Minor Screening, Butchers and Pigs.

The screening has gone on for longer than what Elara and Aris expected. There was no time to rest at all during the seven hours of their work. Recalling the rules, Aris once again blasted another mob towards the wall.

「“Greetings! Players Elara Selene and Aris Armani have triggered a Minor Screening.”

“Please be patient while transporting the game data!”」

That's what the mechanical voice said before starting this torture. There were twenty people at the start of the game which was too many, Aris and Elara sensed that the moment they had seen too many people—this screening would be a bloodbath.

“During the Market Rest Time, Players are labeled as Humans. Butchers won't touch any of you and would even offer you fresh meat! However, would this fresh meat serve as a good meal? Please do try!”

Everyone immediately rejected the idea of eating anything that exists in this weird Screening.

“However, once the time has turned into Hunting Time, Players participating in the game would be labeled as pigs to slaughter. The hunting time lasts for seven hours straight. The hunting time can occur for a maximum of two times under twenty four hours, earth time.”

“This Minor Screening has no time limit but is greatly encouraged to finish it quickly. The more time the good players spend on this Screening, the Butchers increase and the difficulty rises! Players, please be wise and quick!”

“During the hunting time, there would be a transport cell that would take a maximum of two players, which would clear this screening in an instant. It only comes in before the Market Rest Time comes, an hour before the rest time begins.

“The transport cell won't open immediately but will stay within the premises of the green box!” Every player immediately looked at the glowing box that could only fit two people. “Once the green clover glows it signifies that the Transport Cell is about to open.”

“The screening has twenty players, so it is up to everyone on how you will deal with these restrictions. Violence is allowed, depending on your choice, everyone is free to eliminate bad players!”

The voice provoked the human's thirst in a cheeky manner.

“During the game, Butchers and Pigs—a lever that would temporarily save your companions at the battlefield of butchers will appear. It will create a temporary safe zone for them.”

“As you can see, there is an emptied swimming pool. This is the stage for battles! To keep the balance of this game, two players should stand inside the pool and kill at least one Mob Butcher. Killing Butchers will shorten the time of waiting for the transport cell by one second. During the hunting time, if players failed to at least kill one butcher, one player would have their head randomly burst.”

Aris’ ears itched at this strange condition. Her eyes landed at the blue tiled pool completely dried of water.

“These are the rules players should remember. One, the lever can only be activated by two players or more.”

“Two, once a player goes inside the premises of the transport cell or green box, they can no longer step outside. This condition will last until rest time arrives.”

“Three, it is required to have at least two people at the pool so that the Butchers would be distracted. As long as there are two players at the pool, players pulling the lever can freely move and save their companions.”

“To clear this screening, please go to the transport cell carefully. Devise a plan! It is possible to save everyone as long as the last two people who would ride the transport cell can run faster than the Butchers who have their eyes on them. The last two players have no one to distract the Butchers, so please do conserve your energy.”

“There are two ways to clear this screening, players.” The strange voice suddenly cooed, “The Democratic and The Dictator path. Either go to the transport cell once it's open or kill all of those people who have touched the closed transport cell and offer it to the butchers. The second clearing task needed to fulfill at least the death of 18 players.”

The second option created a stench of heavy bloodlust. Aris glanced at the other players, noticing that they were doing the same. Their faces showed many emotions which led to complicated things.

“Once all eighteen players have been eliminated, the remaining players would instantly clear the screening.”

“So what would the good players choose?” The mechanical voice coldly laughed, “To save 18 and risk 2, or Risk 18 to save 2. Please play your cards well!”

“Players, please work hard to not die in vain!”

The messy game started with that. Aris thought that everyone cooperated smoothly, it was so smooth that she didn't notice the wrongness of its nature. Going back to the present, one, two… Blood sprayed into the air as the heads of some people started to burst. There was a big hole in the forehead of the unknown person who had tried to use the large knife towards their direction. The man who had spoken dirty several times collapsed on the spot after Aris kicked the man's crotch.

More than half the people present here, died. Blood and body pieces filled the emptied swimming pool, because of too much flesh, the bodies had piled up. Now, people didn’t scream, like primitive apes in front of a powerful predator, everyone who survived stared in terror.

“You can still hold on?” Aris asked the woman at her back, guarding the other side.

Elara answered after breathing heavily, “Rest time is in fifty seconds, we can do it.”

Aris nodded, confirming that the calculation was right. She saw people gathered at the back door of the transport cell, they clearly didn't have any plan to save them. The butchers who saw them as pigs slowly rose from their feet, looking at the two women hungrily.

Seeing those looks Aris gave a finger, “I promise I taste like shit.”

The next time that their “human” title could be placed was in 40 seconds. The next transport cell to clear and save themselves from being cut to slices would be 6 hours away once another Hunting Time starts.

The wavy-haired person frowned seeing that everyone isolated them, not following the original plan.

Humans are really greedy.

“Elara, would you hate me for saving ourselves instead of these people?”

This question took the other person's attention, the knife stabbing another butcher's neck. Elara gave her a side glance, “Are you planning to take away the transport cell?”

“I've been lenient enough, they are the ones who broke their promises.” Aris looked far away to the opposite sides. Waves after waves of butchers running to their direction. “We won't make it at the next rest time, the speed of these monsters are too great. We've also been defending our ‘teammates’ for at least 6 hours straight—to be honest, I can't feel my legs or my arms anymore. Instead of doing our plan to lower the lever, they decided to cave in themselves at the transport cell.”

The lever would take them to a temporary safe space during the hunting time however the moment those people saw the green sign of clover for the transport cell, Elara and Aris were trapped at the waves of these mobs. 

“I can kill them.”

Elara gave a smile, “Sure.”  

Once Elara gave her approval, the latter didn’t feel any guilt. A handgun rolled to Aris’ hand, her fingers landing at the trigger.

The people who heard this retreated from each other. Horror was in their eyes the moment it landed on the two women at the battlefield.

“Y-You!” One woman shouted at Aris, “You promised that you'll protect us, what are you doing—”

“Just how thick is your face?” Elara scowled.

The woman gasped and started pounding the metal door. “I did nothing wrong! All I want is to save my life, to protect the weak...! How can you even blame me for wanting to live?”

“Hah!” Aris turned to the other woman with contempt, “Indeed, who am I to blame you for wanting to live. However, who are you to be saved?”

“No... isn't that obvious? The promise—”

“In terms of keeping their word, who disregarded it first?”

The woman who dared to stupidly confront them shuddered. In fact, everyone knew their wrongdoings and noticed the shaky atmosphere.

“N-No wait... Okay I'll pull the lever! Don't kill...”

Elara blankly pointed out, “Liar, once you have stepped on the cell's premises you can no longer touch the lever. That was the rule.”

The woman hiccupped as the remaining person who had followed her lead looked down.

There are two ways to clear the Minor Screening, go to the transport cell once it's open or kill all of those people who have touched the transport cell and offer it to the butchers. The transport cell would appear an hour before Market Rest Time, it will only open once Rest Time arrives. Two players inside the market cell would clear the screening once the Market Rest Time is activated. Only two people can be saved at a time.

But... all of them touched the transport cell in desperation so that they would be the first one to be saved.

The second clearing task needed to fulfill lots of deaths first or once one party became desperate. Aris has been fair and square, helping other people to clear the screening first. 

Everything was fleeting. Aris looked at the people with merciless eyes. After a while, her fingertips moved and a loud fire of bullets started. 

“Butchers, all of those offerings are yours.”