Chapter 20 - A Night Report

On Room #351, Alice was also reviewing her phone notifications inside her room.

Message [Midas]: “Player has completed 30 km, Awarded 90 Credits”

Message [Midas]: “Player has completed 50 km, Awarded 250 Credits”

Message [Midas]: “Player has completed 80 km, Awarded 640 Credits”

Message [Midas]: “Quest [Start your training] [4] Cleared, Player is rewarded with 1 Free Point”.

Message [Midas]: “Quest [Start your training] [5] Cleared, Player is rewarded with 1 Free Point”.

Message [Midas]: “Quest [Start your training] [6] Cleared, Player is rewarded with 1 Free Point”.

Karla evaluation of Alice is that she has very well balanced stats, however from now on she will be focusing on increasing her Dexterity first, instead of increasing her other stats, in other words, she is to increase her speed. Alice has agreed with Karla training plan that was being centered around her Dexterity stat, as such she had proceeded to run as fast as her legs would allow her and for as long as her body would last during her training, that’s how she managed to run more kilometers than Cyan, which focus was not only training his Dexterity but all of his stats.

Karla has also explained Alice the same topics that Karga has explained Cyan during his training, and even though she was surprised, she still didn’t waver in her commitment for growing stronger with each day, it was the opposite, now that she knows her wounds would heal without any problems she could run on the track without fear, after all, she was already committed into one direction, and right now what she wants the most is to grow stronger and go back to earth to find her family, but not only that, she also has Cyan to think about, which was also in the same situation as her, so showing any self-doubt would be a foolish thing for her to do.

In the end, after renewing her focus and reviewing her today progress due to the hard training, Alice lay down on her bed and entered a shared world of dreams, ending like so her long day.

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In another room that wasn’t available for Players, stood a lonely robot surrounded by monitors, the robot kept his two camera sensors fixed into two screens that were showing Alice and Cyan sleeping faces, this was because after the analysis has shown there was a relation between the two Players it took the decision to add Alice to the list of things to gather data on, in other words, Willy took the decision to look after Alice progress, this was because his orders are to keep observing Cyan and anything that could cause the pain anomaly to appear, and also help the Player, that also includes people around it.

A figure of a small girl appeared beside Willy, with silvery eyes and a cold gaze, after observing the monitors she asked for a report.

[Midas]: “Willy start with your report”

Willy didn’t know when, but Midas has also started to call him Willy, the name he was given by Cyan, Midas analysis probably has shown that the reaction speed of the robot was faster when it addressed directly using this name, or instead there was another reason for it, but whatever it was the reason, Willy still prefers to be called by a name.

Willy proceeded with his report, but it did not take too long for the robot to finish with his report, so far, nothing outside the parameters has been detected by the sensors or anything that would cause the pain anomaly to appear, however, there was still something the sensors had picked up.

[Midas]: “Player grows is outside the predictions”

Even though it can be considered as an anomaly, it was not the one Midas was looking for, however, being outside of the predictions was still as import as she could improve them for the future for better resources allocation, if she knew what Players would grow the most then she could raise them directly instead of wasting [Midas] limited resources.

Midas after reviewing the rest of the robot report, left without saying anything else, maybe because she never had turned her head to give a look at the robot, she never took notice that the robot was holding something inside its metallic hands, Willy kept staring the screens while holding a chip into his hands, this something he could not give directly to Cyan as a reward, even if he wanted to do so.

[… Tier 0 Skill]

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On Room #3, three people have gathered.

[Boss]: “Report”

Boss was asking Karla and Karga for their report of Cyan and Alice training progress, while he was inside Floor 8 he could not watch them train directly.

Karga took notice that his twin sister Karla was playing happily with her phone, probably she was messing with the kids again, so he decided to give his report first.

[Karga]: “Boss that kid progress is very fast, this should be his fourth day here but his stats already have started growing on his own, and as you know growing your stats it something that doesn’t happen until later, not to mention… he is an all stats, the same as you Boss”

Karla put her phone down when she heard that part out as she interrupted her brother’s report.

[Karla]: “Hey Karga are you sure that you didn’t make a mistake here? There is no way the newbie is the same as Boss”

Boss dismissed Karla comment and urged Karga to continue with his report, Karla went back to play with her phone.

[Karga]: “We used part of his Free Points to make all of his stats the same, making him respond better to the training, however, he still doesn’t have precise control over them, and actually… I think Boss should be the one to train the kid, I believe that in this way he would gain control over his stats sooner that if I trained him”

Karla could not help but interrupt Karga report again.

[Karla]: “Boss is too busy fighting in Floor 8 to take the time for training the newbie, that’s why we are the ones to do it, and now you want to give up?”

Karga could only massage his temples he knew this would happen.

