In the very beginning, there was only me and the existence known as “Ame”.

I was only six years old when I visited the Colosseum for the first time.

But, back then, it wasn’t called the “Colosseum”.

I don’t even know what it was called.

All I could remember was that every night, “Ame” would come and take me to his castle, in the midst of a magical fantasy world that every child dreamed of.

I would explore the many floors of his mighty residence, all the way from the bottom to the top.

“Ame, Ame!” I would say with excitement every single time, “Why don’t we invite more people to play?”

Ame would laugh, and ask me who I had in mind.

“My Nii-san, my parents, my best friend Tomo-kun, the nice lady from the ice-cream shop...Let’s invite everyone!”

There Ame would laugh once more, as if in agreement.

But, he never invited anyone. I alone, enjoyed the nightly amusement.

That is, until the summer of my fourth year in elementary school.

My friends no longer believed in my stories of Ame.

“Aren’t you getting too old for things like an imaginary friend?”

I remember getting into a fight because of those words.

Ame isn’t just an “imaginary friend”. Ame has never once left my side. Only Ame...

Ame never visited me that night.

Not the next night either.

And the next...

Slowly, I began to forget about Ame and that strange place.

Life was normal and peaceful.

But, back then I would have never known...

That the place I loved so much when I was young, would become a living nightmare I could never escape from.

A message from the [Colosseum]:

Greetings, honored [Challenger]! You have been selected to participate in tonight’s [Colosseum Trial]. Please [Accept] this invitation to ensure a bright and peaceful tomorrow!

-From your dutiful Moderator, [AME].

--------------

The ruins of an ancient temple.

Two people.

A game of life and death.

I watched in silence on my throne.

Coldly.

Calmly.

Apathetically.

Observing the movements of the two, who had most likely never met each other in real life before, as they attempted to kill each other.

All in order to save their own lives.

Yes, the human heart is cruel.

I, myself, know that fact very well.

The challengers were both hiding.

Neither of them knows the other’s location.

Only I do.

But, I take no one’s side.

I only watched.

And watched.

And watched. Behind the safety of a screen.

Just like what the perpetrator usually does.

Challenger A is making his way toward his opponent, hidden by the remains of the uneven walls.

Challenger B is standing in the middle of the temple, in plain sight of any surprise attacks.

Challenger A has reached the end of the wreckage. He will no longer be hidden and protected from any counterattacks...

So, he waits.

And observes the movements of his enemy.

The timer in the sky flashes without a sound

00:59.

He stepped forward.

00:30.

He began to run.

00:15.

He is directly behind his opponent.

00:05.

He raises his sword and...

Brings it down on empty air.

His opponent was no longer there.

It only took him a few moments to realize that he had been fooled by an illusion spell, so he turns around...

And is pierced by countless, giant ice poles.

00:01.

The match has ended.

Challenger B has won.

I closed my eyes.

Then, I turned off the screen.

It was useless to continue thinking about this.

Because even though his fate had been altered by a simple mistake, to both his opponent and I...

He was just another nameless person that was eliminated tonight.

-------------

Many gamers like PvP-style matches.

I absolutely hate it.

I used to like it, long time ago, but it is now my most dreaded type of combat.

In the Colosseum, there is no such thing as a draw.

One person always dies.

You either kill your opponent, and survive.

Or be killed by your opponent.

Game over.

The end.

Worst case scenario, you both run out of time...

And you both pay the price, with your lives.

I have seen that happen just one too many times.

ERROR: A DISTURBANCE HAS BEEN FOUND IN THE SYSTEM.

That message popped out of nowhere, displayed in red across the empty space in front of me.

I narrowed my eyes.

Waving my hand across the air in one swift movement, I opened the screens for all the floors.

Floor one, normal.

Floor two, normal.

Floor three, floor four, floor five...

I scanned the images of each floor, hunting for the possible source for the error.

Floor 27, 28, 29...

I stopped.

Floor 29.

Something is off.

“System, identify the settings for Floor 29.”

As you wish, Master.

The tiny screen in front of me merged into one large screen, displaying the activity on Floor 29.

Beside it, details of the settings were listed.

Floor #: 29

Floor type: Labyrinth

Number of paths: 132

Number of dead-ends: 54

Number of exits: 1

I grimaced, but continued on.

