He could feel the weight of the crowd's gaze on him. His shot at greatness was just one step away.
After staring at the creature for a moment—perhaps a moment too long—Adam swallowed his nerves. His hand slowly moved toward the creature's glistening fangs. His heart raced in his chest as he reached out. One touch. That's all it would take.
Then—BAM—the creature's eyes snapped wide open, as though it had just come to some unsettling realization.
Gurgle...
A deep, ominous rumble emanated from the creature's throat.
"Uh... is this normal?" the Doom-Breaker examiner muttered, his brow furrowed as he gave Adam a side-eye.
Before anyone could react, the creature's mouth shot open, and with a sickening sound, a stream of thick, green slime shot out, covering Adam from head to toe.
The smell? A blend of rotting garbage, decaying insects, and stomach acid so foul that it could've made a corpse gag. The air around him thickened with a hot, rancid fog.
"Did… did it just hurl on him?" someone gasped, wide-eyed and horrified.
"Ugh, I'm gonna puke... just from watching this."
"Get him away! He's got that 'swamp monster chic' going on now!"
Chaos erupted around him. The crowd scrambled, covering their noses and fleeing as far away as possible. Adam stood there, drenched in the creature's vomit, the testing square transforming into a chaotic mess of gagging and panicked shouting.
Adam's heart sank. This wasn't exactly the grand moment he had envisioned. His path to greatness? More like a detour straight into disaster.
Was this really his fate? The so-called peak of his life?
In the midst of the mayhem, the Doom-Breaker examiner's eyes widened in disbelief. His documents, those official papers he had been holding, slipped from his hands and fluttered to the ground with a soft thud.
The examiner's voice trembled. "Quantum Resonance… Is that... could it really be Quantum Resonance?"
Adam wiped off the sticky, foul-smelling mess from his face, his hands shaking. The creature, meanwhile, gave an almost comical burp, one that sounded oddly satisfied. It then licked Adam's face with its long, slimy tongue in a way that could only be described as disturbingly affectionate.
Then came the declaration that would change everything.
"Get the Warfare Department on the horn! We've got ourselves a genius in the making!"
The examiner's voice rang out across the testing square, his words cutting through the chaos of the crowd's laughter, complaints, and gagging. Adam blinked in confusion. A genius? What was going on? Wasn't he the guy who had just turned into the creature's personal trash can?
Before Adam could fully process the situation, things escalated even further.
Boom!
The massive fence at the edge of the square exploded with a violent crash, sending sand and debris flying through the air.
A Doom-Breaker, bloodied and battered, crashed to the ground, his eyes wide with terror.
He gasped out to the crowd, "Monsters! A wave of monsters is attacking the city! Everyone, run!"
Roar!
A monstrous creature emerged from the smoke and dust—a three-headed hellhound, barking furiously. The hellhound lunged forward and tore the spine out of the nearest night watchman with a savage bite.
Not far behind, a girl dressed in black, holding a massive scythe, swung her weapon with terrifying precision. She struck down another guard with a single, brutal blow.
Bright red blood sprayed into the air as her victim's head sailed through the chaos. The girl stood in the wind, scanning the crowd until her gaze fell on Adam.
Behind her, a wave of grotesque creatures followed, their twisted forms pouring into the testing square. The strange Alienor charged into the crowd, turning the square into a battlefield.
The chaos was immediate and overwhelming.
Adam stood frozen in disbelief. What was happening? Was this really happening?
Suddenly, a system prompt sounded in his ears:
[Task Completed: Congratulations to the host for completing the objective.]
[Reward: 10,000 Doomsteed Experience Points. These can be used to upgrade the host's Doomsteed abilities.]
[Reward 2: Unlock the exclusive skill "Monster [Alienor] Encyclopedia."]
[New tasks detected…]
[Mission 1: Survive the Monster Wave... ]
[Mission Description: Ah, survival. That little thing we all take for granted—until giant freaks show up to rip us apart. Hurry, go run, or you'll be the next appetizer!]
[Mission 2: Tame a Wild Monster and Turn It Into Your Doomsteed...]
[Mission Description: A Doom-Breaker without a Doomsteed is like a knight without a sword, or a chef without a kitchen knife. You might be tough, but even the best chef can't cook without his knives! Ready to try your hand at becoming a monster-tamer? Bet you can't wait to meet your new friend…]
"..."
