The person revealed himself soon after my furious shout. The bush shaked slightly, as a graceful figure crawled out of it. The figure was.....a women with fair skin. Alot of skin. She was wearing a makeshift skirt and brassiere, made seemingly out of leaves and held together meticulously by sticks. The work put into making sure the clothing stayed intact was nothing short of impressive.
The women was breathtakingly beautiful, not just because of her figure, but because of her alluring facial features and tantalizing lips — that was a bit dry from not having drank water in awhile. She had gem-like ruby eyes and disheveled long blond hair. Everything about her spoke of a princess of every man's dream — however....
"You! Do you have any food? I'm starving to death out here! If you don't, I might just eat you!"
That women had an attitude. A very nasty one, at that.
"No....no, I don't."
I replied after lingering for awhile, catching myself staring at her for longer than necessary. It's not everyday I get to meet such a beauty, but that attitude really turned me off. Especially when she said that she will eat him as a threat.
"You're gonna eat me?"
I grip my spear tighter and stand up, getting into a defensive position. This women, without a doubt, is also part of the Mulligan. Thus, I will have to kill her sooner or later. But am i capable of doing so?
I haven't really thought about it. I never murdered someone, yet this game is forcing me to do exactly that. Will I be able to? To take the life of another human being without any hesitation to protect my own self interests? Or will I hesitate and spell my own doom, instead? Right now, I feel like I'm being put to the test. To see if I'm really Worthy of participating in The Mulligan.
The women raised an elegant brow, then her expression showed a hint of fear.
"I–I was just kidding! Dammit, are all guys so serious?"
She sighed and ran a hand through her blond hair in exasperation.
"Listen, just.....can I stay with you for a bit? It's cold out there and i have no way to really defend myself. In fact, I was literally running away from a tiger just now."
That made me lower my guard a little, but I still didn't trust her. This was too good to be true. How did I end up meeting someone this soon? On the first day, no less? But at the same time, having someone around could make things easier. I was planning on exploring later, as well. To go find water and hunt for food tomorrow. She seems good with her hands too— she can help with building a camp for us to stay at, or crafting much more comfortable garments to wear.
In the end, it might be the right choice to just....agree to her request. For now. I'll have to observe her closely.
"....Sure."
The women seemed pleased by the answer, but she was still hesitating to get closer. Shifting from a leg to another uncomfortably, she asked.
"Uh, thanks. My name is Isabella, by the way. What's your name?"
I was taken aback, surprised by the sudden introductions. But I didn't want to be impolite, so...
"You're welcome. Im Morgan. It's nice to make acquaintance, Isabella."
Is that how the nobles say it?
Isabella smiled and nodded her head. She still seemed to be hesitating for some reason, so I spoke up.
"So.....you are also a player?"
I settled down on the ground, leaning my back against the fallen trunk of the Ancient tree covered in moss. My hand was of course still gripping my spear, but my posture was more or so relaxed.
Isabella lingered for a moment, but nodded her head. Walking closer, she slowly sat down across from me, the fire crackling between us.
"I am player 9,887,678."
Her eyes seemed fixed on something infront of her which I couldn't see. I assumed it was the Screen. So, only the Player could see their own screen. Interesting, but it also made sense.
"I am player 40,345,678."
Isabella seemed surprised by the large number, but then schooled her expression back to normal.
"I see...."
Then, she fell silent.
I was already thinking about something else. Now that she has brought up the player numbers....
"Wait a minute...."
I concentrated and summoned my screen, examining my stats for a moment I nodded and then turned my gaze above my avatar, where the Player Counter was. Just as he expected....
Player Counter: 105,678,149.
Kill count: 0.
More than 13 million have died already and it hasn't even been a full day since the start of The Mulligan yet. What happend? This isn't normal. If it continues at this rate, The Mulligan might just be over before the end of this week. That makes no sense! How can it end so quickly?
There has to be something missing....
Noticing my very serious frown, Isabella titled her head to the side and inquired curiously.
"Whats the matter?"
I snapped out of my thoughts and dismissed the Screen, before facing her.
"More than 13 million people have died. Check the Player Counter. How is this possible?"
Isabella seemed stunned, but then grew confused.
"You don't know?"
I raised an eyebrow.
"What do I not know?"
She sighed.
"Everyone who participates in The Mulligan are those who died within the same hour. Each animal, plant, insect and....human you see died within the same hour."
I was stunned by this new information. Hold on, how does she know so much anyway? Before I could ask, she continued.
