After the lunch break, the entire eleventh-grade class gathered in the gymnasium, dressed in their athletic gear. Dennis felt that the physical education he sensed deep within himself—even if he couldn't quite remember it—was vastly different from what he was experiencing now. Aside from basketball and volleyball, the gym was actually a massive hologram chamber used to simulate conditions outside the city and to fight against monsters using their respective weapons.
Dennis looked around; every student was in athletic wear, carrying weapons and forming groups. Then, the memories of his life in this world surfaced. Dennis hadn't known this because he always skipped and chose to go home—not because he was afraid of the training, but because no one wanted to be in a group with him. This was despite the fact that Daisy always invited him to join her group and was always angry once they got home if he had skipped the lesson.
Now, Dennis stood alone in the center because all of his classmates had already joined their respective groups, and not a single person had invited him. It wasn't because he was "disgusting" like before, but rather because they were afraid of being bullied by him.
"Okay, time to go. It was a big mistake coming to this class. I'll deal with Daisy later at home," Dennis said, intending to escape by taking a step back.
But, "thump," he suddenly bumped into someone behind him. He turned around to see Daisy already standing there with her hands on her hips and a pouty face.
"Trying to run away?" Daisy asked curtly.
"Hahaha... exactly right. Sorry, honey," Dennis answered.
"You're joining my group. Come on," Daisy said, immediately pulling Dennis along.
Watching Daisy's hand wrapped around his arm as she pulled him without looking back, Dennis finally gave in. After all, he wanted to change for the better, and this time, no one was stopping him. When they reached Daisy's group, Dennis naturally felt nervous because Daisy had formed a team with Gary and his wife, Olivia.
"Ooh... who is this, Daisy?" Gary asked, looking at Dennis.
"Dennis... my husband," Daisy replied.
"Wait... Dennis? Wasn't he... a tub of lard?" Olivia asked, immediately inspecting Dennis.
"Hmm... is that really Fat Dennis? I thought you were walking with someone else this morning," Gary added, studying Dennis's face.
"Um... do you guys know me?" Dennis asked.
"Which one? The fat one or the one right now? To be honest, I don't know the guy standing here, but I definitely knew the fat one," Gary said bluntly, hitting the mark perfectly.
"But what happened? I heard you got hit by a watermelon. Was it some kind of magical watermelon that could turn you hot like this?" Olivia asked, observing Dennis.
"He awakened. When I woke up, he was already like this next to me," Daisy explained.
"Oh... I see," Gary and Olivia murmured in unison.
Dennis glanced at Gary and Olivia's fingers, which were adorned with rings, then he looked at his own hands and Daisy's, which were bare. He leaned in slightly toward Daisy and brought his face close to her ear.
"Honey, why aren't we wearing rings?" Dennis asked in a whisper.
Daisy immediately turned to look at Dennis. Her face went blank for a moment, but her eyes began to well up with tears, making Dennis confused by her expression. Then Daisy brought her face close to Dennis's ear and whispered back.
"You're the one who didn't want to wear rings at school. So, can we start wearing them tomorrow?" Daisy asked hopefully.
"Um... that's right. Alright then, we'll wear them tomorrow," Dennis said. "Right, I remember telling her that when we first got married. Sigh... turns out it was because I felt insecure and lacked confidence... judging by her face, she really wanted to wear her ring to school every day," Dennis muttered to himself.
"Really? Thank you, honey. I'm so happy to hear that," Daisy whispered, then kissed Dennis on the cheek.
"Hey... hey... save it for the bedroom. We're about to train," Gary said with a wide grin.
Dennis and Daisy immediately stood up straight. Suddenly, the gym teacher, Steve, announced for everyone to get ready because a battle simulation set in a ruined city outside the dome was about to begin. Dennis prepared himself. Gary punched Dennis's shoulder to get his attention.
"You aren't using a weapon? Are you serious?" Gary asked.
"These are my weapons," Dennis answered, showing off his combat gloves.
"Whatever, just don't be a burden, okay? We're a team," Gary said.
"Okay, take it easy," Dennis replied. "I'm used to games like this, so stop talking nonsense," Dennis muttered in his head.
Gary drew his sword, which looked like the holy blade of a hero. "Wuk... wuk," Olivia spun her spear and took a stance. Daisy also drew her katana and got ready. The room went dark; Dennis could feel Gary, Olivia, and Daisy crowding in toward him. When their eyes adjusted to the dark, the ruins of a city appeared—buildings crumbled, wrecked cars in the middle of the highway, black snow falling but vanishing before hitting the ground, and traffic lights lining the road. Forty eleventh-grade students stood in the middle of a major intersection.
