters!"

"Show us OLN103!

"I want to see OEL51!"

"Let me watch OIZ54!"

"No! OEM129 is having a good fight! Show her!"

If the audience were organized and bored in the last game, now they are in chaos. All of them are shouting and pushing Tedie to show the player they want on the large screen, too excited about the entertaining fights to even think of where they are.

"Now, now, let us all calm down everyone. I know this might happen, so I will take this chance to introduce the newly upgraded function of our Familia's Oddilens. Due to the large number of requests, we have found a solution for everyone to watch whoever they want simultaneously in front of your eyes. Let me guide you on how. First, go to our Familia website and click the live. There, you can all see each player's live videos. Just click them and enjoy the game."

Tedie looked at the audience, feeling pleased. They were busy doing what he had said when a few oddities looked at him with frowns, a clear look of annoyance. He thought they would be satisfied with it only to hear consecutive complaints.

"But we want to see them on the large screen!"

"It's more fun to watch them in the large hologram!"

"Show me OWS59!"

"Yeah! We could've just watched the recordings later if we wanted to do it this way!"

Tedie's mouth twitched, and he looked at everyone with well-concealed irritation. He calmed down and reminded himself that he needed to act nice to receive good reviews at the end.

"I do understand your concerns. But do remember that we can't play them all simultaneously. So all I can do is show the most entertaining ones. But if you really want me to show a player, shout them their name. The loudest cheer would gain the chance for the large hologram," he offered instead and watched the fight on the large screen.

"Oh! The monster slammed the child! That was a clean hit!"

As a seasoned host, he had experienced such situations multiple times. He is used to it, but sometimes he can't help getting irritated, especially with how the audience would order him around. The good thing was that he would always have a way to distract them with the players' fights.

'Looks like this child will run away,' he noticed when the player on the large screen started running on all fours, looking more desperate every second passed. He was trying to get up to run but failed because of his broken leg, weighing him down instead of helping him save his life.

'Ah, I should find another exciting fight,' Tedie thought, predicting the child would not last.

Knowing what would happen next, Tedie looked at the rest of the children's videos below the large hologram, finding the best one that would entertain the audience and shut them up.

***

After Hirayon checked the map, he noticed how vast the labyrinth was. The map only shows about 10 percent of the place, and Hirayon needs at least 60 percent to determine where the exit might be. He also thought that the area would be filled with cave walls, but he noticed an image of a body of water on the map that he had.

Another problem that arose was that Hirayon didn't know his current location. It wasn't showing on the map, so it could be that he was currently in those missing parts or that the map wouldn't show their exact location, making them absolutely useless.

He wished it was the former, but the better he figured out the game, the more he realized how complex it is and, at the same time, absurd.

He knew it wouldn't be easy, but the addition of monsters they had to fight tripled the game's difficulty. And if he, capable of fighting such monsters, considers the game an ordeal, what more of the other children?

While having such thoughts, a quick-paced bell sound rang, and a hologram emerged in front of Hirayon. Every child experienced the same thing, denoting the 30-minute mark. On the hologram's upper left corner was a 30-second timer indicating they could only check the top 20 for half a minute.

Arranged from the closest to the farthest, the list showed the exact distance in meters of the top 20.

1 OST87 - 52 meters

2 OFF134 - 58 meters

3 OMA38 - 65 meters

4 OLU94 - 65 meters

5 OEM129 - 72 meters

6 OLN103 - 73 meters

7 OID76 - 80 meters

8 OPE94 - 84 meters

9 OAR48 - 89 meters

...

17 OWS59 - 138 meters

'I'm included in it.'

Estimating the total number of players, Hirayon thinks that at least 30 children are competing in the game. More than half are on the list, so there's a huge chance he will meet them later.

Hirayon memorized all the names and how far they were on the exit. After that, he started to walk again and went to a path where he heard the softened sound of an explosion.

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He met a few monsters on the way, and Hirayon used his strategy of throwing two consecutive Water Orbs, which worked too well on the Type 1 Monster. It only did not work when he met a relatively small agile monster about his size. It was annoyingly good at dodging and was even making a throaty chuckling noise that sounded like mocking to the child.

Irritated, Hirayon surrounded the creature with Water Walls in all directions and made a sturdy prison fitting the monster's size. The creature thrashed around, hitting the water, but it did not work as Hirayon's walls were sturdier than ever. He filled the makeshift prison with water, drowning the creature in seconds.

That was the most challenging fight Hirayon had yet so far. He did not know if not meeting a Type 2 was a blessing, but on the way, he had already made a few plans to counter such a monster, depending on their ability.

Thanks to the few ones he had defeated, Hirayon's map progressed and showed him about 35 percent of the labyrinth. He still couldn't see where he was, so he continued walking and hoped he was getting nearer the exit.

A few minutes later, Hirayon stopped walking and took a deep breath. He smelt the earthy scent of the cave, and along with it was a subtle smell of soothing freshwater that Hirayon didn't miss.

In a hurry, Hirayon walked fast and chose the paths that smelled of water.

Normally, oddities cannot smell water as they are odorless, but Water Oddities somehow can. It doesn't have a particular smell but is similar to fresh, soothing air that calms one's mind.

