Crazed-state

The Queen Swamp Serpent was a formidable opponent, and the players had been engaged in a fierce battle for what seemed like hours. Sharky and the other players had been keeping a safe distance on top of an abandoned building, watching the battle.

"We can't afford to sit here and watch; we must leave at all costs!" Sharky said, his amphibious hands trembling.

"What? We're just going to leave like that? No! We're not going to leave them to die there; we need to find a way to help the-"

"No! We can't," Sharky interrupted.

"What do you mean we can't?" Aaron inquired, glancing around to look for Sharky's reasons.

"Look, kid, I've been in the Yellow Zone for an hour, and monsters respawn every damn fifteen minutes. It's almost fifteen minutes since the last horde of monsters attacked us..." Then Sharky grabbed Aaron's collar and drew him closer. "We need to leave right now, kid, or you'll find yourself in a situation you won't be able to escape this time."

Aaron stumbled to the ground as soon as Sharky let go of his collar. "No... no... no... there has to be another way. I can't leave him, not after he didn't leave me earlier. I can't do this to Liam; he saved my life, and I'd rather die here with him than leave him."

Bam-!!

"Kaiser, please stop!!!"

Colleen and Sharky rushed in after Kaiser kicked Aaron in the face. It didn't hurt Aaron because the system coated his body with some kind of invisible barrier due to the fact that players can't attack each other in a Yellow Zone, but he was still stunned.

"Die here? Are you hearing yourself?" Kaiser exclaimed angrily, his nostrils flaring. "I know you won't betray that guy, but if you truly believe he's great, you'll trust him to survive this. At this point, you'll just be a burden to him like you always have, so stop thinking about dying because I've had enough of players dying in vain!"

"You're right, what's the point? Liam will definitely survive this; let's go!"

Colleen let out a grateful sigh. It was her first-time seeing Kaiser become so serious. Maybe he wasn't just the pervert she suspected.

"What?" Kaiser scowled.

"Nothing," Colleen replied, her cute little smile barely visible.

"All right, let's have faith in them. They're strong, I fought with them even if it was for a short time, and we'll see them again in the Green Zone," Sharky reassured before dragging the other players into the shallow river as the best swimmer in the group.

Meanwhile, Liam and Axis were putting up a valiant fight against the Queen Swamp Serpent.

"Are you sure you don't want to leave this to me? You don't seem to have a lot of Health Points left," Axis said as he circled the massive serpent monster.

"Shut the f*ck up, blue woman! You just want to stay so you can get all the rewards for yourself! You won't steal the satisfaction of this fight from me, you hear me?" Liam screamed back, evading the serpent's massive tail that had hit him earlier and released a guttural roar like a madman.

"Hahahaha! So, you knew all along? And you're still capable of speech? That's amazing! I thought you'd become a complete feral beast," Axis responded as she threw her axe at the serpent's body, but it was ineffective. Aside from the crown-like faceplate that concealed its weak spots, the Queen Swamp Serpent's scales provided it with armor that was too difficult for new players to penetrate.

'Tsk! How much armor did the system bestow on this obnoxious snake? This is more difficult than I expected,' she grumbled, pinching her lips together. 'However, who exactly is that player? I've never seen his race before in the Tower, and he has access to Eternal Black Flame during the Pre-trial? That's insane!' Axis reflected, her face hardening.

"Ha! I'm not an idiot. Your intentions are abundantly apparent, and your eyes... I've seen those eyes countless times on my planet, eyes that are only driven by greed, and I'm so sick of it!" Liam grinned, remembering the people he had to kill on his home planet because they had the same eyes as Axis. If they weren't in the Yellow Zone and he was irritated enough, he may punish Axis because of it too.

Swooosh-!!

Their conversation was cut short as the Queen Swamp Serpent slithered around the debris on the ground at twice the speed it had previously displayed.

"Whaaaaat? The system gave it a passive skill as well? Damn it! This is just a Pre-trial for God's sake!" Axis exclaimed, her blood pressure skyrocketing.

Liam and Axis were forced to fight together, but the Queen Swamp Serpent had had enough of their attacks and had developed new levels of agility to evade them, making it more difficult for them to hit it now.

But... Liam unexpectedly ceased attacking.

"Hey, hey, hey! I can't believe this stupid snake is really asking me to get serious," Liam raved. Then he took off at lightning-fast speed.

'Oh... So, he's not utilizing his full speed yet after transforming into that feral beast? No worries, the same thing can be said about me.' Axis grinned and pounced hard on the monster.

Liam accessed the Nuclear Force Manifestation and unlocked his latent human strength, but to his surprise, Axis was able to keep up with his speed. "HAHAHA! This place is amazin'! You're not bad, blue!"

"The name is Axis, you racist pale-skinned creature!" Axis rolled her eyes in irritably.

They flipped the script on the Queen Swamp Serpent, becoming the predator instead of the prey.

Liam couldn't help but feel satisfied as they bared their fangs and launched a barrage of attacks. He and Axis had overcome their differences and were working together to defeat a common enemy, their attacks and movements perfectly synchronized. He hadn't felt like anyone could keep up with him in a long time. There were only two people on Earth who could keep up with his strength and speed: his wife and "that guy."

The Queen Swamp Serpent succumbed after what seemed like an eternity. Liam and Axis were exhausted but overjoyed. They had triumphed, and as they expected, they would make it out of the pre-trial alive.