[Karga]: “I know that, but that’s what my feelings are telling me, Boss should be the right person for training the kid”

Karga inner feelings, something that Boss could not simply ignore, unlike Karla that uses her brains to solve problems Karga uses his instincts, be that as it may, Boss is the one to make the final decision, the twins turned their heads to look into Boss direction in the waiting for his answer.

Boss thought for a moment and then he nodded to Karga evaluation, however...

[Boss]: “If he asks for it then I will train him”

Karga could only let out a sigh, even though Boss has not rejected the possibility, still, it was up to the kid now to decide his own future.

[Karga]: “Thank you, Boss”

Karla did not say anything else about this matter, after all, Boss has already come to a decision, and so Karla let her brother continue with his report.

[Karga]: “Then there is the matter about the kid unlocking Floor 8, and where he got the Credits for it; if we take everything into account it seems that…”

[Karla]: “Someone is helping him out, probably [Midas]”

Karla intervened for the second time stealing her brother thunder before returning to play with her phone, Karga could only groan in displeasure, but he left it be.

In the end, Boss gave his own opinion.

[Boss]: “There shouldn’t be any problem if that’s the case, for now, I will leave it up to you to figured out, together with his training”

[Karga]: “I understand Boss, I will double the training plan, no triple it! And I will not let you down, Boss”

[Boss]: “Just don’t be too hard with a kid”

Karga nodded.

[Boss]: “Karla”

It was Karla turn now, she put her phone down as her playing attitude faded away like the mist, and it was replaced by a serious expression because her playtime was over.

[Karla]: “Alice grow is also fast, but a bit slower than the newbie, however, she has better control over her own stats as her initial stats were high, she also had been running for school competitions giving her great Stamina, not to mention she run fast, her Dad is in the military and that contributed to her strong physical development, her mother it is a psychiatric and that contributed to her mental development, even when she is only sixteen, and it also helped with her strong commitment to the training, in conclusion, she is wonderful piece of material to work on”

Karla proudly boasted about Alice as she was her own daughter, however, Boss had to bring her down a notch here, because even though she was a good candidate for their unit, she has a flaw that was not a flaw that normal people would not think as one.

[Boss]: “She is too willing to sacrifice herself for other people”

Karla could only calm herself down; Boss was spot on in his observation.

[Karla]: “I think her mind is very strong, however, if we talk about her weakness, it would be without a doubt, she is too good”

If Alice was to be placed inside a room and give her a choice to save her own life or save other people’s life, Alice would pick saving other people’s lives without a second thought, that was what brought her into the Tower in the first place, and unlike Karla that was trained to pick the mission over everything else, this would only mean she would fail the recruitment process and never could have entered their unit.

Even so, Boss could not be too hard into a pair of kids.

[Boss]: “They are civils we shouldn’t…”

However, before the Boss could continue Karla interrupted him.

[Karla]: “Boss after we get out of the Tower, we all be Players, they are not kids or normal civils anymore, even so, those monsters at the World Government wouldn’t care either way, wasn’t that why we recruited them first? To protect them or for them to protect themselves? We can’t be soft on them”

The monsters Karla was talking about were actually people that would not hesitate to use children to protect themselves.

Boss could only let out a sigh, the barrier between a civil and a Player… they had already crossed it, and Players will become the human's defense force there was no doubt about it, but unlike them that entered as their mission, these two are kids that were dragged here, albeit under their own will.

Karla read throughout Boss thoughts so she continued to hammer down that Boss was being too soft in the heart.

[Karla]: “You can’t treat them like kids anymore Boss, they accepted the invitation to become Players, and even if they didn’t know the implications of that, they already have stopped being just kids and have become Players now, and even if there was a way out from being a Player that didn’t involucre’s killing or hurting another Player…, do you think they would accept it?”

[Boss]: “…”

[Karla]: “They are already too deep inside this mess, the whole world is”

Boss ended nodding at the end, Karla she was in the right, not that she wouldn’t have been, but Boss, he still saw them as just kids, the same type of kids he would see in a battlefield crying their eyes out not knowing what’s happening around them.

Karla could only let out a sigh; she more or less could guess what it was going through inside Boss mind because they both had been to same battlefields.

[Karla]: “I will also double her training”

Karla concluded with her report.

Boss nodded again saying he ok with it, now, it was time to show his report, as the leader of this unit he also needs to carry out a report to his subordinates.

Karga could not help but ask.

[Karga]: “Boss was there any progress in Floor 8?”

Boss show them a wicked smile, making Karla and Karga start smiling also with the same smile, this was something he could not show to the kids, yet.