"Really? You think you're hilarious, huh?" Adam muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "I didn't sign up for this…"
Before Adam could finish ranting, a small red imp zipped past his head with a cackling sound. It was like a demon-sized mosquito on steroids.
"Uh, okay…" Adam blinked, but didn't have much time to react before the fat guy standing next to him screamed as the imp swooped down, grabbed him by the shirt, and flew off.
"NOOOOOOOO!"
The poor guy was plucked up like a prize turkey, carried off into the air and promptly eaten by a horde of monsters.
"Well, survival is indeed the priority," Adam said dryly, turning to face the pandemonium. "You don't have to tell me twice!"
He didn't need any more convincing. Adam turned and sprinted for his life, away from the monstrosity that had turned the testing square into a free-for-all buffet for the beasts. The air was thick with the sounds of shrieks, crunches, and the occasional squelch as the monsters did what they did best—destroy everything in sight.
The Doom-Breakers around him were just as useless as a wet napkin in a knife fight, torn apart in seconds by the relentless assault.
"Well, that's one way to thin the herd," Adam muttered to himself, dodging a flailing tentacle. "Survival of the fittest, my ass."
As he ran, he kept glancing over his shoulder, trying to avoid the monsters that were now taking great interest in him. The ground beneath him was littered with the dismembered bodies of his fellow test candidates, their screams still hanging in the air like a death metal concert on loop.
"Run, Adam, run!" he screamed internally, as his feet pounded the ground faster than he thought humanly possible. "Come on, legs, don't fail me now!"
At this point, Adam was pretty sure his only chance at survival was outrunning the people who were slower than him—his classmates. One step, one scream, and the thought of outrunning certain death was the only thing that kept him moving forward.
Run! Run! RUN!
Forget destiny. Forget glory. There was only one thing on his mind now: not being monster food.
Even as limbs and blood were flying everywhere, with splatters of hot blood hitting his face, Adam didn't flinch. He kept moving, as brisk as someone being chased by an entire horde of monsters could be.
"Well, at least I was right about the whole wealth, power, and beauty thing," he thought. "Just need to survive to claim my prizes."
Just as he was about to congratulate himself for surviving another second, swish!
A tall figure landed right in front of him like a grim reaper with a flair for the dramatic.
Her long black hair cascaded down her back like a dark waterfall, and her black robe clung to her like it was tailor-made to showcase her figure. Very fashionably deadly.
She was holding a sickle that probably had its own personal vendetta against him, and her eyes, though beautiful, glowed crimson-because why not?
Before he could take a step back, a screen flashed before his eyes. It wasn't an ad for a new phone or some irritating pop-up. Oh no. It was something much
worse.
[Alienor Name: Hell Queen]
[Affiliation: Wild Alienor]
[Level: ???]
[Alienor Compendium: ???]
[Alienor Equipment:???]
[Basic Ability: Deadly combat skills. Think of a mix between a ninja and a blender set to 'liquefy.' Every move is lethal.]
[Special Ability: ???]
[Enemy and Us Comparison: You're about as much of a threat as a soggy noodle. Good luck, champ!]
Adam couldn't help but stare.
"Wait... what?" He tried to process the information. "I can't even see her level? And she's some kind of... demon child in a robe with a sickle?"
This was so unfair.
"I swear this system is trolling me," Adam muttered under his breath. "What do you mean I can't even detect her special abilities? I don't even know if I can make it out of here alive-this is totally useless."
Adam took another look at the screen, hoping for some miracle—maybe a glitch or anything to indicate a way out. But no, still a bunch of question marks. It was as if the universe had rolled up its sleeves just to mess with him.
Of course. Just his luck.
And to make it worse, this Alienor in front of him—who looked deceptively like some eerie, porcelain doll—had been keeping her eyes on him since the monster wave started.
She'd come here just for him. He was her target, her prey.
"Uh… h-hi there?" he stammered, his hand halfway to an awkward wave before he stopped himself. Immediately, he cursed under his breath. Seriously, Adam? You're trying to make small talk with an Alienor? Might as well hand over your soul while you're at it.
With an icy, unreadable stare, the Hell Queen didn't say a word. She simply raised her oversized scythe and swung it down, the blade slicing through the air with an ominous hiss.
Yep, this is it…
Adam's mind went blank as he stood frozen in terror. Then, with a sigh of resignation, he squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the inevitable.