Number of monsters: 39

Number of Bosses: 1

This was followed by the profiles of the NPC monsters.

Monster name: Three-headed Snake

Monster type: Minion

Level: 100

HP: 10, 000

MP: 1, 000

This isn’t right.

A level 100 minion like this should not be at a floor as low as 29.

My eyes fell to the profile below that.

Monster name: Medusa

Monster type: Boss

Level: 200

HP: 100, 000

MP: 15, 000

Medusa?

Isn’t she one of the final bosses of the Colosseum, found only in the highest floors?

She should not be there.

This is horribly dangerous.

A team of a five level 90 players would have a lot of trouble even getting her down to half HP, never mind the concept of defeating her.

It took me double the levels to do that.

And, there is no way someone on Floor 29 could be level 180.

...

I continued down the settings, straight to the challenger profiles.

Player name: Akimori Yuri

Gender: Female

Class: Warrior

Level: 46

HP: 1, 700

MP: 400

The list of challengers end there.

She was the only player on this floor.

...

She won’t even last a minute against her enemies.

“System, locate and track player [Akimori Yuri].”

Locating player [Akimori Yuri]. Please wait a moment.

I watched as the system did a quick scan of the floor.

Player [Akimori Yuri] has been located. Coordinates, X: 1780, Y: 221.

The tracking system has been activated.

The screen zoomed in to show the figure of the person in question.

A girl that seemed to be my age.

Long, flowing midnight black hair.

A matching form-fitting black dress that ends just above her knees, with long lace-up boots of the same color.

Fiery red jewels adorned her outfit, dancing like miniature flames in the flickering lights.

And, to top it all off, a pair of honey-golden eyes. Just as bright and dazzling as the morning sun.

She was without a doubt, a beauty.

I caught myself staring at her.

Then, I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

Now is not the time to be admiring someone.

“System, identify the locations of all the monsters on this map.”

Understood, Master.

A series of red flags began to appear across the screen, pinpointing the whereabouts of the NPCs.

The Boss was a long distance ahead of Yuri.

I don’t have to worry about it for now.

The closest minion is five turns ahead.

Meaning that at her current pace, Yuri will reach it in approximately two minutes.

...

That is just enough time to decode and recode the minion.

“System, access Moderator panel.”

A set of options appeared in front of me.

I selected the options to “view” and “modify” the NPC coding.

Without a single pause in my movements, I narrowed down on the specific minion.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

My fingers swept across the screen so fast they were like a blur.

Do you wish to [Replace] this NPC?

“Yes.”

Please enter the [Code] of the NPC you wish to replace it with.

“002140...”

I saw Yuri make a right turn out of the corner of my eye.

Four more turns.

Faster.

“...A0X283...”

She made another right turn.

“...1029V32...”

A left turn. A right turn after that.

No.

Stop.

Don’t go there.

Not yet, just a little more...

“...89AP40K 527 WX834!!!”

I slammed my hand down on the “Confirm” button.

Then, there was silence.

Did I...make it?

ERROR: SYSTEM HAS FAILED TO LOAD THE CODE. PLEASE TRY AGAIN.

No.

This joke is not funny. Not funny at all.

Now was the worst time for the code to fail.

Six steps.

I need to think of something. Fast.

Fix steps.

Should I try the code again? No, there is not enough time.

Four steps.

Another code? No, that was the shortest one I could remember. Searching for another one will take even more time.

Three steps.

This girl. She will die just because of a system malfunction? Something that should have never happened in the first place?

...

Something that I have the power to prevent?

Two steps.

No, she will not die.

I won’t let her die.

Time seemed to advance in slow motion for me in the next few seconds.

Yuri lifted one foot, slowly bringing it down onto the path in front of her.

She was now at the corner, about to make the final left turn.

Right into the embrace of the horrifying monster that was to seal her fate...

One step.

...

Clang.

The sound of something hitting metal echoed in the labyrinth.

Yuri’s eyes widened in surprise.

Because in front of her, there stood a single person, dressed in a pure black trenchcoat.

And in his hands, he held a blazing, azure-blue sword...

Blocking off the claws of the monster that were originally aimed at her.

Me.

Monsters remaining: 40

Time remaining: 1:13:08

Number of players on the floor: 2

I’m sorry, Ame. I hope you can forgive me for breaking the rules...this time.

Floor Two- End.