The Children Of Thalia

Sintes city

My head is spinning, my ears are buzzing. It was like coming down from a kora-kora. I scrunched my forehead, the light shining on me was strong like the sunlight shining down on my face from the window of the parlour first. With my consciousness still half full, I opened my eyes.

Squirrels. In front of me stood a fat squirrel. His mouth was full of beans. He looked at me with his round black eyes, so fixed and sharp as if laughing at my soul straight away. I raised my hand, wanting to at least grab the squirrel, but he ran away as soon as I found out I could still move. Disappointed, I took a breath.

The tingling and piercing feeling made my face itch. I got up while scratching my cheek. The sunlight that immediately shot out made my eyes pulsate. I squinted my eyes, slowly opening them as my pupils got used to it.

"..... So so."

I'm not gonna say where this is? Like people lost in the woods. I remember, I know what happened. This is the city of Sintes. I, as well as the entire practice examinee seem to be transferred here directly from within the hall. No matter what they do, this technology feels too real for virtual reality. Maybe this is an illusion of a gift, but to be able to create a big city that functions like a city in the real world, how great are its users?

Getting rid of all unnecessary thoughts, I patted my cheek strongly. Still fresh, I began to rise. My head was completely spinning until my path was staggering. People say getting up straight after a long period of lying down or sitting will make blood pressure drop, maybe I was exposed to that kind of thing. Just a few seconds, then I could stand up straight.

The place I was lying on was a truly vast expanse of grassland. So vast, I didn't even see an end behind the horizon, but I saw a tower towering from a distance. Looking back, I saw the beginning line of the rainforest behind. Dark and scented the ground, like the new rain. On the left was a tall wall, perhaps a hundred meters tall, not letting the slightest bit of outside scenery be seen. I guess there really is nothing there, considering that this practice exam arena is just around town.

I took a breath, feeling the cool air I never imagined I would be able to breathe. Really fresh. Was this the air quality before the Star Tail War? I wish I could feel it in the real world. It reminds me of a past I never had. Okay, enough adaptation.

"Let's see."

My stuff disappeared, of course. It has been stated in the rules that examinees are not allowed to bring any items except exam cards and SMP sports cards that are charged. As I fumbled through my body, I found something in my pocket in my jacket. 

It was a test card, which didn't surprise me either. "Necessary information will be available on the exam card". They really think about it. When I tapped on the shining circle in the lower left corner, a three-color hologram appeared in front of me, making me faintly gasp.

"Great......" I muttered unconsciously. "What kind of technology is this? Color hologram, 5D? 7D'S? In a card this thin?"

When I remembered again, that there was a possibility that this was all just a gift of some kind, I immediately put away my interest in the card. What he displayed was a three-dimensional map of this city, accompanied by the blue dot I was in.

"East of the Sea, pastures near a giant rainforest." I muttered after looking at the map. "Such far from the city center. We see.... forty kilos, How big is this city??"

I looked up at the sky. The sun is at its highest point. It's twelve o'clock in the afternoon, right around noon. Huh, I wonder if it really takes one hour to move all the participants to this city? We started at eleven, didn't we?

Okay, put that aside for a moment as a hint of another time. Let's see what else I got. I swiped the three-dimensional screen with my finger like I was sliding the phone screen. A scroll appeared with a dark blue eel symbol. Electric eels, maybe that's what they want to call. The scroll opened, revealing an arrangement of words slowly formed from floating letters.

"The Southwest Place of the semicircular needle."

The riddle? Is this the puzzle they mean? The rules say this.

The guidebook contains the rules that I mean are also here. Sliding once from the puzzle page is a guidebook. I read about this first. There are two hundred pages with explanations of the rules that apply, enemies, regional climate information, the map of the city as a whole, the map of the division of the city area, to the description of items that can be used.

Simply put, there are ten main rules. First, participants must complete the exam within three hours. Second, participants can use the vehicle in any form. Third, participants can use gifts to unlock puzzles, defeat enemies, or shorten distances. Fourth, gifts should not be used to attack fellow participants. Fifth, participants are allowed to work together, especially with other participants who have the same puzzle. Sixth, any wounds received would heal ten times faster with less pain. Seventh, the concept of death is still the same as the real world, participants will be declared a failure if they get death. Eighth, violations committed will be immediately punished with disqualification. Ninth, a participant who was killed for any reason would be declared a failure. Tenth and last, each participant's behavior will be assessed, which will affect the final outcome.

