Chapter 37: Sending A Message
Kiki’s system was more useful than she herself gave it credit for, and her acting skills made her all the more valuable too. On the morning of the competition, each group was brought to a designated training room by a teacher.
My group consisted of me, Luna, and Kiki, all dressed in our combat suits. The names of the heroes participating in this competition were kept confidential to protect the students’ identities.
"Please choose the dungeon your group will enter," the teacher instructed. Our group’s teacher was Mr. Samuels.
He displayed a holographic screen showing the different dungeons. There were five in total: The Dead Man’s Grove, a forest dungeon where the monsters resembled decaying humanoid figures made of vines.
The next dungeon was a desert area called Sandman’s Lair, inhabited by scorpion-like beasts. The remaining dungeons didn’t stand out much; most resembled caves and were filled with insect-like creatures.
We had already made a decision about which dungeon to enter. The school had provided us with a list of the dungeons beforehand. Since Kiki was the official leader of our group, she was the one who informed them of our choice.
"We choose Dead Man’s Grove."
Mr. Samuels reacted quickly, picking up a gray orb and crushing it. Immediately, a swirl of blue energy began to envelop, and with his permission, we stepped inside.
In an instant, after passing through the gate, we found ourselves in a deep forest area shrouded in fog. The fog was so thick that visibility was limited to just a few feet in any direction. The constant movement created by the fog was overwhelming for my eyes, and I felt a bit dizzy.
The foggy terrain was bad for visibility, but still, I instructed Kiki to use her system. I had no idea when she did, since my eyes weren’t falling for her illusions; I only knew it when Luna reacted.
"W-what’s going on? How did the two of you... why do I..."