A Bug In Fate

On the ground, Alden and the other four participants stared at the monsters, now just 300 meters away, charging toward them. They could sense the monsters were in an aggro state, bloodlust leaking from their entire bodies.

The bracelets that were supposed to suppress them weren’t working for some reason, and no one had time to think about why.

"It seems our resting time has ended," Alden said, glancing at them before he began walking toward the horde of monsters. His posture was relaxed, as if he were just going to meet some friends.

Suddenly, he glanced back at them before continuing his pace.

"Feel free to join in," he said.

The others looked at him with bewildered expressions, unable to understand him.

"He’s insane. There are 150 Rupture realm monsters, and even though they can’t use spells, some of them still have their genetic abilities," Rain said, staring at Alden’s back.

Beside him, Elara and the others nodded, equally unable to understand what was going on in his head.

"Well, we don’t really have a choice either. The longer we stay here, the more points we lose," Elara said, drawing her bow and following behind Alden, who was now just 100 meters from the horde.

"I’m going in too. You call him insane, but maybe that’s why he isn’t scared like the rest of us," Liam said, gripping his spear.

And just like that, they were forced to join the battle because of one person, who was now just 50 meters from the blood-hungry monsters.

Alden, now only a few meters from the battlefield, looked at the incoming horde with a smile. He glanced back. There were only a few seconds left before the monsters would reach him.

Behind him were the other four participants, who had decided to join the fight.

Even though they could eliminate each other here, none of them thought about it. Doing so would mean facing the monsters alone, and eliminating a rival now wouldn’t earn them anything anyway, since no one had any points yet.

So turning on each other could wait.

Meanwhile, Alden’s attention snapped forward as a dark-element attack came at him. He sidestepped it slightly before smiling.

"Glacier Series: Snowfall."

The moment the words left his lips, the temperature within 200 meters dropped as snowflakes began falling from the sky over the battlefield.

It wasn’t a direct-kill technique, but it wasn’t useless either.

The snowflakes fell and touched the monsters. Nothing major happened at first, no monster was crushed or killed, but within seconds the effect began to show. The snowflakes seeped deeper into their bodies, and the monsters began to slow down, their movements turning sluggish as their mana flow was interrupted.

This was because of the concept behind the technique. Once inside a monster’s body, the ice affinity did its work, cooling their blood and causing their entire system to slow to a crawl.

But having slowed the monsters didn’t mean they were harmless. More than 20 monsters surrounded Alden, while others went after the rest of the participants.

They used their genetic abilities, and all kinds of attacks surged toward him, fireballs, water waves, dark energy, poison. The variety was insane, but not as much as Alden, who simply smiled at the incoming attacks and muttered something.

"Glacier Series: Absolute Zero."

The temperature dropped again, colder this time, and monsters within 200 meters began to freeze. Their steps halted mid-motion as ice crystals formed all over their bodies.

He had used Snowfall for exactly this moment. Freezing everyone while they were still at full strength would have drained most of his mana, since difficulty rose along with the number of targets.

He watched as, within the 200-meter radius, every monster froze from head to toe.

A smile formed on his lips as he looked over at the other four participants.

They had apparently formed a team, overwhelmed as they were, and honestly, who could blame them? They couldn’t just walk around and freeze everyone the way someone was doing.

Elara fired her arrows while occasionally casting wind spells to support the others in close combat. Lucas moved with his daggers, and beside him, Liam thrust his spear at whatever came near. Rain stepped in to help whenever someone was overwhelmed.

It wasn’t perfect, but they were doing well for people who had only just met.

Suddenly, Alden’s attention shifted as the bracelet on his wrist glowed faintly, and his gaze drifted naturally above the arena.

The screen above the arena, which displayed each participant’s name and score, had shown zero until now. It suddenly flickered to life.

*Alden: 135 points*

Alden glanced at the screen, his mind racing.

*..Hm, so I’ve killed 27 monsters, and each one is worth 5 points.* he thought, already scanning for his next target.

The monsters were everywhere, still bombarding him from all sides. If not for his mana resistance from his Mana Sovereign title, he would have needed to actively use his ice affinity to block them. But with that resistance keeping the damage manageable, he didn’t have to bother.

"Hehe, I’ll just have some fun," he chuckled, moving forward while the other four participants kept doing their best not to get overwhelmed.

