Unwilling Eldritch Horror of Fortune

“Wait, what’s going on?” I asked as I scrambled to my feet, “Are we in danger?”

As if an invisible signal was sent, Noel quickly pulled out her swords and Vadeem took a fighting stance. Sensing the strange situation, Ana and Eva quickly jumped on either side of Vadeem and notched an arrow. The only one still relaxed was Yoona.

“Brother, stop scaring them!” Yoona quickly said, “I swear we need to work on your social skills.”

“So… there’s no enemy to kill?” asked Vadeem quietly, his guard still up.

“No,” Yoona answered for her brother, “What Jae-Hyun means is that we have to hurry into the city, his um, skill, told him that we need to be the first people in there to get some benefits.”

At this point, I’m pretty sure that no one was buying the validity of the Regressor’s omniscient “skill”, but everyone had the tact to just let it slide. Noel and Vadeem were the type of people who simply accepted that everyone had their secrets, and it did no one any good to try to pry into them. Plus, they were directly benefiting from the Regressor's information, so there was reason risk annoying him with unwanted questions and look a gift horse in the mouth. I wonder if he would ever tell us on his own, although the threat of being overheard could also impact that decision.

“So no baddies to stab then,” Noel said with a deflated sigh.

“But we still need to hurry,” Jae-Hyun added quickly, “Get moving while everyone else is still busy adjusting to the new stage. We do not get a second chance at this. I’ll explain after, just follow my lead.”

“Aye-aye, leader man!”

The Regressor sprinted towards the settlement, while the others followed closely behind. There was still quite a distance to cover, so it should take us a bit of time to head there, even with our enhanced, superhuman speed and endurance. I never thought I could run this fast and this easily before, it was liberating.

Jae-Hyun was keeping his speed in check, moving just fast enough so that our slowest member - that being Vadeem for obvious reasons - could keep up. The twins were more than a little annoyed at how slowly the man was moving and were constantly looking back at him in frustration.

Speaking of which, why were they here with us?

“Uh,” I asked between strides, “Anyone going to address the elephant in the room?”

“What do you mean?” Noel answered casually, she was running backward now to face me.

“I mean the twins, Eva and Ana, the two extras we picked up from the Trial,” I answered and pointed towards the two kids. They were trying to drag Vadeem forward, much to the big man’s chagrin.

I looked at them again and marveled at how well they have healed since I first met them. Gone were the horrible tumors and other weird growths covering most of their body, and most of their normal features were brought back. Their jet black hair was now maybe half an inch long, and their complexions had started to improve just as quickly. They had a renewed look of life in their eyes, and I swear I could see more expression from them now than ever before.

However, they still carried the scars from their time spent in that alternate Earth, most notably the huge wound on their necks where their vocal cords were severed. Various other scars and burns dotted their features; Ana had a massive gash that extended from her temple to her left ears, leaving a visible scar, while Eva had what looks to be chemical burns or acid corrosion that went from her right cheek down to her neck.

Yoona had dressed them with some of her spare clothes, they were several sizes too large, but it had been a much needed improvement from the dirty rags they had on before. I’m not sure how others would view them if they saw the twins, but I was just glad that they had improved so much.

“Oh yeah, them,” Noel answered as she hopped over a bump in the road, still not looking forward. How she can perceive things without using her eyes was beyond me.

“Let’s just ask the boss, he knows everything,” she continued, moving up to jog beside the Regressor, “Hey Jae-Hyun, you know why we got two extra bonus members?”

I picked up my pace to join them.

Jae-Hyun shook his head and shrugged, “I’m not sure, something like this shouldn’t happen, but nothing about the last Trial made sense. Perhaps they got caught in that light and were brought back with us. Wouldn't be the craziest thing that's happened.”

“So that last Trial wasn’t normal?” Noel questioned, her pace still casual.

“No.”

I could tell that the redhead wanted to press further, but something in the Regressor’s expression made her change her mind. I think we all learned to not press certain issues with the taciturn man.

Noel shrugged, “Well, guess that’s that. Just think of them as bonus rewards for our trial!”

“That’s a terrible thing to say, Noel!” Yoona chimed in, it seemed that she was able to keep this pace up easily as well, “They’re children, not just some quest reward!”

“I was just joking, bestie!” the other girl answered with a cheeky smile, “Of course I value them as people.”

Yeah, I highly doubt that.

“Plus,” she continued, “it’ll keep Vadeem busy, he goes all dad mode when he sees kids that need help, which is nice since he’s finally interacting with people of a similar IQ.”

Vadeem heard that, and shouted, “Hey, are you insulting my intelligence?”

Noel rolled her eyes, “If you have to ask, then the answer is yes!”

“I swear Noel!”

“Swear all you want, Vadeem the Meme, no one cares!” she laughed as she ran away.

“It’s Vadeem the Dream," he grumbled, "ugh, never mind, why do I even bother?”

Yup, trying to reason with Noel was always going to be a losing battle.

The twins saw the banter between the two and gave Noel a menacing glare, but she just smiled back and gave them a little wave before dashing further up to chat with Yoona. At least someone has Vadeem’s back.

Before they could bicker further, a new voice pierced through the calm, it was one that I recognized.

“Let me congratulate everyone here once again!” Raffiel’s clear voice came booming from every direction, and a huge projection of his features appeared in the sky above. He really did seem angelic as his features were highlighted by the sun’s rays. We all slowed down to marvel at the new scene.

