SURVIVAL 4: ORDINAL NUMBER

"What is this thing?" my classmate asked.

"A castle perhaps," I replied.

In front of us is a castle-like infrastructure. It is almost covered with dark steel with a triangular top and the rest is pure gray color. It's like a haunted version of an ideal princess castle.

Last night, I threw a rock into the river to see if I could hear the strange sound. Since metal-like was the sound I heard last night, this castle is most likely made of steel. It seems to be floating on the surface of the shallow river, but this castle has long been submerged under this river and is hiding. It is like an underground plant that grew overnight underwater.

"Why are you talking to me?" I suddenly questioned him.

"The truth is, I don't know either. But when we fought the monster last night, I felt a sudden feeling that urged me to do something important." He looked away. "I still don't know but the one solution to know that important thing is to know you more."

I raised my eyebrow. "You don't know me? But do you remember that I am your classmate?"

He nodded his head in agreement.

"But why do I remember you?" I am confused.

"You know me?” he asked.

"Yeah, but all I know is that you're a classmate.”

He sighed. "Too bad. I thought, I'll know my name. You know…" he stared at me. "You’re a mysterious one."

"H-Huh? Me, mysterious?"

"I feel there's something that I missed. And when I started talking to you, I felt that you would be the key to finding that thing. You are a mysterious girl who torments my confused feelings…Just who are you?"

As much as I want to answer his question, I don’t know either.

***

We went back to our huts, and everyone was awake. Some boys have just finished digging a grave for the two deceased boys. They were mauled by the monster and didn’t survive. The corpse is unrecognizable because it was mutilated. There’s only one corpse buried in here and that is someone who initially reported that there was a monster. The disappearance of the boy’s body with light blonde hair and piercings brought us into question.

"What? There's a castle?!" our chubby leader is shocked at what he heard. "Okay, let’s finish doing this first then we'll go to the castle by the river," he ordered us.

Afterwards, we immediately ran, and they were all startled looking up at the mysterious castle in front of us.

***

LOCATION: Steel Castle TIME: Morning

Everyone except my classmate and I were left speechless and gaping.

"H-How the h-hell?" my bubbly friend stuttered. "No! What's that? Why is there something like that here? What happened to the river?”

"Ah, is it the river? There wasn't a river there.”

Everyone looked at me, and I could see the curiosity in their eyes.

"What do you mean?" asked the boy with his hair up.

I composed myself first before explaining. "When we first came here, the river was too quiet, but it was too shallow. This river is also too wide than common rivers, and it has sand that surrounds it. I also thought that there was something at the bottom of the river. Turns out, this castle is hidden under the water. There was a hidden castle underneath and it was only surrounded with artificial river water to make it look like a real deal. The castle is made of steel so that water cannot easily penetrate inside. The castle rose above the water for an unknown reason. And since the water is shallow, it evaporated quickly.”

Silence enveloped us after I revealed the logic behind.

The leader with eyeglasses thought first. “All right, let's explore the castle to see whether it's safe for us to enter. There must be a reason why it’s there. It seems to be inviting us after all.”

"Roger!" Everyone affirmed.

The gate is steel black with a sharp end. Quite a sight from where we were standing was a large intimidating gate door that was probably the entrance to get inside. In my estimation, this castle is up to eight floors and is about 50-60 meters wide. What I wonder is why I don’t see any significant windows in the castle, instead seemingly black windows but they don’t look like real functional windows.

The chubby leader touched the steel gate, which I did too out of curiosity. It was a bit hot due to the sun, as steel conducts heat.

“Hey, everyone. Help us with this!" The chubby leader called the others.

“Let’s push this harder. 1, 2, 3, go!” The chubby leader commanded. They helped us to push the tall gate with full force. When the two gates gradually separated about four inches apart, it automatically opened, and we almost tripped.

"The gate is also made of steel. It doesn't have a lock, but it hasn't been opened before. What closes this gate is a magnet. There is a strong magnet in between the gate’s gap so even without a lock, it was tightly closed. A strong force is needed because the magnets are strongly attached. And when the two gates gradually slid apart, it opened on its own." My classmate explained.

We immediately passed through the gate and were exposed to a large door also made of steel. The gate immediately closed again after all of us entered.

"No way!" shouted a boy with cool dreadlocks.

Everyone looked at that boy. He raised his right arm, but his left hand was missing.

"Let's go in. That's the entrance. We'll just go through that steel door." A boy with spikey red hair said.

We entered and I felt a strong gust of wind touch my face. I was surprised that we were already inside the castle. What we saw inside the castle amazed us. There is a red carpet, chandeliers, huge beige and gold-colored sofas. There are beautifully designed ornaments. There are also carved figures on some parts of the wall. There are paintings, mirrors, small tables, and candles. In the middle, there are two stairs on the left and right sides. The walls and pillars are cream-colored, others are gold. On another floor, I could see doors, probably rooms. What a lavish interior design compared to its exterior which screams horror.

