Another survivor raised his hand.
"Wait! Can we repair the village?"
Impish turned toward him.
"Of course!"
The little creature pointed toward the damaged buildings.
"You can use your group points to repair the structures instantly, or you can gather materials and repair them yourselves."
It raised one finger.
"However, keep in mind that your village's score and ranking will be recalculated at the start of each day."
The young man carrying a makeshift spear frowned.
"Ranking?"
Impish nodded.
"That's right!"
"What's the purpose of the ranking? Are there any rewards for reaching a higher position?"
"Nope!"
Impish shook its head, a mischievous grin spreading across its face.
"There's no direct reward."
The young man looked confused.
"Then what's the point?"
"Kekekeke!"
Impish covered its mouth as it laughed.
"Doesn't it make things more interesting?"
It spread its tiny arms.
"You humans love comparing yourselves to others, don't you? Who's stronger, who's richer, who's better?"
Its grin widened.
"Now you can see how well your village is performing compared to the others!"
Several survivors exchanged glances.
"So there are other villages?"
"Are they doing the same quest?"
"Can we see their rankings?"
Impish ignored most of their questions.
"Besides, watching you compete should be quite entertaining. Kekekeke!"
The young man with the spear shook his head.
"Fine. Then how many monsters are we expected to face?"
Impish tilted its head.
"Hmm? Haven't you ever played wave defense games?"
"Of course I have."
"Then you should understand how this works!"
Impish grinned.
"Something like Orcs Must Die. Surely you've played something similar?"
The young man nodded.
"So we're going to face waves of enemies?"
"Exactly!"
"Then how many enemies will appear in each wave? And what kind of monsters are we going to fight?"
Impish stared at him for a moment.
Then it burst into laughter.
"Kekekeke!"
The young man's brow twitched.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing! Nothing!"
Impish waved its hand.
"It's just that you humans always want everything explained to you."
It crossed its tiny arms.
"Where's the fun in that?"
The young man frowned.
"Knowing what we're fighting would help us prepare."
"And that's precisely why I'm not telling you!"
Impish laughed again.
"Imagine how boring it would be if you knew everything before the game even started!"
A few survivors looked annoyed.
One of them called out.
"At least tell us what kind of monsters we're facing!"
Impish tilted its head.
"Hmm..."
It tapped its chin as though considering the request.
"Well, I suppose I can give you a little hint."
The creature leaned forward.
"Goblins!"
The crowd immediately began whispering.
"Goblins?"
"Like those little green creatures?"
"Are they strong?"
"How many are coming?"
Impish chuckled.
"Kekekeke! You'll find out tonight!"
The creature rose higher into the air.
"Well, I believe I've explained enough."
It looked around at the gathered survivors.
"Good luck, everyone!"
Then its eyes narrowed slightly.
"And remember..."
Its grin grew wider.
"The Imagin are watching too!"
Before anyone could ask another question, flames suddenly erupted around Impish's body.
WHOOSH!
The small creature vanished inside the fire.
A faint smell of sulfur lingered in the air.
For a moment, the survivors stared at the empty space where it had been floating.
Then a series of notifications appeared before their eyes.
DING!
[The Lightning Chu has entered Earth Room 666.]
[The Limit Breaker has entered Earth Room 666.]
[Eat to Be Stronger has entered Earth Room 666.]
[The Loli God has entered Earth Room 666.]
[Martial God has entered Earth Room 666.]
[The Ball Crusher has entered Earth Room 666.]
[...]
[Total Imagin Viewers: 15]
[Total God Viewers: 0]
Faust examined the notifications.
'So those are the Imagin?'
He recalled the announcement made by the self-proclaimed Gods.
According to them, the Imagin were abstract beings born from humanity's imagination. They could select human champions, grant them blessings, and eventually manifest in reality.
'The Lightning Chu? The Ball Crusher?'
Faust raised an eyebrow.
'What kind of names are those?'
He had expected something rather different from beings capable of granting supernatural powers.
Then again, considering that these beings supposedly originated from fictional creations, perhaps such names weren't particularly surprising.
He glanced at the final notification.
'Fifteen Imagin viewers, but no Gods.'
It seemed the self-proclaimed Gods weren't personally watching this tutorial.
At least, none were listed as viewers.
Before Faust could examine the interface further, another notification appeared.
[12:00:00]
A massive countdown timer materialized in the sky.
Everyone raised their heads.
"What the hell?"
"Is that a timer?"
"Twelve hours?"
The numbers began decreasing.
[11:59:59]
[11:59:58]
[11:59:57]
The survivors immediately became restless.
Some looked toward the forest, while others began checking their weapons.
A few started discussing what supplies they needed to gather before the invasion.
Faust looked at the timer.
'Twelve hours.'
He shifted his attention toward the surrounding village.
Most of the buildings were already in poor condition. Several walls had cracks running through them, and some roofs looked ready to collapse.
The settlement also lacked proper defensive walls.
'So we have twelve hours to prepare for an invasion of unknown size.'
He glanced at the survivors.
There were only thirty of them.
Even if everyone cooperated, defending an entire village against a large number of monsters wouldn't be easy.
'And that's assuming these people can work together.'
As Faust considered the situation, someone suddenly stepped forward.
"Everyone, listen up!"
A man raised his hands, trying to attract the crowd's attention.
"We can't afford to waste time!"
The nearby survivors turned toward him.
"There are only thirty of us here. If we're going to survive the next three days, we need to cooperate."
He pointed toward the buildings.
"We should gather resources, repair the damaged houses, and build defenses before nightfall."
Several people nodded.
"He's right."
"We should start preparing."
"What about food and water?"
The man continued.
"We'll also need to organize shifts. Some people should stand guard while the others rest, especially after the invasion begins."
The suggestion was reasonable.
After all, nobody knew how long they would need to fight once the monsters started attacking.
However, before the discussion could continue, another survivor raised a question.
"Hold on."
The crowd turned toward him.
"Who exactly is going to lead us?"
The man who had suggested cooperation paused.
Several survivors exchanged glances.
Someone needed to organize the group and decide how their limited time and resources should be used.
But choosing a leader wasn't that simple.
They had only just met, and nobody knew whether the others could be trusted.
Especially after Impish had explained the rewards for killing other players.
Before anyone could suggest a candidate, a man stepped forward from one of the groups of three.
He had fiery red hair and sharp facial features.
A confident smile rested on his face as he looked around the crowd.
"I'll do it."
Several survivors turned toward him.
The red-haired man raised his right hand.
"I'll lead everyone."
One of the survivors frowned.
"And why should we listen to you?"
The red-haired man's smile widened.
"Because..."
He opened his palm.
WHOOSH!
A flame suddenly appeared above his hand.
The fire flickered between his fingers, moving as though it were alive.
Several survivors immediately stepped back.
"Fire?"
"He's a mutant!"
"He can create flames!"