Chương 2

A blaring alarm went off and a series of explosions engulfed me. Before they could fully reach me, my finger grazed the large red handle of the emergency exit. One moment, I was in the office–an upside down floor torn from a skyscraper, left hovering in the air above impaling branches, the next, I was in what I could only call a yellow prairie, like in the Lion King. I heard people cheering, but… I fell to my knees, and I vomited.

"Fuck, Gina. Fuck!" I couldn't believe I had let her die. Why didn't I shout immediately about the desks? Why didn't I say something?!

"Gina…" I hammered the ground with a fist." Fuck!" Meanwhile, the group had gotten closer to me, and Tina knelt beside me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"She was the sweetest of us," she said quietly. Her mascara had run all the way down her chin.

"When this is over, someone has to tell her mother. I'll do it. I hired her." I couldn't answer that. Marcus came forward and asked, "what's your reward, by the way?"

"Reward?" I frowned. The world suddenly froze again. CONGRATULATIONS, Dungeon Diver John O'Donnell! You just passed the Entrance Test! Well, you're one step closer to engaging in the war with the Sorvos Empire, but now you'll be slightly less ill-prepared! You won't be able to pick a Class until you complete the first floor. You've still got a long way to go. Not this shit again. But this time, I noticed, I could move. And talk.

"You motherfucker! You just killed a bunch of people! Who the hell are you?! Why are you doing this?! Bring Gina back, you fucker!" According to Federation Standard §77-C rules, there are no appeals, Dungeon Diver John. It spoke in a somewhat somber voice, which startled me. And before I could protest any further, it said. Without further ado, your Entrance Test has been assessed under Federation Standard §77-C (Conduct, Cooperation, Creativity). Wait, this sounded familiar. When did I hear it before, though?

Your reward will be disbursed in accordance with Federation Disbursement Directive 4-401(k). You really are a goody-two-shoe. Based off your Conduct score, 97, you receive an S-Ranked Weapon Treasure Chest! And yes! It was a Saw thing! Always remember, in War, selfish assholes die! Based off your Cooperation score, 95, you receive an S-Ranked Armor Chest! You really love kicking butts, huh. Based off your Creativity score, 91, you receive an S-Ranked Skill Scroll! I was stunned.

I had played enough videogames to know that S-Ranked meant great. Also, check out your achievements. New Achievement - Entrance Test Survivor! Against all odds, you have passed the Entrance Test. Only one tenth of your planet's population has made it through! You guys have been reverse-decimated! Get it? Decimate means subtracting one-tenth. Reward: standard issued Tutorial Equipment! You receive an F-Ranked Weapon Chest, an F-Ranked Armor Chest, and an F-Ranked Skill Scroll.

After seeing what I had received from the System for the assessment, the basic equipment looked pretty useless to me. New Achievement - Corporate Yes-Man! You have shown incredible loyalty to your co-workers and saved all their asses. Is that good? Who knows! Careful whom you gossip with at the water cooler! You never know when they're going to stab you in the back. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Reward: B-Ranked Corporate Chest!

New Achievement - 5: 01! You were the last person on Earth to leave the Entrance Test! In fact, you technically went into negative time when you passed it! Reward: S-Ranked Insanity Chest! New Achievement - Smarty Pants! Oh-Oh. You found out that AI already tampered with your body the moment your world changed! Reward: D-Ranked Intelligence Chest! New Achievement - SSS Dungeon Diver! You've passed the Entrance Test with flying colors! The best colors, in fact!

You are currently ranked among the best Dungeon Divers in the world! But beware, have you ever heard what happens to the tall poppy? It gets cut down! Reward: One of your three S-Ranked rewards has been picked at random for U–U–UPGRADE! Your S-Ranked Skill has been upgraded to a SSS-Ranked Skill Scroll! Now, Dungeon Diver, you have twenty minutes to open and get accustomed to your Assessment rewards and the basic equipment. Any additional Chests will need to be opened while you're in a Haven.

The same goes for your streaming panel. Gooood luck! After saying that, the AI let time resume normally and the first thing I heard was Hailey screaming.

"Everyone died! OH MY GOD!" I stared into the distance, briefly looking at the overcast sky above us, which seemed to promise rain. Only one-tenth of humanity had survived. If their Entrance Test was as difficult as this one, it only makes sense, I thought. We had thirty people on office floor, most of which almost immediately fell to their death when they couldn't grab a vine. That means only one out of six people in our floor survived. And if I had run, maybe… I shook my head, banishing that thought.

However, Gina's awkward smile flashed before my eyes and I closed them, taking a deep breath. A blinking timer appeared once again at the top right corner of my eye. 19: 32"Fuck," I swore.

