The Earth After Rebirth

Kiro sat there staring at his brother's life snuffed before his eyes. His sister had long died, probably from internal injuries and bleeding, he wasn't sure but it was clear she died from the beatings, like his brother.

"So this is how my siblings died. Or at least how I imagined they died." He breathed a deep sigh, before he could think of anything else he was suddenly enveloped in complete whiteness.

As if they were waiting for each other, at the same time, the Labyrinth of Terror spat them out on the other side. Hiro looked dead in the eyes, Nikolai was on the ground rocking back and forth, Kiro was lying on his back staring blankly at the blue sky, that didn't seem to match the mood.

'At least be gloom. It's so damn bright.'

The girls were, somehow, okay. They didn't look shaken, or traumatised. So they wondered what was wrong with the boys for them to be in such a sorry state.

Ding!

[Congratulations for surviving the Labyrinth of Terror. Each of you gain 5 levels for your mental fortitude. Each level rewards you with 10 attribute points and 5 skill points.]

Before they could do or say anything, "don't ask." Kiro warned.

He ignored the notification, he felt like, 5 levels were nothing compared to what they've gone through. But he also felt that that APs and SPs were kind of worth it.

Level 35

AP 50

SP 25

At his words both the girls heads turned to look at Kiro, he hadn't moved an inch. It was as if he had sent them a mental message, because his lips were already sealed shut. The girls had no idea what to do, so they just sat and waited.

After 2 days of just processing what they've just gone through, Hiro was surprisingly the first one to snap out of it.

"How is this even a game!" He cursed loudly.

One by one, the boys started to gain their sanity back. The fog clouding their minds and hearts started to clear.

The first thing that came to Kiro's mind was the fact that he declared himself a god to be. He face palmed and cringed. His heart was stilled in revenge, but he wasn't going to play god, an eye for an eye is all he dared to ask for.

After this experience, he was more wary of humans. Although he knew what human greed was capable of, he underestimated just by how much.

They got up and walked in silence. They could see the capital ahead. It was a few hours away by foot.

"So, what happened to you all?" Saanvi asked.

Kiro simply shot her the deadliest of looks. She flinched. The many days in the Labyrinth had made her forget about how cruel looking Kiro could be. She immediately regretted that she asked, at this rate, Kiro was going to completely hate her.

"Gods! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was just curious." She quickly tried to mend, but it was already broken. Hiro shot her a sad smile and they continued to walk on.

"Kiro, Hiro." It was surprising, but it was Nikolai who spoke, so they all stopped walking. "Are you guys in a guild?"

"No, we aren't looking to join one either so don't bother recruiting us." Kiro answered uninterested.

"No, that wasn't quite... I was wondering, could I join you? I'm assuming you'll start a guild." It seemed this had weighed on him heavily and he had thought it through.

Kiro's eyes bulged in surprised. 'The famous Nikolai, wants to join, us? The famous Shadow King?'

"We're not starting a guild, but a mercenary group."

"That'll work too. I'm an assassin, so that fits."

"We're poor, slum rats, you're okay taking orders from a peasant?" Kiro asked, stressing on the word peasant.

Nikolai noticed what he was trying to do, he flinched at the word 'peasant,' he smiled if only a little. He had been a slave after all. "That's okay I don't mind at all."

And so, the party of two, became three!

"Okay, first order of business, let's secure land."

They reached the capital, and because they were players above level 26 they were allowed inside without a hitch.

They quickly need to buy land. Upon entering the city the two groups went their separate ways. The boys were mentally tired, they couldn't wait to log out of the game, but Kiro stressed on how important it was that they secured land first.

They couldn't even admire how beautiful the capital was. The buildings were made of white stone, except for the bank, which was blue marble. The building looked like a chunk of frozen water.

There was a water fountain, that had a statue of the god Loki, pissing the water fountain out. It suited him, according to legend, he was the god of mischief after all.

Another shiny shop could be seen, it had Mjolnir as its logo and some thunder slightly coming out of it. That was most likely a smith shop.

The capital was big and beautiful, it went on as long as the eyes could see. The streets were busier than the ones at the beginner village. There were even carriages on the roads. So people didn't just walk aimlessly here, lest they get run over.

"Anyway, when are we gonna put those things up for the auction?" Hiro asked.

"When we're done with this we'll talk about that. But we'll sell the skill books when the game has more players. More money that way." Kiro answered him.

Nikolai was quiet, he just followed. He clearly had a lot on his mind.

"Nikolai, you look our age, are you also at Eden academy?" It was Hiro who asked.

"Yes, at the technological advancement department. Thought you two were 'peasants'?" Nikolai was astonished.

He never thought poor people could come in this academy. He knew how unfair their society was, so he wasn't expecting this.

"Poor people get lucky sometimes too." Kiro shrugged. He thought for a moment, and decided to amend his previous statement, "Well, luck isn't the right term for it, is it Hiro? Our parents worked tirelessly to send us here."

Nikolai put on a thoughtful expression, while nodding profusely in agreement.

They went into the bank, it was empty as no players had gotten to the capital yet, they were the first ones.

It was amazing how they could see everything happening outside, yet they couldn't see anything from the outside. There were just NPCs inside. They walked up to the teller.

"We'd like to buy land."

"Names?"

"Kiro, Hiro and Nikolai."

"How many acres do you wish to buy?"

"100."

"Please signal where you want this land to be."

Kiro looked at the lands, most were outside the capital. A very few were inside. It was an obvious choice and he obviously picked a plot inside the capital.

"Here."

"Your thumb print please to process payment."

And just like that he paid 500k coins. His heart sunk, a bit. He wanted to scream because this would be quite a lot of money when the conversion system is introduced.