[Location: The Grand Battle Arena]
[Time: 12:00 PM]
[Event: The Grand Finals]
The sun beat down on the marble sands of the arena.
Seventy thousand spectators screamed in excitement. The view counts on SpookTube shattered records.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" The commentator roared. "IT IS TIME FOR THE FINALS!"
"In the Red Corner... The Defending Champions... THE ELITE FOUR!"
The gate opened.
The crowd prepared to cheer for the shiny, golden-armored elites.
Instead, they gasped.
Magnus, the Mage Leader, walked out wearing... a bathrobe and holding a wooden stick.
Titan, the Tank, was wearing a pot lid strapped to his arm as a shield.
Seraphina, the Healer, wore sneakers that were two sizes too big.
They looked like beggars. They looked terrified.
"What is this?"
"Where is their S-Rank gear?"
"Why is Magnus crying?"
"And in the Blue Corner... THE SUICIDE SQUAD!"
Ryan walked out, leading his team.
He was wearing Magnus's B-Rank Robe.
Grog was holding Titan's B-Rank Shield.
Violet was playing with Seraphina's Healing Staff.
The crowd went silent. Then, realization hit them.
"Did... did Class F loot them before the match?"
"That's ruthless! That's illegal!"
"Ref! That's bullying!"
Ryan grabbed the microphone from the arena floor.
"It's not bullying," Ryan smiled at the camera drone. "It's called 'Asset Reallocation'. They didn't need that gear. They weren't using it properly."
He turned to the shivering Magnus.
"Ready to lose, bathrobe boy?"
Magnus gritted his teeth. "You devil... I will kill you with my bare hands!"
"FIGHT!"
It wasn't a fight. It was a comedy sketch.
Magnus tried to cast a Fireball. Without his staff, the flame was the size of a candle.
Poof.
Ryan yawned and sprayed him with a water gun. "Bad mage."
Titan tried to charge Grog.
Grog—now armed with Titan's own shield—slammed him into the ground.
BONK.
"Tiny man go sleep," Grog grunted.
Within 30 seconds, the "Elite Four" were piled up in the center of the arena, defeated.
Ryan sat on top of the pile, holding up a peace sign.
"WINNER: CLASS F!"
The crowd erupted. Half were booing, half were laughing.
Ryan checked his System.
[System Notification: Tournament Won.]
[Reward: Rank Up (D -> C).]
[Access Key to 'Royal Armory' acquired.]
"Too easy," Ryan muttered. "Boring."
He looked up at the VIP box to taunt Director Malik.
But Director Malik wasn't smiling.
He was standing up, looking at the sky with a pale face.
Ryan frowned. He activated [True Sight].
He looked up.
The magical barrier protecting the arena—the one that stopped spells from hitting the audience—was cracking.
But it wasn't cracking from the inside.
It was cracking from the outside.
CRACK... CRACK...
The sky turned purple.
A massive, jagged tear appeared in reality right above the stadium.
Black liquid dripped from the tear, sizzling as it hit the barrier.
[System Alert: CRITICAL WARNING!]
[Dimensional Fracture Detected.]
[Danger Level: Disaster.]
[A 'Gate' is opening inside the safe zone.]
Ryan stood up, his playful expression vanishing instantly.
"Grog! Violet! Get behind me!"
The crowd pointed at the sky.
"What is that?"
"Is it part of the show?"
Then, the barrier shattered.
SHATTER!
Like falling glass, the dome broke apart.
From the purple rift in the sky, monsters poured out.
Not Goblins. Not Skeletons.
These were Gargoyles. Winged demons made of stone and hatred. Thousands of them.
And riding on the largest Gargoyle was a man in a Grey Hood.
The Grey Hood raised his hand.
"The Academy has grown soft," his voice amplified by magic, echoing like doom. "It is time to cull the weak."
He pointed a finger... directly at Ryan.
"Bring me the Necromancer."
SCREEEECH!
Five hundred Gargoyles folded their wings and dived straight for the arena floor.
Panic.
Absolute chaos.
The spectators screamed and trampled each other trying to flee.
The students on the field were frozen in fear.
"Ryan!" Violet screamed, clutching his arm. "What do we do? Those are Level 20 monsters!"
Ryan looked at the diving swarm.
He looked at the terrified students.
He looked at his camera drone, which was still recording.
"What do we do?" Ryan pulled out his Soul Shatterer (Desert Eagle).
He grinned. A wild, desperate grin.
"We create the greatest livestream in history."
"System! Shop!"
"Buy [Mega-Phone of Intimidation] and [Infinite Ammo Clip (10 Minutes)]."
[Cost: 20,000 Points]
[Purchased!]
Ryan jumped onto Grog's shoulders.
He aimed his gun at the sky.
"HEY! UGLY PIGEONS!" Ryan shouted through the megaphone.
The soundwave knocked the leading Gargoyles off balance.
"Welcome to my stream! Today's content: Shooting Clay Pigeons!"
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Ryan unleashed a barrage of explosive spirit bullets.
Every shot hit a Gargoyle.
BOOM!
Stone bodies exploded in mid-air, raining debris on the arena.
"Class F!" Ryan roared, commanding the terrified students. "Stop crying! Pick up a weapon! If you kill one, I give you 1,000 Credits! If you die, I loot your corpse! MAKE YOUR CHOICE!"
Greed and fear overpowered their panic.
"1,000 Credits?"
"Kill them!"
The "Suicide Squad" rallied.
The Tournament was over.
The War had begun.
User_Slayer69: "This isn't a tournament anymore! It's a Raid!"
User_RichKid: "Ryan is commanding the whole school! Look at him go!"
User_GovAgent: "We are sending reinforcements. Hold the line, kid."
Ryan looked at the Grey Hood floating above.
"You want me?" Ryan whispered. "Come and get me."
He activated [Shadow Extraction].
"Rise... Hobgoblin Warlord."
From his shadow, the massive Goblin Boss he tamed in the cave rose up.
Ryan pointed at the sky.
"Throw Grog at them."
Grog: "Wait, what?"
The Warlord grabbed Grog and launched him into the sky like a missile.
Grog swung his shield, smashing a Gargoyle in the face.
"I BELIEVE I CAN FLYYYYY!"
Ryan laughed maniacally.
The Academy was burning. Monsters were falling. And Ryan was farming the most Fear Points of his life.
[Current Fear Points: 85,000... 90,000... 100,000!]
"System," Ryan yelled over the noise. "Prepare the Level 3 Shop. I'm going to buy a Dragon."