After a few more turns, Hirayon finally heard the subtle sound of flowing water. Treading toward it, he took a final left turn until he saw a slightly bigger area that led to three pathways. At the very left was a pond with clear freshwater, looking serene and majestic in the middle of the plain rocky walls of the cave.

He was about to run toward it when he noticed a presence on one of the paths across the pond. Looking closely, Hirayon saw a silhouette of a child. Slowly, the shape became more apparent, and short white hair, like an older person's, reminded Hirayon of a particular child.

With pitch-black dead eyes and an emotionless face, Hirang looked at Hirayon and let out a small smile.

"Finally, I found you."

Though it still looked robotic and expressionless, Hirayon easily noticed the slight change.

'He seemed happy to see me,' Hirayon thought and wondered why. He remembers nothing that would make the other child happy to see him.

What he did not know was that Hirang had been looking for him in the past games because he wanted to talk but had no luck. Hirayon also never went to the playground or any other facilities the children could use, so Hirang had no choice but to find him in the games.

"You're looking for me?" he asked when Hirang reached his location. He never thought the child would look for him as he had no reason to. They only talked during the tests, and they never agreed on something like meeting up.

"Yes. In the previous games as well," Hirang admitted.

"Why?"

"Let's team up," Hirang said instead with his hands in his pockets.

"Why?"

"To make our lives easier?" Hirang answered in a question.

Hirayon raised a brow, "I don't see how it could."

Hirang let out a 'Ha' with his expressionless face, but Hirayon understood the odd reaction.

'Was that supposed to be a laugh?' he questioned, looking at the white-haired kid with a frown.

He had not seen it before, but now Hirayon couldn't help but notice Hirang's weird and unrealistic behavior. He even questioned whether Hirang was a robot trying to act like a normal human.

"You might've realized it from the last game by now, but they might test our noncombat skills whenever they want. So it would be better to try different things from now on, don't you think?" Hirang pointed out.

"They didn't say anything in the rules."

Hirang shrugged his shoulders. "They didn't, too, during the last game."

Understanding what the child was saying, Hirayon thought there would be no harm if he partnered with other children. 'But I'm not sure if I want to partner with him.'

Hirayon stared at Hirang's black eyes. Even though it appeared dead and cold, it seemed to hold hundreds of mysteries that brought out troubles when uncovered. Looking enigmatic and cool made Hirayon doubt him more.

Hirayon wasn't the picky type. It doesn't matter who partners with him as long as he can ensure he won't lose award points. Yet, there's something in Hirang that makes Hirayon feel creepy. It could be his pitch-black eyes, expressionless face, or overall strangeness, but his instinct was telling him it was something else that also unnerved him during the tests. It wasn't a dangerous feeling but more like an unnatural and dark potential.

"You looked like you don't want to," Hirang pointed out when Hirayon got silent.

"You noticed?" Hirayon asked, not knowing that his question might've offended the boy.

If it were any other child, they would surely feel sad or offended. But Hirang's non-existent expression stayed the same, unmoved and still, almost calm but intense.

"Yeah. But if you're hesitant cause I might drag you down, don't worry. I'm strong," he bragged.

"Can you fight?"

"I'm born to fight," Hirang answered, making Hirayon wince and doublethink. Still, Hirang's high rank from the previous games proved he is capable.

"Then that's good enough."

Although it wasn't his main concern, Hirayon was satisfied that Hirang could protect himself in case a fight carried out.

"Great. Then what's next?" Hirang asked, thinking that they might need to choose one of the paths where they did not come from.

But Hirayon had a different plan. Facing the pond, Hirayon looked at the bubbles that slowly emerged. "We fight."

"Who?"

Right after Hirang's question, water splashed everywhere, and a monster jumped out of the pond. With the torches lighting the space, its grey scales shone like a fish hit with sunlight.

"That."

Hirayon stared dazedly at the towering creature with a fishtail standing on the ground not far from the two children. His lower half was a tail, but his upper body resembled a human with two limbs. The creature's body was covered in dark, gloomy scales and spiky fins that resembled soft but deadly pins.

On its head, it had slimy skin and two shark-like eyes. Under it was a mouth with sharp, uneven teeth that made an ear-piercing sound when it gnashed.

"How do you know there's a monster in the water?" Hirang asked after realizing what just appeared. His focus was on Hirayon instead of the monster staring at them with black, gooey saliva dripping from its mouth.

"I didn't. But I felt its presence just a second ago," Hirayon answered while observing the monster. It gave out a stronger presence than all the monsters he had fought, immediately making Hirayon realize it was a Type 2.

'What's his element? Is it water?"

"You could do that?" Hirang asked with surprise in his voice.

Vexed, Hirayon looked at the child with a piercing glare and asked back. "You can't?"

Feeling confused, Hirang pointed to himself. "I Should?"

Hirayon looked at the boy with a frown. "You should be able to. Aren't you a titled oddity?"

Hirang's expression did not change, but Hirayon saw the minuscule astonishment that flashed in his eyes.

Dazed, Hirayon asked again. "Are you not a Veteran?"

Hirang woke up from surprise and smiled with his straight face, "I am..."

'Is that supposed to be a secret?'

R E H I L I Y A