The Battle Begins in Zone 3
Three weeks in, the inter-team tournament day had finally arrived. The teams had listened the day before to the detailed briefing from their mentors about the tournament. The details, they claimed, were thorough, but in truth there was only a single rule.
• Survive three full days and claim as many enemy flags as possible.
There was nothing else to it. And Kang-jun knew exactly what that empty space was hiding: the permission for murder.
“Murder during combat is not a problem.”
Of course the mentors would watch from a distance and stop any team that went overboard. Beyond that, they didn’t care what happened. That freedom was why deaths and rapes were common in the tournament. Especially in the 226th zone, a mad killer had slaughtered dozens of players. The author had added it for drama, but it ended up corrupting the past settings too.
The 224th zone had been no better. Everyone was already on edge, blood making them hyper. It felt like emotion was ruling more than reason right now.
The whole tutorial setup as a survival event was strange, but the author’s choices were to blame, not anyone else’s.
Before the tournament started, mentors divided supplies for each team and ran draws to choose the starting zone. That was the one part where luck really mattered. Deep in the forest, it was easy to get cornered.
As team leader, Kang-jun drew next and got number 3. He didn’t remember if 3 had been good in the third playthrough, and he sure as hell didn’t remember every single zone.
The mentors transported each team to its assigned zone. The Japanese girl sighed deeply as she was dragged into the terrifying forest again.
Good thing zone 3 wasn’t too far from the training center. The tournament could use any location, so the training center was fair game. Sleeping on a soft bed would be way better than the ground anyway.
“…And everyone else is probably thinking the same.”
Most incidents happened in the training center rather than the forest. The zone assignments pulled everyone there, and the mentors preferred the safer training center for watching. That had to be intentional.
For the entire walk to their zone, Team 4’s mentor didn’t say a word. The mentor’s personality helped, but the team also just wasn’t the chatty type.
“Here. Survive three days. …Whatever, you’ll figure it out on your own.”
The mentor glanced at Kang-jun and left with an ambiguous parting remark. A moment of silence hung in the air. Whoosh. The Japanese girl sighed again.
“Oppa, what do we do now?”
She looked at him secretly, and the others were clearly waiting for his answer too. Thanks to his performance in zone 21, they had some hope.
“First, we head back to the training center. Supplies are easiest there.”
“What about the other teams?”
“We have to. We need their flags too.”
Everyone’s eyes fell to the flags in Kang-jun’s bag. The number 4 was written large on each one.
“We have to win here. The prize is a 3rd-grade elixirs—unbeatable.”
“That really good stuff, right? The one that boosts stats.”
The prize was 3rd-grade elixirs, the same effect as a 100-coupon one. He would have to perform today. Nothing else mattered; he couldn’t miss this.
“Well, with me here, we’ll be fine.”
The Japanese girl said it casually. She didn’t even look like she was thinking of killing each other. Of course she wasn’t. The prize was too valuable; everyone’s eyes would be spinning. In this world, stats and life were basically the same thing.
Kang-jun didn’t warn her. If someone was in real danger, they would feel it and kill the enemy themselves. No need for fake human kindness.
Once the mentor left, Kang-jun climbed a tree and slid down after memorizing the direction of the training center’s roof.
“That way.”
The five followed his direction. He occasionally expanded his mana to scan the surroundings. For now, no one else was nearby except the mentors.
They walked without stopping. The familiar path appeared. They were almost back at the training center. Just as expected, several other teams were also heading there.
Kang-jun maintained distance so he wouldn’t be spotted. When the sun was high in the sky, the training center finally came into view. The quick teams had already taken some sections. And right behind them came others closing in fast.
“Keep going?”
“Wait a second.”
One of the members asked, and Kang-jun paused. Expanding mana showed a single team waiting at the training center windows—seven people. Their stats and traits were still low; he couldn’t tell which team yet.
He peeked out and a single arrow suddenly whistled through the air, embedding in the ground with a thunk.
“Fucking arrows?!”
“They’re shooting?”
“It could kill you.”
“They look way too prepared.”
Everyone looked worried. It must have been the weapons they made during the forest survival test.
“They prepared better than I thought.”
Compared to them, Team 4 was sloppy. Without Kang-jun, they would have been wiped out. They had been running since the beginning for the tournament prize.
Kang-jun planned to use cover to close the distance. There was no point waiting outside with more teams approaching from behind.
“Move while staying hidden. If we’re fast, we can dodge arrows.”
Everyone agreed. They knew staying put here wouldn’t do them any good.
