The silver-haired girl approached with hesitant steps, as if each one was a major decision.
She stopped about two paces in front of , her small hands fidgeting with the hem of her lavender uniform skirt. Her face was beautiful with delicate features, porcelain skin contrasting with her silver hair, and large, clear purple eyes. She looked... extrely nervous.
"H-hi," she said, her voice small and lodic. "I’m... I’m Natalie. From Laventia Academy."
I looked at her, waiting. "Yeah? What is it?"
Natalie seed to get even more nervous. Her cheeks flushed slightly. She bit her lower lip, then took a deep breath, as if steeling herself.
"I... um... actually... I..." she started, then stopped, struggling with her words. "I... I’m a huge fan of your father."
She said it quickly, and then her eyes shone with sudden enthusiasm.
"The Sword Saint! He... he’s so cool! And handso! And... he’s the strongest Hunter of all ti! I have a whole collection of his morabilia, posters, even... even the limited edition action figure!" Her words spilled out now, full of bashful passion. "I’ve read all his biographies, watched every docuntary about him... He’s my absolute hero!"
Then, suddenly, she realized she’d been rambling. She covered her mouth with her hand, her cheeks now bright red. She looked down, as if embarrassed by her outburst.
An awkward silence followed.
I stared at her, unsure how to react.
"So... what do you want?" I asked again, my tone flat.
Natalie lifted her face, her large purple eyes looking at with a mix of hope and fear. She seed conflicted, her lips trembling slightly. I could see her mind racing, debating whether to press on or retreat.
I just stood there, raising one eyebrow, waiting.
Finally, after what felt like a long mont, Natalie let out a shaky breath.
"Y-you..." she began, her voice almost a whisper. "You... look so much like him. Your face... especially your eyes."
She stared intently at my eyes. "So... so I... I was wondering... could we... take a picture together?"
She stamred it out, full of shyness, like a little kid asking their idol for an autograph. Her hands had already retrieved a small phone from her uniform pocket, gripping it tightly.
I couldn’t hold back a faint smile.
It was actually kind of funny. After all the drama with Yukie, Maximus, and the squabbling strangers, here was this shy, innocent girl asking for a photo because I looked like my famous father.
But Natalie seed so sincere, and her request was so simple and harmless.
"Alright," I said finally.
Natalie’s face instantly lit up. "R-really? Thank you! Thank you so much!" she exclaid, her voice filled with joy. With trembling hands, she raised her phone and opened the cara app.
She stepped closer, standing beside , but still maintaining a polite distance. She lifted the phone, trying to find a good angle, her hands still shaking a little.
"Your expression... don’t look too sour, okay," she whispered shyly.
I sighed, then mustered a small smile that was just enough for a photo. Natalie grinned broadly, her eyes sparkling with happiness.
Click.
She checked the photo, and her face bead. "It’s... it’s perfect! Thank you! Thanks again!" She nodded repeatedly, as if I’d just given her a treasure.
"Sure," I replied, then turned my face away, done with the interaction.
Natalie seed to understand, giving another shy nod before turning and scurrying back to her academy group, where several of her friends imdiately crowded around her, curious.
anwhile, in the center of the arena, all participants from the thirty-six academies had finally gathered. One hundred and eighty students, each with their own strength and determination, stood surrounding the Dungeon Simulator.
The host floated back to the central position, his voice once again booming through the giant speakers.
"Attention, all contestants!" he cried, his eyes glowing with excitent on the big screen. "Before you enter, there are so final rules and explanations you must understand!"
He paused for a mont, making sure all eyes were on him.
"Inside the simulator, you will face monsters of various ranks. From relatively weak Rank C, to extrely dangerous Rank S. Each monster you defeat will earn points for your academy. The values are as follows!"
The giant screen behind him displayed a clear graphic:
RANK C: 1 POINT
RANK B: 5 POINTS
RANK A: 30 POINTS
RANK S: 100 POINTS
A low murmur rippled through the contestants. The value for an S-rank was huge—one hundred tis that of a C-rank. But of course, the risk was a hundredfold greater too, maybe more.
"Rember!" the host continued. "The sixteen academy teams with the highest total points after the three-hour match will advance to the next round! Thirty-six enter, only sixteen survive! So, don’t just survive—hunt! Show us your best!"
He floated lower, as if sharing a secret piece of advice.
"One important thing: upon entry, the system will randomize each contestant’s starting location. You could appear anywhere within this vast simulated environnt. However... if you’re lucky, you might spawn relatively close to your teammates! Work together! Coordination could be the key to scoring more points and surviving the stronger monsters!"
