Three players were sneaking along the forest line that bordered the village. All of them had guns equipped but Luca could only see pistols. He looked at the party around him.

“Emile, move up, let me stay with the gun, and then if they come closer you guys could try to move around them while I have their attention.”

Emile did so and Luca steadied his gun on the windowsill. The trio was moving swiftly, only stopping every 20 paces to scan their surroundings.

When they were straight ahead of the window, Luca took a deep breath and fired a shot at the middle player, hitting him in the shoulder. He was flung to ground and the other two started sprinting for cover. Luca fired a few more shots into the player and saw the black smoke, signifying his demise.

Congratulations you have killed 1 player and assisted in another. You gained 600 exp.

Total spendable experience: 900

The other two players had noticed where the shots were coming from and started shooting back at the open window. Luca ducked for cover as bullets flew into the room.

“Okay, Emile, Carlos, move out to flank them! Ana, Turner, you two stay with me!”

The door opened and immediately shots went towards it. Luca aimed and fired at them forcing them back into cover. Emile and Carlos left the building.

“Shit! I’m hit!” Turner said from the corner of the room, looking at his waist where a dark red patch has begun to form. Ana crawled to him and opened his shirt. She quickly applied one of the patches in her medkit and started disappearing. He twisted his body a few times, testing it out.

“Wow, that was quick!”

Luca could see out of the window where Emile and Carlos had been making a wide arc around where the players were hiding. He came up with a plan.

“Turner, are you fine with creating a distraction?”

“Yes, sir.”

He crawled towards Luca.

“Okay so I will give you cover fire, you will go around the other side and start getting their attention giving Emile and Carlos enough time to get within melee distance.”

He nodded, and Ana asked, “What about me?”

“I need you here with me for if I get shot and then we will join Turner once he is in position.”

Luca stood up and fired where the other players were hiding behind a builder. Keeping their heads down while Emile and Carlos sprinted towards them. Turner stood up at the same time, yelling at them, drawing them out of their hiding spot. It’s working. They revealed themselves and Luca fired at them hitting in his shoulder. He screamed in pain as he was clutching his arm.

“Now!” Luca yelled at Ana and they sprinted towards Turner. No, he’s standing too tall. The next moment a bullet hit Turner in his forehead, knocking him backwards. Before he could hit the ground he Turned into smoke. While the player was focused on them, Emile and Carlos had snuck up on him and tackled him to the ground. Luca and Ana arrived. He walked up to where they were holding him down, drew his pistol and shot him in the head which exploded on impact.

Congratulations you have killed 1 player and assisted in another. You gained 600 exp.

Total spendable experience: 1500

“Right, guys, we lost Turner. And made a hell of a noise, we should move on.” The others stared at him, they were shocked at his carelessness after he just shot a player in his head.

“I think I am going to be sick.” Emile said.

“Don’t worry, I don’t think you can be sick in this game.” Ana said reassuringly.

“Come, let’s get back to the car. Let’s move.”

As they were walking back to the car, Ana tapped Luca on his shoulder and whispered,

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, why?”

“I mean, you just made a guy's head explode and it didn’t touch you.”

He turned to her and put his hands on her shoulders, “It’s just a game Ana, it’s just graphics. We can’t be phased by what makes us win this game.”

She nodded her agreement, and apologized.

“No, don’t apologize. You will get used to it.”

Arriving at the car, Emile got in the driver's seat and Luca got into the passenger seat, he looked up at the timer. A new number has appeared.

6:05:32. 472/749

“Do any of you know how we are going to find Isabel? I am assuming she will be shown on the map like the Katana in the real game.” Carlos asked.

“Yes, that is what I assumed as well.” Ana replied.

Carlos pulled away with screeching tires and drove into the forest. They drove towards the tall mountains which towered out above the forest. Once they were deep enough, Luca asked Carlos to stop and the four of the clambered out of the car.

“We can rest here. I need to look at the map.” He opened his interface and saw there is a village far north called Sinari. “What if they put Isabel in Sinari and want us to travel the long way down?”

“Could be, but that would take hours Luca.” Emile said.

“Okay, but it's not necessarily one team who will have control of her the entirety of the journey. I think we need to set up and ambush and wait. I think that is the game plan for the dean. To give us a realistic feel for how it is going to go down.”

They sat quietly, each in their own mind about how this whole thing could go down.

Ana came to sit next to Luca but said nothing. “Ana, why were you nice to me on the bus?”

“To be honest… You looked like shit. Like you needed a smile.” She laughed. Her so very beautiful laugh.

“Ah I see. So it wasn’t my hot looks.” He winked at her.

“Definitely not,” she laughed even harder.

He lost himself in her blue squinted eyes as she laughed.

