The screams got louder.

Then, the sounds of hurried footsteps, rushed breaths, and twigs snapping echoed in the air as a man ran in the direction of William's clearing.

The leaves around him swayed to make way for his slightly bulky physique as he finally arrived in the area, glancing around desperately as he made the same call for help again.

“S-someone! Someone, please help m—!”

“Stop shouting.” Before the man could finish his cry, a voice from above halted him.

It belonged to none other than William.

“If you make too much noise, you'll attract predators.”

The man quickly raised his head and spotted Will, quickly releasing a sigh of relief as he did so.

Will found that strange, especially since he was simply hanging on the tree like a koala would—showing no sign of strength or the willingness to help.

“P-please help me!” The man stuttered while speaking, slowly walking close to the tree that Will was holding on to.

He had a roughened appearance, wearing a dirty tank top and very baggy trousers. His broad shoulders and bulging muscles gleamed under the tiny streaks of sunlight that the canopies of leaves allowed to filter into the clearing.

With a cleanly shaved head and no beard at all, the panting man appeared to be a gentle giant: tall and muscular, but without any fighting spirit.

“There’s…ahhh… a monster chasing me from behind,” he quickly explained. “It will soon catch up to me.”

“And why are you telling me this?” Will's answer was swift.

Not only had the man put a potentially dangerous creature in his path, but he seemed to be leaning towards an arbitrary request for cooperation.

Such a person had passed the point of consideration.

“Please help me! I don't know how to fight… especially a creature like that.” The tank top man pleaded desperately.

“A monster, huh?” Will muttered. “I just dealt with one not too long ago, so I understand.”

“Y-you did?”

“See that dead snake that's behind that tree? Does the monster you saw resemble it?”

The man slowly turned his attention to the place William pointed to, his face turning deathly pale the moment he saw the anaconda's corpse.

“Y-you killed that?!”

“And many others. Honestly, it's exhausting handling them, which is why I decided to climb this tree and scout the area a little.” He lied.

“I-I see…”

“If you still need my help with that monster you saw, I'd be glad to help if you can make it worth my while.”

“Worth your while? How?”

“Maybe… a Token? You have extra ones, don’t you?”

“N-no, I don't…”

“Your first response should be confusion rather than utter denial,” Will said, sighing, now convinced the man was lying to him. “I'm also guessing you'll deny the fact that you have your associates waiting to strike once I get down from this tree.”

“W-what?!”

“I'm not stupid… so don't insult my intelligence any further.”

The Tank Top man was dumbfounded by this, not knowing what to say or do. He wanted to offer a rebuttal, but no words emerged from his gaping mouth.

‘This guy… how did he know?!’

His mind began to race.

‘We decided to cash in one of our extra Tokens to obtain a map. Thanks to that, we were able to spot the clearings around us. There were sure to be Players in some of them, so we thought we could trick those and obtain extra Tokens…’

But, how did things end up this way?

‘This guy is different from the others!’ The man gulped as he stared at Will's unblinking eyes. ‘He already killed something… no, he's killed more.’

The Tank Top man carefully looked around him for the first time and noticed a few interesting things about his surroundings.

‘He's dug many holes and filled them with sand. That's probably where he buried all the others… or maybe there are traps hidden there.’

It was impossible to tell at the moment.

“What's it going to be, chump? Why don't you run along and find someone dumber to scam, rather than wasting everyone's time.” Will's voice interrupted his thoughts.

He was silent for a moment before clicking his tongue and walking away.

Despite not admitting to anything Will had said about him, his actions proved those assertions to be correct. After carefully navigating his steps so he didn't step on any traps by accident, he quickened his pace and began raising his voice again, begging for help.

Immediately after he left, some leaves rustled and three shady figures ran in his direction, ensuring to stay hidden among the shrubs and undergrowths.

‘So those are his accomplices…’ Will noted to himself. ‘It's a good thing I was careful and bluffed my way out of that mess.’

No doubt, someone was bound to fall for the trap at some point, and Will felt bad for whoever it would be.

These people were crafty, and if not for his very skeptical nature, he would have most likely fallen victim.

‘My abilities have increased after leveling up, but I don't think I'm strong enough to face a crowd of people.’

Plus, Will wasn’t sure if they were still in Level 1 or not.

‘When in doubt, always exercise extra caution.’

That was his motto.

Will remained on the tree for a little longer, and only came down when he was certain that the men were long gone.

‘[Check] didn't activate at all during that confrontation, so I can't always rely on it to help me.’

Based on how the Skill had functioned this far, Will assumed it only activated when it came to system-related issues, including the core elements of the Tutorial Stages.

‘It has no effect on people and more arbitrary events that can occur in the Tutorial.’

Learning that made him even more careful.

As profound a discovery as that was, it wasn't the only one he made in the short period he interacted with the stranger.

‘I suppose my guess was correct… some people already have extra Tokens right at the start of the Tutorial.’

But how?

What was the criteria for coming into the Tutorial with an edge above everyone else?

‘The only clue I received of this being the case was when the Administrator addressed those with extra Tokens during our orientation.’

Back then, Administrator M didn't use future tense when talking about extra Tokens, which created the possibility of certain individuals with more than a single Token.

‘And then there's the other bothersome fact that the man had accomplices.’

According to the Administrator, all parties would appear at different locations, so how were those people able to meet up and cooperate mere moments after the First Stage began?

‘Could it be—?’ Will's eyes widened in discovery.

‘They already belonged to the same party before entering the first stage… so by technicality, they would appear in the same location.’

But the question remained… how did they achieve this?

How were they able to get extra Tokens, and even form a Party, before the First Stage began?

‘Administrator M said there are no second chances, so I can rule out people who have been in the Tutorials before… so what else could it be?’

Will had a few thoughts, but none were concrete.

Until—

‘[Check].’

—It suddenly came to him.

‘They knew each other in the real world and got invitations… no, they took invitations somehow.’

However it happened was still vague, but the fact that four individuals knew each other on Earth enough to form a coherent team and gather extra Tokens couldn't be mere coincidence.

‘They were already taking Tokens from others back on Earth before arriving here.’

That was Will’s conclusion.

‘Dwelling on it any further would be pointless at the moment.’ He shook his head and brushed aside his thoughts. ‘I should get away from here and head towards that river. If I’m fast I can make it to the cave before nightfall.’

With that in mind, Will picked himself up and started his journey.

*****

[Meanwhile…]

“Things have already started looking interesting.”

Administrator M stood with his arms folded as he stood in a dark room, multiple screens floating in the air as the varying events taking place in their respective panels flashed before his glowing eyes.

‘It was a good decision to switch things up a little this time around.” He muttered. “Our Players already know quite a bit about brutality, which makes acclimation to the Tutorial easier.”

In the past, several Players lost in the first Stage before they could even experience the true Terrors of the other stages in the Tutorial, but this time… things were different.

Save for a few, most of the Players were already thriving.

They had formed groups, or were surviving on their own, using their wits and intelligence to navigate the strange terrain they now found themselves in.

All of this was exciting for Administrator M.

“None of you should get comfortable, though,” he whispered, a sadistic smile on his face.

“Turbulent days are right ahead.”