Demons Within I Level Up Endlessly Chapter 79

[ … words ]

The transition through the portal was rough, and the landing was even harder because of the metal floor of the resting platform.

Daniel hit the ground with a heavy thud, and he quickly rolled to his side to stop himself from sliding across the smooth surface.

He came to a stop on his back and stared up at the bright white lights on the ceiling which hurt his tired eyes.

He was finally safe, and he was back at the base.

However, as he lay there on the cold floor, gasping for air, he really didn’t feel like a winner at all.

He felt a heavy weight on his chest from Sophie’s angry words.

Daniel closed his eyes and tried to rest for a moment, letting his body go limp on the floor. The energy and excitement that had helped him run through the jungle were gone now, and all that was left was a deep pain in his bones.

His left shoulder was in bad shape because the Omega Guardian had smashed it, and his muscles twitched uncontrollably because he had used up all his energy.

He knew he couldn’t stay on the floor forever, so he forced his eyes open. He couldn’t show any weakness here, especially not in front of the others.

The platform was very quiet, which was a big change from the loud and happy ceremony they had weeks ago. The crowd of students was much smaller now because many died during the assessment, especially during the purge.

Survivors stood together in small groups, holding onto their injuries. Few of them were missing arms or legs because the monsters had torn them off, some just stared at the floor with empty eyes because they had seen too many terrible things.

Daniel sat up slowly, and he let out a small hiss of pain because his shoulder hurt when he moved. He grabbed his left arm with his right hand to support it, and then he stood up.

His legs felt very heavy, but he forced them to move forward one step at a time. He ignored the people staring at him.

A few students near him jumped back in surprise when they saw him because his gear was burnt and torn, and he was covered in the blood of monsters.

He walked past them without saying a word, heading straight for the Medical Bay. The Medical Bay was a bright, clean room filled with advanced machines and robot doctors.

Daniel found an empty bed and sat down on it heavily. Immediately, a floating medical drone came down from the ceiling and scanned his body with a green laser light.

“Bad injury detected,” a robotic voice said. “Your left shoulder is broken in many places. Your muscles are torn. Starting quick repair now.”

A robotic arm came down, holding a tool that looked like a big needle. The drone pressed the tool against Daniel’s shoulder.

HISS!

Daniel clenched his jaw tight as the medicine coursed through him, because the medicine felt very cold at first. Then, the feeling changed to a burning heat as the tiny machines inside the medicine began to pull his bones back together and fix his torn muscles.

While the machines were fixing him, Instructor Baldwin’s voice came over the speakers. Her voice was loud, but it was firm.

“Attention, everyone. The portal to the Astral Verge is now closed.”

Daniel looked up at the big screens on the walls. The image of the blue portal flickered for a second, and then it disappeared, leaving only a black screen.

Some of the survivors gave a weak cheer, but it quickly faded as Baldwin went on.

“We know that many people died today,” Baldwin said firmly. “Many strong fighters fell. But those of you standing here have shown that you are strong. You have proven that you deserve to be called Vanguards.”

The medical drone beeped to show that it was finished. Daniel moved his left shoulder in a circle. It made a cracking sound, but the terrible pain was gone, and his bone was fixed.

He jumped off the bed just as the big screens turned on again. The black screen changed to show a list of names.

It was the final ranking for the test. The whole platform went completely silent because everyone wanted to see the results.

The list started scrolling from the bottom, showing the names of the people who had the lowest scores. Then it moved faster, showing the top 100, and then the top 50.

The crowd started whispering when they saw famous names. Sansa Valtor and John Draven, who were the most popular students, appeared in the second and third spots.

They had very high scores, thousands of points more than the normal students. But the list didn’t stop there because there was one more name.

The screen froze. The number “1” grew bigger, and it shone in bright gold letters.

Rank 1: DANIEL RIVERS.

Everyone in the room gasped at the same time. It wasn’t just the name that surprised them, it was the score.

Score: 4,780.

He hadn’t just beaten the others, he had almost double the score of the person in second place. But the system wasn’t done yet. To make sure everyone knew the score was real, the system opened Daniel’s profile and showed the list of monsters he had killed during the phase 2.

The text scrolled down, showing all the dangerous things he had fought in the dark.

[Combat Log – Phase 2]

Monsters Killed:

12x Verge Custodians – Hunter Model (Level 3)

6x Energy Leeches (Level 2)

6x Defense Turrets (Sector Beta)

10x Forbidden Survey Drones (Level 3)

2x Spire Umbral Guard (Level 4 Elite)

1x Conduit Regulator – Model A21 (Level 6)

1x Sector Arbiter – Series Omega Prime (Level 6 Elite)

1x Omega Hub Guardian (Level 7 Peak Elite)

Special Achievements:

Killed a Level 7 Peak Elite alone.

Started the ’System Purge Protocol.’

Took zero damage in the Sector Beta trap room.

[Talent: SSS-Grade (Soul Assimilation)]

The news hit the crowd hard. The words “SSS-Grade” seemed to glow on the screen, and everyone stared at them in shock.

SSS-Grade was a rank that people only heard about in stories. It was for legends and even the gods themselves, not for a quiet student wearing a torn grey uniform.

For about ten seconds, nobody made a sound.