Chương 15: Fight

"I still can't wrap my head around how we survived those shadow clones. Beating them with that kind of handicap shouldn't have been possible." Fred blew out a long breath and dug his knuckles into the knot at the back of his neck.

"It's ridiculous how your abilities didn't work on those things, just because they weren't human." He glanced sideways at his teammate, and the relief on his face shifted into something colder.

"I appreciate you joining our party, but I don't want this arrangement going any further." He took a slow step back, eyes narrowing.

"Frankly, your class gives me the creeps. I'd rather you kept your distance from here on out."

"I respect the honesty," the man replied, his tone unbothered.

"I wouldn't want to be around me either. But before we part ways—one question." Fred's hand drifted toward his hilt, close enough to grip it, not close enough to draw. He braced for whatever came next.

"Have you seen my brother?" The man tilted his head.

"He's exactly five foot eight, Korean, temper like a wet cat, and he tells unfunny jokes at the worst possible moments." The corner of his mouth lifted.

"Knowing him, he's probably made a ton of enemies by now." The tension went out of Fredd's shoulders the moment he understood what the man actually wanted.

"Sorry, can't say I've run into anyone like that." He snorted.

"Honestly? Someone that obnoxious probably didn't survive long enough to make it this deep into the race." Gray let out a sharp, sudden sneeze. After he cleared the second level, the system yanked him into the safezone—a converted commercial gym repurposed as a sanctuary. Treadmills and weight racks had been shoved against the walls in a hurry, clearing floor space for the crowd now packed inside.

The air still smelled faintly of old rubber mats and disinfectant, underneath something sourer: too many bodies in too little room. Close to three hundred survivors filled the gym. Half of them had gathered in the center, faces upturned toward a row of televisions bolted high on the wall.

Gray recognized the shows immediately as they were reruns of his old favorites from Earth: LoofahBob TrianglePants, Destroying Terrible, The Workplace, Avatar: The Sole Remaining Wind User, The Strolling Dead, Wandering, and Drew & Jerry. Nobody was laughing. The crowd watched with the flat, hollow stare of people who had already given up. Whatever spark had once lived behind their eyes was gone, snuffed out the moment this world dragged them in.

He cast Identify as he moved through the crowd, one face after another. The result never changed: Level 0. Every one of them. These people hadn't gained a single level since arriving. They were just counting their days, waiting on a rescue that would never come. Why wasn't he like them? Maybe it was all the fiction he'd consumed back on Earth. Every story that dropped its characters into worlds not so different from this one. Maybe that was why adapting here had come so easily. Was he desensitized?

Part of him was relieved his mind hadn't broken under the bloodshed. Another part wasn't sure that was something to be relieved about. Was this normal? Was it okay? Had Jun and Shota been right? Whatever the answer was, he knew one thing for certain: he wasn't going to end up a slave. Status Contribution Points (CP): 5250 Ladder Rank: 425 Name: Gray Kim Level: 3 (1. 22%) Rank: Awakened Class: Mistveil Abilities Identify Unlocks information regarding targets or items.

Cloud Mastery – TIER I Passive: Clear visibility through smoke. The ability to produce and manipulate the form of clouds. Imagination defines the limit. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Shroud Domain [Signature] - TIER I Cooldown: 5 hours Duration: 30 seconds Active: Disperse a shroud of smoke from your location, enveloping you and everyone within. Enter Wraith form while inside your domain. Initiating combat ends this state.

Equipment Nimbus Robe [Common] [Evolution] [Armor] [Disabled] Serves to protect the bonded. He shook off the philosophical spiral and pushed on, scanning faces one more time before he gave up. His brother wasn't among them. The only familiar face in the whole gym belonged to his teammate from the last level.

"Hey, Ariel." She turned, and the first word that came to his mind was exhausted. Shadows drooped beneath her eyes, and the whites had gone bloodshot, like she hadn't slept since they'd split up.

"Oh, hey, Gray." She managed a smile, though it didn't reach far.

"Guess you made it out okay."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." He grinned back, wide enough to hide the exhaustion he was probably wearing just as plainly.

"Did something happen between you and Jun?"

"Calling it 'something' is generous. Why do you ask?"

"I saw him teleport in right after you did. One look at your face and he took off in the other direction. Straight out of the safezone."

"I'm sure he'll manage on his own." Gray waved the subject away.

"Anyway, do you want to party up for the next level?" Ariel shook her head.

"Sorry, but I'm done. After what happened with Kofi—how close I came to dying, my mentor, Mikael, told me he'd setup a place for me in his church once this whole nightmare's over. I think I'm going to take him up on it."

"That's real generous of him." Gray's voice flattened, then rose, pitched loud.

"Must be nice, having a mentor who actually looks out for you!" Ariel took a step back, eyeing him warily. Leveling up had reshaped him. Gray could feel it in the ease of his own movements, though without an attribute sheet to consult, he had no way of knowing exactly what had improved. The upgrade he could quantify though, was the ability he obtained after using his ability shard. Hollow [Legacy] Cooldown: 5 minutes Active: Manifest the smoke cloud of the Primordial Shroud.

He read the prompt twice, huffing out a short laugh.

"A Legacy skill. Fancy," he muttered.

"From a Primordial God, apparently. I guess some higher power took pity on me for getting stuck with a negligent mentor." He left the safezone and ducked into a nearby alley to test it, the stink of old garbage thick in the air. Feet planted, stance set, he raised both hands toward the brick wall ahead of him. Hollow Power surged out from his core and flooded his veins. He fixed his focus on a faded patch of graffiti and willed the spell into being. Smoke bloomed against the brick.

It was dense, roughly four feet in circumference, and pitch-black instead of the familiar gray. Gray took an instinctive step back. That's new, he thought, eyes narrowing at the churning mass. Sinister-looking, too. Aside from the color, what else makes it different?

"Boy." Gozen's voice cut into his skull without warning.

"Tell me the name of that ability." Gray was startled, then let the surprise grow into a grin.

"Oh? Mentor? Now you want to talk to me? Right after my new mentor stepped in to help. Is that jealousy I'm hearing?"

"New mentor?" The retort landed like a slap, Gozen's voice booming through his head.

"What nonsense are you spouting? You cannot have more than one designated mentor during the race." A beat of silence passed before he spoke again, quieter but no less sharp.

"Tell me the title and description of that black cloud skill. Now." Gray pressed his fingers to his temples.

"You don't have to shout. You're inside my head." He sighed.

"Fine. It's called Nunya."

"Nunya?" Gozen repeated.

"I've never heard of such a name. What's the description?" The smirk crept back onto Gray's face.

"The description is…" He cleared his throat for effect.

"Nunya business." Dead silence answered him. The kind that told him exactly how badly that had landed. When Gozen spoke again, it wasn't a shout, it was worse: flat and indifferent.

"See you after the third level, boy."

"See me? Third level? What's that supposed to mean?" Gray spun around, searching the empty alley for an answer that wasn't coming. Before he could dwell on it, the System interrupted, chipper and oblivious as always. Accompanying it was a triumphant trumpet fanfare that blared in his head. Here are the current rankings for the Top 10! Behold, our planet's future prospects!

Top 10 Leaderboard Shota Kotetsu Gwen Altair Xinyi Wang Ivan Petrov Gwan Kim Nabi Yoon Mei Lin Rafael Lima Darius Castillo Yuna Park Participants who finish in the Top 10 will receive a special reward upon the completion of this competition. The third level will now begin. Theme: Hide and Seek