The man sighed and shook his head, trying to move on.
"Anyway, the rules are simple," he said, his tone shifting into something more serious.
"You will die. Many, many times. The only sin here is surrender. Refuse to quit, and I'll keep putting you back together. Fail to endure, and I'll toss you into the abyss for wasting my time." Zane would soon realize that, in this place, the Master had absolute control over life and death. As long as he permitted it, you would revive endlessly no matter how many times you died.
His voice dropped a notch.
"Now—look over there." He raised his hand and pointed toward a massive mountain range that stretched endlessly toward the sky. The peak vanished into the clouds. It had to be at least a hundred kilometers away yet it was still clearly visible to them.
"You'll climb that mountain and rest there. You have two months to prepare and adjust to this new world, before the test to determine if you're fit for the training begins."
Everyone turned to look. The mountain was nothing to scoff at. It looked like something out of a fantasy novel—sharp cliffs and ominous winds swirling around its height. Some of the other trainees narrowed their eyes in focus. A few cracked their knuckles, stretching like they were warming up for a morning jog.
Zane's jaw dropped. "Climb… that? He's joking, right?' His life of meticulous planning had not include a single minute of cardio. This was a betrayal to his entire philosophy.
"The first to reach the summit gets to choose their lodging. The rest will follow, in order of arrival," the master added.
Then, with a simple wave of his hand, he gave the signal. "Begin."
It would take an average person at most four days just to walk to the base of the mountain, taking into consideration food and rest; that is, if they walked at least seven hours a day. Maybe less if they ran nonstop, but no one was that resilient.
But that was not the problem, he could barely kneel, let alone walk, so how the hell was he supposed to get there and climb that demonic mountain in less than two months. Forget lodging, he wouldn't even be able to make it up there.
And just like that, the ground shook with movement. Trainees dashed forward with blinding speed—some vanished in a blur, others leapt great distances as Zane barely managed to get to his feet.
His eyes widened as he looked at the shrinking figures ahead. "What kind of monsters are these people...?"
And more importantly—how was he supposed to compete?
'I don't even have enough information to decide on what to do.'
"If I don't hurry, I won't get to pick where to sleep. I'll go ahead—catch up later," said the girl who had helped Zane earlier. Her voice was calm, but there was a quiet urgency in her tone. Without waiting for a reply, she turned to leave.
"Wait!' Zane called out and the girl stopped but didn't turn.
Is there a chance that maybe... you could carry me with you? The thought crossed his head but he asked her a question instead.
'In a situation like this it's a must to have an ally. Since she approached me first, I must take advantage of that. This way, it won't be like I'm imposing.'
"Thank you for helping me earlier. Please may I know your name?" Zane was still on one knee, panting under the crushing weight of gravity.
"Onilia," she replied over her shoulder.
"From a world called Nanaly. I'm an Apex Ranker. What about you?"
"Apex?" Zane blinked. 'I don't know what it means to be a Ranker, but the system referred to us as potential Rankers. My guess is, it's a rank above a Player. But Apex has to be the highest of it's kind. I mean the name says it all. Yet she said it so casually, like it was no big deal. Does it mean all the others are of that level?'
"I'm Zane… from Earth," he muttered. "I'm not a ranker yet. Still stuck in the tutorial phase. Even so, it's a pleasure to meet you, Onilia."
Onilia glanced at him with a flicker of confusion, her expression unreadable.
"I can see that. Well, good luck," she said with a small wave.
Before he could blink, she vanished. Just like that. One moment she was there, the next she was gone. A strong gust of wind slammed into him a second later, knocking him back a few meters.
"What the hell? Was that… her running speed?" Zane groaned as he hit the ground again, coughing from the impact.
'How are they moving that fast in this kind of gravity? I couldn't even run like that on Earth, and the gravity there didn't feel like the wrath of a thousand anvils!'
Still, there was no point in wasting time. He had to climb that mountain. Who knows what might happen if he failed to get there.
'That man said he would toss the unworthy into the abyss, wherever that might be.' The thought of failing at something that wasn't even an official test was unpleasant to him.
'I need to survive first.'
Gritting his teeth, Zane forced himself to his feet again. His legs trembled. His body felt like it was being crushed under several tons of weight.
Moving felt impossible. Like someone had tied his limbs to two giant ships and dropped a car on his back.
He staggered, trying to take a step—but fell to one knee again. He clenched his fists as his arms shook.
High above, the master of the realm stood watching from the cliff. He hadn't stopped smiling since Zane first arrived.
"I don't remember the last time I saw you this amused, Master," said a woman who approached him from behind, offering a steaming cup of tea.
"Look down," the Master replied with a chuckle. "You'll understand."
The woman followed his line of sight and squinted. "Why isn't he moving? He won't get a place to sleep if he doesn't go now. But I guess it's too late since a few have already made it. The first to make it was the girl from Nanaly right?" she asked, staring at Zane who looked completely frozen in place.
