Strongest Among the Heavens

The world flashed blue as they stepped through the gate and they arrived at the first floor. It wasn't empty, it was filled with people, but certainly not as many as Kazi anticipated. A little less than a hundred—certainly a high volume but it didn't come close to the thousands that had been swarming through.

Ahead, attached to the wall, was another portal, smaller and flashing yellow rather than blue. There was a small group awkwardly waiting for someone to go in.

"You go in!"

"No, you go in!"

Without a gigantic crowd, it seemed like everyone had lost the will to push forward. They were twenty or so feet away, so Kazi and Daiki didn't have to join in on their saddening situation.

Kazi surveyed their surroundings. Circular in shape, most definitely, but it wasn't obscenely large like it seemed from the outside.

"Oh, I get it," Kazi said. He received a puzzled look from Daiki. The older man smiled, raised a finger, and started to explain, "It's like a game server. There's multiple portals of the same level." Kazi paused. Daiki blinked and waited for him to continue. "No one is coming in. In other words, once a server is filled up, no one can come in unless…"

Pop!

A woman came in. The same black-haired woman he had been observing outside. Like before, she didn't seem to have a clue as to what was going on. Up ahead, there were gasps and cries of, "Oh my god!"

"Did you notice?" Kazi asked. Daiki smiled weakly. He didn't. "The moment someone went through the portal there, that black-haired lady teleported in."

"Oh." Recognition and familiarity appeared in Daiki's eyes. "A game server. I get it."

Kazi jogged over to the wall. He pressed an ear to it, knocked on it, and tapped it with a fist. The sound was the same: rock solid. He tapped on it some more to gauge its material. Nothing. Its echo wasn't recognizable to his ear. Kazi crossed an arm, with one hand on his chin. "So the tower is made of an unknown metal and contains actual physical copies of the gates. Interesting."

Daiki was behind him, having walked. "Um, sir, shouldn't we be going?"

Kazi blinked and looked over his shoulder. There was a glimmer of excitement in Daiki's dark eyes. So dark that he almost thought they were black.

"Yeah, might as well." Kazi started to walk but suddenly stopped. "Oh, but wait, should we join up as a party?"

"Err, if you want."

"Nah, let's save it for later. This is just the first level." Kazi noticed Daiki's shoulders tensing. Daiki liked that. Daiki liked that a lot. Interesting. "Hey, you know what? Maybe once we know what we're doing, we can team up. For now, let's go our separate ways."

Daiki nodded and jumped on his words. "Yes, that's fine." The kid was surprisingly eager. Too eager.

'Ha. I bet he's aching to prove himself. This is like a dream come true, especially for a teen. I get it. I would have been the same had I been younger.'

"I'll add you as a friend and message you when we want to meet up," Kazi said.

"Y-you can do that?"

"Yep. What's your last name?"

"...um, Daiki is my last name."

"Oh, right." Kazi face-palmed. "I've been with Americans for too long. Sheesh."

In Bangladesh, the naming convention mirrored the Japanese pattern of placing the last name before the first name. However, during archeology excavations, he often found himself amidst English speakers who customarily introduced themselves with their first names.

"I'm Hossain Kazi, by the way. Just ought to let you know."

Daiki lowered his head slightly. "Understood, Mr. Hossain."

Kazi wondered what suffix he used. While it was translated as mister for him, it might have been slightly different from Daiki's perspective.

"And you're…?"

"Oh!" The boy went slightly red. "I'm Daiki Hiroshi."

"Is it alright if I call you Hiroshi?" The boy seemed okay with that. With a smile, Kazi announced, "Alrighty, add Daiki Hiroshi as a friend."

Two screens popped up, one for Kazi and one for Daiki.

[ Accept friend request with Hiroshi Daiki? Yes or no? ]

Kazi clicked yes. So did Hiroshi. Just like that, they were in each other's friend list. Another screen appeared to show Kazi he had a new friend. He assumed the very same screen appeared for Hiroshi too.

By clicking on his name, a multiple of options came. [ Add to party ], [ Delete from friend list ], [ Message ], and [ Teleport to ].

"I didn't know about this," Hiroshi admitted.

"Yeah, you just had to ask Azrael. She explained everything."

"Most of my questions were just about, you know…my death."

