The trial zone had turned into a graveyard with breathing corpses.
No birds. No bugs. Just the wheezing of starving students and the rustling of dying trees.
The final monolith pulse was approaching. And that meant one thing:
The Chimera.
It was coming.
And everyone left… knew they weren't ready.
"Set traps around the roots. Use the high-mana stones in the pit."
Marien's tone was dry, military. The others followed orders automatically. She had been carrying her team since Day 3.
Their mission wasn't to slay the Chimera. It was to survive the final day without collapsing.
A dark-haired boy muttered, "Still can't believe we're the last five."
"No time for nostalgia," she snapped. "It'll rise near the monolith. When it does, let the top rankers waste their energy. We wait. Then move in for points."
Everyone nodded.
They weren't heroes.
They were opportunists.
The first pulse came.
A wave of blue mana shimmered through the trees. The monolith began to hum, gently at first, then louder—like a warning bell from the gods.
More students began to appear. Dirty. Hollow-eyed. Wounded.
All wore the same expression:
"Let someone else fight first."
Temporary truces emerged, built on glances and mutual exhaustion.
There was no conversation about the "missing ones."
No one spared a thought for Zane.
Because Zane didn't exist in their stories.
He had been invisible from Day One. A nobody. A background failure.
They hadn't seen him fight. They hadn't seen him survive.
To them, he might as well be dead.
Zane wasn't dead.
He was under the surface, his back against stone, watching a blinking system panel with dark-ringed eyes and a stolen protein bar in his hand.
> [S.A.S.S. SYSTEM – ACTIVE]
[DAY 7 STATUS: OBSERVE AND STRIKE]
[ENERGY LEVEL: Barely functional]
[HALLUCINATION MODE: UNLOCKED]
[CONDITION: 32% Human | 68% Mystery Meat]
His body ached.
His sanity frayed.
His smile? Still intact.
"I know none of them are looking for me," he whispered. "That's good. That's... perfect."
He hadn't killed a single monster. He hadn't earned a single point.
But his mind?
His mind was full.
He had scouted.
He had sabotaged.
He had redirected mutant wolves, broken trap glyphs, and watched students collapse from dehydration near the edges of his hidden burrow.
> [System Tip: You are a roach in the pantry of fate.]
[Mission: Survive the final day without direct conflict. Bonus: Humiliate the top 10% without being noticed.]
Zane licked his lips and whispered, "Time to be the rat that chews the final wire."
The second pulse hit.
A scream tore through the clearing as the ground cracked open.
The Chimera emerged—thirty feet tall, triple-headed, breathing raw arcane energy. Each head snarled in a different tone—beast, flame, decay.
Dozens of students scattered or launched spells on instinct.
Explosions ripped through branches. Mana fields collided. The forest lit up in chaos.
But no one noticed the shadow sliding out from a broken root.
No one saw the silent figure crouch in the vines near the monolith—watching.
Waiting.
Smiling.
Zane was five feet from the Chimera.
Crawling along shattered stone.
Unseen. Unfelt. Invisible.
Not by magic.
By irrelevance.
> [System Passive Activated – "No One Important"]
While you have 0 Points, hostile entities deprioritize you unless directly engaged.
He reached into his pouch.
Pulled out a sharpened crystal.
Licked it.
Because why not.
> [You are attempting to interact with Boss Core Stabilizer Node]
[Chance of triggering explosion: 31%]
[Chance of success: 4%]
[Do you wish to attempt?]
He whispered, "Let's flip the ending."
---
TO BE CONTINUED...