Grim Reaper in the Apocalypse: Reaping Immortals

"What game am I supposed to play?"

"It's a childhood game called 'cross the road'."

"I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Come on! It's a very popular game here in Genesis City and all over the globe! You must have been living under a rock—"

"I was."

"Oh…right. You were from the Unclaimed Lands. I forgot…Well, this game is very popular among kids because it trains their reaction, decision-making, and speed—all of which are important when they want to become a Savior in the future.

Do you see the large lake in front of you?"

Atlan looked forward and could see the very tumultuous waves of the great lake. It was as if there was a storm brewing on the very water itself, yet Atlan could not feel even a single breeze on the shore.

"The objective of this game is to cross the lake without drowning. It's as easy as that."

"But can't I just go around the lake and get to the other side that way?"

If he followed the shoreline of the lake, he would eventually reach the other side. He didn't have to cross the wavy lakes at all. It would be much safer to stay on land and walk for a little while. It would only be a thirty-minute walk at the latest.

"You can't. Didn't you see what happened when you stepped out of bounds from the game? Those arrows will come at you with their full force and bombard you until you come back to the game.

There are two rules in this game. First, you cannot walk diagonally. You must only walk towards the left or right.

The second rule is that you cannot go back, only forwards. That is the reason why you were attacked earlier. You stepped back and got out of bounds."

Atlan nodded. "Okay, I get that. But how am I going to cross this lake?"

"There are logs of wood crossing horizontally in front of you. They will either go from left to right or right to left. You can walk across different logs as long as you follow the rules—which is that you can only walk forwards, left, or right."

Atlan looked at the lake in front of him but couldn't see any sign of the logs that Carmine described. He didn't even think wooden logs could float on such turbulent waters. And even if they could, Atlan didn't think he could walk on it without tumbling into the waters.

"I don't see any logs."

"They will appear once you enter the game."

"This is not the game yet?"

"Not yet. The Huntsman is still giving you a choice. You could either retreat or you could play the game. It's your choice."

Atlan looked at the floating arrow in front of him. It was still pointing toward the north, which meant that the boar was on the other side of the lake. If he wanted to get to it, then he'd have to play the game.

"Will the Huntsman leave me alone if I don't play his game?"

"...no. It will probably become more aggressive towards you. It likes your courage. That's the reason why it's been humoring you all this time. If you stop being courageous, then it might get bored and decide to get rid of you once and for all."

Atlan walked forward without any more hesitation. And the moment he did, he suddenly heard a very rhythmic drum pattern. It made the atmosphere very 'gamey'.

Then, he suddenly saw logs of wood spawn from his left and right. These logs crossed over to the other side and disappeared into the fog once they went out of the bounds of the 'game'.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The objective was to cross the lake, and he had to walk across these logs to get to the other side.

However, the arrows shooting from both sides prevented him from crossing the logs at any time he wanted. He had to wait for the right timing.

The first row of arrows fired at a constant rate. It was one second of constant barrages, followed by half a second of wait time.

Even though this first part was easy, Atlan didn't immediately go. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to balance himself on the log. After all, it was only wide enough for two feet. He couldn't re-balance himself if he couldn't take a misstep.

Fortunately, there wasn't a time limit—-at least, not right now. Who's to say that things wouldn't change when Atlan stepped foot on the first log?

And since he couldn't take a step back, he had to plan ahead of time. He had to think about 3 steps forward at all times or else he could be walking into a trap. He could see arrows firing right on top of some of the logs that he had to cross.

First step…wait three seconds…cross…move right…wait two seconds…cross…

Atlan planned his first series of moves so that he'd land on a log that didn't have any arrows firing on top of it. This would give him time to think about his next few moves.

After waiting for one more cycle, Atlan finally stepped foot on the first log. He was going to wait for three more seconds before he crossed over to the next log, but things didn't go as he planned.

When his foot hit the log, it suddenly sank deep into the waters!

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His battle suit was far too heavy for the log to carry. Atlan inwardly cursed this game designed by the Huntsman. If all this was made out of magic powers, then couldn't it have used a better log—one that didn't follow the rules of physics?

Atlan had to improvise right at the very start of the game. If he didn't want to sink, then he had to move right now. Once one of his knees hit the water, he wouldn't be able to pull himself up towards the next log.

He immediately walked over to the next log two seconds ahead of his schedule.

WHIZZ!

Five arrows, all pointing towards him from different heights, raced through the air and targeted his whole body.