Everyone gulped in unison, listening carefully as the timer neared its end. Not a single person believed it was wise to find out what "disqualified" meant inside this ring of chaos.
"Imagine your weapon. Anything that suits your class. When you feel a small tingle in your chest, let it spark, like a fire roaring freely after gasoline is poured over it... and then just let go!" The boy spoke urgently, not wasting even a second.
Ji-hoon did not dare waste time either. With only a few seconds left on the clock, he tried to follow exactly what the teenager had said.
A strange sensation stirred in the center of his chest. He had felt it before when he first tried to activate the system, but he had brushed it aside as something irrelevant.
This time, he let it burn.
His palms burned as he imagined the traditional bow he knew best.
"Come forth... gakgung," he whispered.
His eyes burned with determination and a raw hunger for power.
Ji-hoon nearly grabbed his chest the moment a scorching pain tore through his ribcage. But it did not stop there. The fire spread to his eyes, then raced down his arms and legs like molten blood. At last, it gathered in his palm.
Golden light burst from his fingers.
It twisted through the air, bending and pulling at space itself as if the world around him were being forced into shape. The glow thickened, sharpened, and in the span of a breath, a curved bow of gold and shadow settled into his grasp.
Several other lights flared from the people around him, each one a different color. Even the air changed, as if oil had been set on fire, only now the flames burned in countless shades.
One after another, weapons scraped against the surface of the ground.
[Congratulations to the players who successfully activated their systems. Your challenge officially begins now.]
Suddenly, a loud voice reverberated through the air as if spoken from somewhere high above the clouds. The wall surrounding the area reacted at once, darkening slightly as though a black miasma had begun to seep into it.
The beeping sound made countless people flinch the moment the timer hit zero.
[Disqualifying players who failed to activate their systems in time.]
The large crimson tree split in half like flesh, both sides slamming to the ground with a heavy thud and sending dust high into the air. Something black, something ominous, was left behind, suspended above the split trunk like smoke that refused to fade.
Crimson vines shot toward the five people who had failed to activate their systems, wrapping around their legs and dragging them toward the black swirl hanging above the tree. Several grayish lights, each no bigger than a plum, lit up inside the darkness to welcome the unlucky ones.
"Help!"
"Please, save me!"
Their desperate screams vanished into the darkness, followed by the sounds of breaking bones and fresh flesh being torn apart. Low growls rumbled from within, threatening to pounce at any moment.
A heavily built man stood with a large two-handed axe before the tree, the weapon gleaming with a black hue. His face looked eerily calm now that he had some form of defense. He stared at the empty space before him, as if reading and studying something unseen.
Kim Ji-hoon also stood frozen, mesmerized by the large bow in his hand. It felt lighter than a feather. Confusion crossed his face for a moment. There were no arrows anywhere around him, nor hanging from his body.
Then the screen before him shifted, revealing the trick behind his system.
[Archer Class Activated]
[Primary Weapon: Gakgung (Mastery Level: 1)]
[Secondary Weapon: Null]
[Name: Kim Ji-hoon]
[Age: 23]
[Combat Level: 1]
[Experience Points (XP): 0/10]
[Magical Energy Capacity: Bronze Rank]
[Main Tree Synchronization: Activated]
[Skills:]
[Draw Arrow - Level 1 (Active) - Shapes a small arrow from the magical energy contained within the user's heart. Attack power scales with weapon mastery, combat level, and energy capacity.]
[Eye of the Archery God - Level 1 (Passive) - Permanently replaces the user's right eye with an enhanced version. Increases accuracy and sight range.]
Pain shot through his right eye. He clutched it tightly, covering it with his palm as agony tore through him. The pain was unbearable. The teenager standing beside him looked worried and quickly reached out a hand to support him.
"Big brother, are you okay?" He sounded genuinely concerned, but Ji-hoon had no energy to answer through the pain. The others noticed as well, yet their attention remained fixed on the swirling black smoke.
When Ji-hoon finally opened his right eye, the world before him no longer looked real. Strange colors swirled through the air, dancing around the other people, but the most disturbing color of all radiated from the tree.
"Dodge!"
Within the dark swirl, he saw something lunge at the man in front of the tree. Ji-hoon roared at the top of his lungs, and the man threw himself aside without hesitation.
A shadowy figure tore through the air and landed on the ground with a heavy thud. It stood on all fours, at least two meters tall.
Black fur, dark as ink, covered its body. It looked like a wolf, but far larger and far more terrifying. Its growl came out low and heavy as its gray eyes swept across the six people surrounding it.
Soon, the black swirl expanded again, sending out another wolf, then another. In total, four wolves stood back to back, their bodies lowered and ready to pounce at the first opening. Blood stained their jaws, most likely from the unlucky people who had failed to activate their systems.
"You're joking, right?" A young woman broke the silence with an awkward laugh. "We're supposed to fight and kill... these?" A crimson spear rested in her hands. She looked natural holding it, but her legs trembled slightly under the pressure.
"Well, young lady," an old man holding a violet book said from behind her, "it said we need to stay alive for two minutes, not kill them. And it seems... the time has already started."
At the man's words, everyone looked at their system screens.
[Task - Survive. Time Remaining: 00:01:50]