“Keep moving!” the Regressor shouted, “He’s just going to spout out useless information, half of them lies.”

He sped up again and we all followed. We passed several other groups of survivors, they were all in a daze as they stared up at the sky and were taking in the new information.

“But aren’t we missing key information?” I asked.

“I can summarize,” he muttered.

Raffiel’s voice spoke again, and I couldn’t completely ignore what the false angel was saying even if the Regressor told me to.

“I am glad that each of you has completed your team trials…”

The Regressor continued, completely ignoring what Raffiel was saying, “We’re in the main stage now, I’m not sure how the Trials work exactly, but the top 1000 groups will be here with us.”

“So they all went through that horrible darkness like we did?” Noel asked.

“No, our situation was… unique,” the Regressor answered, “Every party’s trial would have been different, and before you ask why we’re all here at once, time flows differently in each scenario. The people running this damn show can freely control when and where their test subjects can appear.”

“I am proud of all of you, for you have overcome harsh conditions that must have…”

“Damn,” Vadeem added, “Whoever’s in charge of this hell has some serious power if they can manipulate time.”

Noel rolled her eyes, “And the fact that they can teleport us to different places and give us superpowers didn’t tell you that before?”

“... you are the best of the best in the Human population, and as such...”

The Regressor ignored the two, “The fact that we made it here means that we did well enough even though our Trial was messed up, and being in this first batch of Aspirants is exactly why we need to hurry.”

“So what’s the benefit of being first?” I asked.

“...lcome to Pandora, your home for the remainder of the Main Stage! I hope…”

Oh, guess I knew what this place was called at least, even from half listening to Raffiel, and the gates to this Pandora place were fast approaching us now.

“The general benefits?" Jae-Hyun replied, "We get here first which means we have a head start on our growth. Everyone else will arrive later, and they'll have to catch up to us.”

Damn, given how fast everyone can grow due to the Trash Matrix, that’s going to be one tough hurdle for the others to overcome. I can imagine that we can also monopolize important resources and the like to get even further ahead of the others. The more I thought about it, the more unfair the situation looked for the poor suckers who came after us, or worse still, came last.

“...here you will find all the opportunities you need to continue to grow, to improve, and to rest…”

Those that arrive last will not only be weaker than everyone else, but they’ll have had none of the resources available here, and all the good stuff would either be taken or used. In other words, they would be screwed. It was a system that rewarded the 0.1% and ignored the rest.

I grinned. I didn’t care though, because I was a part of that 0.1%!

“And as for the specific benefits?” continued the Regressor as he gave us a rare smile, “You’ll see.”

We rushed past the two sentries standing vigil by the gate, they looked human enough but were completely motionless, looking as if they were intricately made automatons or mannequins.

“…trial will not begin for the time being, and will be announced at a later date, now is a time for growth…”

The Regressor was going down random alleyways and streets as if he had lived in this town his whole life. Which, now that I think about it, he probably did. I hardly had the time to take a good look at the place as we ran at breakneck speeds towards an unknown location.

The few details I did pick out painted this town as a rather rustic village that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the English countryside. Vibrant green trees and shrubs lined each nook and corner, while a calm stream flowed along winding passageways. The cobblestone streets were neatly arranged, and beautiful stone homes and stores lined the streets, yet as we went further and further into the town, the scenery gradually changed.

“... you can complete small quests and tasks that will reward you with experience and gold that you can freely spend…”

Cobblestone turned into pavement, brown stonework gradually shifted into glass and concrete, and when the Regressor finally came to the destination, we were in front of a multistory office building. Maybe a little dated looking, more akin to the architectural style of the 1980s or '90ss, but much more modern than the things around us.

I could understand not seeing the weird modern stuff when we were approaching this place from the outskirts - perhaps it was hidden by the walls or homes - but there was no way I could have missed seeing a huge modern tower from any distance. Something was keeping this particular building hidden, and that generally meant that such a place was important.

“...has all the facilities that you could ever need, and the central town of Pandora will be a safe haven for you to rest…”

“We’re here.” Jae-Hyun said as we all came to a stop in front of the glass door, “Let me do the talking from here on out.”

He looked at us hard, “Do not speak out of turn. Especially you, Noel. We can discuss things after.”

“Hey, I can behave!” she said with an exaggerated shrug.

He glared at her, “I mean it.”

She gave him a mock salute, “Aye-aye!”

He looked at each of us in turn, and we all nodded in agreement. I saw no reason to argue with the guy who seemed to know everything after all, and Vadeem hadn’t either.

“… can also explore the surrounding areas outside the walls to test your strength in battle, and maybe you will be lucky enough to find hidden dungeons, opportunities, and rewards! Now I…”

We entered the building and the ever-present voice of Raffiel instantly disappeared. Whatever was keeping this place hidden from sight earlier also kept out all outdoor noise, it seemed. Inside the building was a nondescript office reception. When I say nondescript I really mean it, this place looked like the standard entrance hall that could have belonged to any major company, complete with boring white walls, office equipment, and uncomfortable-looking chairs to sit on.

The receptionist was seated behind a sleek welcoming area and greeted us warmly as we approached.

“Welcome, Aspirants,” she said, her voice nice but professional. “How may I be of assistance?

Jae-Hyun led the way and I took a step back along with the others. It was time to allow the Regressor to do his magic.

“We want to start a guild,” he said with confidence, “the very first guild.”

 

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