Mary’s POV

How is this happening? I truly, from the bottom of my heart, don’t understand what is going on. I was trying to stop Jensen, and suddenly I’m teleported away from my life of comfort? This is all his fault. That dirty narcissist went too far, and the universe decided to punish him. I just got caught up with it.

Well, that doesn’t matter right now. After seeing my life in review, I came into this room with the rest of the group. People are terrified; I have to be strong if I’m going to make it through this.

Sweeping her gaze through the crowd, she notices a girl that appears to be her age. She was sitting down, crying into her knees. Feeling a sense of understanding, Mary approached the girl.

“Hi. I’m Mary. I know this is scary, but our family’s safety is relying on us to be strong. Crying right now won’t accomplish anything.”

The blonde girl looked up to Mary, and wiped her tears. Even if it was a false confidence, for the moment, she appeared to have better control of her emotions.

“I’m Ariel. You’re wearing a school uniform, are you in high school too?”

Mary and Ariel talked about each other in an attempt to distract each other from the fear and anxiety in their hearts. Time passed, but the atmosphere in the room was still that of despair, and a feeling of helplessness was shown on the faces of the people. There’s something that happens to the heart when thrown into such a dire situation that cannot be properly put into words.

Suddenly, a shadow figure entered the room on the balcony overlooking the room. The conversations and crying instantly stopped. The figure began talking.

“Humans of Earth. I welcome you to the 43rd Galactic Survival Games. Your reason of being here is simple- you have been selected as an interesting human, and will participate in our game we have designed for our entertainment.”

The despair on the human’s face reached a new low. Mary was absorbing the information in front of her.

“The game that you play will be broadcasted throughout the Cosmos. The Judges have graded each of the participants value as a human, and is given a score out of 100, with potential strengths and weaknesses listed. Please look toward the screen behind me for the rankings.

Mary turned toward the screen and immediately felt a sense of disturbance.

Rankings

Jensen Livelot: Strength- Superior athletic and mental prowess. Weakness- Arrogance can cause underestimation of opponents. Overall ranking: 97 ----- -----

Jensen’s POV

Jensen was currently too excited to worry about the rankings board. A sinister grin grew onto his face as his mind kept replaying the shadow figure’s words over again and again. ‘Galactic Survival Games… Galactic Survival Games…’ Despite not knowing of the contents of the actual game, Jensen could only imagine the severity of the rules. The thoughts of a potential death match being broadcasted to other planets, in which he is a character of the game, sent his mind to a bliss he had never known before. ‘I don’t care that they interrupted my robbery. I forgive them. This is the best thing to ever happen to me. Even if I die in the middle of the game, I will make sure to have plenty of enjoyment and give the audience a dramatic show.’ Whereas the other participants were in another world of loneliness and despair, Jensen was having the time of his life. This is just the kind of person he had become throughout his life.

Finally managing to calm himself, Jensen looked toward the ranking board. ‘Well, the Judges seemed to have been impressed with my life.’ The only thing that bothered Jensen was his weakness. ‘I suppose that final showing with Mary bumped my score down. It is to be expected. Speaking of which, I wonder where she ended up?’ Jensen searched the board and found Mary’s name.

----- Mary Nakamura: Strength- Superior intellect and decision making. Weaknesses- Lacks raw physical strength and is lacking in defining moments. Overall ranking: 74 -----

‘She was always smart and decently athletic, but I suppose a regular high school girl isn’t built for the kind of game that they have planned.’ Considering there were 100 participants, being number 37 wasn’t bad. It could be said to be good. However, considering Jensen’s outlook on life, she might as well have been last. As the crowd of people found their names on the list, there were outcries of complaints and cries.

“What the hell?! Number 78?! I’m a grown man! I have a PHD! What kind of judge would grade me so poorly?!”

The people cried similar complaints, and the figure spoke again.

“These rankings are just an estimate of your skills you’ve gained throughout life combined with your innate talent. The rankings have no direct impact on your performance or odds of winning. These are mainly for the different galaxies to gain a basic understanding of the players and help with the gambling odds. However, there’s no need for you to worry about that for now. You all must be tired from the events of today. We have arranged living areas for you all to stay in for night. The Galactic Survival Games does not start for another week, and you will use this week to prepare yourself to have the best chances of winning. The rules will be explained tomorrow, and we also have a surprise for you. Well, get some rest. You’ll be needing it.”