The Degree
The Degree III's

“That's too much amount. Most likely the change can only be done once,” said Terumi.

“It depends,” said Eric who has done his own assessment. “There are some troublesome ways to get five hundred thousand of it.”

By taking DP from many people it is not impossible to get five hundred thousand. Ray himself had thought of this possibility. The reason was very simple, he was sure that there were many people who made savings like him.

“In addition, the explanation is not finished,” continued Eric.

Secret began to continue his explanation which was far from enough.

“We will provide each initial capital group in the form of five thousand DP evenly. Most likely someone received more of course with the consideration we did. We will describe the names of who will be the group leader.”

There were fifty names clearly displayed. Ray did not know many people in this place so there were very few names he could know. There were names he was familiar with but some were very surprising.

“It ...,” muttered Terumi, even she was very surprised at that.

“I think that person is definitely the chairman but not expected him too,” said Leo.

Eric was seen furrowing his brows while looking hatefully at the person in the distance.

“Arthur!” he muttered with anger.

The man who was already believed to be the leader of a group, Arthur. Of course Arthur is indeed the chairman, his name is in the first place. But the appearance of the name Mona at number five is not at all expected. It seemed to shake the two as well.

In addition to Mona, Ray also found the name Indri there. The thing that makes him surprised is that he is not alone, one of its members is Rani. It seems that the selection of the leader of this group is done randomly or Secret has its own considerations.

On the other hand, Ray may have already expected his name to be listed there. Exactly in the third order because the second place is listed Indri name.

Observing the other names seems to be a troublesome thing not only to Arthur and Mona, but also to Ray.

“It seems to be a difficult situation,” murmured Ray let out a long sigh.

“Yes, I think we will not pass easily,” Leo said, massaging his painful forehead. “Why am I ... elected chairman?” leo continued in disbelief.

Surely he did not expect to be the chairman at all in any case. He had thought from the beginning that he would join Ray as usual. But it seems that fate does not give permission.

Not only Leo, it seems Terumi also got the same position, namely, the chairman. He looked at Ray in surprise.

“... what should I do, Ray?” he murmured, he clearly did not want it.

Being the leader of a group means that they will move apart. But that doesn't mean there is no hope.

“Look, we can still—” Before Ray finishes his sentence, Secret interrupted him. Something Ray actually wanted to say but Secret had sealed the possibility.

“Chairmen from other groups of course we do not allow to join other groups officially.”

Secret certainly wouldn't be that gentle to let it be. He clearly intended to make the final task of having fifty groups fixed at all costs.

“We do not allow group leaders to join other groups but alliances between groups are allowed.”

If two leaders from different groups should not be in the same group, then it makes sense to build an alliance between the two. It even seems Secret doesn't want to shut it down. After all, an alliance is a move that is considered a bet.

The alliance will run safely and smoothly if no one or two parties are plotting treason. In a place like this looking for a trustworthy person is the biggest difficulty.

Even so, the troublesome part had been prepared by Secret in the next explanation.

“The head of a group is the lifeblood of the group. If the leader of the group dies, then its members will be eliminated within forty minutes.”

“Hah?” Ray subconsciously let out his voice, he certainly did not believe about this.

“What a crazy rule this is ...,” murmured Eric who was very dumbfounded.

No need to bother killing five people from the same group one by one, just kill one person then the others will fall after forty minutes.

This certainly caused a commotion. Joining a certain group, means they give their lives to the leader of the group. With this, everyone could not join carelessly.

“We will determine the location of the task. This is freedom bound. You are free but will remain bound.”

The screen began to change on the view of a city that Ray was already quite familiar with. The city that was once the center of the country that Ray lived in is, Jakarta.

“It ... a city?”

“Last task will be implemented ... in the outside world?”

Some began to rejoice over this but not a few also refused to believe.

“Do not be fooled power!”

“Yes, it might just be a replica of the city that this organization has prepared!”

“The possibility exists! He's trying to outwit us!”

Some seem to think it's possible. This organization is indeed unreasonable, Secret seems to have an unlimited budget.

Secret then resolved the dispute between them by confirming one thing.

“We will hold the final task outside. More precisely is Indonesia, Jakarta.”

“The Degree, the final task we provide will be the secret theme and hunt.”

Secret began to explain that Degree users will be required to keep the existence of the Degree itself secret. Those who are careless and reveal the Degree will have a miserable ending.

“For those caught red-handed using the Degree and revealing it, we will give the death penalty. Dead hunted by Degree users, ended up tragically so the object of research, or we will blow it up. Finally is the same, we promise there will be no end other than that.”

There would be no fool who would be willing to do so after seeing Secret being able to detonate a human through a single command. Whatever happens if they reveal the Degree to the layman, the end is death. Secret will vouch for it.

“What happens when we get out of that city?” ray asked, Secret also seemed to notice him.

“Of course we have given the calculation and requirements related to it. But before that happens we will explain about the content of the final task that you will run.”

“Masing each group will receive one gray key on average. Each group leader will get special features that we will share from now on.”

