Chapter 12: The Warning
990 Words
The morning air was crisp, but the atmosphere in front of the City-Siege Arena was suffocating. Class 1-A stood before the towering blast doors of the fake city. On the other side, Class 1-B had already been given thirty minutes to fortify their positions.
Flame was pacing, steam rising from his shoulders in his excitement. "Class 1-B is just a bunch of defensive types," he scoffed, checking his tactical gauntlets. "Once I blast through their front gate, they’ll fold like paper. This will be easy. We’ll be done in five minutes."
Nyx adjusted the straps on her explosion-dampening gloves, her expression grim. "Don't underestimate them, Flame. 'The Iron Wall' isn't just a nickname. They win by making you waste your energy until you’re too tired to fight back. We need a strategy."
Hana nodded, her light-wings shimmering restlessly. "Jack, what do you think? You’ve been quiet."
Jack didn't answer immediately. He was staring at the massive steel doors, but he wasn't seeing the metal. His vision was obscured by a flickering, blood-red window that only he could see.
[ SYSTEM WARNING: HIGH-LEVEL ANOMALY DETECTED ]
[ DANGER SENSE ACTIVATED ]
[ CAUTION: UNKNOWN VARIABLE DETECTED WITHIN SIMULATION ZONE ]
Jack’s heart hammered against his ribs. In ten years of training, the System had never felt this... frantic. The warning wasn't pointing toward the Class 1-B students; it was pointing toward the very center of the city, where the "Villain Core" was hidden.
Is it a glitch? Jack thought, his jaw tightening. Or is the Academy testing me with something far worse than students?
He looked at his hands. They were steady, but the "Danger Sense" was ringing in his ears like a high-pitched scream.
"Jack!" Hana snapped, grabbing his arm. "Are you even listening?"
Jack blinked, and the red warning screen vanished, though the cold dread remained in his stomach. He looked at the three "Elite" students standing with him—the sister who doubted him, the rival who hated him, and the girl who was the only one starting to trust him.
"I'm listening," Jack said, his voice lower than usual. He reached into his inventory, gripping the hilt of a new blade he had prepared. "Flame, go ahead and blast the door if you want. But don't go in alone. Something feels... different about this city today."
Flame rolled his eyes. "The Reject is getting cold feet. Figures."
BUZZZZZZZZT!
The siren wailed, and the massive doors began to grind open.
"Hero Team, Begin!" Zero’s voice boomed over the speakers.
Flame roared and charged forward, a torrent of water propelling him like a rocket. Hana took to the sky, and Nyx followed on the ground, her boots clicking against the pavement.
Jack followed at the back, his eyes darting to every rooftop and alleyway. He ignored the score, ignored the timer, and focused entirely on the flickering red icon at the edge of his vision.
[ DISTANCE TO ANOMALY: 400 METERS ]
Whatever was waiting for them in the heart of the city wasn't a student. And it certainly wasn't a hero
Jack moved through the simulated streets like a ghost. He didn't need flash; he had efficiency.
Whoosh! A Class 1-B student leaped from a balcony, but Jack didn't even look. He flicked his wrist, and a silver dagger hissed through the air, pinning the student’s uniform to a brick wall. Before the boy could even struggle, two more students lunged from the left and right. They had been waiting, knowing Jack was the biggest threat on the board.
Jack caught both their wrists mid-swing. With a guttural grunt, he swung them like human weights, tossing them both directly into the student still pinned to the wall.
[ +300 EXP ]
He didn't stop to gloat. He sprinted toward the center of the plaza where the "Villain Core"—a glowing violet orb—pulsed on a pedestal. He reached out, his fingers grazing the cold surface.
Click.
The world didn't turn green for "Victory." It turned blood-red.
A massive, obsidian-colored summoning circle erupted beneath the pedestal, the ground liquefying into a pool of dark shadows. A violent shockwave blasted Jack backward, sending him tumbling fifty meters down the street.
The air grew heavy, smelling of sulfur and rot. From the shadows of the circle, a monstrous hand—claws long and jagged as butcher knives—gripped the pavement. A Beast emerged, ten feet tall, covered in matted black fur and eyes that glowed with a sickening, ancient malice.
Jack scrambled to his feet, his hand reaching for his katanas, but then he stopped.
"This isn't part of the test," Jack whispered, his voice cracking.
Through the monitors in the observation room, Professor Zero and the other teachers stood up in horror. This wasn't a simulation. This power didn't belong to Class 1-B. It didn't even belong to the Academy.
"A Beast..." Jack’s breath hitches. He looked at his hands—they were shaking. For the first time in ten years, the Beyond System wasn't giving him courage. It was screaming a single word in his mind: RUN.
"Everyone... get back!" Jack roared, his voice trembling with a raw, primal terror that silenced the entire city. "This isn't a student! IT'S A TRAP! A VILLAIN IS HERE!
"
In the distance, Hana, Flame, and Nyx froze. They had seen Jack fight a 0-Pointer with a grin. They had seen him bruise a Pro-Hero without flinching. To hear fear in his voice—the voice of the man they thought was invincible—sent a chill down their spines that was colder than Absolute Zero.
The Beast turned its head toward Jack, its jaws unhinging to reveal rows of needle-like teeth. Jack stood paralyzed in the center of the street, a small, lone figure against a nightmare that shouldn't exist.
[ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ]
[ IMPOSSIBLE QUEST INITIATED: 'SURVIVE THE UNKNOWN' ]
[ CHANCE OF SURVIVAL: 0.01% ]
- Writer
