Vol 1 Chapter 4 (1/2)

In truth, Daren Solaris knew that it was a ma.s.sive battle simulator - one of YeLan Academy’s highlights. It was rumoured to have been specially developed by the headmaster and had been a deciding factor in Daren’s decision to attend YeLan Academy.

Upon entering the simulator, a large screen appeared before Daren. On-screen was a sagely old man, whose face was covered with so many wrinkles that mosquitoes dared not land on it for fear of being squashed in the drooping facial folds. But this “virtuous” old man revealed a slightly cheeky smile and said flippantly,

“h.e.l.lo my little friend, I am the headmaster of YeLan Academy, Antonias. Please enter your account name and pa.s.sword, then you may battle to your heart’s content.”

“I don’t have an account or a pa.s.sword,” Daren honestly replied.

“I see, you’re a new friend. Not to worry, come create an account and we’ll be good to go. Pick any alias you like,” the irreverent old man said smilingly.

Daren thought for a second and said, “Dark Sun, pa.s.sword is x.x.xx.”

“I see, my little friend Dark Sun, choose a battle suit and weapon that you prefer.” As soon as Antonias finished speaking, rows of battle suits stacked as high as the sky appeared by his side. There were suits ranging from Pikachu-themed suspenders and blue-white slippers, to Mazinger’s suits; even weapons ranging from blackboard dusters and chalk to tanks and cannons were available.

Daren playfully looked through the a.r.s.enal of options; initially he had wanted to decline any weapons because Dark Sun was a weapon in itself, but gege’s instruction arose again.

(Do not let others discover your abilities!)

If that’s the case, then I can’t go into battle... Daren thought. From the corner of his eyes, Daren suddenly spied a simple suit with virtually no defensive capabilities. It was a pink s.h.i.+rt with matching jeans and knee-high boots. Its most important aspect was the protective visor.

Daren’s plan was simple; as long as others could not recognise him, he could fulfill Dark Sun’s basic functions without violating Gege’s instructions.

“I want that suit.” said Daren gesturing towards the simple outfit.

“No problem!”

Instantly, the outfit was superimposed on Daren. He then messed up his hair in order to prevent himself from being discovered. While admiring his reflection, he noticed that his lean frame had become more p.r.o.nounced by his s.h.i.+rt and his height was well emphasized by his jeans and high boots. Even his messy hair served to make him look more suave.

Wiping off his faint smile, Daren strengthened his disguise further by retrieving the serious unsmiling facade of Dark Sun from his microchip. In a flash, all traces of a smile vanished from his face, and his nerdy demeanor turned sinister.

“As for the weapon?”

Dark Sun frowned; he knew he could not refrain from using a weapon. It would inevitably take lives if he were to fight live partic.i.p.ants with real weapons, therefore, he could only rely on virtual weapons to avoid hurting anyone. Though, his laboratory simulations had all been with live weapons.

“Give me a dagger and a handgun.”

The holster was clipped onto Dark Sun’s right thigh and the dagger attached to the inside of his boot.

“Since it’s your first time entering, I, Antonias, will give you a brief explanation. Your opponents can be anything from bizarre species and robots to little girls and even pregnant women. Some of them might be virtual, others your cla.s.smates. You can form alliances, or treat everyone as your enemy. In any case, the last survivor is the victor. Have a happy battle, Dark Sun.”

The doors to the simulator gradually opened and a ray of light emerged from within. Dark Sun turned towards it slowly and waited to enter.

Battle simulator, activated.

When it came to battle simulators, Daren could not be more familiar. Ever since he was seven, his entire life had revolved around check ups, operations, non stop battles and helping researchers acc.u.mulate data for further improvement.

a.n.a.lysis: Battle scenario no different from reality. 26 enemies nearby, 20 of which expressing hostility, 10 with intent to attack, 2 within danger zone.

“Where did this idiot come from? Choosing a suit with no defenses. He must thinks he’s some sort of celebrity, trying to play cool like that.”

“Ha! So ridiculous! Look at him. He’s actually carrying a hand gun. He’s just asking to be killed.”

Daren turned around and saw two people dressed in light battle armour. One had a sub-machine gun and the other had a shotgun.

“Alright, kill him quick - there are still lots of people to blast. Hahaha!”

The person holding the sub-machine gun took aim, revealing a frenzied smile at the thought of the kill...

Tratatatatata ------

The sound of gunshots filled the air as empty sh.e.l.ls rapidly hit the ground forming clouds of dust. Under this intense fire, no one would’ve been able to escape......

“Where is he!?” shouted the two gun toting boys, but... only sh.e.l.ls littered the floor, with n.o.body in sight.....

“Urgh!”

