The Admin Room lit up.
Arthur stood before the interface, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the floating panel.
"Let's see who you really are," he murmured.
The blue window expanded, lines snapping into place.
[LEADERBOARD – FIRST FLOOR]
[FASTEST CLEAR TIMES]
│ RANK │ NICKNAME │ TIME │
│ #1 │ NULL_08 │ 06:43 [!] │
│ #2 │ HANUMAN │ 10:27 │
│ #3 │ CHADD │ 11:05 │
│ #4 │ SHYAMLAL │ 11:23 │
│ #5 │ RAMPAL │ 11:43 │
│ #6 │ AKHAY@SHINE │ 12:02 │
│ #7 │ BOSSS │ 12:07 │
│ #8 │ ALEX │ 12:13 │
│ #9 │ 123456 │ 12:15 │
│ #10 │ SILENTSTEP │ 12:19 │
Arthur's gaze locked onto the first entry.
"Six minutes forty-three seconds," he said quietly.
His fingers paused in mid-air.
The system flickered—linking datasets.
[TUTORIAL FLOOR — CROSS-REFERENCE COMPLETE]
A second panel slid open beside the leaderboard.
NULL_08
Tutorial Clear Time: 00:08
Floor 1 Clear Time: 06:43
Arthur exhaled slowly.
"The same one," he murmured.
Eight seconds in the tutorial.
Now first place again.
The warning marker beside the name pulsed again.
[STATUS: ANOMALOUS CONSISTENCY]
Arthur smiled—thin, intrigued.
"Alright, NULL_08," he said.
"Let's see how long you stay invisible.
The Admin interface pulsed.
Arthur lifted his hand.
"Finalize rewards," he said.
[ACKNOWLEDGED.]
A new window unfolded—formal, unavoidable.
[FLOOR 1 — LEADERBOARD REWARDS]
RANK 1
• +200 XP
• +100 PLAYER POINTS
• STATUS: TOP CLEARER
RANK 2
• +170 XP
• +70 PLAYER POINTS
RANK 3
• +160 XP
• +60 PLAYER POINTS
RANK 4
• +150 XP
• +50 PLAYER POINTS
RANK 5
• +140 XP
• +45 PLAYER POINTS
RANK 6
• +130 XP
• +40 PLAYER POINTS
RANK 7
• +120 XP
• +35 PLAYER POINTS
RANK 8
• +110 XP
• +30 PLAYER POINTS
RANK 9
• +100 XP
• +25 PLAYER POINTS
RANK 10
• +90 XP
• +20 PLAYER POINTS
The window shimmered once.
[REWARDS DISTRIBUTED.]
Across the world, players froze as blue light flooded their vision
"Six minutes?"
"Is that a glitch?"
"That has to be cheating."
Players stared at the leaderboard again.
NULL_08 — 06:43
Some laughed nervously.
Some swore.
Some went silent.
They had crawled.
Bled.
"How do you clear a death corridor that fast?"
one player whispered.
It didn't add up.
The corridor had traps.
Patterns.
Pain.
Yet NULL_08 had passed through it like it was empty.
Fear crept in where pride had been.
"If someone can do that," a player muttered,
"how fast will he do Floor Two ?"
In the Admin Room, Arthur watched the reaction metrics spike.
[EMOTIONAL RESPONSE: SHOCK — 62%]
[COMPETITIVE DRIVE: RISING]
He allowed himself a small nod.
"Good," Arthur said quietly.
"Now they understand."
He looked once more at the name at the top.
"NULL_08," he murmured,
"you've just set the pace."
The leaderboard dimmed.
And across the world,
players stopped asking if they should climb—
and started asking
how fast they needed to be.
[TIME UNTIL FLOOR 2 OPENS: 00:00:03]
[TIME UNTIL FLOOR 2 OPENS: 00:00:02]
[TIME UNTIL FLOOR 2 OPENS: 00:00:01]
The world tilted.
Three figures vanished from three different cities—
and reappeared together.
A jungle swallowed them whole.
Thick air.
Wet ground.
The sound of insects screaming from every direction.
A blue window snapped open before their eyes.
[ FLOOR 2 — JUNGLE TRIAL ]
[ TEAM SIZE: 3 ]
[ ENEMIES: 5 ]
[ RULE: CONTRIBUTION-BASED REWARDS ]
One of them laughed.
A tall man with a scarred jaw cracked his knuckles.
