Is this really a Game?!
Chapter 3 The Game Begins!

[Yes 06 if humankind fails and becomes wiped out, Earth will follow.]

"So if we fail this game we all die, w-what kind of a game is it then?!"

[It's simple 06, it's a survival game, Earth will become inhabited by all kinds of monsters and the goal of humankind is to get strong enough to in the end wipe them all out, only by doing that will you pass the trial and join the Alliance.]

"You crazy fucking bastards!"

[This is a decision that the overseer has given, it is up to you whether or not to follow it.]

"Huh, you make it sound like we have a choice, so, when are we going back to Earth?"

[The terraforming is just about to finish, the only thing left is for everyone to get their true names.]

"Names?"

[Based on the character, abilities, and strengths of a person, you will all be given a name - more like a title that will be yours till the end of the game.]

"Alright, I understand that, but why though, why would we need new names?"

[I'm sorry 06, I do not have the authorization to tell you more.]

"Never mind then, so when are we getting the names?"

[In a short time, please be patient.]

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be patient, it's not like my planet is being played like dough in front of my eyes or anything, no, every..."

"You who has the destiny above a seed of hope."

Suddenly a voice interrupted Reign, a voice so appealing and silvery that with just one short sentence it managed to erase every other sound Reign could hear, all of his attention was suddenly drawn towards it.

"You who is an anomaly and miracle born in this world, take this name that I give you, take it and reign above all, be supreme, I, The Divine Oracle Eiona Fyre-ryion hereby give you thy name, do not disappoint me, Reign."

Every word was so crystal clear, so ethereal that Reign forgot about everything, he forgot about Earth being changed in front of him, about Lee who was standing next to him, it just seemed so unimportant compared to the voice, they were just distractions, but suddenly another, much colder voice rang in his head and interrupted his daydreaming.

[Congratulations, from today onwards you will be known as Reign, Earth has finally finished terraforming and you will all return to the same spot you were before the terraforming, countdown starting 10, 9, 8...]

Reign was startled, he saw the Earth and it was enormous, it seemed at least 6 times bigger than before, but before that, he looked towards Lee and shouted:

"Lee, meet me on the roof when we get back, do you understand?!"

"I'll be there!"

[2,1, the countdown has ended, proceeding with the teleportation now.]

Everyone was once again enveloped by the bright light and they were transported back to earth, the mysterious 4 shadows showed again, one of them, a smaller, hunchbacked shadow said with an old, crispy voice.

"So it's starting, I wonder if this planet will give us a surprise as Qincar did"

"Qincar was special, that person was an offspring of a Divinity, I've done all kinds of test on Earth and there was no one like that here."The overseer said as he was looking at the others

"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean the earthlings themselves can't give us any surprise."

"Oooh, you mean that one, the one you bestowed a name onto, Eiona?" Laughingly said a tall, slim shadow, in a joking voice.

"Not only did you not change his name, you even told him your true name, just what did you see in him to make you believe that much?" Eiona looks at them before slowly speaking

"I saw destruction, pure and utter destruction, just like I saw in 'him' millennia's ago."

"By 'him' you don't mean..."

"Yes, this boy has the same potential as the man that almost destroyed everything we swore to protect."

"Should I go and eliminate him?" Said the short shadow, making a weird posture with two daggers in his hands.

"No, this time it's different, back then we made a mistake, we shunned him and some even tried to kill him, that's why the Dark Ones were able to win him over and crown him their king, but this time, this time we won't make the same mistake, we have to win over this boy, we have to make him our miracle this time."

"I understand, now, shall we watch the show?"The short shadow straightened before putting his daggers back.

"Yes, I have to admit, I'm quite interested in this myself now."The overseer let out a small laugh as a small was on his face.

On Earth, Reign opened his eyes and immediately stood up.

"I have to go to the roof."

He started running and on his way, he saw many of his school mates coping with the change in their own way, some were crying while some were just staring at the walls lifelessly, there were those that actually started having mental breakdowns, lying on the floor in the fetal position and comforting themselves.

