Four days passed in the blink of an eye.
At exactly 1:30 in the afternoon, all the students had gathered at the entrance of the Forbidden Zone, waiting for it to open.
The instructor spoke in a loud, clear voice, "Although the mission evaluation in this Forbidden Zone will, as always, be based on individual performance, I still hope everyone can cooperate once inside. Prioritize the bigger picture!"
The crowd remained silent, each lost in thought.
"The Forbidden Zone will open in half an hour. You may rest for now," the instructor concluded before walking away, leaving the students some space.
"Vincent!"
No sooner had the instructor left than Lucia Blair arrived, bringing another girl with her.
She swept a glance across the Martial Saint Academy team before finally focusing on Vincent. "Once we're inside, how about an alliance between our teams?" she proposed.
Ben Carter and the others immediately perked up.
The current batch of students from Regal Academy were strong and had left a deep impression on Ben and his classmates. If they could team up, it would definitely be advantageous.
Even Autumn Summer, though inwardly resistant, couldn't deny the benefits of joining forces with Regal Academy.
However…
Vincent shook his head. "I'm afraid I won't be joining forces with you."
Lucia blinked, clearly surprised. "Why not?"
Everyone turned to Vincent, confused by his response.
Under their gaze, Vincent calmly explained, "Once we enter, I don't plan to head into the Doomsday Era. The appearance of the White Spiker monsters was far too sudden. According to the instructor, they seemingly came out of nowhere. I've decided to go to the Peace Era to look for clues."
Lucia frowned slightly. "Are you sure about this? That's extremely risky. You might find nothing and end up with the lowest mission rating."
Her offer of cooperation was meant as a gesture of goodwill repaying Vincent for saving her life.
But to her surprise, Vincent planned to take a huge gamble and investigate the origin of the White Spiker monsters?
Seeing him nod once again, Lucia said nothing more. She turned and walked away without another word.
Since Vincent wasn't accepting her kindness, she wouldn't force it.
After she left, Autumn stepped up beside Vincent. "Vincent, were you serious about what you just said?"
"I was."
"Need me to help?"
Vincent thought for a moment, then shook his head. "It's risky. I don't even know if it'll succeed. I'll go alone."
He had a plan.
A plan based on his knowledge of the storyline.
Bringing Autumn along would only complicate things.
Besides, he wasn't entirely sure about the timeline. If he got it wrong, he'd be dragging her down with him.
Simply put, this was a gamble.
"Alright. I understand," Autumn said without protest.
Soon, thirty minutes had passed.
The instructor's voice came through again, "Time's up. Prepare to enter the Forbidden Zone."
Everyone lined up in silence, their expressions tense, as they stepped into the zone one by one.
The moment Vincent entered, he found himself in a white room.
A mechanical voice echoed:
"Mission: Eliminate the White Spiker monsters and protect humanity."
"Difficulty: Normal."
"Duration: 7 days."
"Reminder: If you encounter danger, you may choose to give up the mission and return early. However, returning early will reset your mission progress, and you will receive no reward. Please choose carefully."
"Evaluation will be based on individual performance. The better the performance, the higher the rating."
As the prompts echoed in his ears, a holographic selection box appeared in front of Vincent.
It showed several options for travel time and location.
"Please select your travel time and destination."
The voice repeated.
The instructor had recommended the year 2050, when the White Spikers had already overrun the Earth perfect for racking up combat merit and mission points.
But Vincent had his own plans.
He knew the plot.
According to the original storyline, the White Spiker monsters came from an alien spaceship.
This ship had crashed on Earth over a thousand years ago.
The only reason the monsters inside had remained dormant for so long was that the ship had landed beneath a massive glacier in one of the coldest regions of the world freezing the creatures solid.
It wasn't until the year 2048, when the ice melted, that they emerged, began to attack humanity, and reproduced at terrifying speed.
They eventually wiped out the human race and took over the planet.
These monsters, in truth, were bioweapons sent by aliens.
The aliens wanted a perfectly intact planet, so instead of direct invasion, they dropped these monstrosities on Earth. This way, they could avoid provoking humanity into a mutually destructive nuclear war that would ruin the environment.
Vincent's plan was to return to the Peace Era before the monsters thawed.
Find them. Kill them. End the threat before it ever began.
If he could succeed, he'd be stopping the apocalypse before it started.
Surely, that kind of achievement would lead to an extremely high mission rating.
"I remember in the original plot, the soldiers from the future appeared on a football field during Christmas of 2022. The protagonist was at home, celebrating Christmas this was the start of the story…"
"After that, the protagonist was drafted into the army about twelve months later, which brings us to the end of 2023."
"When he reported for duty, the military accessed his future records and discovered that he died in a car accident in November 2030. The death certificate was issued by the city government of Macon, Georgia."
"So the destination is Macon, Georgia!"
Yes.
Vincent was going to find the protagonist.
He knew where the alien ship was buried somewhere deep in the Arctic glacial zone.
But that region was massive.
Trying to search for it alone would be nearly impossible. It could take weeks or even months.
The protagonist, however, was a true child of destiny. With luck on his side, he would naturally be led to the right place.
Vincent planned to tag along ride the same plane, follow the same path.
With the destination locked in, the only thing left was to choose the right time.
"Judging by the timeline in the original story, the protagonist was drafted in mid-December 2023. After a week-long mission in the future and investigating the monsters, it's likely that by the end of December, they found the location of the alien ship."
"So, I'll set the travel date to December 25th, 2023!"
"At that point, the protagonist would've just returned from the future. He saw his own daughter devoured by the monsters, and swore to destroy them ahead of time to save her, and all of humanity."
"If I find him then, the timing will be perfect!"
Confirmed.
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The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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