Chapter 0:

The Carrier, and the Carried

Hell isn't so bad


??: "So what you’re telling me is that...if I triumph in this stupid challenge of yours, you’ll grant my any desire...?"

???: "You catch on quickly, that's precisely what I'm saying, I think you have the qualifications to do well."

??: "Sorry, not interested."

???: "..."

??: "Hypothetically speaking, even if I did win, you guys wouldn’t be able to grant my wish...no one on this earth can."

???: "Hmmm...I can understand why you think the way that you do, when you're just so perfect at everything it's really a difficult task to find some sort of challenge in your life, some sort of excitement. Boredom can be a real bitch, can’t it?"

??: "Interesting, It seems you have quite a bit of information on me, that's pretty strange though, you got a crush on me or something?"

???: "Although I won't deny your beauty, it’s nothing of the sort. I happen to have an eye for...special people, you could say. How does a 100-person fight to the death sound to you?"

??: "Go on..."

???: "HAHA, I knew that would catch your attention, Anyways, like I said, a 100-person battle royale, fight to the death. Located on a secret island just west of North America. There will be certain rules which I will explain once all 100 people have met up at the island, but that’s the basic rundown of things. What do you say...?"

??: "Teams? Of 5? Sorry, but I hate working with people that drag me down."

???: "That’s pretty ironic...General Rina."

??: "So it seems you’re aware of my byname...Just how much information do you have on me?"

???: "Just the basics, General in the cold war, fought for the USSR, A killing machine with eyes as cold and beautiful as the Atlantic ocean. I also happen to know the basics of your childhood and how you grew up to be so good at everything you happen to do."

??: "Interesting...Very interesting indeed. Sign me up. I’ll win your dumbass little game, Even if I have to carry the weight of 4 useless imbeciles on my team."

???: "You haven’t even met them and you already consider them a hindrance...I expected nothing less of the white angel of death."

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Where the hell am I? And where’s that weird looking man from before?

?: "You’re finally awake huh? About time, looks like you’re our 5th member."

5th member? What the hell was he talking about- That's right. The game, the fight to the death or whatever the hell it was. Looks like I finally get to meet the people on my team. As my eyes slowly started adjusting to the dim lit environment, there was a sudden announcement on a loudspeaker who's location I couldn't pinpoint at the moment.

???: It seems that all 100 contestants are here and conscious again. As you probably have guessed by now you are all in a little bunker with you and your teammates. You have been drugged as to not reveal the location of this island but fear not, the drug was completely harmless. The rules and basics of the game will be explained in exactly 90 minutes after this broadcast has ended. The teammates you see around you will be there with you for the rest of your lives...literally. So take this next hour and a half to get to know the people you will die with.

With that, the broadcast abruptly stopped. The voice most definitely belonged to the guy I was talking with earlier. Anyways, it appears as if my fate has been sealed. I realized I was staring at a wall the whole time so I turned around to see a total of 4 other people meeting my gaze. 3 males and 1 female, with myself included that makes 2.

????: "Let’s start with introductions first, I’ll say my name, age, and a little fact about myself, afterwards we can go counter clockwise and take turns introducing ourselves. My name is William, William Smith, I am 21 years old and I was born in the United States of America. As for an interesting fact about myself, I have mastery over a couple martial art techniques, such as taekwondo and jiu-jitsu."

As he introduced himself and my eyes adjusted to the area’s light quantity, I could make out a couple of features about him. He had nice tan skin, rough black hair as if he had just woken up, with a closer inspection, it seems as if he had purposefully adjusted it to look like that. He wasn’t too tall, if I had to guess I would say around 5’9, about 3 inches taller than me. He was wearing a tank top so his arms were visible. Although he didn’t have crazy muscles, it was apparent that he did work out and kept his body in really good health. As he was wrapping up his introduction he stared at the man to his right.

?????: "..."

We looked at him with expectant eyes. He looked as if he wouldn't budge even if we stared at him until the flow of time got tired. William turned to the person to his right, and just as he was about to speak, we all heard something that none of us expected.

?????: "Jaxon Scott. 25. Hunter."

We were all shocked for a bit. He said this with a raspy and deep voice. He certainly sounded how one would expect him to, although he probably smokes quite a bit. He was huge...in both height and mass. If I were to estimate I'd say a bit above 6’0. I caught a glimpse of what seems to be embedded ink on his left arm, maybe a snake head? Not that it matters anyways but he seems like the type of dude who barely talks. I hope his lack of communication won't prove itself to be a burden.

Williams: "Nice to meet you Jaxon"

All Williams received in return was a very subtle nod. If someone told me I'd imagined it, I might've believed them. We all turned to the person to Jaxon's right.

??????: "M-my name is...Abella…-lair. I like to read and -. Oh I forgot to mention, I’m 26...and French."

I could barely hear her. She had long silver hair, and nice porcelain skin. She seems really shy and nervous though. I thought that weird man from earlier said he ‘had an eye for interesting people’ How in the hell could this girl be any interesting? She seems to me like the dead weight of the group. But that weird man doesn't seem like the type to put in a weak person just for the sake of screwing with us. 

???????: My name is Kenny, Kenny Knox. I grew up in New York, I was dragged along with all the violence and gang wars and stuff. I’m here to win and change my entire life around and lead my future family to the best possible life they could ever hope for.

Straight to the point this dark, stylish, bald, young man was. I respect his goals to an extent I guess, Most people are probably here for similar reasons. Some half-ass criminal has no place on my team, but It doesn’t seem like I have any say in the matter. As I was deep in thought I noticed something. All eyes were directed towards me. As I was trying to piece together the possible reasons for being the attention of all pupils, William sped up the process for me.

William: Would you mind introducing yourself?

??: "Ekaterina Ivonov. 24, Cold war veteran."

I saw William and Abella gasp slightly while Kenny and Jaxon kind of just stood there, very NPC-like.

William: "Oooh that’s so cool. So you’re like a pro at this sort of thing. That’s very reassuring."

I guess you could say that. I didn't feel like talking anymore than what was necessary so I just nodded to his words and sat down. He flashed a smile towards me and I gave him a look of acknowledgement.  I started to doze off, but before my field of vision got cut off from the world's beauty, I heard something, like a voice, calling me by a name I had just recently been re-familiarized with.

?: "angel of..."

MMMindblown
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Joe Gold
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Hell isn't so bad


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