"W-why is this happening to us, t-the whole planet has been changed, just so it can be a game for some people above us?!"

Most people were sobbing, crying in disbelief because of the events that happened just a couple of minutes ago.

"Seems like none of them know exactly what's happening, why, didn't the voice explain everything?"

[They can't hear me, only pioneers have the privilege of talking with us, all the other people get simple notifications, this is one of the many privileges pioneers get.]

"I see, so it's pretty much like the difference between gamers that pay in p2w games and the ones that don't."

After 5 minutes Reign was on the roof, and the sight that awaited him was stunning, the small forest around the school was no more, it has been changed into a massive tropical forest , Reign couldn't even see the end of it, further out were many hills and mountain ranges, Baker island was no more, it had turned into a huge landmass many times larger compared to before.

"H-how much bigger has Earth become?"

[Earth's size has been multiplied by 10, furthermore, the terrain has been changed as well.]

"T-that's just crazy, what abou-"

Reign stopped speaking, as to why, it was simple, in the sky he could see a massive snake, you couldn't even see its end, just its width was miles long.

[That is the world serpent assigned to be the guardian of Earth.]

"G-guardian?"

[It has 3 jobs, first one is to ensure the safety of earth before the game finishes, second is to award people that did incredible feats if it judges that the systems reward wasn't generous enough and thirdly if you fail the game, that is if all earthlings die, it will destroy the planet.]

"S-so that's why you said Earth will get destroyed if we fail."

"I-incredible"

Reign heard a familiar voice and looked at his side, there he could see a person he was more than familiar with, a person he grew up with, it was Lee.

"Isn't that Jormungandr?"

"So you finally arrived, Shadow, wait, what, I meant Shadow, what the hell!?"

"How did you know that name Reign?"

[Your old names have been erased, you will only know a person by his true name from now on since the two of you have known each other for a long time, the name has automatically been planted in your subconsciousness. For other people you will be able to call them any way you wish unless they tell you their true names.]

"I see, but still, what kind of a name is Shadow?!"

"Still better than Reign, hahahaha!"

The two friends laughed and hugged each other. Reign and Shadow grew up together, their fathers were friends and best men at each other's wedding.

"Anyway, seems like everything has changed, we better go and call auntie and uncle to see how they are." Reign looked at Shadow as he spoke

"Yeah, then we'll see where to meet up, after all, the government will probably send a chopper here, by the way, why is your name the same?" Shadow suddenly stopped as he looked at Reign with a weird expression on his face

"I don't know, I heard a voice telling me my so-called "true name", but she just told me mine." Reign said while scratching the back of his head. "Alright, I'll call them now."

"Weird, my phone isn't working."Reign looks at his phone with confusion

"What, let me try with mine." Shadow took out his phone only to find out it was the same, "It's not working either, what's going on?"

[The overseer has deemed Earth's technology obsolete since earthlings are participating in the game and will gain immense benefits, all electronics will not be able to function anymore.]

"What, but, that means that right now we are...alone here?"Reign slowly spoke as he gulped nervously

"Seems like we can only depend on ourselves right now, I guess now we know why technology suddenly stagnated 40 years ago." Shadow says while looking at the sky with a serious expression on his face.

The two friends looked at each other and nodded, even though people would never even imagine these two people that looked so different to be friends that would die for one another, Reign being 185cm tall, muscular with short brown hair that faces upwards, dark blue eyes and a face that even though isn't anything special is attractive because of its masculinity while Shadow is a tad bit shorter with blond hair, slim body, azure blue eyes and a face that looks like one of the famous K-Pop stars.

"Reign, look down there."

"Huh, w-what are those creatures?!"

Reign could see that 100 meters around the school was a clearing and right at the end of it he could see 5 green short creatures just looking at the school with greed in their eyes.

"Those look the same as that goblin that attacked me, but he was so aggressive, the moment he saw me he attacked, why are they simply standing there."

