"Today is the day you will all join the MSA" the imposing figure announced with a smile, "I am General Myles. I welcome you to the MSA. We hope to watch you all bloom into great soldiers as we fight our battle against the dungeons"
"In case some of you are unaware, to join a raid you will need to have the MSA app installed on you watch devices. Since your devices carry your ID, it's as simple as downloading the application and your ready to go. Today, your ranks will be assessed and your rank will be displayed on your ID. Your rank defines which dungeons you will enter and bravely fight against for humanity. You will now be sent to get your ranks assessed." General Myles' voice was bold and firm, a voice fit only for a leader.
Soon, the crowd dispersed according to the different rows and were each lead to different rooms to have their ranks assessed.
"I can't wait! I wonder what rank I'll be" Otto exclaimed with an exuberant expression and shining hazel eyes.
"hmm. I'll be happy as long as I can get somewhere in the mid-ranks" Luke said in a monotone voice. He was barely able to pass the entrance exams, considering his lack of ability, even the lowest of the mid-ranks would be a miracle. On the other hand, his friend Otto was able to easily pass the exams with flying colours. In Luke's opinion, he is someone who'll definitely get a high rank.
Half an hour passed and it was Otto's turn to be examined.
"Wish me luck" he said with an excited and nervous smile before walking through the doors to the examination room.
Soon after, he returned to the waiting room with a grin that went from ear to ear.
"Luke, I got B rank! I got B rank!" he shouted, allowing all the remaining MSA in the waiting room to hear, "Good Luck. Hopefully we can get on the same team"
"Yeah" Luke replied with a small smile, "I doubt it, though" he muttered at an inaudible volume while Otto left the room.
"Next" the beefy man inside the room called out. The man's hair was grey and went all over, looking as though he hadn't combed it in years.
Following Luke finishing the examination, the man had an emotionless look before announcing "F Rank" and sending Luke out. Not having any time to process it, Luke simply walked out with an apathetic expression.
Seeing his friend's face, Otto sighed. Just by the lack of emotion in his gaze, it was clear he hadn't gotten a high rank. In the end, Otto decided not to pry until he could determine Luke had gotten over the shock and was prepared to talk. Rubbing salt in the wound would just be cruel.
Returning to their seats, they had gloomy expressions. Not a single word was uttered in their trips back, nor in their time waiting for the General's return.
"Okay, everyone. We have gotten back the results and added them to your personal IDs. You should be able to access them, now" General Myles announced. Moments later, the room was filled with small blue lights where everyone opened the holograms for their personal profiles and looked at their ranks. Some had joyous expressions, others had looks of sadness or horror while Luke had a look of emptiness. It wasn't that he cared for his rank or people judging him, it was that he knew something the others had not yet found out. After his father researched the MSA and asked around, he was told that those in Rank F had the highest mortality rate with a rate of 43% per mission. Considering teams were usually formed with 15-20 people, that meant around 6-8 would die every mission.
Though that doesn't sound too bad at first, that means that every ten mission, 60-80 people would die.
"Hey, Luke. Your rank doesn't really matter, alright. You'll still get by" Otto tried to comfort his friend, yet he was very ignorant to the true danger Luke was now in.
"You don't know a thing" Luke snapped before storming off.
"I guess it'll take some time" Otto deeply sighed before walking off himself. He decided he would give his friend some space to work things out with himself before attempting to help. Going over as a rank B saying that being rank F was alright would just sound stupid and seem like he was silently ridiculing Luke.
After a few days of camping alone inside of his room, Luke finally left his apartment. Carrying his phone in hand, dressed in camouflage with a small rucksack carrying useful items for raiding, Luke headed to the yellow marker on his watched map.
When the red marker finally reached the yellow one, he saw a grand black bus waiting at a private bus stop specifically for MSA members. Why was he here? He was going to complete his first raid, at a Rank F dungeon.
In the past two days he had not been sitting around doing unpragmatic things. No, he had been researching and learning about the different rank F dungeons. Figuring out which ones suited his own abilities and what things he would need to survive as well as finding out about what kind of tactics the beings of those dungeons would use to kill the MSA members. This was all, of course, on a site of the dark web that the general public couldn't access. After all, the things that happened in the dungeons, stayed in the dungeons. If anyone foolishly went against this, they soon become very susceptible to 'unfortunate accidents'.
Author's Note: If you enjoy this novel, add it to your collection. Your feedback helps out a lot to determine if I continue or drop this novel. Also, I'll be trying to update this daily and bring out an extra one or two chapters when I can. Enjoy this new novel.