Chương 33: I Am Your Father

A list of abilities with strange names scrolled down in George's vision. They had names like "A Fright To Remember," "Madre de Chupacabra," and "Wax On, Wax Off." Each came with a short description after the enigmatic title, like: Once More Into the Breach, Dear Friends: If you are voted out, you do not leave the trial. Instead, you are immediately teleported to a random room in the hunting maze. Nip It In the Bud: Negate another player's ability orb.

I'll Have What She's Having: Duplicate another player's ability orb. (Must be used immediately after the target ability orb is used.) The list went on and on.

"How the hell are we supposed to read all this in five minutes?" George said. >>No worries, mate. I got this. >>Your trusty AI-cum-brain spider has already read and analyzed them. >>That Lady Greesh has the highest level in the room—except for those creepy no-level concept guys. She'll go first, and we will be dead last on the totem pole. As usual. >>But you know what they say: when life gives you lemons… >>… you MacGyver some remote detonator with those lemons and live another day.

>>#CharlieJames >>So, might I make some recommendations as to what orb you pick? >>Might as well. I've only been able to read five of these. >>Ok. There are plenty of great abilities on here that we won't even have a chance at, so I'm just going to assume everybody else is going to snag the best ones. >>But there are a few solid, middle-of-the-pack abilities we might have a chance at. >>Let's keep an eye on these orbs and grab one if we can: Check, Please!: Immediately teleport to a different room.

Can only be used during a hunting Round.

'Nuff Said: End the current round immediately. Award-Winning Underpants: Create an immobile shield around yourself for a five-minute duration. The shield renders you invulnerable to physical attack. Nobody Trusts Anybody Now, And We're All Very Tired: Skip one voting round. Use at any time. Moderate time dilation is applied in the hunting maze during the voting round. >>This could be handy for avoiding Neco telling us to do something we don't want to do.

Oil and Water: Cause two players to always start in different rooms in the hunting round. >>We could use this on Neco and us. Or Pine. >>That guy has major "I'm your buddy until I get a chance to kill you" vibes. Nip It In the Bud: Negate another player's ability orb. >>Pine told Top to get that last one, so maybe we have a chance of getting one. >>Also, I'm going to track all the choices these assholes are about to make, and I'll remind you whenever we meet people.

"The draft will begin now. Each player will have thirty seconds to make their choice. An orb will be randomly assigned if you do not choose within the allotted time.

"Lady Greesh, you are first," Razza said. Razza gestured at the old woman and a glowing green line ran from the moderator to her enclosure. She immediately said, "My home is my castle." Then she waved her hand as though shooing Razza away. A notification appeared above her head. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. My Home is My Castle: Bind yourself to one room in the hunting maze.

Like the hand of a giant clock on the floor, the green line shifted to the next player, the tall creature that looked like an androgynous angel made of orange crystal. It even had wide wings that swept backward from its shoulders. Identify showed that it was named Aeternum and it was something called a crystal golem. It did not speak or move and when the 30-second time window elapsed, it was assigned a random orb. Worlds of Wanwood Leafmeal Lie: Immobilize Everything Around You For 30 Seconds.

>>Interestingly, four people in here don't have levels. Those two freaky concept guys, that Vordigan broodmother chick, and the bald guy on the floor trying to stay awake. >>Wonder what that's all about. Next, the green light swung to the floating metallic sphere, and it spoke in a low, digitized voice.

"Keep Your Friends Close." Keep Your Friends Close: Learn the identity of three players on your team. Then, a silvery tentacle with a two-fingered claw at the tip extended from the blank surface of the sphere, and an orb appeared inside the claw before being crushed. Activated—Keep Your Friends Close (TLX-448571001) The next player to choose was a woman dressed almost identically to Neco, in sleek black armor that was loaded with accessories. Identify said that she was also part of the Rook.

She had those same double-barrel metal attachments on each arm that looked capable of something ominous. She was also wearing a full-face helmet that hid her appearance. >>Wow. That outfit could double as an operating theater. Or abattoir. >>I can't see her face. Do you think that could be Kat? >>As in—Kat, your stripper daughter? Identify says her name is Sarala. >>She might have taken another name. >>Could be, I suppose.

"Said The Spider To The Fly," Sarala said. Said The Spider To The Fly: Summon all players who did not vote for the same person as you in the last voting round to your location in the current hunting round. >>Wow. That's a scary one. >>It's a recipe for a nice little ambush. She could set a trap for anyone who didn't vote with her. The next person to choose was Murdge the Auctarium. He was a vaguely triangular man with a bald, blunt head.

There was so much flesh on him that it was difficult to differentiate his limbs from his body. His body bunched together in places and sagged in others. He wore no shirt and scars and suture marks were visible across his entire chest.

"A door out is a door in," he growled. A Door Out Is A Door In: Merge two adjacent enclosures in the voting room. >>I'm glad we're not next to that slime or that void thing. >>Yeah, but we are next to a man who has a pact to kill us and who somehow orchestrated the bodily explosion of two players moments after we arrived. >>So… >>There is that. After that, the other players chose their orbs one by one. Neither the slime nor the gnacker made a choice. The time limit elapsed, and they were randomly assigned orbs.

Pine ominously chose and activated one called Full Murderhobo, which gave him five prestige tokens for every player he killed. June picked Super Deluxe Wakey Wakey, which allowed her to cast a legendary-grade revival spell on herself or another player. Ezra, the necromancer, chose one called Exit, Pursued By a Bear, which let him connect two rooms of the hunting maze through a new portal. Prince Neco picked one called Back Atcha that reflected an enemy's attack at them.

Top picked Nip It In The Bud like Pine told him to. Then he flashed Pine a thumbs up. >>Five bucks says that orb ends up in Pine's hand, and that guy ends up dead. Then it was George's turn. >>OK. There are three remaining of the seven I recommended. These three are still the best ones for us. >>We've got Check, Please!, the one that lets us teleport to a different room during the hunting round. >>And the one about skipping one voting round.

>>And the one about not letting two players start in the same room during a hunting round. >>And the clock is ticking. We have 22 seconds. >>Sorry, Nod. I found the one I want.

"I Am Your Father," George said aloud. >You are killing me, George. Orb Received I Am Your Father: Link two players. The linked players will always begin in the same room in the hunting rounds. If one is killed during the hunting round, the other is removed from the game with no rewards. >>That is literally the worst choice you could have made. >>None of these people are on our side. >>They are all incentivized to kill us. >>One of them is a member of my family.

>>I am going to find that person and use the orb on them. >>Do I have permission to facepalm you with your own hand? >>Texting simply doesn't feel adequate right now. >>No. It fell to the four players without levels to choose their orbs, but none made a choice, nor did they seem aware that it was their turn to choose. After thirty seconds had elapsed for each of them, an orb was assigned to them. All the players were notified that they received a random orb for their second ability.

Unlike the first orb, the notification was not visible to the other players. Orb Received The Home Alone Contingency: Receive a private session in the hunting maze. Use at any time during a hunting round. When the round ends, the players in the voting room will be held in stasis until your extended round is complete. Jagged time applies.

"Prepare yourselves," Razza said.

"The hunting round begins in one minute." A timer appeared in George's vision. 00: 59 00: 58 Razza's platform sank back into the ground as he finished speaking. When he was gone, the voidling woke up and continued its assault on the force fields surrounding it.

"See you out there, George," Pine said. He stood up, and the table, the tea, and the chair he had been sitting in disappeared. When the timer hit zero, the room disappeared, and George appeared in the hunting maze.