The mandala is a representation of a pure land where nothing changes and everything is peaceful. One never has to want for anything and there are no worries there. It is kept separate from the ever changing and chaotic world outside. This outer world was a land of strife, impurity, and the unknown. People struggle their whole lives to reach such a land where they could just be free and not have a care in the world. But once in this perfect world, would it not begin to feel hollow? After reaching the the peak of what a human desires in life, what more was there to do besides staying on that summit? Forever remaining in a peaceful world of stagnation.

Ken slowly turned the pendent of his necklace between his fingers as he lay on his bed, steely grey eyes staring up at the ceiling. His mind was swimming with thoughts on the information that he had just been given. Apparently, himself and others had been dragged into a game that some voice in his head named Livit that proclaimed himself to be a god had designed. The goal of this game was to kill said god by collecting six pieces of a key that were scattered around the country. Oh, and if that wasn't all, Livit was also going to be trying to kill them off before they could reach him by sending out all kinds of monsters after them. Yeah, because that seemed fair. There was also the problem of the other players. Ken had no idea who they were or what they would try and do. There was the chance that the other players would be trying to kill each other rather than work together. He would much rather avoid any kind of fighting, if at all possible. But, with a sociopathic god, monsters, and unknown other player, the situation did not look good.

However, there were some interesting things that did come out of being drafted into this game. One being magic powers that had been granted to all players to help them survive. Even though the powers were mainly to make things more entertaining for Livit, they were really quite amazing. Almost like something out of a video game. His eyes flickered over to the wall opposite of him that now contained three coins embedded deep within the surface from where Ken had accidentally used his newfound magic. "Probably should get that fixed, but I kind of like how it looks." He murmured to himself with a slight chuckle.

Propping himself up on the bed with his elbows, he then moved so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. Ken's gaze flickered over the large bedroom for a moment before it settled on a small framed picture that sat on his desk. There was one other thing about this game that caught Ken's interest: the wish. According to Livit, if you can survive until the end of the game, he will grant you one wish that could be anything that you desired. He didn't know what the other players would wish for, but Ken definitely had a wish in mind. It was something that he had been wishing for a very long time, but thought it was impossible. After having thought it over for a few hours now, he finally decided that it would be worth it to actively participate in this game. He was already in it, might as well see where this went.

With that, Ken stood up and began to prepare for travel. Finding a small backpack, he loaded it up with a few changes of clothes, aspirin, and personal hygiene products. He then slipped his wallet into the pocket of his dark blue jeans. Money wasn't an issue, so everything else he would need could be purchased along the way. Ken took a moment to check his reflection in the mirror. Yup, hair still hopelessly messy and it appeared that he was wearing a grey shirt with the derpiest looking cartoon snake on it today. Looking good. Finding his shoes and sliding the backpack over his shoulders, he took a look at the screen of his smartphone. A new app had apparently been installed by Livit for the sake of the game: "The Almighty Livit's KPS". KPS seemed to mean Key Positioning System as the screen appeared to show a map of the country with six small dots at various locations. It definitely didn't give an exact location, but at least it was a start.

Now prepared to leave, Ken made his way out of his bedroom and into the large living room of his apartment that had a full kitchen just off to the side. Making a quick stop to pocket a granola bar, since it was almost noon, he was then out the door and on his way down to the lobby by means of an elevator. After few moments, a small ding signaled the opening of the doors and his entrance into the lobby. The expansive room was filled with all sorts of high class people that Ken would rather avoid than anything else. Which made Ken move hurriedly to exit the building. The busy streets outside accompanied by the loud noises of people and cars seemed to shock him a bit, almost as if the quite world of the apartment has suddenly exploded with sounds and people. Ken couldn't help but smile. Sure, this was a life threatening situation, but it would wouldn't be boring.

---

Ken navigated his way through the crowded streets as he continued to think of just how he would proceed in this game. His phone was able to give him the information that he would need in order to find the general area of where the pieces to the key were, but he wasn't quite sure what would be the most effective way of collecting them. Not only that, but there was also the matter of encountering the other players. If he was to start going after the pieces, the other players would undoubtedly be doing the same, possibly even at this very moment. Taking out his phone once more, Ken looked at the image of the world when went on the god's app. The six dots did not appear to be moving, so it seemed like no one had found one of the pieces as of yet. He breathed a small sigh of relief. If one of the other players had already gotten a hold of one of the piece, it would lead to some pretty tricky negotiating to try and prevent a possible fight.

But there was something that just might pose a problem, and that was the fact that the game seemed to encompass much of the world. Some of the pieces appeared to be in completely different countries. This god just couldn't make things easy on them, could he? It wasn't so much of a problem for Ken, he basically had the money to travel anywhere he wanted to at any time just as long as he didn't attract too much attention to himself and he already had a passport. But still, the time that this game would consume seemed to be quite large. Although, he doubted that the time was very significant to a god.

Ken knew he had to concentrate and create a game plan of he was never going to be able to get any of the pieces. His steely grey gaze drifted from his phone in search of a place that he would be able to gather his thoughts. Luckily, there seemed to be an open spot on a bench that was just ahead. He casually navigated the crowd and positioned himself on the bench, making sure to leave enough space between him and the other person as he noticed that half of the bench was already occupied. With a sigh, Ken tried to clear his thoughts. The biggest question that he faced was if he should start off with the most distant places or start with the closest? Both had their advantages and disadvantages.

