Oh... That sucks. Having now realized that he had made his move late, Roberto turned towards the source of the noise putting his hands in his pockets out of habit. From the outside, it really looked like he couldn't care less, despite having missed a beat.

However, the boy couldn't do much about it. Ever since he was little, he had never had a very expressive face, which had served him well during questions at school but had also isolated him from others. And when he did make an effort to form an expression, it often ended up looking fake or exaggerated, although actually observing the reaction of others many times amused him enough.

Leaving aside this detail, his brain was already busy looking in the rubble near him for something that could be used as a weapon, but he wasn't having much luck, noticing only a few more or less large pieces of concrete and glass. However, the way Camilla moved, even if he had just seen her for a moment, quickly became more interesting to him than the search for a weapon. Sexism aside, even though she was a girl, her body language certainly didn't show a frightened state of mind, unlike her childhood friend Alex who almost jumped on the spot when he realized the suspicious noise.

She, on the other hand, though not assuming any particular pose, advanced a step to get in front of Alex and the other girl, finding herself next to him. It was there that the boy was able to get a better look at her physique, particularly her shoulders, and, it had to be said, that big woman was definitely well placed. Obviously, in a good way.

Contact sports or martial arts? Or maybe boxing? Now I have even less desire to deal with her... He groaned quietly after the quick glance, picking up in a vertical downward motion a half-rusted piece of iron that must have been a reinforcement before.

Now that he had it firmly in his right hand, he even found himself pleased with his luck. While it wasn't a real weapon, its length could be compared to a knife, and the way it had broken off at the top had created a point sharp enough to do harm.

"You're more dangerous than you look," Camilla commented after watching him pick up a weapon and remain fixed in place, barely hiding some sense of relief in her voice. Roberto, regardless, didn't even change his expression and said all too calmly, "I would have preferred to mind my own fucking business if I have to be honest," tightening his eyelids once the noise got closer and exclaiming under his breath, "He's coming."

Alex and the girl who had yet to introduce herself had the same reaction: they froze in place from fright and were perfectly useless. A small disappointment on Roberto's part, not imagining that the only other guy in the group would be so inefficient. You could at least take the other one and run. Ah... Whatever game this is, make it not a group game. Please, whoever is listening, let it not be group....

Prayers aside, a shadow began to gradually appear from behind the mostly shattered display cases. The light coming in from the collapsed parts of the roof wasn't enough to illuminate most of the places outside the central gallery as God commanded, so all they could notice was a large something making its way step by step through the glass resting on the ground. In fact, from their position, they basically had the impression that a closet was coming out of the ruined store; a very unsettling image.

Roberto had no direct experience in knife fighting, having only been in a few street brawls, so he wasn't even thinking about confronting the thing that would be in front of him in a few seconds. His current plan, a bit of a coward but whatever, was to throw the piece of iron he held tightly in his hand and then run away or, if it was worth it, try his hand at a frontal charge with his bare hands where he was more comfortable.

Fortunately, however, all the tension that had formed far the four of the blessed Mary, dissipated almost immediately when they witnessed the way the stranger behaved towards them as soon as their gazes crossed.

"Somebody! I found someone! Guys! Guys! It's Mario Rossi! I'm Mario Rossi! Let me stay with you! Let me stay with you!"

Eh... Yeah. Closet or no closet, once you see a grown man start running towards you with tears in his eyes while screaming at the top of his lungs in such a childish way that it makes you smile... Well, you know, it was incredibly difficult to keep your guard up.

"Oh! I finally found someone! I finally found someone! When I opened my eyes I found myself in a dark warehouse all by myself! I was scared to death!" However, the behemoth's charge had something smooth to it, a decently precise movement in which his entire body, just a second before impact, suddenly lowered into a textbook tackle that pinned Roberto in his big arms. An evolution of events so rapid that he didn't even realize it.

This Mario, it seemed, was not only massive in appearance, but he must have practiced some kind of wrestling or a sport like rugby, or at least that was Roberto's impression, still unable to make the slightest movement. And just to say, after the tackle Mario had not let him go, on the contrary, without even making an effort, he had lifted him off the ground creating a gap of at least ten centimeters between the soles of his shoes and the sweet and firm ground. Even the piece of iron he had picked up proved useless, as it fell from his hands when he was lifted.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Even Camilla found herself forced to look up at him, estimating that this beast must have been a little over two meters tall. However, the fact that he was rubbing his cheeks against Roberto's made her lose any sense of danger towards him and, indeed, she almost found him cute. Kind of like the way she found it cute how her little brother greeted the Corsican dog they kept at home.

