Bernard sat at a wooden desk, frowning as he read the report. A member of their team was found dead in the woods near his settlement. His body clearly indicated that he had suffered much before he died. The marks on his wrists and ankles suggested that he had tried to break free, but the remaining wounds grimly explained his failure to do so. Whoever had gotten his hands on him had spent a lot of time extracting information or simply torturing him.

  “Boss.” said the girl, announcing her intrusion into the tent. She had flaming red hair and a face dotted with freckles. This fiery look was complemented by her red robe and contrasted starkly with the coldness emanating from her blue eyes. “Here’s the knife mentioned in the report. They found no helpful traces on it other than the logo and the victim’s blood. Take a look.”

  The girl placed the knife wrapped in cloth on the desk. Bernard moved the cloth aside, seeing a decently made, metal blade with a wooden handle. On the blade, in addition to blood, there was a clear manufacturer’s logo, which was mentioned earlier.

  Bernard, seeing this, frowned even more, tapping his chin with his finger.

  “This is the logo of a blacksmith from the group from the east. We have to pay them back.” the girl added.

  “Wait, not so fast. This stinks.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He took a moment to gather his thoughts, then said.

  “The only thing missing here is an attached letter saying ‘Best regards, Eastern camp. Fuck your mothers’.”

  This time, the girl frowned as she spoke. “Bernie, if this was meant to be a joke, let me remind you that this is serious. Explain what you mean.”

  “You don’t have to remind me; I know. And I’m sorry about that. Sandra… I just need to let off steam somehow.” said Bernard, leaning on his elbows and massaging his temples. After a moment, he looked up and, resting his chin on his hands, began to elaborate on his thoughts. “I mean, it’s a clear indication of who’s guilty. Too clear. Apparently, someone here thinks we’re idiots, and we’re going to rally around to get revenge. I don’t want to try to force myself to see more than there really is, but who the hell; especially in a place like this; leaves the knife with the corpse? I can’t shake the feeling that someone’s been trying to start a fight for a long time, and every time they do, the blame falls on the other settlement. It used to be subtle, but now…”

  “I knew him before the tutorial, you know? We weren’t close, but at this point he was my only friend. We can’t let something like this go unpunished.”

  Bernard looked at her sadly, then lowered his head. After a few seconds of silence, he sighed and replied.

  “That’s why I hesitate even more. This is a serious decision, with even more serious consequences. I was simply the head of a small company; I don’t feel competent enough to decide on something like that, for fuck’s sake.”

  “Don’t fall for the Dunning-Kruger effect. We joined you for a reason, and you’ve proven us right time and time again.”

  “I don’t know any Kruger, Sandra. I’m glad you trust me, but I’ve already been shown that I overestimate my abilities. The most likely scenario is that another settlement got the knife and is trying to frame the Easterners, but that’s easy. Again... too easy. It could have just as easily been the Easterners, assuming we’d think so and not even take them seriously. On the other hand, it could have been a knife someone simply acquired from another corpse and didn’t even look at the logo.” Bernard got up from his chair and started pacing around the tent nervously. “There are too many possibilities and far too little information. Then there’s the morale issue. If we just sit there and do nothing, not knowing what really happened, our own people will start leaving. Fuck! We’re here to fight for survival against fucking monsters, not other people.”

  He noticed that with each word he was raising his voice more and more, so he sat down again and took a long breath. Seeing him so nervous, Sandra decided to encourage him.

  “The effect I mentioned means that people who lack competence tend to overestimate it, while those who are competent do the opposite. They underestimate their competence, which I see in you all the time. As I said, we joined you for a reason, and that means we’ll listen to what you have to say. We know you’ll think of something.” she paused for a moment, then added glumly. “Even if you order us to do nothing. Then I’ll just ask you to tell everyone what you think, just as you told me. Well, maybe without the swearing.”

  After a moment of contemplation, Bernard asked for a meeting of the people from his settlement. Left alone in the tent, he spent a few more minutes pondering before preparing to leave. As he uncovered the entrance material, he had to squint as the bright morning light attacked him. Stepping out, he suddenly felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. Regaining his vision, he looked ahead, then had to look up to see the face of a camp member.

  Bernard himself was quite tall, but the man standing before him was simply enormous. His body, over two meters tall, with large muscles and a bald head, made those who met Marius immediately quiet and docile. However, after a short conversation with the man, it turned out that his appearance did not match his character. Although he resembled an aggressive beast, he was one of the nicest people Bernard had ever met. When he first met him, he imagined a barbarian bouncing happily through a meadow, wearing a wreath of flowers. His thoughts were interrupted by a delicious smell that immediately made his stomach rumble.

  “Breakfast?” Marius asked, pushing slices of grilled meat on a stick under Bernard’s nose.

  “Thanks.” he said, accepting his meal. “Did Sandra tell you about the meeting? We need to discuss a few things.”

  “Aye, she let me know and went to notify others. I can tell from you that this is serious, but remember. We’re in this together, alright?”

