The golden light from the reward chest faded, leaving Reever standing alone in the quiet hum of the system chamber. His reflection rippled faintly on the polished floor—half metal, half man, all code.
Then the system's voice rang out.
[ SKILL SYNCHRONIZATION COMPLETE. ]
[ Weapon Skill Unlocked — TARGET ]
[ Armor Skill Unlocked — MIRAGE ]
A surge of power rippled through his frame, every circuit coming alive. He froze, feeling the raw data thread itself into his systems.
[ TARGET: Lock onto an enemy. Fired bullets track the target until impact. Limited to three uses per simulation. ]
[ MIRAGE: Generate up to five holographic doubles for deception. Duration: 15 seconds. Cooldown: 90 seconds. ]
Reever exhaled slowly, letting the new sensations stabilize. He raised Specter Edge and took aim at a projected target. The rifle's hum shifted—alive, intelligent. He pulled the trigger.
The bullet curved midair, spiraling around an invisible axis before striking dead center.
He grinned. "Oh, I'm going to have fun with this."
Next, he activated Mirage. His armor shimmered, and in an instant, five identical figures stepped out beside him. Perfect clones—each moving, breathing, and standing exactly like him. Even he couldn't tell which one was real at first glance.
The system wasn't just giving him tools—it was arming him like a god.
But before he could admire his reflection too long, the voice returned.
[ FINAL TRAINING SIMULATION INITIATED. ]
[ Location: Old Battlefield — Sector 09 ]
[ Objective: Eliminate all enemy bots. ]
[ Ally: Kill Bot – Unit 097 ]
[ Enemies: 4
(Special-Class Bots — Aim, Dodge, Tank, Kill) ]
"Four specials?" Reever muttered. "Yeah, this'll be fun."
The chamber dissolved into static, and the world rebuilt itself.
He opened his eyes to devastation.
The old battlefield stretched endlessly before him—a graveyard of war. Twisted choppers lay half-buried in cracked soil. The air was thick with ash and the metallic tang of decay. Fallen soldiers—data echoes of long-forgotten battles—flickered in and out of existence.
Smoke drifted lazily between burnt-out tanks and shattered vehicles. Every sound was distant and hollow, like ghosts whispering through a dead world.
Reever crouched behind a fallen transport, scanning the horizon. Four figures stood in the distance, motionless but radiating power.
[ Enemy units identified: ]
01 – Aim Bot
02 – Dodge Bot
03 – Tank Bot
04 – Kill Bot
His gut tightened. These weren't training dummies. These were apex constructs—the system's purest forms of destruction.
Then another ping blinked on his HUD.
[ Ally Unit Online — Kill Bot 097 Linked. ]
From the haze, a figure emerged—tall, armored in black alloy, its red optic burning like a dying sun. Bot 097.
Reever tilted his head, smirking slightly. "We meet again. I thought that when you blew up, you were gone for good."
The Kill Bot gave no sign of recognition, only the cold whir of gears resetting. They were partners now—by force, not by choice.
Reever checked his rifle. "Alright, partner. Let's make this quick."
The countdown appeared.
3…2…1…
The field exploded into chaos.
The Aim Bot struck first, plasma rounds slicing the air with impossible accuracy. The Dodge Bot zipped across the wreckage, leaving motion trails behind it like afterimages. The Tank Bot advanced, each step a small earthquake. And the enemy Kill Bot vanished from sight entirely.
Reever rolled behind a shattered jeep, locked onto the Aim Bot, and whispered, "Target."
The bullet curved midair, slicing through a rain of debris, and punched straight through the Aim Bot's skull.
[ Enemy Eliminated: Aim Bot. ]
He smirked. "One down."
But the Dodge Bot was already on him, sprinting so fast it blurred. Reever barely saw the swing coming. He activated Mirage—and the world filled with six Reever figures, each moving in perfect sync.
The Dodge Bot froze, scanning wildly between targets. It fired at one, then another—but none were real.
Reever's real self sidestepped behind it, leveled his rifle, and fired. One shot to the knee, one to the head. The bot flickered and collapsed.
[ Enemy Eliminated: Dodge Bot. ]
A heavy thud shook the ground. The Tank Bot. It loomed forward, massive and impenetrable, its armor glowing faintly from heat buildup. It raised its cannon arm—and fired.
The blast tore through a pile of wreckage, hurling Reever back. His HUD flared red.System damage: 34%.
He rolled, coughing out static. "You've got a temper."
Before the Tank Bot could fire again, Bot 097 charged—silent, furious, a blur of black metal and sparks. It slammed into the Tank Bot with inhuman force, grappling, claws digging into the thick armor plates.
The Tank roared and swung a fist the size of a car, but the Kill Bot didn't stop.
Reever steadied his aim. His crosshair locked onto the Tank's energy core.
[ TARGET ACTIVATED. ]
He fired. The bullet curved gracefully through the chaos—past the struggling bots—and buried itself in the Tank's chest.
A single second of silence. Then the explosion tore the ground apart.
[ Enemy Eliminated: Tank Bot. ]
Reever stood slowly, watching molten shards rain down. Only one enemy remained—the other Kill Bot.
It emerged from behind the smoke, moving with deadly calm. Its crimson lines pulsed, and Reever felt the data field ripple. This one was different—stronger, faster, smarter.
"Guess you saved the best for last," he muttered.
The Kill Bot struck first, appearing in front of him in an instant. Reever fired point-blank, but the bot deflected the shot and grabbed his rifle barrel, forcing it aside.
It swung, landing a hit that sent Reever crashing into a broken vehicle. Sparks burst from his armor.
Reever's mirages deployed instantly—five of him scattering in every direction. The Kill Bot hesitated, scanning.
Reever used the distraction to dive behind cover, reload, and whisper under his breath. "Target."
He rose, sighted through the smoke, and fired.
The bullet curved—not straight this time, but a full arc, circling around before driving into the Kill Bot's back.
The explosion was short and clean. The machine collapsed to its knees, red optic fading out.
Silence.
[ Enemy Eliminated: Kill Bot. ]
[ Simulation Complete. ]
Reever stood amid the ruins, weapon at his side. Bot 097—his ally—approached, its armor cracked, smoke leaking from its vents. It stopped beside him, looking out at the wreckage of its fallen kin.
Reever glanced up at it. "Guess we make a good team after all."
The Kill Bot said nothing. Then, with a flicker of light, it vanished—its purpose fulfilled.
Reever stared at the empty space where it had been.
The system's voice broke the silence.
[ FINAL TRAINING COMPLETE. ]
[ You are now eligible for Official Matches. ]
[ Good luck, bot 067. ]
The battlefield began to fade—soldiers, choppers, smoke, all dissolving into particles of light.
And as the world vanished, Reever whispered to himself, half a grin tugging at his lips.
"Now… let's see how real players handle this."