First Planet.

  Registration Room.

  Little Mortal got off the elevator.

  He was now in an empty room with a single table at the center.

  A mechanical voice sounded,

  [ Please register your username. ]

  Little Mortal answered immediately.

  "The Annihilator of Realms, Mortal, the Strongest."

  [ No 'presence' detected.

  Proceed to facial recognition.

  Match found.

  Special invitation card detected.

  Underworld's Envoy, Mortal, the Strongest, welcome. ]

  And after a pause,

  [ Proceed to bestow two random abilities.

  Failed.

  Detected that the user is the carrier of Underworld Law.

  No information found in the database.

  No ability matched with Underworld Law exists in the system.

  Mortal, the Strongest,

  You can go directly to the 'waiting room', or proceed without any ability.

  What do you choose? ]

  Little Mortal was speechless...

  He gritted his teeth in resentment and said,

  "Listen to me, you useless system, if you don't give me my two abilities right here and right now, I won't let anybody else enjoy their abilities either!"

  But the response didn't change.

  [ You can go directly to the 'waiting room', or proceed without any ability.

  What do you choose? ]

  Little Mortal smiled coldly,

  "Alright then, don't forget, what I'm going to do is your fault!

  I proceed without any ability."

  The system naturally didn't care about his threatening words.

  [ Your username has been registered.

  The Annihilator of Realms, Mortal, the Strongest,

  Enjoy your journey. ]

  Then, a door opened at the other end of the room, and a device like a smartphone appeared on the table.

  Little Mortal walked to the table curiously, and when he picked up the phone, a sudden force kicked him out of the room immediately, while he was screaming,

  "What kind of 'welcome' and 'enjoy your journey' starts like this?

  You don't get more than a 2-star review from me, you useless system..."

  When he dropped outside, the door behind him closed and disappeared immediately.

  "Such a trashy system.

  Not only was it not updated with any Underworld Law information, it didn't even bother to solve the problem of me not receiving any abilities...

  I was happy that I ran from the claws of that Dictator Queen!

  But for what?

  To come here and be scammed by her again because she never bothered to register the Underworld Law with these stupid cyborgs?

  Not only that, the management here is so bad too..."

  Little Mortal, that a speechless 'Dictator Queen' was glaring at him on his shoulder, looked around.

  He was now close to a beach.

  The beach stretched out under a heavy, gray sky, carrying the salty scent of the sea.

  Slow rain drizzled, tapping softly against the wet sand, blurring the line between ocean and shore.

  The world was silent, except for the whisper of the waves and the hollow groans of the unknown creatures far away.

  Little Mortal took out his black storage card.

  "Let me see.

  I need to arrange the things inside."

  Lilith, on his shoulder, said,

  "I already did that."

  But as if he didn't hear her, he fiddled with it for a while and then said,

  "Alright, all done."

  Lilith shook her head.

  He was deep in his act as the Underworld's Envoy, and he was supposed to act as if he were alone.

  Little Mortal brought out a box,

  "Let's see what kind of newborn is in this fancy box."

  The box was the same one that contained the 100 Newborns, and it seemed not to have any buyers.

  When he tapped on the box, all of the cards flew out before human figures came out of them.

  The card was just a 'space storage', containing different items, or in this case, newborns.

  Little Mortal looked at the crowd in confusion.

  And the crowd looked around and at each other in puzzlement.

  "So cold?"

  "Who is so bored to buy me?"

  "It's actually many of us..."

  "Yo, old man! You're here too!"

  "I sure am, I thought you were dead..."

  "I think this season I will, haha!"

  "Do you know who is the one who bought us?"

  "I think the other party realized that he was scammed, so they just left us here to die..."

  "Where exactly are we, though?

  We have no power, so it should be the First Planet."

  "No wonder the other party was scammed.

  Newcomers are always the easiest to fool..."

  "But to sell 100 of us at the same time...

  The guy is blind, I think!"

  The blind buyer, Little Mortal, looked at the group of old men and old women, at a loss for words...

  He then coughed and said,

  "Excuse me!"

  The crowd of elderly people, hearing the child's voice, all turned around.

