The red warning light glowed overhead, casting hue across the spacious, tallic chamber. A low hum echoed through the walls—the final signal. It was ti to prepare.
Across the room, people began to pour in. So moved quickly with determined strides. Others dragged their feet, nervous, eyes darting between unfamiliar faces.
By the wall near the healing cylindrical pods, Alex yawned lazily, leaning against the tal.
Nearby, Edward and Mark stood together, quietly exchanging observations while scanning the room.
On the opposite side, the Rogues had gathered. Unlike the trained Rangers, these were misfits—individuals who had never wanted to be part of this fight. Many of them looked out of place, hesitant, lost. But the battlefield didn’t care what they wanted. The choice had already been made.
Tyson and his squad entered from the rear, slow and deliberate. As they crossed the floor, Tyson paused—his attention caught by a boy hunched over a guitar with quite futuristic look.
he could tell from glance the guitar was not just guitar It was ta-bot, shaped like guitar but that boy was playing it terribly.
Strings screeched as he played but he was into it. "See? I’m a genius, right?" the Red bead.
Rudra stood next to him, visibly cringing. He turned to Tyson with a helpless look. "Yes... Yes, you are," he muttered. "How about... not playing again? Not because I don’t like it—but because others really, really don’t."
Red scoffed, "Forget others, my friend. I will play it just for you."
Rudra was left speechless.
Tyson chuckled softly and shook his head. On the far side, he spotted Blue—the Rogue he once fought tooth and nail. He was leaning on the wall and chatting with his new friends.
Unlike the rest, Blue was shirtless, without any gear or preparation. He looked relaxed... As if he had already made peace with his decision not to fight.
"You know," soone whispered, "we got summoned here... but the things we were holding at the ti just vanished."
"I was eating ice cream," another voice added,
"Yeah, that’s why I have no books," Ryuk said, visibly disheartened while he just arrived.
A few low-ranked Rangers nearby glanced at him in awe. He was their hidden ace in the tournant—the one the high-rankers spoke of with reverence. Their leaders had filled their ears with stories of Ryuk’s potential, giving them hope to cling to.
"Hi, sir. I’m Domia," a new recruit stepped forward nervously. "I’ve never seen a single-colored Ranger before..."
His friends nodded enthusiastically behind him. "We’re honored to et you."
Ryuk smiled awkwardly, "Y-Yeah. Th-thank you. I’ll be there... if you need ."
He turned and walked toward the tallic wall at the far end of the chamber. His ta-bot blinked to life on his chest.
"Press here," it instructed.
Ryuk obeyed, placing his hand on the surface. The wall humd, then shifted with a chanical hiss, revealing a large glass window.
The entire room paused.
Eyes turned toward the sudden view—a breathtaking view of the stars, and near by solar system. Their ho.
Ryuk sat quietly by the window, like he always used to sit back in ho.
"Told you you’d find a window here too," Black said,
"Yeah now we just missing books" Ryuk replied,
"Ah we will get them" Black ta-bot said again, "Lets clear the first round then You guys will get a chance to summon things from Earth. at that ti, summon a lot of new books, lot"
Ryuk smirked. "We will or we will die bored"
A few others lingered nearby, tempted to go up and look, to feel that connection to the planet they once stood on. But most held back, a little intimidated by Ryuk’s presence.
Even Tyson kept his distance, trying not to let curiosity win. ’If I look... if I see Earth like that, I’ll want to go back. And I can’t afford that feeling right now’
So he turned away, fists clenched, pushing down the ache of hosickness.
anwhile, Ryzen was nowhere to be found just like Julien.
Mark walked up beside Ryuk, who was staring at Earth through the window."Man, you’re hopeless," he said with a smirk.
"Umm... yeah, I am," Ryuk replied. "But you see, all I ever want are books."
" too," a voice chid in.
Mark blinked and looked down at Ryuk’s chest, where a black, circular-shaped tallic ta-bot glead faintly.
"...You two are an odd combination," Mark muttered.
He glanced at his own ta-bot, shaped like a tiny sword hanging from his necklace. "Do you speak as well?" he asked it.The sword remained still. No glow, no response.
