oh!

I stared at the girl, who was still sat holding her legs tight against herself on the floor.

Was I seeing this right?

She was rank A!!

That was…the second strongest you could be, right?

And to think some child got that lucky! So unfair…

I sighed dramatically, I should stop pitying myself so much.

Looking around, I noticed people were practicing their abilities. They varied a lot, some being powerful and eye catching - others ….not so much.

Even so, mine was probably the least eye catching as the only noticeable difference when I used my ability, was a slight red glow that emmited from my eyes.

I just stood on the floor of the cave and watched bitterly at others used awesome abilities. I shivered slightly and crossed my arms, tucking my hands into my arms. It was freezing in the cave, and it didn't help that I was wearing long denim shorts that left half my legs exposed.

I stood there with a scowl on my face for what felt like hours.

…

How long had it been now? Didn't the creature called….uhm….Ahiram, say we would only have an hour?

Then, right on cue a few pixels clustered together in the sky.

Ahiram appeared in the air once more. It gave a quick gleeful wave at us all. It was hard to know weather Ahiram was on our side and genuinely wanted to help, or just wanted to see us all get sent to our death.

"Listen up, little players! Your time is almost up! It has been around…50 minutes since my last announcement!"

Ahirams voice echoed around the cave. Its voice wasn't as loud as before…which was good as I didn't want my eardrums shredded.

"In the last 10 minutes, I want you to find another player and to pair up!"

Ahiram looked at us all expectantly, grinning again as it put its hands on its hips.

"Cmon, hurry up and do it!..If you don't do it within the 10 minutes you will explode!..Hehe."

It grinned mischievously, and everyone in the cave stared up at it in deep shock. I found it hard to tell if it was joking or not.

"Ahhh, and a quick tip, I recommend paring with someone strong! You'll need to be powerful to have any shot at survival!" Ahiram looked pleased with itself, as if the 'tip' it was giving us was some huge favour.

Well, it just made things worse for me.

"Oh! To select your partner, you gotta shake hands!"

Then Ahiram vanished, just like that…in its place, a huge timer appeared in the air.

[9 minutes remaining]

"What the fuck…!?"

"What— it can't just say something like that an leave!!"

"EEK, someone partner with me!"

"The hell is going on!?"

"Guys! I'm rank D! Someone pair with me!"

Many different reactions could be heard throughout the giant cave. MY instant reaction, was 'ah shit.'

Because, after all, I was the lowest rank you could possibly be.

I glanced at the people near me, looking for someone to pair up with. Maybe I could ask that woman from earlier…The one with the freckles…

I spotted her and took and started to walk to where she was, however I then noticed she was already shaking hands with someone

The man she was shaking hands with was slightly shorter than her, but quite muscular with tan skin, green eyes and ginger hair.

He wore blue pyjamas and looked like he was about to sleep….not go up a tower and battle monsters. Poor guy.

"Player information." I wanted to know the rank of him.

My eyes glowed slightly as my power worked, and I stared straight at him.

| Name: Oliver Anderson

| Age: 25

| Ability: Hammer fist

| rank: C

| group: N/a

| coins: 0

So they were at the same rank…

Hammer fist sounded like quite a useful ability, it matched the man's physique perfectly.

Wait…I completely forgot about finding someone to pair up with!

I glanced frantically to the timer.

[7 minutes 21 seconds remaining.]

Shit! I looked around urgently. Most people were starting to pair off even more... If I didn't hurry I'd be screwed.

Suddenly I felt a hand grip my shoulder. I whirled around, startled.

It was a man. He stood a few inches taller than me and was clothed in a black long sleeved top and gray jeans. He also had black hair, brown eyes, and a sour look on his face.

"Excuse me." He spoke.

"Ah!! Yes!?" Maybe this man wanted to partner up with me! I felt relieved-

"You have dyed hair." He pointed out.

"I- yes I do..?" I was confused. My hair was dyed a red colour, but what did that have to do with anything?

"What rank are you." His hand was still gripping my shoulder. It was almost threatening.

"Ahaha, Uhm…"

'Let go of my shoulder you bastard!' That's what I wanted to say but this guy was SCARY…

He looked like he wanted to rip me to shreds.

But what do I say? I can't tell him I'm a rank F because of what Ahiram said about having a strong person to pair with…

…And he might look for another partner, who was ranked higher than me.

"Im rank B!" Sweat gathered on my forehead. It wasn't that I was scared of lying, that was fine, but as I said before, I hated talking to people I didn't know.

"…oh. Okay." The man muttered, seemingly disappointed. He then let go of my shoulder and walked away, leaving me dumbstruck.

"H-huh!?" What the— why was he leaving!? Rank B was strong! Right?

"Player information," I spoke in my head, staring at him as he walked away.

My eyes widened at what I read in his profile.

| Name: Andrei Petrov

| Age: 22

| Ability: Monster Morphing

| rank: S

| group: N/a

| coins: 0

Rank…S…?