A few beams shone down by themselves, but most came in clusters of two or three. Did they get sent here after they fought their copy of the stone giant (or elemental, or whatever), just like hooded-guy here did? If so, were those clusters their teams?

There were a few clusters of four. I even counted two clusters of five.

"We need to head back," Hei said. I agreed, and we took off. The hooded-guy joined us. I really didn't want to show him where we lived, but I got other problems to worry about right now.

As we hurried back, the beams of light had extinguished, and now people we had never seen before roamed about the arena grounds in the distance. Soon our cottage came into view, and we spotted Saber at the front door, conversing with a band of three strangers, two with swords and one with a silvery rod. The wind ferried bits and pieces of their dialogue to me. They talked of the house, and of the arena.

"Saber," I panted as I came to her.

"Are these three with you?" one of the swordsmen asked Saber, pointing at Hei and the hooded-guy and myself. This swordsman wore a plain t-shirt and jeans, and had a shield slung across his back.

"These two are my comrades." Saber pointed to Hei and me. "As for the third, I know him not. Who is that fellow?" She stared at the hooded stranger.

"Name's Jack," the stranger replied. "Saber, that's your name? It suits you."

"He tailed us back," I explained. Then I explained Jack's situation, and how he too had been a part of a team that faced a stone giant, and how he alone survived.

"Same thing happened with us," the sword-wielder in the t-shirt replied. "Except we had two casualties, and the three of us made it."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Good for you."

The nearby people who descended from the sky must've noticed us and the house. Many of them came over. Some to listen; others to ask or answer.

All shared a similar story: They lost their way and entered an empty arena identical to ours. They found teammates, usually teams of five, though some came across less, perhaps because their would-be allies had perished before being found. They entered the castle. Some had found messages inscribed upon the hallway's walls telling them to win by breaking the Base-Core crystal. When they tried to, the stone giant appeared. And when they had finally stricken the giant down, it exploded in a dazzling flash. By the time the flash subsided, they found themselves high in the sky, descending to our arena, where they were now. For them, there had been no crumbling castle, nor cottage that appeared out of nowhere.

I remembered the writing on our door. Congratulations on finishing first. You deserve this.

"So, what now?" Jack asked. "Do we need to fight each other to the death?"

"We are playing a team game," Saber said. "This realm is modeled after MOBAs. Multiplayer online battle arenas. We'll need to fight, but not necessarily against each other."

"Huh," he mused. "Either way, how does an alliance sound to you? You three and me."

Saber called for a private talk with Hei and myself. We retreated into the privacy of our house and locked the doors as everyone else watched.

"Any signs of Atlas?" Saber asked. Hei shook his head.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"I- I don't know," Saber stuttered, her composure from earlier crumbling. "In a MOBA match there are 10 people max. Five versus five. This isn't anything like the game."

I peeked out the window, at the crowd that had gathered outside our door. "It's more like an MMORPG, huh. What do we do with this house? Do we still stay here?"

"I'm not sure," Saber said. "I don't even know what's going on."

Fair enough. None of us knew what to expect next. Were we still inside some sort of game or match? Or were we free to do as we wished, at least for now?

A few possibilities came to mind. First, we were done with the "game," and could now live here as we wished, alongside the others. In this case, having a house meant being steps ahead in terms of shelter, possessions, and safety. And possibly social standing. But we risked drawing the jealousy of everyone else. The consequence of that remained unknown. Worst case scenario, they'd sack our house and cast us out.

The second possibility was some sort of battle royale: Everyone inside this arena would fight to the death. We might get to fight in teams, considering we still had friendly-fire immunity. Having a house would be a massive advantage, because we could afford to coop up inside and play defensive. Yet it could also put a target on our backs, since we'd be seen as more advantaged players.

A third possibility would be some sort of cooperative challenge. For example, we'd have to find a way out of this arena together. Or, new monsters would appear, and we'd have to defeat them together. In that case, the house might not make a big difference to our survival, unless hiding inside during a monster invasion ranked among our options. Nevertheless, being masters of the only house around could be a sign of preeminence. It'd give us street cred. That'd allow us to naturally position ourselves as the leaders among everyone. Which was probably a good thing.

The best outcome for us would be to keep the house, yet also avoid drawing ire from anyone else in the process.

"Let's open this house up as a hospital," I proposed. "The most injured among them will stay here and take the beds. The three of us can staff the hospital, and recruit help as needed."

Saber paused for a moment, then nodded.

"I respect that," she said.

“Sure,” Hei said.

I waited for additional comments. None came.

"Don't just agree with me," I said. "I literally have no idea if this will work. Any thoughts? Suggestions?"

"I'm fully on board," Saber reaffirmed.

Hei tapped the side of his leg in thought. "Are any of us qualified to provide medical treatment? Passive HP recovery should heal people up, without us doing anything. But what if someone dies on our watch?"

"Fair point," I said. "How about we just run the place as a building for housing the injured? We won't actually provide care to anyone. Let the teams care for their own, and we'll just handle administrative stuff. Like letting people inside, kicking people out, that sorta thing. I can do a bit of water-purification, maybe."