Hiroshi became crest-fallen. The normal reaction to one's death. There was much to do and see and accomplish. He understood, to an extent. His own death was unremarkable and unavoidable. If his life hadn't been so miserable, then maybe he would have been emotional about it too.

Kazi drew in a breath. "Fair enough."

Together, they reached the portal's threshold. On the step touching the barrier, Kazi stopped and lightly slapped Hiroshi on the shoulder. "Good luck, man! Hopefully I see you on the other side!"

In an instant, the world transformed into a radiant hue of yellow. Thus, the first page of the Heavenly Games was flipped.

***

First thing he noticed was that Hiroshi wasn't with him.

Second, the forest was ethereal. Breathing was like tasting peaches and apples. All he could consume was an endearing sense of comfort. Kazi sighed and looked up.

The towering trees stretched towards the heavens, their leaves forming a verdant canopy that filtered sunlight. Their barks sprawled as if made up of multiple branches. Kazi was reminded of the Great Banyan. A forest that was actually just one very large tree. A wondrous miracle of the world.

Standing here, tasting the air, he felt that very same miracle.

He surveyed his surroundings for the third time. 'So Hiroshi really isn't here, huh? I was hoping that wouldn't be the case.'

As much as he wanted to take in mother nature and its blessings, he had a notification to attend to. It had popped up the instant he arrived.

[ Gate 1 : A Forest in Kishkindha

Main Objective: Kill 3 monsters of the Slime Family

Prize Pool: 100 XP, 500 PP

SPECIAL OBJECTIVE: Catch the baby monkey, Anjaneya, in 167:50 HOURS

SPECIAL PRIZE POOL: ? ]

'PP means prize points, I'm assuming. Ha. PP.' Kazi laughed to himself. 'Anyway, I have a week to complete the special objective which is to capture the baby monkey, Anjaneya.' He blinked. Baby monkey. His eyes wandered up to the title.

Gate 1: A Forest in Kishkindha.

'Don't tell me this is…'

"W-whyyyy?"

A scream pierced the forest. Kazi sprang into action. The trees were long and thin and there was plenty of distance for him to run through. He skillfully navigated the ample distance through a mixture of experience and resolute determination.

He entered a glade and that was when he saw it: a playful baby monkey seated atop a young human girl, gleefully tugging at her locks while giggling with delight. A peculiar sight indeed. In particular, the name tag on the monkey's head.

[ Name: Anjaneya

Level: ???

Class: ??? ]

Written in a thick red text, there was no doubt that this thing was the special objective. 'How lucky,' Kazi thought to himself.

"Equip."

In a second, the sword strapped on his back materialized in his hand. A wand was clattered on the grass. The young girl was slapping at the monkey on her head who danced around her movements like it was nothing. A golden haired monkey whose eyes were gleaming like a human's; who laughed like a human.

"Get off, get off, get ooffffff!"

"No way, this is too fun! Too fun! Gehehehe!" Anjaneya pulled on the girl's brown locks and caused her to cry in pain. "This is fun, isn't it? Come on, come on, catch me!"

Kazi blinked. "The monkey can talk," he said to himself. He drew in a breath through his nose and snickered.

She was so close. The girl was so close, her hands just missing by inches every time she swung at him. She ran back and forth, trying to throw him away, but he held on like gripping to monkey bars.

Through the system, each player was given ten basic skill tree branches. Ten types of weapons and skills trees they could pursue, which were further divided into the seven basic elements: fire, lightning, wind, earth, water, holy, and dark.

What path did Kazi choose? The sword and the element of lightning.

"Spark Strike!"

The first skill that used two MP. His sword suddenly lit up with a yellow surge of electricity. It hadn't transformed the blade but instead added on to it like a chain. Kazi dashed forward and swung his blade in a sweeping motion. The woman's expression contorted with fear.

"Haha! Too slow!"

Bump! Kazi missed and felt a foot step on his head. The tiny weight disappeared in the next second. As he pivoted around, his gaze settled upon the mischievous baby monkey perched high on a tree branch. It was taunting him with silly faces and signs.

"Na na na boo-boo!" Anjaneya turned and slapped his bare butt. "Lightning is too slow, stupid!"

Laughing, Anjaneya leapt away into the forest.

Kazi relaxed, sword hanging by his side, and let out a whistle. "Well, would you look at that? A talking baby monkey that can actually engage in conversation. I wonder how it's brain works."

He grinned. The afterlife got awesomer by every waking moment.