Is this really a Game?!

Right now Reign and the others were looking at tall walls surrounding what used to be the clearing around the university, the 5m towering walls looked incredible, above them, a screen of orange light was glowing with dim light, like a dome that protected it from above, abstruse symbols and patterns flashed on it, it seemed as they never repeated, each time they were shown they were different, giving itself and the wall a mystical feeling. Above the wall, they could see what looked like the peak of a western-styled castle, its height even a bit above that of the university which was previously there.

"Guys, are we sure we went to the right safe zone?

Beast asks with his eyes and mouth wide open, his eyes dancing around while he looked at the wall that was in front of them.

"It's impossible that we are at a different place, don't forget, this just used to be a small island before everything happened, there should be no other people hundreds of miles around us, not to mention that I am sure that some of the surrounding foliage and traces are the same as those around the university."

Wolf said while examining everything around them, the safe zone changed, he wasn't sure if that was good or bad for them, he was on alert and ready to fight in a moment's notice.

[ Notice players: each safe zone on the planet will change after a bit, this is to provide more protection to players at the beginning along with other functions, the zone captain will explain more. ]

"The zone what?"

Reign asks with a befuddled face.

"Hey!"

A loud shout was heard above them, when everyone looked up they saw a soldier wearing black armor looking at them.

"Seems like you guys went for a bit of hunting before we arrived huh, go right, the gate is there, I'll give a signal for it to open, oh and welcome back players, seems like you got yourselves a nice little catch huh?

The soldier tells them with a warm smile, it seemed as if he looked a bit happy and proud when he realized what the monster they were carrying was.

Putting two of his fingers to his mouth he gives a sharp whistle that echoes a little through the forest, with a loud clank the sound of a big gate opening was heard.

"Well don't just stand there, go, the captain should be quite happy to see a bunch like you now."

With a laugh, the soldier turns around and goes away from their view.

"Sooooo, should we listen to him?"

Shadow asks while looking at the others.

"Well, you heard the system, seems like this really is the same place, and the people from the castle seem to be friendlies as well, not to mention that you probably saw his level too right, if someone like him wanted to hurt us, he could do it easily.

[ Lvl 35 Vice-Captain Jack ]

"Yes, that guy can probably kill the tiger on his own, he wouldn't need to resort to tricks to take care of us, let's just go inside and see what's happening."

Wolf said with a calm face, even when Jack was simply talking with them and withholding his pressure he felt a tiny bit of it, just that much made him know that his assessment of him was definitely right, even the white tiger would probably run away from that guy.

The boys made their way to the gate, upon arriving there they all gave low gasps of surprise. The gate wasn't a wooden gate that you would see in the castles of old, it was made of some kind of metal, strange inscriptions were made on it, and in the middle was a face of a qilin, just by looking at the face everyone felt a sense of security, the door gave off a strange feeling, it seemed as if nothing could ever destroy it.

"Hey Reign, you guys are back, thank god!"

A shout was heard and one student was seen running towards them, he gave them a big smile of relief until his eyes landed on the corpse they were carrying.

"W-What the f is that?!"

"Prey"

Wolf calmly said while looking at the shocked student, turning his head around he observed the inside of the walls, nothing much has changed, the buildings that sprung up before were still there, some new ones had appeared but looking at the soldiers that were either around them or coming out of them it seemed like it was not something they could use.

The biggest difference was the castle in the middle of the zone, it was huge, a little bigger than the university was even, the tower in the middle reached a height of about 90 meters.

Reign was explaining to the student why they had a monster's corpse with them, the story of how they fought multiple groups of monsters, took their fangs manually, how they almost died from the tiger and their difficult fight with the cockatrice made the poor guy even more shocked.

"I-I always knew you guys were amazing but, that's just crazy!"

"Hahahahaha, still the same as always huh John?"

Shadow comes around and puts his hand around his shoulder. The student's name is John Miller, he was something of an admirer or Reign. Before Reign, Shadow and Wolf joined the university last year John used to be the best fighter here, the guy was quite cocky at first. When he saw new faces he wanted to immediately show them who the top dog was, only to of course get beaten up by each one. After a couple of tries he finally gave up, seeing that the gap in fighting skills is too big he decided to try and befriend them while maintaining a good relationship with Reign and Shadow, he failed with Wolf who always looked at him with annoyance.

Over the course of the year John slowly changed, his cockiness slowly disappeared and he was becoming increasingly amazed at Reign and Shadow, always thirsting for more practice with them. He tried befriending Wolf multiple times as well but that, let's just say that didn't go that well.

"It's really nice to see all of you are safe Lee."

John gave Shadow a warm smile and told him. They looked a little bit comical standing side by side like that. John was a large guy, 195cm tall, his body packed with muscles, nobody would believe he was just 20 years old. His short hair and stubble made him look a lot older than he is. Even though Shadow tries to put his arm around his shoulder, in fact, it is only his hand that is there.

"But John, why are you here, aren't you supposed to be home by now?"

Reign gives him a worried look and asks.

"I was but the helicopter had some technical issues so it was delayed, the tech guys tried to repair it but nothing worked, the damn thing was just broken, long story short I helped them remove some parts and open it up below the rotors when a damn snake jumps out and tries to bite me."

John slowly narrates what was happening, being very imaginative with his facial animations and his movements.

"A snake was in the helicopter, aren't they usually in planes?"

Shadow asks a question while snickering.

"This isn't a movie Shadow, the reference was dumb by the way."

Reign sighs as he puts his hand over his face and tells Shadow.

"Well anyway, so like I said, the thing jumps out, tries to bite me, but you know me guys, no way that's happening, so I grab its head by using my unparalleled reflexes – "

"The only unparalleled thing you got is your tongue and imagination, you big meathead. "

Wolf comes over to them and says.

"Oh hey there Agarlic, nice to see you are good too."

"It's Adarlic."

"So anyway, I grab its head, pull it out of the machinery, it was big guys, that thing was like 4m long, so, it tried to kill me right, so I jump off the helicopter and bash his head on the ground, and I do it again, and again, and again until in the end, I hear a voice, like in a video game you know, called me a pioneer and put me in freaking space man."

John completely ignores the annoyed Wolf and continues narrating his story with great excitement, seeing someone as large as him acting like a little child was incredibly weird, the passing soldiers glance their way from time to time and shake their heads.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're a pioneer too John?!"

Shadow jumps and excitedly asks him. From the side, Wolf gives a befuddled look and sighs.

"To think this idiot is also one."

Beast was looking at everyone and slowly open his mouth to ask.

"S-Sorry to bother you, John, b-but could you perhaps tell us what name you got, y-you see all of us are pioneers too."

"Brainyyy!! You went with these guys outside, damn man that is not something I expected, oh and yeah, that weird voice told me I'm named Tank, I think it's cool huh, Tank, hehe."

"Why does that not surprise me?"

Wolf once again sighs, he does that a lot when Tank is around.

"Tank, hahahaha, it fits you perfectly!"

Reign laughs and says, he was truly happy to see that Tank was here and that he was a pioneer like them.

"Hey what about you guys, you got the names too, oh I also got a cool ability and this huge ass shield I left in my room."

"Well, you see…"

Reign and the other start explaining to Tank their names and skills, they also tell him about what they saw outside the walls.