Strongest Nova: Path of Vengeance

Chapter 295: A Game

Stanley found himself suddenly transported to a completely different location, one with pure white walls all around him from the ground to the ceiling. His eyes could not perceive any depth in there at all for some reason.

He immediately activated his powers, slowing down time, only to realize that nothing was happening at all. He could not feel the air around him getting thicker or his breathing becoming harder.

He freaked out. What was going on? Had his powers been stripped? Had he died? Or... was he hallucinating somehow?

"WELCOME!" a loud voice came from all around him, mixed with cheers and some sort of music in the background. Something appeared in front of Stanley and he quickly reached for the knife on his belt, only to realize that he did not have one at all.

Stanley looked down to see where his knife had gone and realized that the belt he had made from the pelts of the deer they had killed was nowhere to be found.

All he was wearing was...

"Huh?"

He was wearing a simple brown trouser and a rather loose tunic. These were the clothes he wore back in Last Hope. What was going on?

He was shocked, but what shocked him even more was the fact that his left arm which was supposed to be fully charred and completely dead, was now as good as new, and he could move it.

Stanley looked at his arm touching it to see if it was real. It was real. How was it real? Why was it not destroyed?

He looked up from his belt to see what was going on and finally noticed the thing that was in front of him.

A hologram.

There were 3 buttons in front of him, each one grayed out, but he could read the words written on top of it.

Dancing Stars

The Grand Lap

Till Death Will I Fight

"Player, are you ready to play a game?" the voice called out again.

"Who is this? Who is speaking?" Stanley asked.

"I am the Game Master, and you are playing in my game!" the voice spoke. "I am obligated by the rules to explain to you what is happening here. Thanks to the powers of my master, you have been brought into this game world, where you must play each of these 3 games and try to win."

"There are 10 points you can gain in each of these games."

"In Dancing Stars, you must dance so you can get stars. You can get a maximum of 10 stars."

"In The Grand Lap, you must drive around a difficult track for a total of 10 laps. You have to not crash your car for as many laps as you can."

"In Till Death Will I Fight, you must fight 10 increasingly stronger opponents each round. You have to last for as many rounds as you can."

"Depending on how many points you gain in each game, you will receive a reward or a punishment. The less points you get, the more severe the punishment. The more points you get, the better the reward."

"If you understand, we can start now."

"Wait, no," Stanley quickly shouted. "Where am I? Is this my real body?"

"Your real body is safe while you play this game. Only your mind is brought into this game," the voice said. "Can I start the game now?"

A small sound notified Stanley of the 3 buttons becoming active. He looked at them and saw them all glow brightly, ready to be chosen.

Stanley looked at them thoughtfully, trying to plan the entire thing, but he had no idea what he was getting into to plan at all.

"I can’t use my powers here?" he asked.

"No powers," the voice replied. "Just you. Do you have any more questions?"

Stanley tried to think of more, but he didn’t have any. "No," he said reluctantly.

"Great!" the disembodied voice said cheerfully and the first button was pressed on its own.

The world seemed to spin around Stanley and in the next moment, he was standing in a dark room, on top of a slightly cushioned surface.

He looked around, but everything was dark. All he could see were vague silhouettes that looked like people.

Then with a loud sound, lights came on. A spotlight dropped on top of him and then another. The scattering light showed more of the silhouettes.

Stanley tried to go closer and the spotlight followed him. Just before he got close, a large, red, glowing wall appeared before him, barring his path.

Stanley quickly moved back and saw a white screen appearing on top of the red wall. Inside of the white screen appeared a completely black circle that slowly rotated and twisted until it took on the shape of a man.

To Stanley’s surprise, the silhouette vaguely resembled him. ’What in god’s name is going on here?’ he thought.

More lights glowed all around him, this time of all the different colors, revealing that he was on top of a stage this entire time. Beyond the red wall that was somewhat transparent, but mostly opaque, he could see the many silhouettes moving their hands in cheer.

He almost thought he could hear it too.

"Get ready for your next star in tonight’s Dancing Stars!" the voice announced. "The dance will begin in 5, 4, 3..."

"What? No, I’m not ready."

"2."

Music began playing all of a sudden, one that Stanley had never heard of before.

"1!"

Stanley didn’t know what to do.

"Begin!"

The music took off and the black silhouette before him began dancing.

Stanley panicked and began moving his body. He didn’t know how to dance, but he had to do something.

’Is this silhouette my opponent?’ Stanley thought. How could he beat someone who danced so well?

Stanley danced to the beat, but the beat was foreign to him. He moved as naturally as he could, but it was apparent his dancing was horrible.

On the other hand, the silhouette danced perfectly.

Stanley was losing.