Last Life, The Third Life Game Sequel

Chapter One

Pearl slowly opened her eyes. Birds twittered as a soft breeze ran through the trees.

Trees?

She sat up. She didn't remember being in a forest. Last she had recalled she was...

I don't remember. She didn't know who she was or where she was from, all she knew was her name, and that this place was new to her.

Pearl slowly got to her feet and looked around, taking in the full scenery. The trees were thin and seemed easy to knock down, yet she imagined they would still make good material for tools.

"Attention players!"

Pearl jumped. Turning, she saw a speaker sticking out of the ground she had not noticed before. It was speaking in a loud voice, though surprisingly she couldn't seem to tell what gender of voice it was.

"Congratulations to the winner of the last game. But I am afraid we are not quite done here. Watchers crave entertainment."

Watchers? Something about that title seemed familiar to Pearl.

"We have several new contestants this time," the voice continued. "And the rules are considerably different. Each of you is assigned a random number of lives, from 2 to 6."

Pearl shuddered. What was going on?

"Lives hold great value as currency, as they are the only ones you get. Trade carefully. When you have four or more lives, you have a dark green name. When you have three lives, you have a lime name. When you have two lives, you are yellow. When you have only one life, you have a red name. Red names cannot make alliances with other colours."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. What was this nonsense? Why was she here? This was too much information for her to process.

"And, most importantly... watch out for the Boogeyman."

A fierce stinging suddenly shot through her right arm as the voice-over cut off. She rolled up her sleeve to reveal a green tattoo. But it wasn't a normal tattoo. It was a changing number, like a digital dice roll, but on her arm. The counter suddenly stopped, displaying a large, dark green 6. But as soon as it had got there, it faded away, leaving in its place six hearts. Three dark green, one lime, one yellow, and one red.

Pearl rubbed the tattoo. It didn't move or smudge, just stayed perfectly aligned on her arm. What did it mean? Was it her lives, or whatever the voice over the speaker had said?

She suddenly heard a rustling sound in the bushes nearby. Startled, Pearl grabbed a branch on the ground and held it in front of her. "Who's there?" She called, trying to sound braver than she felt as she shook the measly weapon. "Beware, I'm armed!"

There was a moment of silence. Then, a figure stumbled out of the undergrowth—a young man with dark skin, black hair, and a blue collared shirt. He appeared dishevelled and apprehensive, his eyes filled with fear as if anticipating an attack.

"Who are you?" Pearl asked, not lowering her tree branch. "Did you kidnap me?"

The young man looked up timidly while raising his arms in surrender, fear etched across his face. "Please don't hurt me! I'm sorry for startling you, I don't know where I am any better than you do."

Pearl lowered her branch slightly. "This isn't your doing?"

The young man shook his head.

"What are we doing here then? Aren't we meant to kill each other?"

At these words the man stepped back slightly, alarmed by her words. "Sorry, I don't mean harm," Pearl said quickly. "Just... what's going on?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," the man said solemnly. "Though something about this seems... familiar."