This was a rather interesting piece of information.
But it also meant that no matter how hard anybody tried, they wouldn’t be able to escape the ‘Domination Trial’ once it called for them.
[7/10 participant classifiers have reached the required level: 50!]
This also told Stark that there would be 10 people participating in this trial rather than only five, making the difficulty and chances of betrayal even higher than before if only one person could survive.
‘Starting tomorrow I’m going to the 90-100 level rift in that building, no other option…’ he needed to be quick now, and wasting his stamina and energy on big bosses wouldn’t cut it in the long run.
Stark never thought the day would arrive when getting 2 levels at once seemed too little for him.
‘Anyway… it’s been like an hour since I left, might as well just take a break…’ he yawned, then grabbed his TV remote and sat back down on his bed to watch some mindless entertainment.
But the moment the TV turned on…
“Footage of the battle inside the rift has been found, and it is phenomenal!” a reporter was excitedly shouting.
‘…!’ Stark immediately got up from the bed, his eyes wide.
There was no way after all, right…
And after only a few seconds, the screen switched to showcase the entirety of the battle between him and the ghoul.
‘SHIT, I’M REALLY DONE FOR NOW…’ there was no chance people wouldn’t know who he was the moment his face was shown.
But surprisingly…
‘Huh?’ when the screen showed his face, it was completely hidden by his crimson aura, ‘Was it like that since the beginning…? I didn’t even notice…’
His aura being in front of his face hid any features that could make him recognizable, and it was safe to say it was better than even the bunny mask.
10 minutes of battle followed, and then the footage also showed how he managed to dodge all the ‘Extermination Team’ attacks and tell them to take the merit for themselves as he didn’t care.
“We can’t see his face, but he did exit the rift was what many people told us!”
“Then it means we know his face, right?”
“Not at all… look…” the reporter clicked on a button, and several videos taken from different angles when he left the rift appeared.
And in all of them… his aura was still in front of his face.
The reason people were giving him weird looks was because they wondered what he was doing having such a thing in front of his face, as if trying to hide it.
Of course, Stark had no idea why this was happening.
But deep inside…
[Talent: Chosen One]
He knew that it helped him.
And so just like that, Stark fell asleep.
***
The dream came as a blur, but Stark knew it was another one of his ‘warnings’.
He was in a dimly-lit room, sitting face to face with his other doppelgängers, each enjoying a cup of tea.
‘What the fuck…’ he opened his eyes and took his surroundings into account, even though it was weird.
He had always been in an empty black void before, and now he was in some kind of middle-class room…
~SIP~
The Alchemist drank while smiling, “Seems like we’re close…”
Domination on the other hand shook his hand, “Wrong, we’re further from anyone else.”
Domination then lifted his arm, and two panels appeared in front of Stark.
[Classifiers at level 50: 7/10]
“We have no information about their names or weapons, but…” he lifted his other arm.
And suddenly…
[Classifier A: Level 48]
[Classifier B: Level 46]
“Ohoh~ Seems like we have two days at best before reaching it… any solutions?” Alchemist was surprised.
“None other than going inside a powerful rift and grinding the life out of you for two whole days…”
‘Ah shit…-‘
“Yes, that means that you will have to face the second domination trial before entering the ‘Rift Conqueror’ Academy, so just try to survive…” Domination shrugged.
‘Huh… but wait a minute… doesn’t this void space move slower than time in the real world…?’ Stark thought.
“It does!” Domination smiled.
“Humu~” Alchemist poured some of his liquid into the cup and drank it.
“But doesn’t that also mean that right now… the time I have to level up is decreasing?” Stark’s expression stiffened.
“Huh, yeah.”
[Classifier A: Level 49]
[Classifier B: Level 47]
‘THEIR LEVELS WENT UP… FUCK…’ Stark’s jaw dropped, “IF YOU GUYS ARE ME, THEN YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO HELP…!”
“Calm down, friend, there is no need to be angry,” Alchemist smiled.
“Alright, alright, we said what was needed to be said, so just understand that we can’t interfere, it all depends on you, we are simply your classes after all,” Domination smiled before snapping his fingers, and the room suddenly disappeared, replaced by the all-too-familiar void.
[Have fun]
A panel appeared, and suddenly, Stark consciousness faded again.
Maybe… just maybe, he was fucked.
***
‘…’ Stark opened his eyes as calmly as possible, this time he wasn’t stressed or anything of the sorts, he just grabbed his phone, noticed that he had been asleep for an entire day, and sat down on a chair to eat.
‘…’ the video of him battling the corrupted ghoul was all over the country.
It was safe to say he had a gathered a large amount of fans, although none even knew who he was.
‘…’ but it didn’t matter if he died during the [Domination Trial], so he didn’t care much, all he wanted was to get stronger.
He got up from his seat after only fifteen minutes, took a quick shower, and put on his normal clothes before leaving the hotel room, directly heading toward the ‘Fighting District’.
It was still full because of the events of yesterday, and there was a risk in people figuring who he was, but it didn’t matter for now.
‘Need…’ he hailed for a taxi and got transported to the fighting district with a neutral expression on his face.
‘To…’ he left the car and walked toward the giant building of the ‘Rift Storer Association’, the videos of him fighting still all over the many screens that were displayed there, he observed all of it with a neutral expression on his face
‘Get…’ he entered the building and made his way to the [Rift] section, and the [Level 80-90 Rift] seemed to be full as hundreds of people gathered around, their number didn’t change the neutral expression on his face.
‘Stronger…’ he headed toward the [Level 90-100 Rift] hallway instead, a neutral expression still on his face.
‘Need to get stronger…’ he mumbled.
His time was counted, and he needed to make use of it the best way he could.
If this kept going, it would only be two… no… only one day until the two others reached level 50, and they were all transported to their doom.
Stark refused that.
