*bell rings*
They were all shaken up by the sudden interruption. Their eyes turned to the middle of the living area, exactly where they had formed a circle to play truth or dare. A hologram appeared. It must be Author. The girls stood up while the boys stopped playing board games and gathered with them.
"Seems like you are enjoying your games. Pardon me for barging in." They all heard that enigmatic voice of Author again.
Its gender, age, ethnicity, and identity were all unknown. They weren't even sure whether they were talking to a living being, such as a person, or an object like a robot.
"If you are playing games, then you should take it to another step and play a real game!"
Just as she thought, they would play again.
"Welcome to Wealth Level Stage 2!"
It took her a while to absorb and realize that there was something wrong with Author's declaration.
"Wait, isn't it stage 3?" Seventh raised the question that had formed in her mind. "We're done with stage 2." He was sharp this time.
Thirtwen stepped in. "Yeah, he's right. It was your clone that killed Fortwen!" Second could feel his anger from the words he said to Author. They played truth or dare and board games for fun, but this fun was temporary because guilt and grief lingered within them.
"Wealth Level Stage 2 has been carried out but not yet cleared." Everyone's faces grew serious because, apart from the fact that they would play again, they all expected it to be more difficult.
"None of you was able to take the necklace from Fortwen's neck, which is the goal to clear the stage."
She recollected the events from that game. Author was correct. Fifth was about to grab the necklace from Fortwen when Fortwen grasped it and stabbed her neck repeatedly, resulting in her death. It was a gruesome memory she wished to forget because it was too disturbing, but her mind could not easily erase it.
"To finally clear this stage, another chance is given to you." Author stated with a tone that they must be thankful for the second chance to redo or complete stage 2 rather than giving up their lives.
Third interrogated Author, "What is it this time?"
"Proceed to the 5th floor," Author ordered, and the hologram went off.
They hurriedly ran and went up to the 5th floor. This was also the same place where they had their last game—the fight against the clones of Fortwen—the scene from which she and Twelf died. They were still gasping for breath when they reached the destination of the next game.
After a few seconds, it was like magic. She was amazed by what happened next. The relatively dark and empty space that looked like a closed parking area had transformed into something else. The ceiling and roof moved upwards, increasing the height of the floor. The whole area was well-lit, and the floor was shiny. There were benches on both sides, two basketball rings, and balls on either side. It became clear that the surroundings had become an indoor covered court.
By an unknown method, the boys who had previously been in their school uniforms were altered into wearing jerseys and uniformly white-colored rubber shoes. Five boys wore silver jerseys, and the other five wore gold jerseys. The number on the back of the jersey was their name, or rather, their number names. She checked herself and saw she was still wearing the same uniform, as were the other girls.
Author instantly appeared in the middle of the court, so their attention shifted from being astounded by the new setting to curiosity about what the game would be.
"First, the boys will play Ball of Rings. Ten boys were divided into two groups: the silver team and the gold team. Five players for each team."
Ball of Rings? From what she could see, it looked like a basketball.
"Yes! Time to show off my skills!" Fifzen declared happily. She could see that he was in high spirits.
As the boys wore their sleeveless basketball jerseys and knee-high shorts with bulky white rubber shoes, Fifzen's biceps became more evident. It wasn't that visible when he wore his regular student uniform. He must've been a sporty guy on Earth. And yeah, he regularly used the gym here too.
"This is not your typical basketball game," Author added.
How could this not be an ordinary basketball game they played on Earth when the place looked exactly like what they were used to?
"Indeed, it is 5 versus 5. The goal is to shoot and score as many balls as possible into your opponent's ring before the time runs out. There are penalties given, but no need to elaborate on those because this game is lenient compared to your world's version of basketball."
How would they play orderly if Author didn't explain all the details?
"Fifteen minutes will be given before starting." After telling the simple mechanics, Author disappeared.
"Let's go!" Seventh exclaimed while holding his jersey.
They could see the boys' ordinal number names tattooed on the upper part of their arms. Others had faded black on the side and turned gold like hers. Author had said that when you resist, the color of the tattoo changes, a hint that your lifespan is lengthening. Ninezen was almost half gold. As for First, his left arm was almost three-quarters gold. Since the boys would play first, the girls in school uniforms stood aside and sat on the bleachers. There were pompoms and bottled water.
"What are we going to do here?" Sectwen asked irritably, pointing at the bleachers and pompoms.
"What else but to cheer them on. Whooo!" Aeith replied cheerfully. She grabbed a pair of pompoms and shouted louder. "Go, boys!"
She sat on the bleacher, as did the other girls.
"My, my. I miss watching live games like this!" Sixth giggled.
Gold versus Silver was the battle because that was the color of their jerseys.
Then she realized:
Gold team: Fifzen (15th), Sevenzen (17th), Ninezen (19th), Firstwen (21st), Thirtwen (23rd)—came from private high schools.
Silver team: First (1st), Third (3rd), Fifth (5th), Seventh (7th), Ninth (9th)—came from public high schools.
This game was not just boys versus boys, but also private schools versus public schools. From the several days they had stayed here, she managed to identify their identities even with just basic information because they still did not hold their full memories.
Is this what Author claimed? That this was a different kind of game?
Second still couldn't get through Author's thoughts. This literally seemed to be a simple basketball game often played by boys. The game hadn't started yet, so some of the boys sat on the bleachers while others warmed their bodies up.
"Hey," Seventh and Ninezen approached them.
"No enemies here. Go away, go away!" Aeith dismissed Ninezen because he was from the gold team. Should they be cheering on the silver team since Aeith, Fourth, and she came from the public schools?
"You sure of this, Ninezen?" Seventh asked his friend while stretching his arms for a warm-up.
"Don't you underestimate me, small fry," Ninezen scoffed. "Hmp, you are now facing a giant, kiddo." They looked at each other, thinking of themselves as enemies for now.
If Ninezen said that, it meant he was good at basketball or at least had experience with sports.