Chapter 15
THREE DAYS LATER!
It has now been officially four days since Zen arrived in the game he once hated with a passion so strong that he dropped a scathing review about it.
Four days since he had been transmigrated into the very game he trashed and nearly lost his life if it hadn't been for his quick thinking and Tom's timely intervention.
And now, he was in the Silverfall Clan. Today was going to be his baptism day. The day Zen would finally find out his fate. Would he be granted a high rank, which seemed highly unlikely, or would he end up as a bottom feeder?
Over the past few days, Zen hadn't interacted much with anyone. He was always by himself, either skimming through the system or getting lost in his own thoughts, trying to piece together a way to escape this hellish reality.
He hadn't even had the chance to thank the blonde-haired guy who had saved him. Their meals were taken care of by the clan and it was two per day which Zen hungrily devoured without a shred of complaint.
Not much had changed for him so far. But now… now, everything was about to change. All the recruits had been summoned by the clan to a particular room for their assessment.
They were led by an F-rank Reaver, a stern-looking woman with a crescent scar across her cheek. She stood in front of an arched doorway on the upper level of the same building they had been staying in.
The moment Zen stepped through the arched doorway, a strange sensation washed over him. A wave of dense energy brushed across his skin like static. The air inside crackled faintly, tinged with a subtle hum like hundreds of whispers blending together in a chorus of energy.
The room was vast and circular in shape, with a high domed ceiling that shimmered with constellation-like glyphs, softly pulsing in hues of blue and silver.
Beneath his feet, the floor was made of smooth obsidian stone, etched with glowing runes that spiraled outward from the center in intricate patterns. They shifted subtly beneath each step, reacting to movement like sentient ink.
All around the room stood massive archways which were twelve in total and equally spaced along the perimeter like silent sentinels.
Each arch pulsed with a different hue, swirling with raw elemental energy. One burned a fierce red like molten fire, another glowed deep green like a forest at dusk, while a third shimmered like liquid shadow, nearly devouring the surrounding light.
At the center of the room hovered a crystal orb the size of a melon, floating effortlessly above a pedestal.
The orb rotated slowly, projecting spectral lines toward each archway, connecting them all in a radiant web. Occasionally, it would spark with energy, sending ripples through the room like the breath of raw magic exhaled.
Around the chamber, fifty-five students stood spaced out, some quietly conversing while others stared ominously at the glowing arcways surrounding them.
A different Reaver distinct from the one who had led them here stood at the front. He held a metallic slate and scanned the recruits one after the other with a sharp, assessing gaze.
"Good morning, all of you," the Reaver greeted, his voice cutting through the quiet hum of the room. The recruits instantly fell silent, listening with rapt attention.
"Huh?" Zen muttered under his breath, his gaze narrowing as he examined the man. A thought crossed his mind and a mischievous smile tugged at his lips.
'System! Activate Inspect Skill.'
{Inspect Skill acti…}
{Error! Error! Error! Reaver too strong}
'Just as I thought. Which means he should be a B-rank or something.'
"I know you all already understand what we're here to do today, so I won't beat around the bush," the Reaver said, his tone blunt yet confident. "Your assessment today is quite simple… and yet at the same time, extremely difficult."
"You see these archways? They are portals to the dungeons owned by the clan," the man announced, and Zen's heart suddenly leaped out of his chest.
'Dung… dungeons? The same dungeons filled with beasts? Is… is the assessment what I'm thinking right now?' Zen thought as he forcefully gulped down.
"So here's the deal. All of you will be teleported into twelve different portals. Five per portal," the man continued, and a small smile paired with a sigh of relief crossed Zen's lips.
'Oh! Teamwork! That's good. Now I know I'm safe.'
"Be warned. This isn't teamwork. Yes, you all will be teleported five per portal, but you will be spaced out. Even if you held hands, you'd be separated. The dungeons are vast, so you could never find each other," the man said, and instantly, it felt like Zen's head was about to explode in anger.
'Curses!' he roared internally.
"We don't have much time to waste, so I'll be grouping you all myself. Once grouped, you'll head into the portals. The goal is to hunt beasts. You will encounter three different ranks of beasts:
E-rank, D-rank, and C-rank. If you can handle the C-rank, do so, and you'll be awarded a high rank. But if you can't, after hunting five E and five D-rank beasts each, run away. Though you will hardly see a C ranked beast as they are kept behind cages though so unless your luck is bad will you encounter one. Anyway, I hope we all understand!"
"S… sir!" Zen said as he raised his hand.
"Yes?" the man nodded.
"How are we supposed to fight the beasts? Aren't we…?"
"Yes, you are going to get your weapons now. We have a record of what weapon each of you uses best. The moment you step foot into the dungeon, you'll find your weapon beneath your feet," the man said, and a wave of relief swept through the room as everyone smiled in unison.
"Great! Now let's start grouping," he said, then immediately got down to calling out different students, five per group, and sending them into the portals.
Yes, there were twelve portals in the room, but the man deliberately avoided sending any recruits into the red or shadowy ones. Instead, he directed them toward the portals glowing with green flames.
Slowly, the recruits began thinning out, one group after another stepping into their designated portals, until finally, it was Zen's turn. He stood silently among his group, barely sparing them a glance. His mind was elsewhere, spinning with worry.
'Damn it! I'm so dead. I'm so dead. With my status as a bug, I'm sure the game would interfere with this assessment just to make sure I die. How the hell do I survive this?' Zen thought, his palms becoming clammy with sweat.
"You can go now," the man said, and reluctantly, Zen followed his group into the portal.
The next second, they were gone from the room.
"Arg… actually, that wasn't so bad," Zen muttered as he suddenly appeared with so much force that—
THUD!
He landed hard on solid stone, the impact jarring his bones. The air around him instantly turned cold and heavy.
He was inside a wide, dimly lit chamber. The ceiling loomed high above, shrouded in a thick fog of shadows and mossy webbing. Thick stone pillars cracked, ancient, and tangled with vines rose like forgotten guardians, holding up the timeworn structure.
The walls were carved from dark granite, each lined with rusty sconces holding weak, blue-flame torches. The flames flickered uncertainly, as if struggling to stay alive.
The air was damp and dense, filled with the earthy scent of mildew, mold, and something rotting. Somewhere deep in the distance, a faint dripping sound echoed plink… plink… plink like a slow clock counting down to doom.
At the far end of the chamber stood a massive iron door, shut tight. Strange glyphs were etched across its surface some glowing faintly, others flickering like dying stars.
Above it, a skull-shaped relief was carved into the wall, its hollow eyes giving off an eerie illusion of movement, as though it was watching him.
Beneath his boots, the stone floor bore the marks of violence: faded symbols, old bloodstains, and claw marks carved deep into the ground. Signs that others had passed through here… and not all had survived.
Just as promised, his weapon lay beneath his feet.
His katana.
He immediately picked it up without hesitation.
"Inspect," he muttered.
{Inspect skill activated}
{Weapon: Katana sword}
{Rank: E}
{Description: The sword was forged from the core and essence of an E-rank beast. It can easily slay an E-rank beast but would struggle against any beast of a higher level}
"Yeah. I'm dead," Zen sighed in resignation, and the very next moment, the sound of footsteps echoed in the corridor ahead.
"Guess it started already," he muttered as he quickly took a weak stance, his katana held low, eyes trained on the path ahead.
The sound was getting closer.
The assessment of his fate had begun, and Zen was about to face another brutal challenge in the twisted game world. Would he survive and pass the assessment?
Or would he be torn apart and forgotten in the depths of the dungeon?