Chapter 89: Captives

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Captives

You could say that Renee Morgan’s current status in Merrick makes her a hot commodity—everyone wants to latch onto her.

Zayed, being close by, took the opportunity first and definitely wasn’t going to let it slip away.

Renee had no idea what the spot meant, but since she’s cautious by nature, she didn’t agree right away—she just gave Zayed her contact info, so even if they left the base they could stay in touch.

Zayed also knew there was no rushing these things; Renee isn’t familiar with the power dynamics in Merrick, so it makes sense to be careful. After noting down her info, he left.

Renee went to fetch some water, then got in bed and turned off the lights to sleep.

There could still be emergency assemblies at night; no room for relaxing. Tomorrow they’ll probably announce details about the base competition, and after it ends, they should head back home.

They said the training would be five days, four nights, but filming could be extended depending on the production team’s needs, and payment would stack up too.

Renee’s always been professional—in any case, Wendy Aldridge has already left the show, so there shouldn’t be any more surprises. She didn’t mind them recording a few extra days.

The next morning, Renee got up early, carrying her washbasin to the showers.

As she was leaving, Zara Chapman happened to walk in. They brushed past each other, neither saying a word.

Zara looked back at Renee’s departing figure and let out a low snort.

At seven, everyone showed up at the meeting point right on time.

The livestream was already packed with viewers, all curious about the base competition.

They called it the "base competition," but honestly, most people preferred the term "base game."

In the base game, contestants are split into two factions. Everyone gets a certain identity, and each identity comes with different skills. The winning team gets prizes for all its members.

If someone in the winning team also clocks the highest score, they get the grand prize for the base competition.

If the highest scorer’s team loses, that person still gets the individual top-score award.

The base gives out cash prizes—a massive fortune.

The base competition happens once a year, right about this time.

Instructor: "The grand prize and team victory reward for the base competition—whatever you win, it’s yours. No matter your ranking, the prizes are yours personally. Also, out of you fifteen, whoever gets the highest score, the production team promises a custom reward, just for you."

So, prizes for the base competition come from the base itself; prizes offered by the show are handled by the production team. The difference is, the highest score in the base competition comes from all contestants, while the show’s special prize is only among their fifteen people.

After exchanging looks, Kyle Beckett couldn’t help but ask: "Excuse me, instructor, how many people are competing in the base competition?"

The instructor thought back to the number he’d heard yesterday and replied, "Just over a thousand players." Contestants, basically.

He didn’t mention that all these players had received recommendation spots and passed multiple rounds of screening. They’re from all over the world, and definitely not ordinary folks.

No one expected there’d be so many. Looks like there’s little hope of snagging the base competition’s top score, but the highest scorer among the show’s fifteen—that’s still worth fighting for.

The instructor looked over their eager faces, his gaze settling on Renee Morgan, and started again: "In a bit, everyone gets a hand card with your identity and competition rules and... don’t risk your life. If you can’t take it, you’re out."

After the lesson from the base forest, everyone knew the danger level in the base competition wouldn’t be low.

But when you think about it, everyone’s here for the huge cash prize—they’re all going all-in. No way could they out-crazy the others, so it’s better to just do their best.

The rest nodded, saying they understood.

Renee noticed the instructor staring at her and was a bit baffled. She didn’t think the warning was directed at her—she pushes herself hard but values her life. If things got truly dangerous, she would definitely raise her hand and surrender right away.

The instructor saw Renee nodding, completely clueless, and sighed internally. The girl’s used to giving it her all, but she doesn’t even see herself as reckless.

This kind of personality—maybe it’s actually great for competitions?

Made him kind of look forward to it.

The instructor handed out cards to everyone.

Lynn Miller stood next to Renee Morgan, looking incredulously at the big letters on her card: "Morgan, fuck... seriously? ’Prisoner’?"

She always thought the instructor had been bluffing to scare them, but it turns out that failing the base forest test really did mean getting assigned ’prisoner’ as their event identity?

No need to guess—Kyle, Miles Yates and the others would all be prisoners too.

Everyone’s eyes shot straight to Renee—the only one who’d passed the base forest test. What identity did she get?

Lynn coughed twice and grinned: "Morgan, I showed you my card. Isn’t it only fair you show me yours?"

Renee looked over at the instructor standing above, then at the pairs of hungry eyes, and decided to just blurt it out: "Mine’s Sniper."

Lynn, Miles Yates, and the others all widened their eyes, gazing at her with pure envy.

Renee held the card, reading the rules below. They only specified how a Sniper scored points and some restriction rules; it didn’t say how many identities there were in the game.

Lynn had just shown her the prisoner card—points were scored by head count too, seemed like there was a hidden skill section. She didn’t catch the rest.

"Um... Excuse me, instructor—so anyone who didn’t pass the base forest test is a prisoner, does that mean..." Kyle Beckett was still fuzzy about the rules, his brain spinning.

The instructor looked at him: "There are two main factions. Your card shows which side you belong to. Both sides have prisoners and captives—it’s set up so it’s balanced."

Kyle got even more confused: "So we’re prisoners, Renee is a Sniper—is there any other identity?"

The instructor nodded—the cards already explain how to score points. As long as the head belongs to the other faction, it counts as a point.

Of course, every identity has its own skill. For example, prisoners have a unique skill: so long as they don’t try to escape, no one can kill them—otherwise, it breaks the rules, you’re out, and the prisoner gains more points.

So, prisoners can’t die?

Of course not. If they manage to survive until the end and their faction wins, they’re on the winning side and get the base reward. If their faction gets wiped out, leaving only prisoners who can’t be killed, and no one comes to rescue them, they’re considered dead and the other side gains points.

So they’re stuck as prisoners and can’t run?

Possible, but if they do run, their skill gets nullified and they could be killed at any time.

That’s why the instructor gave them this identity—because their fighting and stamina aren’t up to par. As prisoners, relying on this skill, maybe... they can survive a bit longer?