Ben knew many things about this place. I learned a lot of trivia from him. He must had been stuck in this place for a very very VERY long time, but it was awkward to inquire about that. Nobody wanted to face the fact they were possibly stuck here forever.

Analyzing our reality too deeply was poisonous according to Ben. He had witnessed many people go mad while doing so. They all suffered from an unexplained vertigo shortly beforehand, just like me. Ben most likely saved me from a terrible fate when he called out to me. Just a little longer and the headache may have claimed my sanity.

“We’ve been kidnapped by aliens. This is a human experiment they’re running.” Ben suggested an absurd theory. Of course, neither of us honestly believed it. However, since nobody could refute it either, Ben said we should trick ourselves into believing it. That’d stop our brains from thinking about alternative explanations, which would be way harder to digest.

And so, the culprits behind this crazy game turned out to none other than aliens. Curse you, aliens! Just you wait! I’ll get outta here and kick your green asses!

We also discussed our “amnesia” for a bit. Apparently, everybody here suffered from this unexplained “amnesia”. According to Ben, it was as if somebody stripped us from all our “memories”. They left us with the bare minimum “knowledge” necessary for functioning and identifying ourselves.

Naturally, everything was explained with aliens. They used some sci-fi technology to erase our memories. Their reason? Humans had easier time functioning without memories in this war game, as they had no lingering attachments to hold them down. Ben even claimed we should thank the aliens for this service, for otherwise we’d find this place even more unbearable than it already was.

I understood his argument, but I couldn’t bring myself to share his sentiment. It felt as they reduced us into savage beasts who only knew how to hunt. Whoever approached you had to to be shot on the spot. Everybody were your enemies. Something as simple as striking a conversation was a challenge. In a way, it was a miracle that me and Ben managed to hold such a long, cultured conversation.

In the end, nothing I learned improved my chances of getting out of this place. The most important advice Ben gave was regarding the “coping mechanism”, which he argued we all needed in order to stay sane in this eternal ghetto. However, simply bullying those weaker than myself didn’t sit right with me.

On the other hand, hunting down other bullies definitely sounded heroic. Even if they turn out to be weaker than me and focusing on them will be considered “bullying” as well, I’d feel much better knowing they deserve a taste of their own poison.

I decided on my first target without hesitation: Jack. This jerk sure gave me a warm welcome on my first day here. It was time to return the favor, with interest!

With that determination, I returned to the battlefield after a long break. My combat instincts had dulled a bit, but it only took a couple of cycles before I returned to form. Then, I began searching for Jack.

“Khaha! You’re too slow, amateurs!” There it was, a cackle which burned into my memory.

“Just leave me alone already!”

BAM

“Shit! Why you’re always after me!?”

BAM

Jack mercilessly shot down fleeing players, all of which were women. It wasn’t hard to guess what coping mechanism he chose for himself. Disgusting. I couldn’t stand this scene any longer.

“Hey, Jack!” I drew his attention away from the last victim. The last woman successfully escaped while Jack turned to face me.

“Tch.” He clicked his tongue as he glanced at the vanishing figure of his prey. “So? You want something, bro?” He shot me a nasty glare.

“Guess you don’t remember me?” I kinda expected that. After all, we had met over a hundred cycles ago. Besides, I now confirmed he was a serial bully. There was no way he’d remember a victim he only screwed once.

“Wait, now I remember! Khaha!” He burst into laughter. “You’re that newbie I did in, right? Boy, it’s sure rare to run into a first-timer like that. Your face was priceless when I shot you, khaha!”

“I’m glad at least you had fun.” I spoke through gritted teeth. Everything about this guy ticked me off. My hand itched badly to shoot him, but he was outside my comfortable shooting range. I only had myself to blame for calling out to him from this distance.

“Khaha, man that was princess! So you’re back for payback I take it? Sure took your sweet time.” Jack grinned and readied his gun. “What’s your name, again? I think it was Malcolm or something?”

“It’s Hugo!” That wasn’t even close! Who’s Malcolm anyway?! Goddammit, I could swear he did it on purpose! Everything about this guy was absolutely and thoroughly irritating.

There weren’t any covers around, so we had to duke it out in the open. Jack was one of these suicidal lunatics who ran around shooting left and right, caring little for tactics or strategy. I never bothered paying much attention to such madmen, for it was obvious they’d self-destruct before long. I had no idea how Jack survived for this long in this cycle, but I was grateful for his well-being... because now I could finish him off with my own two hands!

Without further ado, I broke into a dash. I headed straight toward Jack, with my gun at the ready. I only needed to get him within my shooting range. Once inside, it’d be Game Over for him.

“Khaha! Come at me, bro!” Jack wore a cocky smirk. He wasn’t startled by my sudden movements in the slightest. In fact, he didn’t even twitch. He was rooted in place like a statue and didn’t even raise his gun.

Did he think himself superhuman? There was no way he could shoot me fast enough at this point. The bastard was taking me way too lightly. Gotta teach him I was no longer the same newbie he met back then!

I came to a halt in order to steady my aim. That’s it. He was within range. I only had to pull the trigger. He still hadn’t raised his gun. I had no idea what he was thinking, but it didn’t matter. It was checkmate.

BAM BAM

Two shots resounded.

“Huh?!” At first, I was certain I was shot. The second bang definitely came from Jack’s gun. However, Jack’s gun was pointed... at himself? What?

Light radiated from Jack’s body. The white beam he fired at himself coated his whole body like an aura. Throughout the many cycles I had been though, I had never seen anything like that.

SWISH

My beam struck Jack’s torso and rebounded... right in my direction! Fuuuuuuuu!

“Ugh! What the... heck...” Familiar numbness. My own beam hit my chest and paralyzed me. “How is this... possible...” My body fell forward and crashed into the ground.

“Khahaha!” Jack held his stomach as he laughed at me. “Dude, how did you even fall for this obvious ricochet? That’s rich!”

“Rico... chet...?”

“You didn’t even know about it? Khaha, what an amatuer!”

These were the last words I heard before darkness claimed me.