The robots started to come out from somewhere else and spread out. The thing that made everyone surprised was the robot that came out to resemble a real human.

“It ... AI?!” (Artificial Intelligence.)

“Can't artificial intelligence still be in the development stage?!”

For almost half a century, humans have been trying to perfect artificial intelligence to make it more useful for humans in the future. Surely there are already some AI that is used for household needs and other things. Of course, only large companies and the unclean can buy it.

In this place there may not be such a person, seeing artificial intelligence directly is an amazing sight.

Each AI approached the group leader. Ray gets one that wears maid clothes and golden hair. Although they resemble humans, they have no human expression.

Ray notices that the AI has a chip installed on its watch and performs the installation in a short time, after which he hands a gray key to it. Terumi and Leo seem to get the same key.

“We have added a feature to your watch that will later be used to reveal a puzzle. Those who successfully complete the puzzle will be the winner of the final task.”

“To get the puzzle you are required to collect ten gray keys and exchanged into a golden key. Only the golden key can be used to unlock the puzzle. No need to worry, there is only one puzzle. Everything will solve the same puzzle.”

“The group that lost the key will be required to do two things; find another key within a maximum period of 48 hours or follow another group that holds the key. If it fails to get the key or joins another group, then the group will be eliminated. Related information will be provided periodically.”

A task that sounds easy but is actually very complicated to carry out. It won't be finished in a month or two, at worst it would take several years to do so.

The group that lost the key

Additionally Ray guessed that Secret would worsen the situation through the use of DP. As if reading his thoughts, Secret continued.

“We will not provide initial capital for you in any form. Surely you will be directly in Jakarta but to survive in the outside world is the obligation of each group. We will only offer conversion of DP to rupiah.”

Other surprising things kept coming. Ray had no idea how much information Secret would reveal in such a short period of time. There is a high chance that many people forget the rules.

Secret also seems not kind enough to hand over files or papers to make it easier to remember them.

The screen started to change again, Ray observed well. Now he really understands the importance of DP for the final exam.

‘I'm grateful to have saved a lot and committed theft. At least, I don't have to worry about DP if I use it properly.’

What is written on the screen is about the conversion of DP into cash, and vice versa. Cash can be converted back into DP. In addition, there is also an explanation about getting out of the city and other things such as:

Cash conversion ~ DP and DP ~ cash is possible with the following amounts.

1 DP \= Rp.10.000

Rp.100.000 \= 1 DP

For those who want to get out of the city specified as the location will be possible by paying a certain amount.

The cost of getting out of the city is:

1 day leave town \= 1,000 DP. Payment is possible with cash value; Rp. 100,000,000. (Excluding transportation and other costs).

5 days leave town \= 5,000 DP. Payment is also possible with cash value; Rp. 500,000,000. (Excluding transportation and other costs).

10 Days leave town \= 10,000 DP.

Payment is also possible with cash value; Rp. 1,500,000,000. (Excluding transportation and other costs.

More than 10 days leave the city with special fees in the form of;

- on the 11th day there will be a payment of 10,000 DP. It is not possible to pay cash.

- Day 12 there will be a payment of 50,000 DP. It is not possible to pay cash.

- Day 13 there will be a payment of 150,000 DP. It is not possible to pay cash.

Payments will increase depending on the location and destination. If you leave the city and go to another country then there will be a double increase in the price.

Allowed to move to the city around JABODETABEK with the price every day divided by two.

Note: Payments apply to each individual, not a group.

And that was the end of the explanation that Secret gave. It is a little less detailed but Ray understands the whole thing.

“We will provide some additional information periodically through each group leader.”

“We will leave the rights to each of you to choose which group you will follow. No permission not to have a group 3 days after arriving in Jakarta.”

Secret made a clear claim. From that, a person is not possible to make their own movements without a group. They will be required to give their lives to others like it or not.

“If we make an alliance then automatically we already have three keys at the beginning,” Terumi said with a wry smile.

It does seem sneaky but in the end luck sided with them. Ray himself welcomed this well but there was one problem.

“That's just the advantage, we will definitely still have certain losses. One of them is the final task content that is still unclear whether we are just fighting over the key or something else.”

Secret said that more information would be provided at regular intervals, implying a message that there might be something else they have not revealed.

Although getting out of the city had a cost, it was not impossible if these fifty groups maintained a perpetual neutral status. It will be exactly like the word Secret with another meaning. They will be free but bound.

There's no way Secret wouldn't have thought of that possibility. Rules will always be tricked, because of that Secret must certainly create a situation that makes it difficult to trick even can not at all.

In addition, in the outside world there is the name of social media, the most likely place to divulge a Degree.

“Now, we will give you eight hours to vacate this place. There will be four doors that will take you to different places. During this time no fights are allowed in any form. The sanction is execution.”

Secret began to leave the place along with the appearance of the four great gates. Not a few people immediately left and quickly formed his group. While on the other hand not a few who choose to settle as well as Ray.