New Game+

A young boy was thrown inside the room.

"Get in there and stay there! You lot have been causing some great problems here!" The tall adult who was carrying the child shouted.

"I'm innocent! Please! Help me! I don't belong here! I was framed!" The young boy pleaded, but the door was closed.

"No! Help! Help! Help!" The young boy pleaded, but he then heard another door closing on the other side.

Almost immediately, his expression changed.

"I guess that was worth a shot." He sighed, and he turned around and noticed that there were several others inside the room.

"Quite an actor you are, kid." A tall white man with a very thick accent laughed.

"I wasn't acting. I am genuinely scared, and I don't belong here. But what else can I do? I've been living like this for nearly two months now. I didn't even have the time to cry when this all happens. Honestly, I was supposed to have died a month ago, and I don't know why I'm still alive." The kid sighed as he sat down.

"Sounds familiar..." A teenage girl with dark-skinned and beautiful big eyes murmured at the side.

"This is strange. Something must be pulling the strings around here. Your the sixth person to have the same circumstances as us." A petite Asian girl with thick glasses said to the side.

"Wait. You guys have been chased around transferring from one group of bad guys to another and have been tortured nearly to death and saved at the very last minute?" The teenage boy frowned.

"Yes. And looking at your appearance, you ought to be the youngest among us. Just call me Ivan. I got abducted in the fringe regions of Russia. I was sold to a Caliphates, got my ride out of it, reached New Great Britain, and was shipped off the Rotting Lands. And eventually, here I am." The man explained.

"Ivan?"

"I'm Fish. From Africa with love." The dark-skinned girl introduced herself.

"Epic." A quiet wounded man at the back with lots of bandages raised his right hand while lying with his back on the floor.

"I'm from Canada.

"Lim. One China." The petite Asian girl with the glasses spoke.

"Will. Best regards from Indo-Pangea." A short man who was seated on the dark corner of the room spoke.

The teen looked at everyone.

"I guess we're using made-up names then. Hrm... Since I'm from the Rotting Lands, just call me Suarez, I guess."

"So... What exactly have you guys figured out?" Suarez asked.

"Since all of us have a similar situation, someone must be playing with our lives. Are your parents still alive?" Lim asked.

"No. They died more than a month ago..." The teen had a complicated expression.

"Same. All our parents and relatives have been killed. Since you are from the Rotting Lands, you should have only a few relatives compared to Ivan or Will. But someone is targeting us and is keeping us alive. Like you, all of us should have died more than ten times in the last month. Have you experienced it?" Lim asked.

"It?"

"You know... The thing?" Will repeated.

"So everyone here... experienced that thing?" Suarez realized what they were talking about.

"It's awesome... I wish I had it before. Then I could have stopped those punks from killing my family." Ivan clenched his fist.

"Everyone here has that?" Suarez repeated.

"Yes. I just had it recently... It's hurting my head. You guys are talking too slow!" Epic complained.

"And why is the light so bright?" Epic complained some more.

"It's part of the process. You need to adjust how you see the time." Will explained.

"It's interesting that someone as young as you has that." Ivan praised.

"Well... I lost my family for it..." Suarez sighed.

"... We all did."

"But if there are six of us now, why haven't you guys tried escaping earlier?" Suarez asked.

"I was the first here. I was able to use this power about two weeks ago. By then, I killed these people who belong to the Underworld. But... just like all of us, the next group of people who attacked us was incredibly skilled."

"Right... They moved faster than me..." Suarez recalled the good-looking eastern man with the strange smile who easily blocked his punch and fractured his arms and legs.

"And yet, despite having the power to do so, they didn't kill us. When I woke up here, Ivan was the next sent in. When I discovered we had a similar experience, I realized that whoever is playing with us must be gathering us right now. And that theory was proven true when Will got here. So we decided to wait for everyone." Lim explained.

"Oh... Wow. You're pretty smart, big sis."

"I have to be," Lim answered coldly.

"What are your capabilities?" Lim asked again.

Suddenly, a strange force erupted nearby. It was as if the room was being sucked or stretched out. The entire group felt a strange and eerie sensation that caused Ivan and Suarez, who were standing to stumble down.

"What was that...?" Epic complained.

"GET BEHIND ME! QUICK!" Ivan shouted loudly.

Epic was groggy, and then he felt it.

It was as if a crushing sensation stepped over them.

He was the last to react as everyone had already stood their ground together behind Ivan, trembling with great fear.

The figure before them was a teenager who was barely eighteen years old. He looked familiar. But no one had time to ponder on this because the teen had many mysteries before him.

For one, his body was bleeding as if he got stabbed several times in the chest. His right-hand arm was sliced off with the missing part on the ground.

"Drats. Failed again. At least, this time, my hand traveled to the other side. No missing parts... Wait, why is it harder to breathe? Oh great. I lost a lung." The teen complained as he felt the right torso that was bleeding.

He bent down and reached for his arm and placed it. It was as if there was some strong glue as the arm connected. The teen kept looking at his reconnected hand, and soon it began to move.

"Hello." The teen greeted the group.

"Seeker Carlean? The famous streamer?" Fish was the first to recognize the mysterious youth before him finally.

"Smart of you, Fish. You still go by Fish, right? Or has the butterfly effect forced you to go by your real name, Dory?" Seeker asked.

Despite being able to have a conversation with Seeker, Dory was trembling. She knew that there was something definitely odd with this young man.

"Alright. My lungs have healed enough. But it looks like I'll need to teleport somewhere with food before scadoodling out of here." Seeker sighed as he sensed the remaining energy in his body.

