“The conclusion of this test is upon us!” the wrinkled announcer declares with his bombastic voice that echoes in my head. I groan, how is he doing that? He’ll give me a headache! “You have all shown your mettle, proved that you were worthy of the final round!”

I roll my eyes. We could all do without the theatrics. Even the most naive candidate should have realized that there is no glory in becoming a Dungeon Runner. I look around and lower my eyes, the gazes of the others are still full of ambition. I was too optimistic. If seeing their peers with broken limbs and on the brink of death hasn’t set them straight, then I doubt anything will. Maybe an actual death will change their mind. The last round shouldn’t last too long; I count twenty-ish applicants, all the cream of the crop.

Then there’s me.

I recall the fights of the remaining candidates; they’re all stronger than me. I grit my teeth as I focus. It’s the end of the line, I have to push myself beyond my limits if I want to succeed. My heart is bumping into my chest, and I’m not sure if it’s from fear or excitement. I know I tend to get —carried away might be too mild of a description, but it sums it up. So I hope I’ll not succumb to my emotions. Despite my lack of power, there’s one advantage I have over these unskilled sycophants. My real experiences when my life was on the line. From the shock they showed when I mangled Fabio, I need to be as brutal as I can if I want an edge.

It might spell my social death in my future class, but who cares? As edgy as it sounds, I’m not here to make friends. Letting go of the veneer of civilization is easy, I do it all the time in the depths of the Dungeons. The hardest part is going back to normal.

Some can’t, and they succumb to it. The tainted Mana of the Dungeon doesn’t help either. It’s a good way to increase power at the cost of eroding my sanity. Experts call it the Dungeon Fever, and it’s one of the leading causes of crime today. I’ve spent too much time in Dungeons not to suffer from mild symptoms. But I know I am never turning into a mindless beast. At most, I laugh a little too much when I dismember Goblins with blasts of my shotgun.

It’s a pretty relaxing activity, even if it earns me a few weird stares when someone walks by.

Some people are immune to the Fever, so I must be one of those. Or the whole thing is an overblown scam from Big Pharma to sell more useless pills. Who knows, it wouldn’t be the first time that happens.

My lips curl upward in a self-derisive smile. I wasn’t holding back before, and I almost died. I’m hyping myself up so I don’t fall into immediate despair once I face a nuclear weapon given human form. Good job, me! I bet people who can vaporize a city block with a glance will be trembling in their boots once they see my beat-up shotgun! No, I guess I have to fight dirty. That means leaving behind the few shreds of survival instincts I have left. Fabio stopped moving when I jammed his swords into my bones. I bet the shock value of such reckless behavior could earn me a win.

Of course, it’s not a proper strategy in Dungeons. People who have this delusion of being a selfless hero powering through sacrifices never last longer than a month. The ‘don’t get hit’ paradigm is a requirement on the deeper floors, no matter the armor. But it should be effective against people who aren’t used to seeing human beings turned into minced meat. I glance at my arm and wince, let’s hope I’m not going to fight the guy with the sniper rifle. That weapon fires anti-material rounds, and I would lose a limb if a bullet struck me.

I still have a few hidden aces of my own, but— Who am I kidding? My ‘aces’ are garbage. I have a syringe full of morphine mixed with dubious healing potions. It was a gift from someone running a drug lab. I also have an illegal Enchantment Disruptor. That thing can disable enchantments for a few seconds to a minute depending on the target. But I doubt I’ll end up using it here. I would be in deep shit if anyone recognized it, and its range is terrible. It goes no further than my outstretched arm, and it will burn out after one use. I also have a single Mana grenade, but that thing is only effective against magical creatures. I’m not even sure it works! It looks so beat up, and a piece of electrical tape holds the fuse together. And what do the other guys have? Dozens of high-quality One-Time-Use Wands. Enchanted armor along with high-end weapons worth more than my car.

Yeah, I’m sure that a syringe and a spicy Mithril tube stack up to that level of equipment. I lean back as I stare at the ceiling, noticing the intricate decorations for the first time. The mythical beasts carved into the marble dome look so realistic. It wouldn’t surprise me if they dropped and devoured all the candidates. I focus back on my hands. That ceiling feels like a mockery of who I am. That damn Academy must have wasted millions of dollars on such a vanity project. And I’m trying to take them down with nothing more than a few guns and a can-do attitude.

My hands ball into fists as I recall my sister’s closed casket funeral. Her body was lost in a Dungeon, so there was no remains to retrieve.

It was raining that day, and only a few people showed up. Each second felt like an hour as my mind refused to admit reality. A part of me hoped that it was all a terrible nightmare, a devilish trick of my unconscious mind. But if this is a dream, then I have yet to wake up.

I’ll never forget the oath I swore at her final resting place. The Academy will burn to the ground! That rotten place will be nothing more than a footnote in history once I’m done with it. Industrial Revolution goes into overdrive while my knuckles turn white. Why did it have to be her?

A turbo spools up as rage clouds my judgment. I will kill them all. Rip them to shreds— a few forced coughs take me out of my frenzy. A couple of people stare at me with hidden mockery. I take a deep breath as I pull out my vape, not forgetting to flip the bird to the bastards who turned their heads. They wouldn’t act so cocky if they knew that a misplaced remark would be enough for me to shoot them all.

