The steel doors rumbled open, and light burst through the widening frame warm, and natural.
Agnar squinted against it. Wind brushed his skin, carrying the smell of dust, flowing water and leaves. For a moment, the world felt real again not simulated, not artificial. Real.
Trial Two.
The last step before becoming an official Exterminator.
A rocky valley stretched out ahead, boulders sitting at various spots across the valleys. Trees were spotted in every direction you look, almost like they were in a forest. Their leaves swaying as the wind blows.
Silent.
Too quiet.
Agnar and the others advanced slowly. Every head turned, every eye searching the valley for movement.
"Urgh, where are they? I can't take it anymore," someone muttered.
"We should get to higher ground and scout," another suggested.
Blue sparks crackled around the contestants as they charged their gear. In bursts of energy, they vaulted upward, sprinting across branches and leaping from tree to tree, scanning the valley below.
Ash walked casually beside Agnar, whistling softly and twirling his MEX rifle like a toy.
"How're you holding up?" he asked.
Agnar barely spared him a glance. "Still hurts. But I'll finish what I started. No complaints."
Before Ash could reply, tension prickled through the air. Everyone felt it the aftermath of Round One had sharpened their instincts. They moved slower now, more cautious.
Agnar lowered into a shooting stance, scanning the terrain.
Behind them, Bjorn marched with the unwavering calm of a battlefield veteran. The scruffy-haired man following him tossed his folding knife up and down without concern, a cigar resting between his lips. The brown haired girl walked ahead with perfect posture, unfazed.
Agnar glanced to his right and saw him.
A boy with a bright, eager smile. Completely zoned out. Energy radiating off him like he couldn't wait for the fight to start.
Ash leaned forward slightly.
"I see you," he whispered.
In the next heartbeat, he shot forward like a bullet, lightning streaking behind him.
The others sensed it too. Bjorn, the scruffy haired man, and girl sprang after him instantly. All three of them charged toward the same direction Ash had noticed.
Agnar froze for a moment.
"Something doesn't feel right, all fighters who seem strong are being lured to one spot. Are they trying to corner us and weed out the weak?"
The thought stung more than he expected.
So I'm not a threat?
His teeth clenched.
A shout broke the air.
"From above!"
Monsters dropped from trees and boulders. Shadows unfolded from every corner.
An ambush.
Ash and the lead trio turned back as they heard the warning, but a purple beam erupted from the direction they were charging toward. It thundered past them, forcing them to skid to a halt.
From behind rocks and broken earth, more monsters emerged.
"We've been separated," Bjorn said calmly. "Intentionally. That only happens among social animals."
Rifles rose. Gears hummed.
"These things are intelligent," Bjorn added.
"Thanks for pointing out the obvious," the scruffy haired man muttered through his cigarette.
A monster lunged.
Ash blurred forward, skidding under its belly as he fired. He flipped away from a swinging tail, spun mid-air, and shot another monster clean through the skull without even looking.
"NOW WE'RE TALKING!" he shouted, bending backward until his spine nearly touched the ground as another claw swiped over him. He fired upward... bang and the creature collapsed.
"Now now, we can't let you have all the fun," the scruffy haired man said, cigarette between his fingers. He flicked it back into his lips.
A beast pounced at him.
He didn't even blink.
One lazy draw, one clean shot.
The monster fell instantly.
Another sprang from behind.
Still, he didn't turn.
He simply tossed a folding knife backward.
It whistled like a bullet, pierced through the monster's eye, shot out the other side, and embedded itself deep into a distant boulder.
Meanwhile, the brown haired girl stood perfectly still. Waiting.
Watching.
Measuring.
Dark-pink energy flared around her like a rising storm.
She raised her weapon.
The earth cracked beneath her feet.
A blinding beam tore through the valley, ripping through three monsters at once. Their bodies vaporized into ash. The ground trembled from the force.
Agnar could only gasp.
"She's… incredible. They all are."
Ash paused mid-motion, stunned. "She's strong," he whispered.
Bjorn kept firing with calm precision. Every trigger pull was deliberate. Every bullet found a weak point. Five shots. Five kills.
No wasted movement.
No emotion.
Just brutal accuracy.
Other contestants fought too, some agile, some powerful, some reckless. Explosions lit the valley. Earth shook. Screams echoed. Monsters fell one after another.
But more crawled out.
Chaos consumed the battlefield.
Agnar fought hard, pushing through pain, killing several but each swing, each dodge grew heavier. His old injuries emerged. His vision wavered.
His knees buckled.
He collapsed.
The girl's voice echoed from somewhere:
"You fight like someone unsure of themselves."
Agnar's chest tightened. His arms felt heavy. Shots went wide. Dodges came late.
He wasn't fighting to win.
He was fighting to survive.
High above, in the control room, the examiner watched through a holographic wall. Analysts tracked every stat.
Screens flickered:
ASH KARVEN — Speed Index: 90%
XEDRA VONN (Scruffy haired man) — Suit Sync: 96%
FAYE ELIDRA (Brown haired Girl)— Power Output: 172%
BJORN STONEHART — Accuracy: 97.2%
AGNAR VOLSTRUM — Calibrating...
