Host, Please Be Honest! What Exactly Are You?



Chris obediently nodded, seeing the 2 boards handing on the walls.

Both boards were maps, but the left board had the word: <Steady> above it, while the other board had the words: <Unpredictable>

One board showed a map of the entire space, and all its components, while the other showed the same map but highlighted several mountains, hills and a desert region in bold red.

Wipe! 

Chris smacked his face in a daze. 

"This place is worthy of a monster den. Are you trying to say that all these hills, valleys and mountains highlighted will kit only switch positions with each other but will also change their shapes too?"

Bassasno nodded. "Hmm... Sometimes they will mimic the appearance of another hill as an act of trying to confuse us."

The hill that typically holds human food can change form and disguise itself to look like the green poison hill of Nympotia.

Only when they rush up do they realize they were tricked and the fake hill revealed.

Dammit! Are the hills alive as well? 

Bianca wanted to curse. It seems everything in this world was vying to eat them. 

This world was as massive as an entire city. Imagine walking in a big city from your home to downtown, uptown, the central regions and other parts.

It could take hours to do so... And that is if the grounds were leveled and in walking conditions

This place had jungles, terrains with boiling floors and all sorts of crazy surfaces. 

They were only thankful that the day was 48 hours and the night/darkness was 24. It was during the 24 hours of darkness that these many terrains shifted and changed.

Bassano pointed his fingers to a particular hill on the map with the letter E on it. The name of the hill was Eden… Named after the first person who discovered the hill. 

It is the hill where human food grows. It is the hill of Eden. 

"Look... There's a red pin on it, indicating there's a current and urgent mission relating to the hill."

Letter E... 

On another side of the vast wall were small wooden shelves, designed like mailboxes, carved into the walls.

Since there were 2 maps, there were also 2 separate mailbox shelves, one for the first map and another for the 2nd map.

Moving right, Bassona stopped at the 2nd one before running his fingers through all the mail-styled boxes labeled A~M. 

"Everyone, pay attention... There are 2 E-U for urgent, and E-R for regular... What we want is urgent."

Rudolf leaned closer, seeing the crude but neatly folded paper Bassano took out from the box. 

[Mission: Bi-weekly Food source is running low. Gather enough to last for 2 weeks or more—deadline: 4 days.] After which they will really be starved. 

It was clear, simple and straight to the point. 

Merlin, one of the men in Bassano's team, also showed them where the hand-drawn maps were. Everyone was supposed to take them out during missions, lest they got lost."

For this mission, Bassano and his group had already discussed their plan of action. However, since Rudolf's gang was tagging along, they went over their thoughts, talking about the various creatures they might meet along the way. 

"Be warned... There's a creature we call the changer. It takes on the appearance of anyone closest to you, your family members, or any of us here. And once it has you in its grasp..."

Slick~ 

Merlin shipped his hands across his neck ruthlessly. 

The creature loved cutting heads the most with its tongue. 

The air grew cold as Emily shuddered while subconsciously rubbing her throat. "How terrible."

Why does she feel like she was in a doomsday movie? Dear god of science… When will this nightmare end?

Jenny frowned. "Is there any way we can identify ourselves and not get tricked?" 

"Yeah... Passwords… Code names... Hidden messages… If any of us doesn't respond to our codes and only keeps smiling, kill on sight."

"What if we make a mistake and kill the real person?"

"Then it will be on them." Why didn't you answer your bloody codename? This isn't a game. 

Many swallowed hard while coming up with special words to recognize themselves. Bassano advised that they briefly explain why they chose the words they did. This way, everyone would remember better. 

Chris, for example, chose the word <Noodle toes> because when he was in kindergarten, kids made fun of his long toes.

It's easier to remember, especially with a small backstory. 

If you call someone's codename and they don't call yours back or even attempt to relay the back story, there's a problem. 

The creatures called changers, can only see the image of a loved one and cannot read their thoughts. 

This was why those who had been here long ago could evade being tricked by them. And they too did the same. 

"Alright… Now that you're prepped, it's time to head on to the Weapon's room."

The room they were in was connected to the weapon's chamber, hence why there was rusted and damaged medieval armor in the mission room.

"Everyone, pick your weapons, bearing in mind that you will carry them for hours forth and back."

Rudolf quickly picked out 2 halves of a long rod. Each half had a sharpened edge that was protected by a crude cover. 

Wearing its safety sheath, he placed the order on his back as though he had 2 swords there.

The other boys also chose the same weapons, but Chris chose a light but fierce sword.

Bianca chose a spear, while Emily and Jenny chose short swords, which had the length between a dagger and a sword.

They also wore leather padding and still had their boots on. 

Glory be to modern times. Their boots were waterproof, comfortable and had soft padding for their soles. 

With their hair tied in buns, bellies full after the meal, and their bathroom breaks done and over with, everyone followed Bassano's group with their chests high. 

Come on! Let's do this!

(*0*)