--

"Zombies? Really? That’s what you need to fight?"

Mikel almost couldn’t believe it, and so were at least the hundreds of people who were listening in to their conversation.

Ren just finished relaying how he ended up in this situation. Of course, he hid the fact that he knew that he was being taken to somewhere else. He told him about Vordt’s message and got into how his first night went.

"Well, they’re undead creatures, technically. But really, they’re zombies. I’ve seen them myself. I killed loads of them, actually."

"That doesn’t seem so hard, then."

"I thought so, too," Ren agreed, "but then I noticed that every 15 minutes, they either increase in number or become stronger. The pattern isn’t the same, but it’s either one of the two."

"Their increase in number was obvious. It’s the increase in strength that will kill me a lot; that I can almost guarantee."

"Wait! Dying? You didn’t tell me you can die in there!"

"Relax, Uncle. It’s not permanent. I will just respawn inside the dome afterwards. It’s like raiding the first 30 stages of the dungeons. You can die in there, yes, but you’d respawn in the plaza. It’s the same thing."

"Whew." Mikel wiped the cold sweat that started to form on his forehead once Ren clarified himself.

"If I die though, the points I’ve earned so far would be halved. But considering that I won’t really die, I’d take that trade."

"You said something about the inheritance of this Godly Sky Archon. How difficult do you think it will be to receive it?"

"Pretty hard, I’d say," Ren admitted. "Considering that the longer I spend out there, the stronger and more zombies I need to face, it will obviously be more difficult to search for the Sky Archon pieces scattered all over the map."

"There’s no clear indication of where they are. I would just know if there’s one nearby. It’s so dark in here that I can only see as far as 500 meters around me, no more beyond that."

"Zombie variants will appear; that much is guaranteed. That means the swole ones, the fast ones, the bloodthirsty ones, boomers, hookers, etc. The zombies inflict gangrene and necrosis on me. I’m not resistant to those just yet."

"Actually, zombiefied Sky Archons will appear too. I’ve seen one once; I didn’t engage it because I already found the last piece for that night. But they can and will appear at a certain point."

"That’s why I think it’ll be difficult. At the very least, I’m not confident that I can get that one. The others, though, are more possible."

"What do you mean, ’others’?" Mikel was confused.

"Ah, it’s not just that one inheritance that’s here. There are also other Sky Archon Arts in the shop. They won’t appear unless you have at least 1000 points at hand. The more expensive ones are invisible, but so long as the point threshold was met, they’d show themselves."

"Ren, be careful with that. You know we’re not allowed to practice anything that’s not martial arts," Mikel warned him solemnly. Not forgetting where she currently was right now.

"I know. I bought one out of curiosity. I didn’t think much at first, but Uncle...Sky Archon Arts and Martial Arts are almost the same. I’m pretty sure that if I replaced the energy requirement with chakra, it will work just fine. It’s like the two just have different names for it, but the origin was the same."

"I’ll be careful, though. Don’t worry. I won’t force anything, you know me." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Good. So long as you’re aware."

Mikel took a glance at his surroundings and saw some people looking thoughtful by now. Some were probably already entertaining ideas.

"Are you sure that you haven’t seen anybody else? Not even a shadow?" Mikel asked, just in case.

"I’m sure," Ren replied. "They wouldn’t have stayed silent if I accidentally punched them, so yes, I’m pretty sure that I haven’t met anybody else."

"I think we’re isolated from each other, though," he continued, expressing what he thought about the situation. "Like, we each have our own areas where we could move. I haven’t discovered a wall, but at the very least, that would make sense to me. Maybe Vordt used some spacetime shenanigans in this place to do it? I don’t know. I don’t understand any of that just yet."

"It’ll be great if that’s the case. At least you won’t accidentally kill each other or cause some conflict," Mikel expressed his own thoughts. "But Ren, when do you think you can leave that place? Do you really have to spend an entire year in there? Possibly more? Is there any way you can leave earlier?"

"I don’t think so," Ren denied. "Not that I know, yet. Vordt only mentioned that he’d only keep us for a year, no more than two, and he’d bring us back where we were taken, alive. But even if I could leave earlier, I don’t think I would."

"And why is that?" Mikel was intrigued by his nephew’s insistence.

"Why, because it’s a good place, of course. I can train as much as I want here. The fight’s literally just outside of where I am. I’m saving so much time here like you wouldn’t even believe."

"Ren, now’s not the time for jokes."

"No, I’m joking, Uncle," Ren sounded serious here. "Uncle, I’m at Marrow Cleansing now. I broke through after my first ’night’ here. I just turned 17 two weeks ago."

"Congrats!" Mikel was ecstatic, of course.

Those who were listening were in disbelief. Marrow Cleansing at 17? That’s rare! The nephew of this person must be some incredible genius then! No wonder he’s so worried about him. And that child sounds very diligent too.

"But what does that have to do with anything?" Mikel asked right after.

"I don’t know if I just suddenly became more sensitive, or something in me just awakened in here, or if this is just because of this place. But, Uncle, my practice speed here is three times faster compared to when I’m in the dungeons."

"..."

"I’m not shitting you. That’s the whole reason why I’m not so sad to be here. I guess it makes sense since this is a trial ground, but you know me, Uncle. There’s no way I can pass this one up. And you know what’s crazier?"

"What?" Mikel had a foreboding feeling that he’d regret being curious. But he saw others leaning in and interested, so he didn’t have a choice.

"I can increase that speed by spending points."

"You’re joking."

"No, I’m not! If you want, I can send you the list of what’s available in the point store! There’s a thing there called ’Experience Boost.’ It costs 15,000 points, and it doubles my practice speed in this place for the next five days."

"It’s damn expensive, but I’m so tempted. If I could somehow find a way to make that permanent for the entirety of my stay here?"

"Uncle, I’d be in Pulse Awakening by the time I return there! I don’t need to spend years toiling away at Marrow Cleansing like how it should be. In here, a few months is all I need."

"Holy shit!"

That wasn’t Mikel; it was someone else, one of the people who were listening in. But whoever it was didn’t matter. All they care about is what Ren revealed just now.

Three times the training speed, and it could be doubled by spending points? What kind of miracle is that? That sounds too good to be true!

But what if it is true? Wouldn’t that be great? Doesn’t that mean that, so long as their children stop panicking and treat that place as a proper testing ground, wouldn’t this be an immense opportunity for them?

If so, then...maybe what happened to us might not be so bad, after all.

As for Mikel, he swallowed with difficulty. He knew that it was beneath Ren to play jokes on him, especially not when it came to his martial practice. Meaning that he was telling his truth.

But even so, it just sounds too good to be true. And honestly, Mikel feels jealous a bit.

Mikel took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

"Alright. If that’s really the case, then I guess you’d be in there for a while. Shit, even I would stay there too if I were in your shoes."

"That’s what I’m saying!" Ren exclaimed. "So stop worrying about me. I swear by my martial arts that I’m doing just fine. More than fine, actually. I’ll come back, eventually. I promise that I’ll call whenever I can."

"Ah, right. Please have my house cleaned regularly. I don’t want to return it covered with dust."

"Alright, I’m going to go now. I haven’t slept yet. I’ll call again soon, bye."

"Alright, kid. Stay safe out there."

"You know I will."

Ren ended the call after that. Then, there was silence around Mikel.

Everybody looked at him for a while before they turned and started walking out of the building. Some were already trying to call their kids using the world system interface, not caring at all how many merit points it would cost them.

As for the GMU staff who watched this all happen, they could only look at each other in dismay.