“Elimination game”. That’s how Jack described this situation. It sounded like complete nonsense, but it perfectly explained the chaotic scene in front of me.

People running. White flashes. Loud bangs. People collapsing.

It was a battlefield. People were shooting and getting shot at. White beams flew all over the place. The beams only vaguely resembled bullets, but they did a good job knocking people out. I had first-hand experience with that.

Thankfully, these “bullets” didn’t pierce anybody’s flesh. There was no pain or blood. People just collapsed, as if taking a nap.

Still, it was a raging war. Therefore, with this gun, I was expected to... gulp. The idea of shooting others made me fidget.

It’s not a real gun. Just a toy. It won’t kill anybody. I repeated the mantra over and over while reaching toward the gun.

“Okay. No problem. Breathe.” The gun was lighter than I expected. It definitely wasn’t weight befitting a deadly weapon. That fact helped me relax... a little bit. A very little bit.

Me? Shoot people? My mind became a jumble whenever I ran a simulation in my head. Why did I have to do this in the first place? How did I even end up in this bizzare game?!

Perhaps others held some answers, but it was difficult to approach anybody. They were all busy blasting each other. They’d shoot me down the moment I get in their line of sight. Gulp.

The white gun in my hand was the only clue I had, but it insisted to remain silent no matter how long I stared at it. Stubborn bastard.

Wait, did I even know how to use this thing? There were still holes in memory, but I was pretty sure I had never fired a gun before. Did someone like me even have a chance in this game at all?

For now, I decided to give it a try. There was a big rock nearby, so I pointed the gun at it. Honestly, I had no idea the heck I was doing. I mimicked a shooting stance I vaguely remembered from some flick.

“Hmm.” Come to think of it, guns had something called “safety”, didn’t they? It was supposed to prevent the gun from misfiring. But, no matter where I searched, I couldn’t find anything like that.

Oh, well. Whatever. I just pulled the trigger.

BAM

A white flash, followed by a loud bang. It made me flinch for a moment, but it wasn’t as bad as I feared. There wasn’t even any recoil. Weird.

The white beam smashed into the rock and vanished. Honestly, it felt like I fired a gust of wind. Anticlimactic, to say the least.

BAM BAM BAM

I drilled more bullets into the rock. It didn’t take long to get used to the process. It almost felt like playing around with a toy, except this one could render an adult uncionousess in one hit.

Interestingly, there wasn’t as much as a scratch on the rock. The white beams I fired definitely hit it, but they instantly vanished without a trace. It was hard to imagine I was knocked out by something like this.

Perhaps it was a neutralizer of some sort? That’d explain why my body went numb when I was hit. This gun was probably something like a stun gun.

Anyway, it was good news I could at least operate this thing. My aim was so-so, but that’s a given for an amateur. It was also good to know this gun wasn’t some lethal weapon, As for shooting people with it...

In the first place, did I really need to shoot anybody? Jack called it an “elimination game”, but for it made more sense to think of it as a “survival game”. The goal was to survive until the end. In that case, couldn’t I just stay hidden throughout the game? I’d probably still need to shoot somebody in end, but that’ll be way easier than going on a killing spree right now.

With that decided, I ran toward the rock. It was big enough to hide behind while crouching. Nobody had noticed me yet, so I had to act fast. I circled around the rock and-

“A-Ah!”

“Oh!”

Somebody was already there! A woman was crouching beside the rock, gripping a gun. Of course. There’s no way I was the only genius around. Anybody would think of something as simple as hiding.

“Um, err...” I couldn’t words. “A nice weather we have today, right? Haha...”

“......” The woman glared at me with all the suspicion she could muster. Couldn’t blame her, considering the screwed up situation we were in. Technically, we were enemies.

Was she going to shoot me? I felt my grip on the gun tightening. Shoot her before she shoots you. A voice whispered in my head.

“... you’re not going to shoot?” The woman asked.

“H-Haha. C’mon, I wouldn’t think of harming a woman! I’m a gentleman, you know.” I answered with a strained smile. “Let’s just pretend we never met, okay?” I started backpaddeling while retaining a friendly smile. I’ll just find myself a different hiding spot.

“Alright. Good luck out there.” The woman gave me a small nod. Good. I managed to avoid conflict for now. I turned around and-

BAM

“Idiot.”

“Eh...?” My body turned to lead. I crashed into the ground.

She shot me. This damn woman just freaking shot me! Goddammit! Just you wait! Next time... I’ll... murder your ass... ugh...