  Seeing the giant’s smiling face, he nodded gratefully and took a bite of food. They went to the place where they had set up a primitive center of settlement. Passing several tents, Bernard reached the meeting place. There were already many people present, so they did not have to wait long for the meeting to begin. He stepped onto the raised platform prepared for him, and looking around at his men, he began his speech.

  “Good morning, hopeless scoundrels. I’ll start without beating around the bush. As you probably already know, one of our own has been killed. I hate to say it, but we don’t even know who did it. The corpse practically had a business card of the culprit left on it, which is far too suspicious for me to rely on. I’ll admit that while I have a few ideas, I’m not entirely sure what to do with this fact. So let me tell you everything I’ve figured out, and let’s think about it together.”

  Bernard explained the whole incident and his thinking. He tried to maintain his usual style of speech, but it was an extremely difficult situation for him. Although new people were constantly joining the place, and they had all known each other for less than two months, as he led the meeting, he couldn’t help but see glimpses of the familiar atmosphere. He was afraid he’d fail these people, just like he failed his employees. But when he saw the look in their eyes, he decided to do his best, this time enriched with new opportunities and experiences.

  After explaining everything, he noticed that, thankfully, people were not reaching for their weapons without thinking, and instead, he was actually being listened to. This only made him feel worse, as he already planned his next move, but it was necessary. He gathered some ideas and had many conversations about the different possibilities of this eventuality. During the meeting, he went from person to person. He spoke to people in smaller groups and privately. After an hour or so, he announced that he had to think about everything and needed silence to do so. So he went to his tent and looked at a hastily drawn map of the place, thinking. Bernard spent the rest of the day mostly in his chair, only leaving a few times and skipping unnecessary conversations. He only made sure who was on guard tonight and whether he could pass by them without causing a fuss.

  After nightfall, he headed into the forest. The moon here was huge and provided a good source of light. As such, he didn’t have to risk being seen carrying a torch. Upon reaching a rather distinctive tree, he leaned against it and waited.

  About fifteen minutes passed until he heard the sound of muffled footsteps.

  “Boss?”

  “Thanks for coming. Let’s wait for the rest.”

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  Bernard invited a smaller group to the next meeting. These were people who met three requirements: he had met them first in this tutorial, he trusted them somewhat, and he knew they were not keen on the violence. Within the next few minutes, four others joined them.

  “I assume you have some suspicions as to why I invited you in particular.” he said quietly.

  Seeing the grim look on his companions’ faces, he suspected they had come to the same conclusions as he had. He shared some of his suspicions during the meeting, but kept some to himself.

  “It’s pretty obvious. You think they’re among us.” Sandra replied.

  “Yes. We have to be careful.”

  “You insisted on interviewing newcomers from the beginning. We also kept an eye on each one. You think that’s not enough?”

  “Yes. People are good at hiding their true selves. Trust me, I know something about that.”

  The gathered people looked glumly at their leader, and then a question was asked.

  “So, what’s your idea?” a middle-aged man spoke up. His name was David, and he looked like a stereotypical computer scientist from the nineties. They hadn’t met before the tutorial, but since they’d been here, they’d worked together since day one. David had initially been very tense about his family situation. He had a wife and a child, from whom he’d been separated. Fortunately, the System entity explained to him that the youngest children had been put into a kind of hibernation-like state and would awaken once everyone returned to Earth. The parents were somehow linked to their children through the System, so they were assured that they would be transported to the same location when they returned. If it so happened that neither parent returned, the child would be moved to a safe facility, cared for by people with the appropriate skills. As for his wife, his burden had also been lifted. It was explained that the tutorials were generally peaceful, and the combative style was the only exception. David couldn’t see how his wife would choose a scenario that involved combat even partially, so she should be safe.

  Bernard’s tutorial began quite lonely. He woke up surrounded by the wild nature, and it was only after a few hours of walking that he met David. After spending a full two days in the wilderness, they finally found a settlement that contained a simple palisade and empty tents. Upon reaching it, they saw the quest stating that they should appoint a new leader of the place. David quickly resigned from this position, immediately stating that he would not be suitable for it but would gladly accept the position of advisor. Apparently he already had experience in this, playing second fiddle in some large company. After accepting the role of leader, Bernard noticed the automatons appearing. They were created as if they had always been there. Some were already sitting, working on preparing simple equipment, while others were walking around, transporting food, water, and various products. Several fantastic races could be seen among the automatons, and while they offered basic amenities, most played the role of civilians who needed to be kept safe.

  “I’ve spent most of the day thinking about this, and I’m afraid there’s no perfect way out of this situation. I can guess why there might be people among us who are inciting the riots. It seems that no matter what we do, they’ll get what they came for. Sooner or later, there’ll be a lot of fighting between people, and that’s what they’re waiting for. They want to kill for the experience, and by being close to us and pretending to be trusted, they can use the element of surprise.”

  Having said this, he looked at the faces of his companions. Sighing, he continued.

