Game On

The Island (ii)

Between one blink and the next, six new players silently appeared in the airline. There were two high-school girls still dressed in their school uniforms, a beautiful and stylish young woman wearing red heels, a delinquent looking boy, a middle-aged uncle and a clean and smart looking young man.

The middle-aged uncle who had greying hair and a large gut dabbed nervously at his temple with eyes reddened as if he had been crying. He had no clue what was going on or how he'd found himself in this inexplicable situation. All that he'd been told was that he needed to survive and if possible to complete the side-task before being transported into a white room with five other individuals; the voice telling them to familiarise themselves with the other members.

Although he had 30 minutes to somewhat calm down he was still anxious and confused and it was only with the little remaining control he had was he able to supress his feelings. But being on the plane his agitation rose again and he started sweating vigorously.

Quickly he turned towards the clean looking young man sitting beside him who was quietly looking around at his surroundings. This young man had kept a cool head in the white space and quickly managed to control the situation, basically becoming the unsaid leader of their group. The middle-aged uncle took comfort in his calm temperament and his familiar face on this plane with Aliens.

"Danny, w-what do you think?" he nervously asked.

The young man, Danny, turned towards the middle-aged man.

"Uncle Zhou" he spoke, voice quiet yet firm. "Calm down. We have about 50 minutes before the plane crashes. In the meantime we should re-group with the other players". After saying that, he stood up directly and stared around before leaving his seat.

Uncle Zhou immediately scrambled after him, tripping over his feet slightly as he tried to keep close. Danny ignored him and soon located all the other members sitting separated. He was about to signal for them to follow him to the front where the Galley was located but was stopped by the sudden appearance of a flight attendant who blocked their path.

"Sir, is something wrong?"

While asking, the flight attendant looked past Danny and mainly focused on Uncle Zhou who was stumbling about as if he were drugged.

"Does your companion need any assistance? Can I get him anything?"

Before her last word even fell however, Uncle Zhou's complexion turned white as a ghost as if he was meeting a great demonic cultivator that would devour him at any moment. He already looked ill previously but now he appeared as if he would collapse straightaway, especially after staring into the woman's dark and earnest eyes. 'The Alien was talking to him' he kept repeating.

Danny distractedly threw him a glance seeming to be considering something. These NPC's seemed to be different from usual games NPC's since they reacted like normal humans and didn't ignore players until approached. Unfortunately, this just made the game's difficulty increase..

"Sir, would you like to sit down?" the flight attendant asked with some concern having noticed Uncle Zhou's rapidly waning face.

"Y-you!" Uncle Zhou unexpectedly burst out, his anxious feelings that had been simmering overpouring and even shocking Danny who had been thinking. He pointed a trembling and accusing finger forward with a ghastly appearance. "L-leave me alone! D-Don't tell me what to do!"

The flight attendant looked stunned at the loud voice, people sitting also glancing in their direction in interest. Even Danny didn't know why this man burst out so energetically. He didn't even know that this man considered all the people here, except for the six of them, non-human. However, Danny's response was quick and he stepped forward to smooth out the situation before it could devolve some more, throwing a reprimanding glance at Uncle Zhou. The last thing they needed was to create a spectacle. He apologised and explained that his uncle had motion sickness and he was hot-tempered and easily embarrassed.