Weapons of Mass Destruction

POV Kim Min-Jae

We've been told over and over that once a mimic gets inside you there's no getting it out. Even Tess kept reminding us like we didn’t already know. I still remember those days when we were running from the 2nd Front. The cold biting at us, her eyes always watching, making sure none of us got infected. She never let her guard down, not even once. That’s what I thought.

Even then, I noticed the toll it took on her.

I should have put it together. But I didn’t. Not because I couldn’t, but because it never even crossed my mind. Any of us could get infected, sure. But her? I thought she was too strong for that. Too smart. Too careful.

And now, I feel like I’m about to break. I don’t know if I should cry or just sit down and stop thinking. It feels like the air’s been sucked out of my lungs, and I can’t do anything about it. I can’t lose her. Not Tess. Not another friend.

I look at the others, but no one says anything. No one has to. It’s all over their faces. Fear, doubt, that awful sinking feeling that we might already be too late. No one wants to say it, but I know they’re thinking it. I’m thinking about it too.

I wonder if Tess knew. If, for even a second, she realized it before we did.

Then I hear Nathaniel talking to Lissandra, and she makes her offer. She says she can save Tess, even if it means going against the Mimic Absolute. She says it like it’s nothing like it’s already decided like she can bend the world to her will. Like she knows everything will go her way no matter what. And for a second, I believe her.

But there’s a catch. Nathaniel has to win the tournament.

Against the winners of tournaments from the other rounds.

Against the Beyond attendees like him.

Against the future Champions and perhaps even Earth’s future Absolute.

Against the best Earth’s First Generation has to offer.

I try to picture it, him standing against all of them. The best fighters, monsters in human form, the ones who also went through the same dangers we did. Even knowing how strong he is, it seems impossible to be sure he can do it. He’ll be up against people who’ve trained for this, people who’ve struggled through these last two years to reach the top.

People who won’t hesitate, who won’t care that someone’s life is on the line. Because to them, this is just another fight.

I can’t even imagine what that pressure must feel like. Knowing someone’s life depends on you. It would bury me. It would tear me apart before I even stepped onto the battlefield.

And Nathaniel? He just answers without hesitation.

"Consider it done."

Same tone as always. Same calm expression. Like it’s just another task to check off a never ending list.

Like he’s never even considered losing.

Congratulations, you have fulfilled the requirements to raise the level of your subclass!

[Initiate of Envy] > [Adept of Envy]

He makes it look so easy. Like winning is just a matter of deciding to do it.

A shaky breath slips out, unnoticed until now. My fingers tremble, tightening into fists, but the shaking doesn’t stop.

What am I even doing here?

Nathaniel moves forward without hesitation, already planning his next step, while everything feels stuck in place. Watching him, it’s impossible to tell if it’s admiration or resentment that drives me. Maybe it’s both.

I can’t even be sure which one it is anymore.

POV Nathaniel

I turn away from Lissandra and look back at group 4. Damn, these guys, they can be scary as fuck but what would they do without me? They were about to start flailing about like headless chickens, hell they might even have tried to attack Lissandra.

I mean, I would love to see it, but this isn’t the time for that. Maybe later though.

“Sophie and Maya, you will act as stand ins for Tess and deal with the other groups and anything else that annoys me.”

“I… Nat, Tess is...”

“Don’t worry about it, Maya. I will take care of it, and Lissandra will keep her word—of that I’m sure.”

Sophie steps ahead. “You realize how crazy her demands are, right? That’s totally unreasonable! She could have told us something! Or just helped!”

“That’s not how she works,” I wave it off. “But don’t worry. The moment I even get close to her level, I’ll beat the shit out of her for everything. And extra.”

“You are free to try anytime, little pup,” Lissandra answers again with that air of absolute confidence, then taps Myrra on the shoulder.

