𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐊

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈 · 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋

Being a new survivor at Oletus Manor sure was... something.

Even though the survivors had a whole big celebration for your arrival the first night you came, with them cheering and whistling at your face the moment you entered, everything wasn’t as warm and welcoming for the rest of the week.

Some survivors explained to you the kind of games they played here, how that in every single match four survivors must team up to decode cipher machines and escape wherever the match takes place, how that they weren’t the only ones that inhabited the manor, that there was a whole section of the manor for another faction – Hunters.

The thought of them made you chudder. You didn’t know how your teammates were able to escape from these horrible monsterous creatures.

It was almost crazy. Well – it was crazy. You’ve been told that some of those hunters were actually undead, or not even human in the first place!

That was when you started to rethink your choices. Was accepting the invitation you received really worth it? Were the tempting promises of a new, better life from the letter just bait to lure you into a deadly trap? You didn’t even meet this so called ‘Host’ yet, your inviter.

You sighed, thinking about what would happen next week. One of the survivors explained to you how that every time there was a new player, survivor or hunter, everyone would get a break from matches for a whole week as a celebration for the arrival of the new player.

It seemed logical, as it would require some time to understand the games and learn how to play. You spent a few days discussing this with some of the experienced players in your team.

“And remember, don’t decode the same cipher machine with another teammate at the same time. It may seem like it would speed up the progress, but in reality it just reduces decoding speed.” said the girl with a cane named Helena.

“Oh, and don’t forget about dungeons. If you’re the only survivor remaining and none of the exit gates are opened yet, you can always look for the dungeon to escape. However it’s really difficult to try and find it if you’re new, but as time goes on, you will hopefully memorise the key points of the dungeon’s location in any map.” said Naib, a mercenary in a green hoodie.

You were in the dining room, your teammates giving you some advice. You thanked them for their help, and everyone eventually parted and went their own ways.

You decided to go back to your room. You sat on your bed and sighed. Today was the last day of the break before everyone returned to participating in matches again.

You scrunched your nose and forrowed your eyebrows, feeling anxious. You didn’t want to do this. You didn’t want to go against any of those hunters. You knew that they wouldn’t actually kill any of the survivors, but they still had weapons that would certainly give you serious injuries.

You reached for your diary that was laying on your night stand. The first few pages showed your profile, where everything you needed to know about your skills and abilities was.

Runner.

That was your alias, everyone in the manor had one, even the hunters. It did seem logical to have this title though, considering your history. You were quite the slippery kind of fish that was hard to catch.

The problem was, your profile didn’t show any of your traits or special skills. Your teammates explained to you that survivors were classified under one or two of four categories depending on their skills and abilities.

You were classified as a contain-rescue type, which meant that you were supposed to be good at distracting the hunter and your teammates would rely on you to rescue them if they ever get ‘chaired’.

You didn’t know whether to be happy with this classification or not. On one hand, you thought that decoding cipher machines far away from any trouble was the safest thing, but of course it wasn’t as simple as that. You had to know what to do once the hunter finds you, so being a ‘kiter’ or ‘container’ or whatever your teammates called it, would be useful. But still, the idea of being hunted down by a tall and bloodthirsty hunter didn’t seem to help.

Hearing someone knock, you closed your diary and put it aside, heading towards your door.

“Y/N, dinner is ready.” it was Emma, beaming as brightly as she always did.

You smiled back and followed her into the dining room, where the others ate and talked.

You sat on your own seat and placed your elbows on the table, deep in thought. You didn’t bother to eat or even converse with anyone as your mind was still filled with the impending doom of you being enlisted in a match after tonight.

“Hey.” a gentle voice said, making you snap out of your train of thought.

You swivelled your head to the direction of the voice to see Shiyi – The Antiquarian – sitting right next to you. “Are you alright? You aren’t eating your meal.” she said again, looking concerned.

“Oh sorry, it’s just.. today is the last day before we return back to doing matches and.. I’m kind of scared..” you explained quietly.

“It’s alright. I know it seems fatal, but Doctor Emily can always treat your injuries, so you don’t have to worry about anything.” she placed a comforting hand on your shoulder. “If anything, remembering to write on your dairy daily is more important, as it is commun knowledge that forgetting to do so has severe consequences. And it isn’t something difficult now, is it?”

You smiled at her, “You’re right. Thanks, Ms. Qi.”

“Please,” she interrupted you, “Call me Shiyi. No need to be formal.”

You nodded before you started eating your meal and joining the others in their little chit-chats. Soon after, you felt exhausted and went to sleep.

⊱◈◈◈⊰

The next morning, you woke up and went down stairs, still in your pyjamas, to eat your breakfast. You noticed that not many survivors woke up yet, so it was unusually quiet.

Good. Survivors tended to be really loud when they were all present in the same room, even though you found their antics kind of amusing and endearing in some way, you still preferred peace and quiet over chaotic clamour, especially in the morning.

You went to sit down on your usual seat and started eating. You were enjoying this peaceful moment, eating slowly and taking everything easy, something you usually never really had the chance to do for as long as you could remember.

The peaceful moment didn’t last long though. As you were inspecting the place, your eyes randomly fell on the newsboard. For the whole week, it displayed nothing but a phrase stating that everyone would have a break from the games for a week as a celebration for your arrival. But now, it changed to a list of four names with the words ‘NORMAL MATCH’ at the top.

Your face paled after you saw your own name on the list of participants.

You were going to have a match today.