Bertram smiled slightly, feeling a spark of excitement for his future. His strength had improved a lot.
Now, even if he had to fight some of the weaker creatures from other dimensions, he actually had a chance to survive.
The scarred men in black had also been caught. Maybe he could make it through the high-risk first year after high school graduation?
With those thoughts in mind, Bertram began his third simulation.
[Year Z100, June 20th: You passed the mysterious girl's test and went back to school feeling excited. You decided to sleep to shake off the stress you'd been carrying lately.
When you woke up and were about to head to the training room, your homeroom teacher, Mr. Javion, told you someone from higher up wanted to see you.]
Someone from higher up? Curious, you went to the office and saw a girl who looked like a star. But her face was cold as ice, and her eyes were sharp like snowflakes. Being stared at by her felt like standing on a frozen lake that stretched for miles.
'From this icy girl, you learned that last night, Officer Nelson's precinct was attacked by an unknown force. The scarred men in black and their accomplices were all killed.
Officer Nelson was badly hurt and rushed to the hospital. Before going into surgery, he told the icy girl that you were the only person with info about the case.'
You felt lucky that you had stayed hidden and let Officer Nelson take the hit. The girl asked you for more details, but sadly, all you knew was about the scarred men in black, who were now dead. You couldn't help any further. Disappointed, the icy girl left.
The attack on the precinct made you realize how serious things were. If you wanted to stay alive, you had to stay far away from this whole mess. With the scarred men gone, you figured you wouldn't be dragged into the case about the Olson Family's kidnapped daughter.
After the icy girl left, the Olson Family launched a city-wide search for whoever attacked the precinct.
Year Z100, June 21st: You ignored the situation with the Olson Family and went to the martial arts hall like you promised to face the mysterious girl again. This time, she said she'd defeat you within 40 moves. You really wanted to last longer, but reality was harsh. Her strength had grown scary fast since yesterday, and you only made it to the 35th move.
With a heavy heart, you went back to school and pushed yourself in training. You used blood essence and white essence to boost your martial arts and abilities.
You didn't want your sparring matches with the mysterious girl to end like this.
On your way back to the dorm after training, you overheard some of your dorm mates talking. Apparently, someone bought a dead cocoon for 500 Dawn Coins at the city's Wanxing Auction House, in the scrap section.
Shockingly, the cocoon came back to life last night, and a juvenile Seven-Star Phantom Death Butterfly emerged from it. This was an S-class extradimensional creature, still in its baby stage.
The Seven-Star Phantom Death Butterfly bonds with the first scent it smells after hatching. Your dorm mates were filled with envy and frustration. Who was the lucky person who got such a rare creature?
Even though you were jealous, you knew time couldn't be turned back. That opportunity just wasn't yours.
June 22, Year Z100: You got ready for another fight with the mysterious girl at the dojo. She was still getting stronger quickly, but so were you. This time, you lasted until the 29th move, which surprised her.
Before leaving, she said she had something else to take care of and that the next sparring session would be in five days.
As you watched her leave, you asked the dojo master who she was. But he kept quiet and refused to tell you anything.
June 24, Year Z100: You kept training hard and finally raised your martial arts to F+ level. Your psychic ability, Silver Thread, could now stretch up to 8 feet. Your strength had improved a lot, and you were looking forward to your next match with the mysterious girl.
June 25, Year Z100: Despite searching all over, the Olson Family still couldn't find any clues. It was like the person they were looking for had just vanished from the city. Meanwhile, the Olson Family received a letter asking for an extradimensional artifact in exchange for their daughter's safe return.
June 26, Year Z100: No one knew what the artifact even was, but the Olson Family didn't have any other leads. They reluctantly agreed to the trade and scheduled it for that afternoon.
That afternoon, in the West Zone 2 outside Doomsday City, only one person showed up to take the artifact. They promised to send the location of the Olson Family's daughter by text message once they had the item.
The Olson Family had no choice but to let the person go. Soon after, they got a message saying Vanessa was being held in an underground coal mine in East Zone 9.
Even though it had been a complicated mess and the Olson Family had lost a valuable artifact, at least the whole thing was finally over. You let out a breath of relief.
June 27, Year Z100: Today's the day you agreed to meet the mysterious girl. You head out, excited and looking forward to seeing her again. You were drawn to her strength and couldn't wait to challenge her.
But what you didn't notice was that a bunch of shadows had started following you.
While passing through a deserted alley, those shadows suddenly jumped out and attacked. You panicked and started running. They drove you out of the city on purpose, forcing you to escape.
You end up at an old coal plant outside the city. Standing there is a young man wearing expensive clothes, looking down at you like you were dirt. His eyes were cold and sharp.
"Is this the idiot who snitched, making us take the risk of attacking the police station and almost messing everything up?"
His voice was like ice. A bootlicking police officer stepped forward.
"Yes, Mr. Shawn, he's the one who ratted us out!"
You recognized the officer, it was the same guy who took your statement at the police station.
The young man being called Mr. Shawn could only be one person—the son of the Jackson Family.
You let out a long sigh. After all your careful planning, you had forgotten one thing: people are selfish. You gave Officer Nelson all the credit to earn 30,000 Dawn Coins, but this low-ranking officer wanted to win favor with the Jackson Family, so he sold you out.
The Jackson Family was a huge post-apocalyptic power, just like the Olson Family. They were like a mountain you didn't dare offend.
"Let's play a game," Mr. Shawn said, giving you a cold smile. "From here, you start running. I'll shoot at you with a bow and arrow. If you can get back to the city before I hit you, I'll let it all go."
This was straight-up humiliation. You went silent.
Yeah. You didn't really have a choice anyway.