The arena buzzed with tension. Fighters of all ages, shapes, and backgrounds stood in the massive underground hall, their voices a mix of nervous chatter and quiet confidence. The ceiling stretched high above them, lined with massive floodlights that cast an eerie glow over the participants.
Luka stood among them, his katana strapped to his waist.
He could feel it—the weight of the moment.
All around him, Jōki pulsed in the air, thick with anticipation. Some fighters stretched, others cracked their knuckles. A few stood motionless, their eyes locked ahead as if already preparing for battle.
Then—
A loud mechanical whirr echoed through the arena.
Luka and Eros turned as a floating, spherical drone descended from the ceiling. Its smooth, metallic surface reflected the light, and a deep, robotic voice rang out across the hall.
“ALL PARTICIPANTS—ATTENTION.”
The room fell silent.
More drones appeared, hovering above the fighters.
“WELCOME TO THE FIRST TRIAL OF THE TOURNAMENT.”
A massive screen flickered to life behind the stage, displaying a set of glowing red letters.
《 FIRST TEST: SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 》
A few fighters tensed. Some smirked.
Sugu, standing nearby, let out a nervous chuckle. “That… doesn’t sound fun.”
Eros grinned. “Sounds fun to me.”
Luka just listened.
“THE RULES ARE SIMPLE.”
The drone’s voice remained neutral, but the underlying weight of its words sent a chill through the crowd.
“RULE ONE: NO WEAPONS. ALL WEAPONS MUST BE SURRENDERED IMMEDIATELY.”
The drones hummed, releasing a faint pulse of Jōki. Luka’s katana jerked at his waist—then lifted from its sheath, floating toward the machine.
He didn’t resist.
One by one, weapons detached from their owners, levitating into the air before disappearing into the storage drones.
The fighters visibly tensed. Some hesitated, reluctant to part with their blades and firearms, but the machines didn’t offer a choice.
Eros scoffed. “Great. Hand-to-hand it is.”
Sugu groaned. “I’m going to die.”
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Luka simply clenched his fist.
“RULE TWO: JōKI USAGE IS LIMITED. ANY PARTICIPANT WHO OVEREXERTS THEMSELVES WILL BE ELIMINATED.”
A murmur spread through the crowd.
Sugu’s face paled. “Wait, what?”
Luka frowned. “So, we can’t go all out.”
Eros smirked. “Guess they don’t want the fights to be over too fast.”
“RULE THREE: THERE ARE NO TEAMS. EVERYONE HERE IS YOUR ENEMY.”
The atmosphere immediately shifted.
The easy camaraderie between some fighters vanished.
People stepped away from their friends. Jōki flickered around them, as if testing the air.
Luka caught a few eyes lingering on him. Measuring him. Calculating.
Eros grinned. “I like this rule.”
“RULE FOUR: ONLY 100 PARTICIPANTS WILL PASS. IF YOU CANNOT STAND OR FIGHT, YOU ARE ELIMINATED.”
100.
Luka’s eyes scanned the massive hall. Over 260 fighters stood here.
That meant more than half would be gone by the end of this test.
“RULE FIVE: THE TEST WILL END WHEN TIME RUNS OUT OR WHEN ONLY 100 REMAIN.”
Sugu let out a slow breath. “Okay… That’s not so bad.”
Then—
“RULE SIX: A SPECIAL CONDITION WILL BE ANNOUNCED ONCE THE TEST BEGINS.”
Silence.
Eros’s grin widened. “Oh, this is gonna be fun.”
Sugu, meanwhile, looked like he wanted to vomit.
The drone hovered closer. A countdown appeared on the screen.
[ 10 SECONDS UNTIL TEST BEGINS ]
Luka rolled his shoulders.
His body felt light, sharp.
The adrenaline was already building.
[ 5 SECONDS ]
Across the hall, Renmei stretched her arms, looking completely unfazed.
Sugu clenched his fists, muttering something under his breath.
