Glass Ballhead is standing at the door of one of the tasks to get hunger coins.
He thought: «Well, the first task of the day, what could go wrong? »
He enters and sees several competitors with him. An angel appears before them.
—Welcome to the floor cleaning task, I am the angel Karen'need and I will be your host in this competition. —Karen'need Said.
A bucket of water with a rag appears to them, so they take it.
—You must leave that floor shining until time runs out; you have an hour to do it. — Karen'need explained, showing a clock with the time, so she added. —Her work starts now!
The competitors clean the floor fervently and somewhat obsessively. There were several brushes between the competitors, but Glass would stand in a corner cleaning his part without bothering them. In less than ten minutes, they have the floor shining, so they start to celebrate. Glass is off to the side and doesn't join them.
However, a piece of excrement ends the celebration.
—They missed it there. — Karen'need Said who had a hand dirty with the same material that was on the floor.
This provokes the fury of the competitors, except for Glass, who remain a spectator.
—Why did he do it?! —One of the competitors shouted.
—Your work is not done, competitors; even if you think this is an abuse of power on my part, this is part of your job, so time is running out, or do you think this floor is going to clean itself? —Karen'need said.
Glass cleans the dirt, but she throws more excrement, so they doubt.
—Remember that if you don't leave this floor clean, you won't get your reward. — Karen'need Said, so they set aside their pride and start cleaning the floor.
One of them takes the lead and delegates each section to clean faster, but the excrement multiplies quickly, even tho they clean at a faster pace. Karen'need throws more excrement, and it turns into poop golems, so they fight against them, but when they defeat them, they explode and make the floor even messier.
Time passes; what was once simple has turned into a nightmare, as there is excrement everyplace. They clean as best they can, but with thirty seconds left, they have an endless mountain of excrement, so they give up.
—Out of the floor, now! —Glass shouted.
—But it's too late. —One of the competitors Answered.
—Trust me. —Glass replied.
They have no choice but to listen; Karen starts the countdown. Glass, with the strength of his fingers, lifts the floor and throws all the excrement into the air to a height sufficient for Glass to leave it in its place; thus, synchronously, they give the floor a once-over, leaving it as good as new.
—Congratulations, competitors, here are your hunger coins. —Karen'need said she pays you a thousand hunger coins.
They get happy until the mountain of excrement falls on them.
—Well, I've already paid you, so get out! —Karen'need said, as she kicked them out of the place.
Glass thought: «A thousand hunger coins, two thousand short to buy enough sweets for the week. »
He goes to another task which is in an immense library where other competitors are at the reception.
—Welcome to the book sorting task, I am Lex'vil; I will be your host in this competition. —Lex'vil Said.
Some seem traumatized by various competitions, but Glass is fresh or pretending to be.
—As you can see, this is a library, so you will need to organize each shelf alphabetically and by genre; you have one hour to do it. Well, what are we waiting for? —Lex'vil explained as they chose their shelves and then added. —On your marks, get set (the last part he whispers) go!
They run to their shelves, where there is a cart for books; on top of it, there is a sheet explaining the organization of the books, so they get to work. Several angels take some books or place books randomly.
—That's legal, Lex? —Asked one of the competitors.
—Yes, it's legal, but worry if when the time is up and an angel has a book, it won't be counted. —Lex'vil answered.
Time passes, organizing books is manageable until the books come to life and end up in random places, which makes things complicated. Some lose their sanity, but others try to console them.
Glass remains calm and focused until the characters from the books come out to fight them with twenty minutes left.
—If you think you're going to drive me crazy, you're completely mistaken. —Glass said, who gets into a fighting stance and lunges at them, takes the books they belong to so that, while they are distracted, he locks them in, slamming the book in their face.
—Draw them in and lock them in the books, that's the only way to defeat them! —Glass exclaimed, prompting the others to do the same.
—Silence, you're in a library. —Lex'vil replied to Glass.
—Alright, but he didn't give all the information; no wonder the competition is so complicated to the point that the competitors lose their sanity. —Glass responded.
—It's just our job; you'll understand when you lose your reason for existing. —Lex'vil replied as his shelves became disorganized by what he added. —Better that I don't take up your time, you'll need it.
He laughs at him, but Glass doesn't care. With minutes to go, Glass defeats the characters and locks them in their corresponding books, organizes the books, and at the last second, he takes the book from the angel to put it where it belongs.
