Hundreds of people could be seen being teleported in. Men and women of all ages could be seen appearing out of thin air. There were children, elderly, young people, and adults all across the age spectrum. Many reacted with confusion and fear at the unnatural situation. Few reacted with anger and hostility at the others, believing that they were the reason for them being brought here. But none of them truly understood why all this was happening.

Some were brought dressed in their pajamas, work clothes, school uniforms, or nothing at all! For the men and women who were brought without any clothes, a few men spared them some of their extra clothes if they had any. Some dignity needed to be saved, plus there were children here too. If they could help it, no one would want the children looking at naked men and women.

There were around 200 or so people brought to the edge of this forest. Some people tried leaving the big group but only found themselves running into a red barrier. A group formed near the barrier to find ways of shattering it or trying to understand what it was. The only outcome that group could come to was that it was unbreakable and definitely magical in some way. An entire collective push with more than a dozen people wasn’t enough to do anything to it.

“What the fuck is going on here?!” A man dressed in a thick coat with a scruffy beard shouted.

In his hand was a helpless businessman being raised off the ground by both of his hands. The businessman was obviously frightened by the man. He was just as confused as he was but he wasn’t getting angry at people and harassing others. What was this guy’s problem?

“Hey, let me go!” The businessman yelled.

“Yeah. Let him go, pal. He ain’t do nothing wrong.” Someone else came over.

“What’s your issue? We’re all in this together and you want start fights? Put him down.” Another came.

The angry gentlemen released the businessman once he realized the crowd was painting him as a bad guy. Businessman dusted his suit off and glared at the man. Those nearby all put their guards up against the violent man. They surely wouldn’t spare any kindness towards someone like him that reacts so explosively. He could be a danger to them all if he could just blow up at somebody just because he was mad.

“I’m... sorry.“ Scruffy tried to salvage the situation.

No one would want to be disliked and looked at with such judgmental looks by so many people. But their opinions were already formed and he was singled out as an outcast to those that saw him. They would spare little goodwill for a man like that. Especially in a confusing situation like this where they needed to stick together.

In the northern part of the transported people, there was an abundance of children focused in that section. Far more kids than in any other part of the group. It was obvious to any of the men and women there that the kids were over there for some reason. Everyone could tell the difference once the groups started to form. Some preferred to join up with those of the same race as them, others same gender, and a few even decided to be alone.

The reason why the children found themselves drawn to the northern part of the big group was because of a certain character. This character was someone that the children felt that they could put their trust into. A figure that made many of the adults uncomfortable and question if they were sane or not. But considering how they made the children feel safe, there wasn’t that many people that had a problem with them.

They were an incredibly cute Axolotl mascot. Her skin was bright pink with 3 protruding fin-like things on the side of her head and a fish tail that matched her skin. For her clothes, she wore a stylish yellow hoodie, a yellow cap and bright blue shorts that only made her look even cuter. The children couldn’t get enough of her as she happily distracted them from the scary and confusing situation they were in. She danced, played, and talked with them to keep their minds off what was happening.

“Don’t worry kids! There’s nothing to be scared of as long as we’re together! With friendship, teamwork, and kindness, anything is possible!” The mascot character cheered in a high-pitched feminine voice. The children gave their full trust in Axol.

But behind the costume, the real character was gaining an understanding for the situation they were placed in. They didn’t know if they were the first person or the only person to realize that this situation was anything but natural. In fact, they were already using the situation to benefit themselves and explore what this place really was. There was something at the corner of their eye that they would’ve missed if it wasn’t for what one of the children told them earlier.

They quickly began experimenting the uses of this string skill. By placing their hand on their costume, they could choose to fill it up with their string or manipulate what was already inside their suit. The use of the skill came instinctive for them as they explored its possibilities from inside the suit. No one but themselves could see what they were doing. Unless one of the other humans were given a skill that allowed them to read minds or see through objects. If so, then they would have to quickly identify that individual. It would be useful to have someone like that around in a strange place like this.

As Axol continued to play and talk with the children, eventually something else happened. People stopped appearing and everyone could see a strange figure flying down from the sky. It had no wings but could fly without any issue. From what everyone could see, it resembled a goblin! A little green goblin with long ears and a pudgy belly dressed in a suit. He came down with a cup in his hand and smiled at them.

“Hey what the hell is going on here?!” One particularly brave man shouted.