Eros cracked his knuckles. “Luka. Let’s see what you can do.”
Luka didn’t answer.
[ 3 ]
The lights above flickered.
The drones buzzed.
[ 2 ]
Luka exhaled.
[ 1 ]
Then—
The ground—vanished.
For a split second, Luka felt nothing but weightlessness.
Then—
A roar of wind filled his ears as he plunged downward.
The air rushed past him, stealing his breath. He twisted instinctively, his limbs flailing for balance, but there was nothing to hold onto. Just an abyss, stretching endlessly below.
People screamed.
Curses, shouts, panic—chaos erupted as the fighters plummeted into the unknown.
Luka’s mind raced. A pitfall trap? No. This is part of the test.
Some participants tried to control their descent, using their Jōki to slow their fall. But the second they activated their energy—
BZZZT.
A sharp shockwave pulsed through the air.
Luka gritted his teeth as a burning jolt ran through his nerves, searing through his body like white-hot lightning.
The Jōki users who had tried to break their fall screamed in pain. Their energy backfired on them, sending them spinning wildly.
So that’s the special condition.
No Jōki during freefall.
Luka clenched his fists.
Eros, who had been falling nearby, laughed. “Oh man, they’re evil for this.”
Sugu, on the other hand, was screaming. “WHY?! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!”
Luka turned his head midair. The pit was deeper than he expected.
The walls surrounding them weren’t just rock and dirt. As the shadows of the abyss peeled away, he saw massive steel panels embedded into the stone, lined with strange symbols and glowing circuitry.
So this place isn’t natural… it was built.
Which meant—
It had a purpose.
The drones’ voice echoed from above.
“WELCOME TO THE REAL BATTLEFIELD.”
Luka’s heart pounded.
He braced himself.
The ground was rushing up to meet them.
BOOM!
The impact sent a shockwave through the arena.
Luka rolled the second his body hit the ground, absorbing the force through muscle memory. He landed in a crouch, dust kicking up around him.
Others weren’t so lucky.
Some slammed into the floor hard, groaning in pain. A few managed to land on their feet, but stumbled from the sheer force.
A few fighters weren’t moving at all.
Eros hit the ground with a sharp thud beside him, but instead of groaning, he sat up and grinned.
“That was insane.” He wiped a trickle of blood from his lip. “Let’s do that again.”
Sugu collapsed nearby, gasping. “No. Never again.”
Luka barely heard them.
He was already scanning the area.
They had landed inside a massive underground chamber, almost like a ruined colosseum. Towering walls of steel and stone surrounded them, and dim, flickering lights lined the cavern’s ceiling.
The floor was cracked and uneven, littered with debris—bones, shattered weapons, and rusted chains.
A battlefield.
A graveyard.
And far above them, the hole they had fallen from had already sealed shut.
No escape.
The other fighters were recovering, their eyes darting around. Some were already forming small groups, keeping their distance from obvious threats.
Then—
The drones spoke again.
“CONGRATULATIONS ON SURVIVING THE DROP.”
Luka wiped dust off his clothes.
Surviving?
So some hadn’t.
He looked around again. He counted at least twenty people missing.
Eros let out a low whistle. “Damn. They didn’t even make it to the real fight.”
Sugu paled. “People already died?”
“YOUR NEXT OBJECTIVE IS SIMPLE.”
A loud mechanical hiss echoed through the chamber.
Across the battlefield, thick steel doors began to open.
A dark tunnel stretched beyond them—one that led deeper into the underground.
The screen above them flickered, revealing bold, glowing letters.
《 FIRST TEST: SURVIVAL CONTINUES 》
“GET TO THE EXIT BEFORE TIME RUNS OUT.”
The moment those words registered—
Something moved.
Luka caught the shift instantly.
A low growl.
Dozens of glowing red eyes flickered in the darkness beyond the tunnel.
Then—
The growling turned into a deafening, inhuman screech.
From the shadows—
They came.