--
Mission #1: Reach 100 points in any approved physical category. The score will be adjusted to your body's peak biological profile. Get in the top 100,000,000 rank and stay in the rank till the timer goes off.
Reward: Move to the next mission, survival, 1 random gear box
Failure: Death
--
Blake looked at the mission with his eyes squinted, he made a disgusted face and looked around.
Soon, the mission went to the side and another notification popped up.
The ranking was already going and Blake saw a few names move up and down until the name changing started becoming a blur in the ranking.
There were too many names. Too many humans. Millions for sure, maybe far more.
In the right bottom, Blake saw a list flash for a moment.
--
Push-up
Squat
Burpee
Plank
Sprint in place
--
And then 'push-up' was highlighted with a '0' in front of it. He quickly felt a nudge on his shoulder again and he saw Michael nodding toward him.
Guess it was time to do some pushups.
He was going to survive this thing somehow. There was no other option now.
Blake looked around to see people screaming. Some were on the ground crying, some had made a blob already.
Blake even saw some were even trying to become leaders rallying people for different causes.
"Everyone calm down!"
"Don't listen to them, we should stay together!"
"Run in one direction first!"
"Mom! MOOOM!!" The voices clashed together and made Blake's head hurt.
Michael tugged at Blake's shoulder, "Start with the push ups gang" He spoke and went to the ground.
Some people looked at him form the side and had perplexed emotions.
But Blake quickly shook his head, all these reactions were making his heart panic. He needed to do what was told. That was the least he could do since there was nothing else to think of at the moment.
Blake got down on the ground and went in the position of a pushup. He went down and came up only to see the number in the side turn to '1'. His eyes widened in surprise and he went and did two more but this time only one more point was added.
Blake frowned and then looked at the side where Michael was going up and down without stop and his form felt impeccable.
But his points were not rising much faster.
"What?" Blake muttered and then quickly looked to his own right.
A woman around his age had also gone down, but she was doing squats with a pale face and trembling legs.
1
3
5
Her score was rising faster than Blake's.
The moment Blake saw that, another screen popped in front of all of them.
--
[Approved physical categories:
Push-up
Squat
Burpee
Plank
Sprint in place
Your score is adjusted to your body's peak biological profile.
Choose correctly if you want to live.]
--
"Body's peak biological profile?" Blake read under his breath and his face twitched.
So it was not just about raw strength at all.
Michael heard him and spat to the side before doing another pushup.
"Means stop acting dumb and do what suits you!" He barked.
Blake clicked his tongue and got up from the ground.
Some saw him stand up and looked at him as if he had gone mad. But a few others were also understanding it now.
A fat man a little away started sprinting in place while crying, while a middle aged woman dropped to a plank and within seconds, her points started going up one after another.
An athletic girl nearby started doing burpees with red eyes and gritted teeth. Blake's eyes narrowed. This was not fair in one way, but it was fair in another.
The game didn't care who looked strong. It wanted the body to be pushed in the best way possible and that made his stomach tighten.
Blake stepped back and then started sprinting in place.
The first few seconds felt awkward, but then the number at his side jumped.
3
7
11
Blake's eyes widened and he almost stumbled.
"So mine is this..." he muttered and increased the pace.
Michael looked at him from below and snorted.
"Took your ass long enough."
Blake didn't respond and kept pumping his arms and knees.
All around him, the plain had turned into complete madness.
People were dropping to pushups, then standing back up and changing to squats. Some had no clue what they were doing. Some were trying every exercise one by one with crazy eyes. Some were still crying and doing nothing.
And then, like the game wasn't insane enough already, another blue screen popped up in the air.
[Congratulations! Sector 884 has reached 10,000,000 live viewers!]
Everything around Blake stilled for just a moment.
"... live viewers?" a girl whispered nearby like she had lost all feeling in her body.
[The esteemed audience may support amusing, promising or pitiful players with minor assistance if they feel like it.]
[Please try your best to entertain them.]
The cheerful tone in that line made Blake feel cold in his bones.
Michael almost missed a pushup and looked up with a dark face.
"We're on a fucking livestream?" he said.
Many around them had heard it too and some completely broke down.
"No, no no no..."
"They are watching us?"
"This isn't real!"
"Please let me out!"
The crowd became even noisier and Blake's score stopped moving for a second when his pace faltered.
He clenched his jaw and started moving again.
That was when words started appearing in the side of his vision.
At first Blake thought he was imagining things, but no, there were comments.
--
[Viewer Xhalyss-of-the-Nacre-Spine: The loud male is funny]
[Viewer Tzriq Vel-Oon: The one sprinting is adapting fast]
[Viewer Matriarch Ssevra of Hollow Reef: Humans really do panic in herds]
--
The watching had begun.