The pods did not land together.

Instead, each team was scattered.

Tyler understood that immediately the moment his pod descended through the silent dead city and locked into position above one abandoned structure before opening its lower hatch.

There was no countdown.

No warning.

The floor beneath them simply shifted, and the seven members of his team dropped one by one into the upper floor of an abandoned building.

The landing was rough but manageable.

A cloud of dust rose as boots struck cracked concrete.

By the time Tyler straightened, the pod above had already begun closing again.

No instructions followed.

No chance to ask where the other teams had gone.

The transport lifted immediately and disappeared back into the sky, leaving only silence behind.

For a moment none of them spoke.

Tyler looked around carefully.

The building was old but not ruined enough to collapse. Broken walls, cracked paint, exposed pipes, and shattered glass suggested this place had once been inhabited before being abandoned for years. Dust lay thick in the corners, but strangely, the structure still felt maintained enough to survive.

Only their own team had been dropped here.

That meant the other three teams had likely been placed elsewhere across the city.

How far, no one knew.

Tansy moved first.

She walked carefully toward the nearest window and brushed dust aside before looking outside.

The others followed.

What spread before them looked like a full city.

Roads stretched between rows of empty buildings.

Houses stood in long lines.

Apartment blocks rose farther away.

Streetlights leaned slightly, some still intact, some broken.

Vehicles sat abandoned in certain intersections like forgotten relics.

The place looked dead.

Not destroyed by war, but emptied.

As though everyone had simply vanished and left everything behind.

"We’re inside a city..." Rose said quietly.

The old man stayed silent.

Andrew, Laddis, and Farma immediately began scanning the room instead of staring outside.

Then Rose noticed something.

"There."

Near the far wall stood a large supply crate.

It looked exactly like the boxes dropped during previous games.

Metal body.

Heavy lock already disengaged.

Tyler crossed the room and opened it without hesitation.

The lid lifted with a metallic sound.

Everyone leaned closer.

Inside were supplies.

Several protective vests.

Four handguns.

Two torch lights.

A few empty water bottles.

And very little else.

No food.

No visible ammunition beyond what was already loaded.

Tyler immediately noticed the problem.

Only four guns.

No spare magazines.

Limited bullets.

A weapon, but intentionally incomplete.

Tyler reached first and picked up one handgun.

Almost instantly, Andrew, Laddis, and Farma each took one too.

The movement was so fast it barely looked coordinated, yet clearly none of them intended hesitation.

That left no firearm for Tansy, Rose, or the old man.

The three men also immediately grabbed vests and wore them without discussion.

Rose’s expression changed at once.

Not anger yet.

Disdain.

Because the selfishness had come too quickly.

Tyler noticed it but said nothing.

At that exact moment, a voice echoed across the city.

The same silver-skinned woman.

The sound came not from the room but from hidden speakers placed somewhere across the entire battlefield.

"Welcome to the Final Game."

Every survivor across the city would hear it now.

Her voice remained calm, almost pleasant.

"The rules are simple. The team that remains alive at the end wins."

A pause followed.

"Your goal is survival."

Another pause.

"And the elimination of all other teams."

Tyler listened carefully.

"All buildings across the city contain supplies—weapons, vehicles, food, water, and medicine. Use everything available. Survive."

The announcement ended there.

No hidden twist yet.

No secondary conditions.

Which made Tyler even more cautious, because simple rules in the Capital always hid deeper dangers.

The silence returned.

And almost immediately, division began.

Rose noticed first.

Andrew, Laddis, and Farma had moved slightly away and were now speaking quietly near the broken wall.

Not even trying to hide that they were discussing separately.

"Why are you talking there alone?" Rose asked.

Her tone sharpened.

"You heard her. We’re supposed to survive together."

Andrew did not even look at her first.

Instead, he looked directly at Tyler.

Then spoke as if Rose had never existed.

"Are you coming with us?"

His voice carried practical coldness.

"We four can survive much more easily together."

Only then did he glance briefly toward the others.

"Or you can stay with those three dead weights."

Laddis immediately nodded.

"Exactly."

He pointed lazily toward Tansy, Rose, and the old man.

"These burdens will slow everything down."

Farma folded his arms and added nothing at first, but his expression clearly agreed.

Rose stepped forward instantly.

Anger flashed openly now.

But before she could speak properly, Tansy caught her wrist and covered her mouth lightly.

Not because Rose was wrong.

Because shouting would waste time.

All eyes shifted to Tyler.

Andrew clearly expected the answer to be obvious.

Tyler opened his mouth slowly.

"Looks like I’ll disappoint the three of you."

His tone stayed calm.