"Alright. Down to business. Fish, Ivan, Suarez, Will, Epic, and Lim. I trust the reason that you haven't attempted any escape is because of Lim?" Seeker asked.

"Who are you, and why have you appeared?" Lim asked angrily. She was angry and extremely afraid and was trembling and doing her best to stand.

"Relax. I'm not here to kill you. I'm sorry for the scare, though. You see, I just tried teleporting here, and I still couldn't get the hang of it. Hence the bloody mess before you. And the reason you fear such fear is because of the natural radiation and other effects that my body is exuding since I activated the full power of my body for teleporting."

"And to what pleasure do we have the honor of having you here, Seeker Carlean?" Ivan tried to speak courageously.

"Give me a few seconds first. I have to adjust my body so we can talk. Besides, I might kill you from the radiation. Being Unlocked doesn't protect you to that, you know?" Seeker smiled and sat down in a lotus position.

"Unlocked? This power? Unlocked? As in like the whole using my brain to its full potential?" Lim asked again.

"Similar but different. You'll get the briefing soon." Seeker shrugged and concentrated on taking in the energy of his body once more.

The terrifying sensation that the six people felt that made them feel such terror towards Seeker disappeared.

Will finally managed to breathe.

Seeker smiled and recalled the Will in his timeline.

"Ah, Will. Ever clumsy and cowardly. But very reliable when the time comes." Seeker smiled as he looked at him.

"How do you know us? Are you the one responsible for everything?" Suarez glared.

"Scared that you can't read my mind, Suarez? I read the reports. Some of the Unlocked who fought you, particularly that Prince under Harker's team, reported that he felt something enter his Realm. It seems that you are developing that Skill earlier than expected." Seeker smiled.

"How did you-?"

"Well, first of all, everything about your parents and relatives was a lie. They aren't dead. They are, in fact, very much alive. Even now, in these chaotic times, they are living rather good lives. Tyre Ambers, or Ivan... Do you go by Ivan? Your girlfriend is doing well. So is your family. I recruited them and placed them under Arthur's care. They have undergone Drug Unlocking."

"What are you talking about?!" Ivan shouted angrily.

"The power you have right now. We chemically induced them to have that. They are training for the coming war. All of your immediate family are—even you, Suarez. Richie is building his army now and took them in. You'll get the details soon."

"And my family?" Lim asked immediately.

"They are with Greydon Meng. Will, your family, and your step-siblings are part of Harker's army. Fish, Epic... Same with your family." Seeker explained.

"What exactly is going on?" Suarez asked.

"Basically, there is an alien threat in this world. And the secret forces of Earth are gathering strong people to fight off the threat." Seeker smiled.

"Are you some sort of a time traveler? You knew the nicknames that we made without telling anyone." Lim asked.

"Ah, the ever efficient Lim is as smart as ever. But looking at you know, you have a lot of competition. It's sad. You used to be the smartest in the army. But in this timeline, a lot of people overshadow you in wisdom. Git Godlike, Warfreakz, even that Cliff is really upping their INT." Seeker smiled.

"Is this some sort of a game to you? Did you lose in that other time and time-traveled here for the fun of it?" Lim asked irritably. 

"I died in my last life to save you guys. But by some coincidence or the workings of some strange Zone that the Progenitor must have set, I time-traveled to this life. So this isn't a game. It's a New Game+ for me." Seeker smiled.

"Zone? Progenitor? What are you talking about?" Epic asked.

"Still as slow as ever, I see. Epic. You really need to study in this life. Anyway, Lim will tell you what she found out. But let me get right to the purpose of things. I made you go through all those terrifying things to push your to grow and Unlock yourselves. I knew that you had potential in my alternate timeline and hoped that you guys could naturally Unlock yourselves. If anything, we found that those who can Unlock themselves have great potential to develop Skills and even Path. And for you guys, I needed to make it as harsh as ever."

"My parents are alive?" Suarez asked the important question he wants to be confirmed again. Ever since Seeker said that his parents were alive, it was all that he could think about.

"Yes. But they won't be for long." Seeker sighed.

"What do you mean? Are you holding them against their will and will kill them if we don't obey you?" Fish shouted.

"If only, Fish. While we are holding them against your will... although Harker has been spoiling Lim's baby sister... the thing is, a war is coming soon. In fact, it's already here. And if you don't get strong enough to protect them, they will die. I am holding everyone's family in my secret facilities to protect them."

"What's our mission?" Ivan asked immediately.

"As expected. Ivan, you still bear the marks of a leader. This is good. Your mission is to kill several aliens by whatever means you can. They are Unlocked like you. Every one of them has a bomb on their hearts, and their mission is to kill you. If they succeed within fifteen days, they live."

"What?!" Lim was shocked at what she heard.

"I need strength, gang. So this is the best way I thought possible. A game of survival. They will try to kill you. And aside from being unable to contact the other aliens and spill the beans, they can do anything, including acquiring techs to kill you all." Seeker smiled.

"When does this game start?" Will asked with a serious expression.

"This is my blood." Seeker ignored Will's question, and through some mysterious means, Seeker made a cut on his wrist, and the blood splattered to the ground.

"Drink it. He who drinks of my blood will have the chance to survive this battle. Or so a Messiah-like me should say. Honestly, I don't know if you can have faith in me. But you have to. This blood of mine is the key to getting stronger. Welp... The game has already started."

"What?!" Lim shouted in terror.

"Those Planteds and the few Pioneers that we kidnapped ought to have been freed now. See you later, guys. I hope the next time I see you, you would be worthy of to be part of the Gryphon Squadron.." Seeker smiled, and all of a sudden, space began to stretch, and Seeker's figure disappeared.