At morning, my eyes opened with a strange sound.
My tablet was buzzing nonstop.
I checked it with sleepy eyes.
Then I saw a word "died" . My sleep is gone instantly.
I rubbed my eyes and read it carefully.
"Congratulations students, you have survived your first day. But unfortunately, five of your friends have died."
1st: Aizawa Sato.
Cause of death: Snake bite.
2nd: Akira Takahashi.
Cause of death: Heart attack.
3rd: Yuki Watanabe.
Cause of death: Poisonous mushroom.
4th: Rin Kobayashi.
Cause of death: Falling from a cliff.
5th: Minato Mikazuki.
Cause of death: Unknown.
I was terrified after seeing this. Five students died in one day. The government doesn't care about students. It is the proof. Luckily, none of my classmates are there. But I got another thought.
Everyone's cause of death is written there, but then why is the fifth person, Minato Mikazuki's, death cause unknown?
Then another notification came.
"New feature unlocked: Leaderboard."
"Now you can see the leaderboard by paying 10 echo points. All the students will be shown here. You can also see their ratings in the leaderboard."
This seems like a fair deal. I can see my position in the leaderboard. I can also analyze them to make a better strategy.
Then another notification came.
"New global task: Collect 5 edible mushrooms."
"Reward: 15 echo points."
"Penalty: 10 echo points."
"Time: 2 hours."
"Instructions: All the mushrooms should be edible. If any mushroom turns out to be poisonous or can't be eaten, the task will be terminated. The mushrooms should all be different species. If anything turns out to be the same species, the task will be terminated. Like the task before, only the first 40 students will get echo points. You can call a drone from your tablet to submit the mushrooms."
Another global task like before. This task needs some skill because I only need to collect edible mushrooms or I will be penalized. I quickly put everything in my bag. This time I also took the tent. The tent was quite heavy, but it can be easily carried.
I planned to check the leaderboard later.
After leaving, I carefully observed my surroundings.
I heard colorful mushrooms are mostly poisonous. I searched and saw some frogs.
This place is so bushy.
I finally saw a mushroom near a big tree. It is mostly white, so I took it.
After walking left to right for some time, I started to hear a noise. I started to walk towards the noise. And there was a beautiful river. The water looked so clean. It's the beauty of nature. I was amazed by the beauty.
Then I saw a student.
He is my classmate, Hayato Fujimoro.
He is great in sports. I think his physical rating is clearly an A+.
I called him. "Oiii, Hayato!"
He looked back. He was quite far away. He walked near me.
"Heyy, Itsuki-kun. What are you doing here?"
"I just came here to look for some mushrooms."
"Hayato, you look worried. Is there something I can help you with?"
"I am short of one mushroom for the global task and the time is running out."
I looked at my wristband: 11 minutes remaining.
Hayato take this mushroom.
I gave the mushroom to Hayato.
"But Itsuki..."
"Huh, just take it. Friends help each other right?"
Hayato looked happy and grateful.
"Thanks, Itsuki-kun."
"No problem. Submit the mushroom fast."
Hayato pulled out his tablet and called the drone.
After a few minutes, the drone came and Hayato submitted the mushrooms.
Luckily, his mushrooms were edible, and his wristband got a message.
"Task completed. You are the 40th student to complete this task."
"Hayato, you have completed the task in the last second."
"Yeah, Itsuki, it would have been impossible without you."
Then I received a notification.
"Task failed. Penalty has been received."
Hayato didn't see that message.
"Hayato, can you do me a favor?"
"Yes! What is it?"
"I feel lonely. I would like to travel with you. There is a rule that 'Team up is prohibited,' but there isn't written that we can't travel together."
"You have a point, Itsuki. I will go with you. Honestly, I also feel lonely a travelling partner would be great."
Just like that, I got a new travel partner.
Hayato will now travel with me.
But as soon as I started walking, I got a notification.
I saw the task and whispered,
"This task is going to be fun."