A finished game

Arsenal, now battered and bruised more than before gritted his teeth as he faced the armored figure. The armored figure charged again, its metal arms swinging in powerful arcs, and Arsenal knew that he had to be clever to survive.

With a swift kick, Arsenal sent the armored figure stumbling backward but that effort cost him dearly. A sharp pain surged through his body, leaving him gasping for breath. The armored figure, seeing an opportunity unleashed a flurry of punches that Arsenal struggled to defend against.

Each blow landed with precision, exploiting Arsenal's existing injuries. He winced with every impact, his movements slowing as fatigue and pain took their toll on him. Yet, he refused to yield, fueled by determination and a fierce will to win.

The armored figure, sensing victory within its grasp, pressed its attacks. But Arsenal found hidden reserves of strength, using his agility and cunning to evade the most devastating blows. He landed precise, targeted strikes on the armored figure's joints, aiming to disable it. The fight was a testament to Arsenal's unyielding spirit and they fought on despite their injuries.

At last, the armored figure was down on its knees, and a bloodied, barely unrecognized human boy standing before it.

"It's over," he muttered with a hoarse voice — his throat had gone dry ever since the intense battle began. He moved closer and raised one of the armored figure's arms. With a swift movement, he ripped it off, causing the armored figure to let out a piercing cry.

Ignoring the painful cries of the one who made him exert all his strength, he took the other arm and did the same time.

Painful cries filled the room as the armored figure's arms and feet were being brutally ripped off. After that, Arsenal decided to end everything with a deadly strike, decapitating the armored figure completely and once and for all.

With the battle already ended, Arsenal inhaled deeply and exhaled moments after inhaling a large amount of air. Just after that, everything suddenly went blank and their visions blurred. Opening their eyes again, they saw themselves back at the organization, not only them but the other participants as well.

"Since everyone is here, this marks the end of the game," the female host announced to them.

All eyes were on Arsenal.

Though a lot of them sustained injuries on different parts of their body, they felt that his own was worse than theirs. His left ear was gone, and cuts were all over his face, making him barely recognizable, his clothes were torn to shreds, making the deep and shallow injuries on his chest and back visible to them — his situation at the moment was worse than being dead.

Unlike those who were worried about him or pretending to be, Arsenal cared less about his appearance, at least not for the time being. What he was after was the game.

"What about the next level?" He asked the female host.

"If you are talking about level one, then congratulations, you won the game with a second place. The first level has already been cleared," she replied.

"How is that possible?" One man shouted from the back.

"Apart from this man who is the first place, this boy here did entirely well in the game. He cleared four hard levels all by himself whereas the rest of you were struggling to complete those easy ones," the female host responded.

Arsenal glanced at the man who was in the first place, surprisingly, the man was also staring at him. When their eyes met, the man smiled but Arsenal looked away, uninterested in him.

"Since the game has ended, can I get my reward?" He turned and asked the female host. After all, that was what he was more concerned about.

"Ah, yes!" The lady replied and beamed. Now, her opinion about him had drastically changed. Before, she viewed him as a weak insignificant person but after the game, she was full of respect and admiration for him.

She left the place and returned afterward with some golden papers in her hands.

"That's money!" Someone exclaimed.

"This is your reward, sir," the female host said to Arsenal as she handed the papers to him.

He knew what the golden papers were of course. In his world, they make use of coins or paper money... That is, if the amount of coins someone has or wants is greatly large, they can change them to paper money. These five golden papers in his hands signify a very large amount of money which he can't finish in a year that is if used judicially.

"Let's go," he turned and said to Muna who wanted to hold him but he abruptly refused and limped away.

After they had left the organization and were about to enter the road, someone stopped them. Turning around, Arsenal saw the man running toward him.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Kid, you really are a gifted child. I don't know how you did it but I am amazed at how you single-handedly cleared those difficult levels, especially level two. The armored emperor is already a rank AA monster— not many magic users can deal with that thing," the man replied.

"So what is it you want from me?" Arsenal asked, showing zero interest in what the man was saying.

"I know you are after money, I can help you with that. If you work for me, I'll pay you well," the man boldly replied.

"I am not interested," Arsenal said to him and turned to leave.

"One day, you will need my help. Just know that I am always ready to offer my assistance!" The man yelled behind them as they walked away from that place.

"What a dirty man!" Muna cursed as they entered the roads.

"I can't help but wonder why he would partake in this game despite his so-called riches," Kloey said with a confused look on her face.

"He is not after the rewards, he is just after strong individuals like me," Arsenal told them.

"That's what I also thought," chipped Muna with a serious gaze.

"It is approaching dark, let us find an apartment and purchase before nightfall," Arsenal told them.

"Like this?" Muna turned and asked him, glancing at his wounded body. "I won't let you walk around like this," she stated.

"I still have a bit of energy remaining," Arsenal said but Muna refused.

"We should find somewhere safe and keep you first then I and Kloey will go and look for a suitable apartment for us," she said.

"No. I am the mas—"

"It's settled then," Muna said and shot Arsenal a deadly glare which made him abruptly quiet.

'I wonder between the two of us who the master is,' he thought as he sighed helplessly.

And just like that, Muna and Kloey who was still invisible because of her appearance led Arsenal to a lonely place and helped him sit down on a rock. Muna then took two paper money from him.

"Sit here and wait for us, we will be right back," she said to him before leaving.