The tank was endless.
Julius did not try to fight past the dolphins, up to the surface. The icy water wrapped around him like an old friend, filling his lungs, dragging him into its depths. His vision blurred, his limbs grew heavy, and the last thing he felt was the cold, sinking into his bones and even into his mind.
Then, nothing.
No light. No darkness. Just an empty pause between what was and what would be.
Until—
Julius gasped, sucking in air like it was the rarest thing in the world. His body convulsed as he rolled onto his side, coughing up water that no longer belonged to him. The ground beneath him was smooth, cold—too smooth to be natural.
As his senses returned, he realized he wasn't alone.
All around him, others were waking up, gasping, clutching at themselves as if to confirm they were still real. Boys and girls his age, dressed in the same tattered clothes they had died in. Some were covered in blood. Others bore wounds that should have been fatal.
Julius was a little odd, he had returned in a state where he was completely out of oxygen, thus he was inhaling air like a mad-man. He recieved several strange looks and a girl even tried to walk up and help him.
"Ahh. Ahh. Why does it hurt so much?" Julius clutched at his chest. It felt like his mind was being torn apart, his body was still jerking violently. "Drowning... What a trash idea. One last way to torture myself before death and-."
"Hello? Are you alright?"
"Oh yes, I'm fine."
She then left, Julius wasn't actually dying, he just looked like it. Other than that initial reaction his wounds were non-existant. Meanwhile other people had more present problems.
A girl with burnt sleeves stared at her trembling hands. A boy with a deep slash across his chest ran his fingers over the slightly healed skin. A red-haired kid sat with wide eyes, his fingers digging into the gunshot hole in his shirt, as if the bullet should still be lodged there, there was still a wound but it had been healed for the most part.
And then there was Julius—soaking wet, still feeling the phantom grip of the water pulling him under. Still hearing the cackle of those cursed dolphins.
Before anyone could speak, a voice cut through the confusion.
"Good, you're all awake."
Julius turned, his breath hitching. A short, wrinkled man stood before them, dressed in an immaculate white robe. His face was ancient, but his eyes gleamed with something sharp, something knowing.
"I am the God of this place, mind we are not on Earth." the old man said simply. "And you all? You have died. Luckily, I am a merciful God and in need of your help."
Silence. No one moved.
Julius swallowed.
"Well," the god continued, his lips curling into a smirk, "It's not like any of you have a choice. I've given you all a second chance, but not for free. You're here because I have a use for you. If you pass the trial sufficiently, you may learn more and continue in my world. If not, I'm afraid you will have to be thrown away before we can even get to the real problem."
The god gestured, and suddenly, the smooth white ground beneath them shifted. Shapes formed, rising and falling like waves—mountains, forests, ruins of cities, all carved from an endless sea of white blocks outlined in flickering blue.
"This," the god declared, "is your first trial."
Julius felt a chill that had nothing to do with the water still dripping from his clothes.
"You will fight. You will struggle. And depending on how you perform, I will decide how much power you deserve. Remember, I only have a shared pool of power to divy, those who do not work for it will not be rewarded. These people aren't your friends, they are the people who will take your power."
"For starters, I will give you all a system because that is the boundary that seperates you from the people of my world. Anything over that will depend on how you deal with the trial. Good luck, I believe many of you can make good use of this second chance.
{Trial Has Begun}
Julius blinked.
A moment ago, he had been floating in nothingness. Drowned. Dead.
Now, he stood in a cavern, surrounded by jagged stone walls and tunnels that stretched in every direction like the roots of a great tree. The air smelled of damp earth and something… old.
Before he could even move, a notification arose from his system, a bright red screen popped up before him.
{PICK A CLASS: 100 Options, Can NOT be changed later.}
{Based on character: System reccomends rogue}
{Accept?}
'Ah, I should check the options.'
Julius scrolled through the list, options went from Knight to Ranger to Roach. 'I should pick something simple and safe...'
Julius looked at the system reccomendation. 'Rogue... That works for me.'
{Class Confirmed: Rogue}
He wasn't alone.
Above the heads of four others, glowing blue text displayed their names, as if labeling them in a game.
Garrick – A mountain of a guy at least 7 feet tall, a bit of a chubby body. He had sunken eyes and it seemed he had chosen the {Tank} class.
Yara – She was tying her sleek black hair into a ponytail inside the cavern. She carried herself like someone who expected the world to listen when she spoke. {MAGE} class.