"So it's teamwork now?"
A woman beside him smirked, spinning a dagger in her hand.
"Read the fine print."
The third—a lean man with cold eyes—scanned the rules again.
"450 XP total," he said.
"Split by contribution."
Silence followed.
Then the scarred man scoffed.
"Why should I share?"
The woman's smile sharpened.
"If I deal all the damage, I get half."
The third nodded slowly.
"And if I don't fight at all… I don't waste stamina."
They looked at each other.
Understanding passed between them.
No argument.
No discussion.
They turned away—each choosing a different path into the jungle.
"May the best player win," the woman said mockingly.
The jungle swallowed them—separate.
Above, unseen, the System logged the choice.
[WARNING: TEAM COHESION DROPPED TO 0%]
And somewhere far above,
Arthur watched the three red markers drift apart.
He smiled faintly.
"Let's see," he murmured,
"who survives greed."
The scarred man moved fast.
Too fast.
He pushed through vines, crowbar resting on his shoulder, grin wide.
"Five goblins?" he scoffed. "I've handled worse."
The jungle went quiet.
Then—
Leaves rustled.
Five shapes slipped from the undergrowth.
Green skin.
Low stances.
Eyes locked on him—not one by one, but together.
"Good," he said, rolling his neck.
"Let's finish this."
The first goblin lunged.
He smashed its skull in with one clean swing.
Bone cracked. Body dropped.
"See?" he laughed.
That was when the others moved.
Not rushing.
Circling.
One slashed his calf.
Another rammed into his side.
A third went for his arm.
"Bastards—!"
He swung wildly, catching one—but the fourth jumped his back.
The fifth struck low.
ain stacked.
Balance vanished.
He fell hard into the mud.
Boots kicked.
Claws tore.
Weight crushed his chest.
Confidence drained from his eyes.
"Wait—WAIT—!"
The world froze.
Blue light swallowed him mid-scream.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[PLAYER INCAPACITATED]
[TEAM MEMBER STATUS: LOCKED OUT]
[RE-ENTRY TIMER: 24:00:00]
The jungle erased his body like he had never been there.
Five goblins straightened.
Then, as one—
they turned started looking for the other two.
Far above, Arthur watched the feed and said softly,
"First lesson,"
"numbers matter."
The second man didn't hear them coming.
He was crouched on a tree branch, breath slow, eyes sharp.
Let the others fight, he had told himself.
Let them bleed.
He watched the jungle below, counting shadows.
"One dead already," he muttered.
"Good. Less competition."
A sound—soft. Too soft.
He turned.
Five goblins burst from the foliage at once.
"What—?"
He jumped, barely catching another branch as claws scraped past his boots.
"Idiots," he hissed. "So you followed me."
He dropped to the ground, backpedaling, weapon raised.
One goblin charged.
He stabbed it clean through the throat.
Another fell seconds later.
His confidence returned.
"See? Pack or not—"
A sharp pain exploded in his side.
He looked down.
A goblin had crawled behind him, blade buried deep.
He staggered.
The jungle closed in.
Two grabbed his arms.
One slammed into his knees.
Another leapt for his neck.
He screamed—rage, not fear.
"BACK OFF—!"
Claws raked his face.
Teeth sank into his shoulder.
Strength drained fast.
He fell.
Mud filled his mouth.
Blue light flared.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[PLAYER INCAPACITATED]
[TEAM MEMBER STATUS: LOCKED OUT]
[RE-ENTRY TIMER: 24:00:00]
His body dissolved.
The goblins didn't celebrate.
They turned in together.
One target left.
Far above, Arthur's voice echoed softly through the Admin Room.
"Second lesson," he said,
"running away doesn't make you safe."
The woman heard them.
She was already moving.
"Too slow," she muttered, sprinting through the brush.
A goblin leapt—she slid under it, blade flashing.
Another came from the side.
She stabbed. Twisted. Pulled free.
She smiled.
"Should've stayed together."
Then the ground shifted.
A third goblin slammed into her back.
She rolled—too late.
Claws caught her leg.
She fell hard.
She slashed blindly.
Hit nothing.
Four shadows closed in.
Her smile vanished.
Blue light erupted.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[PLAYER INCAPACITATED]
[TEAM FAILED]
[RE-ENTRY TIMER: 24:00:00]
The jungle went silent.
Far above, Arthur closed the window.
"Lesson complete," he said.