[Boss]: “The monster weakness… there are two, their hearts and their brains, decapitating them works, burning them also, cutting it into pieces until nothing is connected to anything works, bleeding them to death also works, in short… we need to crush them until nothing is left moving, like that we can kill them”

Boss started to explain the anatomy of the monsters, and the best way to kill them, surprisingly, their anatomy is similar to humans but they moved in four legs and some of them have a tail, however, unlike normal humans, monsters could regrow almost anything back if you gave them enough time, organs or limbs, not even a Player could regrow a limb it could only be reattached it, this was to show how much of a menace the monsters are, and how superior they are to Players, the only good news was that they could not grow their brains nor their hearts back, meaning, that these two are its only two weak points, it was not much, but it was something, with this, the way Players fight, will now have to be centered around those two weak points.

Boss continues, even though they still can be killed, their skins were rough and tough, making it hard to cut with his knife, their bones were almost unbreakable for his hands, and they are fast and hard to catch up with his legs, not to mention, it was very hard to deal with them when they started cooperating with each other forming a pincer attack, and worse than that, was that, there is also stronger versions of the monster, an evolved creature that proved to be too much for Boss himself, and even when he managed to reach to round three, he was against only one monster again, but this monster, it was faster, it was tougher, and it was stronger than the ones before it, so far, Boss could not kill it, but the more he fought against it, the closer he gets, unlike his first battle where he was K.O in a mere second.

Be defense, speed, attack, or strategy, the monsters are on par with the top Player of the Tower, the only saving grace was, monster didn’t use any weapons or items a Player would use, nor that they need it to, instead, they use their shard teeth’s or claws that could cut a human in half, their tough skin as an armor that was hard to penetrate or cut, and their strong legs that could move fast and crush Players skulls, in resume, they were not in the need for items.

This level of information that Boss has brought with him was astonishing even for Karla and Karga, even so, this only got the twins blood start pumping from their hearts, they want to give it a try at Floor 8, they want to fight against those monster, and, they want to win, however, after they calmed their beating hearts from listening to Boss report, they both had realized something, Karga was the first that dare to ask.

[Karga]: “Right, Boss did the [Fighting Arena] provide you with any weapons? What you had been using on your fights against the monsters?”

Boss shook his head indicating the Arena has not given him any weapon, as for the second question, instead of answering, he took out from his inventory a mangle and almost unrecognizable knife, a bottle of gasoline, and an electric match, that was it, and nothing more, if Cyan was here he could see that the knife Boss was using has some resemblance to the knife Karga has used early that day, after all, everyone in the unit has the same knife with them, but Boss knife, it was thin out because it has been sharpened quite a lot of times, and right now, it could easily break if he used in the wrong way, as for the molotov cocktail, they have a few with them but not that many, so he could only use a few times for testing purposes but for the rest of the time he used his bare hands after fearing his knife would break.

The twins could only put a bitter smile because of their leader mad way of fighting, and to think Boss has been fighting like this against those monster all day long, using only this set of items and his bare hands, all the while, he was investigating their anatomy and trying to dissected them for searching their weak points, this was insane for anyone else to try, they would surely have died if they had tried to do this outside the Tower, but inside the [Training Tower], it was very hard to die during training, and so Boss could try to pull such a crazy stunt that nobody else would try to do outside and partially succeed, after all, crushing something to death with your hands can’t be called a full success.

Even so, Boss was not over.

[Boss]: “For tomorrow on, you two will be taking turns and enter the Floor with me for 4 hours, ask the kid for the [Ticket]’s”

[Karla]: “Boss we are not in such a hurry, also don’t forget that we also have to train the kids you know”

[Boss]: “…”

[Karga]: “Boss my sister is right, taking care of those two kids is very tiresome can’t we postpone for one week?”

Right now, they only have less than two weeks remaining to stay inside the Tower, postponing entering Floor 8 was not an option.

[Boss]: “…”

The twins could only brace themselves and draw a short straw to decide on their own whom will be the first voluntary to enter the cage and fight the lion with their bare hands, on this time, Karga had won but Karla used her privileges as the older sister making Karga be the first voluntary for entering the lion cage.

In the other hand, Boss could not understand what happened to his two most trusted subordinates, that were eager for entering the [Fighting Arena] just moments ago went, but he let it slide.

The twin soon returned but this time their faces were not that pale anymore.

[Karga]: “Boss shouldn’t we buying weapons and armors from the [Shop], now that, we don’t have to unlock the Floor 8 because the newbie did it for us?”

Just when Karga was losing all of his hopes, Karla reminded him that they were saving all their Credits for unlocking the Floor 8, but now that they did not have to use for that, they could use in the [Shop] to buy weapons and set of armors.

Boss thought for a moment and then he made his decision known.

[Boss]: “Next week”

For now, the twins will have to fight against the monsters for 4 hours using only a knife, for the rest of the week, Boss thought that, this way they would learn to better preserve their lives in the future, and, it was the best way of guidance for these two in how the monsters fight, without having to worry about swinging a weapon or firing a gun, even so, they still could buy pieces of equipment from the [Shop], it is just that they could not use them until next week.