"This is the only way, so get a hold of yourselves if you don't want our sacrifices to be in vain."
"Ahhh!" I cried out.
I don't know how, but while everyone is standing where we were, we just fell to the ground like what happened to how we got here. Its depth is about 50 meters compared to the previous 150 meters. I am inside an elevator made of glass while screaming at this extreme ride. After a minute and a half, the elevator also stopped. It opened on its own, but unlike before, I did not walk further because I was immediately here in the vast land, with few trees and a mixture of green and blue colored sea. The glass elevator that everyone rode on disappeared. I composed myself after the thrilling ride.
***
LOCATION: Seaside TIME: Afternoon
Windy, cold, fresh, and quiet.
"Wow..." the cool sea breeze calmed my entire mind and body.
"This is where the water category will take place. The mechanics are simple: Those gold and silver flags standing in front of you will be your starting line..."
I looked to the front because of what the Author said. There are gold and silver flags stuck in the sand. Others also ran near the nailed flags on the ground.
"The goal is to find your opponent's base by solving the riddles that will guide your path. Steal their three flags hiding in their bases. The two small flags cost 30 points each, and the big flag costs 70 points."
"Another riddle? Give us a break!" Seventh complained but Author did not mind him.
"With the size of the sea, you must be kidding. How do we know and find their base?" Aeith asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"That's why..."
Everyone just stared and waited for Author to continue when the sea became longer and narrower. It looks like a huge swimming pool, but with sand instead of concrete and tiles. There are waves.
"The area of the sea has decreased. The enemy bases are a group of coral reefs with hidden flags. It is not necessary to gather all flags. The team should collect a greater number of flags than the opposing team. You will then swim until you cross the finish line to win."
Swim? Dive? Oh no, I do not know how to swim!
"Hey, how can we breathe underwater? We don't have any swimming equipment with us!" Nice one, Aeith. Good question.
"Swim so you will know." What kind of answer is that? Are we supposed to guess every time we play a game?
"This is not fair to us! There are only six of us," Sectwen questioned. Hearing her tone, she's irritated. But she has a point.
Fifzen stepped forward. "Yeah, it's not that we're too desperate for it, but we're at a great disadvantage here."
"In this game, unfair is not in its vocabulary." What does Author mean? "Follow your team colors' flags, and several numbers of sea creatures will help you find your opponent's base."
Sea creatures? Will we encounter another monster? This must be another type of monster, but a sea monster this time.
"What sea creatures?" Sixth asked this time.
"No ordinary underwater creatures that will either help you or hinder you." I'm getting a hunch from this.
"Wealth Level: Stage 3, water category will start in 10, 9,"
Immediately?! The instructions are simple yet vague. We positioned ourselves on the right, where the silver team is, and on the left is the gold team.
"Finally, time for a beach bath! Let's all jump," Seventh urged while he was warming up his body, ready to dive.
Then I realized that when I bent down, we needed to jump approximately 10 meters below the ground to enter the water. And plunge into the vast blue sea. Mind you, we'll jump and swim, then there will be sea creatures or worse, underwater monsters. Then we'll find the gold team's base, then we'll take their 3 flags?
I no longer want to be a burden or cause our team's downfall. I blamed myself because I fell from the air. Because of that, our necklace was stolen. The face of our leader, Third, shows his determination that we should win this game to make up for our defeat earlier. I don't blame him because our lives are at stake here. I saw that the gold team was ready. They even seem to know how to swim and don't have problems like me. Then I noticed that it looked like I was the only one who couldn't swim because my team was ready. I bit my lower lip. This is bad.
"From what I heard, jump with your feet first. Before landing, hold your arms tight against your body or chest like this," he demoed. "Then press your feet together pointed down." Fifth gave us tips
We tried mimicking Fifth's actions.
Sixth chimed in. "You can close your eyes if you're in doubt."
"Of course, don't forget to inhale deeply, hold it, and release after the plunge. Swim up until you reach the water surface, then breathe again." Fifth concluded. This must be the result of Fifth being a school athlete on Earth. How handy in times like these.
"And last but not least, we should have fun!" Seventh implied with great enthusiasm.
"8, 7, 6,"
"Everyone, if you're not confident in yourselves, better partner up. Guide and support each other, then all together we'll plunge," Third instructed us.
Someone grabbed my right shoulder, it was First. He always surprises me. "You can ride on my back," he offered while sitting and made a gesture as if to say, 'I'll give you a piggyback ride'.
"H-huh?" I feel embarrassed.
"If you don't want to drown, you can ride."
"How did you know?" How did he come up with the idea that I don't know how to swim?
"I can read your face." Am I that obvious?
I hesitated but I had no options left. "Thank you."
"5, 4, 3"
As embarrassing as it was, I couldn't do anything. I opened my two hands and was ready to hug him. He stood up, and since I could only see the back of his head and hair, I don't know what expression he made. Fourth partnered with her twin brother, Fifth. Third is with Seventh, while Sixth, Aeith, and Ninth preferred to jump on their own. They are confident enough about themselves.
"2, 1"
I took a deep breath so I wouldn't run out of breath right after we jumped.
"go!"