"This naturally results in many elderly and even sometimes newborns being forced to participate in The Mulligan. While others, who committed suicide without desiring a second chance, just give up and commit suicide twice. This is why so many people die so quickly within the first few hours of The Mulligan. The overseer doesn't discriminate when choosing it's players."
I was left with my mouth agape at the information, but I couldn't deny it. It made sense. Way too much sense. So stunned by the information, I even momentarily forgot to ask how she learned all this, but I regained my composure.
".....How do you know all of this?"
She scoffed.
"Are you this naive? You got pushed into The Mulligan without knowing anything? To answer your question, I have family in the government and have access to very classified information!"
I narrowed my eyes in irritation.
"Oh yeah? Which government?"
Isabella was silent, but then rolled her eyes and dodged the question.
"Anyways, what happend to you? You look like a walking corpse. Worse than me."
I looked down at myself and suddenly felt a little embarrassed. Indeed. I was a little frail and thin. Maybe a bit too much. But that's really just the consequences of being a former tramp.
"Ah, well....I ended up summoned here. Right on this tree trunk."
I patted the fallen tree trunk behind me.
"I walked around for a bit and explored the area. I didn't find anything interesting though. So, I eventually decided to just make camp here. Unfortunately.....I may just die of starvation and thirst soon. We both might, if we don't solve this problem."
Isabella nodded, biting her lower lip. Prompting me to ask.
"What about you? Where were you sent?"
She glanced back at where she came from and said.
"I was summoned near a lake east from here. It sustained me with fresh water for awhile, but....I neglected creating weapons to protect myself first and me lighting a fire just attracted the predators hiding in the darkness. So, I ran and ran until, well, I saw light and found you."
I nodded thoughtfully. This was good information. It meant that we can find freshwater. Tomorrow, atleast. Now water itself doesn't seem to be a problem. Next will be hunting. I will have to handle that, since I have a weapon at hand already and my Blessing is very well-suited for combat. Now that I think about it, could there be all kinds of blessings? Ones suited for combat, others for healing or scouting.....like that.
I wanted to ask what her blessing might be, but I stopped myself. There is no way she will reveal her secrets yet. We barely know each other and not to mention, we will have to kill each other later to survive in The Mulligan.
"You do realize that.....we have to kill each other? This battle royal isn't duo."
I asked, staring at her intently. Isabella didn't seem bothered. She just shrugged and responded nonchalantly.
"So? We will kill each other later. For now, we need each other, don't we? Let's put our murderous intent aside and work together. That's the only way we can survive."
Makes sense. If she asked me the same question, I would of probably gave the same answer. Now, for the last question....
"Uh, do you know how to use Blessing we recieve? It's abilities?"
Isabella stared at him strangely for a moment, before breaking into a giggle.
"Oh, you! You really don't know anything, do you? Sure. I can teach you how to use the Blessings abilities, but for now.....im exhausted. All I wanna do is lie down and sleep."
I was surprised by the answer and a little irked. But I nodded my head. I wasn't really in any position to make demands at the moment. No, wasn't I? I could easily threaten her....
Am I intimidating enough for it, though?
Nah. Definitely not.
"You're really just gonna sleep?"
Isabella relaxed back against a rock and shrugged lazily.
"Duh. Who cares if you attack or kill me in my asleep? I don't really have much of a choice, you know."
I raised an eyebrow.
"What if I do something worse than just killing you?"
Even though I wouldn't do such a thing. I was surprised by her lack of concern regarding this.
Isabella seemed stunned for a moment, but then sighed.
"It is what it is, I guess. Anyways, can you stop with the absurd amount of questions? It's starting to irritate me, seriously."
I shut my mouth and watch as Isabella leaned against the rock, getting comfortable.
"Goodnight!"
Then, her eyes shut close.
'What a peculiar women....'
I stare at her for a moment, before sighing and looking around. There has been no signs of any natural predators being attracted towards the fire, even so, I decided to stay awake and stand guard.
I may be able to kill her so easily at the moment, but for now, I'll.....I'll keep her alive. I need her to find the lake of freshwater. Once we reach it, I'll have to be ready for a battle. Even she must be planning something herself, no matter how helpless she tries to appear.
Needless to say, I still managed to learn alot from Isabella. If what she says is true, than this particular government knows more than it let's on and has deliberately hidden the existence of The Mulligan for an unkown reason. Maybe if I manage to get close to her, I'll be able to coax the answer out of her.
We will see in time.
For now, I should probably get some rest too....