Chapter 98: Breakthrough Trial (12/)

Barely thirty minutes had passed in the real world, but the current population at the hunter academy had doubled.The rumors about the probability of Marlon turning into a high-level threat after failing the impossible breakthrough trial had spread across the hunters’ forum.

Thus, solo hunters arrived one after the other, and even nearby guilds sent their best men to represent them.

Very soon, more than one thousand hunters, including a few high-ranking hunters, crowded the once peaceful academy.

The news of a student attempting the forbidden five-star trial had long since spread across like wildfire, and as usual, the scene was flooded with cameras and reporters from various channels who strolled around the area searching for interviews with some hotshot amongst the crowd.

Also present at the scene was none other than the current acting vice president of the Heartland Hunter Association, Crimson Sterling.

She was escorted by groups of noisy reporters and stoic hunters as they strolled towards the hostel.

She wore a calm expression on her face that betrayed the trouble in her heart.

"Why did Axel Storm word the message in that manner?"

Ever since she got that message, she had been repeating this question in her head.

How he learnt about Marlon’s attempt without being informed was already a mystery, but the content of the message she received from him was even more mysterious.


For one, Axel Storm rarely communicated with the Hunter Association, and each time he did, it was for a very important reason like his first exploration mission outside Arden and the new voyage mission he had issued.

But just a few hours ago, she got a warning from the strongest hero to send all the strongest hunters on board towards the academy to stand against a possible A-rank threat.

"How was that possible?" she wondered.

In recent years, more hunters have attempted the five-star breakthrough trial and failed, and none of them had turned into an A-rank threat, so what was the worry about this time? She had no answer.

If it were another person that sent such a warning, she would’ve totally ignored it, but as it was the strongest hunter of Arden and also one of the pioneers, she did not dare toy with it.

She heaved a sigh, pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind.

Then she turned to the flock of reporters encircling her and warned in a stern voice,

"It would be best if you guys stay away from the scene as far as possible."

The flickers of cameras and voices of reporters died to a hush the moment her voice faded.

The hunters strolling with her quickly acted and halted the crew, giving Crimson space to continue her stroll to the hostel.

"Lady Crimson, it is very good to see you here."

"What exactly is happening?"

"Is it true that we might be facing an abyss-level threat?"

As she arrived, all the hunters present flocked around her and hurled a series of questions.

She ignored them and instead paved her way towards the entrance of the hostel.

Using the elevator, she moved up to the floor where Marlon’s room was located.

The floor was mostly empty except for the two hunters she had stationed to take care of things at the beginning.

"Welcome, Lady Crimson."

Maddox and Gigaman greeted the moment she arrived.

She nodded at their greeting and then asked for reports.

As Marlon had not returned, there were no reports, but the two hunters did not forget to share their opinion.

"It has been more than an hour since he started his trial, which is equivalent to three days at least. I can’t imagine what suffering he might be going through and how he is managing to hold on, but I hope he makes it out alive. The kid has a bright future ahead, and losing him would be a great loss to Arden," Gigaman said with a sigh.

"I agree with Gigaman," Maddox stated in a gentle tone. "Nonetheless, this is the longest anyone aside from Axel Storm has ever spent in a five-star breakthrough trial, so we can say there is a bigger probability of him making it out alive."

"True, the longest record aside from Axel Storm was barely three minutes long." Gigaman nodded, agreeing with Maddox’s stats.

The two of them turned to Crimson.

And using the opportunity, they asked the questions troubling the thousands of hunters outside.

Since they were only two of them, Crimson shared a tiny part of the whole truth, and just like the other hunters, the two were dumbfounded.

After hearing the reason for the summon of hunters, the two began to pray that Marlon succeeded.

An abyss-level threat is not something the world is prepared for, especially after the recent chaos with the Lunaris.

===

"Is it true?"

Lyra’s worried voice reached the two bespectacled friends.

Ashton and Logan turned to look at her and nodded slowly.

"Why didn’t you guys stop him?" she asked, her tone raised with frustration.

She was on her ride back home when she saw a post online about the commotion at the academy.

The post didn’t mention the name of the student taking the five-star breakthrough trial, but she already knew no one else would be bold enough to attempt something like that except Marlon.

Without hesitation, she spun her ride around and sped straight back to the school, and true to her suspicion, he was the one.

Ashton and Logan didn’t respond.

They only looked at her with tired, defeated expressions. Even if Marlon had told them beforehand... would they really have been able to stop him?

"You guys are his friends," she said sharply. "You should’ve at least tried to stop him."

The two remained silent still.

Even though they had managed to maintain their composure so far, they were just as worried about the survival of their friend.

====

This was the first round where he had absolute control and real hope that his mission might actually succeed, and naturally, it hit differently.

Especially since checking the apocalypse panel no longer felt like waiting for his death.

It was already evening.

Still sitting inside the halls of the purple villa, he lazily called out the panel once more.

[ Apocalypse Panel ]

—World: Aerth

—Population: 7,999,987,000

—Time remaining: 0 days, 0 hrs, 33 mins

Barely half an hour left.

He noticed the decline in population but quickly brushed it aside—it was bound to happen given the state of the world. Most of those deaths were probably accidents, he thought.

He closed the panel and turned to look at his parents.

"Son, are you not coming with us to the basement?"

Theresa asked in a worried tone. Orlando stood beside her with the same concern in his eyes.

"Do not worry. I will be safe, but I can’t say the same for you two," Marlon replied, waving his hand dismissively.

They exchanged uneasy looks and tried to persuade him again, but in the end it was futile. The guards escorted them to the basement beneath the purple villa.

Marlon watched them leave and let out a quiet sigh.

"Am I going to be successful this time?" he muttered.

Even though everything seemed to be falling into place, he couldn’t help the worry creeping in.

Something inside him doubted the system would allow the breakthrough trial to be this easy.

But what could possibly go wrong? he wondered.

He had seen all the preventive measures taken by each country. They were unexpected, but he trusted they could withstand the meteors—or at least, he tried to believe they would.

Time felt sluggish as he kept reopening the apocalypse panel.

And after what felt like a long wait—

The last minute finally arrived, and the familiar message appeared.

[ The apocalypse has arrived. ]

And just like always, the world came to a halt.

This time, he didn’t bother watching the meteor shower. He was tired of seeing it again and again every round. He just wanted everything to end.

So he sat and waited for the usual blinding light.

Since it was still early in the night, he expected the blazing brightness to swallow the world.

But after ten seconds, nothing happened.

"Strange."

It usually came instantly. Why the delay?

Curious, he stood up and walked toward the window.

Looking outside, nothing seemed different.

The sky had the same hue.

The streets were empty and quiet, not even animals wandering around.

It was different—different from anything he had experienced in the four rounds so far.

For reasons he couldn’t explain, his heartbeat quickened.

The hope he held began to waver as he wondered what was happening.

It was then.

—Population: 7,900,683,670

The population suddenly dropped by a few million at once.

"What the—"

It happened so abruptly that Marlon couldn’t stop himself from reacting.

What was happening?

He asked the question instinctively, even though he knew the system would never answer.

His eyes stayed glued to the population panel and shockingly, it dropped again.

Although not as drastic as during a meteor strike, it was still happening alarmingly fast.

Marlon began to panic.

And right then, a door swung open and two figures stepped out.

His parents.

But they were... different.