The Author's POV

-Vuuuuam!

Taking a step into the dungeon, I felt the world around me twist.

It first started with my eyesight...everything became black.

Then it was my hearing, my sense of touch followed soon after....thereafter all my remaining senses disappeared.

I felt nothing.

It felt as if I was an insignificant speck of dust drifting in a lonely space.

I soon after lost my sense of time.

...What may have been seconds felt like an eternity.

-Vuuuuam!

"Fuuuuuu...."

Finally, after an unknown period of time, hearing the faint sound of my breathing, I knew that my senses were returning.

Because I had been through this situation before, back in the black market dungeon, I was somewhat able to adjust to the shift in sensations.

Unlike last time, I didn't puke this time.

Opening my eyelids, I found myself inside of a damp and dark environment.

Instantly, a heavy scent of granite invaded my nostrils. Soon after, a cold gush of air brushed against my skin.

Glancing around, I found many students grimacing and holding onto their stomachs—Trying their best to not puke.

-Blaaargh! -Blaaargh! -Blaaargh!

...well, there was always bound to be a few who people who couldn't hold out.

With dungeons being off-limit to people who didn't have Hero licenses, apart from a few, most of the students present had never been inside of a dungeon. Their reaction was understandable.

Arriving and standing before us, a second-year student with a green Lock uniform, warmly smiled towards us.

The student had short curly black hair that gently fell towards the side of his face, and his deep black eyes that seemed to carry a hit of warmth perfectly complemented his hair. He didn't look particularly outstanding, but he seemed to be an amiable person instantly giving people a good impression of him.

As he spoke, his deep yet pleasant voice traveled through each of the student's ears calming them down.

"Alright, fellow students, I'll give you five minutes to recover before I'll start the next briefing."

As soon as his words entered the student's ears, most of the students managed to regain their bearing.

Surprised by this development, staring at the students who seemed to have suddenly magically recovered from their nausea, I fell into deep thought. Glancing at the air around me, I soon came to a realization

'The thickness of the mana around us increased...I see, the second-year student must have embedded mana into his voice creating a calming effect...'

Interesting...

The second year before me successfully caught my attention.

...To be able to affect someone's mood with just a few words.

Scary.

This was especially so if they were against you.

With just a few words, they could influence your state of mind. Imagine being in a battle and you suddenly found yourself losing the ability to think properly because of how angry you were...

This can result in the opponent potentially making more mistakes...Just like what had happened with Alex back in Galxicus.

Glancing at him with interest, I couldn't help but think of recruiting him into my mercenary group.

Though he never appeared in the novel, I couldn't help but be fascinated by his power.

His power was definitely interesting...

A pawn or an important piece?

...I'll have to observe more.

"Okay, now that everyone is better, I will keep this short. My name is Benjamin Hor and as you can see from my uniform I'm a second-year student. I will briefly explain to you a couple of important things that you will need to know to ensure your safety as you start the examination, so please bear with me for a minute"

Pointing towards his left where a set of gray combat suits were laid on the floor, Benjamin said

"On my left over here, are a bunch of clothes that you will need to wear when crossing the dungeon."

"They are equipped with a tracking device as well as a defense mechanism that is able to withstand blows coming from E ranked monsters at least once. This way we can preserve your life in case a dangerous situation arises."

Pausing, and glancing at the students to make sure they understood what he had said, Benjamin smiled

"After I finish briefing you on a couple of more things, you will be given a couple of seconds in order to change into those combat clothes. Please make sure you wear them as they are crucial in keeping you safe..."

...and like that, Benjamin briefed us on a couple more things.

To be honest, after hearing the first part, I pretty much stopped listening. It was just the usual safety precaution rules that I was briefed back in the dungeon of the black market.

Nothing particularly important.

After talking for a couple more minutes, smiling, Benjamin glanced at all of the students and concluded.

"...Alright, that's pretty much everything for now. Please change into your combat suits and wait for me at the starting line of the dungeon"

Nodding my head, I took a gray suit and quickly changed into it.

Obviously, there were two piles, one for men and one for women. As I put on the suit, I couldn't help but be reminded of the suit I was made to wear back in the virtual reality class.

Though it wasn't as tight, it wasn't any better as I felt my body become stiff.

At the front of the suit, several black pads made out of special shock-absorbing materials were attached to the chest and abdomen areas of the suit, as well as the knees and elbows, and other important areas of the body.

They were specifically put in those areas to cover the more vulnerable parts of the body.

As I moved around with the suit on, though it was uncomfortable at first, I quickly got used to it.

Arriving at the starting line of the dungeon, I did a few stretches to warm my muscles up.

-Bump!

"Huh?"

As I was stretching, feeling someone bump into me, I turned around. Soon I saw Arnold's figure standing a few meters from where I was standing. Glancing at me with utter disdain, he slowly uttered

"You better watch out inside of the dungeon...since there are no cameras you never know what might happen..."

"...Okay"

Smiling politely, I nodded my head and moved a few meters back.

He still hasn't given up huh?

That's fine by me.

...I've already thought things through before.

Along with the many other stares, I had noticed his stare back at the ranking evaluation. Compared to the other stares, his was the only one that contained obvious malicious intentions in it.

...I think Jin hadn't had told him about what had happened back in Hollberg. Maybe because it slipped his mind or because he thought my rank was higher, Jin still hadn't told Arnold about me.

This was good.

Thinking back. I think the rest of the guys just like Jin, probably thought I was going to be ranked higher.

I guess in the end they still thought I was hiding my strength as faking a rank with the orb wasn't that hard.

There were certain artifacts in circulation that could limit someone's mana flow making it so their rank was lower, however, doing so would take a long time and it was extremely painful hence why most people refrained from doing so.

Honestly, I'm glad Jin didn't say anything.

I still had a grudge against Arnold for what he did to me back when I had just arrived. In the Virtual world.

Though his parent's background was greater than mine, now that Jin was out of the picture, I didn't have to worry about him targeting my family.

Even if he did...yeah.

...Now that I had gotten a better understanding of this world, I knew of many ways to destroy him. I didn't have to fight him head one. I could just manipulate what was around him in a way that his life would turn into hell...

Pausing my thoughts there, lightly glancing at him from the side, I smiled inwardly.

'You should be the one that should watch their backs...'

"Alright, it seems like everyone is here"

Standing by the side of the cave, Benjamin glanced at the students who were waiting behind the starting point of the cave.

The way the students were huddled up together reminded him of marathons.

At the front were the more confident students, and at the back were the less confident ones.

Pausing, and after seeing that everyone was ready, raising his hands, Benjamin slowly said

"On your marks get set...Go!"

-Beeep!

-Swooosh! -Swooosh! -Swooosh!

Like a chain reaction, all of the students started sprinting forwards.

Despite there being no light ahead of them, the students fearlessly ran through the cave-like environment. Completely forgetting that this wasn't a race and that this was a dungeon.

Watching the students run with all their might, I shook my head.

Naive.

Running ahead of the others in the beginning was probably the worst decision someone could make...especially since this was an unfamiliar environment with no knowledge of what laid ahead of them.

-Kehuuuk! -Kehuuuk! -Kehuuuk!

...and right on cue. A few meters ahead of me, where most of the students were, yellow eyes appeared everywhere.

Stopping, and glancing towards the mass of eyes in the distance, I couldn't help but mutter

"The midterm exams have finally begun."