Guards that were completely covered in golden armor and carrying silver spears walked through the door as the shadow figure stopped speaking. These guards wordlessly led the mass of people towards the sleeping area. Each room had a nameplate on the door, so people began to go in for rest after speaking amongst themselves for a few moments. Jensen entered his room to find a plate of food. After eating, he laid on the stiff bed and stared at the ceiling. He began to recall the events of the day, and thought about his future in the Galactic Survival Games. With a faint feeling of excitement lingering, Jensen drifted to his dreams.

Mary’s POV

“Awaken, participants of the 43rd Galactic Survival Games. Breakfast is outside your door, as all meals will be from now on. Please report to the courtyard southeast of the living area.”

The mass of people, Mary included, filtered through the hallways towards the courtyard. The courtyard had plants around the edges of the lot. These plants were vividly colored and much larger than most on Earth. Mary noticed a large, decorative platform at the end of the area. The people’s pointless chatter ended as a beam of purple light began to come down from the sky above the platform. The beam was moving so quickly, it could be heard cutting through the air. Landing on the platform with a bang, the purple light and dust dissipated. Gradually, an alluring figure began to appear. With beautiful purple hair and a striking figure dressed in unearthly garments, the woman gave off a mysterious yet dangerous aura. Her face had what appeared to be war paint or tribal tattoos.

“My name is Skylight Starr. As you can see, I am a human. The council that is organizing the games decided that I should be the first person you see, and the one to explain the games to you.”

The crowd of people were dead silent. While they were all scared for their lives and anxious to hear what the games were, the sight of the beautiful woman calmed their hearts.

“First, you should know that the Galactic Survival Games change every year. Sometimes it is a race. Sometimes it is a last person surviving on a dangerous planet. This year, however, is a death match between all 100 participants.”

The faces in the crowd all sank upon hearing this. ‘This is the worst case scenario… That means there will be only one person alive. On top of that, I’m not sure if I can actually kill someone.’ Mary was a kind person- she had never wanted to be in a situation like this.

“The next thing you should know is that this game isn’t as simple as ‘Here’s some weapons. Now, go kill each other.’ After all, that wouldn’t be very entertaining, would it? No, for this year’s Galactic Games, we will be Awakening you beforehand.”

The confusion filled the air following the end of that sentence. The people looked at each other, and someone raised his hand. Before he could speak, however, Skylight continued speaking.

“Awakening is the process of unlocking the potential of the Cosmos. For every entity, the results are different. All people, however, will gain some kind of unique ability.”

“Powers?”

Upon hearing this, the crowd showed happiness for the first time. Something about humans gives them an undying wish to be like the fictional characters that they looked up to as children.

“Right. These powers are called Cosmic Ability. I will first test each of you for your innate attributes. These attributes fall into 5 categories- Enhancement, Star, Soul, Light, or Dark. Each attribute has disadvantages and advantages. For example, my attribute, Star, is strong in movement and attack power, but lacks in defensive power. On the other hand, Enhancement has high defensive capabilities. In order to test these, the name I call will proceed onto the platform. I will then send Cosmic power into your veins to activate your potential. This will be excruciating. However, after a few moments, your Cosmic Markings will appear. The first time the markings activate will cause a Cosmic Overflow- your body will be wrapped in whatever type you fall under. As a reminder, the attribute is not your Cosmic Ability- just the type that the ability will fall under. Through training, you can improve your ability and even acquire branching abilities. Are there any questions so far?”

The people were all intently listening with excitement. There were a lot of terms they didn’t really understand, but they were doing their best to keep up. Mary decided that these abilities were extremely important to her success and safety in the upcoming games, so she would do her best to get a strong result.

“Since there are no other questions, we will start from the top of the rankings and work our way down. Jensen Livelot, please step forward.”

‘This guy again. I hope he gets some terrible ability. Of course, I don’t really know what would be good or bad in this case. For now, I’ll just observe.’

Jensen’s POV

Jensen had been having the best day of his life so far. Upon coming to the courtyard, he was filled with excitement towards the games. When he saw a beam of light slam into the ground, he realized that technology was not the only thing different in this world. When the alluring woman showed herself, he felt a desire to learn more about her strange markings. When he heard that the games were a death match, he thought that he could not have been brought to a better or more exciting place. However, when he heard that they would be awakened and gain abilities..

‘This is truly… amazing. I can’t even feel my face. This excitement.. This curiosity… This anxiety… It is almost too much..’ Jensen, of course, loved the idea of fighting for entertainment purposes. ‘I understand them, life is mundane. If this is what brings excitement to people like me, then I will have to put on a show.’

“Jensen Livelot.”

Jensen snapped out of his thoughts and began to walk onto stage. The anxiety in his heart was beginning to burn. ‘I wonder what I’ll get?’

“Close your eyes and clear your mind. I will now Awaken you.”

The beautiful woman gripped the top of Jensen’s head, as she was about the same height as him. Jensen was by no means short- this woman was just somewhat tall. He did as she directed after glancing into her eyes. Closing his eyes, he cleared his mind. Skylight’s eyes began to grow purple as the air around her began to swirl. Jensen began to feel a burning sensation rolling throughout his body, as if every cell of his body was being rearranged. He almost fell to his knees, but held on through his pride as a narcissist. The air around Skylight started churning more quickly, and soon something started flowing out of Jensen’s body.