The sound of thunder echoed through the land as two swordsmen fought to the death, their blades reflected the lightning as they met, and the smell of blood ran from them as it was carried by the rai.

The cold wind blew but neither gave it a thought, their sandals filled with water that splashed whenever they gave a step.

The world had gone insane as the lands of the West and East met long before they were supposed to, languages and customs clashed and war had spread wherever people met.

Unfortunately, the changes didn't end there, as creatures of myth forced themselves into the world taking for themselves what once belonged to man, it was their monstrous presence that forced some of the fighting to stop.

I wasn't that anyone liked or forgave anyone else, it was just that everyone agreed that if they didn't stop fighting then there wouldn't be anyone left.

It had become an era of war, where man, beast, and myth fought against each other for dominion of the world.

[][]]][

I can't help but gasp for air as I look at my surroundings, it's nothing more than another abandoned village.

From the corner of my eye, I can see movement, it's not abandoned, at least not completely, there are children here, judging by their hair and skin color, I can tell that they are from a different place, but I can't let my guard down.

The time I've spent here has taught me that even children are dangerous, but they're the reason why I'm here.

I stop walking and place my oversized backpack on the ground before I open it.

The sweet smell of the candy and baked bread spills out of the backpack and spreads through the village.

The backpack is a weaker version of the storage space that the Japanese players use, but it gets the job done.

I can see the kids peeking through the cracks in the walls, around corners, and behind doors. It isn't long before the bravest of them runs towards me, and grabs something before running off, he's followed by the kid who's next to him, and his actions are followed by everyone else.

I'm going to have to come back here several times before the kids trust me enough to follow me back, but it doesn't matter I'm here for them.

I set my help screen for abandoned children or people who are at the edge of starving to death or dying of thirst, but if those people are inside a palace or kingdom I leave them where they are.

Don't get me wrong I'm not doing this because I'm a good person, it's just that I've seen too much, and it took seeing someone die from those things to get me to react like a person again.

The Death Game affected everyone, some of us became cold-blooded killers, others rose to become Heroes, some became merchants and the rest were underneath everyone else.

That didn't change when we were dropped into this world, if anything it just made things worse.

Everyone spread in every direction, killing everyone and everything in sight, some became mercenaries, while others became the rulers of some land somewhere before losing interest and going back to their old guilds.

All of the food is gone, so it's time for me to go home, there isn't anything for me to pack, so I have no problem going back.

A small tug makes me look down and I see a girl with long dirty blond hair looking at me with bright hope-filled eyes.

"If you want you can come with me." I say to her before I start to walk.

We don't take more than a few steps out of the village before my help screen shows me that all of the kids are following us.

I open the portal and go through it, unlike the teleportation crystals that the Japanese players use, it's something that the Western players consider a high risk because it allows anyone and anything to follow me.

Fortunately for me, that's exactly what I want.

The land before us is a place that I found not too long ago, It took me over a year to kill everything dangerous inside of it and even longer to bring people here, every tower- pillar- house, and wall was already here before I found it.

The reason that no one has attacked yet is because of the fighting that's happening everywhere, no one has the strength to get here.

My land or at least that's what everyone here calls it, is one of six kingdoms that have continued to grow and exist in this world.

The lands are divided into three groups, the lands of the Japanese Players, the lands of the American players, and the lands of the natives.

Each of us manages our territories differently, and I don't know how or why we even help each other, but we do.

For whatever reason, if one of the lands is attacked the others always move to help, there was never any agreement or deal made, but we always move if one of us is attacked.

The voices of the children gasping in disbelief brought me back from my memories, for some reason they all started to pray.

The walls around the land are covered with fruit trees, while three rivers pass through the walls each one has fish and other things swimming in them.

The houses all have fruit and vegetable gardens, while the outside is divided into farmland and a place where people can train.

Before any of this existed, the place was covered with weeds, and creatures that could poison, or kill a man with no effort were everywhere, so I have no idea how the people I brought here did any of this.

I brought people from all over the world here, so they must have figured out a way to understand one another and work together.

"Come on." I say to the kids before I leed them behind the walls, in front of the gate stands a Knight wearing medieval armor on the left, while on the right is a Samurai wearing his version of the armor.

I have no idea why they kneel when I walk past them, I already told them to stop but they keep on doing it.

The city is full of kids who run up to the group that I just brought before circling them and pulling them inside, it's hard to believe that all of those smiling faces were once filled with despair.

I try to walk, but the girl's small hand hasn't let me go, so I take her with me to the castle where everyone inside murmurs when they see me.

I ignore them, this place belongs to me, and it's not hard for me to kill anyone who tries to take it.

"My lord!" I hear someone say as they run up to me.

"You shouldn't keep going on your own." the man says to me before he starts running.

"What's wrong?" I ask him.

"Nothing so far but if anything were to happen to you who would keep us safe?" he says to me.

I ignore the man's question and start walking to the throne where one of the other players should be, we take turns ruling this place. Well, they rule the place while I do what I want before I leave and go look for more people.

The sound of thunder fills the castle before the rain makes its presence, no one knows how it feels to walk down a castle and how empty it feels despite being full of people, this isn't a place that I like being in, but it's where I live.

So, I always come back.

I don't know why, but I always come back, I could always leave and make another life somewhere else, I mean who's stopping me, but for some reason, I always come back here.