Fraero – Short and with gaunt cheeks. His wavy silver hair and piercing blue eyes gave him a princely air, and the fact that he had chosen the Knight class only cemented that image. He looked at Julius and the others like they were teammates, not strangers.
Kiera – A wiry, tan-skinned girl with curly brownish hair and sharp features. She had an easy smirk but moved with a practiced caution, she didn't seem to trust those around her.. The Ranger class icon hovered beside her name.
Julius glanced at his own name hovering above his head:
Julius – Rogue
He was still wearing his cold black joggers and he was still in his soaked black hoodie.
A glowing blue screen appeared before each of them, showing the first benefits of their chosen classes.
Julius didn't hesitate. He needed something quick, an advantage for this trial, he hoped his class would give him just that.
[Class Selected: Rogue]
[Level: 1]
His body tingled, knowledge settling into his mind.
[Unlocked Abilities:]
Stealth (Lv.1): Momentarily blend into surroundings, reducing visibility. Stealth is broken if you choose to attack someone.
Pickpocket (Lv.1): Attempt to steal a small item from a target.
Garrick cracked his knuckles. "Tank. Hell yeah." His muscles bulged slightly, as if the class itself had reinforced him.
Yara studied the staff that had appeared in her hands. "Mage. It says I can use basic elemental spells."
Fraero adjusted his new armor, his expression unreadable. "Knight. But I've never wielded a sword before..."
Kiera twirled a shortbow between her fingers. "Ranger. I was in the archery club for 3 years..."
Before anyone could celebrate their new class benefits—
{WARNING: Incoming Monsters.}{Preparing Difficulty Roll…}
A six-sided die materialized in midair, glowing with shifting words: Easy, Intermediate ,Challenging, Hard, Extreme, Impossible.
It spun.
Julius held his breath.
The die landed.
A long, slow pause.
{DIFFICULTY: IMPOSSIBLE.}
{Rewards Set To 5X, Difficulty Set To 10X
{Your weapons have been created, please pick them up.}
A set of weapons fell from thin air in the middle of the cavern causing a cacophony of clatters and metallic clangs as they hit the floor.
A second of silence. They walked up to pick their weapons.
Then—
"What?!" Kiera nearly dropped her bow. "No, no, no. That's gotta be a mistake."
Yara's fingers tightened around her staff. "How do we beat 'impossible' when we literally just got here, I have no idea how this magic works! I just didn't want to get hurt."
Garrick scowled, cracking his neck. "Pff. Maybe it's just a name. Maybe 'impossible' isn't actually impossible. Otherwise how is it a trial? He said he was testing us! Why would he just send us to death?"
Fraero's lips pressed into a thin line. "I see your point, the system did say the rewards are set to 5X and the difficulty is 10X. We can assume it is possible, just vastly unfavourable for us..."
Julius felt cold sweat forming at the back of his neck. "It rolled randomly, right?" He swallowed. "That means this isn't balanced for us. We're supposed to struggle. Maybe even die, simply because we were unlucky. The best thing we can do is get into a formation of sorts, and stay calm." He handled his dagger strangely, he would have to get personal to use it. That frightened him, he didn't know if this was right for him, but there was only one way to find out.
The cavern trembled.
A deep, guttural growl echoed from the tunnels.
The system spoke one last time.
{Prepare for battle. You have been given 600 seconds to prepare}
{599...}
{598...}
As the system's timer went down on their screens, they decided to draft a plan.
"Well, let's see what we have to work with." Julius muttered, glancing at all their classes once more.
Fraero crossed his arms, his armor clinking slightly. "We don't have time to overthink. We need a plan that plays to our strengths."
Garrick huffed. "That's easy. I used to be a boxer. I probably have the best endurance out of all of us, how about we just let them hit me and you guys take them from behind."
Yara shot him a glare. "That's how you die first."
Kiera tapped her bow against her leg. "She's right. We're facing 'Impossible' difficulty. We need strategy. No brute force method, we don't want to trade evenly with the enemies, we need to outsmart them in some way."
Fraero nodded. "Agreed. I'll be at the front. I trust myself to fight without getting myself in dangerous scenarios. My Knight class gives me armor and durability, so I'll take point. Garrick, you'll be on the front lines with me, since you're a tank, I trust you can take a hit for me if I get caught off guard."
Garrick cracked his knuckles. "Yeah, yeah. I'll try not to get killed. This class of mine seems pretty powerful though, so we'll see how things turn out."
Julius took a deep breath. "Yara, you should be mid-range. Stay close enough to support us with magic, but don't get caught up in the fight. Because we don't have a healer or a priest to save you."
