[Somewhere in the High District.]

​BOOOOM!!

​The concussive shockwave of a detonated energy-strike echoed through the cavernous concrete. Eve finally shattered the reinforced, rune-carved head of the stone golem with a heavy swing of her blade. As the massive construct crumbled into inert, dusty rubble, she collapsed hard on one knee, her chest heaving as she sucked in the ash-tainted air.

​"Few!! We survived."

​’This is a Lv200 monster, it’s not even a World Boss, but a regular Boss monster, and it’s already this powerful!!’ she thought, her warrior-bloodline muscles screaming in protest. ’What happened to my hometown, Earth... Why did all this happen in the first place?’ She thought with gritted teeth, looking over her shoulder at her exhausted, bloodied teammates.

​A stark, red notification flashed mockingly across her retinas, directly interfacing with her consciousness.

​[-250,000 points.]

​’Fuck! These weak students just keep getting themselves killed, we already lost 50 members, and it hasn’t even reached Noon.’ At a penalty of five thousand points per death, the toll was mathematically devastating. She slowly stood up, relying on her sword for balance, and moved her gaze over the jagged stones all over the place, the only remains of the golems they had just desperately fought for their lives against.

​"Our level kept declining," she addressed the survivors, her voice echoing hollowly. Earth’s atmosphere was completely devoid of Spirit Energy, slowly acting as a parasitic vacuum that bled their stats dry. "Out of 200 total students, we already lost 50, and our current total points are five hundred thousand plus, minus this current points." She sighed deeply. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

​"Captain, what about we just hide here still the competition if over? The monsters here are just too powerful." A female member said, hugging her arms and trembling in fear.

​The group was taking shelter in an underground parking lot of a huge, formerly prestigious company. Although the entire towering skyscraper above them was reduced to shattered glass and apocalyptic ruins, the reinforced concrete of the subterranean parking lot was miraculously still standing, offering a brief, claustrophobic reprieve from the twilight nightmare above.

​Eve thought about the terrified girl’s words, and exhaled slowly. "This is Earth, no matter how bad it looks, there must be survivors, we should meet up with these survivors. That way, our survival rate will increase." She said, firmly clenching her fist.

​’I am just a Lv150 mage and warrior Bloodlines, although I am strong, I can’t protect 200 students, not to mention we were all randomly scattered upon entry.’ She exhaled, lowering her gaze to the valuable loot glowing faintly in the rubble. There lay eleven purple golem monster cards—and one brilliant Orange monster card dropped directly from the Boss golem.

​"This?" Her eyes widened as she stretched her hand towards the Orange monster card. Highly responsive to her energy, it floated smoothly towards her palm, vibrating with dense earth-elemental energy.

​’Although it isn’t a Golden card, it’s still a High class monster card,’ she thought, acutely aware of the massive power spike it represented in the current meta. She closed her hand around it and looked over her shoulder at the 50 battered members behind her, who were slumped against wrecked cars and concrete pillars, scattered all over the parking lot.

​"Don’t worry about us, Captain, you should absorb all the cards, and boost your strength... The stronger you are, the more fighting chance we have." Stellar, one of the girls who had entered Galaxy Fall’s initial tutorial alongside her, said firmly. Stellar was an elite vanguard, undisputedly one of the strongest in the team.

​"No... I will take only this High class monster card. Blade, Stellar, Nicolas, Buck, Alexa, Justin, Julie, and Kelly... You guys helped more in this battle, holding the frontline, so you’ll all take one each. The remaining ones, give it to the highest level amongst the others." She instructed, her tone leaving no room for argument. A balanced party was infinitely more viable than a single, easily overwhelmed powerhouse.

​Stellar stared at her serious, unwavering expression, and nodded her head respectfully: "Ok, Captain."

​Suddenly, a blinding holographic text overlaid everyone’s vision, cutting through the gloom of the garage.

​[World Competition Announcement: Captain Mirabella from the dragon academy’s team has completed both first and second Objectives.]

​".....?!!"

​The group looked at one another in absolute shock. From the very start of the grueling competition, morale had been precariously thin; most were already deeply regretting their choice of joining the Eagle Academy. That regret had solidified into pure dread when Mirabella—the undisputed leader of the strongest Ghost Guild in the First Server—had unexpectedly transferred to the rival Dragon Academy.

​Although Eve silently felt the exact same crushing weight of that monstrous rivalry, she masked it perfectly. She was the Captain of this team, and her pride meant she would never leave her teammates to wallow in despair.

​"Okay everyone, it seems the other academies are getting drastically ahead of us... We should think of something."

​"Captain, you shouldn’t worry about us... We already discussed it and made a decision." Blade said stepping forward, his heavy broadsword resting securely across his back.

​"What decision?" Eve asked with a raised eyebrow, turning her head to face him, sensing a fundamental shift in the party’s intent.

​"We will make sure Captain complete the first and second Objectives. I heard from my father that once you stepped into the fourth round, you will get a high amount of completion points, so it’s critically important to enter the fourth round..." Blade moved his earnest gaze over the battered students, finding silent agreement in their eyes.

​"We are ready to help you get to that round, funneling all our resources to you. Even if we all fail and get eliminated, you won’t."

​Eve blinked, completely taken aback. Staring at her teammates’ bruised but intensely determined expressions, she was genuinely dumbfounded, completely lost for words, not knowing what to say in the face of such absolute, calculated sacrifice.

​"Ahh! We finally made it! That’s the captain."

​The sudden shout broke the heavy silence. Eve and the 50 students abruptly turned their heads toward the dark, sloping ramp entrance of the underground parking lot. They relaxed slightly upon seeing ten of their missing Eagle Academy members frantically rushing inside. But the relief evaporated instantly when they saw the escort.

​Following closely behind the magic-wielding students weren’t more members of the academy, nor were they heavily armored knights from Galaxy Fall, but heavily armed men in dark tactical combat gear, their faces hidden behind night-vision goggles, wielding advanced modern rifles.

​"United States Military?" Eve whispered, utterly dumbfounded by the sheer clash of their two realities.