*bell rings*

We heard a bell usually heard at school. Wait, where did I hear that sound again besides at school? Something appeared in the middle of the living area. A hologram…. There is a big capital letter A in an old white font.

"Greetings, we meet again," was the opening phrase of the hologram.

"Whaaa! You're the hologram in the galaxy!"

"I have a name. Call me 'Author', letter A for Author.”

"What are you doing here?" the leader with eyeglasses questioned the hologram. He asked Author.

"I'm here to update you with your information," the so-called Author replied.

We all frowned.

"Even though it's only your second day here, you've encountered challenges in your new world. First, the Neinuko's attack. Second, this steel castle.”

"Neinuko? The cat dog hybrid monster?" I couldn't help but ask.

"That's right. All the trials you've encountered are part of the game. The Tri-Games started yesterday, from the very moment you woke up floating in the river. Neinuko, was your first challenge.”

It paused for a moment. “The Tri-Games consists of three levels. The first level, called Wealth Level—is where your mind will be tested. The first level consists of three stages, meaning you will play three times for the first level. And the prize for this level is money.”

Another question formed.

“The second level, called the Health Level—is where your both mind and body are needed. It has only two stages and the prize is life. The third level, called the Stealth Level—is where the mind, body, and soul are involved. It has only one stage. This is the most critical level, and the prize for this one is time.”

"Why are we going to play?!" questioned a pretty girl with long light brown hair.

"You were chosen because you have the courage to face life's trials and the desire to change lives. Money, life, and time are the major reasons for it. To gain your memories, you should play the game.”

So that hologram took our memories!

"You are currently at Wealth Level,” Author declared. "That's right! The Neinuko you fought last night is stage 1. Congratulations on clearing level 1 stage 1! However, there was an unfortunate loss for 2 of your co-players. The challenge for stage 2 will charge at you at any moment. Lastly, check out your arm, your dominant arm’s shoulder. Behind your sleeves is your ordinal number name.”

Zero and two, 02. These are the numbers tattooed on it.

"That will be your temporary name. And it follows.” The big letter capital A hologram changed into numbers and ordinal numbers.

Author continued.

“1st as First
2nd as Second
3rd as Third
4th as Fourth
5th as Fifth
6th as Sixth
7th as Seventh
8th as Aeith
9th as Ninth
10th as Tenth
11th as Eleventh
12th as Twelf
13th as Thirzen
14th as Forzen
15th as Fifzen
16th as Sixzen
17th as Sevenzen
18th as Aeizen
19th as Ninezen
20th as Twentieth
21st as Firstwen
22nd as Sectwen
23rd as Thirtwen
24th as Fortwen."

The boys are classified in odd numbers, while the girls are even numbers. The hologram went back to being letter A.

Author resumed. "You will also notice that from black, the color of the number changes on your skin. From black to gold means your life span increases. The more effort you put in, the longer the life span you will have. Make it one of your goals to change its color fully into gold.”

The black edge on my shoulder is fading with a slight hint of gold, which means my life span is increasing!

The hologram screen changed from an old font of letter A to our profile. There are 24 pictures of us, like a 1-inch by 1 inch picture wearing our school uniforms. Below our picture are the numbers 01-24 same thing that’s currently tattooed on us, and the corresponding ordinal number names.

I saw two of our members who have passed away. They are named in ordinal numbers, Eleventh (11th) and Thirzen (13th). The words 'game over' are tagged below their pictures with a big red X watermark.

Our pictures disappeared, and the hologram returned with the big letter A on it.

"This is a closed area, therefore you will live here while waiting for new challenges and the next stages. I assure you that you’ll enjoy this cozy place. But more importantly, enjoy the game!" Author said.

Many questions still formed in my mind.

"Go and find the answers that you seek... Good luck." then the hologram disappeared like a bubble before our eyes.

"Let’s do this! Don’t let what that hologram said bring us fear. It will be better to search this castle and check if we can find anything," an encouraging word from our chubby leader—no, he's Firstwen (21st). And our other leader who wears eyeglasses is Third (3rd).

Author gave us names that it also stole our real names from us. Quite ironic, isn’t it?

"What's your name, huh?" The talkative girl giggled.

I slipped down my sleeves to show her my tattooed number.

"You, that's you! Your name suits you! And I'm Aeith!" Aeith because she got 08 numbers tattooed on her right arm.

"Guys!" The modest girl held out her right hand as if to shake hands. "My name is Fourth!" Her number is 04.

I smiled at them and introduced myself, "I'm Second. Glad to meet you too.”