I contemplated the notification in uncertainty.

Should I feel angry that once again they are undermining me, or happy that they are giving me more opportunities to become stronger...or scared...that my life is just entertainment for the crowd.

I sighed heavily and shrugged.

When I reach the top...it won't matter anymore.

"Now...umm...[Rankers]?...[System]?"

Light bulb moment.

"[Ranker system]."

Calculating...Calculating...Showing all individauls in [Rank System].

"Wait...Wait, just show the top 10." I don't think I want to see billions of names.

Top 10 individuals of the [Ranker System] [Rank 1] [Eric Romero] [Rank 2] [Wei Ling] [Rank 3] [Gedeon Vinogradov] [Rank 4] [Nagamine Kameko] [Rank 5] [Noah thorson] [Rank 6] [Abioye Adebimpe] [Rank 7] [Aarav Kumar] [Rank 8] [Zak Wells] [Rank 9] [Noé Plessis] [Rank 10] [Oskar Wilk]

I study the list with rising panic.

"Wait...I'm not in the top 10!"

"Okay...okay, I could just be [Rank 11]

[Rank 11] [Marcus Thomas]

"Shit. How?"

I flex my muscles and stare at my hand.

"Right now, I should be the strongest 17-year-old ever. About as strong as an above-average man who is better at martial arts than Bruce kee, Jackie fan, Muhammad Tali, and freaking Chuck Porris all put together."

"What is my [Rank]." I barked.

[Rank 110,869] [Felix Sumisu]

I slump to the ground in spiritual pain.

"Oh my God...I'm a mob character!"

"I'm not even in the top 100,000!"

"...Wait a second... people have already killed so many others."

I've already killed other people so I can't talk, but for someone to reach [Rank 1] while I'm [110,869], how many people do they have to kill?

"Jesus."

I sigh and rub my temples.

This makes things a lot harder for me. I thought this would be the end of me killing others

but this is just the beginning.

It's a bad thing to do, but it's a kill or be killed scenario. I can decide to be the predator or the prey, better to take advantage of the confusion and fear before people get over it and all the weak people are weeded out; only leaving the strong.

But I need a rule...something that separates me from the monsters out there.

After an extended period of thought, I came up with my rule -

To never kill someone before they attack or want to cause me harm. Only ever acting in self-defense.

"Okay...that should do it."

Congratulations! You have forged a [Iron rule]! You will always have to abide by this law and if you break it you will be subjected to [Divine Punishment]. In turn, if anyone wants to cause you harm (ill effect) in any way or form without your notice, [%] of the damage will be reflected back to the source.

A large thick "metal" chain appears out of thin air and wraps around me like a snake.I struggle and thrash around in it's grip; to no avail. It restricts my breathing and immobilises my muscles.

The chain tightens, breaking bone and causing me to go limb. It continues to tighten to a unimaginable degree...until finally, it restrains my very existence.

The chain "fades" out of reality and slips inside of my being.

I sink to the floor in confusion. There should be pain, but there is none. My bones should be broken but they are not.

"Well...that happened."

"Anyway..." I stand up and crack my knuckles.

-it's about time to go hunting."

The new notification can wait. I can't. I've been doing nothing for too long now, and have been falling behind.

I walk foward.

I fall into a slow jug.

I speed up.

I start into a fast sprint.

My tongue hangs out of my mouth and my eyes dialate.

[Acute mind] has been activated.

My ears twitch, detecting sound to the right.

I speed up.

"WOOOOHOOOOOH!!!"

I jump.

...

Time for a fight saga!