"Umm... God, is sothing wrong with mine?"
"No," the black ta-bot replied flatly. "It’s just asleep. Like most others—dormant forever."
Mark’s eyes lit up with curiosity. "Oh? Can you tell more? Is there any way to—?"
"No," the black ta-bot cut him off. "I’ve never seen a dormant ta-bot awaken. They can, but everyone has limits..."
"limits?" Mark asked again,
"Hmm it’s whole another layer but..." It paused for a mont, its voice growing thoughtful. "there’s one guy who makes curious... the White Ranger."
Ryuk and Mark both turned to glance across the room at Tyson.
"Why?" Mark asked.
"I don’t know," the black ta-bot admitted. "His ta-bot is strange. It feels like one of us, but we can’t sense it. Not , not Chaos"
"Hm... is he evolving?" Mark asked. "Like Sir Victor said?"
"Maybe. I don’t know for sure," the black ta-bot replied. "ta-bots are like humans—we start as toddlers, then teenagers, then adults. Ahaha... as far as I rember, I’m an adult."
"I doubt that," Ryuk said flatly.
"Hey! How dare you, human?" the black ta-bot huffed. "I am what you call a Pri—most powerful of all and King of Black!"
"Whatever," Ryuk muttered. "Let have so peace."
"I will kill you, Ryuk," the ta-bot muttered. "Shhh... you drive crazy,"
Mark stayed quiet, his eyes still locked on Tyson across the room. Deep in thought.Was there really sothing special about him?
He rembered clearly—Tyson gained an astonishing seven power points in enhancent while Mark himself got just five... believed to be peak and Ryuk had gone slightly further with eight, thanks to having a Pri ta-bot.
But Tyson? His ta-bot looked just like the others. How was he able to do the things he did?
Does his ta-bot really evolve? And what about that state the Pri ntioned... toddler, teenager, adult?
"How long does it take to go from toddler to teenager?" Mark asked aloud, trying to piece together his thoughts.
There was a possibility—maybe Tyson’s ta-bot was still in the toddler phase. Maybe that’s why the two known Pris couldn’t sense him.
"I don’t know," the black ta-bot replied. "It’s all up to the two—user and ta-bot. You see, we ta-bots need experiences to grow stronger. That experience converts into power points—the levels asured in the tournant. But evolution... that’s a different kind of process. It’s not all about experience or combat."
"Then what is it about?" Mark pressed.
"Maybe... it’s about connection. Will. Trust. Maybe it’s sothing neither the user nor the ta-bot fully understands at first," the ta-bot continued. "It’s complex."
"Yeah, I can see that," Mark said quietly, still staring at Tyson.
"It is complex," Ryuk added with a shrug. "Everything about this place is."
Just then, the universal AI chid in, and the massive screen at the front of the room lit up with a soft hum and blinding white glow.
[ I hope the facility I created for you is to your liking. ]
The system’s voice echoed through the spacious tallic battle room.
[ Never mind. Let’s begin Stage One. ]
[ Stage One... Starting. ]
[ Loading complete. Humans are now online. ]
[ I will now announce the rules of Stage One. ]
[ So of you may already know them, but I will explain again for clarity. ]
Tyson exhaled deeply as he stared at the massive notification glowing on the battle room’s largest screen. This was it.
[ In order to earn ti for your respective planets, you must clear the assigned maps and levels. ]
[ The selection of maps and starting points will be random. You must adapt according to the situation you are given. ]
[ Once you enter a map or level, you must complete the assigned objective in order to win—regardless of your condition or preparation. ]
[ The map will automatically shift once the objective is cleared... or when all participants inside the dungeon have died. This allows the next batch a chance to survive. ]
A wave of gasps spread through the room.
There would be no choice. No strategy in choosing the easiest route. The only way to change the dungeon... was either completion or death.
Tyson clenched his fist. Now it made sense why no one had ever cleared the Ice World.
The cruel solution had always been there: Let your teammates die... and wait for the map to reset into sothing easier.
Edward’s jaw tightened as he watched the screen. He knew what was coming next—the part that always triggered argunts, chaos, and paranoia inside the battle room.
[ Now, I will explain the rules within the Dungeons. ]
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