The majority’s reaction to seeing a monster only seen in fiction flying down from the heavens were to shut up, watch it, and wait for it to say something.

“Oh... This batch has a few noteworthy Gamers.” He took another sip of his cup, completely ignoring the man.

Axol could feel the monster’s gaze momentarily meet hers. She stepped in front of the children and put up a brave front despite her shaking legs and fists. This made the children feel less scared knowing that someone like Axol was afraid too but not too afraid to protect them. If she could stand up to that person even though she was scared then they could too.

“Hello!? Do you want to explain why you kidnapped all of us!? Why are we here!?” The man did not like being ignored and only shouted louder.

“I’m sure you all are confused about your current circumstances and that’s understandable. Something like this is a first for your kind. I’m your Escort. My purpose is to explain to you why you all are here and your goal moving forward.” He finally reached a few inches from the ground.

“About time...” The loud man grumbled.

“You are all here to bring entertainment for the Developers watching. You must make through the scenarios that they have created while providing them entertainment. If they aren’t entertained, then they will ask me to find ways to spice things up. An experience that none of you should look forward too.” He explained.

Many people disliked this reasoning. Being taken to some strange place just to perform like monkeys for some people? No way they could accept such a thing. First, they were kidnapped and now they were about to be used like slaves or toys? What was next?!

“It sounds like more than a few of you aren’t too pleased about this. Ah, I forgot to tell you what you got out of this. While your concerns are only important to yourselves, I guess it wouldn’t be too much to tell you what you get out of making sure the Developers are entertained. In exchange for being our Gamers, you will gain abilities beyond your wildest dreams! If you work hard enough, you could reach heights that no human has ever reached before. If you’re lucky enough, you could gain enough wealth to buy anything you please!”

“What is this bullshit? What do I care about crap like that? Just send me back home.” The guy from earlier scoffed. He obviously didn’t believe the gremlin’s words.

“To get back to Earth, all you need to do is make it through all the Developers’ stages or find a treasure that could send you back. But before I drop that barrier and send you all on your way, it wouldn’t be quite as entertaining if I don’t allow you all to arm yourselves.” With a snap of his finger, objects began dropping out of the sky.

Swords, bows and arrows, axes, daggers, knives, staves, spears, and more fell from the sky. It seemed that most people preferred long ranged weapons. Very few people picked up bows and arrows as the average person wouldn’t know how to properly shoot one of the things. The most sought after weapon was the spear or any other similar polearm. People figured that it was safer than using a sword or axe as you could protect yourself from a distance with them. With a sword, axe, knife, or dagger you’d need to be up close with whatever is trying to hurt you.

Many of the children asked Axol which weapon they should get. She herself picked up a flag with a sharpened tip on the top and bottom. Axol brought the children over to a more secluded area and crouched down low with them. As if she was about to tell the children a big secret that nobody but them could hear. Which was true as she asked the children to tell them about their skills after informing them about the small dot on the corner of their eyes. The first child that came towards her had a trait that was quite useful. It was called Intuition and that skill is what brought them to Axol in the first place. They said they had a feeling that sticking close to them would be the safest. And when one child came, the others followed.

“Mine is Fire Bullet.” One boy whispered.

“Intuition.” A girl spoke quietly.

“Mine says Cleanse. I can clean dirty things.” A boy shared in a hushed boy.

The person inside Axol carefully noted which child had what ability. There were more than 20 children in total at the start but as time went on that lowered down to 4. They split off with different groups and Axol didn’t stop them. She told them to do what their heart tells them and to be safe. Leaving them off on a happy note so that they didn’t feel guilty for leaving the other children or Axol.

“I can grow things.” Another girl added.

“My super special power is this!” A clutter of white strings flew from Axol’s hands, making 3 of the kids audibly awe at the sight of it and the 4th one’s eyes widen.

“That’s amazing Axol!”

“It’s so pretty.”

“Hmm hmm.” Axol proudly nodded her head at the compliments.

Many of the others saw Axol’s miraculous ability and quickly rushed over. They began demanding that she explained herself and what she just did. Axol was getting overwhelmed by the amount of people that came over yelling. But before they could question her, the goblin from before snapped his finger and the barrier disappeared. Beyond the barrier were a pack of wolves that saw them a group of easy prey just sitting in front of them. The wolves rushed towards the people and everyone began to panic and flee.