While the participants were fighting, the crowd, who had been shocked by the monsters charging without any command, was still shocked, but for a different reason now.

"He’s really insane. Why is he going in alone?" one person from the crowd asked as they watched the blue-haired guy walking toward the horde.

"Look, the others are moving too," another said, as Elara, Liam, and shortly after, Lucas and Rain, joined the line.

"But why are the monsters even moving? The round hasn’t started yet," a voice rang out, putting the audience deep in thought.

"Look, that guy just killed so many monsters at once. How much mana does he even have?" At that moment, Alden used Absolute Zero, freezing many monsters at once as ice crystals covered them, cracks spreading across the surface before the monsters inside were killed.

"Not just him, the others are doing well too. At this point, that guy’s basically just here to bully them, haha," a man laughed.

Others chuckled as well, watching the scene where one man strolled forward almost casually while four poor souls behind him struggled to keep their footing.

Alice, who moments ago had been deep in thought, wondering how the Academy would be blamed for its negligence, was also shocked by this turn of events. But her mind wasn’t calm, since sooner or later, people would start asking questions.

*It’s good that boy is distracting them. Maybe I was wrong about him. Ah, whatever. What should I even say to people?* Her mind raced as she tried to figure out how to calm the crowd.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and a mysterious smile formed on her lips.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the performance you’re all here for, and this is exactly how the Academy expects its students to react to sudden accidents," her voice rang out, drawing everyone’s attention back to her.

"What do you mean?"

"What accident?"

People asked, confused, wondering what their host meant.

Alice stayed silent for a moment before a glint flashed through her eyes.

"The purpose of the third round is to weed out the weak-hearted, those who tremble at the unexpected. Do you think an enemy will wait for you to figure out the situation before attacking? How naive," she said.

"Huh?"

"What?"

The crowd was confused about where she was going with this, but Alice’s gaze swept over them with unwavering confidence.

"Hehe, do you think talent and strength alone are enough? What good is strength if you can’t use it at death’s door? Nebulon Academy isn’t a place for the weak-willed."

She paused briefly, letting silence settle over the arena.

"The Academy prepared this so we could see how the participants react when something unexpected happens."

Alice smiled outwardly, but inside, she was screaming.

*What the hell am I even saying? And why are they buying it? Whatever, it works in my favor. Maybe the student council will even reward me for this.* She kept her expression steady despite the panic underneath.

"What? Is that true?"

"Now that I think about it, it actually makes sense."

"Haha, no wonder the Academy’s standards are so high."

"That’s true."

It seemed Alice had cast some kind of spell on them, because the crowd suddenly began nodding along with her explanation. Still, a few remained doubtful, glancing warily at the monsters below.

Alice noticed their skepticism. She hadn’t expected to win everyone over in one go.

"It’s true, and if you don’t believe your amazing host, you can ask my peers," she said with a smile, gesturing toward a corner where her four classmates stood, their expressions caught somewhere between confusion and dread.

Suddenly feeling everyone’s eyes on them, the four grew visibly uncomfortable at the unexpected attention.

*Why is she so confident? Don’t tell me what she’s saying is actually true.* Two of them shared the same thought, wondering what their friend knew that they didn’t.

Alice smiled at them warmly, though the look in her eyes sent a chill down their spines.

"What I’m saying is true, isn’t it?" she asked, still smiling.

The audience’s gaze settled on them, waiting for confirmation. Feeling the pressure of both the crowd and Alice’s not-so-kind smile, they nodded.

"H-haha, of course it’s true," the woman said, her voice stiff with tension.

"Yeah. If it wasn’t, we would have stopped the round a long time ago," another added.

The two of them nodded in agreement, and the crowd, having looked between them and Alice, seemed to settle. Alice, meanwhile, felt like she was floating on air.

"Haha, that’s amazing, and honestly, exciting."

"Yeah, even we were surprised. I don’t know how the participants managed to stay so calm in front of that many monsters."

"Maybe that’s exactly why they’re the ones down there, and we’re not, haha."

And just like that, Alice had convinced the crowd on the spot. Of course, a few remained unconvinced, but as the saying goes:

The crowd has no face of its own. It only has a current, and whoever controls that current is the true mastermind behind the curtain.

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