He glanced at the large clock on the colosseum wall. "The match duration is... THREE HOURS! Three full hours of struggle, strategy, and endurance! The system will continuously update the point rankings on the main screen, so the audience can watch the dynamics of the match in real-ti!"
He raised his hand high. "And now... without further delay... ENTER! Step into the Dungeon Simulator, and face your first match!"
The contestants began to move, entering through the nearest doors. Our group—or rather, the five individuals who happened to be from the sa academy—also approached one of the doors.
I sighed, then stepped forward.
As my body passed through the energy barrier, the sensation was strange. The sound of the crowd outside was suddenly muffled, replaced by a deep electronic hum.
Inside, the space wasn’t what I’d imagined. It wasn’t a corridor or a small room. This place was... futuristic. The walls were made of panels emitting a soft blue light, the floor was like dark glass showing streams of energy flowing beneath. The air vibrated with the combined power of magic and technology.
Other contestants around also looked srized, gazing around in awe.
Then, a neutral, robotic system voice echoed from everywhere.
"Participant identified: Adam Socheron. Academy: Nine Stars. Initializing the simulator environnt. Please stand by."
The white light on the walls suddenly changed, growing brighter, more dazzling.
I reflexively closed my eyes. Behind my eyelids, I could feel the light penetrating, as if scanning my entire body.
I felt another strange sensation—like my body was being pulled, stretched, then compressed again in an instant. A high-pitched hum buzzed in my ears. And then...
...it suddenly vanished.
I opened my eyes.
The blinding light was gone. I was no longer in the sterile tal room.
I stood on cracked asphalt, in the middle of a desolate highway. Around , skyscrapers lood, but in a pitiful state. Their windows were shattered, walls cracked and partially collapsed. Rusty, abandoned cars littered the road, so overturned, so burned down to skeletons. The sky above was a dull orange, like a perpetual, trapped dusk.
A wind blew, carrying dust and the sll of rusting tal and sothing rotten. Grunts and the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the distance, followed by a howl that put my senses on high alert.
And then, suddenly, in the dull gray sky stretching over the ruined city, a large, clear holographic light appeared. A massive floating display like a digital cloud, visible from anywhere within this simulated environnt.
On the left side, a large digital countdown: 02:59:47... 02:59:46... 02:59:45... The three-hour match tir had already started.
Beside it were two lists. The first was the ACADEMY RANKING, showing the nas of all thirty-six academies with their points beside them. For now, they were all zero. The second was the TOP 10 CONTESTANTS, also empty for now, waiting to be filled by nas that would soon prove themselves.
The display floated high, a constant reminder of the ti and the competition unfolding. A giant scoreboard for the slaughter show is about to begin.
My gaze dropped from the sky back to my surroundings. I was at a large intersection. In the distance, about fifty ters from , I saw two figures—contestants from other academies. One looked like a guy in a black uniform, the other a woman in dark blue.
But we didn’t have ti to observe each other.
Because from the ruins of an office building across the street ca a sound that didn’t fit this scene of urban decay at all.
KUUURROOOOARR!!!
The sound was deep, hoarse, and full of ferocity, echoing between the ruined buildings, creating an unpleasant echo.
And then, they erged.
Five of the creatures leaped out of a shattered second-floor window, landing on the asphalt with a loud THUD that made the ground tremble. They were the size of horses.
Their shapes were like roosters mutated into sothing horrific. Their feathers were a dull crimson and black, ssy and covered in sothing like sli. Their heads had torn combs and glowing red eyes filled with madness.
But the most terrifying part was their mouths—they didn’t have beaks, but vertebrate mouths with rows of sharp piranha-like teeth, dripping thick, blackish saliva. Their claws were long and curved, scratching the asphalt with a grating sound.
I reflexively activated [Eye of Desire], directing my gaze at one of the creatures. Normally, this skill would give detailed information about a target—its na and rank.
But as I suspected, my skill didn’t work. They weren’t real living beings, just constructs of data and energy. No desire to read. However, when I focused, I saw that above each monster’s head was a small, red holographic label:
[MONSTER - RANK A - RABID ROOSTER]
At least the Dungeon Simulator system told you their rank.
Alright. Five Rank A monsters at once. For most contestants, this would be a nightmare. But for ...
A faint smile touched my lips.
My hand reached to the side, and in the air, particles of dark energy gathered, condensed, forming a familiar hilt. Then the blade appeared—long, slender, slightly curved, with a black tallic sheen that seed to absorb light. [Mindrender] materialized in my grasp, its perfect weight a comforting presence.
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