King opened his interface.

The player count statistics loaded immediately, numbers arranged in clean columns that told a story he didn’t want to read.

[CURRENT ACTIVE PLAYERS: 1,256,000,000]

They were still over a billion. But the number had dropped considerably.

King scrolled down, scanning the removal statistics from the last purge. Twenty million players eliminated successfully. The system had kept its word. The least active players were gone.

None of them were people King knew directly.

His butler, Eli and Vi were both safe.

But twenty million others weren’t, people who’d failed to engage with the game fast enough.

The system didn’t care about excuses.

King leaned back against the dining room chair, staring at the number.

1.256 billion.

It sounded massive, even reassuring.

But he knew better.

The First Woe was eight days away. That event alone would carve through the population. Players who thought they were prepared would realize too late they weren’t. Panic would set in. Mistakes would compound, and death tolls would skyrocket.

And then the Second Woe would hit.

In the game, the Second Penance averaged a fifty percent survival rate.

Half of the survivors of the first woe.

If that translated to reality, they’d be looking at another six hundred million eliminated, that’s assuming they all made it.

His fingers clenched into a fist.

He forced himself to breathe and shook his head.

No.

He couldn’t afford to think about everyone so soon. Playing hero with a billion lives on his shoulders was a path led to paralysis, hesitation and mistakes.

His priority was survival.

His own, Eli’s, and Vi’s.

The people he could actually protect.

If he wanted to save everyone else, he’d have to beat the game first. Reach the end to find out what hands were pulling the strings behind this nightmare and shut them down.

But that was endgame thinking.

Right now, he had less than a day.

King closed the statistics window and navigated to his private messages.

He tapped Vi’s name.

The chat opened. Their last conversation sat at the top, timestamped from two days ago. She’d sent him a string of teasing messages about the rankings, calling him "Mr. Double Rank 1" with enough emojis to make his eye twitch.

They both just laughed it off.

King typed quickly.

[King]: Hey. How are you holding up?

He sent it and waited.

The typing indicator appeared almost immediately.

[Vi]: KING

[Vi]: omg finally

[Vi]: i thought you forgot about me lol

King exhaled, a faint smile crossing his face.

[King]: Never. Just been busy preparing.

[Vi]: yeah i figured

[Vi]: but anyway yeah im good

[King]: Good. What’s your address?

The typing indicator blinked for a few seconds.

[Vi]: Green District, House 47, near the old shopping complex

[Vi]: it’s a white house.

[Vi]: But I don’t know how long I can stay here after the first woe starts.

King memorized the address.

[King]: Okay. Sit tight. And let me know if your location changes.

[Vi]: sure i willl

[King]: okay

[Vi]: ..thank you

[Vi]: i mean it

[Vi]: ive been low-key freaking out here

King could share her tension, it was totally natural to cave into fear. He typed back.

[King]: You’re going to be fine. Just stay active. Level when you can. And most importantly, don’t take unnecessary risks. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

[Vi]: yes sir

[Vi]: also

[Vi]: when you do come get me

[Vi]: I’ve got a surprise for ya

King smiled faintly.

[King]: lol, okay then.

[Vi]:cant wait to meet you for real

[Vi]: stay safe out there, king

[King]: You too.

For a second there they’d both forgotten reality. Although, that had become a thing for them, their conversations were always means of escape from their lifes pressures.

But he quickly reset his focus. Closing the chat and setting his interface aside.

Vi was safe for now, and that was enough.

King stood, rolling his shoulders. He’d been sitting too long. His body felt stiffened.

"Eli," he called.

From the study, Eli’s voice answered immediately. "Yes, Master King?"

"Training? How that sound?"

There was a brief pause, then the sound of footsteps. Eli appeared in the doorway moments later, already equipped.

"A repeat?"

King walked toward the arsenal wardrobe, pulling his Grand Magus Oathcloak from the rack and slipping it on. The fabric settled across his shoulders, the stat boost activating instantly.

"Yes, and Combat coordination," King said. "We’ve been operating separately. That’s fine for solo objectives. But the First Penance is going to throw curveballs. We need to know how to fight together."

"Here, have this" King said tossing an ear phone to Eli and then planting another in his left ear.

Eli nodded. "Understood."

They moved outside.

The mansion’s backyard stretched wide, overgrown grass swaying in the afternoon breeze. The sky above was clear. No sign of the cuboidal structures humming anymore. They’d descended days ago, planted themselves across the globe, and gone silent.

King stopped in the center of the yard, turning to face Eli.

"We’ll start simple. I’ll use constructs. You focus on adapting to my positioning and covering blind spots."

Eli unshouldered the Calamity Long-Shoulder, adjusting the barrel configuration. "Rules of engagement?"

King raised his hand, arcane energy crackling to life around his palm. Seven rough shaped human constructs appeared at the distance in a formation with the eight standing the farthest.

[BASIC CONSTRUCT ACTIVE | -10 MP]

"Now here’s what were gonna do..." he turned to Eli who nodded at the ready.

"I’ll try to reach the queen there" He said pointing to the protected construct.

"your goal is to provide cover for me, and make sure I reach proximity with the queen, unscathed"

"Understood" Eli replied firmly before unbuckling the rifle.

"Retreat!" King called out whilst dashing towards the constructs that had started moving in haphazard patterns.

Mr Eli retreated to an angle that gave him the best perspective of the battle ground, taking a higher ground on one of the lower roofs of the mansion. He’d just mounted the rifle on one knee as he balanced with the other in a crouching stance, when...

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Mr Eli had intelligently hit three key constructs instantly opening a headway to the queen. King paused, realizing it was too easy for Eli. He’d always known the butler to be good with guns. And of course the class selection came with some adaptations, but the skills Eli displayed, were way beyond what the game offered.

He hadn’t really asked about Eli’s past, all he knew was that he was the most trusted butler his parents had, whom they assigned to him at the moment of their death. Now he was starting to realize, there was a lot more to Mr Eli the Butler.

"Too easy or what do you think Mr Eli?" King communicated using the device.

"I do agree, Sir" Eli replied rather calmly

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

They trained for several hours.

King uped the complexity of the challenges, often borrowing Mr Eli’s expertise.

They traded information and experiences. King’s skill in the game and Mr Eli’s knowledge in real life.

Training in phases under particular specifics. Construct waves, positioning drills, Communication under pressure, Specific codes in communication, fighting across varied ranges and providing cover for each other.

By the time they stopped, the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, casting long shadows across the yard.

King dismissed the last construct as he dropped flat to the ground.

"That’s about enough."

Eli nodded, shouldering the Calamity Long-Shoulder. "I’ll prep dinner."

King watched him walk back toward the mansion with a smile on his face. At this point he realized, this man wasn’t going to be a burden, if anything, he might prove to be his savior.

He allowed himself a short moment of rest with his eyes closed. And when he opened, he turned his gaze toward the sky.

The countdown timer hovered faintly in his vision.

0D: 06H: 22M: 16S

They were close

He clenched his fist.