The master opened his mouth to reply—when suddenly, Zane moved.
'Screw this. If I can't pass this trial… what'll happen to Ariel? I'm still alive and that means I have another chance. I'm not going to blow it.' Zane clenched his jaws, unwavering resolve evident in his expression.
Instead of trying to walk again, he dropped to all fours. To his surprise, crawling was easier. Not easy—but manageable. This way, he had the support of all his limbs, though the gravity pressed down harder on his back.
Inch by inch, he began to move forward, dragging himself like a wounded soldier in a battlefield.
"Pfft—HAHAHAHA!" the master burst into laughter, nearly spilling his tea. Even the woman beside him giggled softly, covering her mouth.
"It looks like the gravity is too much for him," she said.
"Which planet is he from?" she curiously added.
"Earth, it would seem," the master replied, sipping his tea with a grin.
"Earth?" she repeated, raising a brow. "Can't say I've ever heard of it."
"It appears to be a newly discovered planet still in its tutorial phase," the master said as he gazed down from the cliff.
"Though I still can't understand why he was sent here. Aside from being downright hilarious, I don't see anything special about him. That said, he is an extremely lucky person. If he had arrived here a moment later, not even this planet would've been able to heal his injuries."
'Dark Disciple, why did you send him to me? Is he the next candidate? Did you send him here for me to test him. Is there even something to test? And why him though?'
"That really is strange," the lady beside him replied, her voice soft but curious.
Meanwhile, Zane was deep in his own thoughts.
'You can do this Zane, you even beat that damn Whisperkin and the Seraphoid.' He lied to himself.
"Alright," he muttered, "let's do this."
Down on all fours, he began crawling toward the mountain's base. It was at least a hundred kilometers away, and under this gravity, it felt like dragging a truck with his spine. His palms scraped against the sharp ground, and his knees burned with every crawl. He forced himself to reach the base and crawl back again. Just going and coming back to where he'd started took him days.
That was because he didn't get a proper sleep, he only took short breaks by lying on the ground and breathing heavily. His skin tore. Blood smeared the ground. But he didn't stop. Under the planet's regenerative aura meant all his injuries would be healed eventually, and he took advantage of that.
After what felt like an eternity, Zane made it back to where he started. He groaned and slowly rose to his feet.
He was standing. Actually standing.
"Yesss! After endless damn days of crawling, I can finally walk!"
He wanted to jump and dance like a maniac.
But before he could, a deep, booming laughter thundered across the sky.
The master clutched his sides, tears in his eyes.
"He's… he's celebrating just because he can walk? Oh, heavens… my stomach—! I'm going inside. If I stay out here any longer, I might die."
'I stayed to observe him closely. But there wasn't anything eye-catching about him. I wasn't bored though.'
With another fit of laughter, he vanished into thin air.
"Tch. Why is he so fixated on me? Is it because he thinks I'm a loser? If only he knew I took on two Elite Geminis and won." Zane muttered, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. He didn't care what the so-called 'master' thought. He had survived days crawling through hell. Now he was walking. That was enough for now. He began pacing slowly, stretching his muscles and getting used to his new movement.
'Just you wait… I'll show all of you.'
But soon, another problem crept up—hunger.
He hadn't eaten or drunk anything in days, and it was starting to get to him. He may not die because of the healing abilities of the planet but he had to eat something. His legs trembled and his stomach growled like a wild beast.
"You're still here?" came a voice behind him.
Zane turned to see Onilia walking toward him. She carried a bottle of water and something wrapped in thick green leaves—probably food, though Zane couldn't tell what it was.
"Here," she said, casually handing him the items.
'I may be trying to ally myself with her, but people this nice, always have ulterior motives.'
Zane stared at them, then shook his head. He wasn't the type to receive things just because someone gave it to him. This was because he didn't believe in receiving without having to give anything in return. Also because he absolutely trusts no one but his sister.
"I can't accept this, Onilia. You've already helped me so much. I can't keep relying on you. The training will start soon, and I need to stand on my own..."
He hadn't even finished speaking when a blur flashed before him.
Her fist sank deep into his gut. The ground beneath him cracked, and the air rippled with the force. Zane coughed up blood as his knees buckled. She attacked in a way that made his body accept the full force without displacing it.
[System Notice]
{Player Zane Walker has died.}
A few seconds later, he revived with a gasp, lying flat on the ground.
Before she could even say another word, he scrambled to his feet and snatched the food and water out of her hands.
'Even the Whisperkin wasn't that fast. I couldn't see what happened until it did.'
"Thank you," he muttered between bites, not even caring what it was he was eating.
She watched him with a smile, her arms folded gently behind her. She didn't say much, but it clear she wasn't the type to accept 'no' for an answer. She would kill for it.
Zane gulped down the water like a man who hadn't seen rain in years. He wiped his mouth and exhaled.
'Note to self… never refuse food from a woman who can punch you into yesterday.'