  "Don't tell me he is the buyer?"

  "No wonder he was fooled..."

  "He is a new higher being, and probably just joined the mainland.

  It's only natural for him to be scammed."

  "He seems well behaved, though."

  "And handsome, look at his suit..."

  Little Mortal coughed again and said with a serious tone,

  "Be quiet, please!

  Don't speak until I ask you a question!"

  The crowd became silent, but couldn't help but chuckle when they saw his serious face.

  Little Mortal took a deep breath and asked a random old man,

  "Where are the newborns in this fancy box?

  Why are you in their place?"

  The old man looked at the box that he was pointing at, and said,

  "We are the 'newborns', young man."

  Little Mortal was even more speechless.

  "Do I look like a 3-year-old that you can fool easily?

  Tell me what you have done to the real newborns, or else!"

  He even started rolling up his sleeve!

  Some of the elderly chuckled again.

  He looked like a 3-year-old, and as he tried to threaten them, it only made him more pleasing to the eyes.

  The old man answered,

  "Young man, this is your first time here, so you probably don't know.

  But we, incomplete higher beings, will age here on the first planet if we stay for too long.

  And higher beings, after coming here, are never in a hurry to end the season to go to the next one.

  They just slowly farm points, and at the end of the season, they all gather to finish the planet's main event.

  That's why newborns in Season 1 mostly get old,

  And after a couple of seasons, if they survive, they become like us.

  Our experience is our only use.

  Even if anyone buys us, they only buy one, not a hundred."

  Lilith, on Little Mortal's shoulder, nodded,

  "I checked their sins.

  It's none.

  So they are all newborns..."

  Little Mortal looked at the shivering elderly under the rain, looking at him as if he were a fool, and chuckled,

  "I was just joking with you guys!

  I already knew that!

  You guys are so easy to fool..."

  And while shaking his head, he brought out a card with the words' '100 Capacity Tent' on it, and activated it.

  A big tent, enough to host 100 people, appeared.

  The elderly,

  "O_O"

  Little Mortal walked to the tent and threw a 100x chair card inside.

  Then he turned to the crowd,

  "Those who want a warm drink, raise your left hand.

  Those who want warm food, raise your right hand.

  Those who want warm clothes... Raise your chin up."

  The elderly looked at each other in disbelief, but a sly smile appeared on their face.

  The next moment, all of them raised their chin and both of their hands.

  They wanted to see how long this kid, who tried to act like he wasn't scammed in buying them, can continue acting, but,

  "Alright.

  Ladies go in first.

  When you are done changing, call for the gentlemen."

  And threw another x100 card in.

  Around 30 minutes later, inside the tent, all of the elderly in warm clothes, while drinking their 'warm drink', were looking at the little boy in front of them with serious faces, thinking,

  'Who is he?

  What plan does he have for us dying people?'

  The little boy stood up.

  "Alright.

  As a wise man once said...

  Only everyone knows everything."

  The crowd nodded silently.

  "I gathered you all here, exactly because of this reason.

  Each one of you guys knows a lot, but not everything.

  So I gathered you all to know everything."

  The crowd nodded again and thought,

  'You want to act? Fine, we'll act with you.'

  "Hence, now that all of the knowledge is gathered in one place, let's plan our future actions."

  Then he brought out the phone he received in the 'registration room'.

  "Let's start with this.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  How does it work?"

  The crowd looked at each other in confusion.

  An old woman in the front row said,

  "In your first season, you receive a random ability.

  To use the ability, you need to activate a special force inside your body.

  Just use that force, and it activates the Infopad."

  Little mortal nodded,

  "Thank you for the explanation.

  Now, tell me, what's the use of this thing?"

  The old lady brought out a phone like his and said,

  "The 'Infopad' shows the season ranking, the main events, the season rewards, and things like that.

  If there is a bounty on someone's head, you can also see information about the criminal and the reward for catching him or her.

  And as you progress to higher planets, other functions will be unlocked."

  Little mortal nodded.

  "Alright.

  But why did none of you look at your 'Infopad' to see the season's information?"