After Myrra waves to us, they both leave, heading for the top of the huge hill we find ourselves on. There are already a lot of presences in the area farther away from us. Similarly to the first tournament, they also climb toward the top of the hill.

Looking around, I take note of a nearly invisible barrier surrounding the entire hill. It’s clearly the system’s work—I can tell right away—and it seems like it won’t let anything pass through.

As it turns out there are several other huge hills way off in the distance, each rising to large flat areas at their peaks. Smaller hills sit atop that space, along with an array of forests and a vast multitude of houses. They almost seem like perfect copies of the first tournament’s common area and our hill. It seems that each round of the tutorial has its own hill, enclosed by a barrier that prevents us from mixing with other rounds for now.

As I start walking toward the top of the hill, the others follow me.

The tournament is a competitive base, but also an opportunity to meet other tutorial attendees from your planet.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The events will begin in one day; please wait in your common area until then.

There are no monsters or natives, this should allow tutorial attendees to greet each other and continue to build on their relationships.

Death is currently impossible on the tournament floor.

Enjoy your second tournament!

Even the notification is nearly the same as before. It would seem the system is being lazy as always. So, just like last time, I check the number of participants in this tournament.

Easy Difficulty - 13,961

Normal Difficulty - 7,021

Hard Difficulty -2,100

Hell Difficulty - 269

Beyond - 74

That allows for a good comparison to the other rounds, as our 5th round´s stats look like this:

Easy Difficulty 1299/2000

Normal Difficulty 853/1000

Hard Difficulty 222/500

Hell Difficulty 36/250

Beyond 10/10

There are two numbers that interest me more than the others. One is the current overall number of people in Hell difficulty for Earth: 269, nice.

Each round started with 250 people in Hell difficulty, so overall Earth started with 2500. Out of that 2500, only 269 are still alive. Close to 90% of the people in Hell difficulty died. Probably closer to 80%, accounting for the people who might not have joined—just like our round is missing some people from Hell difficulty, that mysterious group or groups.

Our round, the 5th, has an above-average number of Hell difficulty survivors. If we had to split it evenly, each round should have 27 people at the moment, yet our round has 36.

There is also one more telling number: the amount of people in Beyond. I would have expected it to be around 85-90, given the hard limit of 10 in each round, but it’s lower than that, leaving us at 74.

Myrra and Lissandra are likely counted as Beyond participants, even though they haven’t completed their trials yet. That could be throwing the numbers off. But still, the 5th round having more than expected is hard to ignore.

Oh, then there’s that guy who started in Beyond. The asshole hogging all the interest from the Rulers. I wonder if he ended up in this tournament if he even can, or if he’s stuck sitting on his ass in Beyond.

Well, none of it matters that much now.

Knowing I cannot die here, I start doing things with Mana Cycling I’ve been avoiding until now, or waiting for Lily’s help, and then I begin loosening the 1st seal of the Champion’s heart to see the reaction and get used to the output.

It’s a strange feeling, knowing there’s a limit and intentionally pushing past it. My body screams in warning, but my mind is already set. The next step is clear.

I will remove at least one of the seals during this tournament.

Because of this, I die twice, before we even reach the common area.

Some of the people at the top of the hill are familiar to me. I see some memorable faces from Hell difficulty. I even notice Tacita sneaking around nearby. One of the signatures might be Savant, and another is definitely Gareth with his group. Some guys from Easy Difficulty still have those camping cars with solar panels and there are already some tents set up and even a decent amount of grilling going on.

Indeed, the true Easy difficulty experience.

I breathe in the fresh air and once again feel my heart beginning to race. I feel the need to use [Focus] to bring my emotions under control. Like a worm eating at me, that feeling of self-doubt continues to gnaw at my convictions. It whispers that I might fail this time. That it can’t be that simple. That even back during the 1st tournament, I lost at least one event. So how could I win out now, against all of Earth’s best? It whispers that even if I succeed Tess might still die over the next two weeks we spend here.

