Should he risk joining the fight and being voted on during the weekend?Or risk not fighting at all and possibly dying?...
...
Renas stopped and thought for a while before finally deciding.
He would go home and lock the door. If someone attacked him on the way, he'd fight back — otherwise, he wouldn't attack anyone.
Alright, the plan was set.
Renas began walking quickly, pulled his rifle off his back, and gripped it tightly.
Once it was in his hands, he picked up his pace and started running, passing through a few ongoing battles. No one followed him.
No one except one person.
A knight.
Clad in massive iron armor, dragging a huge sword along the ground with both hands — a medieval soldier of some kind. Strange, unreadable letters hovered above his head; they must have been his name.
Renas turned sharply, crouched down, and raised his rifle toward the knight.
BAM
The bullet pierced through the armor, wounding the knight's left shoulder. The scent of gunpowder and ash filled the air as smoke drifted from the rifle's barrel. Renas muttered under his breath, annoyed:
"Damn it, I should've taken more time to aim."
Then the knight spoke — his voice deep, almost terrifying.
"ŠaRuŋ XaR!!.. ŊuRaE..."
Renas, being from Earth, didn't understand a word. He didn't know what language it was, but clearly, this world wasn't translating it for him.
While the knight spoke, he advanced slowly — until the last word left his mouth, and then he lunged forward with all his might. It was dangerous, so dangerous that it forced Renas to use his signature ability.
Renas activated it.
A deafening bell sound echoed everywhere. Despite its sheer volume, not a single leaf stirred, not a window cracked.
Renas's eyes glowed with green light, and the whole world became wrapped in a vivid green aura. Time had stopped. He had to hurry — this wouldn't last forever.
He rushed forward and tried to remove the knight's helmet. It took several seconds, but he finally managed. The knight had long brown hair and was strikingly handsome, though his face was twisted with rage.
Renas tossed the helmet aside, then dove behind a fence.
3—2—1—Zero.
DRAAANNNNNNNN
The massive bell's echo burst outward like a volcanic eruption. The resulting wind was so fierce that parts of the fence Renas hid behind were torn away. The knight was blown backward, struggling to keep his footing. The green aura vanished, and color flooded back into the world.
The still, green world dispersed like a dream.
Tree branches broke. Grass scattered in every direction.
Windows across several buildings cracked.
The gust was brief — once it passed, it was gone. The knight looked around for about five seconds before spotting Renas among the broken fences.
He was about to charge again, sword raised high — but the bell rang once more. Time froze again. The green, still world returned.
Renas stood up from the grass where he'd been lying, discomfort written all over his face. He grabbed his rifle, now fixed with a bayonet.
He aimed at the knight's exposed neck. In frozen time, everything was solid — he couldn't move objects or attack directly, only reposition himself.
DRANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
The great bell rang again, its sound echoing through the entire town. When time resumed, the knight felt something at his neck. Then his vision shifted — his head was on the ground, and his body stood before him.
Moments later, it too collapsed.
Renas looked down at the fallen knight and noticed a large dagger tied to his belt. He took it.
He couldn't attack while time was stopped — a frustrating limitation — but he could still fight like this.
As he made his way home through streets filled with chaos, no one else stood in his path.
When he arrived, the first thing he did was order another pizza from the kitchen. He was exhausted.
That ability came with many weaknesses, such as:
It could only be used twice per day.
Each use left the user fatigued. For Renas, a third use would push him to collapse.
While time was frozen, everything — except him and his clothes — became immovable stone. It could only be used for repositioning, not killing.
zhink-zhink—
Renas barely managed to get off the couch and opened the door. A pizza box sat on the ground.
He picked it up and went back to the couch. Food was infinite here, so maybe if he just stayed home, everything would sort itself out.
He turned on the Dragon-Slaying Sandwich channel again.
"Maybe it's not that bad after all..."
he said, taking a bite of pizza and watching.
On the screen, a sandwich wielding a blue sword and clad in armor was battling a massive dragon.
Renas looked at the dragon and thought, That lizard doesn't deserve to be called a dragon. Compared to Meldora, this thing's just a gecko. I'm way better than this sandwich...
Then he suddenly shouted aloud:
"Wait, am I seriously comparing myself to a sandwich!?"
He sighed and looked gloomily at his pizza, then changed the channel again.
While Renas flipped through terrible TV programs, real chaos unfolded outside.
Groups were beginning to form. People from Village A were fleeing into the surrounding forest, creating new communities...
Then, a sort of screen appeared in front of Renas — holographic, glowing blue, like something straight out of a game.
At the top, a ten-minute timer counted down. Renas tapped it, and a note popped up: "Will close in 10 minutes. Take care of your business."
He closed the note and examined the rest of the hologram.
There were eight different groups:
Group 1: I'll kill you all one by one | 1 member
Group 2: The Scholars | 32 members
Group 3: The Ownerless < you are here | 49 members
Group 4: Death Seekers | 68 members
Group 5: The Endbound | 21 members
Group 6: The Peaceful | 56 members
Group 7: The Nameless | 120 members
Group 8: The Hesitant | 47 members
In another corner of the screen, he saw that the groups were ranked by strength. By clicking on each one, he could view their members and founders. His own group was for those who didn't belong anywhere else.
Most of the groups were ordinary — except the first.
Group 1 had only one member. No one knew how that was possible.
And how had The Nameless reached 120 members? Something about it didn't sit right.
For now, though, the purpose of this screen was simple — it was time to vote.
Renas, of course, cast his bad vote for the person who threatened everyone — the founder and sole member of Group 1: Kael.
As for his good vote — the one that increased points — he gave it to no one. He didn't know anyone worth protecting.
...
Ten minutes passed.
The screen shrank and changed.
"Renas | 23 points remaining"
Then it vanished, leaving Renas alone once more.