New York.

The metropolitan city hadn’t slept and still showed its splendor even though the dark veil of the sky had made its appearance.

In a suite of a 5-star hotel, a middle aged man was seen sitting on a bed in half-naked state. Even though he was already in his late forties, the man has a muscular figure that would even put men several years younger than him to shame. Apart from that, there were several scars visible all over his body.

It seemed that he had been drinking as a few bottles of alcohol could be seen on the table next to him. Even though there was a beautiful woman lying naked next to him, he had his full attention on the TV.

The news was continuously reporting about how much the government has prepared for the coming Apocalypse Game. It also showed the increasing trend of survivors each years and how the more veterans survived the more humanity got closer to winning the game.

"What a bunch of lies!!"

The half naked man was in rage and threw the glass in his hand to a wall.

PRANG!

The sharp sound quickly scared the naked girl. Turning his head, the man said "I am sorry, just grab the money and leave me alone.”

Quickly nodding her head, the beautiful woman quickly got off the bed and put on her clothes before taking the money and leaving the room. Throughout the entire process, not once did she throw the man a glance.

After the woman left, the man himself turned his gaze toward a mirror and said to himself, "..how pathetic.”

His name is Weeber, Colonel Weeber of the United States Army. Moreover, he wasn't just any colonel. He was the man in charge of the East Coast Apocalypse Game Center.

In fact, he has been one since the first year of the Apocalypse Game. As for his current condition, it was because he had let his son play the third year Apocalypse Game, where the latter lost his life.

As the person in charge, he had a way to let his son escape from the military draft, but he didn't, which led to the death of his son. This tragedy then led to his depression, followed by a divorce with his wife. Since then, Weeber had been staying from hotel to hotel, ordering a companion for the night to try to ward off the depression. Alas, to no avail.

Being the man in charge and seeing hundreds of thousands die really took a toll on him

The colonel opened his drawer and his mind fell into trance as he saw the nine-millimeter lying there. He was thinking about shooting himself, but eventually decided to grab a new glass instead to wash his sorrow.

That was when he heard a knock on the door.

"Did you leave something?" The colonel said, thinking that the woman had forgotten something. Receiving no answer, the man sighed and walked to the door.

But when he opened the door, the person standing was not the woman earlier, but a guy wearing black clothes, a simple cloth mask, and holding a gun to his head. The guy spoke slowly to him, word by word. "No sound, raise your hands and slowly walk back.”

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The colonel's brain instantly started to work, analyzing the situation he was currently in. In reality, he had been in many similar situations before, therefore he was able to maintain his composure and immediately he noticed a few things.

First was the fact that he had 2 of his subordinates outside, they stood guard not far from his room. But from the looks of it, it seemed that this unknown man had disabled them and took their gun.

The second was the fact that this man should obviously know him, or rather who he was. Yet, despite knowing he was a colonel of the army, this masked guy's eyes and voice were just too relaxed.

While Weeber’s mind continued analyzing, the two of them had entered the room. The man sat on the chair, gesturing the colonel to sit on the bed, then started talking,

“You don’t have to worry much, Colonel. I’m here just to have a talk. Actually, I came here to help you. I want to be your friend.”

Several hypotheses appeared in his mind hearing the man’s words, but outwardly Weeber calmly opened his mouth and said, “If you really want to be my friend, what's with the mask and gun?”

A chuckle escaped the man’s mouth. "We can't be too careful these days, can we? Don’t worry, I will show you my face one day, but not today. However, that can’t show my sincerity like this. Therefore, as a show of goodwill…"

The masked guy slowly put the gun on the table and started sitting in a casual manner. Even though his entire demeanor looked relaxed, Weeber decided not to act. Through experience, the colonel could tell that the man was dangerous. His instinct told him that he at least needed to know more about this intruder before trying to do anything.

Staring straight at the man’s eyes, he then asked, "What do you want?"

The masked man reached into his pocket and pulled out a USB and set it on the table, and with a smile on his face, he replied in a nonchalant manner.

"In this USB is a brief of important information about the upcoming Apocalypse Game. I trust you to know and do the right thing with such valuable info.”

The colonel snorted. “Huh! Is this some kind of joke? No one knows the content of the next game. Besides, you got the wrong man. I am no longer in charge of the game for months now. You should bother Colonel Hammond instead.”

In a confident tone, the masked man said, “No, Colonel. I know that you're the one who will be in charge of this year's game.”

Upon hearing that, Weeber’s mind quickly went to work, trying to understand the other party’s motive. 'Who is this guy and what is that he really wants? Is he one of the anti-alien resistance, if he is then I should try to capture him.``

The next instant, the colonel picked up a bottle near him and threw it at the masked man. He then quickly aimed for the gun on the table, but he was shocked to see how the masked men easily crushed the bottle with a punch. Then, he took a second gun from his back and put it on the colonel's head.

‘He's fast.’

Weeber suddenly felt regret and stupidity for making such an impulsive decision. He forgot to consider the other gun from his second subordinate. He blamed it on the alcohol for his bad reasoning.

While holding the gun, the masked man said, "Wrong move, Colonel. If you are not the man in charge, I would have pulled the trigger.”

He took the gun from the table and turned towards the door before speaking one last time.

"The information in that USB will be useful, Colonel. I hope you make the right judgment.”

The masked man then quickly walked out of the room after making sure he didn't leave a single trace of his arrival today.

Hearing the footsteps were no more, Weeber immediately reached for his phone on the bed. But just as the colonel was about to report the situation, a call came to him. It was from the Secretary of Defense.

"Colonel Weeber, Hammond just commited suicide a few hours ago, I am here to tell you that you are now in charge of the operation again. The country needs you.”

Weeber’s eyes widened in disbelief, he wondered how could the masked man have known this.