The boy with the sub-machine gun looked around frantically. A sudden gurgling sound made him spin around only to have blood splatter his face. He stared in shock at the large gash on his friend’s throat, gus.h.i.+ng an endless stream of blood. In a few seconds, he was relegated to the “dead” category by the system, and his limp body crumpled to the ground with malcontent evident in his eyes.

“b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Where are you!” Snarled the boy with the sub-machine gun. He was angry but also afraid enough to shower the perimeter with bullets. But before he could finish his ammunition, he had already collapsed, still unaware of the reason. Just as he was about to protest that it was a system error, that he was not dead, he heard a voice...

“So fast.” An eye catching boy in a Mazinger’s suit, with porcupine-like hair and a dragon tattoo on his face, walked over and flipped the “carca.s.s” onto his back.

“Stupid! You were attacked even before the guy whose throat was slit.”

Seeing that the carca.s.s was staring at him with an unyielding expression, Ezart snorted, “The dagger moved so fast that you were killed before you could even feel it entering and leaving your guts.”

The carca.s.s gasped and looked towards his abdomen. Indeed there was a wound there. Although it wasn’t big, blood was pouring out of it like water from a tap, reflecting the accuracy and lethality of the strike.

“Where did such a strong guy come from? From the looks of it, it can’t be Shain Baylian.”

Ezart revealed an intrigued smile. He slammed his fists together with a clamour of steel and an immense battle fervour as he strode in the direction of the person in question.

Dark Sun walked alone. Though he detected several people tracking him, he didn’t pay them any attention unless they were intent on attacking. His primary objective was to find Ezart. Whether it was just for observation or personally engaging in battle, Dark Sun just wanted to record a strong opponent’s battle for storage in his microchip. This was a way for him to become stronger and achieve the goal of protecting Gege.

However, Dark Sun did not manage to locate Ezart nor discover any other strong opponents even after searching for some time. He watched a few battles but none measured up to his standards.

In that case, if the others were to be eliminated, the remaining survivors would contain Ezart. Dark Sun made up his mind and reached towards his holster.

“He’s starting to attack...” As the notion floated into the consciousness of the crowd tracking him, they prepared to defend. Dark Sun took a step forward and vaulted off the wall into the air, letting out a volley of rapid shots. Several m.u.f.fled cries and the thuds of collapsing bodies could be heard in response.

None of them were Ezart, nor were they skillful enough. Dark Sun holstered his gun, drew his dagger and skillfully sought out his opponents. Before they were able to catch a glimpse of him, they were killed with a single blow to the brain-stem and collapsed inexplicably to the ground while cursing the system for malfunctioning. And these were only his milder kills.

“He appeared so suddenly - I froze for a second before firing, but he evaded my shots easily. Then like a leopard on the hunt, he effortlessly left, searching for his next prey. It was then that I realised that my throat was spewing blood and the system was grounding my body, telling me that I had been killed by Dark Sun... Dark Sun - I’ll never forget that name,” said one of Dark Sun’s victims.

Still not him. Dark Sun’s blade was dripping with blood, yet he still could not locate Ezart or any other equally strong opponent. He could only continue wandering aimlessly.

Suddenly, the sounds of intense battle drifted to his ears, Dark Sun spent a millisecond a.n.a.lysing before deciding to head towards the sound. With his enhanced speed, he was able to quickly reach the location.

Dark Sun surveyed the surrounding area. The houses and streets had been left half destroyed, with gaping holes in sections of walls, broken street lights, uprooted trees and shattered windows visible in the area.

Upon seeing this, Dark Sun knew that he had finally found a strong opponent. He nimbly jumped onto the remaining wall of a building and stealthily made his way forward. After ten metres, the scenery changed from half to complete destruction. At the very end, only a large rocky formation was left, its original form now indeterminable. It was then that he finally saw the battleground.

Two people were engaged in battle: one was the well-built boy with spiked, orange hair - the ellusive Ezart. The other boy stood in stark contrast to Ezart. He was very lean, yet significantly taller than the gangly Dark Sun. He was approximately 180cm, and wore an ancient Chinese garb while wielding dual sai.

Dark Sun stood on a derelict wall with his eyes fixed intently on the battle. He watched Ezart’s ma.s.sive Mazinger gloves deal heavy and crus.h.i.+ng blows that created craters on the ground. It was evident that he was to blame for roughly 80% of the surrounding destruction.

His opponent, though physically weak, appeared to be one of the high agility types. He was like a cunning and unpredictable snake, effortlessly dodging Ezart’s punches. However, it was impossible for someone as weak as him to severely injure the fully armoured Ezart with one strike. Hence, he was reduced to slicing a little here and there to slowly sap away his opponent’s strength.

This was extremely dangerous; if Ezart were to land a blow, the slender boy would probably be unable to get back onto his feet. But, that was if Ezart could land a blow. In truth, compared to the monstrous yet sluggish punches, the flying rock debris was more problematic, causing cuts and scratches time and again.