The examiner leaned in.
"Interesting."
Agnar kept shooting, weaving between claws and teeth. He killed one monster, then another, but every movement sent pain stabbing through his old injuries. His breaths turned ragged. His vision shook.
Then his knee buckled.
He staggered.
Another slash grazed his shoulder and he hit the ground hard. For a moment he tasted dirt. The battlefield noise blurred. Screams, gunshots, roars, fading into a dull ringing.
He pushed himself up, but his hands trembled.
"It can't end like this..."
The desperation triggered something deeper. A memory he had buried.
And the world around him blurred.
Your son finds it hard to focus on one thing…
The teacher's voice echoed in a quiet classroom. He answers every remark made toward him. Honestly, it's unique but it will be difficult for him to succeed in a professional environment.
I stood outside the door, listening.
Not meant to hear, but hearing everything.
The ride home afterward was silent, awkward, suffocating. My parents said nothing to me, nothing to each other. When we got out of the car, my father's face looked… lifeless.
That night, after dinner, their voices erupted through the walls.
My father blamed my mother.
Blamed her for "giving birth to a disabled child."
Blamed me, my existence, for the dreams he could no longer see.
My mother came out of the room crying. She saw me standing in the hallway, picked me up, hugged me tight, whispering over and over:
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"
Everything changed after that day.
Soon after, they enrolled me in a school for disabled children. I cried. Begged them not to send me there. Told them I was scared. But my father insisted it was the only way I could still "fulfill the dreams he had for me."
When he dropped me off, the look he gave me was worse than anger.
It was disgust.
I spent my entire school life feeling different. Trapped.
No friends.
No normal days.
Just walls and schedules and the reminder that I was "a freak."
I hated my parents for it… for a long time.
But when I finally graduated and came home, everything was different.
The house felt empty.
Looked discarded.
My mother sat at a table in the dark when I walked in. She saw me, really saw me, and ran to hug me. When I asked where my father was, she broke down, sobbing.
He had left.
Three years after I was sent away.
She looked sick. Too exhausted to work. So I worked instead any job I could get because we needed it. Because someone had to keep us alive.
And still… I blamed myself.
For being "how I was."
For ruining everything.
I took medication to help me focus until the side effects nearly killed me. So I forced myself to learn control on my own.
One day, I saw the ad for the Exam.
I knew it payed good money.
And for the first time, I saw a path out, a chance to prove I was not a failure.
I started to watch all of the chairman's exploits how he killed monsters in the past. I decided I wanted to be like him.
So I trained.
And trained.
And trained until my body broke.
I told myself: This is how I rise above everything.
The memory faded.
Agnar's vision snapped back to the fight, to dust and blood and the monster towering over him.
I've made it this far. I've sacrificed too much.
Agnar clenched his teeth, rolled to his feet, and sprinted toward the creature. A laser beam shot from its mouth he slid under it by inches. His rifle rose.
Somewhere above, the control room displays began to spike:
69% — 80% — 95%
The examiner leaned forward, eyes narrowing.
"He adapts under pressure."
Agnar braced himself, channels of energy lighting up across his suit.
He fired.
A massive beam burst from his rifle, blasting through multiple monsters at once. The valley shook. Dust exploded outward.
Ash stared.
Xedra paused mid-smoke.
Faye's eyes widened slightly almost expressing something.
The battle quieted minutes later.
Corpses and injured contestants covered the ground.
Everyone panted.
"That took longer than expected," Ash said.
"Looked like you struggled," Faye told him bluntly.
Ash grinned. "Had to let you guys have fun."
Faye glared knowing he wasn't showing his true strength.
Xedra sat on top a pile of corpses and stared at the sky. "I could kill for a bowl of rice and egg-tomato stew…"
Agnar collapsed to the ground, gasping, trying to stabilise his breath.
In the control room, the examiner studied the holographic data.
"Promising candidates this year," he murmured. "I think we know who qualifies for their licenses."
Suddenly alarms blared.
Screens flashed red.
On the battlefield, the ground trembled.
The earth split open.
A massive monster erupted from the depths twice the size of the others. Its roar shook the valley.
Its gaze sharpened.
Its mouth glowed
And it fired a colossal blast of energy.
The monster's blast carved through the valley, vaporizing trees and stone in its path. Contestants scattered, diving behind boulders as the shockwave ripped the ground apart.
Agnar shielded his eyes as dust and debris erupted around him.
Ash skid to a halt beside him.
Faye leapt across shattered valley, energy flaring.
Bjorn steadied his rifle, eyes calculating.
Xedra cracked his neck, cigarette still burning.
For a moment, all five of them stood facing the colossal beast.
Breaths heavy.
Bodies bruised.
Weapons humming.
The monster's chest glowed brighter.
A second blast was coming.
"Everyone MOVE!" someone shouted.
They sprinted outward
But Agnar couldn't move his legs and was in the line of fire.
The light in its throat surged and the beast unleashed a blast straight at him.
Too fast.
Too bright.
Too close.
Someone screamed his name.
"Agnar!"