Familiar Faces

I looked up to notice that at some time, while I was too engrossed in playing around with the system, someone had gone up to the podium at the front of the hall we were in.

The most distinguishing feature about this person was that they were the only 'adult' in the room.

In contrast, the hero candidates had all been magically de-aged to their teenage days.

"Hello everyone. I am Gregory Smith, the basic education instructor assigned to your class."

The instructor was a middle-aged fellow, in his late forties, approaching his fifties with salt and pepper hair.

His body, however, was fit as a fiddle with well-maintained muscles outlining his figure.

I am pretty sure he could classify as D- you know what I mean.

"I understand that all of you must be very confused about your current situation, the opening ceremony organized by the principal surely hasn't helped you much in understanding your situation."

"I am sure that some of you might feel wronged, as we have basically ripped you away from your lives and have forced you into a meat grinder. Not having control over your fate is one of the most awful feelings one can experience."

"However, keep in mind that we have instead given you an opportunity. An opportunity to not only get out of the confines of your puny little level 0 world and take charge of your own destiny but to become the true hero and decide the destiny of the entire multiverse."

Some nodded in agreement, some frowned in disapproval while others seemed indifferent but no matter what was the case, nobody interrupted the instructor.

It could be seen that the overall quality of the candidates wasn't one to be underestimated.

"Let me start by telling you about the test you just went through. The main purpose of this test was to teach all of you an important lesson about being a hero. Everyone has certain advantages and weapons that they use to deal with tricky scenarios. A capable hero needs to be able to choose the right weapons and use them effectively when placed in critical situations."

"When I say weapons, I don't just mean swords and guns. I am talking about your wits, your decision-making skills, your decisiveness, and of course your combat skills too"

"You must have noticed, the ones wielding the superior weapons weren't necessarily the survivors in the test. It was the ones who were the most decisive that won the test."

"This test was the first and last time that you will get to cheat death. Throughout the time you spend in the academy you will take part in various tests, missions and eliminations. From here on out failure means death."

What does he mean by cheat death…

He couldn't possibly mean that…

"For the ones who understood the true purpose of the test and killed everyone else in the room, the academy has given you special masks of enigma. These will help protect your identities, the students you killed will also forget what your face looked like. The biggest advantage is for when you are sent on joint missions. That way you won't need to worry about being targeted for revenge from the very start."

Dang it, these people are crazy.

I looked around the hall frantically and sure enough, I managed to spot my dear old friends.

Pretty little Mary and feisty old Jake.

They looked pissed.

Really really pissed.

This. was. BAD.

Dead people aren't supposed to come back to life.

The whole point of killing people is making sure you will never have to see them again.

I subconsciously reached for the mask on my face and felt relieved after confirming its presence.

I looked around once again and started counting the people wearing masks.

Including me, there were 13 of us.

Wait, something didn't add up.

If every test consisted of 3 candidates and we were all from the same world, there should be at most 3 * 33 = 99 candidates.

Yet the principal had mentioned that there were 100 students in each class.

So the question was, did we have another imposter?

"There were 33 test rooms and only 12 of you managed to get the mask. Frankly speaking, this performance is extremely poor compared to the other classes. You are already at a disadvantage."

"Some of you might have noticed the presence of a 13th masked candidate. No, I am not bad at math. Yes, I won't tell you the details. Figure it out yourselves."

"Now I will tell you how this academic year will be divided."

"First, everyone will undergo three months of basic training. We will teach you the basics about the multiverse, supernatural energy, the different cultivation paths and techniques, and the enemies we are fighting."

"We will also teach you the basics of infiltrating enemy worlds, sniffing out the underlings of the demon god and will also go over the strategies used by previous candidates to clear infected worlds."

"In addition to basic training, you will also undergo special training related to the classes you have chosen."

"Infected worlds are the worlds that are currently under attack by the demon god. He sends his underlings into those worlds to try and destroy them from the insides before sending his army to snatch away the world from our multiverse."

"After the three months of training, you will be sent on your first joint mission to a beginner-level infected world. You earn points for defeating the underlings of the demon god, you also earn points for killing the other hero candidates in the mission world."

"Time in mission worlds moves a lot faster compared to the academy. Thus the missions usually have time limits in the span of years for you to complete. Mission worlds thus give time for you to cultivate your abilities and improve your skills. There is no other way to improve by a major realm each cosmic year."

"You can use the hero points to buy information, resources and techniques from the system store. You can also use it to trade with others and pay instructors to teach you skills with."

"After your first mission, you will have 3 more months of training before the first inter-class tournament. There you will have to work with your classmates to defeat other classes. There are almost an uncountable number of classes in the first year, you only need to worry about those in your minor branch. The leaf rank in your status and on your uniforms tells you about the ranking of our class amongst those in the minor branch."

I looked down at the combat suit I was wearing and noticed that there was a symbol of a leaf with the number 96 written on it on the left side of my chest.

"After another 3 months, you will be sent to your second mission world. This time the number of participants will also be much more."

"Finally, 3 months later at the end of the year, there will be a massive elimination test. You can act on your own or form teams. In the end, the top 40 students of the number 1 leaf, the top 40 students ranked overall within the branch, and twenty students from level 1 worlds will graduate to form the year two class. Failure means expulsion. However, you would most likely be dead by then."

If I got this right, there were about 100 students in 1 class, and let's say a little more than 100 classes/leaves in our branch.

This means that only 80 students get to survive out of more than 10,000.

I can only imagine that the environment will get much harsher in the higher years.

This is even worse than a battle royale.

It's a meat grinder.

Nothing screams Survival Horror more than having to go to school again.

"Throughout the year there will also be minor events and competitions in which you can take part voluntarily to improve your rank and earn hero points. However make sure that you choose carefully, failure often leads to death and even if you do survive you need to spend your time efficiently."

"I think that is enough for the introduction, you can now go to your rooms. The system will guide you across the campus and will inform you of your schedule. Are there any questions?"

"Yes!"

I grimaced internally hearing the familiar voice and turned to see Mary raising her hand.

"Go ahead."

"Can I just kill all the masks just to make sure? I want to get rid of a certain asshole"

Yikes.

"You can kill whoever you want, but murder is not allowed on campus. You can only kill during events, tests, competitions and missions. We do not condone senseless killing. Death is only useful when it is used as fodder to grow the winners."

Double Yikes

Guess that means all of the 'masks' would be targeted at every step. Not that it means much since everyone is out to get everyone here.

This is going to be a life full of flimsy alliances and constant betrayal.

Kill or be killed, Destroy or get destroyed, devour or get devoured.

I am already in love.

"Since there are no more questions, you guys are free to leave."

Saying so the instructor clapped his hands and teleported out of the hall.

I assume he teleported as he just disappeared into thin air. It could have been something like dismissing a clone for all I know.

Doors on both sides of the auditorium opened up, signalling that we were free to leave.

I looked around the room, observing the rest of the students.

Looks like it was time to socialize.