Tuziku, Prīōra, and Giō found themselves trapped inside a confined space created by the mysterious stranger dwelling in the trenches of No Man's Valley.
Within this strange world, the trio had become participants in an upcoming game devised by the man who called himself the Game Master.
Meanwhile, outside the enormous cube, Kutcher desperately tried to break through its impenetrable walls in an attempt to rescue his friends.
Inside the Game World...
Tuziku confronted the stranger.
"Game Master... Game World... Upcoming games..." He clenched his fists.
"I don't have time for all that crap! We just wanna know if you can help out my pal or not!"
The Game Master stroked his goatee.
"In that case, allow me to make a proposal!"
He raised a finger.
"If you three win this game... I'll tell you whatever you wanna know!"
He paused, his expression growing more sinister.
"However... if you lose..."
An eerie grin spread across his face.
"You'll all be trapped in here, playing games for the rest of your lives!"
The trio fell silent, stunned by his declaration.
Suddenly, Tuziku stepped forward.
"And what if we refuse?"
The Game Master chuckled.
"Look around..." He tilted his head from side to side. "You don't really have much of a choice now, do you?"
He spread his arms.
"The only way out of here is if I create an exit... or if you win the upcoming game!"
He smirked.
Giō suddenly burst into menacing laughter.
"You're an Abyssal User, aren't you?"
The Game Master gazed at him expectantly.
"In my line of work, I've done business with a lot of guys who used those demonic powers..."
He paused.
"And they all share one common flaw."
Tuziku watched him, eager to hear what he had to say.
Giō's lips curled into an eerie smile.
"When they die and disappear, their abilities disappear along with them!"
Suddenly—
KCHK!
Giō drew his rifle.
"So how about this... you let us go right now, or I can simply blast your head off!"
He aimed the weapon directly at the Game Master's head.
"You choose!"
"Giō, wait! If you kill him, how will we save your village?!" Prīōra shouted.
Giō merely smirked, seemingly unfazed by her concern.
As Tuziku watched Giō's confident expression, he thought to himself:
Giō... I hope you know what you're doing!
The Game Master remained silent, glaring at Giō.
"I'll give you until the count of three," Giō announced, carefully lining up a direct shot at his head.
"One..."
He began the countdown.
"Two..."
The Game Master remained completely unfazed.
"THREE!!"
Giō smirked.
BOOM!!
He fired a projectile straight at the Game Master.
However—
E—ERRRN!!
A loud buzzer echoed throughout the room.
Just before the projectile could make contact, it vanished into thin air.
Giō stared in disbelief.
My projectile... disappeared?!
Tuziku and Prīōra were equally baffled.
Suddenly, the Game Master let out a soft chuckle.
"Surprised, are we?"
He grinned.
"In this space..." He paused dramatically. "All acts of violence are strictly prohibited—unless they're directly related to the objective of a game."
He fixed his gaze on Giō.
"I told you already, didn't I?"
"This is a space created solely for the purpose of games!"
The Game Master extended his arms as though presenting a magnificent achievement.
"I see..." Tuziku muttered.
"So basically, we won't get anywhere unless we play one of your games...?"
He cracked his knuckles.
The Game Master smiled in relief.
"Finally! At least one of you gets it!"
Prīōra regarded him with an expression of disgust.
"It's creepy how a grown man like you is so obsessed with games..." she muttered.
The Game Master chuckled.
"To me... games are life!"
He spread his arms proudly.
"In fact, it's because of this room and its games that I've been able to survive this long."
He paused before grinning excitedly.
"But enough about me... let's start the game, shall we?"
"So what the hell is this game, anyway?" Tuziku asked, his expression stern.
The Game Master cleared his throat.
"Since it's three of you against poor old me, I've decided on a game that gives all of us a fair chance!"
He grinned.
"For the first game..."
"We'll be playing one of my favorite childhood games called..."
"FREEZE TAG!!"
He shouted the name dramatically.
"Freeze tag?" Prīōra repeated, looking confused.
"What's freeze tag supposed to be? Some sort of board game?" Giō asked, genuinely curious.
"Sorry... but we've never played or even heard of that game before," Tuziku admitted on behalf of the trio.
The Game Master's jaw dropped in disbelief.
"YOU'VE NEVER PLAYED FREEZE TAG?!"
He stared at them as though they'd just told him something incomprehensible.
"What kind of hellish childhood did you guys have?!"
He paused, then glanced over the three teenagers.
"But then again... you're all just a group of teenage Underdogs..."
His expression softened slightly.
"I guess you had it rough, huh?"
The trio gazed at him in silence.
"Nevertheless..." the Game Master continued, raising a finger. "The rules of freeze tag are simple!"
"We'll be divided into two teams. One will be Team Freeze, and the other will be Team Runners."
He gestured between himself and the trio.
"The objective of Team Freeze is to tag every member of Team Runners."
"When someone on Team Runners gets tagged, they'll remain frozen and unable to move. The only way to unfreeze them is for another member of their team to tag them."
"I see... that seems simple enough!" Giō remarked, scratching his chin.
"It is surprisingly simple," Prīōra agreed.
"There will also be a time limit," the Game Master continued. "Team Freeze must successfully freeze every member of Team Runners before time runs out. Otherwise, Team Runners win as long as at least one of their members remains unfrozen when the time limit expires!"
He looked at the trio expectantly.
"So, does everybody understand the rules?"
...
For a moment, silence filled the enormous white room.
"Yeah, I think we all got the gist of it!" Tuziku answered on behalf of the others.
Suddenly, the Game Master flashed a mischievous grin.
"Then, I shall begin the necessary preparations!"
Click!
He snapped his fingers.
"Preparations?!" Giō repeated.
At that exact moment—
RUMBLE...
The floor of the Game World began to shift and reconstruct itself.
RUMBLE...
"WOOOOOAAH!!"
The ground beneath the trio's feet shook violently as the entire room began to transform.
"What's going on, you guys?!" Prīōra cried, desperately struggling to remain upright.
"Try to hold on to something!" Giō shouted, grabbing a nearby arcade machine.
Tuziku and Prīōra immediately reached for the nearest stable objects they could find.
"What's happening now?!" Tuziku shouted, his expression troubled.
Meanwhile...
Outside the Game World...
With Kutcher...
Cling! Cling!
Despite his previous failures, Kutcher continued desperately trying to cut his way into the bizarre cubical structure.
"Damn it all!"
He lowered his sword, breathing heavily.
As he examined his blade, he realized just how much his efforts had cost him. He was exhausted, and the edge of his sword was badly chipped.
DAMN IT!!
Guys... please be alright in there!
Kutcher stared at the enormous, dark structure, his expression filled with worry.
What the hell...
Is going on in there?!
CHAPTER 80 END!!