  The old lady chuckled,

  "Because we already know which season this is."

  Little mortal raised an eyebrow,

  "Don't tell me you guys experienced all of the different seasons, and you can guess it by seeing the environment you start the season in?"

  The old lady nodded,

  "Yes.

  The weather, the voices, and the sea.

  All of them are pointing at the '7 City Defense' season.

  Do you want me to explain it in more detail?"

  Little mortal brought out his notebook, which was completely disconnected from the law, and was like a normal notebook now, and said,

  "Yes, please."

  The old lady chuckled when she saw him ready to take notes.

  "This season is simple.

  First, you should know that all of the citizens in this world are gathered in 7 cities,

  And they are all the same living creatures that you guys 'pay' to buy cards or newborns with.

  All of their previous memories are sealed, and new memories of this world are forced on them.

  So they think this world, which is their world now, is a planet where a virus turned 90% of the population into zombies.

  Every 70 days, these cities will be attacked by the zombies, and they need to defend them.

  You, the participants, have a special place in their memories.

  They see you as 'heroes' who came to save them. But you should know they don't really give you any privileges until you prove yourself."

  Little mortal wrote down the new information and asked,

  "How do you gain points?

  And what's the best move for newcomers?"

  "If you or newborns under you kill any zombies, you gain points, and your power goes up towards the peak of level 1.

  If the citizens in the city you joined die, you lose points.

  But in the end, the most important thing is to survive until the last 'wave', which is the 7th wave.

  Every 70 days, you need to defend the city.

  And after 490 days, you face the last wave with a final boss.

  If you can survive that wave, even if no one survives except you, the elevator will send you to the second planet, or you can go to the waiting room."

  Little mortal, after taking all the necessary notes, said,

  "Do we know where the 7 cities are?"

  And the crowd shook their heads.

  Little mortal frowned,

  "Don't tell me you follow the first wave to find the cities?"

  The old lady smiled,

  "Young man, you are smart."

  But the young man rolled his eyes at her,

  "What else can we do in these 70 days until the first wave?"

  The old lady activated her Infopad and said,

  "It depends on you and your ability.

  You can find the closest gathering of zombies on your Infopad and go test your ability on them while gathering points.

  Or just camp anywhere until the first wave."

  Little mortal, hearing the word 'ability', gritted his teeth,

  "Why not search for the cities?!"

  And the old lady answered,

  "The problem with cities is the placement.

  They are all close to each other, and farthest from the random spawn point of the participants."

  Little mortal became surprised,

  "So you mean if I can find one,

  I basically found all 7?"

  The old lady nodded,

  "Yes.

  But it's not that easy.

  As you see, we are all mortals, and not many have vehicle cards in their first season.

  Even if they are rich enough to buy those, where do you want to go?

  You might even end up further away from the cities.

  But there are other reasons too that prevent participants from searching for the cities."

  Little mortal frowned,

  "What about better cards that help you fly around?"

  "There are restrictions on the cards or on the planet itself, depending on the season.

  We have cards that only work for specific seasons or planets.

  For example, the vehicle cards.

  You can use some simple ones here, but no flying cards are allowed in First Planet.

  And then we have 'universal cards' and 'special cards'.

  Universal cards are like this tent or the food you gave us.

  You can use them in any season.

  Special cards are the same as universal cards,

  But they are too expensive, and nobody has one in the lower planets.

  However, there is a way to get one Special card in each Planet."

  Little mortal asked with interest,

  "How?"

  The old lady turned on her Infopad and showed him a picture.

  It was the picture of lightning that was spreading between 6 dots.

  "If you finish this Planet's event as rank 1, you receive the special reward for this season.

  Which is a 'chain strike card'."

  Little mortal gasped when he read the description,

  "Your attack spreads between 6 targets after you hit the first one?

  And if there are fewer than 6 other targets, it bounces back between the previous ones?

  Interesting!

  So if it's two targets, and I hit the first one, both targets get hit 7 times in total..."

  An old man munching on his food laughed,

  "Young man, you'd better forget about the season-end reward.

  That's reserved for specific people.