"The simulation begins. Survive for ten minutes. Act as if your life depends on it. Get ready... go!" Steve shouted.
"Skrieeeeeek!"
A high-pitched screech of monsters echoed from the distance in massive numbers. Dennis squinted; he saw countless red dots that looked like eyes in the road ahead, to his left and right, and behind him. They were completely surrounded. Then came the sound of insect legs scurrying toward them in droves. They were massive insects shaped like giant four-legged spiders with long, heavy bodies. Their heads were shaped like spear blades with eight red eyes, sporting two scorpion claws and a stinger tail.
The monsters looked like insects from outer space, or maybe even from hell; Dennis had no idea. There were hundreds of them, maybe thousands. They moved with incredible speed, crawling over the ruined buildings and leaping from one roof to another.
"You've been taught how to handle Crawlers, right? Now, put it into practice. Even if there are a lot of them, if you can survive for ten minutes, you win," Steve shouted.
"Yes, sir!" all the students shouted, including Daisy next to Dennis.
The students immediately scattered with their teams to set up strategies, and those with firearms or long-range weapons began to fire at the enemies in all four directions because they were being attacked from all sides right at the center of the intersection. Dennis turned; he and his team were ready to face the enemies coming from behind.
The teams with firearms, like Jason, immediately opened fire on the enemies rushing from the rear. The shrieks of Crawlers being hit and dying rang out, but the sound of them scurrying forward with incredible speed was even louder.
"Okay... this definitely isn't a game. Only the system is a game. These monsters are beyond what I expected. Time to test my skills," Dennis muttered to himself while getting ready.
"Graaaaaaaaaaah!" Dennis suddenly roared as he activated his War Cry skill. All the students near him were immediately enveloped in energy—an aura like a red mist. It left them confused, but they felt stronger and more energized.
"Attack!" shouted a student who had received Dennis's War Cry.
"Uooooh!"
The students surged forward immediately, pressing out in all four directions. This included Dennis, Daisy, Gary, Olivia, and the shooters—including Jason—who were charging toward the rear. As they reached the front lines, a Crawler leaped at Dennis. He instantly caught both of its scorpion claws and ripped them clean off. Then, using both fists, Dennis punched the cluster of eyes on the sides of its pointed head. Once the Crawler in front of him died, his status interface popped open.
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Character Profile:
Name : Dennis Larson.
Race : High Human.
Class : Barbarian
Level : 1 -> 2 (100 / 2500 -> 5000)
Health : 2000 / 2000 -> 2500.
Stamina : 1500 / 1500 -> 1750.
Strength : 1700 -> 2400
Agility : 700 -> 1400
Dexterity : 900 -> 1600.
Constitution : 1700 -> 2400.
*****************************************************
"Wow... kill one and I level up? Interesting, but are my friends leveling up too?" Dennis wondered to himself.
He immediately used his Analyze skill to check his teammates' statuses. An interface appeared, split into four screens displaying the stats for Daisy, Gary, and Olivia.
*****************************************************
Name : Daisy Larson.
Race : High Human.
Class : Samurai.
Power : 3500
Health : 1500 / 1500.
Stamina : 1200 / 1200.
*****************************************************
Name : Gary Mitchel.
Race : High Human.
Class : Sword Saint.
Power : 5000
Health : 3500 / 3500.
Stamina : 2000 / 2000.
*****************************************************
Name : Olivia Mitchel.
Race : High Human.
Class : Magic Spearmen.
Power : 3500
Health : 1750 / 1750.
Magic : 1000 / 1000.
*****************************************************
Dennis was a bit surprised seeing his teammates' stats. He glanced over at Daisy, who was still locked in combat with a single Crawler alongside Olivia, while Gary managed to defeat one after a hard-fought struggle. Then he looked back at his screens and realized that his Analyze interface wasn't just for checking the profile of friends or foes. Instead, it allowed him to pull up his teammates' actual status to monitor their condition in real-time as the fight unfolded, just like a manager would. But because of this, he understood one thing immediately.
"This means... I'm the only one who can level up? So everyone else, including my wife, is just an NPC? Just like in a game but real, it's weird... but... this is awesome," Dennis muttered to himself. Then, he immediately bolted to help his wife, who was struggling and being swarmed by a horde of Crawlers.