Yara gave a slight smirk. "Works for me. I'll focus on fire magic—it's the most efficient option I think. I should be able to set one on fire, and let's hope they're all flammable."
Kiera raised an eyebrow. "And what about me?"
"You stay at the back and take shots whenever you can. If things get overwhelming, you can move up and provide cover fire," Julius said. "You should aim for enemies who aren't too bulky. Try to aim away from us, so for example if the enemies have a mage at the back, that's your target."
Kiera nodded. "I can work with that. You seem like you know about this stuff..."
"I've played these games before... Just online" Julius coughed, he had played games. An unhealthy amount in his life-time before his parents left.
Fraero turned to Julius. "And you?"
Julius hesitated for only a second before replying. "I'll be a floater. Rogues aren't built for direct combat, but I can strike when enemies are distracted, disarm them, or pick off stragglers. If things go bad, I'll be able to burst in and provide cover angles. For example if you get disarmed I can charge in and burst an enemy. Worst comes to worst, I could stealth and try to assasinate high profile enemies."
Fraero met his gaze and nodded. "Good, just don't get any other ideas with that stealth. Now let's go over just our positioning."
He took a small rock and started drawing on the cavern floor. "I'll stand here, holding the front line with Garrick." He drew two marks in the front. "Yara stays here, behind us, so she can cast without getting hit and be the closest to our protection." A mark behind them. "Kiera, you're farther back, making sure nothing sneaks up on us." A mark in the rear. "And Julius…" Fraero looked up. "You stay mobile. Move where you're needed."
Julius gave a sharp nod. "Yeah, I'm assuming none of us will be that proficient with our weapons so we need to assume errors will be made."
"Of course." Yara spoke, twirling her staff around. "Fireball!" A tiny flame wisp emerged.
"FIREBALL!" A sizeable lumb of fire then blasted into the ceiling, casting rocks and dust down.
"Agh Fuck." Garrick swore. "That hit me on the head."
"Sorry, just testing." Yara began practicing smaller spells. From water sphere, to fire balls to wind pushes.
The timer continued ticking down.
They talked more, but it was mostly just repeating what had already been said.
{300 seconds remaining.}
Yara clenched her fists. "We don't know what we're up against, so we should assume the worst. Julius, check your stealth skill. If you can scout ahead, that might give us a head start."
Julius checked his interface.
[Stealth (Lv.0)] – Reduce visibility for a short duration. Effect is broken if making sudden movement or attacking.
He activated it. A faint shimmer spread across his body, blurring his outline. It wasn't perfect invisibility, but it was better than nothing.
"Huh? I can still see you." Yara squitned her eyes. "But you're like a little blurry for some reason."
"It's not total stealth, but it'll work. I'll try to take a quick look," Julius whispered. "Stay ready."
Moving carefully, he crept toward one of the tunnels. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, but he kept his breathing steady. The cavern twisted into darkness, and as he moved forward, he finally saw something.
Eyes.
Dozens of glowing red eyes.
Julius swallowed hard and stepped back as quietly as he could.
{250 seconds remaining.}
He hurried back to the group and deactivated Stealth. "We've got company," he said. "A lot of them. The tunnel was pretty small, so that means the creatures must be small too. Maybe goblins?"
Fraero's expression hardened. "How many?"
Julius exhaled. "I couldn't count. But more than enough to overwhelm us."
Kiera clicked her tongue. "Figures. I need focus to shoot this bow, if any of them go on me I need someone to peel them off for me."
Yara flexed her fingers. "Or we just have to hit hard and fast, so they all die before they can reach you and me."
{100 seconds remaining.}
Garrick rolled his shoulders. "No point in giving up now, it looks like we're gonna have to give it all if we want to use this second chance well. Are you guys here with me?"
"Of course."
"Yes."
"I trust you all."
"Let's do this."
The group's confidence had risen from the start, they clutched their new weapons and reorganised their strategy one last time.
{50 seconds remaining.}
The cavern trembled again. This time, the sound of claws scraping against stone echoed toward them.
{10 seconds remaining.}
They gripped their weapons. Kiera drew back her bow.
{5...}
Julius clenched his daggers.
{4...}
Fraero raised his sword.
{3...}
Yara's hands glowed with fire as she clutched the staff bravely.
{2...}
Garrick cracked his knuckles, his muscles hardening as the human tank prepared.
{1...}
A roar erupted from the tunnel.
{Begin.}