Simple rules. In essence, it's the same as real life, except I have a task that must be completed within a certain time limit. Let's see how the puzzle I got.

I looked up at the sky again, unknowingly.

Well, it's impossible. I lack a clue. There are too many possibilities that arise until my guess is only a weak guess. If this is true, then they are really bad at making puzzles.

Of course, it never hurts to check. Because if this is the answer, either Helder gives me an easy victory or the guy intervenes in the making of the problem. For now, it was most correct to go to the midpoint, even though it was forty kilometers away.

Regulation says participants can use all objects in the city. That means I can even use the vehicle without a license, but then be limited by all the actions of the participants will be assessed. Then I can only use a bicycle or scooter. It's so illogical, the trip to the middle of town was 40 kilos, did they want me to pedal a bike that far in less than an hour?

This grassland is huge. I walked down the path of neatly arranged rocks. Even until the forest at the back looks smaller, only the grasslands around are visible. You could say I panicked, thinking I was lost, but then I heard a voice.

Water gurgles, rivers flow, also the people who take the water. I was looking for direction. This path helps. I took a quick step. If the forest is the end of the road, then the beginning of the path should lead to a village or a small town.

The more I walked down the street, the more I heard clearly the gurgling sound. The steps slowly turned into small runs. My breath was panting, but my head didn't stop turning right-left looking around. The grasslands are getting wider. Although fertile, I felt like I was in the desert of death.

A minute, two minutes passed. When my eyes were almost closed to exhaustion, a breeze blew ushering in the jovial laughter of the residents. My eyes are wide open. I jumped behind a huge tree that I somehow didn't realize was in front of me.

The river flow, I guess right! There also appeared people who were gathering with their wooden buckets. Their faces were more reddish with light brown hair. The clothes they were acquainted with were like the customary clothing of a certain tribe, but I had no idea where. They were busy chatting while taking water, then left the river in excitement.

Peaceful scenery, like a picture of medieval European fantasy in Midgard Quest. I was waiting for some fairy tribe or something here. But it's another matter, the priority now is to look for clues.

I couldn't be more surprised to see the water flowing in the river. It was so clear, as if there was no water there at all. Even glass I don't think can be this quiet. My shadow is invisible, but I can clearly see the ecosystem at the bottom of the river. There are no fish, but there are rocks of various colors like glass art. Some aquatic plants thrive, but strangely do not look the slightest bit moss. I don't understand this artificial world system. Was it intentionally imperfect? Or are there a lot of bugs?

Seeing such clear water made me unable to bear to not dip my hands. However, just a finger, I could feel the coldness of the water as if it was piercing the back of my neck. Is this glacier water? Pure water from the Northern mountains? Of course I don't want to drink it, as clear as this. Germs are not visible, unless the makers of this world do not add germ data. Especially in the real world, most ancient viruses are frozen in glacier ice.

It's sad that you can't drink right away, but it's a good lead. Villages are usually built downstream, or near water sources. My next goal means to go down this river. If I can meet some of the people around, maybe I can ask for a little help with transportation. Now I have a purpose. The people I saw were walking away from the river. Is their village far away from here? Not as expected. Usually, settlements are built by surrounding water sources. Even so, it is better to follow them than to walk around again downstream which I myself do not know for sure what is there.

Their footprints were hidden by the knee-high grass, it was rather difficult to find them. I walked around, down the river a little, then found a muddy road that was not overgrown with grass. This is the path they used to walk. They already know the way home, no longer need to follow the path that has been formed. I think that's how they think it is, and hopefully it is.

I followed the muddy path slowly, being careful that those people would not notice me. The rule book says participants will not be able to guess where the enemy will come from. Who knew those people would also be opponents. That's why I'm sneaking around.

The muddy road made the sound of footsteps clear, so I walked on the edge, stepping on the drier grassy ground. This clump is getting higher the jah I walk. The more I worry about losing track. The path began to thin along with the increasing height of weeds that meet the surrounding view. I began to doubt whether I was still walking straight or had already lost track, but when I realized that the growing weeds were starting to short again, I knew I was near the goal.

"SUBJECT!!!!!!!!!!!"

The scream that sounded suddenly made me flinch. Two long hands pushed me from the side, knocking down my small body easily. Just a glance, just a split second after, I was able to catch a strange sight of the flying reeds, approaching me as fast as the wind.

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