Chapter 54: 54: WHERE THE HELL?

Silence fell over the arena as the pair stepped out of the portal. Every eye shifted from the two of them to the holographic display overhead.

The hologram flickered for a moment while processing the results before finally displaying the numbers.

[95%]

June gasped so hard he nearly fell out of his seat. While everyone else stared in amazement at the incredibly high score, June sat frozen in disbelief.

"Woah... that’s really high," Ryan said with a grin. "Your predictions have been pretty much spot on!"

But June wasn’t listening anymore. He stared at the percentage, rubbed his eyes, then looked again.

95%.

"That’s impossible..." he muttered under his breath. "I’m a hundred percent sure it was ninety-nine. I’m certain..."

He had worked on this story long enough to remember every major event. There was no way he had gotten something this important wrong. So how had it dropped? What changed?

The students continued whispering among themselves, impressed by the result.

"That’s the highest score so far."

"I doubt anyone’s beating that."

"Seriously, though... it’s such a waste that Simon is paired with an F-Rank Guide."

"I know, right? Someone as talented as Simon should’ve picked an A-Rank Guide or something. Why keep choosing someone that low?"

"Exactly. It’s like that Guide cast some kind of spell on him."

"He’s poor and plain. What’s even so special about him?"

June tried to focus on his thoughts, but the gossiping girls behind him just wouldn’t stop talking.

Their voices grew more irritating by the second until he finally turned around and glared at them. His eyes were ice-cold.

"What?"

"Lowly, poor F-Rank?" June raised an eyebrow. "If you’re that concerned about him, maybe work harder and improve your own compatibility instead. Scoring 10% is embarrassing enough, yet you still have the confidence to mock someone else. That’s honestly shameless."

The girls froze. For a moment, none of them knew how to respond. What shocked them even more was the fact that June had just defended Finn.

Wasn’t he supposed to be Finn’s biggest rival? Wasn’t he obsessed with Simon? Then why was he suddenly standing up for the very person he used to hate?

One of the girls finally spoke. "I didn’t score forty..." She awkwardly cleared her throat. "It was forty-one. At least get your facts right."

The other girls immediately covered her mouth. "Why would you admit that?!"

"So embarrassing!"

June rolled his eyes and turned away, no longer interested in wasting his energy on them. Just then, he heard his name. "June En and Nyx Faux."

The entire arena instantly fell silent. Every pair of eyes landed on them. Then the laughter started.

"The F-Rank duo is finally up."

"Time to watch them flop."

"I’d love to see how they cheat their way through this one."

"Exactly. Let’s see them fool the system again."

"They probably won’t even hit one percent."

June didn’t even spare them a glance. He calmly stood up and walked toward the arena with Nyx beside him. He had already made up his mind.

Failing was his only objective today. And he intended to fail as beautifully as possible. Everyone else was aiming for ninety or even a hundred percent compatibility. June? He was aiming for zero.

---

As they reached the entrance to the portal, June turned toward Nyx. By now, every student—and even the academy authorities—was watching them in complete silence. After all, news of their anomaly dungeon incident had already spread throughout the academy.

Everyone had heard that these two F-Ranks had somehow survived and cleared an anomaly dungeon. Naturally, the faculty wanted to see for themselves whether it had been genuine skill... or simply blind luck.

"Let’s do our best," Nyx said.

June smiled as he casually patted his shoulder. "Don’t force it. Let’s just leave everything to fate."

Of course, he wasn’t leaving anything to fate. He was leaving it to the pills he’d secretly bought.

The two exchanged a nod before stepping forward together. Blue light engulfed them as the portal swallowed them whole.

---

The moment they opened their eyes, a powerful gust of icy wind slammed into them. The freezing gale whipped snow and dust into their faces, making it difficult to breathe.

The cold pierced straight through their clothes and into their bones, instantly reminding them just how unforgiving their surroundings were.

"Where the hell are we...?" June shouted, but even his voice was almost swallowed by the roaring storm.

Both of them raised their arms to shield their faces, squinting through the blizzard as they struggled to see.

"Why the hell are we in Antarctica?!" June yelled, barely able to keep his footing.

Endless white stretched as far as the eye could see. Snow covered everything like an infinite frozen desert. Massive drifts rose and fell like miniature mountains while violent winds hurled snow through the air, reducing visibility to almost nothing.

Nyx calmly glanced around before speaking. "It’s not Antarctica. According to The Theory of Dungeons, page seventy-one, heading thirty-four, lines two through twenty, dungeons can’t transport people to actual locations. Simulated dungeons can only recreate environments that resemble real places. So... no, this isn’t Antarctica."

June slowly turned toward him. "...Are you being for real now??"

He stared at Nyx in disbelief. "Is this really the time for a lecture?!"

The two of them pressed their hands against the wind as they struggled to stay upright.

Moments later, June felt his boots slowly sinking into the snow.

"Oh, hell!" He yanked one foot free before the snow swallowed it completely. "We need to keep moving! If we stand still, we’re going to get buried." He forced himself forward, dragging his legs through the thick snow with every exhausting step.

Nyx followed close behind, equally struggling against the storm as they pushed deeper into the frozen wasteland.

"Why does this feel so real?" June complained, hugging himself as his teeth chattered uncontrollably. "I can literally feel my bones freezing! I should’ve worn that thick yellow winter coat instead."

He looked ahead, but there was nothing. No landmarks. No destination. Nothing but endless snow.

"And where exactly are we supposed to go?" June shouted over the storm. "What the hell are we even supposed to do here?"

Without saying another word, Nyx quietly stretched out his hand toward him. "Here..." he said. "Hold my hand."

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