Ning listened to Drake's words with a thoughtful expression.
"What about you, brother Ning? How did your world end?" Drake asked.
"Zombie apocalypse," Ning said. "Everyone became a zombie, so I had to go around killing them to save them."
"Zombie? What's that?" Drake asked.
"Um, how do I explain this? They're formerly human, but after coming in contact with something, they slowly lose their mind and all they can do is go around listlessly, craving for human flesh," Ning said as he remembered the skeletal zombies of Hoflar.
"Undead that like to eat human flesh and can't think for themselves? That to me sounds like a ghoul," Drake said. "Are they ghouls?"
"Maybe?" Ning said. "I wouldn't know. I've never really seen any ghouls."
"It does sound like ghoul but maybe not entirely," Drake said. "Ghouls from our world loved eating dead human flesh, while your zombies sound like they like eating alive human flesh."
"Yes, that's true," Ning said with a enlightened expression.
Drake drank the last bit of water and slumped back on the chair. "Sigh, I don't like this break. I feel like hibernating until the week is over."
"Alright, take some rest. I will go and see if we are the only ones living in this city," Ning said.
"Okay," Drake said and closed his eyes right their on the table and used his cloak to cover his eyes.
Ning went out of the tavern and walked around. He looked for people that didn't have the question marks on their head, but he couldn't find any.
Even a day after searching, he couldn't find anyone. That confirmed the fact that he and drake were the only 2 people in the city.
"What am I supposed to do with a week to spare?" Ning thought to himself. Turned out there really was nothing for him to do.
So, he spent the week sleeping most of the time.
After his body was improved, he didn't need much sleep. Not to mention the fact that he had slept for a very long time during his trip to Hoflar.
While his body didn't need sleep, he still slept because that was what his mind desired. No matter how fresh and useful his body was, if his mind became lethargic, he wouldn't be able to properly take care of himself during the final competition.
The times he was awake, he spent simply roaming the city. While the city wasn't very big, it still took him a full day to visit every corner.
Ning wondered how the others spent their time. Surely a lot of them had to have gone out of the city to improve themselves. But just how much could one improve in just a week.
Ning had fully stocked up his Aether reserve before he won the 1st round of the competition, so he didn't need to worry about preparing.
And as an Aether Divinity, there wasn't anything more he could do to improve.
"I will probably have to use more Aether next match," he thought to himself. "Sigh, I hope I get time in between 2nd and 3rd to restock my aether."
Since the system cautioned him against gathering Aether from the atmosphere, Ning was stuck with the Aether in his storage space.
Thinking as such, the entire week passed before Ning could really do anything productive. When the final day was over, he felt the space wrap around him again and he was forced to return back to the white room with everyone else.
Ning looked around to search for everyone. As expected, all 50 of them were in the room.
'So no one died in between huh?' he thought to himself. He found Nova in the middle of the crowd, looking a lot better than she had that last few times he saw her, but still fully troubled.
Drake was fully slumped in here as well. It seemed he truly was fatigued without his powers.
The people all around him had smiles on their faces and held conversation with each other in a friendly manner as if they weren't in a survival game where the winner was the only one that would live.
'Where's the man, though?' Ning thought to himself. Just then, white light shined from high above.
"Hello again," Genesis appeared in the white room. "I hope you've had a fantastic time this last week. Because at least 40 of you are going to die next round."
'That's some way to bring back tension,' Ning thought as he stared at white light again.
"While you guys have enjoyed your time here, I had to go around and find the best way to cut down on your numbers. Fortunately, I think I've come up with the best way," Genesis said as he clapped.
"Okay, first of all, you will all be put into a group of 5, for a total of 10 groups. You will be fighting against each other but not directly," Genesis said.
"Before I say how you fight, I will have to explain the things I skipped out on last time."
"Some of you noticed, some of you did not, but I have given you all a replica of a system."
"It's not really a system, but simply something I've shown to you and you especially. Now, I want every one of you to check your own information," Genesis said.
Ning looked around as most people couldn't understand what was happening. They had noticed the question marks on the people's heads in their city, but that was the extent of it.
Soon, they heard others saying words like 'Info' and 'Analysis', and soon followed themselves.
Before long, everyone had their information in front of them. Ning looked at their face and eyes that read the information on their panel, but Ning could see no panel.
'So that information is only for the eyes of themselves,' Ning thought. Soon, everyone learned about the system, and some were even shocked about it.
"Good, now that you have learned how a system will work, I will give you more information on what the system itself in before the next round," Genesis said. "For now, let us go to the place where round 2 will be held."
