Chapter 18

Back in the game, there was a crude measurement system that was used to evaluate

“How did you manage to kill a giant scorpion with just a stone?” Alicia asked in an animated voice. “That’s not even possible! My friend who’s way better than me at the game told me that it has a paralyzing ability that even the top rank players can’t avoid.”

Zack sighed. “I tell this to everyone– you just have to dodge.”

“Wait a second…” Alicia remarked, her eyes narrowing. “You’re not one of those Zero fanboys, are you?”

“Well… I guess you can say that I am.” Zack had to stop himself from bursting out laughing. Here he was standing here, the owner of the account himself, and this girl was asking him if he was a mere fanboy? Zack did not have that much of an ego except for when it came to the Royal Road. In that game, he was the undisputed king of collection. It was a shame that she didn’t recognize his skills yet, but then again how could she?

“A loyal fan has become a gold mark. Zero would be proud of you,” Sofia added, nodding knowingly while bobbing the wrench in her hand.

It took every ounce of self control for him not to just blurt out that he was the owner of the account that they were referring to. He just had a feeling that revealing all of his cards so early on would not benefit him, so he decided not to share.

He also found it a bit amusing that Sofia Alley kept holding the wrench as if she was an accomplished fighter or something. Just from a cursory glance at her movements and posture, he could tell that she was just posing. She claimed to be a mechanic, but her slender arms didn’t look like they’d ever been subject to laborious work in her existence. Or maybe her specific function didn’t require that much elbow grease.

The thirty-something year old woman wouldn’t last a minute in a fight with something like the headmaster. This was not quite like the Royal Road where men and women had their capabilities equalized. Right now, people who were trained in martial arts or were simply larger in stature had a significant advantage, like himself over someone like Abe.

“Alright, I’ll admit that I’m a bit of a Zero fan. That’s definitely a true statement,” he said with a smile. Technically speaking, he was without a doubt a fan of himself. “And being the ardent Zero fan that I am, I’m quite the good survivalist and have copied his observational skills as well. As you can see, I’m still alive despite not going out the window back in the lecture hall, so I have some skills. So, maybe we can work together on a deal to get out of this dump in one piece. How does that sound?”

“Of course,” Alicia replied, the sleek black haired girl crossing her arm across her chest with her other hand resting on her face, in a pose that only an art student could pull off without looking ridiculous. She extended a hand towards Zack, her long sleeves covering halfway up to her fingers. “Nice working with you.”

Any other male examinee would’ve taken the gorgeous girl’s offer of a handshake then and there. But not Zack. He needed a bit more than that.

“Not so fast. We have to make a deal first.” Zack took out a pouch he had tied to his bag, and took out a token, the wooden token with a brass finish looking like something that wouldn’t be so out of place at an arcade. “You see these right? For us to cooperate, I need as many of these as you can give me, from all of your followers.” He was not at all ashamed about pushing his luck. To grow, he needed to take risks and ask for hard favors. “In return, I will give you valuable information about the demon’s weakness, so we can all get out of here alive.”

Alicia looked up at his face, her expression cool and collected, in stark contrast to the fear and anxiety that was present earlier. It was obvious that she found it far easier to deal with people, than to deal with undead monstrosities. Fair point. “What do you need those tokens for?” she asked.

“There’s something I need to buy to strengthen myself,” Zack replied.

“I mean, we’re not in desperate need for the tokens, but a strengthening item sounds pretty good.”

“The thing I need is on the rooftop, above the fifth floor. How exactly are you going to get up there to spend your tokens? You must’ve realized that the third floor and above are time locked. Now I’m not an expert on demons, but I can safely say that surviving here isn’t going to get easier with time.”

“Hm…”

Zack chuckled. “Maybe it’s best if we just settle this with a test of strength. You two, plus Nicolas, against me. If you guys win, I’ll hand over all my tokens to you as well as my gold mark rewards. If I win, you guys and your followers hand over your tokens.”

“Seriously? You’re that confident?” Sofia Alley sneered. “We might not look like much, but we’re silver marks after all. And Nicolas told us that he ran over his monster with his motorcycle.”

“Oh?” Zack responded, as this was the first time he was hearing about this particularly interesting piece of information.

“Yeah, he might not look like it, but he’s part of a biker gang. That’s why we’re not all that keen on working with him, if you know what I mean. Not exactly a law abiding citizen,” Sofia said with a slight drawl in her accent.

Zack wondered if Nicolas was the one who killed the man by the staircase. He fit the profile, but he didn’t want to jump too quickly to conclusions. But still, even with that revelation he was fine with the challenge.

“That’s alright. You three against just me. If he doesn’t want to pitch in his tokens, that’s fine by me.”

Sofia and Alicia discussed the deal, then Alicia turned to speak to him. “Fine, we’ll talk to our followers and Nicolas.”

Leaving the kitchen together, Alicia and Sofia went to have a chat with the rest of the examinees in the cafeteria, while Zack headed back over to his own party.

“What’d those girls say?” Patricia asked with her arms folded in front of her.

Before Zack answered her, his brows furrowed into a frown. “I just realized, these people just leave the door to the cafeteria unlocked and open. Aren’t they worried about the Hamagku?”

Abe piped up. “I asked around about that. I think that so many people kept coming in that they forgot to lock it for a moment. They were going to before we barged in.”

“Ah, I see.” Zack redirected his attention back to the original question. “I gave them an offer. I’ll help them out and give them some information, in return for their tokens. But they weren’t fully convinced that it’s worth it, so I…” he quickly explained the challenge that he made with them.

Patricia looked absolutely shocked. “Are you out of your mind? You against three of them? How is that remotely fair?”

Even Poppy chimed in. “Zack, I’m not sure this is the right move. Shouldn’t we all just work together to make it through this?” She was a kind hearted soul, as expected of a florist.

“Yeah, I know it’s not pleasant to ask for things when we’re in a situation like this, but trust me, it’ll be better for all of us if I get stronger.”

“Alright, I trust you. You’ve taken care of us so far,” Poppy replied.

“Tch… you better not end up losing my tokens too.” Starry Peach was a lot less pleased, so it seemed.

Zack saw that Alicia and Sofia were calling him over, so he went to the other side of the cafeteria. The rest of the examinees were looking at him with renewed interest.

“There’s no way he wins.”

“Yeah. Three on one? Fat chance of that.”

“I mean, maybe he could win? He’s a gold mark after all.”

“I’ll bet you a pack of spicy chips, the good kind.”

“You asshole, that’s where all the good bags went. You were hogging them, huh?”

It was reassuring to hear that the other examinees still had the luxury of bickering over something as trivial as some snacks. Zack smirked. For some reason, it was kind of exciting for them to doubt him. It just made him all the more excited to prove himself.

“Alright, we talked it through, and we accept the deal.” Alicia pointed at a section of the cafeteria that had a small arena made with chairs and tables pushed in the shape of a ring. “We’ll fight there, until one side gives up. Sound good?”

A strong jawed man around his thirties in a leather jacket walked up to him, squaring him up. Naturally, it was Nicolas. Zack’s muscles tensed, preparing to throw down with him before they even reached the makeshift arena, but Nicolas simply grinned and bumped him in the chest with a light fist tap. “You better put up a fight, buddy.”

Zack smiled back. “You too buddy, you too.”

As Nicolas walked away, Zack’s eyes scanned his body movement, as he instinctively took in as much data as he could about his gait and possible fighting pattern as he could. He noticed that he walked with a slight limp in his left knee, the same kind that he saw while fighting wounded Forest Giants before.

That knee was going to be a weak point.