"…So let's go out with a bang!" Director Kim shouted. He raised his hand into the air, and bright lights flew from his fingertips into the sky, rising higher until they exploded.
Brilliant sparkles flashed across the sky as the fireworks were explicitly designed for use during daylight hours.
Allison, James, and Karina stood behind the headmaster, big smiles on each of their faces as they looked out at the graduating students.
The students exclaimed and gasped as they stared up to the skies, awestruck as the fireworks repeatedly exploded above.
"Today is your final test. It's a simple one…" Kim said, his theatrics in peak form as he walked around and used his hands constantly during his speech.
"Unlike the Newbie Dungeons where no demi bosses or final bosses are present, your final test will include three additional goblins, and they will be much harder than you might expect."
Director Kim threw his hands forward toward the students as a dozen portals materialized before each of the party leaders.
"You will all enter the portals simultaneously, and the first party to exit will be our winning team!" Kim shouted.
He flipped his wrists, raising his palms toward the sky as he snapped his fingers, and four pristine frames appeared above the portals as viewing screens for each dungeon activated.
"Now that everything is ready, get set and…" Director Kim stressed the sentence, raising his arm into the air, holding it for dramatic effect as Shin rolled his eyes.
"GO!"
As the headmaster shouted, each student dashed forward through their respective party's portal. Despite being in the middle of the party of women, Shin was the first to enter the portal.
As soon as his boots hit the stone ground, he darted forward through the cavernous tunnels. Seconds later, the rest of his party passed through the portal.
"Alright, guys!" Lauren chimed loudly, turning around, threw her fist into the air, and slowly lowered it as she realized a member of her party was missing.
"Wait!" Sienna exclaimed, looking around frantically, "Where's Shin?"
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, turning around and stopping mid-sentence, "He was just behi-"
"Sienna!" Amy yelled, "How could you lose that loser?"
"It's not my fault!" She countered, shaking her head, "He was right in front of me when we entered the portal…"
"Ugh!" Amy exclaimed in frustration, stomping her feet as she huffed loudly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Guys, come on!" Lauren cheerfully said, "Let's just go; we can't waste too much time waiting."
The other girls nodded in agreement before they darted down the stone tunnels. Lucy quickly took the lead and rushed around a corner, skidding to a halt as she held her arms out.
"Where are the goblins?" She whispered, looking around at the small room before the party.
"What the..?" Lauren called out, looking around the room bewildered, "What's going on?!?"
Lucy's eyes widened as realization dawned on her, and she instantly dashed forward as she ran through the opposite tunnel entrance.
The girls shouted after her, but their voices fell on deaf ears, and they ran after their tank, constantly yelling for her to slow down.
Lucy ignored every word shouted at her as she threw caution to the wind and ran down the winding tunnels, dashing through the large rooms intended to house the demi bosses, but everything was silent
She passed the final corner, skidding to another halt as she ran into a barrier. She gritted her teeth and banged against it, glaring past it as she finally located the missing young man.
Moments later, the rest of the girls caught up as the realization dawned on them. Lauren and Amy stood with their mouths agape as they watched, dumbfounded.
***
Moments before…
Shin dashed through the tunnels after entering the portal; he reached behind his shoulder, gripping the massive greatsword in one hand before reaching his other hand out.
A giant greataxe appeared as he gripped both oversized weapons simultaneously, utilizing his two passives [Giant's Grip] and [Dual Weild] in conjunction with one another.
He pushed his abilities to the limit as he ran through the tunnels as fast as he could move. He ignored the goblins, running past them as he unleashed another new skill, [Battle Cry].
The ability affected a small range around him, temporarily increasing his abilities while taunting every enemy around him, forcing them to attack him.
"Well, well, well!" Director Kim exclaimed, grinning as he watched the dozen screens simultaneously.
"Is he crazy?" Allison asked, shaking her head as she watched Shin.
"No, look!" James said, pointing at the monitor above another portal, revealing John and his party similarly running past the hordes of goblins.
"Yeah, but he has his entire team to handle the wall-to-wall; Shin is alone…" Karina said, worry filling her voice.
Wall-to-wall is an MMO term that refers to ignoring the trash monsters and running to a certain point where you can't continue and must kill everything to proceed.
"Yes, but as you can see, Shin is much further ahead than John and his party. They're moving slower due to John's size." Kim pointed out as the young man dashed past the second demi boss and headed toward the final boss room.
"It won't do much good if he locks his party out of the boss room and dies, even if he is much further along than John's team…" James sighed, shaking his head.
"James!" Allison exclaimed, smacking him on his bicep, "Why would you say that?!? I thought you were rooting for Shin!!"
"I am, but it looks like he's making a big mistake…" he sighed, staring intently at the two screens.
Shin weaved between the groups of goblins as he ran past them, his gaze fixated on the rapidly approaching boss room.
He leaped into the air, twisting as he kicked off the walls, launching himself into the boss room as he soared over the final group of goblins.
He faced the Goblin Fighter as the horde of goblins charged behind him, their eyes filled with bloodlust at the sight of the young man.