Zhu Kang fell onto the sandy training ground with a thud. The soft sand cushioned his fall a bit, but the fall impacted his back and his hips.
"w-what the hell..." he grumbled, staring up at the women. She had a nasty smirk on her face as she looked down on him.
"Enjoy my new playground. I've upgraded it just for you." She waved at him and sat down in a chair comfortably.
'Playground?' Kang glanced around. It was just a sand-filled box, nothing more. 'what did she upgrade here? System, can you scan this area?'
'Level insignificant. Please try later,'
He silently gritted his teeth. 'I have to be calm…..then system; can I have my starter pack?'
'.... Host is illegible for the offer.'
'You.... you.. Stupid piece of shi…... no, I can't lose my cool here. I have an audience.' He took a deep breath, holding back his fury. This system was testing his patient a lot.
Usually, whenever a host was sent to a new world, they would always be gifted with a small amount of coins called the starter pack. This was so that the host can integrate better here.
But this nasty fucking system refused to give I'm even that!!
{"Training ground activated - Level 1. Number of heroes 1, simulation initiating,"]
A sudden announcement made him freeze in shock.
'What simulation? What is going on?'
The sand under him suddenly vanished, leaving behind a glass surface.
The temperature dropped low.
"It's….. What is this...."
Snow fluttered down from the small cylinder like structure on the ceiling.
Zhu Kang instantly moved to a corner, keeping his body warm. Cold is his biggest enemy. At lower temperature, his body stiffened up.
His muscles did not work as well as it did before.
'Ah, I hate this girl. My sexy sister turned out to be a villainous sister. Wasn't she supposed to be a hero? Why is she acting so mean?'
He shivered uncontrollably in the corner.
Snow piled up, almost burying him in it. He swiftly dug around him a bit, keeping the cold snow away from contact.
he glanced up pitifully, hoping the young girl would let him out of there.
She just smiled. "it's your entrance exam. Pass it fair and square to get in."
'Entrance exam. I don't want to get in.. so.. if I fail this test.. I will be able to leave this place. While transporting me to other schools, I can escape…'
Feeling the bone-chilling cold, He gritted his teeth. 'I can tolerate it… its just snow..'
In just a few minutes, the snowfall turned into hail. Little rock shattered down forcefully.
'Now what?! Hail? Are you kidding me… agh why does this person like to torture me.. Does she even know that cold is my weakness? Nothing matters, I just have to endure a bit…nope can't do that….'
Zhu Kang stood up and dramatically fainted into the freshly piled up snow. With one eye cracked open, he looked up. 'You have to stop this when I'm unconscious, right? Come on fast, reject my application sexy sister…'
"Oh you died so soon? i had so much prepared for you boohoo..'"
{'Initiating level two.} a mechanical voice announced inside the training hall.
'Level two?…' at this point he realized… this girl really meant what she said earlier.
The hail balls which were as small as skittles changed into huge football-shaped crystals and showered down him.
She wanted to kill him..
He hurriedly squatted down, hiding his vital parts.
This was an open training room. There was nothing he could hide behind. Only the small corner gave him an ounce of warmth.
He could not feel the tips of his fingertips anymore... . His muscles tightened up so much he could barely move...
'Ice and cold, my only weakness. How did this girl even know about this? What can I even do? Should I start a fire?' he glanced around. There was absolutely nothing there he could use.
Trembling, he glanced up at the girl. "Let me out of here. I don't feel good,"
She just raised a brow. "Don't feel good? But we are just getting started."' Her muffled voice echoed in the class.
'Only started? I think I'm going about to end....' he blew warmth into his freezing palm and vigorously rubbed against each other.
"Increasing training level to level 3," a sweet voice whispered.
He glanced up at her in shock. 'Level three? Level one is already a death condition for me? There are more levels?! This girl really wants me dead. All because that stupid guy carried me in. Is he that popular with women?'
'That's why I always stay away from popular people.' Eh cried in his heart.
The ground under him trembled violently.
"What now?!"
The snow that had mounted up trembled and a hand huge ice twig popped out. Slowly a soft-looking snowman crawled out, shaking off the excess snow. Its head was a small ball of snow and its body was made of a bigger ball. Its hands were just twigs covered in a layer of snow. It glanced at him with shining blue eyes.
"Snowman? I could really use a hug"
{"Target identified. Initiating kill mode,"}
It's beautiful blue eyes turned a sinister shade of red.
"ahhh! Not you too! You were supposed to be a cute snowman! Snowman can't kill!" Kang bolted to another way. His muscles were still stiffening up. He could not run as fast as he usually could.
It was all adrenalin….
{"Weapons activated."}
Its twig-like arms suddenly changed into razor-sharp metal claws.
It swung its claws at him with a small growl.
"ahhh!! No, don't! Don't kill me!!" he screamed running away from it.
*****
Altren heard a familiar voice scream for help.
"Alta?" a younger woman who was next to him gently patted his arm. "so.. can we go out for some coffee if you would like.. I mean if you don't like coffee we can even go out for some donuts..."
Altren dashed through the hallway, searching for the direction of that familiar voice. It was definitely coming from one of the training halls.
Hurriedly, he peered into the fogged glass.
Most of them were engaged by younger heroes who were just beginning their training.
"let me live! I don't want to die!" a small cry came from his right.
Altren ran in that direction. "Kang?... why is he crying for help?"
At a certain training room, he saw a copious amount of snow piling up. "This much snow? What's going on? It must be on a higher level,"
Novice trainees are only allowed to train in level one in each of these special training halls. a seasoned hero was allowed to go up to level 7 of the training. He himself has only passed level five in this particular training hall.
"God save my life! Sexy sister, spare me! I won't look at you like that!!" a voice shouted loudly.
"Kang!" he hurriedly ran to the first-floor observatory room. "Miss Eryst, what are you…." on hindsight he saw Kang running away from a huge five feet snowman. "Fuck! Let him out!"
Eryst casually smiled at him. "Why? He can deal with it."
"He is a fucking novice! Let him out now!" Altren glared at her. "Stop this simulation now!"
"Novice? So what? This is the minimum criteria for this year's selection. If he can't pass, he must go to the other schools," she nonchalantly whispered.
"If I stop now, he fails."
"You!"
"It's my selection year. I have all the authority. I can easily toss him out of this place. Do you want that, little Altren?"
Altren silently gritted his teeth. This place had a very steady hierarchy. The powerful controls all.
Eryst was one of the earliest students who passed this school, and she was one of the five mentors. She had every right to reject Kang from his application.
But….
"This academy is mine. My mother gave it to me! I have a say in it!"
Eryst just tilted her head with a nasty smirk on her face. "Really? Darling, I still can't comprehend how dumb you are. Don't you know, you are just a figurehead? Aaron is the only person able to rule this place. You are just his pawn. So act like one and scoot. You are wasting my precious play time,"