"Hey there, 82," I remarked with a smirk as I landed in front of the brown-haired man, promptly taking a step back to dodge a punch shot at me out of reflex.

It had taken me an entire day to find 82, and it involved beating up and interrogating many game contestants to find his traces.

And some of them had been stubborn, to say the least, as evidenced by the five new badges in my inventory, but I digress.

"What do you want, 69?" the man asked with a frown, taking a step back himself while staring at me in obvious suspicion. "Relax, I'm not here to make trouble," I said in a pacifying tone, raising my hands and causing him to grunt with a nod.

"What do you want?" he asked in a much milder tone, but he kept his guard, seemingly still suspicious about my intentions. "I'm here to make you an offer," I replied with a smile as I found myself a rusted chair, taking a seat and facing 82 again.

Number 82 didn't reply, merely staring at me and waiting for me to keep talking, and I obliged. "I have a little group going in the city's outskirts, and I want to offer a place for you to join too," I remarked as I reclined back into the chair, trying and failing to make myself comfortable.

"It comes with all the supplies and a safe place for you to run back into," I offered with a shrug, finally giving up on the impossible task of making myself comfortable on this rusted chair.

"The first stage of the greed games is almost over, so I don't see any benefit in joining this group of yours," number 82 replied with a dismissive shake of his head.

I didn't reply, merely smiling while waiting for him to speak, as I knew he had more to say. "And besides, there will only be one winner in this game, and I plan to be that winner, so I don't see how joining forces with my competition would be helpful for me," he concluded with a neutral expression.

"Well, I can't argue with that, but...," I remarked, trailing off at the end of my sentence, which caused him to raise an eyebrow while gesturing for me to keep going.

"What if the group I'm making isn't for the game but for what comes after it?" I asked with a smirk, pausing for a second to let my words sink in number 82's head.

"And what does that mean, exactly?" number 82 asked with a frown, seemingly confused by my remark.

"There won't be a winner, and the greed games will most likely not even reach the last stage," I explained in a severe tone, causing his confused frown to become more pronounced.

"It looks like the OWR are going to interfere in the game, and they're even sending the Deterrent," I replied, smiling at 82's a shocked expression that more than likely matched my own when I first heard about this news.

"Are you sure about this?" number 82 asked after several seconds of silence he used to gather his bearing, looking back at me with a glare.

"Not really," I replied with a shrug of my shoulders, causing number 82's glare to intensify as his eyes began twitching in annoyance.

"The person who told me this info isn't exactly trustworthy, but his words line with some info I got from people with no reason to lie to me," I added with a smile as I noticed his eyes stop twitching.

"So there's a high possibility of OWR raiding the game," I concluded, turning into a much more severe attitude while waiting for him to for a reply.

"So you're asking me to join your group based on some vague info you pieced together?" Number 82 asked with a bemused smile, raising an eyebrow.

"I am," I replied with a smile. "The game master called us outcasts with no futures here, and he wasn't wrong for the most part, but we don't have to stay that way forever, do we?" I asked in a deliberately provoking tone.

"This little group of mine could be your, no, our chance to change our futures for the better," I added with a clenched fist. "It's a chance for us to be part of something where we belong, with people that share similar circumstances," I added as I stood up with a grave expression.

"So, how about it? Do you want to let the game master's words define you for the rest of your life, or do you want to prove him wrong?" I asked while maintaining eye contact as I made my way to stand in front of him.

"What happens if the game doesn't stop?" number 82 asked with a neutral expression as he stood, to be on the same eye level as me. "It will never be too late to resume killing each other if that happens!" I replied with a shrug, extending my hand towards him, asking for a handshake.

"So be it," number 82 replied with a nod, after several seconds of thoughts, grasping my hand and shaking it firmly. "You've made a wise choice today, number 82!" I replied with a smile as I shook his hand.

"I certainly hope so, and it's Vilhelm," number 82, no Vilhelm, remarked with a nod. "Vilhelm Einar," he concluded as he let go of my hand.

"Kaden Solomon," I replied with a nod. "Now, let's get out of here and see if we can find number 99 and number 234 too," I added with a smile as I walked past Vilhelm towards the exit, gesturing for him to follow me.

...

Several more have passed since I finally found Vilhelm, and I've only had time to find number 234, whose name turned out to be Arden Augustine. And I convinced him to join relatively simply compared to Vilhelm, as he didn't care for much other than fighting.

I, unfortunately, couldn't find number 99 despite my best efforts to do so, and we had to go back to my base on the city's outskirts because today marks the end of the greed games' first stage, but I digress.

Clark, Vilhelm, Arden, and I were currently sitting inside a refurbished house inside my safe area along with Billy, who was making himself busy by playing with the toy train I got for him as we waited for the first stage to end.

"How do you think we'll know when the first stage ends?" Arden asked as he sat on the ground cross-legged, using a rag to clean his axes. "You've met the game master, Kaden. How do you think this will go?" he asked again as he turned to look at me.

"I didn't exactly have the luxury of studying the guy then," I replied with a sigh as I remembered my brief meeting with that damned clown.

"The guy might look ridiculous in the holographs, but you'll never know how dangerous he is unless you see him face to face," I added with a shake of my head.

"Still, considering the guy's flair for the dramatics, I'm sure he'll do it in an over-the-top manner," I concluded with a careless shrug, not really interested in the subject to think about it any further.

"It doesn't matter, either way," Vilhelm said with an annoyed grunt as he turned to look at Arden. "More importantly-" he went on to say something else, but the announcer's loud voice interrupted him.

"Attention to all players!" the announcer remarked in his usual cheerful tone. "The first stage of the greed game is now finally over!" he added as a holograph showing unsuspecting undead creatures igniting in flame and turning to ash appeared in the sky.

"Now, before I announce the date of the second stage of the games and its nature, a word from the game master himself first!" the announcer stated in an excited tone, going quiet as the holograph changed to show the game master.

"Hello, my dear contestants!" the game master exclaimed with arms spread as if he was asking for a hug. "The game first started with over 2500 contestants, but now only 658 remain!" he stated while shaking his head in disapproval.

"And what do you know?" he remarked as a piece of paper materialized in his hand. "Contestants killing each other have resulted in more than seventy percent of the casualties instead of the undead creatures!" he stated with a mocking, sad sigh.

"I wonder what that says about you, my dear contestants, as human beings, eh?" he asked in a disappointed tone, shaking his head again.

"Maybe I'm actually doing humanity a favor by having you people kill each other?" he questioned while tilting his head to the side. "Oh, I'm just kidding with you!" he said with a loud laugh.

"Anyway, congratulations for surviving so far, oh scum of society!" the game master remarked as he reverted to his cheerful attitude. "The second stage will begin after a week from now, so enjoy yourselves during this break while you still can. Bye-bye," he concluded, waving his hand and disappearing.