[The clearing around the school has been changed as a safe zone, monsters will not be able to enter it, and shortly different races will be spawned here to open up shops, class temples, and more, some of them will give out quests for the player which will give out rewards in the form of exp, skills, S coins and such.]

"What are S coins?" Shadow asks curiously.

[Survival coins or S coins for short will be used to purchase equipment, skill books, and more.]

"So it's the monetary value as of now huh." Reign nods his head in acknowledgment.

"Seems like it, it's like the whole world is becoming a massive MMORPG, well, at least it won't be boring right?" Shadow nervously laughs.

Even though Shadow said it in a comic way, his eyes betrayed the feelings he had, they were full of worry, and Reign could see it.

"Shadow, don't worry so much, uncle is strong, ridiculously strong, even when the two of us fought him we couldn't last two whole rounds, knowing him, he's probably a pioneer like us."Reign pats Shadow on the back as he looks at his friend with worry.

Shadow's father opened a dojo in New York together with Reigns' dad, it slowly become famous because of its old style. Both their fathers were martial art lunatics and former world champions, they felt that the gyms and dojo's of now are simply too soft so they opened their own, the dojo quickly became famous, and how could it not when two old rivals that almost killed each other in the ring-opened it. Twenty years later they had celebrities coming to learn some martial arts and train for movies, they also managed to get the biggest honor a dojo owner could get, one of their students actually became an MMA World Champion!

"Yeah, you're right, we should probably go downstairs and explain the situation to the rest right?"

"Yeah, let's go." Reign nods at his friends.

After taking another glance at the world serpent, the two brothers went down the stairs, the situation was the same as before, no, it was even worse because people found out about the technology being gone and everyone was panicking.

"I-I can't call anyone, what about my parents, what about my home, oh god, why are you doing this to us?!"

"We, we can't leave this place now, we, we're all alone."

"We're going to die aren't we, we only have enough food for a week, we're dead."

The hallways and classrooms were empty, everyone gathered in the gym, and it was full of people weeping, couples were holding each other, promising everything was going to be okay.

"Everyone, the power is out, and it seems as it won't be back, outside is a huge forest and I think we should all go there and find some animals to hunt." The principal tried to take control of the confused students.

"That would be a really bad idea," Reign says while shaking his head.

"Huh, it's you, I'm taking charge so shut up, if we don't hunt we will starve you brat." The principal angrily tells Reign while looking at him.

"Dear principal, have you even looked outside yet?" Shadow chuckles as he points to the windows.

"O-outside, eeek, what are those creatures?!"

In all the panic, nobody even saw the goblins outside, now that they had, everyone panicked.

"They're goblins, I killed one in the gym today before all this shit happened."

A voice said, when everyone turned they saw a tall blonde haired young man slowly walking towards them.

"Oh, well if it isn't mister royalty himself," Reign said in a mocking voice.

"Oh, so you're a pioneer as well?" Shadow looks at the blonde man with a slight surprise.

"Isn't it obvious, and judging by the calmness of you two, you're the same, well it is expected of the two brawl kings I guess."

The blonde man's name is Adarlic Wittelsbach, he is a German royalty of some sorts, but contrary to most nobles and their arrogance, Adarlic was never arrogant of his roots, always upright and friendly, he was one of the most popular guys in Baker University, Reign and Shadow didn't have anything to say about the guy because they weren't even friends, they would greet each other on the hallway and that's it.

"I suggest we team up, with other pioneers if there are more here," Adarlic says to the two as he looks through the windows.

"Oh, you sure about that, I mean are you sure we won't stab you in the back or something?" Reign sarcastically says as he looks at him.

"Hahahaha, even though I don't know you two personally but by your reputation, I can say that you wouldn't do that," Adarlic says with a slight smile on his face.

"Well, I usually don't like taking risks, but I guess desperate times call for desperate measures, right, Reign?"

"I guess so, but first, what's your name?"

"My name, oh you mean my true name, it's Adolfo, it means noble wolf." Adarlic looks at Reign as he says.

"Ok then Wolf, let's go." Reign nods his head as he slowly turns around.

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