“I am Icarus. I decided to fly too close to the sun and burned my wings. I fell to the sea, which became as hard as concrete upon landing. Icarus’ body must have cracked like an egg. Such is my confidence.”

Ezekiel groaned as he rolled on the grass. A few minutes passed. It turned into an ugly cry. When he decided that it was too tiring, he materialized and hugged his bow in fetal position. Jason had already tried to comfort him. He already said that Ezekiel can try again and that his life is not yet over. But when he slipped and told Ezekiel that his chance of getting a girlfriend right now is even below zero, the thought drilled the poor man into the ground even more.

This man lost a coin toss on their way to the “safe room,” as they had decided to call it. They needed to decide who gets to deliver the good news to their fellow players; it may be true that there are monsters out there, but they can be killed.

Ezekiel proudly stepped onto the chopping board. He raised his voice and garnered a lot of attention. He fumbled when he introduced himself. He managed to deliver the level of threat outside the safe room. Most were terrified. And at the moment he was about to turn the tables and give them hope, his voice cracked.

Silence. Jason watched the color fade from Ezekiel’s face as he froze like a rock. He prayed that Ezekiel would get himself together. Jason tried his best not to even smile. However, another girl from the crowd couldn’t. It was a mere chuckle, but it sent Ezekiel’s audience into a storm of laughter.

The crowd was thankful that they finally got a laugh out of this extremely stressful situation, but the damage had been done. The hero they had now wants to dig a hole in the ground so that it won’t be much trouble for anyone if he dies. For now, he has to do his thing.

Jason scanned the safe room once more. There is a good balance of men and women here. Some look more capable than others. Almost everyone, however, looked directionless and scared.

“Hey man.” Jason patted Ezekiel’s back. “You doing better over there man? You gotta have a shovel if you want to dig a better hole… at least when you stop thinking about it and actually do the thing.”

“Leave me alone,” Ezekiel sniffled, “for now…”

Jason sighed. “Got you. I’ll just go away a bit. I’ll be back with some good news, okay?”

“Are you going to get me a girlfriend now?”

“Not when you’re looking like a pig.”

Ezekiel picked himself up. Jason may have flipped his switch. Jason tried not to laugh as Ezekiel tried to smile at him. He looked homeless, but now he looked a bit more positive. It was just an unfortunate situation, really. If Ezekiel was able to deliver that line, he may have become popular. He could have told Ezekiel this. But he would not do that. Jason dusted the grass from his shoulders instead.

“That’s true,” Ezekiel said.

“We still have to keep most of us alive. I’m really hoping that one thing will lead to another. You were able to gather them up earlier. You could have said that last line very well. But now that I was able to look at them, I doubt that they would listen to us due to our age. So, we just have to find another guy that people will listen to.”

Jason’s attention fell to a drunk man not too far away from them. He’s wearing a black suit and tie. He looks terrible, but he looks like an office worker. Based on everyone’s clothes, the man looked the most capable.

“That guy huh…” Ezekiel crossed his arms. “I mean I can smell the alcohol that stained his clothes from a mile away. But that look… that guy is depressed as shit. Are you sure about that? I saw him listening to me a while back before he rolled away to sleep. Let me join you, at least.”

That’s sweet coming from him. “What for?” 

“Nothing.” Ezekiel stretched. He smiled at him. He looked miserable, but it was the kind of presence that calmed him. He didn’t mind this. “I just wanted to see you fail and get punched in the face.”

“Asshole.”

Both of them laughed as Jason led the way to that drunkard. Upon closer inspection, his clothes looked well-made and branded. He does look like a boss. Not the CEO kind of thing, but an honest-to-goodness worker. He must be at least a manager. Jason would not lie to himself; even a team leader would work better here as well. But now, he had to face one of his greatest battles yet again. Communication.

“G-good morning… Good night… I mean… Good day, s-sir…”

“You should have started with ‘hi’ and asked how he was doing. You suck.”

Ezekiel cracked a laugh and Jason punched him in the arm. That was enough to make him stop. The man woke up. He didn’t move from his position and just peeled Jason’s skin with his eyes alone.

“What the fuck do you want?” He mumbled as he smushed his face to keep himself awake. “So, I can’t even be left alone, even in this world. Fuck. What do you even need from—”

“I need an adult.”

Jason said it to him straight without thinking. He wants to be honest, powerful, and authoritative. Ezekiel laughed even more. The man was dumbfounded to hear it too. Wait. Did he make a mistake?

“I mean…”

And then the man laughed as well. He brushed his hair as he laughed and got off from the ground to take a seat. It took a while before even the faintest chuckles left his mouth. It was a solid minute of torture. So this is what it feels like. At least Ezekiel captured the crowd. The best he could do was to make a man feel weird. He must be Icarus as well.

“I…” Jason cleared his throat. His brain fished for more words, but everything felt like it was starting to slip through his fingers. His breath felt short. Tears. It’s coming. He had to drown this out, so he chose to say the next thing that his mind could gather. “We got transported into this game. We followed the rest outside. We ran into a monster and k-killed it. We came back. We shared everything we learned from it… but now…” Jason looked at his hands. “I don’t know what’s next… what to do… where to go. I…”

He screwed up. He didn’t make sense. He did not even understand the words he said. Something else must have mixed up. He had no control over it. And now, they’re back to square zero. He’s sinking. Help.

“I see.” The old man sighed and gave Jason a reassuring smile. Jason did the same. “I have to admit. I don’t know anything at all. So, sit down, kid. I’ll hear you out.”