Is this really a Game?!

The general simply glanced at Reign before exhaling deeply and sitting down on his chair. He motioned for Reign and the others to sit down and looked at the five Tier III combatants that had come out of their hiding spots.

“Since you were able to spot them, I guess you guys are at least Tier IIIs?”

“No, each one of us is Tier IV, there’s more back in our territory, as well as a bunch of Tier IIIs.” Reign said, making the general, as well as the rest, widen their eyes in shock and disbelief.

“And I guess we are simply to take your word for it, tch.” One of the Tier III combatants, a red-haired woman said before scoffing at Reign who simply smiled before releasing his aura.

The Tier IIIs all shook, sweat covered their faces as they stared at Reign as if he was a monster. He wasn’t even looking at them anymore, his aura was not targeting anybody, it was just released out of his body, and yet it was enough to make them all weak in their knees.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not telling you this in order to trick you, but merely to show you that I mean no harm, me and my people are more than powerful enough to defeat you guys without suffering any casualties, and yet here I am, sitting down and talking nicely with you, that much should show you that I am here with peace in mind.” Reign said as he looked at the general who simply sighed and slumped back in his chair.

“I believe you, not only because of your power and the way you act but because the voice has also told me to.”

“The voice, you mean the system?” Reign asked as the general scoffed, showing an angry expression before shaking his head.

“No, it’s not the system, it’s something else, we are yet to discover what it truly is, but it is the voice that has placed us down here when the so-called ‘game’ started, saving many of our lives and allowing us to still use all electronics.”

“Compared to the surface, where not even guns function, we have everything that we previously had here, there are multiple other areas, some that are large farms that provide enough food for all, factories to make bullets, weapons, and the like, and more.”

“All of it was transported down here by the voice, and from what I know, there are more such places around the world, hidden from the eyes of the system.” The general said as Reign and the others stared at him with confusion.

“But from what I know, it should be nearly impossible for somebody to find their way here, how the hell did you find us?”

Reign then started talking about the city of Pripyat and how monsters started appearing from below the ground, making the general and the rest pale a bit.

“I know the monsters, they are the main issue that has been plaguing us ever since we found ourselves here.”

“Some of them were already here at the start, while others used to be citizens of the city, those that wanted to explore the areas around us with the military since we didn’t have enough people.”

“We allowed them to do so, bringing them with us, and some started turning into those monstrosities seemingly out of nowhere.”

“It was later that we learned that it was the monsters that turned them, one bite or swipe with their claws unleashes their mana and a powerful toxin inside the body of the victim, without being sufficiently powerful, the person will turn into one of them, the only way to block the change is by using mana, which we only learned later.” The general had a sad expression on his face as he glanced at Reign and the others.

“I didn’t know they started making their way to the surface, we mostly try to keep away from them, in order to protect ourselves.”

“The most powerful amongst them is something that none of us can deal with, we have even lost numerous weapons and even two tanks in the past while battling against them.”

“I see.” Reign nodded at him before leaning toward the general and staring at him with a calm expression, “But general, I do wonder one thing, how did you guys manage to reach even Tier III without the system being present here since you know about it, and since you know the rankings of the realms, it means you have probably been in touch with the system, right?”

“Well yes, but only later on, we came in contact with mana much earlier, with the help of the voice, of course.” The general said before standing up and channeling mana.

“I have not even once ventured out of the city, with my rank, the best course of action was to immediately assume control over the city so that we could live peacefully, even though it only took us 5 days to do so, many people had gone out of control and chaos had spread around the city.”

“I am Tier I, as you can see, but I have not slain any monsters on the surface, only those here, which means the system is unable to help me by giving me a piece of the slain monster’s soul, everything I did was listen to the voice and start using mana to strengthen my body, allowing myself to evolve naturally.”

“The speed of progressing in such a way, however, is much lower compared to what the system can offer.”

“Killing monsters and leveling up gives the same benefits as using mana to change and empower one’s body, without having any side effects, which is why the voice told us to start exploring the surface so that we can progress faster, even though it seemingly hated the system, it still admitted that what it offered was beyond just good.”

Reign and the others listened to the general, their eyes seemingly glowing with interest. This was the first time they had ever come across such a situation and the first time they came across somebody that was leveling up and evolving without the system’s help.

“Evolving without the system’s help is more dangerous, and the benefits are the same, of course, with the voice helping us, the danger is lessened considerably.”

“At the very start, we listened to the voice and started sensing and using mana as it instructed, becoming stronger so that we could clear the surrounding areas of some weak monsters that existed there, but as time passed, the monsters were becoming stronger, with plenty of powerful one already existing from the beginning, which is why some were sent to the surface.”

“We have currently found 4 large tunnels that each lead to an entrance to the surface, each entrance is hidden as well as the one you have found, and it allowed us to slowly hunt weaker monsters and become stronger.”

“You said the voice hates the system, why?” Reign asked the general who simply shook his head.

“I have no idea, the voice never actually said it hated it, but I could sense its anger each time it mentioned the system, which allowed me to infer that it hates it, it’s still just my assumption, however.”

“Alright, this is all very weird, but you said that the voice told you to trust us?” 𝐞𝗼𝘃𝐞𝐥．𝗰𝐨𝗺

The general nodded at Reign before standing up.

“The moment you arrived here, the voice spoke to me, I haven’t heard from it in the last couple of days, nobody has, so I was surprised.’ The general glanced outside before looking back at Reign and speaking, “I was even more surprised when it told me that you were friendly and that I should trust you, it also gave me one instruction.”

The general suddenly went to a wall and pressed his palm against it, making a part of the wall suddenly shift.

“It has specifically told me to bring you to a specific place.” The general took out what looked like a small staff and pointed at Reign who looked at him in confusion.

“I have no idea why, nor do I know what we may find in that location as from what I know, there is nothing there, and yet it told me to do so and bring this thing with us.” The general pointed at the staff before going toward the elevator.

“You may all come with us, but whatever the voice wants, seems to be only for him to know, so I have no idea what will happen to you guys after we reach the location.”

Reign and the others glanced at each other before Reign stood up.

“It could be a set-up,” Wolf whispered to Reign who nodded at him. He was fully aware of the risk that he and the others were taking by trusting a person they had just met, and yet, something was drawing Reign to the staff, as well as to what the general was speaking.

For some reason, he trusted him.