“What's the laughing about?” Carlos called out to them.

“Nothing serious,” Ana said back to which he snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Well Ana, thank you.”

“It's my pleasure Luca.”

They laid back on the forest floor and looked at the clouds in the sky, watching the clock tick down.

5:30:00… 5:00:00… 4:30:00…

“Alright I am getting bored guys, I am going to walk around and see what's going on here.” Emile got up and started walking to the underbrush.

“Alright, just yell out if something happens, alright?” Luca said.

“Yep! I’ll be fine.”

They sat with Carlos waiting for something when Emile came walking through the underbrush. But he was not alone. A figure was standing behind him, with a rifle aimed at his head.

“Well, well, well look what we have here.” Jose.

Around them, more players appeared from the trees and he counted 6 of them. They all had firearms.

“It looks like you boys and girls are outnumbered,” Jose continued.

“Look, Jose let’s talk this out, alright?” Luca’s mind was grinding gears as he was looking for a solution. But he could not see his team escape from this alive.

“Jose…” Ana started walking towards Jose. A loud bang sounded and Luca saw Ana’s head disappear in a cloud of red mist from the large caliber rifle.

“No!” Luca stormed one of the other players and he felt burning bullets go through his body.

Suddenly he was whirled back to reality, sitting on the athletic field. “No! Not like that!” He raged. “Emile, why did you have to walk away from the group! Couldn’t you just sit on your ass for a few more minutes?!” He yelled as he saw Emile starting to move and coming back. “I am supposed to feed my mother and sister! You just took food out of their mouths!”

Luca could feel the anger overflowing, he wasn’t necessarily mad at Emile, he just couldn’t stand the embarrassment of dying to Jose. Ana rushed in front of him pushing him lightly against his shoulders.

“Luca, look at me!” She shouted in his face. “It’s not his fault! It’s nobody's fault, okay? Just relax.”

“Relax Ana? My mother and sister will die of hunger if I don’t make this work. Do you understand that? Anybody who gets in the way is stopping me from feeding my family. Who am I kidding, you probably don’t even know what it feels like being hungry! You’ll never understand!” He pushed past her and Emile braced for a hit. But he kept walking straight to the entrance to the academy's building. How will I beat the world if I don’t even have a team? It's ruined. I am going to have to work in a factory.

He stormed into his room and slammed the door shut behind him. Just as he took his shoes off to lay on his bed, the intercom sounded in the hallway.

Luca, please make your way to the Dean's office.

Emile and Ana probably went to complain about his outburst and now he is getting kicked off the team. Useless. We are all useless! He thought.

When he arrived at the Dean’s office, he was surprised to find himself standing alone at the door. He knocked twice and the door opened. Alfonso and the Dean were waiting for him.

“The competition is still going on but I saw what happened out there and want to talk to you. Please, have a seat.” He motioned to an empty seat next to Alfonso opposite the desk.

“Luca, like I told you I know what you have been through. Your fellow students have all been through their own hardships and have their own, valid, reasons to be here and to make a success out of this. Everyone here knows this is their chance at becoming more than life in the mega factories. Now is not the right time to make enemies, but see it as a way to strengthen your bonds. You have a week left, and if you have another outburst on your teammates I will have to make you leave the academy. I can’t allow you to jeopardize this for the rest of us. Am I clear? Get your emotions in check and figure out a winning plan.”

Luca had nothing to say. Everything the dean was telling him was true. He wasn’t the only one there to change his life. Everyone had a chance to change their lives. “Yes sir.” was all he could get out.

By the time he entered the food hall again the competition had finished and most students had made their way inside, sitting with their teammates to have a debrief.

Jose came in carried by his teammates. Word got around in the end he shot his friends when they were the final ones left, after he had promised to split the money with them. Everyone applauded when he walked in. Luca saw Ana and Carlos sitting alone at a table, and further to the right Turner and Emile. He went to sit alone at a table which had a good view of the dean who had followed him to the food hall.

“Welcome everyone, settle down.” The dean said. “Firstly and most importantly, well done to Jose for winning the first interacademy tournament.” There were whoops from the crowd, the loudest ones from his own table of course. “Jose and his team found Isabel and brought to Reander safely, taking no losses for his team and successfully completing the mission. Well done.” There was another applause. “I am sure everyone has had a lot of training and practice now. As much as we could possibly fit into this program. The final 5 days before the competition will be off days and you will be allowed into the world at any time with no death limits. Use it wisely. I am very proud of all of you for what you have become and achieved in these 2 months. Remember always, it is not over until your time is up. We have prepared a feast for you all. Enjoy it, and get a good rest in, because tomorrow begins the countdown to the tournament.”