Death Cast

01.5 | Grecia Bella Theatre

They noticed that even though there were a large number of people gathered on the corner, the people around them kept ignoring them. To put it another way, the public had ceased to notice them. There are an estimated of more than twenty Autumns, and seeing so many of them congregated in a small area should cause people to come over.

Anyway, it's a good thing they could get out of attention for a while.

The person who called them over is a quite a decent looking man. There was large imprint mark of maple leaf covering the whole skin on the back of his neck. In comparison to the others, he had a heftier frame and was slightly shorter in stature. He introduced himself as Ken and revealed that this is his third world already.

"Third world?" Jaerim repeated the words, surprise painted on his face. Noel is none the better who almost got tripped after hearing something amazing.

Ken nodded. He smiled lightly, his voice tinted with triumph. "I survived three worlds already and had live quite long enough than I expected."

Jaerim examined Ken's appearance and noticed that, while he appeared young from a distance, he was showing signs of aging. There are already white hairs rooted on the back of his head, as well as some visible wrinkles on his cheeks. He recalled Baron telling him that they would only offer the Death Cast deal to someone who was young enough but not too young, and old enough but not too old. Apparently, giving the chance to people with ages ranging from fifteen to thirty years old.

This is the reason why most of the Autumns look young and immature. They never had the chance to fully grow up.

Noel gave Ken a head-to-toe look. He wasn't shy and even examined the person very closely. He placed his hand under his cheeks, eyed narrowed to the thinnest. After the inspection, he made a sound result.

"That's must be the reason why I felt weird looking at you."

"Why is that?" Ken asked.

"You look too old for having this as your third world," Ken answered. "I've been briefed that the first five worlds of the ten-world deal could only add a few days, week, and months to the person's lifespan. It didn't look like you have that much of a time."

"Really?" Ken said blankly. "How old do I look like?"

"Almost 50? No, probably between 43 and 45."

"Oh," Ken chuckled. "You guessed it right. I'm forty-five this year."

He is indeed old. Noel couldn't say anything else because he didn't expect his wild guess to come true. Jaerim remained silent, pondering the fact that there are some aspects of Autumn that don't always line up. He had observed Ken, and it appeared that he had no idea that Death Casts have a specific age limit. There is also Noel saying that he had been given information about the rules and regulations regarding the world's premises.

Could it be that different Autumns were given different contracts? It's quite reasonable if it's true. After all, no business dealings are alike. They must have been given conditions to fit on their circumstances. But, if not, should he blame his grim reaper's laziness?

Noel decided to shift the subject and pointed the people gathered on the corner.

He asked, "Those people are really suspicious. Even I, who is also like them, assumed that they are planning something evil. Yet, the staff are just ignoring them. Is it kind of magic or something?"

"No, it is just a special condition - an effect caused by having too much beginners."

"What is that?"

"Well, worlds are assigned randomly, right? Autumns are thrown into world without any parameters. Anytime, you could be thrown to somewhere difficult that has a high death count, or go somewhere with an easy task. Such kind of arrangement will end up mixing many types of Autumns."

Jaerim raised his hand in question, "What do you mean randomly? I've been told that Autumns enter simulations based on their level."

"That is also true," Ken nodded. "But the level of difficulty is on the person's role in that world."

"Does it mean that Autumns will be displaced in a dimension without any definite rule. Then the level of difficulty is based on the role given?"

"Exactly," Ken replied.

"It's reasonable," Noel commented. "I never thought there's such a condition."

"It's normal that you didn't know that since it is your first world. The rules and regulation of the worlds are often discussed after you pass the first world."

"That explains it," Jaerim interjected. "And I thought my grim reaper is just getting lazy."

"How sure are these grim reapers that we will pass the first world? They quite have a confidence for us," Noel said.

"It's not that they have confidence, they did believe that Autumns could pass the first worlds. However it doesn't mean that anyone could just bypass the level," Ken stated.

They are called Death Casts because they are characters who are meant to die. The possibility of dying on the simplest obstacle is very high.

"Anyway, going back to the question, the reason why the staff are ignoring us is that we have reached a certain level of mutiny."

Autumns releases a kind of aura, different from the Death Mist, that causes imbalance to the world. Once it reaches a certain level to the point of tipping over the scale, the world automatically neutralizes the force. It causes the Autumns become undetected since their presence had been erased by the world itself. The set-up will only return to normal once the Autumns disperse.

As the Autumn congregates, the higher the mutiny level, the lesser their presence will show. The beginner stages is where most of the Death Casts appear. After all, it is the entrance ground of the Autumns. The game had not started yet so it is normal to see a lot of players standing on the board.

The roles are also easy and often doesn't require any special conditions to activate. Often times, worlds where there are a lot of characters on play, only few people would be given a role and the rest would become a background entity. Their role is to escape once the door towards freedom was opened.

"However, such kind of effect is not easy to attain. It is already a leeway to have such a godly tool especially beginner's who doesn't have any idea about the world's machinations."

The effect of the mutiny is almost equal to invisibility. If used properly, anyone could create a situation where the Death Casts could gain the upper hand. It could also reverse a consequence if ever the Autumns were held at gunpoint.

For example, in a setting where Autumns were thrown in a monster-filled arena, just staying in groups could render the high sensibility of the beasts useless. In a murder island set-up where a number of serial killers are hunting down human prey, staying with each other will help them erase their tracks.

It could secure them a hundred percent protection.

"If the world contains at least seventy-five percent of beginners, the world will enact a level of mutiny. You could say it is a special condition to help beginners pass the level easily."

It will give the new Death Casts to adapt and plan without getting disturbed by threats or characters occupying the world.

Noel chirped excitedly, "Isn't that too good to be true? We could plan out and talk around like detectives on the movies. Probably, even if I shout, nobody will think that I'm weird!"

Jaerim looked at Noel weirdly. No, you are already looking weird right now.

"However," Noel immediately deflated. "It seems that this effect is just a one-time use. It could be helpful to the higher worlds with greater difficulty."

With the given conditions, the only way to activate the Mutiny levels are: (1) To have a three to one ratio between newbies and veterans, and (2) to reach at least twenty new Autumns to attain the minimum desired effect.

Ken patted his back. "You don't have to worry about that. Most of the time, your first three world would be filled with beginner Death Casts. In that way, you could utilize the special condition very well."

They arrived on the corner where a couple of weirdly dressed people are silently examining each other. Although they had come together to seek alliance, they remained vigilant since nobody knows the other's character and attitude. It is also just a temporary relationship so it is normal for people to not trust.

Like as what the elders said, don't talk to strangers. They could have malicious intent.

Ken and two others pacified the tension by introducing themselves. The other two people, named Judith and Carl, are his companions under the same grim reaper and had been exploring the worlds for almost a year. They explained some general information about the worlds since most of the newbies don't have any idea what to do.

"We are given contracts stating that we are Death Casts and we are characters representing a role that is meant to die. There are not much information given after that, just telling us to pass and survive the worlds," Ken started.

"But there is actually more than that."