Out of nowhere, the first sign of life appeared soon after her runner's high faded away. Fireworks shot up in the sky and her legs couldn't run fast enough to follow after it.

Extreme fatigue started setting in just as she arrived across an ancient historical site with broken columns and weathered down arches but the commotion of hundreds of people sitting around it made it seem like an arena for big competitions. It had an open roof with no ceiling overhead, giving away what was happening inside the arena even from a great distance. And by the sounds coming from it, the battles were going bloody intense.

She had to stop for a moment to catch her breath, observing if anyone looked friendly. Then, she smoothed down her flimsy nightgown gathered with dirt and sweat. Damn, what sort of horror will I inspire looking like this? she thought.

The noisy spectators were seated, circling around a hollowed pit in the center. It was a battle arena filled with glittering white sands. Their excitement intensified as they cheered for leather-strapped gladiators marching out with brief introductions by a hyped-up host.

She gulped. Could there be the slightest chance that she was walking into a fantasy roleplay event?

But even so, she watched the skies above, it was filled with rainbow-luminescent birds. Some of them could be larger than a school bus, and their squawking noises seemed like agitation from the shooting fireworks.

Shielding her eyes, she peered to the sun with a quick look. Even then, she couldn't believe what she just saw. Maybe she'll try again later when its brightness didn't have too harsh a glare to look at. The sun can't have two rings, can they? she thought. Perhaps it was a rare phenomenon and she missed its relevance by not paying attention at science class.

She glanced back to the arena and found nobody was even remotely bothered by Godzilla birds gliding through the sky nor the strange phenomenon that was happening with the sun. There was still a chance that these odd unearthly bird creatures were products of her lonely stressed-out mind and that these people were entirely normal. And that she might be the crazy one. She was hoping that wasn't the case.

Several moments later, it was becoming clear that the leather-clad warriors were competing against each other by skill and physical prowess. They raced through obstacles with speed beyond what she could manage to follow with her eyes, and they jumped through elaborate wood contraptions that were far beyond the abilities of an average Olympian athlete. Most of the game contraptions had splintered under their supernatural strength, leaving a lot of crashing injuries for the other warriors. She thought that game equipment breaking would call off the race but they were resourceful, they managed to form into teams to overcome their faulty obstacles.

There was this one guy who pulled everyone's attention the second he stepped out to survey any splintered mess. With a few pointed gestures, this one cocky guy gets the whole race of warriors working for him. Unbelievable. The races pulled a lot of excitement from the crowd. And this leading guy pulled most of that excitement. He had sun-kissed dirty blonde hair and a lean muscle build meant for stealth as opposed to the other warriors whose bigger physical strength were meant to endure hard-earned manual labor. Teenage boys on the benches gushed over this leading guy as he drew closer to them, handing him a cleansing towel and a pouch of water with delighted eagerness. He drained the water, tilting his head back and tossed the pouch to the boys before wiping away the blood staining his arms with the towel. It wasn't his blood.

He would stay behind helping any warrior with debilitating injuries, concern written all over his body language, and then proceed to win the races in one fluid motion despite his lagging delay. It was infuriating to watch. There clearly was a power imbalance. That guy swept through the races coming up roses and he left behind a swarm of frustrated injured competitors.

The hyped-up host addressed the crowd in a majestic gesture and they went ballistic. Something was about to happen and she wished she could make out the deafening speech of the roaring host from her safe distance. Staying true to their primal barbaric theme, the whole event pressed on without having to use so much as a single speaker equipment.

A few racing competitions later, the arena was getting cleared out of every contraption until bare glittering sands remained. The defeated warriors left the arena save for this leading guy whom boys were idolizing on and girls were melting for. She can't understand what they were going crazy for. That guy was surely messing up the game by a wide gaping margin with his skills that far surpassed others. What else does he have to prove for?

She would have thought this whole thing was meant to pander to his ego, but by the looks of him, he didn't enjoy it for a single second. Why did he have to be on the games when it was clear he'd be the smooth winner to take it all home? It didn't seem fair to the other warriors, there barely was any competition at all because this guy can wipe the floor in a matter of seconds.