  They are in teams, and when they meet after the first wave in one of the cities, they manage the season to win the reward for the group leader.

  We call these people Tycoons."

  Little mortal looked at the old man blankly and said,

  "Sir, we are in the middle of an important meeting.

  I don't mind you eating secretly.

  But not only do you talk with a full mouth, but you didn't even raise your hand before speaking?

  Where are your manners?"

  The tent fell silent.

  Those who were eating secretly gulped down whatever was in their mouth and looked at the old man awkwardly.

  Little mortal snorted and looked at the old lady again,

  "So to sum it up,

  We need to find one of the cities,

  Blend in with the brainwashed society,

  And defend their cities for 490 days?"

  The old lady, with an awkward smile, nodded,

  "Yes, and if a city falls, their share of zombies for the next wave will be spread between the remaining cities."

  Little mortal noted down everything and asked,

  "Anything else to add?"

  The old lady asked cautiously,

  "Well, can you tell us about your ability?

  We can give you some suggestions on the best way to gather points.

  In the end, you need a minimum number of points to advance and become qualified to enter the next planet.

  490 days is too much for us, so we will probably get old enough to die at the end of this season, and we can't accompany you in the next one.

  It's better for us to tell you everything we know right now."

  Little mortal snorted,

  "This season won't take that long.

  And my ability is P2W."

  The crowd looked at each other in confusion.

  But they could tell that the others were like them and had never heard of such an ability.

  The old lady asked, embarrassed,

  "Excuse me, young man.

  But can you tell us how your ability works?

  We never heard about such an ability called P2W..."

  Little mortal smiled confidently,

  "Let me describe it for you in a way that you feel it with your old bones.

  All of you, close your eyes."

  The elderly group closed their eyes after a brief moment of puzzlement.

  "Now imagine the richest person you ever met."

  The elderly group imagined a rich person.

  "Now put yourself in the place of that rich guy."

  The elderly group changed places with the rich guy and became the richest.

  "Now imagine someone is passing by, and the moment you see him, you know the other party is far richer than you.

  So much richer that you feel like a beggar."

  The elderly group felt poor with all their wealth.

  "Now open your eyes."

  The elderly group opened their eyes and saw the little gentleman in his black suit.

  "I am the passerby's boss who made you feel poor with all your wealth.

  My ability, P2W, which stands for 'pay to win', is basically being 'extremely rich'.

  I can buy anything with my money.

  I can smash anybody with my money.

  And I can win anything with my money.

  I can pay to win.

  In my eyes, the rest of the world is just filled with poor people.

  Even if those people, like you a moment ago, feel rich, the moment I appear, everyone else becomes poor by default."

  The crowd's jaw was slightly open now...

  The little richest man smiled proudly,

  "What do you think of my ability?"

  The old lady in front gulped and said,

  "Young man, being rich isn't—"

  But before she could finish her sentence, the little richest man threw a card at her face.

  "*Cough*

  You didn't let me finish, young master.

  I was going to say, being rich isn't only an ability, but a blessing for everyone around you."

  The little richest man chuckled, and while leaving the tent, said,

  "Alright.

  I should use my ability to locate the seven cities.

  You guys eat your food and be ready to pack up."

  When he was gone, the speechless crowd turned their gaze to the old lady.

  And she showed them the card called 'Survival Pack'.

  The crowd gasped,

  "A complete set of armor, weapons, food, and everything you need for 1 year!"

  "Is he really just rich, or is that an ability?"

  "Either way, it doesn't matter.

  What's important now is whether he is pretending to be rich, or he really is a rich 'young master'."

  "Isn't that easy to test?"

  "How?"

  "Check your infopad.

  I saw there was a bounty."

  "Bounty?

  Who cares about the bounty?

  The criminals with a bounty on their heads are mostly in higher seasons.

  He can't go hunt him with his P2W ability."

  "Oh, wait!

  This one is here?"

  The crowd became interested, and all of them brought out their 'infopads'.

  "Wait, look at the reward!"

  "A 'wish' for all those who contribute?

  What kind of monster ran here that the reward on his head is a wish?"

