Solo matches granted 10 points for a win.
Duo gave 20.
5-player squad: 50.
11-player squad: 110.
The difference made sense. More players meant more danger, more chaos, more intense battles. Survival was harder, so the reward scaled accordingly.
If a team formed mid-match in those larger modes, points split evenly—just like solo. That's why most players avoided teaming up. They didn't want to share their hard-earned points.
But for me… points meant almost nothing.
I could customize anything, buy anything, without spending a single one. And real money? I didn't need it. My brother had more than enough. We lived in luxury—fortresses, endless food, safety. Points only mattered when the glitch ended.
I glanced at the girl beside me. Ruyi. That was her name. Her friend was Jina.
Our surroundings began to change again.
I had seen in the online videos that after players started a match, they emerged in a place filled with nothing but clouds—endless white, soft and silent.
After exactly two minutes, the surroundings shifted once more. Each player found themselves standing on a small personal cloud. If they were alone, it was just big enough for one. If they had a team, the cloud grew to fit the entire group.
I glanced beside me. Ruyi was still there, standing on the same wide cloud as me. I looked around.
All I saw was blue sky—almost endless. The air felt fresh and open, carrying the faint scent of clean wind.
I stepped to the edge of the cloud and peered down.
Far below stretched a massive continent. Green hills rolled into forests, rivers cut through valleys, and distant mountains rose under a golden sky. The cloud moved steadily in a straight line, carrying us across the land.
I recognized this continent from the videos. It used to be called the Bermuda map. Now it had a new name—Somara Earth.
I didn't know what the name meant. It felt… older somehow. More meaningful.
I turned to Ruyi.
She noticed my question before I asked it.
"There are three Earth maps now," she explained. "Somara-Earth, Aethel-Earth, and Oren-Earth. These are the old maps, but with lots of new changes—better graphics, hidden places, new loot spots."
"And there are more maps," she continued. "They all have 'Heaven' as their last name. But those aren't available yet. The developers said they'll open later."
She pointed toward the horizon.
"Let me tell you—the maps are all realistic. We can go outside the continent. We can swim in the ocean, explore those islands you see over there."
I followed her gaze. Small islands dotted the water around the main landmass—some tiny and rocky, others green and forested.
Ruyi smiled.
"Those islands hold many boosting stones, very powerful weapons, even helicopters. That's where the first fight happen."
I nodded slowly, taking it all in.
The videos had shown me how weapons and vehicles worked—exactly like the real world. Players knew how to operate them the moment they touched one. The knowledge simply appeared in their minds, clear and complete, and it stayed even after leaving the game.
When different nations learned this, they were shocked. Ordinary citizens could suddenly handle guns, drive helicopters, fly jets. But they soon realized the weapons and vehicles in the game functioned differently from reality—special rules, no real-world harm. Citizens couldn't use the knowledge for anything illegal. So no action was taken.
Ruyi had mentioned powerful weapons on the islands. I turned to her.
"Why don't we go there now?"
She laughed lightly, shaking her head.
"Well, Roxa… if we go straight there, the shrinking zone will damage us. And those islands don't have even a single healing pill. We need to loot healing pills on the continent first. Only then, can we go there, otherwise we will just get killed. Plus, lots of players will head to the islands too. It'll be a intense fight."
I nodded in understanding. She was right—strategy mattered more than rushing in.
I asked, "Which place should we go now?"
Our cloud moved steadily in a straight line. I glanced down at the continent below—Somara Earth, vast and beautiful under the sky.
Nobody knew it, but the other 198 players were also on this exact same straight line—traveling in the same direction, at the same speed, at the same height, all perfectly aligned above the continent.
The game kept them hidden from one another. No outlines, no names, no shadows. Only team members could see each other. To everyone else, the sky looked empty except for drifting clouds and distant birds.
Ruyi thought for a moment, then pointed toward the horizon.
"Let's go to Do Pas Frontier. It's very close to Kila Island. That island has a huge mountain range full of weapons, vehicles, and attachments. But it's also full of traps—arrows, poison gas, dizzy powder, everything. We'll feel all the sensations except pain. We have a vitality bar—take too much damage, it drops to zero, and we die. So we need to loot antidotes, bandages, and masks to reduce damage and save healing pills."
I listened carefully. She was giving me her all, helping a complete newbie.