"To struggle and die for the entertainment of your betters, of course!" The game master concluded dramatically, pausing his speech to let his words sink in as he stopped moving as well, not even twitching an eye.

"I figured as much," I murmured with my eyes twitching in annoyance at how dramatically he said we're going to take part in a death game as if anyone listening to him was dimwitted enough not to see it coming from a mile away.

"But do not despair!" The game master suddenly exclaimed after several seconds of silence, finally breaking his dramatic stance. "With hard work and a little bit of luck, you just might become the lucky winner of the greed games," he added as transparent Cs with lines running horizontally across them began floating around him.

"The ultimate winner of the greed games will not only walk away with more credits than they could ever imagine...," the game master explained with a grin, trailing off at the end of his sentence.

"They will also become a living legend, opening many doors and exciting new opportunities for them, courtesy of our generous sponsors, of course," he added as several shadows of people appeared behind him.

"But all will be in due time, my dears," the game master waved his hands dismissively, causing the credit signs and the shadowy figures behind to disappear.

"And now, without further ado," the game master exclaimed, raising his one hand in the air as a black cane appeared in his hand. "Let the greed games begin!" he shouted passionately, hitting the ground using the butt of the staff with a thundering bang.

There was blinding light as the game master's cane impacted the ground, slowly dissipating and revealing a dark, half-destroyed cityscape with no sign of the game master himself insight.

"Attention to all players," the announcer's voice reverberated in my room again, and I listened to his voice as I kept my eyes glued to the cityscape in front of me, trying to discern whatever I could from it.

"A badge with your assigned number will appear on your beds shortly," the announcer stated with an eager tone. "Please attach it to your chests in a way that makes it clear to see," he added, and I turned to look at my bed with a frown as a circular white badge literally materialized on the mattress.

"Noice," I murmured with a smile despite myself as I picked up my badge that had the number sixty-nine written on it in black. "A door leading to the first stage of the game will also appear before you as soon as you wear your badges appropriately," the announcer instructed as I was fiddling with the badge, trying and failing to find anything interesting.

"You have thirty seconds," the announcer concluded, not bothering to elaborate on what would happen in case someone didn't comply, but there was something in his tone told me I would be better off not knowing.

I quickly put my badge on my chest, trying to figure out how I was supposed to make it stay there, and it immediately melded into my shirt as if it was always there. I didn't have the time to further think about the badge, as I felt my eyes widen in astonishment when a door frame leading into the dark cityscape I saw earlier in the holograph materialized on one of my room's walls.

I walked through the door frame and found myself standing in the middle of a street with several tattered buildings surrounding me, causing me to turn around and see the door frame I just walked through disappear as if it never existed.

"This rabbit hole keeps getting deeper and deeper," I murmur to myself as I run my hands through the place the door frame was in, trying and failing to find any trace of it.

I gave up on trying to find traces of the door frame after running my hands through nothing but air, like a mentally challenged mime, and began scanning my surroundings.

The first thing I saw was a black metallic baseball bat, and I promptly proceeded to check it if it had any traps, only picking up after making sure that there was nothing wrong with it.

I gave it a few experimental swings and had to stay still for a second as information about the baseball bat began coursing through my brain.

The bat's width, height, weight, the best way to swing it to hit a baseball or smash someone's head with it, everything became clear before me as my perk; Intuitive Aptitude began working its magic.

"Huh, neat," I murmured as the rush of information subsided, leaving me with way more knowledge about this particular baseball bat than I needed or wanted to know.

I resumed scouting my surroundings, seeing nothing except for half-destroyed and battered buildings, but I had to stop myself as I heard the rustling sound of footsteps behind me.

My grip tightened on the baseball bat as I turned around with my fastest speed, immediately spotting a middle-aged man carrying a knife.

The man wore clothes similar to mine, and he had a badge with the number 121 written on it on his shirt, meaning that he and I were in the same situation.

The man's body tensed when I spotted him, and he seemed to be prepared to charge me at a moment's notice, and I wasn't that different from him in that regard.

"Welcome to the first stage of the Greed games, dear players," the announcer's voice suddenly reverberated in the surroundings, forcing the two of us to take several steps back to listen to what the announcer had to say.

"Your task is simple! You only need to survive for one month in this hellish city of the dead!" The announcer stated, causing me to frown at the last word he said.

"There are no rules, so go wild, and may the fittest of you survive!" the announcer added with an excited tone. "Oh, and one more thing. Try to gather as many badges as you can because an extra badge means an extra life!" He concluded, and I had no time to think about his words as number 121 began running towards me, knife in hand.

I only had time to take a single deep breath before number 121 reached, and I felt my arms move on pure instinct as I held the baseball bat with my two hands and swung it sideways at number 121's head.

Although number 121 seemed surprised at how fast I moved after standing still while he charged towards me, the middle-aged man quickly reacted, ducking beneath my swing.

My baseball bat, however, stopped right above his head, and with a single swift swing downwards, number 121's head exploded in a gory mess of gray matter and blood staining the ground and my white shirt.

I frowned at this sight, feeling my stomach turning as I reluctantly squatted near his now dead body, picking up his badge and knife.

My frown became more pronounced as the bloodstains began disappearing from my shirt as if they were never there, and I quickly stood up with a scowl, making my way towards a relatively intact shop.

I quickly scanned the shop's interior for a minute to see if it was safe and promptly fell to my knee, vomiting nothing but stomach acid and water as I had eaten nothing recently.

I knew that I would have to take someone's life eventually if I wanted to make something out of myself or even survive in this world. Still, killing someone so soon and in such a bloody, violent way wasn't something I could prepare myself for in such a short time. 

"I need to get my shit together," I said as I leaned on my baseball bat, trying to get up, but I frowned upon noticing the bloodstains on my baseball had already dried up without me noticing.

[You have two unread notifications. Would you like to view them?] The system's robotic echoed in my head, and I thought of the word view as I began rummaging through the shop, trying to find supplies.

[You have slain an F+ class enemy. You have gained ten experience points.]

[Discord has found a suitable host. Please focus on your baseball bat to review its new parameters after integrating with Discord.]

I frowned, ignoring the first message for now as I looked on my baseball bat while thinking of viewing its status, causing a small window to appear in my vision.

[Blood Sport: A construct of hard light in the shape of a baseball bat (Currently hosting the orb of Discord) with the power to absorb your victims' blood to grow stronger and unlock new abilities in time. (The blood of victims with special powers or bloodline has a low chance of triggering unique abilities)]

'It looks I'll be stuck with this thing for the foreseeable future,' I sighed as I looked at my baseball bat, feeling a mixture of complicated feelings while making a mental note of the three words; hard light construct.

'System, what are experience points?' I asked after taking several minutes' break to calm myself. [Experience points are the harvested life essence which the system extracts from creatures you slay.] The system's robotic voice answered.

[You can use experience points to upgrade any one of your parameters to the next tier upon gathering the required amount of EXP for that specific parameter.]

(Patréon - (pat reon.com/Wicked132) - my Patr eon for those of you who wish to support my writing.)

(Discord server, - discord..gg/RDnWBB6jXV- or hit me up at - Wicked132#5511 - and I'll add you myself.)