  "It doesn't matter.

  Didn't he say his ability can 'win' anything?

  We can show this to him and see if he is interested in going after this criminal."

  "Good idea.

  Each hour, one random participant receives the coordinates of the criminal.

  If he gets lucky, he can go after him and kill him with his 'P2W' ability."

  The crowd opened the information tab to see who this 'criminal' is.

  "Such a domineering name!

  The Annihilator of Realms, Mortal, the Strongest!"

  "A psychopath from the underworld?"

  "He even dared to steal Queen Lilith's special invitation?"

  "Why does he look so familiar, though?"

  "I feel I just saw him..."

  "...!"

  The body of the elderly group suddenly stiffened.

  "I say, we are old.

  Maybe we saw it wrong?

  This young man seems so nice and considerate, but this criminal looks so evil..."

  "How about we take a look at him outside to be sure?"

  "Alright, go.

  My knee isn't working in this cold weather."

  "I-I- ouch, my back pain is back!"

  "H-how about we go together?"

  "Great idea, we can cover each other's weaknesses..."

  The crowd, shivering and claiming it was because of the cold weather, went to the tent's entrance and looked outside.

  "What in the heaven's name is he doing?"

  "W-what are those ominous signs on the ground he is drawing?"

  "I say... I-is it just me, or that's blood he is using to draw?"

  "Hishh, listen, he is mumbling something!"

  "Oh, he turned around, he turned around!"

  "*Gasp*!

  It's him!

  It's really him!"

  "Can someone tell me what he is doing?

  And what should we do now?"

  "Let's get back inside first before he sees us!"

  The crowd nodded repeatedly and tried not to make eye contact with him as they went back.

  "Let's read the information about him..."

  "He is a psychopath from the underworld,

  And the information law of agents can't affect him because his law isn't registered here and it originated from the underworld..."

  The crowd gulped down,

  "So, the System didn't detect his Underworld law either?"

  "I was wondering why he was asking us about the infopad.

  He can't activate it because he didn't receive any ability at the start?"

  "Oh no!

  I'm pretty sure he is furious now because the invitation card that he stole to get two abilities with actually turned out to be completely useless!"

  "Imagine being a psychopath and risking your life to steal from the Queen of Hell, for what?

  Gaining nothing except an eternal enemy like Lilith the Infernal, and a bounty on your head!"

  The crowd started sweating profusely,

  "L-Let's not mention anything about his ability...

  Let me read the rest of the information.

  He stole a special card in the name of an agent!

  And then emptied 1 or 2 storage?"

  "Others might get fooled by that.

  But we all know what it means to scam an agent, and empty 1 or 2 storage..."

  "Yes.

  You can translate it to,

  'He killed at least one agent, and emptied 10 warehouses.'"

  A wise-looking old man suddenly said,

  "I think I know what he is doing outside."

  The crowd turned to him to hear his guess.

  The wise-looking old man explained,

  "Where is the underworld?

  The land of sinners.

  Who is down there?

  Queen Lilith and her minions.

  What are they good at?

  Torture and dealing with sinners.

  From his short stature, you can easily tell that he is a..."

  The crowd shivered.

  "A-A high rank minion under the Queen, disguised as a human!

  I saw some of them in the past in the war between Evil and Normal Mainland!"

  The wise-looking old man nodded,

  "Correct.

  And what are they good at?

  Dealing with sinners.

  These minions can tell with one glance how much sin you committed and torture you accordingly.

  Why do you think he was so nice to us?"

  The crowd wiped the cold sweat from their forehead,

  "Because we are sinless..."

  "Exactly.

  And what he was drawing on the ground is... blood magic!

  He is trying to find the gathering of 'sinners'.

  It is true that his underworld law not being registered is a disadvantage for him.

  But at the same time, there are things that he can use that others can't.

  Things like different dark magics that have nothing to do with law, but the person themselves...

  He is the underworld envoy for a reason!"

  The tent turned silent.

  Outside, Lilith, who heard the conversation, nodded,

  "Partner, they really think you are a minion and are now using blood magic."

  The Crystal vibrated, saying,