I don’t let any of this show. Even with how inept I can be socially, I see the others are worried for Tess. So showing them my confident side should help them.

But I'm also getting looks with just the slightest bit of pity.

Do they pity the responsibility I carry now, I wonder?

Taking a few more steps, I find myself reuniting with Channeler. The man is as handsome as before—maybe even more so. He’s wearing a clean, fitted, stylish outfit and is smiling widely as if he were filling a role in a toothpaste commercial. There’s not really much wind, but his hair still seems to wave as if he were a model in a shampoo ad.

“Noname!” he shouts, greeting me with a smile and shaking my hand.

Almost as if he were remembering something, he immediately lowers his excited voice to a calmer pitch. After all, he’s always been like a chameleon, that guy.

I watch as he greets the others, Immediately distributing compliments. He notices Min-Jae’s muscular figure. He mentions how the twins have gotten taller, which visibly makes them happy. He praises Lily, claiming that she’s even more beautiful than before, and does much the same with the others.

I’m curious to see if he will ask about Tess, but even though he must have noticed, he tactfully doesn’t bring her up. As expected of such a high-level extrovert.

When it’s all done, I gesture to the twins, and they tie him into our Connection.

(Oh, that’s new! No one in Easy can do this!) Channeler enthuses, wasting no time in chattering away excitedly in our minds.

(No one should be able to listen in on us like this,) I answer. (So, to start: Tess won’t be here this tournament. But don’t worry, she’s okay.)

(I… I’m glad to hear that, Noname. I won’t pry, but if you need anything, I’m here.)

(Thank you. And yes, I will be needing some things from you. But first, has Easy difficulty begun leaving the tutorial?)

He smiles and gestures for us to follow, and we head toward a few benches seated next to a fountain and take a seat. (Yes, a few months ago, as far as we can tell. The people who wanted to return to their families made groups and went ahead. Some were even talking about looting Earth before the higher difficulties could return.)

(That’s dumb.)

(There are a lot of not-so-smart people,) Channeler answers more diplomatically. (I’m on the 13th floor at the moment, and we’ve confirmed that it’s the last floor. But I made my group wait so I could speak to you during the tournament, Noname.)

For a while, I just look at him. This guy really knows how to handle things.

(It's good you did. But aren’t you afraid you’re rushing things too much? You could've spent more time in the tutorial, leveled up, and gotten stronger.)

(I did all that, but Easy difficulty doesn’t offer as many opportunities as the higher ones might. And… with what we’ve learned here in the tutorial, Earth might go through some changes. I want to get back and make sure my family is safe.)

(Well, in the end, it's up to you. So to start with, my name is Nathaniel, though you should only call me that when speaking through this link.)

(I will do so! Thanks for trusting me, Nathaniel! My name is Rafael Vaughn.)

(Thanks for telling me, too. So it’s simple: Sofie and Maya will be stepping in for Tess to deal with people during this tournament. We won’t do much else, as I truly do not care about such things. We only have one objective for this tournament, and I don’t think anyone in group 4 will disagree.)

As I scan their faces, I catch the small details. The way they shift slightly, the way their eyes focus. A few take measured breaths, steadying themselves. There is no nervous energy, no lingering doubt. Just preparation.

I turn back to Channeler and continue, (Before the tournament ends, I will make you an Arcane item that will make you the strongest person on Earth, at least until anyone from Normal difficulty returns. Though it’s highly possible you will remain the strongest even after that, you might even be able to take on some from Hard difficulty.)

Rafael’s expression flickers, just for a second. Then he laughs, shaking his head. (You really don’t do things halfway, do you?)

(If it needs to be done, I may as well do it properly.)

I shift my stance, feeling my mana settle. The first event is coming in a day, but time already feels like it’s moving too fast and not fast enough at the same time. There’s too much to prepare, too much to account for.

But it doesn’t matter.

Because the only outcome I’ll accept is total victory.