[The team determined by the System of Ancients is now complete. Analysis of Unique Characteristics... Analysis complete. Name chosen by the System: The Mona-Prescelti. Please thank the Ancient in charge of the Trojans' allies for the imagination].

Interrupting that moment of peace was the System's voice that resonated directly in the heads of those present, causing them a brief but sharp pain due to their inexperience, as normal human beings, with mental communications. It wasn't all a waste though: finding themselves forced to bring a hand to their temples in an attempt to fight that stinging pain, Mario let go and Roberto could once again enjoy the beautiful feeling of concrete under his feet.

"Between Chessboard and the Chosen here someone's having fun making fucking quotes." He blurted out the then after getting back up, struggling to keep his eyes open. Unlike the voice he had heard before being transported there, this one possessed a much more metallic tone and was accompanied by a high-pitched whistle in the background.

Whoever these 'Ancients' were, they sure had cut corners on their choice of recording room. There was no other explanation.

[The Ancient System welcomes you, Players of the Mona-prescelti team. Initializing Installation Wizard... Procedure complete. Execute post-installation commands... Execution complete. Start final check procedure... update.sh not found. sudo apt-get update... sudo apt-get upgrade... Manual procedure completed. Booting in progress...]

"Ah, good. Now that I know they used Linux instead of Windows for the servers I'm more comfortable. But what have I done wrong in life?" Muttered Roberto as soon as he got used to the way the voice communications came directly into his mind, greatly lessening the pain and allowing him to feel a strong wave of depression that the administrators not even a fucking .sh file had been able to handle properly.

Two instructions! Two fucking instructions!

The others however were too busy being first surprised, then frightened by the pain and finally confused by that string of information ringing in their heads. Information that could have been in Aramaic for what they had understood. Only Roberto remained calm enough to even complain about the bad work of whoever had been the imbecile to implement the System.

[Mona-Prescelti, please bring the Terminals together.]

Once again, the voice communicated with them directly in their minds, but this time their brains had become accustomed enough that they felt no pain. However, the request left them further bewildered. Without understanding a damn thing, the five of them ended up looking at each other hoping that one of them would know what to do. Without having any useful clue, they could have stayed still and watched each other for a whole day, but it wouldn't have helped much.

The System administrators had thought of that detail, however, making it doubtful that the development and administration teams were well separated. In any case, the back of the boys' left hand began to light up, drawing in a very short time symbols that could very well have caused a criminal complaint. Which made Roberto say with further annoyance, "The reboot was last year."

Those strange symbols then lost their light little by little, imprinting themselves on their skin like unsolicited tribal tattoos. Then, after grazing them with the fingers of the other hand, a smartphone-like object appeared on their palm. I actually didn't even try to check the phone. I am very interested in it though. Roberto thought while looking at the new device, then focused on the screen.

[Name: Roberto Maggi. Lv 0. Mana: 8. Energy: 10. Personal Skills: Mental Training (+0). Active Skills: None. Passive Skills: None. Combat Potential: 12. Combat Potential (Simulated): 29].

"Ah, nice touch.Couldn't they afford a tutorial? What's this crap supposed to be?" Imprecated the boy after reading what was written in the bluish hologram that the Terminal's screen projected into the air. This time, the others heard it loud and clear as well, and having read similar things themselves, they found themselves agreeing with the statement, "What is this stuff supposed to be?"

The System didn't explain much else about it, instead changing the subject sharply.

[The perimeter around your location is secure, the System's administration of the Ancients ensures this with a 0% chance of error. The Chessboard is still in the initialization phase; no danger will be generated until sunrise the day after tomorrow. Please be careful. As a welcome prize, the System of Ancients is offering you a Silver Grade Box. Good luck from the entire administration].

Following the last communication from the voice of the System, a rough-looking chest, but covered with a glittering silver surface, formed out of nowhere following a strong flash of light. The five of them didn't know what to think, totally exhausted by the latest news. Even the inviting magic box didn't bring them to their senses, and this was the case for several minutes.