—Time out! —Lex'vil shouted, but the angels told him to be quiet and added in a low voice. —Sorry. Congratulations to the winners and to those who didn't, well, you know, you won't be rewarded.
Some of those who lost disappear from soul heaven, which sows fear in Glass.
—Oh my God, but no one told me that, I will stop living, oh heavens, heavens, heavens! — Glass said, who is panicking.
—Oh, Glass, how are you? How long has it been since we last saw each other? —Voltagen asked.
Glass rushes toward him, who is crying.
—What happened, buddy, that I see you so downcast? —Voltagen asked.
—It's just that I saw several of the competitors disappear. —Glass Answered.
—That's because they lost their reason for being; it's sad, but don't worry, if you're defeated by a soul, you'll try again; the important thing is to keep your head up and move forward. —Voltagen replied.
—Well, how long have you been here? —Glass asked.
—I don't know, I don't remember, but what's important is the development. —Voltagen responded.
—That doesn't help me at all. —Glass replied.
—Hey, did you already do the task of catching the fruit? They pay well. —Voltagen Answered.
—How much do they give? —Glass asked.
—Two thousand hunger coins. Do you want to participate? —Voltagen answered.
—Yes, that way I can buy sweet up for the week, I have to look for my trophies. Which one do you get? —Glass replied.
—Let's say I have to look for the rivals I've faced. —Voltagen responded.
—Well, I to my family. —Glass Answered.
—Perfect, let's get to the task of catching the fruit. —Voltagen replied, who carries it by the waist.
—Hey, don't take me against my will! —Glass shouted.
Voltagen takes it to task.
—Welcome to the fruit-catching task, I am Darius'seed, I will be your host in this competition. —Darius'seed Said.
—I'm very happy. I can't wait for it to start. —Voltagen Exclaimed.
—They have that basket and they have to fill it with fruit. Simple, right? Here comes the difficult part: there will be a prize of ten thousand hunger coins; the one with the most fruits beside the two thousand will be given the prize. You have one hour to complete the task. — Darius' seed replied.
—A question. —Glass Said, raising his hand.
—Yes, Glass Ballhead. —Darius'seed responded.
—What's the trick? —Glass asked.
—There's no trick, but since you see what my intentions are, I'll say it: you have to get as much fruit as possible, no matter the cost. —Darius'seed explained.
—I knew it, you want to fight against my Voltagen, right? —Glass said.
—Elementary, dear Glass. —Voltagen Answered.
—Damn wretch. —Glass Responded.
—Well then, how about we get started? —Darius'seed answered.
Everyone goes to the trees and they drop their fruits; everything goes normally until they fill the baskets, at which point they start fighting among themselves. Voltagen goes at the speed of light to land a kick, but he dodges it in slow motion.
—Well, how about we get started? Anything, I'll help you look for your fruits. —Voltagen Said.
—You're a scoundrel, Voltagen; I bet those fruits weren't legitimate. —Glass answered.
—Yes, they were, but they also wanted to rob me, and I defended myself and took advantage of the moment. —Voltagen replied, who lunges at him so that they both clash their fists violently, to the point that the shockwave uproots several trees.
They exchange devastating punches and kicks that shatter galaxies and the very structures of the universe. They move at speeds faster than light, then unleash devastating energy beams like hypernova among other cosmic phenomena; one of the competitors tries to steal their baskets full of fruit, but they combine their forces and shoot a beam of combined energy that sends him flying.
They continue their fight around, destroying everything in their path until time runs out; Darius'Seed stops them with his telekinesis.
—Don't ruin the moment, Darius. —Voltagen Said.
—I'm sorry, Mr. Voltagen, but the time is up. —Darius'seed answered and added." —The winner of the ten thousand hunger coins is Crimson Lain. A round of applause.
They applauded, but several disappeared.
—Better that the weak who are unfit disappear. —Crimson Said.
Glass leaves, but Voltagen follows him.
—Why are you following me? I'm going to buy UP candies for the week. —Glass asked.
—And what will you do after that? —Voltagen asked.
—I'm going to look in the search area for the trophies I have pending. —Glass responded.
—How boring, but I must do it too, so well, see you when you have something interesting going on. —Voltagen Answered, leaving him alone.