“Remember to make things entertaining! Bye bye now. We’ll be watching.” The goblin soon disappeared, leaving them completely on their own to deal with the incoming dogs.

“Axol...” The children frighten hid behind her once they saw the adults running away.

“Remember what I told you guys. If we work together, we can do anything!” Axol said while shivering.

A few of the groups understood that running in the same direction wasn’t helping anyone. So the huge group split off into 3 different directions. Straight, to the left, and to the right. Axol and the kids headed to the left with some other people. Meaning that they only had to deal with a small portion of the wolf pack as a majority of them headed straight. But this small portion was still not something that gave people courage to face the wolves head on.

The human inside Axol knew that the children wouldn’t nearly be fast enough to run away from the wolves. It looks like they would have to deal with this personally. They didn’t have nearly enough strength to pick up the children and run away. Nor did they think that there was enough room to actually carry all the children on their shoulders.

‘We’ll have to test this sooner than planned.’

‘No matter. We’ve researched this enough back on Earth. Nothing should go wrong.’

‘I guess we should thank the thousands of cartoons we watched and thousands of comic books we’ve read for this idea.’

‘The average person would have no idea how to properly use an ability like this.’

‘They’d probably consider it one of the worst powers of all.’

‘Better for us if others to look down on us. It allows us to grow unhindered while they underestimate us.’

A wolf came straight for Axol and the kids. Axol held out her flag and prepared herself to attack. The wolf leapt towards her with its front claws stretched out and mouth wide open. And that was when Axol attacked! She thrust her banner’s sharpened tip forward straight into the wolf’s gaping jaw. It yelped and choked as Axol forced her weapon down its throat. But the wolf wasn’t alone, there was another one coming towards the children while she was busy dealing with the wolf.

‘This isn’t good.’

‘We need more time.’ Axol’s hand was placed on the choking wolf’s body.

“Axol!” The children cried.

“Here I come!” Axol was about to pull her flag free before a wave of fire in the shape of a bullet flew past her and penetrated into the leg of the other wolf.

Another one sounded out but that one missed. Thankfully, it gave Axol enough time to do what she needed to do. The boy named Kane was the one who fired that fireball. Looking at him now, it looked like two Flame Bullets was his limit. He could barely stand without the support of the other boy, Franklin.

“And I brought us a friend!” Axol came charging towards the injured second wolf with the first wolf running alongside her.

“Get him boy!” She yelled pointing at the second wolf.

The wolf seemingly listened to her instructions and tackled the other wolf. It forced itself on top of the other one and sunk its teeth into its throat before violently shaking its head. Only one of the children could manage to watch the grisly sight but they rapidly turned pale and hung onto Axol’s suit with their hand.

‘This one isn’t like the others...’

‘Her life back on Earth must not have been easy if she could stomach something as brutal as this.’

‘Even we feel like averting our eyes and covering our ears despite playing so many violent games.’

‘Sights like this must be the norm if the Escort was willing to do something like this.’

‘We must prepare ourselves for a brutal death game.’

‘And we’re stuck with children. Haha...’

‘At least it's better than that hellish life we lived before.’

‘Anything is better than returning to that.’

The tamed wolf came over to them after killing the other wolf. Axol calmed the terrified children by showing them that it was now friendly and their friend by petting it and having it do tricks. It still didn’t help the innate fear the children felt at the dog-like beast that was larger than them and could easily sink its sharp dagger-like teeth into their soft skin while it was covered in blood. But Axol managed to have each child give the dog a pet on the head to somewhat soothe their nerves around it. She obviously went first to calm their fears: rubbing his belly, having him lick her face, and even struggling to pick him up like a baby.

“What are we going to name him?” Maria, the girl who could grow things asked.

“Hmm...” Axol placed her hand on her chin and stroked it as she was thinking deeply. “How about Beary!?”

“Beary?!” The kids questioned.

“Pretty good name, isn’t it?” Axol felt that her naming choice was very fitting.

“What about Max?” Franklin, the boy with the cleanse skill, suggested.

“Rex...” Sofia quietly added.

“I like Rex...” Kane was still tired from earlier.

“Okay. We’ll call him Rex then!” Axol exclaimed as Rex barked. His deep bark caused the children to jump in fright before they soon started laughing together.

“Let’s move out guys! We have to finish these stages and get back home!” Axol took the lead with her flag and raised it above her head, swinging it from left to right.

“Yes!” They followed behind her with Rex on the side of Axol.