  “Assuming I’m right about that, I’ve thought about various options. We could send letters to the other leaders, informing them that this is happening. However, we don’t know whether it’s the ordinary individuals or the leaders who are behind this plan. Instead of preparing everyone for what’s coming, we could just speed up their movements. Instead of a letter with information, I’ve also thought about calling a meeting of the leaders. Although seeing each other might make them take the matter more seriously, we still wouldn’t be able to tell if any of them are playing innocent. This option would also require my absence here.” he paused for a moment to give his companions time to absorb the information, then continued. “We could also approach this from the other side. Close ourselves off from the outside world and try to clean up our own backyard. We would secretly check to make sure no one is leaving our side to inform others. This option, however, leaves all the other camps to their own.”

  The meeting continued, with participants exchanging observations and speculating on the pros and cons of each potential solution. Ultimately, it was decided to give themselves some time to think it over, and a date was set for the next meeting.

  Bernard returned to his tent in a rather somber mood. Each potential option had its weaknesses, drawbacks, and prices to pay, so they had to choose the least evil possible. He felt that bloodshed was inevitable. All they could do was work to reduce its scale.

  ***

  It had been over two weeks since he had prepared his makeshift equipment. He had been in this place for ninety days now, and to be honest, he was starting to feel a little different about his time here. Now he had a companion with whom he could talk and joke around. With his armor and weapons ready, he felt capable of defending himself. Remembering the feeling of being chained to a metal chair, this place was starting to feel like a free vacation. He was still bothered by the strange background noises, the obvious lack of color, and the air resistance that came with moving, but he had gotten as used to them as possible. It’s interesting how people can adapt, he thought.

  He was also getting used to something else, namely the fact that he was deliberately harming other lives. Since his unlucky fight with the anteater creature, he’s had five more fights. Orion mostly managed to avoid deeper wounds, and the pain of the shallower ones was slowly becoming acceptable. Although it was still an entirely different level from what he felt when he was being tortured, he no longer lost consciousness with each skin puncturing.

  During those days, he had to deal with various kinds of beasts, but his biggest problem was a small creature, the size of his knees, which he had tried to confront a few minutes earlier. It looked like a miniature version of a human, but it was all white. This walking light bulb, probably through the light itself, was able to affect his emotions and create various realistic visions. When he first shook off the sudden wave of dominating laziness, attempting to swing his bone spear, he saw Martha in front of him. In this battle, Orion repeatedly came to his senses and tried to attack, but it ended up being the first time Neru intervened. Saying out loud the name of his most lethal skill, he showed the glowing man his middle fingers and thereby caused him to flee.

  He held his dark hands on his stomach, rolling in the air in laughter. “Ha, he got hit by his own weapon.” he said.

  “Seriously? ‘Emotional damage’?” Orion asked. After recalling the scene of the fleeing light bulb man, he too had trouble keeping a straight face. “How did you even do that?”

  Neru looked at him and dramatically raised his hand. Lowering it for a moment, he covered his head, and what was visible in the exposed area showed Orion’s face.

  “I showed him his worst nightmare. Your face!” he barely finished, laughing maniacally again and blurring the illusion.

  “But he saw me. You know that doesn’t make sense?”

  “And look how much I care.”

  Although it was quite irritating, he appreciated his behavior. The visions it brought back and the rollercoaster of negative emotions made him feel pretty bad. Thinking about what Neru had actually done, Orion was betting on using the dreams in some way.

  “Come on, lighten up. Let’s shed some light on this.” he said, chuckling again and having more and more trouble getting the words out as he continued. “Sure, he’d finish you off for now, but you might have a chance to get your revenge. Look at it from a brighter perspective. By consciously exposing yourself to mental attacks, it can make you stronger.”

  “Or it can completely fuck me up.”

  “Or it can completely fuck you up.”

  Orion smiled and decided to attack his friend with his own weapon. Saying the name of the cruel skill, he showed him his middle fingers, to which Neru acted out, pretending to receive fatal injuries.

  Although Orion had long seen Neru as his benefactor, he honestly didn’t know why he was helping him and saving him from trouble. At first, Neru said that he saved him because of the kind of person he was, but after some time to think about it, he assumed that Neru would probably help basically anyone. After all his lonely life, he finally found someone he could actually interact with. It most likely didn’t help that Neru had experienced all of his memories and had grown attached to him through them. Although he didn’t hide this fact from the beginning, Orion had trouble actually imagining it. However, traveling alongside him, he managed to visualize it to some extent.

  As Orion continued his journey, he fought any creature he encountered that showed any aggression. There were instances where the creatures would run away from them, but these were left alone. As he slowly gained experience in battle, Orion noticed that thinking logically about his moves wasn’t always enough. Then there was the element of optimally using his body, reflexes, and speed to pull off those moves. Besides speed, there was also the issue of strength. Some of the beasts were tough. So tough that bone weapons would break against their hide.

  Orion found himself getting a bit stronger since his first fight, and not just because of experience. His attacks carried more power, and he could perform them more fluidly. Since he ate the flesh of every beast he killed, he couldn’t consider himself undernourished, so given his training, gaining strength was rather natural.

  What worried him was the intrusive thoughts that had begun to enter his mind. At first, he had chalked them up to his still unstable mind after all that he had been through. But he had to reconsider. The thought that convinced him to do so came when he was fighting the light bulb man. The moment he realized he was losing, his first thought was to stand up straight and spread his arms, trying to scare the threat away.