"Guys, there's no time to waste! Whatever's happening, we're going to get fucked if we don't open these chests!" Hailey and Tina were crying now, probably finally going past the initial adrenaline and realizing the gravity of the situation. Marcus looked lost, staring in the distance. Lucas approached me and I noticed letters floating over his head as he got close. Assessment Chests: D, C, E. The man looked above my own head and whistled.

"Damn." That's when everybody else turned toward me and I noticed the rest of the letters: Marcus had, E, E, E, above his head, with Hailey and Tina sporting, E, F, F. The AI had clearly graded everything very strictly. And since no one here aside from Lucas had any initiative at all, with Hailey and Tina who would have never made it on their own, getting almost a full F score.

"Wait." Tina rubbed her eyes and got closer to me, squinting her eyes at the top of my head.

"S? What's S?"

"The highest assessment," Lucas explained. They all gathered around me.

"Why does he get such a high assessment and I get two Fs?" Tina asked.

"I made it to the exit before John! And I never got one F in my entire school career!" I got plenty of them, I thought.

"John saved you two," Lucas frowned, not understanding.

"How do you expect to get a better grade than him?" Lucas, fuck, I thought, looking at my engineer colleague. Shut up. Tina, the main HR lady of our office, incinerated Lucas with her eyes, "and so what?! I got to that door before he did. I didn't freeze, I didn't stop, I did everything right. Two Fs? Graded by whom?"

"I think this entire thing is going to be unfair, Tina," I tried to explain.

"Most of the people in our office just died. The AI is training us for a war, apparently. We have to make the best out of what we're given. And we need to do this together. Whatever I get, it's in service of our group. Everybody here has played and will need to continue playing their role." Tina seemed mollified by that, with Hailey nodding approvingly at my words.

"Yeah, Tina," Lucas nodded, clutching my shoulder.

"The AI doesn't care about your feelings." Seeing the short woman's fiery eyes at that comment, it took all my willpower not to facepalm. Thankfully, Marcus shouted, "damn, this is great!" I looked at Marcus, who was holding a large rectangular shield in his hands.

"Look what I got from the Assessment Weapon Chest!" He raised the shield, which was clearly very heavy, and his arm trembled, with him barely able to hold it a foot from the ground.

"How did you open that?" Hailey asked.

"You just have to think about the chest and it appears in front of you!" He pointed in front of him and a large pirate chest appeared there. It was a bit rusty and there was a big "E" on it. Everybody immediately went to open their chests. I looked at mine, and I started from the F-Rank weapon chest. F-Rank Weapon Chest - you're allowed to choose between the following weapons. Longsword Spear Shield Bow Magical Staff Not sure what I'll choose. Let's check the rest. There might be some trickery here as well.

I let it sit there while I summoned the other two F-Ranked chests. F-Rank Armor Chest - you're allowed to choose between the following armor types. Heavy Armor Light Armor Robe F-Rank Skill Scroll - you're allowed to choose between the following skills. Sword Mastery Spear Mastery Shield Mastery Bow Mastery Mana Bolt"John, look!" I raised my head to see Lucas wield a longbow. It had a greenish hue and it felt like it was humming.

"It's an Elven Longbow I had to get Mana Bolt to use it, though. It said it was a requirement." Lucas had gotten a D-Ranked Weapon Chest. It was a great reward for a D-Ranked Weapon Chest. And that made me wonder, what would I get? What would be an S-Ranked Weapon like?

"Did you get to choose?" I asked. Lucas shook his head. Everybody had soon opened their chests and I was the only one still looking at the F-Ranked Chests, pondering what to do.

"John, why are you waiting?" Marcus came closer and asked.

"Come on, we all want to see what you got." Marcus and Tina were especially close to me and didn't take their eyes away for one beat while I summoned the first chest. Lucas's chests had looked better than everybody else's. Especially the C-Ranked Armor Chest which had gotten him a camouflaged cloak that blended with the yellow prairie, making him very hard to spot, despite having come out a dark brown from the chest. The chest had been lacquered with gold and gems.

It was sad that they disappeared after you took their contents out. But the S-Ranked Weapon Chest I took out was matte black–like the vantablack that absorbs all surrounding light–with a simple clasp at its center. Marcus bent to touch it, but a deafening alarm sounded in the prairie. CAREFUL, DIVERS! YOU CANNOT TOUCH OTHER PEOPLE'S REWARD CHESTS WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION! Marcus fell back on his ass, looking at me angrily, almost as if it had been me shouting at him and not the AI.

I ignored him, looking at the black chest absorbing the surrounding light. It had no clear detail that it could be made out other than the silver clasp. I unlatched it and, with the lightest touch, it opened, releasing a blinding light.