"What about the ones who came here alone?" Saber asked. "Should we care for them?"

"I suppose so, yeah."

We went back outside, and Saber volunteered to announce this house as the communal injury shelter. I reminded her to establish that we were the ones in charge of the property.

At our doorsteps were already a host of wounded battlers, and their partners clamoring for them to be let in. I caught a glimpse of a horribly burnt body laid upon the floor, and people with twisted limbs carried along by their teammate, and a great number of bleeding wounds among the assembly. I had to look away as Saber began addressing the crowd. She channeled upon her knightly, NPC-like chest voice to welcome the injured in, and to also set ground rules.

"First," she announced, "only those under 100 HP may enter, along with at most one helper in accompaniment. Second, no violence or theft would be tolerated inside this sanctuary. Third, report all incidents to us three as needed. We'll do our best to protect everyone." She had her chest held high, one hand upon her sheathed sword, and a weighty, steady gaze. But up close, I could tell she was so tense she skipped breaths.

"Care for your own comrades," she continued, "and in everything exercise compassion. We have all suffered. Let that suffering cultivate empathy. We will prevail together."

When she finished her speech, a swarm of strangers flooded into the living room, carrying their injured allies. The lone wounded made their way in soon after. I hurried about, looking for buckets, water, and clean fabrics for treating injuries. We had a bar of soap by the kitchen sink, though I didn't know if it could be used medically.

The person with the silver rod, a girl about my age, came inside alone. She looked fine, with scarcely a scratch on her.

"Excuse me?" she said to Hei.

"Are you injured?" Hei asked. "If you aren't, and aren't accompanying an injured person, please wait outside until we've cared for the worst."

"Um…actually, may I help you? My ability is Twin Heal. I heal myself for 50 HP, and the same amount to someone else of my choice. 120 Mana. Eight second cooldown. 40 meters range."

A healer! We finally found one! She had one of the most important abilities around here, I’d bet.

"Oi," said her teammate, the one with a sword and shield. He stood right at our door, watching her. "Don't tell everyone everything."

"Ah–" Hei bowed to her apologetically. "In that case, please lend us your help. We're in your debt."

The healer-girl went to work. She approached the burnt body I glimpsed earlier; it now laid upon the bed in one corner of our room. She waved her rod, tracing a circle in the air with its tip. A gentle stream of green light flowed out of her chest and entered the burnt body. And just like that, the worst of the burns receded into mere swollen skin.

The healer went around, healed three more people, then curled up on the ground in a corner of the room. I went over to check on her, and she gave me a feeble thumbs-up.

"Out of mana," she explained. "I'll need a while."

"That was amazing," I said. "You're a literal lifesaver."

She gave a soft laugh, then shook her head. "I wish I were. If anyone's already at 0 HP, there's nothing I can do for them."

"Well, still. I'm sure these folks are all very thankful."

I decided to take a small break as well, to catch my breath. As I sat in the corner with the healer, I kept an eye on the rest of the house. People had already begun to head upstairs. A massive bare-chested man, wearing the pelt of a tiger, entered the house, along with four others that trailed him closely. He carried a thick wooden staff wrapped in vines, and the top half of the tiger's head laid upon his own, so that the beast's teeth wreathed his forehead like a crown. His bare flesh bulged with great muscles, and a thick, white beard hid his jaws and neck. A druid, I'd imagine? Hei saw him as well and approached their party.

"Sir, are any of you injured?" Hei asked. "If you aren't, please wait outside until we've cared for those in the worst condition."

"Are you in charge here?" the druid asked in a hoarse voice.

"Right, I'm here to–"

"No you are not," the druid cut Hei off. "Now mind your own business."

"Excuse me, sir," Saber said as she approached them. "How may I help you?"

"Help the others," the druid said. "I am well."

Saber nervously fingered at the blond hair dangling down the side of her face. "If you are, I'd like to ask you to kindly wait outside. Unless you could heal or help here, I suppose."

The druid nodded. "I'm here to inspect the house."

"Did anyone send you?" Saber asked.

The druid furrowed his thick brows. "And who sent you? I don't know you. I don't know what you are hiding here. How patronizing of you, to decree down upon us like a king. Who gave you authority over us?"

"T-that's not my intent," Saber mumbled. Her frame shrank. "I don't know. I guess I'm just trying to help."

"And? Shall we all simply take you at your word?"

One of the druid's teammates, a knight-looking lady in chainmail, began to head for our stairs. Hei barred her way with one arm.

"Please kindly wait outside for the time being," Hei repeated. "I will not ask again."

"What are you hiding up there?" she asked with arched brows. "You look nervous."

The knight stared Hei down as he remained silent. After waiting a few seconds, she pushed past Hei's arm.

The copper ring on his finger glinted. Instantly, his spear materialized into his hand. The spear-tip extended right in front of the knight's chest.

"Girl," the druid called to Saber. "Did you not forbid violence inside the shelter? Control your underlings."

Saber blushed crimson as her chest heaved. She looked to me in desperation. I…what was I supposed to do?

While I was thinking of a response, Saber ran off. She slipped through the crowds, exited the house, then disappeared into the distance.