At the count, they burst from the rocks and hid behind cover. A couple more arrows whistled in. Kang-jun pointed the direction from the front. The moment he jumped out, the others followed quickly.
They circled all the way to a blind spot near the windows where their position wouldn’t be visible. They took a breath. The team that had been following them arrived at the spot where Team 4 had been waiting. Kang-jun peeked out and checked their number. It was Team 6—eight members, some carrying wooden spears.
He realized he needed a good spot fast. He signaled Team 4 to enter the training center. They moved again.
He spread his mana toward the area with no enemies. Inside, a heavy silence hung. His teammates’ skin prickled with a strange, eerie feeling unlike anything they had felt before.
“It feels like something is going to jump out.”
One member suggested, “What about the 1st-floor cafeteria? We’ll need food later.”
Kang-jun shook his head immediately.
“We can take water and food from them later. First, we need a safe place to observe the enemies. Defense is always better than offense.”
That made sense, so the cafeteria idea was dropped. Kang-jun moved slowly inside. The quiet sound of footsteps echoed through the empty air.
The four-story building had the first floor empty. He didn’t want to stay on the first floor either. No floor was safe; external walls were easily breached. A single entrance was best.
“That looks good. A training room.”
“Third floor?”
“Only one door.”
His mana check showed another team had already taken the third floor. He didn’t think it was bad, but a position that good would draw attention from multiple teams—exactly what was happening right now.
“Someone’s on the second floor too.”
Teams had already claimed the second through fourth floors. Kang-jun hesitated for a moment. The first floor would be heavily contested too.
“Let’s climb the outer wall.”
The stairs to the second floor were already guarded. He decided to take a detour.
“Hurry up. Another team is coming.”
It was the Team 6 that had been behind them. They were almost at the building entrance. Since things had gone this far, Kang-jun decided to use them.
Team 4 scaled the outer wall and slipped through a second-floor window. He raised three fingers to his lips and mimed silence.
“Wait here. Until we fight.”
They hid close to the Team 2 room and waited. Kang-jun approached the door and checked the situation with mana.
Team 6 had searched the first floor and was now trying to go upstairs. They didn’t know the second-floor stairs were already occupied.
Screams and shouts suddenly erupted. The Japanese girl widened her eyes in shock and covered her mouth with both hands.
Kang-jun slipped out through the door and peeked into the hallway. Fighting was already underway. A couple of the enemies were bleeding out on the floor.
His teammates finally realized this wasn’t a simple training exercise. Their faces turned serious.
“Grab anything that can be used as a weapon. Anything.”
They tore a bed apart and took a wooden stick. Everyone was now ready to kill or be killed. To live, the other side had to die.
The heated fight was starting to cool when Kang-jun moved his head. The waiting Team 4 burst from their room and attacked the exhausted opponents. The floor was already soaked in blood. Some were dead with their skulls cracked open.
The Japanese girl sat down in shock and couldn’t move. That horror was too much. She hadn’t expected it to be this bad. The sound of her vomiting echoed as she finally gave in.
But the remaining three gritted their teeth and swung their sticks wildly. It was a golden chance to grab two flags at once.
With Kang-jun joining, the fight ended quickly. Everyone except a few huddled in the corner, shaking in fear, was dead or injured. He took the two flags and stuffed them in his bag. The team waiting on the second floor was Team 1.
“Grab water and food quickly.”
They searched the dead players’ bags and took everything. Seeing blood had turned them bloodthirsty; moral thoughts no longer existed in their minds. They were still stunned by death.
Soon the mentors of Team 1 and Team 6 arrived. They left the dead behind and took only the living with them. Anyone who had given up the fight was ignored. The tournament wasn’t over yet. They ran down a moment later.
Teams on the third and fourth floors would have heard the noise. Kang-jun needed to prepare defenses before they came down.
“Let’s set up barricades first.”
To block the hallway. They brought tables and beds into the room and set them up in the corridor. After they took a breath, the reality of what they had done finally sunk in. One male teammate buried his face in his hands and clutched his head.
Kang-jun had already dried up emotionally. He didn’t care how much pain the others felt. It was their problem anyway.
The Japanese girl looked completely dazed too. She had seen the ugliness of humans pushed to the limit. And her own fate that she would never escape from there.
She cried quietly. Kang-jun didn’t stop her. Yes, cry. Let it all out. She was sending her last shred of humanity into that cry. Otherwise she couldn’t survive.
The crying slowly faded. Her eyes were no longer the bright ones from before.
They had all slowly shed the last imperfections they had brought from Earth.