Chapter 14: Restless

Earlier
~Unikern~

It was the start of the simulation. Unikern, and his grandpa, Ryan, struggled to get items from the cornucopia, only to be pushed aside by the other contenders.

"Grandpa Rya- woah!" called Unikern. At this point, the cornucopia had already been looted dry, people were already starting to kill each other.

He immediately noticed Omega and Conhadda, killing Brialgic and teaming up against TGT, harming Enchanted, and then slaughtering FKY and Chip who were fleeing from the place. There is no escape, we mustn't be seen. Unikern thought. It was chaotic, Old Ryan was already trampled by a contender rushing for the cornucopia loot; he struggled to get up and called his grandson for help.

Sonicjo saw the old man. He unsheathed his stone blade, ready to slaughter his helpless opponent from behind only for Unikern to notice from afar.

He raised his stony weapon, and swung it at Ryan's head, nearly slicing it in half. Unikern's eyes widened as he witnessed Sonicjo almost kill his grandfather.

"Back off!" warned Unikern, pushing Sonicjo aside grabbing both of his arms, and pinning him down to the ground before he hurt Ryan. They locked glares with each other, one vengeful, and the other, helpless.

Unikern couldn't stand the sight of his grandfather getting hurt and trampled, let alone letting him die during the first few minutes of the simulation. He was furious. He clenched his right fist, raised it high up, and started brutally pummeling Sonicjo's face.

He wouldn't stop until a cannon fired. Sonicjo's face was already bloody and far from what Unikern recognized, and there he goes, motionless on the ground.

Boom!

A cannon fired from afar. Sonicjo certainly got eliminated by Unikern. Ryan and his grandson looked around and found that they were the only ones left at the cornucopia. The others have gone different ways, and Sonicjo's teammate is possibly gone by now.

"Gramps, let's go!" Unikern then carried Ryan on his back. "All good?"

"All good Uni," affirmed Ryan. "Our training went well, but you went quite far with that guy."

"Really?"

"Yes, he's just someone from the Building Community, should've saved your energy for later."

After his grandfather told him about his opponent, he couldn't help but feel bad. To distract himself from someone else's fate, Unikern continued to scout around the cornucopia and looted the remaining chests and dead bodies he came across. He only found two items, to no avail. A fragile pair of flint and steel, and a flask half full of water are hidden within Chip's jacket. "That'll help us regardless."

~Soccer~

He has seen it all. His defenseless teammate was brutally pummeled by Unikern, someone whom he'd least expected to do such a thing.

Soccer stopped for a while, thinking that the global might be the same thing, but much worse. Okay, I don't stand a chance. I'll surely get the same thing ten, or a hundred times worse, even.

There he was, on top of a moist, moss-covered rock, overwhelmed by the situation and not knowing what else to do. He could only think of running and running just like how he does it every morning.

Run, Soccer, run.

He got up, fastened his shoelaces, and positioned himself, ready to run to whatever ends. He took off and ran as fast as he could away from the cornucopia, in hopes of not meeting anyone dangerous or setting off traps Cyclosword had possibly laid around the forest.

He didn't think of his decision well, and moments later he found himself lost deep into the heart of the forest bare-handed. He thought of getting a large branch or two to make up a wooden club, but suddenly, he saw something in the distance.

He looked up to the light blue sky between the forest's lush shades and saw a narrow pillar of smoke nearby. A campfire! Soccer thought. He bolted in the direction of the smoke, in hopes of successfully stealing supplies.

Just as he thought, the smoke indeed came from a campfire set up by someone. Soccer hid behind the trees to observe the camp. It had a tent and a sleeping bag, and an entire stash of loot. 

Inside the tent was Arthur, laying down with his feet up on a pillow, relaxing. His partner, BlueSlime, was tucked inside the sleeping bag. It was too small for him so he kept moving around to fit himself. Eventually, he complained to Arthur.

"Hey, why don't we share a tent? Wouldn't it be better than me being squished into this thing?" suggested BlueSlime.

"Nah, I'm good." jested Arthur. He stretched his arms and legs back as if he was on a vacation, and not in a fight-to-the-death simulation.

Soccer overheard the two of them talking, and he continued scouting. As they were both pre-occupied at their camp, Soccer stole a few pieces of dried fish, a fishing rod, and an iron machete from the same loot stash near Arthur's tent.

Yes, I got it! Soccer fist pumped and then went back out of the camp. As he was walking out, he passed through two trees next to each other that seemed suspiciously symmetrical. He walked straight in between the trees, and picked up a fruit hanging on one of the branches, then suddenly…

Crash!

A cage trap fell down overhead and encased him. It made a loud rustling sound as it fell, and a bell near the camp rang. 

"Told ya!" exclaimed Arthur. "We could literally do nothing and win, just have a little faith in your traps, Blue."

"We quite literally just got stolen from earlier," countered BlueSlime. "Well, here's the culprit though."

"Guys, wait!" pleaded Soccer. "I have a plan, alright? Don't kill me and just wait, I'll give your stuff back too." Arthur and BlueSlime exchanged glances, and both nodded, agreeing to listen to him.

"So my teammate was killed earlier and I don't have anyone around anymore. You've seen how dangerous it really is, right?"

"Okay, we see that." replied Arthur.

"You know what, here's your stuff." Soccer dropped all his items and slid them outside, between the bars of the wooden cage he's in. "I'm thinking if we should team together in the simulation. Other people have been doing it during the past."

Arthur and BlueSlime looked at each other once more, thinking whether or not they let Soccer out and join them.

"So what exactly would we get from you if you help us?" asked BlueSlime, as if he's interviewing Soccer for a job.

"You've seen me run every morning around Hive Town, right? I'm quite fast," answered Soccer. "I could also fight a bit, and scout around places quite well, it's my forte."

Arthur paused for a while to think. He realized something that would benefit him and BlueSlime during the simulation's long run.

"Alright. Blue and I will stay at the camp to cook and craft stuff. You scout for other contenders and forage some raw materials," he bargained. "How's that sound?"

"Deal." Soccer shook hands with Arthur and BlueSlime.