Second Genesis

Grey jumped a little, pushing out of the way of two men standing side by side. They shouted in rage, nearly falling to the ground because of his actions, but he didn’t even look back as he ducked behind the first building he could.

Speed, he needed more speed. And more importantly than that, he needed to get out of the line of sight of anyone present.

Last time, he had idiotically stood right in the center as that message played. If not for the fact that most people were still adjusting to new life and were hesitant to kill fellow humans—especially with an audience—he would have lost his life 10 times over.

Grey grit his teeth. ’Don’t let me catch you.’

At this point, rage was the only thing fueling his next step.

...

[Breaking News]

—

In the city square, the words still floated above. While some were stunned by Grey’s actions, they just thought him to be some sort of madman with a few screws loose. They were far more interested in paying attention to whatever this was than finding out about the state of a stranger.

The sign broke apart and the floating head that was Great Udon appeared, a wide grin on his face. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

This was the first time the participants were seeing him without the obnoxious lighting and sensory overload, so they were only now getting a good look. And quite frankly, Great Udon, or Smite the Great as his loyal fans loved to call him, looked more like an animated mask than he did a living being.

His skin had undertones of a thick, leathery, forest grey. Straight-lined tattoos of gold formed a perfect symmetrical pattern that looked either like warriors’ paint or some ancient runic symbols.

Either way, when Grey saw the projection from over a building’s rooftop, confusion colored his features.

Last time, Great Udon hadn’t appeared. First, they had explained the next round, and then they showed a compilation of great feats before ending with him.

Grey could remember how his heart sank. They played the video of him stripping the clothes off of the young woman, stitching together clips like he had some sort of disrobing fetish.

He hadn’t even tried to explain. People were stupid even in times of peace, let alone when they were ripped out from their lives and thrust into a world that overturned everything they had once known.

But this... this had a far more sinister feel to it.

Great Udon’s nickname pinged through his mind and Grey picked up the pace, running even faster.

What he hadn’t known was that this change was all his fault.

There was only a single main host, so there were only so many places he could appear at once, and he was very selective. Before, Grey had taken much longer to clear the tutorial zone, so Great Udon had been busy with something else.

Also, his storyline wasn’t as important if he wasn’t seen as decently strong in Great Udon’s eyes, so the celebrity host never made the effort.

Now, though... he made time.

...

Great Udon sighed. "Congratulations to those of you who have made it this far. I can tell you that you are among the first, the top percentage of candidates. I am proud of you all, but with talent always comes the naked underbelly of the world, the cruel and savage—those that take advantage of the weak in their time of need.

"Today, I can tell you that the challenge set out before you is quite tough. You will need to leave this city and head out to find the unexplored shrines, lighting them up and officially registering. Only this way can you return to the city and not be eliminated by the Fog of Chaos.

"The shrines will be the central hubs of your next challenges, and the Fog of Chaos is, well... just assume it to be a fog of poison that will kill you on contact. None of you have the strength to resist it.

"However, matters of personal success and survival can only fuel you so much. Today, I have a truly tragic tale to bring you, one that pulls at my heartstrings and fills me with an undying fury all the same."

Great Udon sighed, shaking his large floating head and looking to the side as a projection appeared.

Images of a young girl shimmering into being.

"What the fuck!" Grey cursed. He made the mistake of looking over his shoulder and nearly erupted.

This was completely different from last time. That time they only showed stuff from the tutorial zone, but Great Udon had somehow gotten pictures from what looked like the young woman’s social media.

No, it was even worse than that. Some of the images looked like they weren’t even personally recorded at all.

Maybe he shouldn’t even be surprised. If these people had time machines, who knew what they could do?

"Mommy! I want to be a ballerina when I grow up!"

"Really, May?" a kind older woman smiled, picking up a little girl in her arms. "That’s a nice dream."

"Yes, yes! But I want to be a firefighter too, is that okay?"

The older woman was stunned for a second and then laughed a genuine laugh.

"You want to do both?"

"Yes!"

"Why’s that?"

"I really, really want to help people! But I also like to dance! I can’t decide!"

The older woman beamed as though the little girl in her arms was the proudest achievement in her life.

"Of course you can do both, May. You can do whatever you put your mind to. Mommy believes in you."

The words "mommy believes in you" echoed with a hollowness that pressed into the heart. Hearing the name "May," whether it was Fitz or Ray, both of them were entirely frozen in place, their faces paling until they saw the clip that played next.

"This young woman entered these games so full of life and spirit. All she wanted to do was help people. But now..."

An arrow zipped through the air on the screen, slicing her throat. The one who fired it wasn’t in the line of sight at all. But... it then cut to Grey pulling her suit off of her and then trying to fit it onto himself.

The Great Udon didn’t say anything for a long while, letting the silence hang before his floating head began to vibrate.

Fire spurted from his eyes and he roared in rage.

"HE DESERVES DEATH."