After a few minutes of thinking, Ken turned his gaze away from his phone in frustration and adjusted his glasses a little. This was getting him nowhere. An odd pattern that appeared in the corner of his vision cause his eye. He turned his a little head to look at the other occupant of the bench. It appeared to be a girl roughly his age, and he had to admit that she was really interesting to look at. She appeared to have part of her hair died and was wearing chains. Ken had to hide the glint of wonder in that shown in his eyes. The most notable thing, however, was a very large tattoo that had caught his attention in the first place. it seemed to cover a large amount of skin, including her face and left arm. His eyes followed the tattoo down her arm until the phone in her hand caught his attention. There was an alert from a very familiar looking-

The sudden surprise to find another player already and right there beside him hit Ken like a ton of bricks. It had shocked him so much that he actually fell off the bench that he had been sitting on. /Not good! Not good! I just attracted attention to myself. At least, she will probably just think I am some weirdo instead of one of the players./ All hope of this outcome came crashing down as Ken realized that his phone was no longer in his hand. No, it was laying face up in full view of the girl with the KPS's map on the screen. Ken wasn't sure what to say or do as he waited to see how the girl would react.

---

Ken blinked in confusion as the only reaction the girl gave him was an angry complaint that he was being too loud. Never in his life had he been so happy to get an angry reaction from someone. That meant that she hadn't seen his phone yet! He saw this as his chance to make a clean get away. After seeing this girl's temper, he thought that it probably was best that she not find out that he was one of the other players. Ken slowly moved his hand in the direction of his phone when the tattooed girl had looked away, as to not draw her attention to what he was reaching for. Just then, the girl looked back at him and his heart sank. Anger seemed to flash across the girl's face as she grabbed his phone, seeming to try and make sure what she had seen was correct. /This was very, very bad./

The next thing he knew, he was being dragged by the arm towards an alley by the girl. Ken wasn't quite sure what to expect. If this girl did intend to try and kill him, then someplace like an alley that would be away from the eyes of the public would be the perfect place for a supernatural battle to the death. Ken really didn't want to fight anyone, but it didn't seem like this girl would listen to reason. When the two were in the alley, something within the small area made his eyes go wide with surprise. It...looked like something out of a video game. There appeared to be some kind of dead monster here and Ken couldn't help but think it was so cool! It wasn't everyday that you got to see a monster, you know. But wait...wasn't that bad? Cold this girl have killed the monster and now was going to kill him here as well?

The girl suddenly began to berated him with question, startling him out of his thoughts. Ken put his hands up in front of his chest with the palms facing outwards. a sign of meaning no harm. At least it seemed that this girl wanted to talk first and shoot later. "I'm Ken, Ken Alderich." He began, trying to make his voice sound calm. Quite honestly, it was all he could do to keep his legs from shaking. He hadn't expected to have run into one of the other players yet and now it appeared that he was at the mercy of one player with a fiery temper. "I got this app from the same place you did. That god, Livit, gave it to me after telling me that I was apart of this game." Just answering her questions alone might not ensure that he would remain alive. "I really don't mean you any harm. I-I..." Ken mentally scolded himself as his voice caught in his throat. This was harder than he thought. "I don't have any intention of hurting anyone in this game."

---

Ken's grey gaze remained on the girl's face as he gauged her response to what he had said. A terrible dread came over him as he waited for her response. If she didn't decide that he was telling the truth, there wouldn't be anything that he would be able to do if she decided to kill him. There wasn't anything that he could use his magic on that that wouldn't cause this girl severe harm. If she decided that he was more trouble than he was worth, that would be the end of the games for him.

But it would seem that the girl had believed him as her expression did not seem as angry. Ken almost gave a sigh of relief. It would seem that he would live to fight another day. But the smirk that was now on the girl's face caused him to look at her with a suspicious glint in his eyes. He listened as the girl spoke of them helping each other. Basically, he would fund the trips and she would take care of any fighting that needed to be done. This girl certainly was interesting. To be honest, Ken had to admit that the deal seemed like a fair exchange. He couldn't very well keep being a pacifist and get very far and she couldn't reach any of the far off places with her lack of funds. But...he still felt like he would need to be cautious around her. From the way she talked, it was obvious that she would have no problem disposing of him the moment he lost his value.

But he wasn't really in any position to refuse and the deal was definitely beneficial, so wouldn't it just be better to accept? And, he had to admit, having someone else along during this game sounded pretty nice. After having thought it over, Ken now had his decision. He met the girl's gaze and smiled a bit. "Sounds like a deal to me." All traces of his early nervousness appeared to have vanish, retreating back below that surface to become only a slight sense of wariness. "Money really isn't an issue for me, and I suppose it isn't an issue for you anymore either. I'm kind of loaded." He chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. With the girl no longer being an enemy, Ken seemed very eager to talk. Well, it wasn't like he typically got to talk to anyone because he was usually cooped up in that apartment. "Oh, and I almost forgot to ask. What is your name, miss?" He asked, grey eyes showing just a glimmer of elation.