Glass buys twenty-one candies at the candy store, each costing three hundred hunger coins. Once purchased, he heads to the ruined city area to look for a trophy; several competitors go to that place, so he tries to avoid encountering any of them. He goes to abandoned buildings, searching thru the rubble and the contents of the rooms; the fights between various competitors complicate his search, but he hides behind the pile of debris or buries himself in the ground. While he is hiding, he eats a sweet up. Once there is peace, he continues his search until he finds a figurine of his father's character in a basement amidst a mountain of rubble.
—Finally, my first trophy, it's the statuette I made for my father; let me keep it. —Glass Said as he puts it in the pocket of his formal jacket.
After Glass got his first trophy, he goes to his place to rest, but someone sits next to him.
—I've missed you a lot, darling. —Shaltear Said.
—Yes, I know, Shaltear, how have you been? —Glass asked.
—Well, my servants have done all the heavy lifting, except for the trophies, which I have to do myself, but they help make the process more pleasant. —Shaltear Answered.
—How lucky you are, I have to manage on my own. —Glass replied.
—You can join me if you want. —Shalltear Responded.
—No, I don't want to put you in danger. —Glass Answered.
—As if you were going to have enemies, you are meek and humble of heart; just think about it. I tried to convince Voltagen, but he wouldn't. —Shaltear Responded.
— I'll think about it, Shaltear, give me time. —Glass replied, getting up from his seat, but she grabbed his hand and stole a kiss where the mouth is supposed to be.
He leaves blushing and happy.
Medalia looks at all the floors until she realizes that on the floor where Glass is, there are hardly any confrontations.
—How boring, even tho there are good fights like Voltagen and Glass, I feel like something is missing; I know, this is going to be interesting. —Medalia Said, who gives orders to the angels on that floor.
—Attention, my competitors, there is a new rule: from now on, competitors can obtain other people's trophies, and to recover them, they must fight; they can also set temporary conditions in case of winning or losing. This has been today's report. — Aliet'kill Reported.
—Damn it, those bastards want to make us fight dirty. —Glass said and thought: «I will have to evade the competitors more than ever.»
Glass returns to the city to continue searching; after a while of searching, a group of competitors surrounds him, about eleven to be exact.
—You're looking for this. —the leader Said, who is a brick-colored humanoid stone being, and shows him the trophy he was looking for.
—Yes, what do you want... —Glass answered.
—My name is Crimson Lain and I want you to join us; you have great potential with your fight against that Voltagen. —Crimson introduced himself.
—I want to refuse, but I need that trophy, so I will face you; if I win, you will give it to me... —Glass Said.
—And if you lose, you'll serve me for this week. —Crimson Answered.
—Alright, I accept. —Glass responded.
—But first, face my companions in the order I say. —Crimson Answered.
—Did you think this would be just between the two of us? —Glass replied.
—It'll just be a warm-up or are you scared? —Crimson Said.
—Well, let the ten face me, my time is gold. —Glass Answered.
—You are not afraid of success; that's fine. —Crimson replied, who gestures for them to attack.
They lunge at him, but he dodges, causing them to collide with each other. The fight moves to one of the buildings where he uses various debris and blunt objects to attack and defend until one of them shoots a beam of light that destroys the building; fortunately, the nine got out and Glass takes the hit.
They stand there watching and checking to see if he survived. When they search for him, Glass emerges from the ground and summons several handcuffs to confront them; at the same time, he handcuffs them one by one until he ties all ten of them up.
—Hypernova ray! —Glass shouted, who fires the devastating ray that obliterates them in the process.
—Ready, now it's your turn, Crimson... —Glass said, but he attacks him treacherously, allowing him to beat him up.
—Now the fight begins. —Crimson replied.
At one point, Glass recovers and returns the favor by destroying several buildings and structures. They both fight evenly until Glass subdues him, but he begs him to stop; at one point, he throws dirt in his face, which allows him to attack, giving him another beating until he is knocked out.
—Now, you belong to me, Glass. —Crimson Said.
From that moment on, Crimson takes away his sweet ups to give him limited rations; together with him, they defeat several to join them, and Glass does tasks to get more hunger coins and buy more sweet ups to sell them at a higher price, as the ones that were available ran out. Additionally, he humiliates Glass by using him as a seat, brutally hitting him for any reason, among other things that drive him to the brink of insanity; his rage and hatred increase exponentially.