The Earth After Rebirth

He was disorientated as he woke. The uproar in the arena didn't help the case, he felt his head was about to split in half if he dared to even move. But he dared, his hand raised to rub his eyes that seemed to be seeing in a blurred vision.

He rubbed them a lot, perfect vision only returned to one of his eyes. He looked around, he was surrounded by a mob of very unhappy players. All expressing their frustrations at the same time.

Most of them have played games similar to this one, and they've been part of guild wars before. The way these ones were held were nothing close to what they were used to.

They'd strategised according to their past information of other games, only to be halted by a long, impossible to climb wall. Telling them they knew nothing.

'What the hell happened anyway?' Kiro tried to search his mind to fill the blanks that had took residence in his mind. Nothing came to him.

Ding!

[You were enraged fighting the general Harbinger, you entered berserk mode, which I do not recommend for you to do again. It's a wonder that you can still move at all. Usually the penalty for using it is the character being suspended in the comatose state for quite some time.

What exactly are you, guardian? It seems like the penalty was all sent to your left eye, hence you can't see properly with it. It could be permanent or temporary, even I'm not sure.]

With the system filling in the pieces of the puzzle, he started to remember that he'd gone mad because he saw his best friend died. He got up quickly trying to find him, he felt weak. Combing through the crowd wasn't easy. But he did it.

He noticed them frantically looking for him around where the light had dropped them off. He tried calling out to them, but his voice totally failed him, the noise buried his voice completely.

With the little strength he had, he sent a little gust of wind to make them look where he was. It worked, they came rushing. Kiro fell on the chair nearby.

Ding!

[Don't push it guardian, just because you were able to survive berserk mode with a slap on the wrist doesn't mean you're in the clear now. You even unlocked a new skill, do you remember that?]

"Shut your filthy mouth and explain what the hell is this game? Why did you send us to a fight that you knew we were gonna lose? Just what are you?"

Ding!

[That's beyond my knowledge, this is a game and that was the guild wars. If you have questions, take it up to the people who created this world?]

"You sure are talkative all of a sudden? Everybody knows that the developers of this game never answer anyone, whether they be inane or serious complaints, it's like, they don't even care."

[...]

"Tsk."

Kiro sat there, feeling like there was definitely more to this. Two of the harbingers mentioned a Qamata, he didn't care about it the first time, but a second time meant that, this name meant something.

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He felt completely drained, he didn't have the time to explore the mysteries of this game. He had a society to fix and fight for. Now this, this mere game was making him think, cracking his skull as he did. He didn't like it at all.

The game wasn't like this in his past life, there no harbingers, not ones he knew of. Unless they appeared after his death. If that were the case, it should be another 7 years or so before they show themselves. So then, why were they there this early?

He pondered but no answers readily fell on his lap. His friends arrived just at the perfect time, he could feel himself, he was about to lose his mind, so the distraction was welcomed with open arms.

"Dude, you didn't tell us you could copy yourself? We watched the whole thing. You put up way more fight than when we were together." Jorge was more excited than the rest.

Kiro almost teared up as he saw his friend was safe and sound. He stopped himself from jumping him and embracing him with the tightest of hugs. This was when realised just how special Hiroto Misaki was to him. He was like a brother, no, he was a brother that was his age he never had.

Kiro didn't know what to say to Jorge's question and statement, so he just gave him a brief but warm smile.

"Master, you're truly my master, you were the last to return from the 99 guilds." Lyle said proudly.

"I'm just glad you guys are okay." He said, his eyes falling on Hiro for a lot longer, then to each of them.

They noticed he seemed weak, they wanted to pry and ask for more but they didn't want to tire him out. So they refrained from asking him what really happened, they had watched the match after all.

"Oh come on guys, you're gonna treat me like some kind of egg? I entered berserk mode, apparently a dangerous thing according to the system. That's also why I can't see anything from my left eye, considering I shouldn't be standing here and talking, I'd say I got off lightly." He explained.

He could tell that they were curious, so he laid it out for them. Not leaving a single detail from the skill he acquired and the fight, they also were more free to ask questions. He left out why he went into berserk mode though, this wasn't something he was comfortable letting them know. He wouldn't tell even Hiro.

For a moment there, this didn't feel like a game to him. He didn't know why he felt like that, he felt silly to have even considered that Hiro was really dead.

'I'm a bit dramatic, aren't I?' He chuckled.

The system didn't say anything until the players had their frustrations out of their system. They shouted into nothingness until they were tired that nothing was talking back to them.

The game wasn't unlocked either, the time for guild wars wasn't over yet, not until the victors were announced.

One by one, the players took their seats, exhausted. Kiro was sometimes amused by the way the system did things, it pretended it wasn't available for the tasks. But now that things were filling the blanks in his mind, he could see that the system had warned him away from entering berserk mode.

The sensation of not being in control was a peculiar one. He wasn't watching the battle or anything but he could feel it. He only remembers being chauffeured by an unknown entity that took his fighting into another level.

He didn't understand why the game didn't let players tap into that insane amount of power. It could be very helpful for those who could harness it.

Ding!

[It cannot be harnessed. This mode is very dangerous, as it doesn't only drain the mana of a character but also their life force. You were lucky to have only been penalised with an eye and 10 levels. 10 levels are a standard for any players. That's right guardian, you're no longer in the hundreds.]

Kiro clicked his tongue. He didn't know why the system seemed to always answer questions you don't ask directly. Just a moment ago, thousands of players were asking questions, not a single one of them got answers. It was kind of amusing.

His eyes unwillingly fell on Isla's face. She looked extremely furious like the rest. But unlike them she wasn't interested in saying anything.

Like she could feel someone staring at her, she turned around lightly and her eyes met with Kiro's. He smiled and waved at her, she rolled her eyes and focused in front of her.

Kiro let out a tired howl. She absolutely had no idea what he'd just gone through, if she had a clue, she would probably be making a bigger fuss out of it.

She was still a little mad, not just at the game for being so unfair. She was sure that they hadn't beaten Kiro's group. That's all she wanted, she didn't care if she was number one or not.

Ding!

[There were problems that weren't foreseen by even the developers. This guild wars was interrupted by something much, much sinister. Something that wasn't supposed to be part of the challenges.

This was a failure on our part. Alas. But, this, this is something that can't be redone. The guild wars can't be redone no matter what. Now that, that's out of the way, I'll announce the winners.]

Nobody argued, they all knew that, no matter what they said, they couldn't really change the decision the system had already made.

By lasting longer, thereby obtaining more information than most, After Dark and Chasing Madness were the undisputed winners. People didn't feel bitter about the win, they'd seen and watched their progress, they truly deserved the win.

While Isla had a big lump on her throat. She still made the decision to get up from where she sat and congratulate them properly.