But the refusal was absolute.

Andrew’s face hardened.

Farma clicked his tongue loudly.

"Hmph."

Then muttered without hiding it:

"Why the hell are we the unlucky ones? THESE FOUR USELESS PEOPLE."

Laddis looked almost amused.

Andrew shook his head once.

"Then we go our own way."

He adjusted the handgun at his waist.

"Try to survive."

No farewell beyond that.

The three turned and left immediately through the lower stairway without waiting for further discussion.

Within seconds, only footsteps remained.

Then silence.

Rose finally exhaled sharply.

"They didn’t even hesitate."

"They already chose before the game began," Tansy said quietly.

Tyler did not disagree.

He simply walked back toward the crate and looked at what remained.

Two torches.

Empty bottles.

Vests.

Very little else.

The old man stood near the wall, looking uncertain.

Outside the building, wind moved dust through the dead streets.

Far away, no gunfire yet.

Which meant the first contact between teams had not started.

But it would.

Soon.

And elsewhere across Libria, every screen was already showing what had happened.

The room split.

The abandonment.

The refusal.

Live commentary had already begun.

Inside homes, lounges, and sector squares, people watched as the silver-skinned woman’s voice returned—this time joined by a male commentator.

"Looks like Team D begins with disadvantage."

Another voice followed immediately.

"They already split before first contact."

Laughter came next.

"Let’s see whether No.51 can carry these three so-called burdens."

Another mocking comment followed.

"Or perhaps he’ll abandon them himself once real danger begins."

Even in the sectors, people watched.

In the Capital, many laughed.

Because from every angle, Tyler’s remaining group looked weaker now.

Three without guns.

One old man.

Two girls.

And only Tyler armed.

But Tyler, looking out through the broken window toward the silent city, did not seem worried at all.

If anything, his eyes had become calmer.

Because now there were fewer people beside him.

Which meant fewer unknown variables.

And in a battlefield built for betrayal, that was often better than numbers.

"Look! I found another supply!" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Rose’s voice came from outside the room before Tyler even realized she had already slipped away.

He turned immediately.

Only then did he notice she was no longer standing near Tansy.

Andrew, Laddis, and Farma had already taken the upper stairway and left through the building’s outer exit, but there was another staircase leading downward toward the ground floor— a narrower one half hidden behind a cracked inner wall.

Rose had clearly chosen that direction without telling anyone.

Tyler moved quickly, with Tansy and the old man following close behind.

The lower floor was darker, with broken sunlight entering through shattered side windows and long shadows stretching across the concrete floor. Dust covered most of the corners, and some old furniture still remained pushed against walls as though abandoned in a hurry.

Near the center of the room, Rose stood beside a bag lying near a fallen chair.

She looked very satisfied with herself.

The old man reached them and smiled.

"You really are good at finding things."

That single praise made Rose puff out her chest immediately, chin lifting with visible pride.

Tyler crouched beside the bag and opened it carefully.

Inside was another supply set.

A compact first-aid box.

A small knife.

And one extra magazine.

He picked up the magazine first and checked it.

It matched the handgun he carried.

That alone made the bag far more valuable than it looked.

Tyler looked at Rose and nodded once.

"Good."

That simple approval made her smile even wider.

Then something else dropped nearby with a metallic sound.

A thin rod had fallen from between broken shelves leaning against the wall, likely loosened when Rose dragged the bag.

It looked ordinary at first— just a short metal stick no longer than a forearm.

Rose picked it up curiously.

The moment she tightened her grip around it, the rod suddenly extended.

Both ends shot outward with a click.

In less than a second, the small rod became a full staff nearly as tall as she was.

Rose almost dropped it in surprise.

Tyler narrowed his eyes.

"Looks like this place hides more than obvious weapons."

The old man stepped closer and gently took the staff from Rose’s hands.

He turned it once.

Then twice.

His grip changed naturally, almost too naturally for someone his age.

Next moment he twisted the center, spun the rod smoothly between both palms, and let the metal whistle through the air in a clean circular motion before shifting his feet and dropping into a balanced stance.

The movement was fast.

Controlled.

Not random.

Even Tyler paused.

The old man spun the staff again, this time lower, then higher, before stopping with the rod angled across his shoulder like someone who had repeated that motion thousands of times in another life.

Rose stared openly.

Tansy blinked.

Even Tyler looked more carefully now.

"Wow..."

Rose stepped forward, eyes shining.

"Grandpa, what was that?"

The old man looked slightly embarrassed for being watched so seriously.

Then he answered:

"One of the old martial arts."

He rested the rod against the ground.

"Silambattam."