“Fuck,” I grumble as the sweet scent of cherry candy helps me calm down. I close my eyes for a few seconds, doing my best to stay focused. This place is putting me on edge. Everywhere I look reminds me of her. It reminds me of her bright smile, and her excitement each time she signed a new contract for her Dungeon logistics team. But she was forever ripped away from me because of that damn Academy. I should have told her! I should have stopped her. That mission was too simple. The payout was too good to be true. She thought it was her big breakthrough, but—

“This concludes the first battle of the last round!” a booming voice takes me out of my dark thoughts. I blink a few times as I look around. Did I miss a battle? How long did it last? I was so absorbed in — I shake my head, let’s not think about that now. As much as I want to exterminate the Academy, now isn’t the time. I have to endure, and being so shaken up could cause a fatal mistake at a critical moment. Another dose of nicotine helps me clear my thoughts, or muddle them enough depending on who you ask.

Paying attention to the fights is meaningless now, so I focus on recuperating. My Mana regeneration slowed, so I’m still not healed. I am about three-quarters full anyway, but I have to do my best to be at my peak condition. The battles turn into a blur as I focus inward until I hear my name.

“Ian Rivers, with a Potential Level of one hundred and fifty will face Akiko Summers, with a Potential Level of six thousand!” Six thousand? Holy shit. I never knew that such a high Potential Level existed. I brace myself as I stand up, and spot my opponent heading toward the arena. She’s the woman with the enchanted bullets! A few of the remaining contestants sneer as I walk past them. I would love nothing more than to beat them until their face turns into a pulp.

Akiko is ready to go. Her stance alone tells me that she has proper training. She checks her assault rifle one last time before aiming the weapon at my head. That woman’s cold gaze makes me grin. Smiling in the face of danger is a sign of perfect mental health, right? I check her equipment first to spot any cracks that could help me eke out a victory. Her armor, which reminds me of a military uniform, is a thin suit of carbon fiber lined with green Mithril. It looks intact aside from a couple of superficial scratches. It’s worrying since the other fights have been brutal.

I narrow my eyes as I shift my stance and aim my gun at her face. She’s not wearing a full helmet, but an armored face mask depicting a Japanese grinning demon. I can read her expression through her cold eyes; I see her disdain for me. A radiant purple flame covers each of her dark irises, and I pause. She’s not a regular woman, that’s for sure. Shining eyes always mean a Power!

Or she’s wearing fancy contact lenses. Considering the context, I doubt it’s the second option.

From what I’ve seen, a fight between two Power Users can end even quicker than a battle between Mages. Powers mean specialization, so a bad matchup will become clear quickly. I relax my shoulders as I let my Power go wild. There’s no point in holding back now, and striking as hard as I can as fast as possible is my only way of winning this. I saw that Akiko uses enchanted ammunition, and that is a problem. Her projectiles will damage my Mana constructs a lot more than normal bullets.

A turbo spools up as I plant my feet into the sand. Concrete walls are already ready to go along with a few steel plates. The caliber of Akiko’s gun should be 5.56, which means a small but quick bullet. My magic concrete might not be enough to stop a volley if she’s using her enchanted projectiles. I can only hope that she ran out, but I doubt it.

“Contestants, begin!” the old man’s voice booms as bullets fly. A layer of concrete followed by a steel plate emerges in front of my body. I click my tongue, that bitch is still using enchanted rounds! The deep gouges on my defense make me gulp as they disappear into thin air. I’m ready this time; I can create metal plates faster than before. I adjust my aim and— where the fuck is she? Akiko disappeared from the battlefield! I scan the arena, waiting for any sign of her presence.

The sand shifts as the armor-clad woman reappear instantly. A shower of sparks erupts as she cuts a metallic slab in half while her black hair flutter. One second later and I would have been dead! A double-edged blade made of dark material sticks out of her gauntlet, and I can hear Akiko click her tongue as the weapon retracts. Fuck me! What the fuck was that? It cut through steel like it was butter! Granted, it’s not true steel, but still. The woman turns invisible again to prepare for her next attack. How the fuck is she doing that? I can’t shoot something I can’t see, I’m— Oh. A grin creeps up on my face, the sand she kicked up during her previous strike clings to her hidden form. I fire at her, the sudden impact forces her to take a few steps back.

That armor is sturdy, I should have seen that coming. My cartridges use modified powder so the projectiles hit way harder than they should. Still, she didn’t react to a full volley! But nothing and no one is invincible. I empty the rest of my magazine before she can take another step, knocking her new magazine out of her hand.

Yes! I can win this. I pull the trigger, and— Her two violet flames erupt, and a massive black palm blocks the projectiles. The magical appendage is darker than the night’s sky and bigger than a pickup truck!

“Holy shit,” I mutter as the palm separates into four spindly arms topped with emaciated hands. My jaw drops when a new rifle appears in each of the new limbs.

Fuck. I’m dead. The Academy’s barrier won’t be able to save me from that. The world slows, I — I recall the words of the old man at the beginning of this damned exam. A contestant only loses once the barrier reports a deadly attack. So what if I turn it off? No, that’s insane, they would notice. And I will die, even if I inject myself with my healing syringe.

But what if they didn’t notice? I recall my sister’s face. Her determination when our parents died, and her unwillingness to give up no matter what. I grit my teeth as I surround myself with a dome of concrete. I push myself to my limits as I reinforce the dome with steel, causing me to spit blood.

“That can’t be too good,” I mumble to myself as I glance at the crimson puddle. I pop the plastic cap off the syringe and jam the needle in my thigh. The morphine should dull the sudden spike of pain. The lifesaving but destructive energy of the rampaging potions is powerful, so I grit my teeth as I pull out the Enchantment Disruptor. It’s a gamble, but— Fuck it! I tap the tube on the barrier, causing the artifact to turn into dust as the gem on my barrier becomes a dull gray. Nobody should be able to see me, so I shouldn’t get into trouble.

I brace myself as Akiko fires her guns. “Bring it on!” I shout as my dome caves in.