Hunter games? Hide-and-seek? Early landing bonus?
While Zaen was grappling with that, others had a more realistic reaction.
"…I'm not high, am I?" Rouland mumbled. "Everyone can see floating words before them?"
"We can't all be seeing the same thing… right?"
[Your sanity has dropped!]
[Sanity: 19/20]
"EEK!"
Hina shrieked and hid behind Shyra.
"What's wrong?" Zaen asked, looking at her.
"M-More words appeared!"
Zaen raised an eye since nothing new appeared before him. But apparently, he was the only one. The others were also hit with a new message and were acting all nervous.
"I-It says m-my sanity dropped," Hina informed Zaen. "It's nineteen out of twenty!"
"Twenty? I only have fifteen!" Shyra rebuked.
"I got forty," Rouland said.
"Thirty here, what about you, Zaen?" Harris asked, nervously rubbing his hands together.
"How are you all viewing all this information? I can't see anything apart from the early landing thingy."
Shyra stepped up, took Blaze's hand, and made him swipe sideways. A moment later, a new screen appeared before him.
—
Basic Information:
Name: Zaen Aurelia
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Stats:
HP: 1500/1500
Strength: 4
Agility: 3.2
Presence: 2.5 (The higher the presence, the worse you'll be at hiding.)
Stamina: 4
Sanity: 110/110 (For more information: click here!)
Fortitude: 3 (Reflects the drop in sanity per minute.)
Constitution: 7 (Reflects the speed of sanity recovery per minute.)
Unique skills:
— [Recovery]: Physical contact with other players can recover both parties' sanity.
Limit: 50 per person.
Cooldown: Ten minutes per person.
Note: The average stat of a human is 3, and sanity is 30.
—
Zaen blinked and viewed the status page again. Suddenly, he was hit with the realization that the Hunter Games was stranger than fiction. He clicked the 'i' icon next to [Sanity] and another prompt opened before him.
[Sanity: It is the primary stat inside Hunter Games. Interacting with anomalies in any capacity reduces it. Different levels of drop have different impacts on the user's mind.]
[At 70% max value, the user might suffer mild hallucinations. Below 50% their health will start draining. Below 25%, people often lose their minds. Below 10% mental pain turns physical. Once it drops to 0%, the anomaly takes over. You'll be trapped forever within the game.]
Wait… is this the reason most people don't return, and those who do, spend the rest of their lives in mental hospitals? The mist isn't what we thought it was.
"So? How much is it?" Shyra asked, interrupting his thoughts.
"You can't see it?"
Shyra shook her head.
It seems individuals could only view their own stats. Why was it like that, Zaen had no clue. Still, judging by how others have much lower [Sanity], he realized perhaps it was wiser not to reveal his actual number.
"Fifty-five," he said, thinking it wasn't too bad, and was closer to the rest.
"You're still the best among us," Shyra chuckled and kissed his cheek again.
Suddenly, her eyes widened.
"What's wrong?"
Shyra looked at Zaen and this time kissed him on the lips. The rest of them thought her sanity might have dipped even lower, and since she didn't have much to begin with, she had lost it.
After the fifth kiss in a row, she stepped back, all giddy and jumping with excitement.
"What is wrong with you?" Zaen asked. "Why all that affection? Not that I'm complaining."
"My sanity had increased to thirty!" Shyra exclaimed, jumping and hugging Zaen.
"Wait, what?" Harris said, stunned. "Zaen, kiss me!"
"Fuck off!"
While he pushed Harris away, Hina casually tugged at his sleeve. He looked down and was taken aback to see her pouting towards his lips.
"What are you doing?" Zaen asked, stopping her by holding her head in place.
"M-My sanity dropped again… It's sixteen now," Hina mumbled. "Please…"
Zaen helplessly looked at Shyra. Although she had pursed her lips at the insinuation, she nodded. Hina was her best friend, and while they didn't know what was going on, none of them wanted the other to suffer.
"…fine," Zaen said, leaning in.
Hina happily lifted her head when Zaen touched her chin, but instead of kissing her lips, he smacked his lips on her forehead. Her cheeks turned red as she stood there, both embarrassed and flustered.
"Did it work?" Zaen asked.
Hina nodded before burying her head behind Shyra. Zaen looked at the scene, casually scratching his head.
He, too, was embarrassed by the sudden request. Thankfully, his primary mind was in control, not the one between his legs.
However, in their embarrassment and teasing afterward, no one noticed Rouland's glare. He wasn't pleased… not at all.
Shyra also kissed Hina's cheek, but this time neither of their sanity increased.
"Strange… It's like you have a special ability or something," Shyra mumbled, staring at Zaen. "Do you?"
Zaen was about to blurt it out when he felt something strange staring at him.
"Is something on your mind, Rouland?" he asked, staring right back at him.
"N-Nothing," Rouland smiled, waving his hand. "I was just wondering how to get out of here."
"He's right," Shyra chimed in. "We should think of a way to get out of this place."
"There's only one way," Zaen said. "Win the game."
The way he saw things, the mist was itself an anomaly. Perhaps one that other anomalies used to kidnap people to play with. To get out of there, one would have to win the game. Though it wasn't easy at all.
No food, no water. We can survive without them for a day without issue. The problem is the scenario.
Play hide and seek for a day with an anomaly hunting them down.
Without food and water, they'll lose energy. While Zaen could help others recover their [Sanity], he couldn't energize them. The girls would get affected first, then Harris and Rouland.
As for him, he should be fine. The recruits were already trained in methods to conserve energy and work without eating for three days. It would be difficult, but not impossible.
"Wait… that bonus," Zaen mumbled, prompting another glowing page to appear before him. "It could give us something useful."
[Early Landing Bonus is available. Would you like to claim it?]
Zaen clicked yes and was blinded by a bright light. As it subsided, he found new words had replaced the old ones.
[Jackpot! You've received an anomalous entity: Fortune Wheel!]
[You have gained: 1 spin point(s).]
[The game will begin in 30 minutes.]
[You can search around to find a dossier regarding your tasks!]
[May you rest in peace, beep-boop!]